When one decides to set out on that road towards fitness, you are first confronted with a fork in the road. Already at this point you are setting yourself up for success or failure, whether it’s a conscious decision or not.

Choose the “Magic Bullet” and you are choosing a path to unfulfilled promises and guarantees. Choose the path to fitness as a lifestyle. It will be a much rockier journey, but ultimately one that will help you reach your goals.

If it’s too good to be true it probably is. More times than not, when you hear about some promise to get your body to look the way you always wanted it to, but with half the amount of work, you are probably going to get half the results. If you are not prepared for hard work and discipline then you are not prepared to make any changes to your body.

The “Magic Bullet” approach is appealing because it offers you an immediate solution with little or no discipline. It requires no responsibility. You simply put yourself into a system, and the system tells you what to do. You don’t need to think, understand, or learn you just need to suffer. They some how seem to promise all of the answers some how you never seem to find them.

There’s a reason why the largest concentration of books at Barnes N’ Noble is in the diet section, they don’t work. Use common sense, look for long term health and fitness goals. Prepare yourself for a lifetime of change.

It is unavoidable, wherever I go when people find out what I do for a living; inevitably the questions come pouring in. They range from the most absurd; If I walk around in heels am I getting a good leg workout? To the more common ones such as, How do I get a flat stomach?

It seems as if a fitness consultant’s opinion is in higher demand these days than any other profession. Well I am going to share with you a secret, the only thing you need to know about exercise and how to make it work for you, one word, SLEEP.

It seems so simple and obvious, yet nobody seems to understand. How can you expect to get a good workout in (let alone your daily functional activities) without a good nights rest.

If you’re thinking you can function on back to back 5 hours a night sleep, you’re probably thinking like somebody who just got back to back 5 hours a night sleep. If you think you can get a quality workout in under those circumstances, you’d be the first.

Essentially all you are doing is cheating yourself. Your body and mind will never reach its full potential, and guess what you’ll never look and feel your best. The harder you try to exercise the deeper the hole you’ll dig.

If you want to regenerate your muscles and mind, sleep the proper amount of time.

Put down the Blackberry. Switch the computer to hibernate, turn off the television and shut off the cell phone. Even if it that means you don’t finish the rest of this thought…..you can’t do it, can you?
We’ve all become slaves to the technological culture that we have created for ourselves, a technological paradox if you will. What was supposed to be created to connect all us has now isolated us to our unhealthy selves.

That’s not to say that technology is not without its merits. After all, I would not be able to reach any of you if were not for it. However, all of these are more excuses why you are yet to get to the gym. Why you have yet to start that new exercise routine you have promised yourself long ago.

It all adds up. So you stay a little bit later in the office that day, one more person you need to Facebook, one more you tube you need to download, one more video you need to watch. All of these moments in time added up could easily equal an extra workout during the week or at the very least, an extra ten minutes on the treadmill.

Break free from the shackles of technology. Spend a little time on yourself. Take care of yourself, better yourself by undoing all of the damage you’ve done to you posture sitting at a desk for ten hours a day. Stave off the tide of carpel tunnel syndrome from hammering away on the Blackberry. Put those backs, hands, feet and every other part of your body to good use.

We are the only mammal created to stand on two legs, yet we’ve done everything to regress back to our pre-historic posture. Unplug.

Let’s take a moment to unlock the two most powerful demons that all of us seem to possess. Let’s use both of these demons to our advantage. Let’s take two negatives and make them work for each and every one of us, respectively.

Fear and guilt predominates our society in almost every institution. While I can’t offer a solution for the economy, or even our political climate, I can provide a solution when it comes to exercise, and that solution is to use both fear and guilt to our advantage.

Let’s be honest with ourselves, Fear and guilt are two of the more powerful vehicles that get us into the gym. Why not just recognize it, accept it, and embrace it. It may be as remedial as a fear of being overweight, to a fear of overall health deteriorating, to a fear of ending up with a debilitating disease.
In either case we have all experienced some form of this, and the guilt that we feel afterwards. The guilt we feel when we don’t follow through on a promise that we have previously made to ourselves. The guilt we feel when we have not reached a goal we have set, or simply the guilt that we feel after ordering that dessert.

We’ve all been there before and done nothing about it. Now is your chance to change all of that. Embrace your fear and guilt. Use it to your advantage by creating a motivator. Use it to achieve success.

1. Add flavor to meals without added fat by substituting low sodium chicken broth for oil or butter when cooking rice and pasta dishes.
2. Get more fiber and lower your chance for heart disease by exchanging whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, millet) for white rice and cous cous.  Cook them like rice and add to soups, salads, and stir-fries.
3. Add “no salt added” canned beans (easier and just as healthy as dried beans) to any meal for an economical and tasty fiber and protein boost!
4. Yogurt is a healthy choice, but be sure to get plain low- or non-fat Greek yogurt to avoid extra sugar, then sweeten naturally with stevia, honey, or berries. 
5. Answer your cookie cravings with healthier cinnamon graham crackers!
6. Candy doesn’t have to be off-limits, but control your portions by enjoying a 60 calorie Tootsie Pop or even two Mini York Peppermint Patties (100 calories/2 g of fat). 
7. Veggie chips aren’t as healthy as the look!  Make your own by spraying pieces of kale with cooking spray, sprinkling with sea salt, and baking at 350 for 10-15 min.
8. Avoid the calorie and sugar surprise of smoothies by making your own! Mix in a blender 1 container of 0% Greek yogurt, ¼ cup skim milk, ½ cup frozen fruit, 1 packet stevia, ice as needed.
9. Eat breakfast! It is the easiest way to lose weight, start your metabolism burning at full speed and prevent over-eating later on in the day!
10. An ideal lunch or dinner plate is ½ veggies, ¼ lean protein like fish, chicken or tofu, and ¼ complex carbohydrates.

Brought to you by Amy W. Shapiro, RD CDN
awsnutrition.com
amy@awsnutrition.com