Let’s Get Physical

Have you ever been to a business meeting or conference and they give out gifts at the end of it? Have you ever received your gift and thought ‘What is this?’, ‘Why are they giving these out?’ or more often than not I bet the question is ‘What do I do with this then?’ besides the obvious - give it to someone else, uses it as a paper weight or just bin it!!

I may just have the answer. How about a gift that’s not only presentable but thought out?! As well as the theme for the day these meetings always have another theme. Generally been sat around for the duration talking, drinking and eating (and  very little else), not taking into account that they drove there or were driven. Most of these business types tend to be carrying more weight than they require.

How about this for a business gift, gym membership or a paedometer (bit less obvious). They are not only a great gift idea but are very useful and a great saving.

To finalise this series is probably the most important part to maintaining good all-round health and fitness. Consistency.

It’s key to be consistent with your healthy eating, exercise and life as a whole. When you start this lifestyle change it’s very important to not exclude everyone and everything that makes up your life. A balance need to be achieved. It is healthier to have a good relationship with your family and friends.

It’s not uncommon to sacrifice life and relationships in the quest to achieve your goals. Often those close to us do not understand what we are trying to do and why it is so important. However including your friends and family and involving them in the process might provide you with even more support to achieve your goals. Your results they even motivate them to embark in your new lifestyle.

On the path to a healthier lifestyle just doing it is often not enough for most people. Without a plan success is more difficult.

A good start would be to organise your life and time around your commitments. Most exercise plans and healthy eating plans are likely to fail if there is a lack of planning. Even going as far as eating a healthy home cooked meal before leaving the house if you’re going out to a place where their high fat foods would tempt, so at least you won’t go for a large portion if any at all.

Let family members know about what you’re trying to achieve so that they can help you in your new lifestyle. Whenever they cook for you they can exclude those things that you are trying to avoid.

Take the time to prepare your food ahead in advance so you won’t impulse eat on unhealthy foods. Carry your food with you. The best athletes can tell you what they are going to eat two hours from right now and they usually have their food with them in a cooler.

Now this one might be difficult for a lot of you to do especially if this is a big part of your daily or weekly lives.

It is advisable to curb your eating out on a daily or regular basis. More often than not foods from restaurants are high in sodium and very high in fats. If you eat out a lot because you can’t cook then cooking lessons would be money well spent in the long run. Learning how to prepare a healthy meal is just as important if not more important than the exercise itself,

In the American population about 40% of their income is spent on eating out and it’s not uncommon to hear of individuals and households even who do not know how to cook. It’s all too easy to continue like this and do nothing about it but its pure laziness.

When your first learning to cook you may make a mess and ruin a few meals but in the end it would be worth the effort.

Now the next step to getting (and probably staying) fit is by having a big clean out. A spring clean on life is always a good thing.

Start by cleaning out your house of all the foods that you know you shouldn’t be eating. Get rid of ready meals and all greasy convenience food. Also you should get rid of your alcohol stash as its probably the most destructive element to a diet.

If you do not live alone you should be aware of this process and consult your household before disposing of any food as this isn’t always acceptable by other members of the household who are not partaking in your regime. Always discuss this part of the process before carrying it out.
Do not hold onto any comfort food. Throw it away first. Do not replace it or by any more junk food to replace it. This is important especially if you are responsible for the health of others too.

The first step to getting fit is educating yourself. This should always be your starting point regardless of what you have done in the past and regardless of your level of experience. You can never know enough!

Get to basics and learn the ground rules of fitness and how to achieve it depending on your set goals. Get out of the mindset of short cuts and quick fixes, there just aren’t any!! Stick to the basics, calories going in versus calories going out. This is the fundamental basis to staying lean. If you are told anything that sounds unrealistic or not true, it’s probably because it isn’t.

It is very important to eat foods low in sugars and saturated fat and try and eat foods that are fresh. There is no absolute shortcut about this process and there is not a magic pill that cures all achieves fitness for you. You have to work at it.

We all (well most of us)  want to have achieved that ‘perfect’ look that worthy of admiration which grabs attention, but with all the claims of magic pills and potions, unrealistic shortcuts and fad diets more and more people are not willing to put the work required into it and would rather spend their time envious of those who do.

In this day and age it’s getting more and more difficult to keep the fat off and stay lean. There is so much highly processed and fast/junk food so readily available which makes it harder to lose the body fat.

However help is at hand to achieve the lean and toned look everybody desires.  Over the next few articles I will be looking at some steps towards improving and staying fit, while reducing and keeping body fat to a minimum.

Don’t be fooled. This is no quick fix and is only for those who are prepared to put the effort required in!

The six principles are considered to be the base of Pilates. It’s the way these principles are applied that makes Pilates so unique. The principles of Pilates were not purposely created but evolved and were determined by those who practiced the Pilates method of exercise and then go on to teach it to others.

To Joseph Pilates, his method was about the control mind, body and spirit. The principles of this were: centring, concentration, control, precision, breath, and flow.

1.    Centring: Physically bringing the focus to the centre of the body, also known as the core.
2.    Concentration: If you bring your full attention to the exercise and do it with full commitment, maximum value will be gained from each movement.
3.    Control: Every Pilates exercise is done with complete muscular control. No body part is left to its own devices.
4.    Precision: In Pilates, awareness is sustained throughout each movement. There is an appropriate placement, alignment relative to other body parts, and trajectory for each part of the body.
5.    Breath: the emphasis is on using a very full breath in the exercises. Use the lungs to strongly pump the air fully in and out of the body. Most Pilates exercises coordinate with the breath, and using the breath properly is an integral part of Pilates exercise.
6.    Flow: Pilates exercise is done in a flowing manner. Fluidity, grace, and ease are goals applied to all exercises. The energy of an exercise connects all body parts and flows through the body in an even way.

Between 1926 and 1966 Joseph Pilates taught in New York. Throughout this time, he trained a many students who not only applied his work to their own lives but became teachers of Pilates. Most went away and either taught as Pilates had instructed or combined it with other techniques.

With Joseph Pilates studio being situated in New York he was in close proximity to a number of dance studios, which led to his technique been discovered by the dance community. Many dancers and well-known persons of New York depended on Pilates method training for the strength and grace it developed, as well as its rehabilitative effects.

Until exercise science caught up with the Pilates exercise principles, and the surge of interest in Pilates that we have today got underway, it was mainly dancers and elite athletes who kept the Pilates style going.

Joseph Pilates developed his techniques through his enhanced personal fitness experience. As a child Joseph Pilates was unhealthy and was studying many different kinds of self improvement systems. He looked at things such as the eastern methods of yoga and Zen Buddhism and gained inspiration from them and also further inspiration from ancient ideas like the Greek ideal of man perfected in development of body, mind and spirit. He also studied anatomy and physiology and developed himself as a body builder, a wrestler, gymnast, boxer, skier and diver.

After the First World War Joseph Pilates returned to Germany for a short time, where he built upon his reputation as a physical trainer. Whilst in Germany he briefly worked for the military police in Hamburg as a self defence and physical trainer. He was instructed to train the German army to which he decided to leave and moved to New York. On the way he met a nurse who he then married. Together they perfected his technique and established a studio.