Visualization, or imagery, whichever word you prefer to use, is an excellent tool for accomplishing any goal.
Here are some Do’s and Don’ts:
1. Do create an image in your mind as vividly as possible of what you want to achieve in your sport, in your health, or in your life. Just let distracting thoughts and feelings float away as you refocus on your image.
2. Do bring in all five of your senses so you can see, hear, and feel what it’s like to have already obtained your desired result. Sight, hearing, and touch are the most powerful senses for incorporating day-to-day imagery into your life. Bring the scene into the present tense so you are totally focused on the task at hand.
3. Don’t just visualize the end result; focus on seeing the process. Focus on what it takes to get there. In a sport for instance, that would be your form, your breathing, your pacing, your confidence.
4. Mentally rehearse your actions at the same rhythm and pace that you want in actual execution to establish the appropriate neurological patterns within the brain.
5. Don’t replay your mistakes. This is a challenge, I know.
You want to remove the memory of errors. If you see yourself doing something incorrectly, edit the film in your mind and replay it exactly as you wish it to happen. Imagine that you’re performance is equal to or better than your previous best.
6. Use visual models. Before going to sleep at night try watching a video of a superior performance (e.g. get out your recordings from the last Olympics). Then visualize yourself moving just as fluidly and powerfully as your visual models. I use this with my swimming and IT WORKS!
Give visualization a try. It’s a powerful tool to have in your self care, performance enhancing toolkit, no matter what goal you’re working towards.
shelli
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Want to spice up your life AND burn some fat? Who doesn’t, right?
Not only can spices save an otherwise boring, though healthy meal, it turns out certain spices can help you burn body fat through the process of thermogenesis.
Thermogenesis is heat. And since a calorie is a unit of heat, more thermogenesis equals more calories burned.
A recent issue of The Journal of Physiology and Behavior cited numerous studies on several spices that increase thermogenesis, including these findings:
1. Capsaicin: This compound gives red chili pepper its heat and increases energy via heat expenditure by up to 23 percent after being ingested at breakfast.
2. Black pepper increases body heat by bonding to TRPV1 receptors in the brain.
3. Turmeric has both anti-cancer and pro-thermogenic properties.
Learn about these three spices; red chili pepper, black pepper, and turmeric, and use them liberally.
Just be careful not to overdo it. If you do, you’ll likely end up with heartburn instead of fat burn!
shelli
Stress…….we all have it and we all feel it. And the effects of stress will take a toll on your life.
Stress doesn’t just damage your mind. It harms your body, too.
Stress increases dangerous inflammatory factors called cytokines. It also damages the hippocampus, causing memory loss and mood disorders.
Stress reduces the brain’s ability to repair itself, increases abdominal fat, interferes with thyroid function, and even increases the stickiness of blood leading to dangerous clots.
I don’t know about you, but that last paragraphed stressed me out!
However, there is a very simple action you can do to help alleviate the effects of stress.
You can stimulate your vagus nerve.
The vagus nerve controls the relaxation response through the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. This anti-stress response can be switched on in a matter of minutes.
Here is what you can do to stimulate your vagus nerve.
Take a deep breath into your belly to the count of five. Pause. Breathe out slowly to the count of five. Keep your belly soft. Repeat 5 times.
With this simple and effective breathing exercise, you instantly reduce your levels of cortisol and help your body get back to a peaceful state of balance.
In addition to a few minutes a day of soft-belly breathing, you can bolster your body’s defenses against stress by engaging in regular vigorous exercise, eating a healthy diet, and enjoying fresh air and sunlight.
Try this belly breathing exercise next time you feel stressed and see what you think.
shelli
Listen up! I have an urgent message.
I’ve noticed there’s one thing that all people who are successful at creating abundant health have in common.
A sense of urgency.
Their desire and need for achieving health and fitness motivates them to turn their ideas and knowledge they’ve acquired into action.
On the other end of the spectrum are “passive” people.
Maybe they know and maybe they don’t, but they don’t take action. They somehow hope that even though they keep doing the same things over and over again, they’ll get different results. They keep hoping something good will happen.
All of us have that passive person inside us.
Even I’m a living, breathing example of a former passive personality. I’ve had times in my life when I allowed my fitness and self care plans to slip by the wayside.
Something always shakes me from the doldrums and forces me to take that first step to get back on track. And when I start to see results, I’m a force to be reckoned with!
Why? Because successful people act from a sense of urgency and when we feel that urgency, we take action!
So today, I want you to do exactly what I did.
Let go of your passive nature and begin looking at your health and fitness goals with a SENSE OF URGENCY.
Tell yourself, “Today, I’m going to make a change and act from a sense of urgency. And these are the first two actions I’m going to take…”
shelli
I’m going to ask you to go way back, and for some of us that’s WAY back, to science class in school.
