Making time for your health!

Most people will tell you that the reason that they are not eating healthy and exercising is because they do not have enough time.  I completely understand this reason because it was not that long ago that I was using it too.  Of course, I had to scratch that off the list when my now 89 year old mother was quick to debunk my excuse.  Back in her day she did laundry and dishes by hand, she cared for my brother and even managed to operate a secretarial school and still she boasts that she had nothing but time on her hands. 

How is this possible?  Well, interestingly enough it goes back to the same principal as empty calories versus power foods.   When you consume high volumes of foods that are high on calories and low on nutrition you add the weight but without the benefits your body needs to function properly.  The same is true for your time.  If you fill your day with empty tasks you find yourself depleted of time and the energy necessary for you to lead a healthy life. 

The only two things you need in order to start living your healthy and fit life right now is 1) to commit to yourself and your health and 2) to manage your time and food in order to fulfill your goal. 

By simply changing your perspective you can take back the power that will assist you in making the necessary adjustments to your current schedule to include choosing the right foods, preparing them and introducing exercise to your daily routine.  I will paraphrase our cardiologist friend who warns that, “It is far easier to carve out an hour or two a day to devote to your health than to make time for open heart surgery or any of the other countless diseases that you can avoid by just taking care of yourself.”

Trust me, you have the time and you have the ability all you need now is to just DO IT!

“I do not run to add years to my life, I run to add life to my years.”

The only resolution you need for 2012

2012 approaches and many of my friends are discussing their resolutions for the upcoming year.  Surprisingly enough, not all the resolutions are about food and fitness.  Some are just about changing the things in their lives that are no longer serving them.  One of my friends confidently announced that in 2012, the now empty-nester, would take all of her energy to reinvent herself.  “There are so many things I’ve always wanted to be, and now I’m going to give them all a go.  Succeed or fail, it doesn’t matter, I’m throwing it out there and see what sticks!”

It is that attitude that I encourage all of us to embrace, regardless of what your resolution might be.  One of the problems that sideline so many of us is that we become consumed with the “results.”  Although the results are important, they are not the sum of it all.  Like my friend that is joyfully embarking on this journey, she understands that she is going to give it her all, regardless of the results.  When it comes to weight and fitness, giving it your all is about putting yourself first.  Slowing down to make the right choices that will fuel and firm your body while also enjoying stronger bones, improved mood and countless of other benefits you are not associating with a bikini body!  By removing the pressure of meeting a certain goal by a certain time, you can really enjoy the journey and arrive at the most natural and long lasting results.

As you prepare to welcome 2012 consider reconnecting and reinventing yourself.  Even if you are exactly where you want to be, challenge yourself and take on new adventures that will keep you excited about the next day, and the next. 

“Be Bold. Be Fierce. Be Grateful. Be Wild, Crazy and Gloriously Free. Be YOU.

Go now, and live.” - Jeanette Leblanc

My "running" dialog during the Latin Music Miami Beach Half Marathon

13.1 my “running” dialog at the Latin Music Miami Beach Half Marathon

Mile 1.  I feel good.  Wish I'd taken a moment to look at the race route to avoid surprises.

Mile 2.  So far so good.  Must pace myself.  I’ve still got 11 POINT ONE to go. 

Mile 3.  Is that a bridge?  Ah, no worries.  I love bridges.

Mile 4.  What the hell was that bridge all about?  Loved the view of the ocean though.

Mile 5.  Ah, look at that gaggle of women dressed from head to toe as "Carmen Miranda."  Maracas and everything.   I wonder how long before I find their whimsy annoying.

Mile 6.  Hold the hell up!  ANOTHER bridge?  

Mile 7.  Waving at my brother-in-law’s band Pee Wee Lewis and the Hues on the sideline.  Pretending that I’m not dying after that bridge run.  Didn't even notice the ocean on this one but I was amazed by the amount of interesting things people lose along the side of the road.  A shoe.  A CD.  An ID card.  A sock.  Must have belonged with the shoe?

