Being in the moment.  What does that really mean?  I’m sure that if we ask a 1000 people, we’d get some very similar answers.  You thought I was going to say a 1000 different answers didn’t you.  Well, I think most people can understand what being in the moment is about.  Actually I think it’s a lot of things that are rolled into one.

First let me just say that I think the majority of people today tend to take life too fast.  Or maybe they let it pass them by without taking advantage of the good things all around.  We live life in a fast paced world.  Mom’s and Dad’s are rushing to work driving liking mad to get there, barely avoiding tickets or sometimes an accident with another car, feeling the wrath of the driver behind them on the back of their neck.  Blazing through a very long work day only to come home, grab the kids and rush them to soccer, dance class, piano class, or some other sort of event and stopping along the way to grab a “Fast Food” meal at the local burger joint on the corner.

When was the last time you really sat down and relaxed with your family or friends, not worrying about the world around you?  Or when was the last time that you looked at life and decided to live each day to the fullest by filling that day with good things shared by your closest love, family or friends?

Sometimes we need to leave the hassle and stress behind and enjoy those around us.  Actually I’ll restate that by saying lets enjoy those around us ALL the time.  Recently while walking my Husky in the neighborhood I found a small gathering of adults and kids off to the side of a field.  Curiosity getting the better of me, Sam and I walked over to see what was going on.  To my surprise, there nestled among all the kids sitting on the grass and adults standing around was this deer.  Surprisingly it was curled up in the grass, allowing the kids to pet it like our trusted cats and dogs.  Reflecting on this as I watched the deer remain calm and relaxed, enjoying the comfort of the kids and the carrot snacks it was munching on from it’s new found friends I took notice of all the happy faces around.  The adults with not only a look of awe, but of quite pleasure at something that just doesn’t happen in a lifetime.  The kids beaming brightly and smiling with a part of wildlife that has chosen to sit with them for a spell and share in each other’s comfort.  The deer to his credit, was relaxed, jaws working back and forth on the carrots, accepting the rubbing on its back from the kids.  Maybe even knowing that a new found relationship was in the making.

Even Samson my Husky was unnaturally mellowed out and accepting of the deer’s presence. Oh the deer knew he was there alright, even as close as 6 feet at times.  Wow, what a time of enjoyment for everyone, living in the moment, finding happiness with all those around in a situation that not normally happens.  But finding these moments and others may not seem as hard as you may think.  So getting rid of all the distractions and busyness and making an effort to say to yourself I’m going to live in the moment, live each day fully and enjoy life with my love, or my family or my friends should be something we do more of than the other.

The end of this moment found the children delighted and happy with having befriended this deer.  The Adults, tucked this moment away in their hearts to recall time and time again as they live life.  The deer, well whose to say that it wasn’t an Angel in disguise bringing happiness and joy to those around.  If not, then I’m sure the deer walked off in to the night, with a full belly and a warm heart being in the presence of those who normally have other intentions and a new insight of these two legged animals.

As for me, well, I too was awestruck and happy at having experienced this.  Living each day to the fullest has taken on new meaning for me lately in the most wonderful of ways.  But this story I will save for another time, because it deserves the limelight all it’s own.

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The Roller Coaster of Life

Whoa …. WOW …. just coming off the “Manta” at Seaworld in Orlando i found myself in awe of just how great a ride that was.  Climbing the hill being held upside down in the seat, my weight baring against the restraints as I’m looking at the ground, in great anticipation of that first drop and rapid increase in speed.  Twisting, turning, dropping, corkscrewing, inverting and looping through all kinds of curves on one of the smoothest of rides I’ve ever felt was and exhilarating experience.  If you’ve never gone, then you need to “do it” at least once.  But you know what ….. that was a choice I made to ride the ups and downs of the roller coaster.

