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(You can also read this article on the Courior and Press Website- http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/apr/21/let-summer-clothes-serve-as-incentive/) 

It’s that wonderful time of year when we all sit back with a smile at the return of green grass, flowering trees and birds chirping and we seem to have a little more “oomph” in our step. That is, until we start to see the swimsuits, shorts and summer clothing popping up in the stores.

For many, the thought of standing in a bathing suit in front of a full-length mirror sends shivers down the spine.

I always think of springtime as a wake-up call for the healthy mind-set. Like many warm-blooded mammals, you’ve taken comfort behind your big warm sweaters and jackets for the last several months. What you didn’t think about was that by indulging in your favorite cold weather comfort foods, you have stored up some warm layers of your own. Now when you peel away those sweaters — Bam! — you’re waking up on the floor in the dressing room, having fainted at the sight of yourself in a swimsuit.

Good news: It’s early spring and we have a good month before we drag out the swimsuits and tank tops. If you start today — make a plan and stick to it — you can make significant progress by shedding a few pounds, improving your health and feeling a whole lot better as we enter the summer months.

Unfortunately, most of you think that to achieve this, a diet is in your future. Nonsense! I’m going to step on some toes here and say this with my head held high: Dieting is for lazy people who mean well but don’t want to make the effort to learn how to change their unhealthy behaviors.

Until we lose the quick-fix mentality, we will always yo-yo with our weight and have to “diet” every spring for the rest of our lives.

I could list about 100 things you could do to change your lifestyle, eat healthier and burn more calories. What I ask you to do right now is to make this the last spring that you have to be fearful of the smaller-clothing-coverage months ahead.

Do your healthy living homework, educate yourself on what healthy eating really means, and seek out a form of exercise that you enjoy instead of dieting a few pounds away only to gain them back (and then some) next winter.

You have the power to decide, and you have access to a wealth of knowledge via the Internet, magazines, books and local wellness professionals. You have the power to change your mind-set and lifestyle any time you want to. Now all you need to do is take action.

By summer you might just be admiring a healthier, happier and slimmer you in that mirror — one who plans on sticking around for good this time.

If you need help learning what food are healthy and how to make them teasty enough for your whole family to eat then check out… www.grocerytour.com

 Best of Health,

 Darlene

Note: article from Evansville Courier and Press 3/10/08

I get many e-mails from frustrated readers asking how on earth they are supposed to fit exercise into their already busy lives. Many explain that gym memberships are not in their budget. Some say they just don’t have the time to dedicate to regular exercise because of work hours or other “more important” life commitments. Others say they can’t find a form of exercise they like or are physically capable of doing regularly, although I’m not sure I buy either of those.

I could tell them to think of solutions — get up earlier, walk at lunch or stop watching so much TV so they can find the time. But most people already know this, yet still can’t seem to get motivated to get up and move more often.

So instead, how about I give you a whole list of fun, new and super-healthy activities that you can do right here in the Tri-State? Now, keep in mind that you need to make a deficit of only 500 calories a day to lose 1 pound each week. So adding a couple of these to your weekly agenda could help you shed some pounds and create new healthy habits at the same time:

Saturday — Run of Luck 7K Run/Walk and Wee Folks Dash. Of all the race events in the Tri-State each year, this one is by far the most family-friendly — and it’s darn fun to boot. Dress up in your best St. Patrick’s Day attire and walk, jog or run your way to better health while supporting the Easter Seals Rehabilitation Center. After the event enjoy all the activities: crafts, Celtic music, a silent auction, food, drinks and the chance to win some awesome prizes.

Pick up a registration form at most local gyms or go to www.runofluck7k.com for all the details.

March 29 — Guided hike at Garden of the Gods. Put your hiking shoes on and join Top Spot Outdoors on a guided hike in Southern Illinois. And believe me, you’ll be having so much fun that you won’t even know you’re burning more than 443 calories per hour. Now, that’s my kind of exercise.

For more information on guided hiking excursions offered by Top Spot, call 476-8677 or go to www.topspotoutdoors.com.

