First Health Info

Life can have a way of making you feel not good enough. Whether from past circumstances or negative self-talk, it can really be a continual upsetting existence. If you let it... I have struggled with the feelings of not being good enough to understand how destructive it can be to your confidence and well-being. I decided years ago this was no longer going to define me. It was probably one of my healthiest life-changing decisions. Health and fitness require acceptance of who you are now in order to make the changes to become a better you. Your journey can't be about what everyone else is doing and worrying about what they're thinking. What matters is what you're doing to improve your life and how you feel about you. With me? When it comes to fitness and especially workouts, I make them my own. I do what works best for my body and life. My  About Me  section explains why certain medical issues require modifications to some of my exercises. I worked through lots of emotional a...

Life doesn't promise easy, fair, happiness, or even health. In fact, life is hard and guess what, work is required and never an option. It's up to you to create the lifestyle that you want to live. This isn't going to be found in a jar, pill, powder, or shake. If popping a �fit pill� provided the body of your dreams, I certainly wouldn't be writing a health blog. Sound evidence has supported the best way to achieve a fit body is through a healthy lifestyle. This would include consistent healthy food intake, regular exercise, plenty of rest, water, and balance of life. Sounds like a great plan and very doable. The problem is many of you still aren't willing to put in the work. Nothing tastes better than healthy feels, remember? So, what gives? Great marketing has convinced you there's a quick fix to fitness . This strong belief in false guarantees has taken away your drive and motivation to get fit the right way. False claims only provide false hope, take your mo...

There are plenty of articles telling you how to get fit, but what about things you shouldn�t be doing to accomplish this goal? Healthy and fit individuals follow certain strategies to achieve results and maintain their bodies. What exactly are they not doing that you can learn from to get fit? 1. Procrastinate Waiting wastes your time and negatively affects your health. If you want to get fit, it will take action starting now and not tomorrow. Fit individuals don�t wait around for things to happen, they make fitness results happen. 2. Make Excuses Excuses don�t burn calories or improve your health. You want to improve your fitness but keep coming up with reasons not to do the work. Fit people understand the importance of their health and make it a priority. 3. Go on a Diet Going on a diet only provides short-term results and lots of frustration. Weight loss may happen initially but returns, plus some, when the diet is over. Getting fit requires a nutrition lifestyle change and this mea...

I'm definitely a guide, not a goal. Your fitness is an individual journey to become your best healthy self. That means you won't look like me nor will I look like you. Believing you can accomplish the goal of looking like someone else isn't realistic, possible, or the point of getting fit and healthy.  What I provide is motivation and guidance on adopting a healthy lifestyle which is an amazing opportunity for me and you. Agreed? During my early school years, I didn't always feel the best about myself. Through this time, I found motivation  and encouragement from my physical education teachers and coaches.   They made me feel accomplished and inspired me to do more and be more.  It was at that young age I wanted to be like them. I wanted the ability to make young people feel inner strength, confident, and happy.   I felt strongly my goal in life was to be a P.E. teacher. Of course, I couldn't climb into their bodies and become them but imagining being the...

What comes to your mind when you hear the word 'commitment'? I think about commitment and how it not only matters in my marriage but also in my fitness and overall health .  They both take dedication and work, right?  Think about that: if you cheat on your marriage, it will not work�if you cheat on your health, it will not work�see what I mean. In order to maintain a happy, healthy relationship, it takes commitment, effort, and work on a consistent basis.   In this journey of life, I have learned what I do and don't want. I certainly have found a gem in my husband and cherish our relationship as a top priority.  I feel the same way about my fitness. I realize my body is a precious gift worthy of my time and attention so I can live a healthy quality of life.  Commitment is a word that I don't use lightly. It's a promise that I will maintain my relationship in a healthy way with my hubby and with myself.  I don't need a special Hallmark day in my life t...

Once we reach our fitness goals, are they really done? I hope the answer for all of you is a big NO. Staying fit through maintenance of living a healthy life is the real goal.  Without maintaining our fitness, what was all the hard work for? Life is the event deserving of our best healthy self. Sure, we may be motivated by a special occasion or fitting into a swimsuit, but those are only short-term goals.  Staying fit through maintenance means we are in this for the long haul. We have committed ourselves to a lifestyle of health and enjoying a quality life through the process.  I walk the walk of maintenance every day and would be a hypocrite to my clients and you if I failed to do so. Living a fit and healthy life is a continual process of eating right, regular exercise , and plenty of rest. When you work hard to lose weight, reduce body fat, and gain muscle, just letting all that go doesn't make sense. For example, it has taken me decades to develop mature muscle and wi...

Stress is the ugly part of our life package deal with no opting out button. Some individuals manage stress in a healthy way without impacting the quality of life. On the other hand, it can become a chronic problem with negative physical and emotional side effects. Studies indicate stress can increase our risk of hypertension, heart disease, and weight gain. Many of us live in a constant state of stress caused by our jobs, personal life, or financial strain for example. Sadly, it's becoming an acceptable and normal way of life. We walk around with shoulders to our ears, adrenal glands working over time, and our body suffering the consequences. Stress breaks down the  body  by elevating our cortisol levels causing increased blood pressure and waistlines. If you're wondering why weight loss has been so difficult , you may want to evaluate your stress. It can adversely affect our fitness and health. In order to reduce stress, it' s important to implement healthy  st...