Do you remember using litmus paper in science class to test the pH of a liquid?
You dipped the strip into a solution of lemon juice or baking soda to see if it was acidic or basic.
Now, however, a better use for that litmus paper may be to test your pH. Why?
Because knowing your own acid/alkaline balance is key to optimizing your health. Let me explain.
Without the proper acid/alkaline balance, enzymes don’t work, oxygen delivery to cells suffers, and the body struggles to complete vital biochemical processes.
The culprit? Our modern diet.
Our meals are packed with acid-forming foods, especially sugars and refined grains, along with too much meat. And we eat too few alkaline-forming fresh foods like greens, vegetables, and fruits.
Enhance your alkalinity by making sure that at least 60 percent of your meals are fresh and unprocessed foods. Make sure your meals are loaded with these foods:
Greens
Cruciferous veggies
Citrus fruits (especially lemons)
Fermented veggies (like sauerkraut)
Paying attention to alkalinity will ensure you create the environment needed in your body for great health and proper biochemical function.
shelli
I was talking with a nutritionist who specializes in counseling vegetarians and helping them lose fat.
I asked her for three valuable corrections to a vegetarian diet if someone wanted to lose fat, and then realized they are good pieces of advice for anyone!
So here are her 3 foods you must NOT eat if you are a vegetarian (and I’d suggest these are true for anyone) who wants to lose fat.
#1 Food to avoid on a vegetarian fat loss diet:
Excessive soy products.
Most vegetarians consume too much soy. Often they eat soy milk for breakfast, soy burgers for lunch and soy ice cream for a late night snack.
These foods can stop your fat loss dead in its tracks. In addition to all of the sugar and salt these products contain, soy has an estrogenic effect in the body.
Excess estrogen binds to the fat cells and causes an increase in the size of estrogen-sensitive fatty tissue such as belly fat.
#2 Food to avoid on a vegetarian fat loss diet:
Flour products.
This list of fat loss no-no’s includes: breads, pasta, muffins, cereals and just about all other baked goods.
These foods increase a hormone called insulin in the body which directly promotes fat storage.
Flour also has an inflammatory effect in the body. The last thing you want is inflammation in your joints. Inflammation can cause pain and
prevent you from staying active.
#3 Food to avoid on a vegetarian fat loss diet:
Cheese.
Cheese contains animal based saturated fat which has a negative effect on your carbohydrate metabolism.
In the presence of saturated fat, ingested carbohydrates are directed to your fat cells for storage instead of being diverted to
your muscle cells for energy.
Vegetarian diets are typically higher in carbohydrates and anything that interferes with their utilization should be minimized or
completely avoided.
So whether you’re a vegetarian or not, it’s still best to eat a wholesome diet of fruits, vegetables, healthy fat, and healthy proteins. You’ll notice that all three foods she mentioned, (soy, flour and cheese) are not whole foods and are best eaten in moderation, if at all.
shelli
Keeping your muscle as you age is ESSENTIAL!
I don’t use the word ESSENTIAL very often, but in this case I’d yell that first line I wrote from the rooftops.
Maintaining muscle will keep you healthy, fit and functional, and I guarantee the quality of your life will be so much better if you pay attention to this advice.
Unless you do something to prevent it, you’ll lose muscle as you age.
That makes you susceptible to a host of health problems, including fat gain, sexual dysfunction, and depression.
Here are two steps you can take to rebuild or maintain your muscle mass.
1. Eliminate Aerobics.
I know I’m taking on a sacred cow here but there are different kinds of aerobics. Research shows that low-exertion, long-duration aerobic exercise causes muscle loss and actually shrinks your heart and lungs.
So, unless you are in training for a marathon or long distance race, do this instead.
Your exercise routine should include short bursts of high-intensity exercise with gradually changing intervals over time. It’s the most effective way to burn fat and obtain a muscular body with functional strength.
For instance, this morning I went swimming. I didn’t swim a steady long distance.
Instead, I treaded water for a minute and then swam 30 strokes, treaded again and swam again. Over and over again. I did this in the ocean so I got my heart rate up with the 30 strokes and then used all the muscles in my body for treading.
Be creative and create your own high-intensity intervals.
2. Take Muscle-Supporting Nutrients.
You can also take nutrients daily to build and maintain muscle. Some of the best include:
- Protein (as the main focus of every meal). Your body needs protein to maintain your muscles and support new muscle growth. Throw away carb-heavy snacks and snack on protein snacks instead. A piece of celery with some almond butter is a good snack. Or an egg and a few nuts.
- Creatine Creatine increases speed, performance, endurance, and strength. It increases the amount of muscle you build during resistance training.
