GOAL!!!!!!!!!!

Setting goals is an important aspect of helping you get motivated to improve or maintain your health. In order to have a successful journey you need to know the direction you are heading, which is your goal. It is important to keep a few things in mind when setting goals.

Your brain is wired to be able to concentrate on only one thing at a time, that’s why you shouldn’t text and drive at the same time. You need to keep this in mind when setting your goals. Often times it is easy to think of ten or more things you could improve and try to set goals for all of them. But this unfortunately can often set you up for failure as you get overloaded trying to do so many different things at once. When setting goals it may be best to set just one goal and never more than two or three. When you start out on a journey it requires taking a single step in the right direction, toward just one goal. If you have ten different goals you might find yourself feeling like your playing twister and going in multiple different directions all at once and getting tied up in knots.

The other key to any successful journey is knowing where you are starting from and where you want to go. This is why knowing your numbers such as weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and others is a great starting point. Pick one area that you want to improve such as lower cholesterol. If your starting point is 220 you know that you are in a borderline risk area for high cholesterol, so this might be the one thing you want to improve to get your total cholesterol below 200.

The next step, now that you have a goal, is to realize there may be many paths that get you toward that goal. Improving your exercise routine, eating healthier and decreasing some stress all can help you get toward that goal. It does not mean that you have to do all of them or if you do one for awhile and then stop doesn’t mean that you can’t still achieve your goal. Understanding this helps you select the routes that best match your lifestyle and habits to help you reach your goal. Also you don’t have to feel guilty for switching or changing paths midway through the journey as long as they are leading toward your goal.

So you have your one goal, you know where you are starting from and where you want to get to and understand there can be lots of paths to help get you there. The next thing to do is to set a time frame that is realistic to achieve the goal and monitor your progress periodically during that time frame to make sure you are still headed the right direction.

Finally celebrate during the journey as you make progress toward your goal, and don’t get too hard on yourself if you aren’t reaching your goal. Realize that making these health changes may be some of the hardest things that you have to do and occasionally goals might need to be adjusted as time goes on. Life comes at you hard sometimes and it is okay to reset your goals to help you stay motivated toward the biggest goal of improving your health.

Supplements when to use and not use

The dietary supplement industry continues to increase in popularity and the amount of money spent yearly on them is a multi-billion dollar industry. But how much benefit do you really get out of them and how do you know which ones to take, if any?

The advertising and hype behind most dietary supplements is greater then their actual benefit. For some people with a medical condition, certain dietary supplements that an individual may be lacking are needed to assist with maintaining optimal health. But the key in that statement is you need a medical condition that should be diagnosed by your medical doctor. Once diagnosed, the proper amount should be prescribed based on what you need to get you too normal.

Many of us fall victim to the thought that “more is better”, when we need to realize that “more is just more”. We know that getting Vitamin C and E are important along with other antioxidants can help reduce sickness. But adding more through mega dosing does no good for us. It is like filling your car up with gas, once the tank is full any extra is just going to spill out and be of no benefit to you except cost you more money. For the most part the wasting of these vitamins and extra nutrients is not going to cause you damage, other then wasting money. There are some cases that this overloading can actually be damaging to you, so you must be careful with what you are supplementing if you need to at all.

Many times we recognize that our dietary habits are not as good as they should be so we try to make up for it with dietary supplements. Research is continually showing us that dietary supplements are not meant for replacement of healthy eating. The way your body uses the natural source of these elements from whole food is better then the engineered format of a pill.

So the bottom line is:

• If you eat healthy you probably do not need any dietary supplements.
• If you do not eat healthy, don’t think taking it in a pill is going to make up for your bad eating.
• If you do have a medical condition that requires a dietary supplement, do it under the care of a physician so you do it properly and don’t harm yourself further.

Maximize yourself based on who you are, part II

Last week we talked about 3 different body types: mesomorphic, endomorphic and ectomorphic. This week we will explore ideas to maximize your exercise program based on your body type.


Mesomorphs typically have a more muscular build so they often will look the part of more fit and healthy then the others. But be careful not to let the looks deceive you into thinking you are healthy just by looks alone. Because you store fat more evenly you won’t see the “beer gut” as quickly as others might, but you can have the same elevated body fat if you are sedentary and have a high calorie diet. Strength training usually will be enjoyable for this body type, because the positive effects are notice quicker then the other body types. Often times those with this body type tend to avoid the cardiovascualar and movement exercises because they are more challenging. It is important to include these into your workout to maintain all three areas of fitness (movement, cardiovascular and strength).

Ectomorphs have the advantage that mesomorphs and endomorphs do not have when it comes to weight gain. While weight gain can be easy for the other two body types it is often difficult for the ectomorph. But don’t let the lack of fat fool you into thinking you are healthy. Ectomorphs struggle often times putting on muscle, which is an essential component for health. Ectomorphs, like mesomorphs, tend to do exercise they are good at and avoid those they are not so good at. In this way they are reverse of mesomorphs they are great at cardio and not so good at strength training. They also need to maintain all three areas of fitness and hit the weights a little harder.

Endomorphs usually don’t have all the characteristics of a classic endomorph, but a mix of features from the other body types. An endomorph has the advantage of storing fat easily. While this is helpful if you live where famine hits regularly, it is not so helpful in our mostly food plentiful society. Because you are more inclined to store fat you run the increase risk of obesity. Proper exercise (again using all three areas of fitness) and diet control are very important to maintain your health by reducing excessive body weight.

No one body type is better then the other, they all have benefits and drawbacks. The take home is the importance of understanding and accepting your body type and make sure your exercise routine maximizes your strengths and diminishes your weaknesses.

Just become a better you

The reality and fiction of changing your body type and shape. We have all seen the infomercials and magazine articles: “Get flatter abs in 4 weeks”, “Throw away those love handles with these 3 simple exercises”, “Follow the (insert movie star name) leg and butt workout to look like her”, “Get rid of fat in those problem areas forever”.


The reality is that for the most part we genetically fall loosely into one of three body types: mesomorph or a more common one word description – muscular, ectomorph or a more common one word description – skinny, or endomorph or a more common one word description – curvy. While we can’t change our genetic make-up we can improve our body style within each type with our exercise program. So if you are an ectomorph you probably will never become a mesomorph (think middle linebacker in football) but you can become more muscular. If you are an endomorph you will never be an ectomorph (think Olympic marathon runner) but you can slim down.

You can change the amount of fat you store through your diet and exercise program, but you can’t really change the places where your body chooses to naturally store it. This storage place falls into what is termed body shape: banana, pear, apple or hour glass. Men tend to store fat in the “beer belly” and “love handles”. Women generally store fat in their hips, upper thighs and back of their arms. Those “problem areas” of fat are generally the place where your body shape stores fat. Specific targeted exercises to these areas will not make them go away unless your overall body fat reduces through proper diet and exercise.

Take home point: Don’t get tricked and fooled into thinking your exercise program can make you look and feel like someone you are not, but it can make you look and feel like a better you. Be realistic with your fitness program and goals to make a better you.