Mile 8.  Ha.  That’s funny.  My iShuffle is playing “If you steal my sunshine” and it’s raining!  Hard.  And sideways.  Sunshine stolen!

Mile 9.  Sweet group of ladies from FIU’s running team waving and cheering us on.  How AWESOME!  Now why didn’t any of them think to warn us about the UPCOMING BRIDGE!

Mile 10.  I do a little mental check to make sure I am still ok.  Heads, shoulders, knees and toes - and lungs.  I’m good, I can do this.  

Mile 11.  No, no I cannot do this.  That 3^rd bridge leveled me.  I am questioning whether this will be the first race I just quit.  I trot (yes TROT, running is for winners) by a cop and he says to me, “Come on, you’re almost there, finish STRONG.”  I sneer at him.  “No. I will NOT finish strong, I will finish WEAK!”  He is Cuban and from Miami, he is unfazed by my emotional and honest outburst.

Mile 12.  I approach one of the elite runners that finished the race and is now jogging back to Mile 12 to check on the rest of us. “Please tell me there are no more bridges.”  He gives me a sad face and says, “There is one more and it almost killed me.”  I nod.  I now convince myself that he was kidding about the bridge.  Mental note: suggest to race organizers that bridges be denoted on race maps with a skull and cross bones.  

Mile 13.  He wasn’t kidding about the bridge.  If it wasn’t for the honking, the sounds of the cruise ships on our right, the wind pushing on our faces, you would be able to hear a pin drop on this Miami morning.  All the runners were in deep thought.  I wondered what they were thinking about.  If they questioned what they wore that day.  Yeah, I’m talking about that poor guy in the biker shorts.  Ouch.  The sweat had made his once black shorts transparent and you could see his stuff.  And those “Carmen Miranda” ladies, I’m sure it seemed like a great idea to load yourself with head gear and ruffles for a race but on Mile 13 you were ready to beat the crap out of your friends with your maracas. 

Once I fluttered down from the bridge.  Yes, it was a flutter, I could hear a strange sound behind me.  Suddenly, running along side me was Sarah Reinertsen.  The single leg amputee and ultra athlete was now running next to me in her spatula prostetic.  I was able to get out some words and said to her, “You’re amazing.”  To which she quickly corrected, “We’re ALL amazing.”

Point 1:  Humbled.  Not because the 13.1 showed me who is boss.  I don’t have much of an ego when it comes to these things.  Humbled by Sarah’s comment, by the flood of humanity in different shapes and sizes and fitness levels that made their way out to this race on a glorious Sunday morning in Miami Beach.  Humbled by the countless parents and teams of family and friends pushing their children in strollers that were currently fighting and WINNING their battles against cancer.  Humbled that in a world that I find so much fault in, today I just saw perfection. 

It is amazing what happens when good people get together to do good thing for others. 

I do not know what to do about the problems of the world or what ails our society, but I am pretty sure if we can convince people to get out and participate in more events that are simply about making life a little easier for our fellow human – we’d have this entire humanity thing all wrapped up!

Thank you St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital for all you do for our precious families!

And another thanks goes out to my niece, Iliana, for being at the sidelines at so many of our races.  Seeing her cheery face almost makes me want to die a little less.  And to my husband, Eric, who constantly challenges me and, for reasons even I do not understand, always believes in me.  How can you quit on yourself when you've got that sort of support?!?

If you are what you eat, what do you feed yourself?

Last weekend I ran my second half marathon.  It was 13.1 miles of pavement and four bridges on a windy day in Miami Beach.  The running joke (no pun intended) in the race circuit is that it is not so much the 13 miles but the point 1 that will get you.  Truer words had never been spoken. 

The entire race was physically challenging but what I was not expecting was the emotional wave that almost toppled me.  This race was in support of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and so every few miles you would see a team of people, pushing a large stroller with a child with a shiny bald head and grin, clearly fighting and winning their battle against cancer.  

