To achieve or not to achieve

Seriously...I can't believe how quickly this month has flown by.  I have felt like that about every month this year but October went especially fast.  Maybe it was the sheer volume of tasks and activities that were before me.  Anyone else concur?  As a side note: only 60 days til Christmas...in case anyone's counting.   ;)

As the year nears its end, we are also given a chance to look back and reflect, reassess and make course changes for the coming year. This is a great time to look at the goals you set for yourself and see where you are at compared to where you would like to be. What steps still need to be taken in order to accomplish what you set out to do?

On that note I would like to take just a minute and look at goals.  There will be many that we accomplish, celebrate and move on from.  While others we may not accomplish, or so it may seem.  It is these goals I want focus on and challenge how you look at them.

When you look at a goal that seems to have been unaccomplished, I would invite you to look at the goal and see if quite possibly there may have been another underlying, unconscious goal that caused you to set the goal in the first place. For example: maybe you were looking for approval or acknowledgement from someone and in the face of not "reaching" your goal you actually accomplished that "unknown" goal, which now sets you free to move forward more powerfully to accomplish the goal you originally set.

Did you follow that?  Let me share a recent example.  A couple weeks ago I set out to run a 50 mile race in Hungry Horse, Montana.  My goals were to enjoy a little vacation the few days before the race, finish between 10-11 hours, eat well, feel good and have fun. Simple right?  I haven't run the distance in over a year and was a bit nervous as I hadn't trained as I would have liked, but I was ready.

The day Shaunie, Rena and I left was beautiful and all was well.  However, upon entering Montana, 2 of our phones stopped having service for the rest of the trip (5days).  The next day I found out my brother nearly lost his life in a motorcycle accident, which caused me to wonder if I should even finish my trip and run the race.  My monthly friend started the day before the race, always a good time in the woods w/no potties. At mile 8 I had a huge hip flexor pain which causes me to limp and almost drag my foot, making running a more difficult task. To top it all off...race day brought unexpected rain, hail, thunder and lighting, which caused me to be soaking wet for 6 1/2 hours of my 11 hours. Good thing I happened to throw in my raincoat!

As I looked back on not finishing closer to the 10 hour mark I found myself wanting to be frustrated and disappointed.  However, upon further examination, I realized I had an unconscious goal of remembering I can do hard things and overcome obstacles as they are placed in my path, and there were just a few of those.  Accomplishing the "unknown" goal allowed me to first -show up and finish the race and second to have fun in the face of those obstacles while doing it.  Yep...I'm a winner!!  And so are you!!

So as you finish out your year, revisit your goals and take a good look at what you may have accomplished without even realizing it and then go and conquer the rest of what lies unfinished. Look how you have grown and be Amazed and remember to Celebrate.  Celebrate the fact that you were willing to take a chance and go for it. Celebrate everything in between the starting line and finishing line. Celebrate how wonderful you really are and then...let someone else know.  :)

Until next time...
Go BE Great!

Jennifer J Saunders
BS, Certified Personal Trainer
ButtinGear
Reiki Energy Therapy
Intuitive Life Coach

Exercise....what does it say about your age?


You Look MARVELOUS!!!
Exercise is known to have many health benefits but did you know that it is the number one way to hold off age related illness at a cellular level?
Not unlike the seam on your jacket, intensive exercise can keep you chromosomes from unraveling. Telomeres are the DNA at the ends of your chains of chromosomes that protect them from damage. When Telomeres are shortened it limits the number of divisions your cells can produce and brings on the again process. When telomeres become critically short the cell dies.
Regular intensive exercise prevents the telomeres from shortening. The researchers measured the length of telomeres in blood samples from two groups of professional athletes and two groups who were healthy nonsmokers, but not regular exercisers.
"The most significant finding of this study is that physical exercise of the professional athlete’s leads to activation of the important enzyme telomerase and stabilizes the telomere," said Ulrich Laufs, the study's lead author and professor of clinical and experimental medicine at Saarland University in Homburg, Germany.

"This is direct evidence of an anti-aging effect of physical exercise," Laufs said. "Physical exercise could prevent the aging of the cardiovascular system, reflecting this molecular principle."

