Three days ago on June 30th we hit the “half way” point of the year. Geez…..where did the time go?? Half of 2009………gone! Time flies.

I know we’re smack in the middle of summer and many of us can get out of our normal routines and fall off the fitness wagon due vacations, family visits and who knows what else.

However, this “half way” point is a great time to take stock of where you are with regard to your health and fitness. Are you where you want to be weight-wise and health-wise? If not, what have you done (or not done!) in the first half of the year that you need to change in order to improve your health and fitness or drop some body fat? Would you like to be in better shape in December than you are now?

Well then, DO something about it! Don’t wait until the holidays this year to realize you’re still overweight, out of shape and needing to make some massive New Year’s Resolution in January. Take some action NOW. Take some steps right now to improve how you look and feel.

I’ve got a little freebie for you here that can help you focus and re-start your efforts towards feeling and looking better. It’s a page from my soon-to-be-released book, “Ready for Prime Time in Less Time: The Ultimate Get Slim Guide for Boomer Women”.

Remember a few posts ago I talked about that fact that what you focus on grows? Well, my little gift to you today is something I give all my San Jose personal training clients when they start with me. I included it in my book for boomer gals because it’s the best way I know how for getting you to focus on what you DO want! I’m giving it to you here, as it’s my way of nudging you to get focused and take action.

It’s a simple goal sheet that will help you organize your thoughts (what you want) and your actions (what you’ll do to get what you want). If you’re not sure what to do to get what you want, leave a comment here and I’ll do my best to help you!

You can download it by clicking HERE.

Now, get to it! What changes are you going to make in the second half of 2009 in order to arrive at 2010 looking and feeling younger, leaner and more fit????

Leave me a comment below and share with your fellow boomers what you’re going to do!

Committed to your success,

Becky

A couple of posts ago, I let you in on something I do with my “Fit and Fabulous for Boomer Women” FitCamp that I run here in San Jose. Each month I have a theme for the camp–and I mention it a lot in class.

I guess I’m really just a teacher at heart. I’m continually trying to send them away with “take home” messages (as well as take home workouts, healthy snack ideas, etc. I guess I kind of go overboard with the teaching thing!). It’s my way of trying to help my campers get the results that they’re after. I talked about “Focus”, this month’s theme in an earlier post, but I wanted to share with you our previous themes as well, as I’m hoping they will help you as you work toward better health and fitness in your boomer years.

Last month’s them was CONSISTENCY. Whether we’re talking eating behaviors or exercise–consistency matters. Exercising for three days and then putting it off for three weeks won’t get you noticable results. Eating well for two days and then eating poorly for the next 5 won’t get your belly to flatten. What you do consistently (whether it’s good for you or not!) shapes your body.

My campers who are more consistent outside of class with healthy behavior changes are the ones that enjoy the best results. Consistency is key whether we’re talking weight loss, muscle development, or decreasing back pain. You have to do your exercises regularly, you also have to make consistent behavior changes. Consistency will pay off for you BIG TIME with lifetime results.

Notice I didn’t say perfection. I said consistency. You need to consistently work on this stuff (”stuff” being eating well most of the time,and sticking to some sort of exercise routine). I’m not a big fan of quick weight loss schemes, as they usually have you eating things or doing things that are hard to maintain over time (think: The Biggest Loser). However if you can consistently work towards better eating habits and exercising regularly instead of trying the next hair brained scheme to lose 25 pounds in 15 days, you’re going to have long lasting results. I believe consistency wins over “all or nothing” types of behaviors every time.

I use this theme of “consistency” to drive home the concept of a fitness lifestyle. It’s the choices that you make MOST OF THE TIME that are dictating how you look right now as you read this. If you’re not where you want to be physically right now, it’s due to consistently making poor choices with regard to your health and weight.

So, I ask you now, what can you begin to do consistently over the next few weeks to bring yourself to a higher level of fitness, or a lower level of body fat?? I’d love you to leave a comment so other boomers can read what their peers are going to do to take their fitness to the next level.

Committed to your success,

Becky

In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need to take a multi-vitamin. Through good, clean eating, we’d get everything we need. But most of us don’t. We’re busy. We eat on the run sometimes. We don’t eat the variety of fruits and veggies that we should every day. This is why I recommend that every boomer woman take some sort of a multi-vitamin.

Not everyone understands WHY vitamins are so important for their body. I asked Registered Dietitian, Jayson Hunter, to give us a brief explanation of what certain vitamins and minerals actually do for us. Here’s what he had to say:

Vitamin A - This vitamin contributes to the health of your eyes, skin and nails.

Vitamin B - While B vitamins are often referred to as “energy vitamins” they don’t actually give you a surge of energy, per se. What they actually do is help facilitate metabolic reactions in the body to create energy. They’re also necessary for a healthy metabolism.

Vitamin C - This vitamin is a great antioxidant and immune system booster. It also helps skin health.

Vitamin D - Helps women absorb calcium. And it may help prevent certain types of cancer.

Calcium - It’s actually a mineral, not a vitamin. It helps you maintain your bone density, and may also help in weight loss efforts.