April through November — Canoe Evansville’s Guided Tour of Pigeon Creek. Canoeing burns 258 calories per hour. And the best part is that it’s something that young and old, fit and “working on it” can do, plus it’s very affordable — only $15 for a three-hour quick-start class. Go to www.wesselmannaturesociety.org for class details and more information.

April 19 — Enjoy a beautiful walk (or run) around the Evansville State Hospital grounds to benefit the American Cancer Society. This two-mile run and relay or one-mile walk is sponsored by Colon Screening for Life and is perfect for individuals of any ability and fitness level. They even have a free kids’ dash. This is a great race for beginners, so set a goal to walk a little each day and you’ll be ready for this one in no time.

For more information, go to www.colonscreeningforlife.com.

Ideas for any time:

- Shake your booty and burn more than 332 calories per hour with the Evansville Swing Bop Club at The Icon. Those 21 and older can learn swing dancing for only $2 on specially scheduled evenings. Go to www.dancecrafters.com for more information on all the ballroom dance classes.

- Play catch with your kids and burn 185 calories per hour.

- Get your hands dirty and do yardwork. You’ll burn more than 369 calories per hour.

(All calorie calculations are for a 155-pound person for 60 minutes. To calculate your own calories burned for each activity, go to www.self.com/fitness/activity/calculators.)

Stop thinking that you must force yourself to endure long hours performing torturous exercises that you hate to do. Remember, you’re in this healthy living thing for the long haul, so cut this list out and place it on your fridge as a reminder.

Before you know it, you’ll flip that healthy lifestyle switch and get moving (and burning) your way to a fitter and happier new you.

As a personal trainer and healthy living expert, I make it a point to never talk to my clients about my own personal health problems. Those of us in the health and fitness industry are supposed to be super-healthy at all times and never have a down day, right?  

Look - kids get sick, we all have busy schedules, and many of us have health battles (some much more serious than mine). Life’s crud happens! It’s up to you to do everything within your power to create the healthiest battleground possible. Take control by taking action – by exercising and eating healthy. That way, when life places one of those nasty, mystery cream filled bombs in your path you can simply spit it out in the trash and get back on your happy and healthy way!

I have never been one to give up easily. I think it’s a combo of the hard work ethic my parents instilled in me and good ol’ ‘I am woman…there’s nothing I can’t do’ that is my personal motto.

Well, I may have met my match! I stink at skiing!

That’s right…skiing may just be the stinkin’ hardest thing I have tackled in recent years. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I could break my neck speeding downhill, out of control on two small, narrow strips of fiberglass. Or if it’s the frustration of having 3 year olds waving as they effortlessly pass me on the way down the run. Geeze.

Truth be known I have never been a sports player or all that great at taking instruction when learning something new. (Tennis didn’t go all that well for me either…but I’ll keep trying). However, this annual ski trip is important to me. It’s the one time of year we get to take time off away from the kids and enjoy the company of a couple who we consider to be the best friends ever. So learning to ski is a must.

I could just throw in the towel, give into my fears and say ‘the heck with it’ and stay in the lodge sipping on cocoa. Nah…not my style. Nope, I’m going to keep at it. Actually, this year as I lie, upside down, snow packed into my goggles and skis crossed from a very ungraceful wipeout I couldn’t help but compare it to many of the challenges we face in life.

We want to better our career so we’ll educate ourselves to get a better job. We have a illness then we go to the doctor to get to the bottom of it and treat it so it goes away. It’s really the same with weight loss and working towards a healthier lifestyle.

So many times we expect to just eat a few health meals and exercise when it’s convenient and then get angry and frustrated when we don’t see results. Truth is weight loss is just like skiing. You aren’t just going to jump on and immediately know how what to do. It’s a learning process. YOU WILL FALL DOWN! And you will eat snow from time to time. You may even need lessons on exactly how to eat, exercise and maybe even an istructor to really get you flying downhill with grace and ease.