- L-Arginine (500-1,000 mg a day). L-arginine is an essential amino acid that builds strength and muscle mass.
- Carnosine (500 mg a day). Made from two amino acids, carnosine helps protect the integrity of your muscles and makes sure new muscle will be healthy and will last.
- Glutamine (5 g a day as a powder in a shake). This amino acid helps stabilize energy levels and boost the production of natural growth hormone in your body. That tells your body to shed fat and build muscle. It also helps prevent muscle breakdown.
Remember, supplements are to “supplement”. Always, always eat real food first. Don’t eat poorly and then think supplements will make up for the rest.
That’s never good for creating optimum health or a muscular body.
shelli
Do you know much about why it’s important to balance your bacteria?
Do you struggle to lose fat, even though you’re eating a healthy, clean diet and getting plenty of exercise?
If so, there’s something else you might need to be paying attention to: balancing your bacteria.
Your gastrointestinal system is home to trillions of microbes that carry out dozens of essential functions. They train the immune system, synthesize vitamins (including B vitamins and vitamin K), and regulate hormones.
And research shows they affect weight, too.
While the “good bugs” in the intestinal tract (Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus) promote digestion and elimination, harmful gut bacteria (including Bacteriodes and Clostridium) slow the motion that propels food forward, causing stagnation and weight gain.
The good news is that “friendly bacteria” can crowd out those fat-storing flora. All you have to do is feed them the right food.
What’s the right food?
Boost your friendly flora with a high-fiber (especially soluble fiber) diet that’s low in sugar. Aim for at least 60 percent of your food to be fresh (not processed), and always opt for organic and naturally raised meats.
Again, this balancing out of your bacteria might just be what you need to pay attention to in order to reach your fat loss goals.
shelli
One question I get very often from both women and men is, “How can I firm up my backside?” They don’t always ask that question using such polite words, but that’s what they mean.
I’ve met very few people who don’t want a better looking butt!
Most of you are familiar with lunges. You see lots of women doing lunges, whether in gyms or on the street.
Often it’s a good idea, but unfortunately I see a lot of bad execution.
The right way to do lunges is one leg at a time.
Do not alternate between both legs or do walking lunges.
It is hard on the knees, and it doesn’t take advantage of the mind/body connection that focusing on one leg at a time can give you.
Here are some lunge tips for you:
1. Work out the muscles on the first leg with both mental and physical focus.
2. After you do one leg, do the other.
3. Rest one minute. Then do a set of 20 squats using dumbbells or just your body weight.
4. Repeat the lunge exercise, one leg at a time, then the squat. That should be plenty for most of you. You’re done!
That’s two super sets: two sets of one-legged lunges and two sets of squats. That’s it. You can do it in less than 10 minutes.
Not only is this a great exercise for your legs, but your butt will be screaming for mercy. Try this and let me know what you think!
shelli
If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time you know how I feel about eggs. I love ‘em!
So let’s take a look at why.
As I’ve said before, I’m not sure any food takes more of a beating than eggs! Did you get that pun?
When the media goes crazy over cholesterol, eggs get cast alongside full-fat cheese and fatty meats and heart unhealthy villains.
Today, however, the tide has turned and eggs are on the culinary and nutritional wonder-food lists. I’m even noticing that more and more people are raising their own hens.
So why the change of heart?
Eggs are making a comeback because:
1. Eggs are nutrient dense and a good source of all-natural, high-quality protein. They provide 13 vitamins and minerals and are only 70 calories each. That’s a nutrient dense food!
2. Most of the fat in eggs is unsaturated.
Here are some answers to the questions about eggs I receive most often.
1. How many eggs can you eat in one day?
Evidence shows that consuming one egg per day is fine for most healthy people. Of course if you have cholesterol issues, see your health care provider about this.
2. How much cholesterol does one egg have?
The average amount of cholesterol in a grade A large egg is 185 milligrams. The better the feed given to the hens, the lower the cholesterol in their eggs!
3. What is the difference between AA and A grade eggs?
For our purposes what is important is that there is NO difference in nutritive value between the different grades of eggs.
4. When I make a recipe, what is the size egg I should use?
Most recipes are written for a standard large egg.
5. Is there any difference between eggs with different shell colors?
The breed of hen determines the color of the egg shell. There is no nutritional difference between eggs due to their color.
6. What is the difference between certified organic and regularly produced eggs?
Producers who market organic eggs must meet standards established in 2002 by the National Organic Standard Board. The organic eggs are hormone free and the feed the hens are given is free of most conventional pesticides and commercial fertilizers.
7. What’s Shelli’s favorite way to eat eggs?
Good question! Let’s just say, so many ways to enjoy eggs, so little time!