But since this Blog is basically about health, wellness and fitness, you just know I have to call you out on the ups and downs of our lives as it relates to the nutrition we eat or the exercise we do.  Any given day I can walk around and look at people and see their lack of fitness or their example of a good fitness routine in your life.  That goes for food as well.  I have great sympathy for those around me, because I KNOW that daily life is a struggle with these things.  It really is at times like a roller coaster ride with all of its peaks and valleys.  Sometimes we make a good effort to eat right, only to fall off the wagon and get right back into a slump of bad habits.  Don’t get me wrong, I include myself in this too. The same thing goes for fitness as well.  But here I see a great struggle for most people.  With having spoken with hundreds of people now, I can see that of the people I come in to contact with each day, probably only 5-10% of them have some sort of workout routine that they stick too.  It’s very sad in a way, when we think about our bodies and how it’s the one thing carrying us through life, yet 90% of people i see, are not doing anything to protect their bodies and strengthen themselves so that they can eat, live, work and play with less fear of injury.  WOW …. why do we do this to ourselves?  Complacency is one I think, but there are others, …. like stress, fast paced life, laziness, lack of knowledge and so on ….

Finding a healthy balance in eating is one thing and a lot of people can stick with it, but finding a workout program and sticking with it seems to be more of a struggle.  They’ll start a routine, and only after a few days give up, but then months later pick it up again, then drop it again riding the roller coaster of fitness decisions.

So here’s a few words of encouragement to you.  Find a work out program at home and muster all the mental strength you have and “do it” for 15 days.  I’ve noticed that if you can stick with something for that period of time, you’ll generally be on the road to more successes than failures.  That’s how I approach doing things in my life and have found great success.  Lastly, if one day you skip and don’t workout and you consider that a failure, then in your mind, forget about it.  Take the next day, a brand new day as the day you will succeed and move forward instead of letting past failures promote future failures.  Each day is a bright new day to succeed in whatever it is you are doing, so wake up with that mindset and you’ll put yourself on the fast track to success.

If you found this post helpful, insightful or maybe even just silly, then give it a “Tweet” and feel free to comment below!

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Life is a puzzle some times, …is it not?  We just can’t quite figure out how to take the next step.  We know that we want more or need to have something else in our lives, but just don’t quite know how to get there.  Or we keep that thing in our lives that continue to holds us back from taking the next step.

Now all of you know that I’m about fitness, nutrition, goal setting and at times,  here to offer my experiences in life, ….about life,… to you.  I hope that you will find something that you can take away to encourage you to take the next step.  But dog gone it, sometimes life is a riddle, or a puzzle that has many moving parts.  Where do I start to figure this puzzle out is a common question.  And…really…the first step is the hardest right?  Or just trying to know where to start.  So my encouragement to you about that step is…….. stop sitting on your butt and do something.  Anything!  Make a move to figure this thing out, even if it’s an uncertain move.  No move at all is inaction and unless you’re some sort of brainiac that can figure it all out in your itty bitty head before hand, then I really need for you to be writing this article.

But even as puzzling as life is, we tend to make it harder.  So, take the first step and then, maybe, just maybe the next one will present itself to you and help steer you along.  So you’re asking yourself, what the heck is he talking about…. Well, I’m glad you asked.  This puzzle could be how to figure out what you need to do in starting that exercise routine you’ve put off for 30 years, or finding out how to start eating right after a lifetime if dining under the golden arch’s.  Or it could be that next move in life at work, at home, in that relationship or frankly how to get that dang dog from peeing in the house.  But until you are willing to take the first step, you’ll never see the second one.

So, I’ll finish here by talking about this little video.  A very few of you may know that I like to work with wood and build boxes.  Some of them are puzzling to say the least.  From taking a log in the woods, to planning a design, cutting and preparing the material and then working on the box itself trying not to make cuts out of sequence and ruining the whole project and then seeing it’s completion only to say ……..What the heck, I don’t even know how to open this darn thing I just made………  well not really, but you see life is that way some times.  We make of it what we want of it.  I’m all for setting a new course direction, especially when I love where it’s headed.  It’s a puzzle no doubt…….but I’m taking the first step.  How about you?