In addition other studies have shown that exercise protects the cells from other aging effects such as deterioration and programmed cell death. When comparing 32 young professional runners average age 20 and middle-age athletes who had a history of endurance exercise since their youth, against untrained athletes who did not exercise regularly. They were matched in age with the professional athletes. This shows that long-term exercise training activates telomerase and reduces shortening in human white blood cells. The age-dependent telomere loss was lower in the older athletes who had performed endurance exercising for several decades.

What are the keys to exercising for the younger you?

Squats…..’Oh I can’t squat, it hurts my knees’ you hear it all the time. That is actually the point. You squat all the time, picking up the kids, the groceries, or the laundry. Learning to do it right will prevent age related back and hip issues, and create stronger knee joints and less chance of pain.

Maximize your Genes…. While you can’t change your genetic makeup, you can change how certain genes are expressed—that is, how much they do whatever they do. And strength training is one of the best ways to do that. Only 26 weeks of resistance training reverses the aging process at the genetic level. Resistance training also preserves muscle mass; we typically lose 5 lbs. of muscle per decade. We also on average gain 10 lbs. of fat mass per decade, NOT FAIR!!!

Get your brain to the bar….Exercise is the physical crossword puzzle. Sports such as tennis, or racquetball, and choreography like Zumba or kickboxing engage the brain. The more of these types of activities you participate in the better.

Exceed what you think your cardio requirements are….U.S. guidelines say 150 minutes a week, but research shows that for heart health you need to 240 minutes per week. . Aerobic activity improves mitochondrial function (the work of energy-producing organelles in cells), which typically decreases with age.

Use high-impact activity….jumping, you need it. You need the impact to build bone density. This doesn’t mean that you start leaping buildings in a single bound; even a step with the force of squishing a bug can make a difference. Think…squat, lunge, or march with force.

Keep up to pace….average Americans get 2,000 steps a day, but experts recommend 10,000. People who track their steps find that they double the number of steps they take a day. Get a Jawbone, Fit bit, or vivo fit and get in the know.

As always the trainers at MV Health and Fitness Academy are available and excited to help you ward off the effects of aging. There is nothing better than having the energy of someone 10 years younger.

Call us at 208.557.2823 or email questions to ghouston@mvhospital.net.

I felt like I was in a whirlwind...

            The past few weeks I’ve felt the change. I sense the weather beginning to change. The tremendous daylight we had during summer is slowly dwindling. The trees are transitioning through magnificent colors. The longer I live here, the more intensely I feel the changes of the seasons.

            With each season come new feelings, a new mindset, new challenges, new goals and much more!

            My feelings the past few weeks have been those of anxious indecisiveness. Why you ask?

Well, let me start off by saying, I have an “all or nothing” personality. I work on challenging this mindset regularly, but sometimes it gets the better of me for a period of time. This time period came when I was working on my new mindset for the upcoming winter by debating my personal, nutritional, and fitness goals. Working in the field of fitness leads my mind to overthink my goals. “Well, I could do this…or this…or that…or that way as opposed to this way”. “Do I want to work on my physique goals? Do I want to commit to train consistently for my triathlons next year? Do I want to focus on longer running races again? How much time do I want to commit to exercising each week? Do I want to take a cooking class to mix up the variety in my nutritional choices?”

AHHH!! My mind was running with so much! It felt like too many options, too many questions, and too many things to think about. I actually started feeling anxious just typing out all of those examples. SO, what was my initial response? REBEL! “I’m not going to think about any of it. I don’t want to. Maybe I’ll hire someone to train me so I don’t have to think about it. Maybe I’ll hire a physique coach. Maybe I’ll hire a triathlon coach. Maybe I’ll hire a running coach.”

AHHH!! There goes my mind again. It never stops!

            So, really, what was my solution? I had to remind myself, that no matter WHAT goal I choose, ACTION and CONSISTENCY are the most important steps. What if I choose triathlons, but then drop off the training plan in 3 weeks and switch to physique, but then I change my mind again and then I am not any better off than when I first started on this new path of winter.