So, don’t quit and keep on working at all this healthy living stuff. With consistency and persistence YOU WILL conquer this thing. For me, well, I’m definitely going to sign up for lessons next year. I obviously am not a natural and I’m humble enough to admit when I stink at something. But one thing is for sure…they have their work cut out for them. LOL

If weight loss for you is like skiing for me (you stink at it-lol) then get yourself a lesson…check out my Healthy Grocery Store Tour. It could be the thing that allows YOU to speed down the mountain and finally conquer this healthy lifestyle thing once and for all.

Good luck and…break a leg.

Darlene

I have to admit I can be an “uncool” parent at times, at least in my 8-year-old son’s eyes. You see, we have always been an anti-video game family. When all the neighborhood kids were getting their PlayStations and Game Cubes, I was buying our son a baseball glove, tennis racket and Rollerblades.

Instead of spending $50 on the latest game for these zombie-creating machines, I was spending that cash on swim and drum lessons. I just couldn’t see encouraging my child to sit and not move for hours on end.

All of this changed on Christmas. We purchased our first family video game. Hold on a second — don’t get smug thinking I’ve given in to one of society’s unhealthy habits. Let me tell you what kind of video game. We purchased a Wii (pronounced “we”).

Heard of it? If you haven’t, it could be the one thing that gets your kiddos (and you, too) movin’ like never before.

The Nintendo Wii is the video game I have been longing for. No more kids parked in front of TVs for hours on end. With the Wii you have to stand, move, punch, jump and do all sorts of goofy moves in order to beat your opponents.

Can I just tell you how sore I was the day after playing boxing and tennis for the first time? All from a video game!

The Wii is an interactive video game that could be a key player in fighting our nation’s childhood obesity epidemic. Of course, it’s no substitute for good old exercise, but I have to admit that the Wii games are a pretty fun way for adults and children to burn a few extra calories.

The New York Times reports that in a recent British study of six boys and five girls ages 13 to 15, all team athletes who played video games at least two hours a week benefited greatly when moving from a stationary game such as Xbox to the more active Wii.

The study used monitoring devices that measured the children’s energy expenditure at rest and as they did 15-minute sessions with “Project Gotham Racing 3,” a sedentary Xbox game, and the active Wii versions of bowling, tennis and boxing.

At rest, the children burned an average of about 72 calories per hour. Playing the Xbox game increased the average to 107. Wii tennis consumed 179 calories per hour, and Wii boxing 174 — both significant increases over the sedentary Xbox game. But keep in mind that an actual game of doubles tennis in the real world burns about 318 calories per hour, and punching a boxing bag burns 382.

These new virtual exercise machines could be a solution for parents and schools concerned about the inactivity and rising weight of their children and teens. An added benefit: Our family discovered that playing and laughing together was something we just weren’t doing enough of.

I never thought I would be encouraging my friends, family and clients to go out and get a video game, but in this case it could be a way to get a sedentary child moving and to insert a bit of healthy family fun time into our busy lives.

In my book there is no substitute for real exercise and sports, since both improve health and encourage social interaction. But you may consider getting rid of most of your PlayStation and Xbox games, and get yourself a Wii. The technology is only going to get better, and as the companies catch on to the parents’ desire for more interactive games, I think these babies are going to get healthier and healthier. Just you wait and see. Wii love it!

I have a love-hate relationship with New Year’s resolutions. On one hand, anything that causes us to take a moment to seriously reflect on where we’re headed in life is a good and valuable thing to do. The end of the year is a perfect time to take an honest look at the status of our health, spiritual life, financial status, family relationships or any other major aspect of life that will determine much of our long-term happiness.

But as we all know, resolutions can also be a not-so-serious attempt at healthy and positive changes (changes that we never really intended on keeping in the first place). Studies have found that 60 percent of people who set a New Year’s goal give up on it within three months. So what does take to be in that ever desirable 40 percent club?Here are some key strategies to make your new habit stick:

Have a positive attitude — By focusing on the “I wills” instead of the “will nots,” you put yourself in the right mental attitude for successful change. If you remind yourself of all the things you shouldn’t do or can’t do, it makes your effort a negative experience, which is not what you want to invite into your life.I recommend that you write a few of your “I wills” on a sticky note and post them on your fridge and car dashboard, in your wallet and on your computer monitor. This keeps the positive change ahead of you at the forefront of your mind and in focus throughout your day. When moments of weakness strike, you will be armed with a clear vision of what you want to accomplish, and that negative thought will be busted before it has a chance to ruin your new, healthy quest.