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What do we eat in a day? Hmmm ….  Most of us go through the day and work hard, play hard and grab bites to eat here and there.  I know, we all live fast paced lives at times and it’s difficult to keep track of everything.  The kids need to go to daycare, the dog needs walked, the groceries’ need to be put away, got to go to the dentist, have to take the kids to soccer, music lessons, the doctor, have to go to work and on and on and on ….. I’m tired just thinking of it all.  And in between we eat.  If it’s not fast food, it’s rushed through at the dinner table with us hardly having time to talk with our family and share the day’s events.

But what do we really put in our bodies each day?  I’ll say it up front,  some of you do a great job of watching what you eat and how much.  But for the vast majority of you ……..  think again.  People stop by the golden arch’s and grab coffee, bacon and eggs, hash browns,  biscuits with who knows what on it, Danish’s , and that’s just to start.  On to school or work, we get there, more coffee, candy or crackers from the machine, doughnuts from the kitchen, bagels with cream cheese and on and on.  We haven’t even got to lunch, dinner or all the snacks in between.  So what’s my point?

My point is that we eat too much.  (As a general statement of course).  Honestly people, have you even tried to figure out how many calories you’re consuming?  Not to mention the right nutrients that your body needs instead of what we tend to feed the craving little guy buried deep in our body that screams out “I WANT THAT HOT FUDGE SUNDAE”.  I remember a long time ago listening to Bill Cosby when he produced comedy skits on record.  For those of you who don’t know what a record is …. It’s that black circular vinyl thing with grooves in it that music used to be recorded on.  Sheesssshhh another 10 years and that will totally be lost on ya’ll.  Anyway, Bill Cosby had a skit where his wife was pregnant and Bill kept trying to give the yet unborn child things to play with, such as asking his wife to swallow a ball so the kid could play, etc.  Then from the babies point of view, when the mom was eating healthy, the baby cried out ‘get those Brussels sprouts outta here, and so on”  He just wanted the junk food that tasted good that mom would eat………..I digress so …..   The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) says that every State in the country has a large population that is obese with a BMI of 30lbs or more.  We’re gaining, not losing.  Very sad.

So, let me just say that if you want to lose weight, you must take in fewer calories than you burn in a day.  I’ll refer you to a prior article to help you figure that one out, but let’s just say…..those coca colas are not helping!  Also, starving yourself is not helping.  Did you know that your body literally shuts down on you if you stop giving it food?  Yep, the little guys inside keeping you running start chatting with one another when their food source stops.  They raise mortal cain for awhile.  They convene a little board meeting and planning session and determine that since you are not going to feed them, they’ll just shut down your metabolism, slow it way down and then they decide to burn your muscles for fuel instead of the fat you were trying to get rid of.  Why should they burn the fat, hey that’s their winter protection, like the bears and other hibernating animals.

So there is a happy medium and a way to get the little guys active again (That’d be your metabolism).  Eat right, eat often (about 5 small meals a day spaced evenly) and you’ll find that your metabolism will kick into gear and with the right foods, your sugar levels will be maintained on an even keel and couple that with the correct calorie intake, you can either maintain your weight or lose some.  So what’ll it be, a life of hibernation or a life with high energy and a kick ‘in metabolism?  You choose!

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Hi There!  I’m so glad that you stopped by for quick bite! Well, at least maybe I’ll make you a bit hungry after this post.

So why is it everyone I see says they just can’t eat healthy when they go out for lunch or breakfast or dinner.  Bah!  Humbug I say!  Where’s your spirit of adventure?  Where’s that quest for the 66 lb. turkey hanging out in the market?  Will it take a Bob Marley to lead you by the hand to find the good out there?  No I say ………Okay, I got carried away a bit, he, he…. But seriously folks, you can eat well at restaurants.  You just have to look close at the menu and become educated.

Now I’ll post some well known restaurant menus items in a future article so you can really see what you’re eating, but look at the few things I found below.