As I prepared to finish the last mile a young woman, with a spatula prosthetic leg slowly ran by me.  I smiled at her and told her that she was amazing, to which she quickly replied, “We are ALL amazing.”  It was Sarah Reinertsen who is a super athlete that happens to be an amputee.  

Her remark made me reaffirm why I embrace a healthy lifestyle.  And why I always tell my friends that the best thing they can do for themselves is to join some type of group that promotes and encourages healthy living.  Attending races is how my husband and I spend most weekends during running season.  We run, we mingle and we’re home by 9:00 am.  Not only do we feel good physically, but the added bonus of having run for a cause further fortifies our commitment to health and to our selves. 

There is an old adage that says “we are what we eat” and when you pair up the decision to live a healthy life with an activity that reinforces it – you are truly feeding your body, your mind and your soul the richest diet any “body” would want!

Agent of Reality!

At some point in our lives we all reach a place where we need someone to step up and be the voice of reason and hand us the cold hard facts.  I call these selfless and courageous individuals our Agents of Reality.  They step into our comfort zone and confront us kindly and gently with truths that will benefit us in the long run. 

Shortly after having my son I packed on the pounds.  Because my weight gain was so sudden I genuinely did not see the change in the mirror.  In spite of my clothes not fitting at all, I still did not see the physical change.  Although physically the signs were there, my brain still had not registered the change.  After several months my husband captured a photo of me and showed it to me.  I was shocked.  Seeing the photo versus my image in a mirror made me see how out of control my weight had become.  Once I was able to accept that I was carrying over 20 pounds of extra weight I began to notice all of the other symptoms I had been ignoring.  Feeling unenergetic and sluggish.  My breathing had become a bit labored and I had a general uneasy feeling that came from a steady diet of unhealthy foods that essentially were empty calories.  Shortly after accepting the truth I immediately made some choices that put me on the path to a healthier lifestyle.  The process did not happen over night but the results have been steady and long term. 

Perhaps you need an Agent of Reality in your life, or maybe you recognize that there is someone that needs your genuine words of concern in order to guide them towards a healthier life. 

Having the courage to confront your truth and that of others is monumental in your journey to a healthy and fit life.  If there is a change you know you have been neglecting, face it and deal with it.  You will immediately benefit from just confronting it and you will gain life long tools to carry you through the rest of your life.  

Health + fitness = Rejuvenation of body, mind and soul

At least once a week I find myself suggesting to friends to exercise and/or change their diet in order to manage or control a current issue in their lives. 

While at a party someone overheard me encouraging a recently divorced mother of two to take up running to fight off all the stress in her life.  About an hour later I was approached by the bystander and complimented on my suggestion because instead of fueling her flame of misery or blowing sunshine in her face, I gave her a tangible tool that will help her alleviate some of the problems she is dealing with.  This conversation got me to thinking about all the other benefits that eating power foods and moderate exercise can do for us.

• Exercise your way to healthier skin:  Peter Jaret from WebMd reports that: By increasing blood flow, exercise helps nourish skin cells and keep them vital. Blood carries oxygen and nutrients to working cells throughout the body, including the skin, helping to flush away the waste and free radicals.
• Build healthy bones and joints: Weight-bearing exercise is beneficial because it applies tension to muscle and bone forcing the body to increase its bone density. This reduces the risk of fractures by improving muscle strength and balance.
• Protect your brain:  Researchers have concluded that through exercise blood delivers nutrients and oxygen to the brain increasing cognitive function.  This means you learn faster, think clearer and remember more.
• Give your soul some wings:  Exercise increases production of your endorphins, which make you feel good.  By improving your mood, you will enjoy the side benefits of more self-confidence, optimism and the physical and mental ability to better manage whatever problems may come your way.

Life will present you with a variety of difficulties but if you maintain a healthy body and mind you may enjoy better results if you tackle them feeling stronger, confident and optimistic.