Gain control through learning — If weight loss is your goal, learn everything you can about healthy eating and exercise. Simply taking a diet pill or jumping on a fad diet is not going to teach you to live a healthier lifestyle or keep that weight off for a lifetime. There are many great online resources available to help educate you on the ins and outs of healthy eating and exercise.www.fitday.com — a free online diet journal and calorie counting tool.

www.foodnetwork.com — go to the healthy eating section for great recipes.

www.eatright.org — American Dietetic Association Web site that has great references and articles.

www.prevention.com — everything you want to know about exercise and healthy living.

www.lifechanginghealthysolutions.com — this is my own site. I have free healthy living information for you there.

Keep your eyes on the prize — It’s one thing to want to lose weight, but don’t make that your entire focus. Also remind yourself that if you lost weight you’d lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes and hypertension. You’d also increase your energy, boost your confidence, feel more attractive and fit easily into your clothes.If your goal is to stop smoking, you can add reducing your risk of lung cancer and heart attack to your list — not to mention that you will no longer have “smoker’s breath” (yuck!), your clothes won’t stink like smoke (you might not be aware of the smell the smoke in your clothes, but everyone around you notices — trust me) and you’ll save money by not having to buy cigarettes anymore.

Now, that’s what I call a life-changing prize.

It starts on Halloween and doesn’t stop until New Years…the demise of our healthy diet and lifestyle. Every year we go into the holidays with good intentions and come out with an extra 5-10 pounds and some serious doubts to whether or not we will ever get the weight off and keep it off.

You should start with this question…are you willing to give a little here and there and show a bit of self-restraint this holiday season in order to keep from ending up with belly that resembles Santa? If your attitude is to go hog wild and just “diet” come the New Year, well, good luck with that. However, if you want to get through this season with as little damage as possible, while still enjoying the holidays, then start with these 5 easy strategies:

1) PLAN! Get a calendar and write in all parties and events immediately as you are informed of them. Also write in planned shopping days or family functions…down to your kids sport or music practices and programs. Now, pencil in 5 times each week where you can do some form of exercise. Yes, I said 5 (3 at the least). So if you know you have a party on a certain evening, plan to exercise that morning before work or walk at lunch instead. When you don’t plan your workouts the busy season will get the best of you and exercise will be the first thing you cut out. Remember, all this exercise is THE KEY to burning off the excess fat and calories you will most certainly be taking in. Just think about how many extra candy dishes, baked goods, food gifts, etc. that float around this time of year.

2) Clean House! If you have a party get ride of the non-healthy foods ASAP! Throw out ALL the seasonal treats, chips, cheese balls, sweets or other high calorie and high fat foods right after the party (or simply send EVERYTHING home with your guests). That’s right, throw them out! If the “bad” food is not sitting in your kitchen you won’t be tempted to eat it!
3) Don’t go to that party hungry! Have a half of a turkey sandwich, spoon full of natural peanut butter, handful of nuts or a piece of fruit before that party, especially the parties that start late in the evening. If you go to a party starving you will most certainly overindulge on food and drink, not so good for the ol’waistline.

4) Don’t stuff yourself! If you are at a holiday dinner and don’t want to overindulge I have a fool proof way of keeping yourself from overeating. (oh, and by the way, there is NO rule that says you have to eat everything on your plate.) Discretely shake lots of salt all over your food when you find yourself starting to feel the slightest bit full. It will appear you are still joining in on the fun, socializing with plate in hand, but that little trick will keep you from continuing to eat when you are already full and satisfied.