Waking up early here on the Sun Coast, hopping in my little convertible and blasting over the St. Armand circle bridge I head to a favorite of mine, “The Blue Dolphin”.  Two of my favorite people in all of Sarasota, Pam and Alex greet me warmly as I enter the small café’.  Well known in all of Sarasota for having some of the best breakfast fare around, I quickly find a seat before the rush sets in.  Pam slides in the booth with me and we enjoy catching up on what’s been happening and the news of her daughter and such.  Pam knows my order by heart and places it with the chef.  So you see in the picture a huge omelet with egg whites, spinach and tomatoes. Oh my gosh!  The taste is incredible!  They must use 8 to 10 egg whites and I literally have to be wheeled from the café’.  Order a side of whole grain toast and you’ll be sure to start your day off right.  Now just do the same at your local café’.

For lunch I find a local restaurant serving a mix of American fare.  Once again treated like a King, they seat me in a booth by the window and promptly take my order.  This time I’ve ordered fish tacos.   Now at one time I really wasn’t a fan of these, but have quickly caught on.  Halibut, shredded cabbage tomato, and their sauce on tortilla.  Okay, now the tortilla and sauce could be nixed, but I generally only eat one with the tortilla and the rest I leave on the plate.  Sometimes I do sacrifice a tad, but all in all it was a great lunch with not too much to be guilty for.

For dinner I found Vino E Pasta.  The owner and maitre d’ seats me in the corner.  Now is that the power table or is the center table in the room, hmmm.  Ordering snapper, grilled with tomatoes, herbs and onions, with a side of pasta I complete my day of eating out with a renewed since that I can do this and still eat well.  Once again I forgo most of the pasta so I’m left with a very healthy meal and getting some of those Omega 3’s that we all need.

So can you do it?  Do you want to do it?  That’s the question.  Do you think that triple burger from Wendy’s and being super sized with the fries and cola are going to get you to the weight you’re looking for?  Well if that weight is upwards than be my guest.

But don’t be surprised some December night, late, late at night you hear a rattling sound, a chain clunking down the hallway, mist rolling under your door and you find me materializing right in front of you saying in a loud voice what your life could have been like if you had only chosen the right path.

Okay, again,……seriously, make some healthy choices today!  Your body will love you for it!  Please take amoment and SHARE this post bu clicking below and then just give it a little “Tweet” up top.  Thanks!

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Okay maybe it’s just that Love / Hate relationship but certainly it’s not one  of those workouts that I’m thinking of the night before and just jumping at the chance the next day to start.  You don’t agree?  Well maybe you’re not giving yourself the intensive cardio workout that your body is needing.

On a scale of 1 to 10 during your workout, what level would you say you are at if 10 is you can’t hardly breath and feel like you’re going to puke and 5 is pretty much just ho, hum?

So, these workouts typically aren’t fun for me.  And running, come on people, what’s up with that?  I hate it!  Did I just put an exclamation mark at the end of that sentence?  I did!  I just can’t help it!!!  Breathing hard, legs burning and your chest feeling like it’s about to explode.  Who loves that?

Now some of the cardio that I do is intense I have to admit.  It’s not for your average Joe, but really anyone with a desire and commitment can do it.  Take Insanity for example.  This program is aptly named because it truly is an INSANE workout.  Jumping, squatting, hopping around, up and down, plyo this, push up this, jeesh you would have thought I was back in boot camp, only 100 times worse.

But here’s a couple of good thoughts from my dear friend Tony Horton (check him out in the video below).  “You’re only good at the things you do often and you become great if work at the things you struggle with most”.  And I also agree with him that I don’t really enjoy these workouts but they’re important and I do them anyway!

So I’ve rambled on a bit about why I hate cardio.  But it is the one thing my body, my heart and my mind crave.  If I don’t feed them this particular thing, then they all will fall into a state of disrepair and unfortunately the worse that can happen is that my heart decides it’s the weak kid on the block and gives me grief for it.

