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Christmas – Ready, Aim, Feast – or Ready, Aim, Fat Loss?

You might think that I am a little bit early but really, Christmas is in less than one month and that month for many people is one of the most stressful months in the year. This is due to many different reasons. A lot of people complain about the financial pressure to be able to cover their holiday expenses as cnbc reports. Other people complain about family obligations and let’s face it, a lot of families are divorced. Children go visit each of their respective parents and feel like instead of a time of joy and fun with their family they are running from one appointment to another. 

What suffers often is our client’s health and well being. But there are some things that can be done to alleviate the pressure, stress and maintain fitness. You might even lose some weight over the holidays and not just from running from one appointment to another.

Here are some easy tips that can alleviate the financial holiday stress:

  • Speak to your family and agree on a Christmas budget per person
  • Have all of your family put their name in a hat, the one that each of you pull out is the person they are going to buy a gift for.
  • Exclude friends from expensive gifts. People really go too far. I value a friend regardless of a gift and spending some time together and having some fun is worth more than a gift.
  • Start getting your gifts earlier in the year

These tips might help you with your running around stress:

  • if you have a family and your parents divorced and you feel obligated that you have to visit them all, remember they chose to divorce not you. Tell them that it is not very enjoyable to run around stressed from one appointment to another. You can stay with one family on Christmas and another family on Thanksgiving and rotate it the next year. You could also choose to do the same with New Years.
  • Christmas parties: work Christmas party, church Christmas party, friends and before you know it, each weekend is booked. Choose one or two events and politely refuse to go to others because you need the time. If people do not understand then they are not really in the holiday spirit, are they?

 

How to stay fit in the weeks before the holidays

  • If you know you are going to stress later in the day, exercise first thing in the morning, even if it is just for 10-15 min doing some body weight squats, chin ups and push ups. At least you got it done and you don’t stress about it later in the day.
  • Plan your week on the weekend. Schedule actual time for exercise
  • I love Christmas cookies but that is a sure way to pack on the pounds. Only keep a handful in your house and give the others to friends or to work.
  • Lift weights for 2days a week and  do cardio for 2 days a week as a minimum. Again, even a little bit helps.

How to stay fit over the actual holidays:

  • Plan to exercise first thing in the morning after you get up. If you have a regular routine just keep that. If not, just go for a long vigorous walk, jog, lift some weights, etc. Our personal training clients who exercise in the morning often eat better throughout the day. Your workout serves two purposes: limit the damage caused by overeating and reduce the actual overeating.
  • Make sure to eat breakfast and lunch, don’t just wait for Christmas dinner and gorge yourself, I have yet to meet the person that feels good after gorging themselves. If a salad is served at dinner as well, have that first. It will provide you with fiber and vitamins and fill you up a little bit.
  • Get up the following day and do a little bit of exercise as well, if you lifted the day before, do a little cardio routine or vice versa. Take your children for a hike or play with them on the play ground. For most adults nowadays that is already a workout.
  • Have a nap in the afternoon for recovery
  • Do a small core routine in the evening. It is true that targeted weight loss is not possible, nevertheless most of our clients feel better if they have done something for their “gut”.

Maybe you are an obsessive athlete like some of our clients or me but most people are not. I hope these tips give a little bit of breathing room over the holidays and keep you fit.

 

Michael Anders

 

Head Trainer Shape Up Fitness & Wellness Consulting

 

Time to say Thank You!

It is time to say thank you, at least for me it is. In Germany Thanksgiving does not really play a role and even here it seems to be controversial with some folks. People mention settlers and Indians and what not.

To me it does not matter. It does not matter what the history of it is but rather what I make of it. To me it is about an opportunity, an opportunity to say thank you to those that are in my life that enrich it with theirs and sometimes seem to make it more difficult. You might think that I am nuts but I am a firm believer in that every person surrounding me has something to teach me. You might think I am wrong and that is okay but it is true for me.

I moved to the US in 2004 with the intention of having my own personal training studio at some point. People back in Germany told me I was crazy and asked me when I would be back. My own dad had asked me when I started studying sports science why I was not studying something that would make me some money eventually and provide me with financial safety. For some time it looked like life proved them right, I had to bring things to the pawn shop to pay for medical bills and it did not look good.

Today I have a personal training studio and 4 awesome employees who bring joy into my life every day. I have friends who support me and believe in me and my vision, who have helped me accomplish what I have achieved so far.

It is easy to say thank you to those that support you and hard to tell thanks to those who don’t but do understand this: You are shaped by those around you, just like you shape others. The person who tells you that you suck or will fail might bolster your willpower and discipline, the person that tells you that what you are doing is not worth it might test you to see how passionate you really are. We cannot change people but we can choose how we react to circumstances and other people.

If you want to lose weight and your spouse keeps bringing bad food into the house, don’t blame her or him, stand firm, be proud of what you want to do because you know your life is your own responsibility. Nobody has to make you happy, support you or do anything for you. They choose to do it just like you choose to take responsibility for your own actions.

  • Nobody is forcing your mouth open and force you to eat what is unhealthy.
  • Nobody forces you to stay up till late then complain the next day at work that you are tired and stressed.
  • Nobody forces you to stay at a job you hate. You can change it, or at least your attitude.
  • Nobody owes you anything if you are an adult but you do have the right to change, to transform your life today.