5) Choose Wisely. Look, I’m not about to tell you to skip all of your favorite holiday foods. What I will say is portion control! Have a little of your favorites but NOT a lot. Fill up on the turkey (breast only, no skin), watch those casseroles and lean heavier on vegetables that are au natural, watch the high fat sauces and gravies, limit alcohol and drink lots of water!

This has been a tough week in the Nicholson household. Not only have Barry (my husband, marketing director, business partner and best friend) and I been bombarded with work launching my cool new healthy living quiz (www-dietplans.info) and free telewebinar: “The Unadulterated Truth About Losing Weight and Keeping It Off For Good: What Thin, Healthy People Know About Dieting That Yo-Yo Dieters Will Never Know” (take the quiz and you can set in on the webinar for free).

Ialso have 3 article deadlines for Friday, my son gets out of school early today and tomorrow, a parent teacher conference today, Spencer has drum lessons, an exercise class to teach tonight…Oh, and we have also had a sick kiddo in the house to boot. A 4 year old sick kiddo! Yikes!

Everything in me wants to throw cooking dinner and exercising down the drain BUT I know that’s not going to do anyone, any good if I do that, especially me. I get grumpy, feel sluggish, I beat my self up and I get much less done when I stop taking care of me. When I keep on track I get more accomplished with my work and writing, I’m a much less stressed out mom and it keeps my immune system up to fight off the crud going around the house.

Why am I telling you all this? BECAUSE LIFE’S CRAP HAPPENS…deal with it! This time of year, Halloween through New Years, we are just looking for reasons to skip workouts and pick up fast food for dinner. Don’t do it! Stay strong and get rid of that darn “stink’in think’in” that keeps you from finding solutions to life’s challenges. This “life crap” and time issue is the number one problem I see when clients struggle with living that healthy lifestyle I preach about so often. You need to find SOLUTIONS!

I had to get my booty into the gym at 5:30am this morning, I had to get yesterday’s workout in late in the evening and tomorrow it’s going to be a late afternoon jog. Dinner yesterday was a slow cooked crock pot meak that I put in early in the morning because I knew i wouldn’t have time when I got home and today it may have to be a rotisserie chicken I pick up from the store (breast only) and a salad. Planning and focus….that’s the key(s) to surviving the crazy weeks and the busy holiday season.

Don’t throw in the towel and give up when things get crazy…take action and stay focused on your goals. You’ll never reach them if you let everyday set backs get the best of you. If you need a bit more help, info and inspiration be sure to check out my site. www.lifechanginghealthysolutions.com.

I’m here for ya friend!

Best of Health,

Darlene

 The sound of rustling leaves, a brisk cool breeze…its fall yall! I absolutely love this time of year because the heat of summer is behind us (finally) and the outdoors just seem to come alive with color and opportunities for…drum roll please….fitness!

  Many times we think of exercise as something we must do indoors, in a gym or on an exercise machine of some sort. It’s like some unwritten rule somewhere that this whole be healthy, exercise thing needs to be a miserable experience and something you must do rather than something you enjoy doing. You know what I have to say to that? Baloney!

  October and November are the perfect months for taking your exercise outdoors because it’s no longer miserably hot, the leaves are changing colors and there’s just freshness in the air like no other time of the year. Let me tell you, some of my most productive days are those where I have walked outside before jumping into my workday. You think clearer, your attitude is better and you just have a better outlook because you know you have done something really great for yourself.

  So, here are several ideas that will help you take your exercise outdoors. Heck, most of these will be so much fun that I doubt you will even think of them as exercise at all! Oh, and get the whole family involved. If you have kiddos that are a little too into video games and TV then these are perfect for getting them off the couch and disguising exercise with something fun. As I always say, “a family that plays together stays together”.

1)      Mesker Park Zoo- a few hours of walking up and down all those hills is a great way to burn some major calories, not to mention, tone your tush. Bob’s Gym even offers a group walking class at the Zoo every Wednesday at 9am.

2)      Take a Saturday and head out to Land Between the Lakes- just 2 hours south into Kentucky and you’ll experience one of the most beautiful and fun afternoons you could ask for. They offer endless hiking trails, canoeing, horseback riding and mountain biking trails. Throw the family and your bikes into the van and head off for a day full of fun family fitness. For more information and directs check out ww.lbl.org.

