Fitness Motivator, February 15, 2003 Volume 3, Issue 2

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to it. If you would like to be removed from this mailing list, please see the instructions at the end of this newsletter. Our subscriber list is NOT made available to other companies or individuals. We value every subscriber and respect your privacy. This newsletter is published once a month, usually around the 15th.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Welcome to all our new subscribers, and I extend my appreciation to everyone who forwards this newsletter to friends. One friend telling another is how we grow, and I deeply appreciate your support. If you know anyone who might like it, please forward this newsletter to them or send them this link: http://www.exerciseyourwillpower.com/FitnessMotivator

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

January has flown by. I hope you have been setting mini-goals as well as have been striving to keep your new year's resolutions.

If you are discouraged, you may have set unrealistic resolutions. It may be time to do some soul searching as to what you would like to accomplish this year. Realize that the year will zoom by and you can either be right where you are now, or you can be somewhere along the path toward the fulfillment of your goals. Either way, a year will pass.

Take a little time to write down some of the things you would like to accomplish and the reasons why. Then write down several steps you will have to take to achieve those goals.

Start each day by visualizing yourself having reached these goals. Make this as detailed as possible. It might be a good idea to run a scenario in your mind of a challenge you may be anticipating that day. Then see yourself handling that challenge in a proactive way. See yourself being successful.

If you start with mini-goals and reach them, you will feel proud of yourself. This can cause you to keep working toward, and reaching, your goals since success breeds success.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

" The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Selecting Personal Trainers…
What You Need To Know!
By Phil Beckett

If you've ever thought about hiring personal trainers for your fitness or health needs there is a lot that you should know and need to know.

Certified personal trainers are individuals who have the knowledge, educational training and capability to know how to design an exercise and nutritional program to fit your individual needs and wants.

Before you can decide between the many personal trainers available, you have to determine if this is something that's right for you in the first place.

Here are some questions you should ask yourself.

- Are you uncertain how to operate all the equipment at a gym or with your home gym equipment or what equipment you should be using in the first place?

- Are you unsure if you are seeing any results?

- Has your progress come to a halt?

- Do you have difficulty going to a gym or exercising at home even just three or four times a week?

- Do you have difficulty motivating yourself during each exercise session?

- Do you feel a need for more guidance to get better results?

- Do you know where to start with your fitness program?

If you do feel that you aren't going to reach your specific fitness goals, aren't putting the maximum effort into your exercise sessions, you aren't getting the maximum results from them, or you answered yes to any of the above questions, you may need to sort through the thousands of personal trainers out there and find one that fits with your unique needs.

All personal trainers who are professionals must be certified by an accredited professional health and fitness organization.

Personal trainers will differ in educational background, cost, personal philosophy training and consulting practices.

When you first meet with personal trainers, they will find out exactly what your goals are, then develop a program to help you achieve them. With the guidance from personal trainers you usually are able to achieve your results in a short time.

With most personal trainers you can get the individual attention you need for the motivation, guidance and results you want.

Personal trainers don't just train movie stars and CEO's of large companies anymore.

More people are working out with personal trainers now than ever before, and for good reason, since most personal trainers can make the difference between a great workout and no workout at all.

Good personal trainers are very affordable and can help you reach your goals regardless of what those goals may be.

What's a training session like with personal trainers?

When you first begin, most personal trainers will go over your fitness and health goals with you in private.

Some items of discussion may include:

- weight loss in general;
- body composition;
- cardiovascular conditioning;
- general body shaping and toning;
- muscular conditioning;
- lean muscle increase;
- health concerns;
- strength;
- injury prevention and rehabilitation;
- lower-back conditioning and strengthening;
- flexibility training;
- expectations, etc.

Your goals are different from anyone else's, so your exercise and nutrition program has to be individualized to your specific needs.

Most personal trainers can design a program that's just right for you for both long-term and short-term goals.

Are there any benefits to hiring personal trainers? The biggest benefit with personal trainers is motivation.

You need more than just fancy looking exercise equipment to reach your health, fitness and weight loss goals. You have to be able to exercise consistently and make all of your exercise sessions worthwhile.

Most personal trainers are able to help motivate you into sticking to your plan and keep you focused on your objective.

The expertise that personal trainers have permits him or her to customize and personalize an exercise program making it very specific to your goals, wants and needs.

Personal trainers can also help to teach you correct form, which is critical for you to reach your goals and also reduce the chance of injury.

If you can't seem to find the time to exercise, most personal trainers can figure out a schedule that will work for you, and come up with ideas to help you eliminate any other difficulties that you may have.

Yes, using personal trainers does have several great advantages, but there is a better and much more affordable way...

Stay tuned!

Phil Beckett is the author of The New Women's Guide To Successful Weight Loss & Fitness. He's helped thousands of women with their weight loss & fitness goals over the past 14 years.
Visit http://www.womens-health-fitness.com to contact Phil.