            So, ACTION and CONSISTENCY. What things are important, to me, to be consistent in, no matter what goal I am training for? I decided to SIMPLIFY and start easy and let the rest come as I gain momentum and confidence the more consistent I am.

            So I started off by listing my OUTCOME GOALS and then the BEHAVIORS I need to begin reaching my OUTCOME GOALS. For the month of October, I choose to focus on reaching a minimum of 64 ounces of water each day and staying consistent with 5 hours of activity per week. Yes! I have a path. I mark on my calendar each night what I accomplished for the day. When I start feeling anxious like I am not doing enough, or other goals are not being accomplished as quickly as I like, or I don’t accomplish my water or workout goal for the day, I just repeat two words until my anxiety dwindles… “ACTION and CONSISTENCY”. “Keep taking action Hayley. Work on consistency.” It reminds me that this goal is for the long haul and not the short term satisfaction!

            Consistency in life really is key!

            Stay tuned for my next entry about Outcome and Behavior Goals. How to identify them and how to take action!

Until next time,

Hayley Jones, BS, CSCS, Pn1

hjones@mvhospital.net

Why squats are the BEST!

Have you ever noticed how some sort of squat variation tends to pop up in every exercise program? That’s because they are great for you, for a bunch of reasons.  Below are a few reasons why, no matter how much you hate them, you should keep them in your program.

1.       Squats engage a ton of muscles.

First, here is a list of the primary muscles responsible for movement in a bodyweight squat: Erector Spinae, Gluteus Maximus (glutes), Quads (Rectus femoris, Vastus intermedius, Vastus lateralis, Vastus medialis), Hamstrings (semitendinosus, semimembranosus and biceps femoris). And here are the secondary muscles, responsible for stabilization during the squat: Transverse Abdominus, Gluteus medius/minimus (Abductors), Adductors, Soleus, Gastrocnemius

Not only is this a lot of muscles working at once, but these are some of the largest muscle groups in the body. This means relative to other exercises, a high volume of work has to be done per repetition.

2.       Highly functional

I would guess that most people have already done a squat within a half hour of getting out of bed. It’s a movement that is easy to take for granted, but the inability to do a squat would make day-to-day life extremely difficult. Conversely, consider how have a strong squat makes so many daily living activities so much easier, not just sitting down and standing up. Many of the same muscles are used for climbing up and down the stairs, bending down to pick something up, and simply walking around.

3.       Essential base exercise

For those who resistance train recreationally, and not just as a means of exercise, squatting is the most important movement to master. Improvements on squat translate into improvements in virtually EVERYTHING, including cleans, deadlifts, push-press, etc.

4.       Elicit hormone response

Because the squat requires the recruitment of such large motor units, it is one the most effective exercises for triggering a hormonal response, specifically increased levels of testosterone, growth hormone, and insulin growth factor. I know for many of you (ladies) this doesn’t sound like a good thing, but these hormones are largely responsible for increased tone and muscle function.

5.       Prevention of injuries

Squatting requires the use of many muscles essential for balance and stability as well as muscles responsible for maintaining proper posture. Keeping a squat variation in your exercise routine is important for keeping these muscles strong to make sure you stay healthy!

Colors of change

Wow!  How did we get here so fast? I can hardly believe that it is my turn again for the blog post and that another month has quickly flown by. I also find myself wondering what profound words or ah-ha moment from a fun experience will find its way out of my head, through my fingers and to the screen. Your guess is as good as mine at this particular moment in time.

Hmmm...this is me thinking. :)  What to share?  Whhaaat tooo shaaarre?  My really cold camping trip? Making the decision to go to Peru? Running in the mountains with the changing leaves. How I decided what to cook for dinner?  Hmmm,,,

Let's go with the running among leaves.  Ya, great idea Jen and much more exciting than what to cook for dinner.

So last week in preparation for my upcoming 50 miler, (yes I said 50 miles and yes, all done at one time), a friend and I went to the Upper Palisades Lake trails that turns into the Waterfall Canyon Trail.  Our objective was to get approx. 25 miles or 8 plus hours of run/walking on our feet.  Ok, that was my objective. I think hers was to survive the day and have fun doing it as she will be part of my crew on race day.