3)      Take your walks outside to Wesselman Park or The State Hospital grounds. Don’t walk the same route everyday! You need to keep your body on its toes and mix it up with new scenery and terrain.

4)      Take advantage of the many local walks and running events. Don’t worry - you don’t need to be a major athlete to take advantage of these fun-filled healthy events. Registration fees are usually around $15 and are usually collected to raise money for area charities and organizations. There are often health-related vendors, food, games and activities for the whole family. Check out The Greater Evansville Runners/Walkers Club at www.gerwc.com/ for upcoming events.

5)      Make it a new habit to walk or bike outside a few times a week. Even if you are limited on time, take just 15 minutes to breathe in the cool air and the beautiful scenery. I guarantee you it will put you in a better mood and help you get fit and trim at the same time!

Occasionally I do private coaching calls for people who are in a weight loss rut. Usually they just aren’t sure what to do or they aren’t seeing the sort of results they are looking for. Many times they are still in the “dieting” mode and need to get back to basics with healthy eating but many times it’s their exercise plan (or lack there of).

Pairing healthy eating with exercise really is the key to seeing results and getting he weight loss to stick. When you only change what your eating or heaven forbid, “diet” (aka. deprive yourself and eat food that tastes like cardboard), you almost guarantee yo-yo dieting. No one wants to eat like that forever so when you stop…the weight comes back on.

When you only exercise your muscles and joints are getting the benefit but if you are still taking in too many calories and excessive amounts of fat you will never create the deficit needed for weight loss. Plus, you are not really improving your health  because your nutrition plan is non-e.

YOU MUST HAVE BOTH! Actually, one of my mantras is Fitness + Nutrition + Motivation= Success. This is what I teach all of my students and I can guarantee you if you are missing one of these links you will only have partial success.

I completely cover the nutrition part in my Healthy Grocery Store Tour (www.healthygrocerystoretour.com) and I cover the motivation with my Gold Membership and my Life-Changing Healthy Solutions Newsletters and CD (http://www.lifechanginghealthysolutions.com/membership_opt.php) but Fitness is a bit harder. I do give exercises that you can do on my site, in my newsletter and you also get a great 4 Week Kick Start Exercise Plan with my Healthy Grocery Store Tour BUT I wanted to take a few moments to give you a quick lesson in what should be in your workout routine.

I call it the Holy Trinity of Exercise. I call it this because there are three pieces to the exercise puzzle and they all work as one complete plan. Ignore any one of these three pieces and you will always feel like you are missing something….your results never quite what you want.

I think that if you are going to take the time to exercise you should get the most bang for your buck. You need to have:

1) Cardiovascular Exercise- in other words…get your heart rate up…sweat, baby, sweat! Like walking, jogging, swimming, aerobics classes, biking, rowing, eliptical machines….and the list goes on.

2) Resistance or Strength Training- that can be using dumbbells (or hand weights), resistance bands, weighted balls, machines, classes that teach strength…even water classes use special weights that create resistance in the water.

3) The Wild Card- The third link is something that focuses on core and breathing. Like Pilates, Yoga, Thai Chi, Dance, Stretch or Flexibility classes. Keeping the core(tummy, back, glutes, hips) strong is essential to an overall balanced body. You will actually perform better in cardio and strength if your core balance is strong. Plus, the breathing is very important to reducing stress and keeping a positive attitude. These classes are also lots of fun…and I think when exercise is fun it sure is a  lot easier to do! Can I get an AMEN to that!

Take a look at your current exercise routine and see what you are missing. Do you need to add strength training? Don’t be afraid to lift weights. Just be sure to get the proper instruction and you will be just fine. Heck, I have trained people well into their 80’s using hand weights and resistance bands. If they can do it…so can you!

I challenge you to step outside your comfort zone and introduce something new. It just may be the missing link in your workout routine.

Until Next Time…Best of Health,

Darlene