I have had the opportunity to research and prepare an article on Orthorexia Nervosa, an undiagnosed eating disorder where healthy eating is taken to an unhealthy extreme. Have you ever wondered if clean eating can become obsessive or unhealthy? Unfortunately, it can and not because it's a food issue but a psychological condition where an unrealistic view of food is adopted. After sharing the article on Facebook , I received an outpouring of emails from people struggling with the disorder or tendencies to the behavior. I was deeply moved with the many thanks for addressing the issue and providing awareness of the Orthorexia condition. There was also quite a bit of backlash and reference to Orthorexia being 'bullshit' and just another money making for the doctors. Many came to the defense of clean eating as if this lifestyle was receiving a bad rap. I consider myself a clean eater but there's a difference in healthy eating and healthy obsessive eating. When our eating fo...

Fitness includes so much more than weight loss or achieving a personal best lift at the gym. Being a fit person involves discipline for each day, creates awareness, and instills conscious living. It means being mindful of how you treat your body, how you think, and feel. Fitness is a lifestyle and goes way beyond the physical. Living this way starts in your mind and pushes you to live a quality life. It's not just a desire but daily actions chosen moving you closer to becoming a healthy person. When your focus remains on health, you can truly say you're living a mindful healthy life.    We put so much pressure on ourselves to squeeze into skinny jeans or tank shirts and tend to forget how being fit is supposed to feel. A fit and healthy body should feel good but instead many of us accept and accommodate pain on a daily basis. In this case, the focus isn't on health and often with a temporary goal based on outward appearance. Healthy lifestyles are meant to be enjoyed for a...

The truth about health and fitness is we either want it or we don�t. Let�s face it, many of us come up with reasons not to exercise or eat healthy. We even sound pretty convincing. Unfortunately, all the reasons in the world eventually catch up to us in the form of illness or injury. What we fail to realize is how much our lifestyle impacts our health .The food we eat, how we move and rest our body is truly our medicine. Many of us continue to walk around in an unhealthy body and come to accept this existence. We are missing out on how good we're supposed to feel and look. Our body reflects our lifestyle. True story. I want to believe all of us have a strong desire to be healthy people. Working in the health and fitness industry, I certainly hear this loud and clear. We talk about wanting to feel and look better , but what continues to be lacking is the action required to make this happen. More often than not, healthy living isn't a priority. Living a life of excuses will not c...

Face it, we're all responsible for our health and fitness. I'm not talking about medical illness out of our control, but the everyday individual who has the ability to get healthy. This is the majority of us, right? In this world of comparison, it appears many of us want someone else's body instead of our own. Why is that? It really is a projection of what we want for our own life but not willing to put in the effort. That may have hit hard, but let's get down to the honest truth about our health and lifestyle . You may be tired of hearing 'what's your excuse' but the question is somewhat relevant.   Instead of owning the behaviors creating an unhealthy body, we tend to place blame where it doesn't belong. We blame our spouses, friends, and even media personalities for spouting unrealistic goals. Are they unrealistic or just our way of justifying the state of our health? What it comes down to is no one but you and I can make health happen. It's an in...

Face it, we're all responsible for our health and fitness. I'm not talking about medical illness out of our control, but the everyday individual who has the ability to get healthy. This is the majority of us, right? In this world of comparison, it appears many of us get pissed off at the accomplished fit woman or man at the gym, online, or in a magazine. Why is that? It really is a projection of what we want for our own life but not willing to put in the effort. That may have hit hard, but let's get down to the honest truth about our health and lifestyle . You may be tired of hearing "what's your excuse" but the question is somewhat relevant.   Instead of owning the behaviors creating an unhealthy body, we tend to place blame where it doesn't belong. We blame our spouses, friends, and even media personalities for spouting unrealistic goals. Are they unrealistic or just our way of justifying the state of our health? What it comes down to is no one but you a...

I was reading my daily devotion today on the subject of intentions. I was immediately drawn to the title and felt it was speaking to me personally. Can you relate? We all have good intentions, dream about fulfilling them, but somehow they get pushed aside and forgotten. Well, not really forgotten, because they continue to dance across the pages of our thoughts. At least this is the case for me. Are you guilty of not following through on good intentions to make something happen? Starting that fitness program or promise to eat healthier ? As I read further, I understood the importance of  writing down the intentions, to begin a plan and follow through with action. Moving from intention to action takes a plan. This applies in most everything in life from painting the house, spending more time with family, to adopting a healthy lifestyle . It's really staying true to taking care of the important things in life. What has helped me is setting up challenge systems where I complete three g...

What do I mean by looking like myself?   Well, I have certain genetics and a lifestyle contributing to what I look like. I'm not supposed to look like anyone else including other fitness women in magazines. Back in my competitive days, I do admit to more than admiring fitness competitors and felt I needed to look like them to win. I struggled with my body not responding the same way as another competitor. It was an unrealistic way of thinking . The girls in the magazines don't even look like the girls in the magazine. Straight up the fitness truth. I'm so happy to have learned through that insecure journey. I have come full circle with knowledge, age, and wisdom.   I embrace who I am and what I look like. I strive to be my best me and not anyone else.   It would be such a stressful life to constantly compare myself to all the beautiful women out there. Life is too short to think unrealistic thoughts or goals. Did you know all images in magazines are photoshopped?...

Keeping a food journal can be your best friend and accountability partner when learning how to implement a healthy nutrition program.  It can also feel like a burden depending on your commitment level.  I have heard it all when it comes to food journals and the love/hate relationship caused when keeping track of every morsel. The problem is really not the food journal, but the issue of not wanting to be honest with ourselves.  W hen life is going great and our program is on track, we gladly write down every healthy bite and proudly share eating habits producing positive results.   On the other side of the spectrum is feeling guilty eating off track and not wanting to write it down. We even convince ourselves somehow not writing it down means it didn't really happen. We tend to have moments of forgetfulness when we stop being mindful of our eating behavior.  The truth is regardless of what we want to include in our food journal, our body keeps an accurate reco...