The morning was crisp, cool and was looking like it would present a gorgeous day on the trails.  I could hardly wait to get going. We were an hour behind schedule, to which I was practicing my "Go With The Flow" mantra so as to not ruin a perfectly amazing day and to take in whatever came our way.  Honestly, I was hoping one thing that wouldn't come our way was a bear as I'm not sure how my mantra would have worked then.

The trails were soft and spotted with puddles from the recent rains. They were also littered with the beautiful leaves that had fallen from the trees preparing for winter dormancy. Running the trails with all the colorful trees lining our way made this run even more spectacular and brings me to what I am actually wanting to say to you.

The trees are making amazing changes and letting go in a way that most of us look forward to and are eager to leave our homes and take long drives to go and observe. These changes are slow and take time to really have the colors pop in magnificent displays that delight all who observe them. They take place naturally and seemingly with ease. As I was running the trails I want you to know, I never heard one tree crying out at the changes it was making so that it could more easily survive the winter and conserve energy. I saw no weeping and wailing or nashing of teeth as the leaves were released from their perspective branches to float on the breeze and find a new purpose on the mountain trails.

I, for one, am ever grateful for the changing of the trees and the beauty they brought to my run. I am grateful for the reminder that change is part of the circle of life and growth and that it is better to "Go With The Flow" and not fight it but rather gently observe and let it happen and bring us to new purposes. We may not even be aware of how these changes will bring beauty to our lives or the lives of those who we interact with.

What changes are you experiencing in your life at the current moment as we prepare for the changing of the seasons?  Are you willing to observe and let change happen with ease or are you bound and determined to do it kicking and screaming?  I can assure you my run would have been a completely different experience if I had seen those trees having tantrums.  I can also assure that when I choose to just let change happen and be the peaceful observer, my runs, and my life are much more pleasant and beautiful and meaning comes faster.

So, take a hike, observe change and breath in the beauty, both inside and outside of you. If health and fitness are a part of those changes, we would be happy to assist you in finding your
flow and letting those colors dazzle. No need for tantrums, stretch out those limbs and give us a call at 557-2823.

Until Next Time...Go BE Great!

Jennifer J. Saunders
BS-SLP
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
ButtinGear, Reiki Energy
Life Untethered -Intuitive Life Coach

MOTIVATION......Why do some people have it, and some people do not?



How Determined are YOU???



Self-Determination Theory

What determines your goal –directed behavior? Have you ever just felt un-motivated? Do you hear yourself give a lengthy list of excuses to your friends and family as to why it is not possible for you to succeed at your goals? The SDT; or self-determination theory has become a popular area of study in the exercise science departments across the nation. The relationship with our own fitness has become the war to rage in the 21^st century. As I talk to other fitness and health professionals in our area it is clear that no matter how educated or experienced we are if we lack the ability to motivate a client (or patient) to change our knowledge is useless. We cannot share the skills it takes to live a long and healthy life with those still on the couch.

What is your means of motivation? There are three types of motivation. Intrinsic motivation is motivation that comes from within. That means that you are driven to meet a goal or milestone internally. This is the best kind of motivation and is the most likely to be sustained over long periods of time. External Motivation is motivation that comes separate of you. When the boss wants it done in one particular way, or if your spouse would like you to lose weight. Do your parents expect a certain type of behavior from you?  External motivation is much less effective, but not nearly as ineffective as amotivation. Amotivation is the complete lack of motivation, so many of us find ourselves in this state more often than we would like to admit. Stressful lifestyles, busy schedules, and lack of real rest are often the excuses I hear from clients. They verbalize the desire for certain results from their training, but lack the ability to find the right kind of motivation.

How do you find motivation? There are many ways to find motivation, and most of us will have to find many ways to motivate ourselves to meet even one goal.  Weight loss clients rebound back to their heavier weights every day. Why? Because once they reach their goal weight if they cannot focus on a new goal that will keep them there, it is far too easy to fall back into the old habits. Knowing what drives you to success can make or break any lifestyle change. Some of the best “self-motivators” I have worked with will constantly shift their focus to new and more challenging goals. If you can do 10 push-ups, set the goal to do 20 without resting in the next 30 days. If you are running 3 miles a day and your fitness level has plateaued. Set new pace goals to get faster, or register for a 10k in 2 months. If you are a fierce competitor, there are many clubs or groups out there with very competitive people who will push you to greatness, if not just so you don’t finish dead last.