Also know this:

  • You shape your environment and yourself!
  • Obstacles are made up by your mind. Have you ever seen people accomplish things they should not be able to? Most likely you have and it is because they truly wanted it and believed they could.
  • You are great until you diminish yourself.
  • If you believe you can or believe you cannot, you will always be right!  – Henry Ford

 

Don’t get me wrong, it is difficult for me as well, sometimes. But today I want to say thank you:

  • to you who doubted me,
  • to you who harassed me,
  • to you who belittled me,
  • to you who tried to sabotage me,
  •  to you who supported me,
  • to those that allow me to help them transform their life,
  • to you who loved and still love me,
  • to you who see potential in me,
  • to you who I am allowed to love.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Michael Anders

 

Head Trainer Shape Up Fitness & Wellness Consulting

Are you having trouble with your nutrition?

Are you having problems getting your nutrition under control? Welcome to the world of losing weight, gaining weight or just being in top shape for your sport.

Nutrition is the key to everything. You will find out quickly that no matter what you want to accomplish, you won’t really be your best without good nutrition.

Now, there are several ways to approach it. Our clients have tried many different things and a lot of them work, at least for a while. They cut calories, they cut out whole food groups like  fat and carbs. Over a short period of time they are usually successful. At a later point they usually regain the weight, though. The best recommendation on how to eat is to change your habits. You have to go and eat food that is food.

Does that sound confusing?

Well, it means that you should eat a lot of vegetables and fruit that are unprocessed. Not all of it has to be organic, but a rule is: if you eat all of the fruit or veggie and you don’t peel it, buy it organically.

Although recent studies have shown that the pesticide content is low we could still choose organic because we want to reduce the amount of phosphates in our food.

Meat, poultry and fish are not the devil. If you are financially able, buy grassfed meats & poultry (untreated). Fish is an important source for Omega-3 fatty acids but can also lead to mercury poisoning, so make sure you know where your fish is from and what the contamination level is.

You can use nuts and fruits as healthy snacks. If your food does not look like it has been alive at some point, don’t eat it. It is most likely filled with all kinds of crab and junk calories.

Also, the thing that works the best is identifying your biggest weakness.

  1. Going out: get half of it in a doggy box before it ever shows up at your table
  2. Sweets: sugar cravings are tough, best is to lose it altogether, throw it out. If that does not work, eat a piece of chocolate for example and then eat your regular meal.
  3. Alcohol, social: Tell all of your friends, not to offer you alcohol, if that does not work, you need to avoid the situation
  4. Alcohol, alone: If you like to drink alone, make sure you don’t have a habit. If that is the case, please seek help with various places like Alcoholics Anonymous if you cannot stop drinking. Alcohol does not add anything to your nutrition.
  5. Salty: I know french fries and chips can be enticing. Make sure to buy one small pack at a time, not more.

Michael

Head Trainer Shape Up Fitness & Wellness Consulting Inc.

 

 

The Hip Hinge – its role in a squat

In our personal training studio we find again and again, that people are challenged to squat and deadlift. Today, we are going to talk about the hip hinge.

The squat although a knee dominant movement is still dependent on a proper hip hinge movement. What does that mean for you?

While doing a squat you should bend in your knees and hips at the same time with approximately the same angles. What happens instead is people push their knees way forward and often inwards and the back bends over instead of  using the hip as a hinge. If you are loading heavy weight at the same time you are throwing your back under the bus.

So the key for you is to be able to hinge properly out of the hip before attempting to squat. The following exercise was designed to work on the hip hinge. Notice the small bend in the knees and the strong hip movement? This is not a squat but simply an exercise designed to work on your ability to use the gluts and hamstring in a hip hinge movement. As a preparation this exercise is great. The hip is pushing back against the wall, the back is staying straight.

Now after being able to use the hip start integrating it into the squat. After going down with bending in your hip and knees (thighs to parallel, imagine spreading your feet as you push up. That will activate your butt muscles better.

There has been a lot of controversy regarding the back squat due to its heavy stress on the back. For that reason and due to its functionality we have increasingly used the single leg squat at Shape Up Fitness & Wellness Consulting.

Here you see a female Olympian performing a single leg squat:

I hope I was able to make you aware of the importance of a proper hip movement during the squat.

 

You don’t like Vegetables, you might like this Smoothie!

Hey guys, this is an awesome smoothie recipe and gives you about 2 litres of green smoothie.

You need a high powered blender.

 

  • 2 Mangos, peeled and de kerneled or 3to 4 peaches
  • 1 Orange
  • 1 Apple or seasonal fruit
  • 16 oz of water
  • Kale + Salad Spring Mix + Wheatgrass and / or other green leaves (start with less and add to taste)
  • blend until smooth
  • to add sweetness use dates
  • to add fruitiness use lemons
  1. The ration should be 60% fruit to 40% green leaves.
  2. Make sure the green leaves are not too spicy like for example mustard greens
  3. to get the smoothie smooth it is necessary to use mangos, peaches or bananas, otherwise the consistency is watery

This drink is full of vitamins and minerals. Enjoy!

 

If you have any more questions feel free to contact us

 

Michael Anders

Head Trainer Shape Up Fitness & Wellness Consulting

www.charlottepersonaltrainer.org

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