Back to Table Of Contents

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Do you find yourself eating food when you're not even hungry? I've noticed that others, myself included, often eat food without even stopping to assess whether we're hungry or not. I encourage you to get in touch with your body and eat only when you need to. This entails being aware of your body's needs and not eating food if you're not hungry.

When I speak to people who maintain a healthy weight level without any real effort, I find one of the keys for them is they only eat when they're hungry. If they're not hungry they don't eat. This group of people generally find it hard to understand how the rest of us can eat food if we're not hungry.

As most of you know, when we eat food when we're not hungry, this is usually being triggered by something else which is going on in our lives. One of the first steps to identifying these triggers and dealing with them is for you to be aware of the times when you're hungry and the times when you're not.

This will take some time and effort to start with, but as with any habit, it becomes easier over time. Eventually, you will unconsciously go through the process of determining when you're really hungry.

First, you need to start thinking consciously about your hunger levels. I would suggest that in your mind or on paper you create a ladder with 10 rungs and label each rung with a level of hunger, according to what feels right for you.

For instance, rung 1 might be "I've just eaten and feel full up." Rung 2 might be "I ate an hour ago and still feel satisfied." Rung 5 might be "I'm starting to feel slightly hungry." Rung 7 might be "I'm feeling hungry now and it would be a good time for me to eat." Rung 10 might be "I'm absolutely starving and want to devour anything."

The wording of these rungs needs to suit you and reflect yourself. I suggest that round about rung 6 or 7 is when you really start to feel hungry and therefore it's appropriate to eat. Rung 1 should be not needing to eat at all and rung 10 needs to be the other extreme, where you're far too hungry.

When you want to eat food, take a look at this ladder and determine for yourself where you are on it. If you're on a low rung, perhaps your urge to eat is being triggered by something else and it would be beneficial to take a look at this.

I would suggest the best time to eat food is round about rung 6 or 7 when you're genuinely hungry and need food more than anything else. I would also encourage you not to get to rung 9 or 10 before you eat, or the hunger you're feeling will overwhelm your good sense and you're likely to overeat in order to feel satisfied.

When you get that hungry, eating reasonable quantities of food seems to go out of the window. This level of hunger causes your blood sugar level to drop and affects the ability of your whole body to operate efficiently, especially your brain.

Also, when you reach this stage, you'll probably grab any food that's going, rather than making healthy choices. The idea isn't to get to the top of the ladder quickly and be able to eat what you want!

When you find yourself thinking about food to eat, I encourage you to use this ladder and ask yourself a few questions. Where am I on the ladder? What am I going to do about being on that rung? For example, if you're not hungry, what else is prompting you to eat?

If you're on rung 4 or 5, do you have healthy food available when you move up a couple of rungs? What do I most need at this moment?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Achievement is largely the product of steadily raising one's levels of aspiration ...
and expectation."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In just a moment, I am going to give you the key that will unlock any fitness goal you may have now or any fitness goal you may have in the future.

No magic, no potions, no screaming "Eureka, I've Found It!" No fluff, just a fact. Are you ready for this secret, the one that will unlock any wish or desire you may have regarding fitness, weight loss, muscle gain...etc.

O.K. here it comes. Want to sit down for it? The key to everlasting weight(fat) loss is:

Yes, weight loss, muscle gain, any fitness goal you may have is simply a choice that you make. In fact, I could end this article with that said (some of you probably wish that I would ;-)

Anything you want in life, any goal or desire can be yours if you simply choose to go after it. Things just do not fall into place naturally and without effort. Yes, they do fall, just not where you want them to.

You must first "think" of what it is you want and then choose to go after it. And if you do not get what you want?

After you choose it, if you are persistent enough and work hard enough, whatever you wish for can be yours.

The better choices you make, the better your life will be. You can choose to slim down and fit into those jeans or you can choose that piece of cheesecake.

You can choose to get behind the wheel after drinking or you can choose to hand the keys to a friend. Some of the choices you make have a long lasting and dramatic impact on your life forever.

Regarding weight loss, muscle gain, and fitness, how can you make sure that you are making choices that will help your efforts, not hurt them? Easy, follow a plan of action that has already helped many others achieve their long lasting fitness and weight loss goals. Bottom line, if you choose to go after something, you can be assured that it's within your reach because others have already accomplished it.

Any problem that you may face in life, chances are that someone has faced it and has already battled and conquered it. Just follow what it is they did to come out on top. If losing some weight (fat) is one of your priorities, you can rest assured that many others have already done it.

So the question of whether or not it's possible is not an issue. It's just your turn to go get it.

Where you are today is the result of all the choices you have made up to this point. If you want better, you must make better choices. You can either move ahead or stay behind.

Want to gain muscle, lose body fat, and get a great body quicker than you ever thought possible? Visit http://www.shawnlebrunfitness.com to see how!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

If you need more motivation and some group support, feel free to subscribe to the Exercise Your Willpower mailing list. To get more information, visit our website at: http://www.exerciseyourwillpower.com

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*