You all know deep down that the easy low intense cardio that you’ve been doing isreally not helping you to burn fat.  That is one of the goals of doing cardio.  Studies have shown that high-intensity training and especially when combined with an interval workout can burn up to 9 times the amount of fat as other cardio workouts.  Further enhance this fat loss by doing them in the morning on an empty stomach and you’ll have the effects of the workout throughout the day to help burn fat.

So the morale of the story here is to “Do It Anyway”.  Regardless if it’s a little or a lot, just do it!  And if you need some motivating, shoot me an email and I’ll love to partner with you in your success.

If you found even just a tad bit of this post useful, please share it with a friend.  You can click “SHARE” below and then maybe give it a little tweet up top!  Thanks!

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What makes some people so successful in their career or life’s pursuits where it seems that everything they touch turns to gold?  On the flip side, how come a lot of other people we know seem to struggle and toil over the same issues time and time again?

Let me propose to you that the first person knows something or has something that the second person does not.  Would you agree with that?  I think most of you would.  So what is it?  That’s the million dollar question.  If you could just find out what that thing is and how you can get it, that would be the real solution to all your struggles in life.

I’ll pose a few scenarios to you;  And since this site is really about fitness, the first one will be about that …Why is it some people never manage the time to stay in shape, while others run a few miles each day even though their lives are just as busy?  They have the Slight Edge!  It’s there in your life whether you know it or not.  It’s either working for you or against you.  Your health is the most prized possession you have.  Yet many people don’t give their prized possession the attention it deserves. You wouldn’t expect to eat a double cheeseburger for lunch and then keel over with heart attack from it.  Not today and not tomorrow.  But a lifetime of that type of eating will certainly put you on that path.  So it’s not the 1 junk food meal, it’s the thousands over a lifetime.  Eating fresh fruit, complex carbs, lean protein and such will give your body what it needs. It’s easy to eat right and it’s easy to not eat right.  Both are easy, but in the long run they have dramatically different outcomes.

The same is true for exercise.  Not doing a bit of exercise for a week or so, won’t put your body in sad shape, but a lifetime of no exercise will certainly put the pounds on. A few workouts a week, twenty minutes here doing a fast walk or run, doing some resistance exercises here and there, all add up to what your body needs.  Both of these examples show the slight edge in our life.  A little bit each day will either reward us, or put us on the wrong path.  Yet the day we do it, just that one day in time doesn’t have much of an effect.  The days add up and the slight edge has worked for us.

The second example is finances.  It’s the same story a lot of you have heard.  Two people age 24 talk about retirement and how to invest to make a million bucks by age 65.  One takes steps, small as they are and invest 2,000 dollars a year for 6 years.  The other just meanders through life not giving much thought to retirement and then meets his friend again at year 7.  He asks his friend how he’s doing and how are his investment plans going.  His friend says ‘I’m all done!”  At age 65 by the magic of TIME his friend will have a million dollars even though he doesn’t have to invest 2 cents more here at age 31.  So the friend who didn’t start investing wants to be in the same shape and starts his trek towards the million dollars at age 65.  The only difference is, he now has to invest 2000 dollars a year until he’s 62 to reach that mark.  His procrastination cost him 33 years!

So the slight edge in life can have a profound effect.  But it’s never to late to start.  It’s not simply “Will Power” that will get you there.  All it is is TIME.  Do a little each day, regardless of the goal and you will achieve it.

So get off your (you know what) and get on the “Slight Edge” of life and succeed!

If you enjoyed this post and hopefully found it useful, please take a moment and click “SHARE” below and give it a little Tweet up top.  Thanks!

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It’s a bird, It’s a plane, It’s a Blog, no it’s a “Green Goddess Smoothie”!

Okay, not your typical blog here, but who ever called me typical?  But I did want to share this AWESOME little smoothie with you from my good friend Valerie Waugaman.  She might be seen flying high and be mistaken for a bird, or a plane, but she’s really “Siren” on the American Gladiators.  She’s also known in some circles as the “Green Goddess”.