I get asked all the time by women which vitamin supplements, if any, they need to be taking. Great question. It’s a personal decision, but I do recommend that you take a multi-vitamin that has these four characteristics:

1). Look for a multi made for women. I like gender specific and to some extent, age specific vitamins. Men need less iron and calcium than we do. Younger women (in child-bearing years) may need more folic acid. Older folks may need more B vitamins.

2). Look for a broad range multi that has vitamins AND minerals. Look for 100% of the Daily Value of all the vitamins on the label. I like to see a multi with all of the B vitamins (B1, B2, B6 B12) and trace minerals like boron, zinc, copper, iron, chromium, manganese and zinc. If you eat a lot of cereal or energy bars that are fortified, be careful, though. You may be doubling up on some vitamins or minerals).
3). Your multi should contain a hefty dose of antioxidants: Vitamins C, E and beta carotene.
4). Look for a multi with whole food nutrients.

Remember that a multi-vitamin is supposed to be used as a supplement to a good nutrition program—not as a band-aid for poor nutrition.

I take Prograde Nutrition’s VGF 25+ for Women, because it meets all the above requirements.

It’s a really unique formulation because it’s literally made from 25 veggies, greens and fruits. You should definitely check out Prograde’s Women’s Vitamins .

At the very top of the page is the list of ingredients. You can see the 25 whole foods they use to make VGF 25+ for Women.

Because you read this blog, I know you’re making an effort to eat well, exercise well and age gracefully. Do yourself a favor by choosing a multi-vitamin that will support your efforts at living and eating well!

Committed to your success,

Becky

A few months ago, I started something new at my FitCamp for ‘Boomer’ Women here in San Jose. I choose a “theme” for each month. During classes, I mention the theme and how it relates to my campers improving their fitness and getting the results they want from camp. Then it dawned on me……I should be sharing these monthly themes with YOU!. Sometimes I’m a little slow on the uptake.

From now on (or at least until I run out of ideas for themes!), I’ll be sharing my monthly theme with you to give you ideas on how to continue on your path of feeling good and looking terrific.

The theme for June is FOCUS.

I believe that what you focus on grows. I’d like you to focus on what you DO want. Sometimes we tend to focus on what we don’t want (e.g., “I don’t want to be out of shape”, “I don’t want to continue binge eating”). This can be counterproductive. By focusing on what you DO want, you will subconsciously begin to change your behaviors and actions. What you want will be at the “top of your mind”. Remember, what you focus on grows–if you focus on what you want—you’re way more likely to get it!

Change your negative, “don’t want” stuff into positive stuff. For instance, I can take the two negative statements above and change them into positive ones on which to focus:
-I want to be fit and healthy
-I want to work on healthier eating habits

See, that was simple!

What will YOU focus on this month??

Committed to your success,

Becky

Summer vacation time is just around the corner. I hear many people tell me that they get out of the workout mode when they travel. It doesn’t have to be this way! I recently took a trip to Southern California with my family and created a great workout “on the fly”. It was a lot of fun. Try something like this on your next trip out of town. You don’t need a gym and you don’t need equipment!

It’s a beautiful, sunny day here in San Jose and I just finished cardio interval workout in my backyard. It was fun, simple and used only a jump rope, so I thought I’d share it with you.

I warmed up on my stationary bike inside my house for about 5 minutes, then grabbed my jump rope and some water and headed out the door. Here’s what I did:

Jump rope- 2 minutes
Body weight squats 45 seconds–rest 15 seconds
Jump rope- 2 minutes
Fast lateral shuffles * 45 seconds–rest 15 seconds
Jump rope- 2 minutes
Toe taps on my back porch step 45 seconds–rest 15 seconds
Jump rope- 2 minutes
Walking lunges 45 seconds–rest 15 seconds

* I shuffled laterally about 15 ft right then left as fast as I could
** These are fast alternating toe taps on a step–think of a soccer player tapping a soccer ball

I repeated this routine 2 times through, cooled down a bit and then stretched.

If you’re a beginner, simply shorten the jumping intervals as well as the calisthenic intervals.

I varied my jump style when I was jumping rope so that I didn’t get bored or jar my knees too much, and I drank water about every 5 minutes or so during the rest period. If you don’t have a jump rope, you can just do the jump roping movements without a rope, or jog/skip around your back yard. BTW: I highly recommend adding a jump rope to your exercise equipment arsenal. It’s a great cardio and bone building exercise! You can get inexpensive jump ropes at Perform Better.

This workout took me a little over 20 minutes from start to finish and the time just flew by! Changing your activity every few minutes (and varying the intensity) really helps make the time go by quickly AND you burn more calories than if you just hopped on a treadmill and walked at a moderate pace.

Make it a great day!

Yours in health,

Becky

After my last post about Vitamin D, I received a comment from a reader that I wanted to share with you.