My September challenge for you is to find a quiet place once a week to meditate. Listen to music, pray, or just listen to the world around you. Ask yourself what you really want, what makes you happy, who makes your life easier. Set realistic 30 day goals and get to work. It is time to add your own changes to this season. Mirror the leaves and find your beautiful colors.

Labels

Labels

According to Livestrong.com

All packaged foods come with a nutrition label meant to provide you with the information necessary to know exactly what you're eating. Understanding what's in the foods you eat helps you make healthier choices. Checking food labels also makes it easy for you to compare the nutrient content of different options. A healthy diet is crucial throughout your lifetime and paying attention to nutrition labels is a good step toward improving your overall diet. Learning how to read food labels will also help you become aware of “deceptive” advertising on food packing.

Let’s Learn How To Read Labels!

            Thank you to http://www.healthtrek.org/for-teens/4-labeling-nutrition for the awesome visuals!

The first place you should look at when trying to read a label is the serving size. Serving size gives you a point of reference, and the entire label is based on that amount. If you had 1 cup of macaroni and cheese you would have 250 calories. If you had 2 cups you would have to times every nutritional value on the label by two. That would equal 500 calories.

The second place you should pay attention to is the calories per serving and calories from fat. A calorie is a measurement of energy. If you ate one serving of this macaroni and cheese

you would be getting 250 units of energy.

You can check out the Dietary Reference Sheet to see how many calories you should be consuming each day. The recommended number of calories depends on your age, gender and activity level. As you can see on this label, there are 250 calories in one serving and of those 250, 110 come from the fat in the product. Fat is a nutrient that contains calories, and from the amount of fat in one serving a person would get 110 calories.

The third and fourth places for your attention are the nutrients. Number 3 shows you the nutrients that you should try and limit (fat, cholesterol and sodium). Number 4 shows you the nutrients that you should get enough of each day (fiber, vitamins and minerals).

This last part of the label is the most confusing for most people. This section tells you about the percentages to the right of the label and what is called "Percent Daily Value." Percent Daily Value, or % DV, is based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet. The % DV helps you quickly tell if it is considered low or high in specific nutrients. Anything 5% or less is considered low; anything 20% or higher is considered high. Take a look at the % DV for fat for one serving. It's 18%. That means if you ate one serving you would have had 18 percent of the total recommended fat for the day. If you had two servings of the macaroni and cheese (2 cups) you would have 36% of your daily value of fat. Here is what that looks like in math.

Remember, based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet:

1 cup of macaroni and cheese = 18% Daily Value of Fat
If you start the day with 100%, eating 1 cup of mac and cheese at
18% would leave you with 82% fat.

2 cups of macaroni and cheese = 36% Daily Value of Fat
If you start the day with 100%, eating 2 cups of mac and cheese at
36% would leave you with 64% fat.

The next thing you should be mindful of when reading the nutrition label is the footnote at the bottom. This portion of the label is the same on all labels. It gives general guidelines, not information specific to the product. You can use the footnote as a reference when deciding if the item you are about to eat is a good choice for you.

Get Smart About Labels

There are clear warning signs on some labels advising moderation or avoidance. These warnings, unfortunately, will often accompany snacks that are super tasty, irresistible, scrumptious, dipped in chocolate — you name it! Other labels will seem to glow like green traffic lights, letting you know the snack in question is an intelligent choice. You can get crazy and have two, you're getting a good Percent Daily Value of protein, vitamin A or C, calcium or iron.

The important thing is to get comfortable with reading food labels. You should have a clear idea of how to read a serving size from a package and what the food pyramid shows as the recommended serving size. Paying attention to labels is of prime importance for a successful Health Trek.

Until next time,
Hayley Jones, BS, CSCS, Pn1
hjones@mvhospital.net