I had the awesome chance of connecting with her and prying her weak little arms apart …NOT… away from her secret recipe for a smoothie concoction that is sure to set your day off right.  Now don’t turn your nose up, or start getting that green around the gills feeling.  This smoothie is VERY good!

So here’s the recipe.  Also I’ve included a short video of my friend and fellow Beachbody Coach.  Enjoy the drink and the show!

Green Goddess Smoothie

4oz.   Blueberry Pomegranate juice (other juice optional)

6oz.   Lite Vanilla Soy Milk (reg. milk optional)

1        Kiwi  (with the fur)

4-5    Strawberries

1/8    Lime

1/2    Medium Avocado

3 cups   Raw Spinach leaves (well packed)

1 scoop   Vanilla protein powder  (my current favorite is Beachbody Whey Protein)

Dash    Vanilla extract

10 drops   All natural Stevia sweetener, to taste (can be ordered at Sweetleaf.com my favorite is the vanilla creme stevia liquid)

1 cup   Ice

Blend all ingredients except ice.  Then add ice and blend.  Enjoy!

Here’s my friend Valerie in real life and as our favorite Super Hero! And you can find her at http://www.valspace.com  and don’t forget to SHARE this with all your friends if you enjoyed it.  But if it made you turn green ….then we may just have to go speak to the “HULK”!

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Motivational Monday’s

Hallelujah!

This one is just going to speak for itself!  But let me say, whether it’s getting out bed and trying to get started in that ‘thing” you’re going to do today, maybe working out, getting the courage to eat the right meals today, trying to put down the butterflies for that speech you’re giving or just knowing you have to stand up in front of a crowd and speaking or in this case singing from your heart.

My good friend Edward Elliott posted this on faceboook of Diane Hochman’s daughter and I grabbed it off of the authors Youtube, so I hope it encourages you today as it has me.  Enjoy ….  and PLEASE don’t forget to hit the Share button below and Tweet at top.  Thanks!

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Dessert Overboard

Oh my gosh!  A moment of weakness. Totally lost control.  What?  Dessert overboard that’s what I’m calling it.  We’ve all been there.  We’ve all had that moment of weakness after a nice meal and then came the server with these tempting desserts to really push you over the edge.

That’s what happened to me when my wife and I were invited to the dining event at a Mitchell’s Fishmarket before opening day of their new location in Winter Park, FL.  We were happy to attend, especially since all the food was free.  Driving up and then walking in we were treated like we were really worth something,…boy if they only knew … LOL.  We ordered some really great dishes.  She had the Salmon and I had Alaskan King Crab.  Both were great and had some nice steamed vege’s on the side.  So now I’m thinking we didn’t do too bad as far as calorie counts, then came the hook.

Our dessert choices were explained and these to were….yep….FREE.  Jeepers, who can pass up that?  So in for a penny, in for a pound…literally!  I think it was called “Sharkfin Pie”.  Oreo cookie crust, butter fudge ice cream, honey roasted peanuts, fudge and peanut butter.  Like I said “Oh My  Gosh”!  The calories in this had to have been in the red zone.  I know that there must have been a paramedic waiting in the kitchen for me to collapse from either dessert overload or cardiac arrest.

So here’s my point of all this.  Yep, I had a moment of weakness.  But I’m not beating myself up over it.  I did it, I was satisfied and I’ll move on towards a more successful day tomorrow, which I had by the way, especially with all the guilt…LOL.  Seriously though, it’s okay to splurge occasionally.  Get it out or in, and get over it.  But I have one word of advice to all of you who go to this restaurant and try this dessert, SHARE.  Please visit my earlier post on “Healthy Eating Habits” too.  I know I need to.

And please have fun sharing this post too by clicking the SHARE button below and maybe giving it a little “Tweet” up top.  Enjoy!  Yum!

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