I don’t know how many of you click on the comments area, so I asked permission to re-print her comments here. Here is her story…

I had an experience with Vitamin D deficiency that I wanted to share with you. I was struggling to get my blood pressure under control. It was consistently too high in spite of eliminating salt, losing some weight and consistently exercising. My doctor tested me for Vitamin D deficiency and we found it was quite low. Four days after I started supplementing with Vitamin D-3, my blood pressure was in the normal range and consistently remains there without blood pressure medication. I was thrilled!

Debbie S.

Wow. Powerful stuff, huh?

Now, please don’t run out to your health food store and starting swallowing large amounts of Vitamin D supplements just yet. That’s not the point of my bringing this topic up. In fact, you need to be careful with Vitamin D, or any fat soluble vitamin for the matter, because ingesting too much could be harmful. Unlike water soluble vitamins which will be excreted in your urine if you ingest too much, excess fat soluble vitamins are stored in your body. So, you always want to be careful when adjusting your supplement intake. That is why I recommend you talk with your health care practictioner to see if adding additional Vitamin D to your supplement regimen makes sense. My point with this post and my previous post is simply to make you aware that there is research out there that is indicating additional Vitamin D may be beneficial. It’s a good conversation starter at your next check up!

So, to recap, these are the take home messages about Vitamin D:
-It’s hard to get enough from food.
-Current RDA for Vitamin D is 400 IU, but most experts are recommending it be raised to 1,000 IU.
-Research shows there are significant health benefits of Vitamin D supplementation in some populations.
-Many individuals may be deficient in Vitamin A and they don’t even know it. A simple blood test can detect whether you are.

Thanks again to Debbie S. for sharing her story!

Have a great weekend,

Becky

I’ve been reading so much about this lately, that I think we’ll see a change in the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for Vitamin D within the next few years. Currently the RDA is set at 400 International Units (IU). This is probably the amount in your multivitamin. Some researchers are calling for the level to be increased to 1,000 IU.

Why? They’re finding that increasing blood levels of Vitamin D can have very positive health benefits. Boomers, take note, as many of the health benefits concern things that those of us “north of 40″ deal with!

More notable health benefits:

-Decreased discomfort in arthritic joints
-Better cognitive function
-Improved function of your immune systems
-Decreased risk for Type 2 diabetes
-Improved bone health
-Decreased risk for breast, colorectal and ovarian cancers

Studies suggest that up to 58% of us may be deficient in Vitamin D. How do you know if you’re deficient? Ask to be tested the next time you visit your health care practitioner.

It’s hard to get enough Vitamin D from food (often dairy and cereal products are fortified with it though). Your body can synthesize it’s own Vitamin D if you get enough exposure to sunlight, but that isn’t possible for all of us all year around. Supplements will most likely come into play for individuals wishing to increase blood levels of Vitamin D. Most researchers suggest supplementing in the form of Vitamin D3.

It’s never safe to add large doses of supplements without first consulting your doctor, but I’d recommend you do ask about whether supplementation would be beneficial for you at your next office visit. The benefits look mighty encouraging and well studied.

I’ve already talked to my internist and have started adding additional Vitamin D3 to my supplementation program.

Yours in health,

Becky

I believe that most women fail to maintain weight loss when they go on a diet for one main reason:

Diets are temporary

Some last a few days, some last a few months. At some point the diet ends, and you go back to eating the way you did before.

Healthy eating habits, on the other hand, can continue on for a lifetime. What’s more……….

-They don’t involve deprivation
-They don’t require you to be hungry all the time
-They don’t require complete elimination of certain food groups

Healthy eating habits can be developed over time. Small changes over time (as opposed to drastic measures taken all at once) turn into long term habits. Long term habits are what create long term weight maintenance.

It really is that simple.

Change your eating habits over time—-change your body for life.

Or…..

Change your eating habits temporarily—-change your body temporarily.

Which would you rather have????

Before you decide to try yet another diet, try this approach:

-List a few areas in which you think your eating habits could be improved. Pick just one area and list several things you could do over the next few weeks to improve upon this poor habit. Work on doing these things as consistently as you can for the next 3-4 weeks. At the end of the 3-4 weeks, pick another item from your list, and go through the same exercise.

Work on one thing at a time………..and you may never have to “diet” again.

Committed to your success,

Becky

P.S. An exception to my rule about diets is the “Dress Size Reduction Diet” by Registered Dietician, Jayson Hunter. Although he has included the word “diet” in his book, it really is a program that you can stick with in some form for the rest of your life. If you need a “program” to follow in your weight loss effort, please click on the book cover over there on the right. Jayson has written an excellent book that teaches you how to eat whole, nutritious food and get the junk out of your eating plan.

This is one of my pet peeves with regard to exercise. I often see people doing ineffective exercises at the gym. In extreme cases, I worry people are going to hurt themselves. I’ve ranted here about this before. Now, I’m ranting about it at another website ( I’m an invited author there—honest!!!)

I’ve ranted about why boomer women may want to re-think utilizing an “all machine” workout. Don’t get me wrong, some “machine” exercises are okay (depends on the machine!), but by and large, getting off the machines is a good idea for those of us north of 40.

I explain why here: Becky rants on “all machine” workouts

Make it a great day,

Becky