To exercise or not when you are sick is a question I get a lot. And probably with the winter flu season that may be ahead of us probably a good question to address. Ultimately I think it is a question only you and your doctor can clearly answer. However I will be happy to give you my thoughts on the matter.
Whether or not you exercise has a lot to do with the type of illness you are battling at the time. A lot of times we feel bad simply because we have not had enough to eat or had enough sleep or our stress levels are high. These are the exact times you want to try to kick in your workouts. You will get that immediate energy boost and usually this will lead to better eating habits. And exercise will generally help lower stress and give you that all over feel good feeling.
Coughing, fever, vomiting, achy body and stuffy nose are all symptoms of something truly going on in the body. These are days you just have to bite the bullet and take a day off.
Illness lowers the body's immune system as does exercise, so naturally not a very good combination.
When you aren't feeling well figure out where your symptoms are coming from, and either go to the gym and kick your butt when it is just stress or skip it and give yourself time to heal when it is the flu.
Stay Motivated,
Karen
Filed under Health Secrets & Tips by 
It Could Only Happen at the Gym
You signed up for a gym membership because it was the right thing to do. You thought this is gonna be so good, I am gonna get in shape, I'm gonna loss weight, I'm gonna feel good, I will start to eat better, my clothes will fit again……….
What could go wrong?
You had such good intentions when you joined the gym 6 months ago. What happened? Generally, drastic things as seen in the above video are usually not the problem. Lack of motivation, improper instructions, lack of guidance, time and other higher priorities are more likely the cause.
Before begining your next improved health quest, do yourself a favor and make a list of all the possible roadblocks that could stand in your way. Once you have your list, start coming up with possible solutions for each roadblock. (Roadblock is the polite term for excuses by the way).
Once you can honestly answer all the questions to all the possible excuses you can come up with you know you are ready to begin.
I always tell my kids it is not nice to laugh at someone else's misfortune, however in this case the video would not have been posted if the person did not want us to enjoy it. Good luck with your next health quest, let this be the most successful.
Stay Motivated,
Karen
Filed under Miscellaneous by
Is Your Child an Athlete?
Do you have children who play sports? If you do, and it doesn't matter the age, you will need to read the letter. As a parent you want the absolute best for your child and you want your child to be the best at everything they do.
Think about that statement for a second.
On both accounts you are stating something that is next to impossible. Not only will it be almost impossible to give your child the absolute best in every case, your child is not going to be the best at everything they attempt.
By thinking this way we are making it hard on ourselves and very difficult on our children. In fact we sometimes make it so hard, we can't just sit back and enjoy the things are kids are participating in. I am just as guilty as the next parent, I am on my kids all the time to practice harder and play better.
Sometimes I forget they are just kids. I also forget they are not me, just because they don't want to spend their entire day with a basketball in their hands like I did, doesn't make it wrong for them. As a parent I need to just sit back and let them choose what path is right for them. With that being said we are still the parents and it is up to us to make sure our kids get the correct amount of exercise needed daily.
Make it a point to read the letter before your child's next big game, you will probably enjoy the game more and your child will definitely enjoy the ride home better.
Stay Motivated,
Karen
Filed under Children & Teen Fitness by
A Healthy lifestyle consists of what?
I hear this comment so often, I wanted to throw my 2 cents out on the table. I believe you can take that phrase 2 ways:
- The person is genuinely wanting information about how they can lead a more healthy lifestyle. Or
- The person thinks I am crazy when I suggest they exercise, eat right, get to bed earlier, drink less, visit the doctor more often, stop worrying, quite smoking, take your vitamins, drive slower, laugh more, go green, drink your green tea, take your omega III, get a less stressful job, and quit fighting with your spouse.
Does it really take all of that to live a healthier lifestyle? Living a more healthy lifestyle can mean a lot of different things, there isn't any one cut and dry answer. Just changing one unhealthy factor in your lifestyle is going to lead to better health.
For me, one of the worst things I do for my body right now, is not get enough sleep. We are on the run all the time, our kids generally have us going in different directions almost everyday of the week, and that's not to mention our busy schedules. Who has time to sleep, I have to watch Gray's Anatomy.
The best advice I can give, is to take inventory of your current lifestyle habits and go from there. Make small incremental changes every month that take you closer to your goals. We will never be perfect, so you are always going to have things you can do better, don't stress it and work the things you can.
A free resource I love to send people too is The Real Age Test. It is a series of questions that help identify weak areas in your lifestyle. The great thing about the test is, it not only gives you insight about the weak areas, it gives you realistic things you can do to help fix the problems. Give it a try and see if it can help get you going in the right direction.
Taking care of your health is the most important job you have. Without your health you are left with nothing. Not a very valuable asset to your company, family or friends.
Stay Motivated,
Karen
Filed under Health Secrets & Tips by
As promised here is the video for the intermediate metabolic workout. It is important to remember this workout is not for the beginner (or the weak at heart). I'm still recovering from yesterdays workout so if you pay attention you will even catch a few wobbles from me in the video.
I used an 18 inch bench for my bench jumps, if you don't have something high enough to jump on that is stable you can jump over things. Pillows are great for jumping over, if you miss you have a soft landing and if you get tripped up jumping over, the pillows will usually make it so you do not fall down.
You will want to do this workout for 45 seconds on and 20 seconds off. Repeat for 4 circuits and take a 1 minute break at the end of each round. Change the parameters around a little bit if this workout is to hard or to easy.
The advanced level workout video will be in my next post.
Stay Motivated,
Karen
Filed under Exercise Video Clips by
