Direction for Life While in College

Here's a question from a family friend:

Hi Mrs. Kent! (wow - makes me feel old!!!)  Hope you're doing well. I was hoping you could answer a quick question for me. Due to a busy semester, I haven't been able to work out as much as I normally like too. I'm now trying to get back into shape, but my eating habits always hold me back. What foods would you recommend incorporating into a diet and/or what foods would you recommend staying away from? - just in general. And do you recommend equal focus on cardio/weights? Or emphasize one over the other? I'm not trying to bulk up. I just am working to get "fit". If anything, I normally do more cardio. In my prime I was doing 15-25 miles a week. I would like to focus on being a good runner, with an emphasis also on strength. 

Here's my answer:

Change your diet if you want to change your weight.  Change your exercise routine if you want to change your body.

It's easier to say, than execute however, but there is a way...here are some suggestions.

You say, "my eating habits always hold me back".  So, I propose to you...why?  Of course, your response is going to be, "I'm weak.  I eat poorly. I like pizza.  I eat out a lot."  etc...  And I say to you that it's your choice.  YOU are the only one responsible for what you put into your body.  You are what you eat, so a great extent.  OK, enough of the lecture.  You want a list of things to do:

Nutrition

1. Eat more lean protein.  Hard boiled eggs (skip every other yolk) and chicken top my list.  Both are lean.  You're in college, so cook up a 1/2 dozen eggs and a 1/2 dozen chicken breasts on Sunday.  Dice and slice the chicken and put in baggies in the freezer for a ready source for sandwiches, salads and main dishes throughout the week.  Eat an egg or two for breakfast every day.
2. Eat vegetables.  You may not have liked them as a kid and may not like them much now, but give them another try.  Vegetables are the mainstay of livelong wellness.  They are chock full of vitamins and minerals and are low in calories.  Vegetables fight cancer and other disease, provide antioxidants and fiber to fill you up without the calories.
3. Eat fruit.  In fact, fruit is a great snack.  Bananas are great for athletes because of the potassium.  Choose fruits that are easy to eat on the go:  apples, grapes, bananas and oranges.  
4. Smoothies are a great snack...go with frozen and fresh fruit and greek yogurt (for added protein at a low fat/low calorie option).
5. Stay away from processed foods...these are white flours, white sugars and fast foods.  They will be the death of you.  They convert readily to sugar and eventually fat and offer NO or VERY LITTLE nutritional value.  This list includes:  breads, pizzas, most frozen snack foods, cookies, crackers, chips, sodas.
6. Recognize your "pitfalls".  Know what they are.  Avoid situations where you encounter them.  If you can't avoid those situations, know mentally that you have a choice...you don't have to partake of late night pizza parties, video games and munchies and more.  Armed with knowledge and resolution, you can enter situations socially and avoid the extra calories.  That's called eating to live, not living to eat:  an important lesson to learn.

Exercise

1. Be active wherever you can.  Walk or ride your bike to classes...it all adds up.
2. Workouts don't have to be 60 minute grunt sessions in the gym.  Sometimes a 30 minute workout will do the trick.
3. Maintain your strength...muscle strength is harder to get back than cardiovascular strength.
4. When in a pinch, do a 30 minute routine that is moderate to hard. Try something like this:

• 5 minute cardio (uptempo/interval)
• 5 minute core (plank, side plank, back plank)
• 5 minute cardio (uptempo/interval)
• 5 minute legs (squats/lunges/plyometric squats/lunges)
• 5 minute cardio (uptempo/interval)
• 5 minute arms (pushups, chinups, bench press)

If you need a more specific plan - just let me know.  We will all "cycle" through periods of fitness and "not so fitness" throughout our lives.  We have exams in college, work obligations and family obligations later in life.  They key point is that you want to live 365fitt:  healthy and active 365 days a year so that you can LIVE the event that we call LIFE!  We have short term goals that include playing soccer, running a 10K or marathon, or doing a triathlon and those are exceptional short term goals.  But, in the long run...if you don't have the fitness to (in your case) participate in a pickup game of soccer or basketball...you're not 365fitt.  Make the time for it.  It's that important.

Let me know if you want a more specific plan.  Glad to help you out.

Living 365fitt throughout the years,
Coach Kathy

Look What I Found On The Web: ME!

So, I'm surfin' the web, checking myself and 365fitt out to see where we populate in the google search engine, etc...and I came across this link.  Now...how did that happen?  Check out the video.  I'm finding out lots of other things and I'm learning that it has a lot to do with "tags".  For instance a weight loss supplement had a link to Change Your Lifestyle:  Change Your Weight program.  Well, you can be sure that I do not endorse supplements at all.  Guess I'm still learning!

Change Your Lifestyle: Change Your Weight

So this was a big week for 365fitt, launching my website, and the first program promotion,  Change Your Lifestyle:  Change Your Weight.  For so many people, the goal is weight loss.  In reality, the result is weight loss, when the goal is changing your lifestyle.  By simply refocusing our attention on the correct goal, our lifestyle, the weight seems to simply melt away.  A healthy lifestyle for most people involves moving your body with regular amounts of various physical activities.  A healthy lifestyle involves eating nutritious, satisfying meals with a focus on eating to live, not living to eat.  A healthy lifestyle involves daily meditation to reduce stress and improve emotional well-being. Integrating changeAll of this takes time, which is why we do this together over 8 weeks. 

In this 8 week email/video program, you will receive 3 emails/videos a week focusing on physical, nutritional and emotional awareness and habits.  These emails/videos are content rich and full of learning, tips and motivation to get you refocused on a healthy lifestyle. In addition, you have double the opportunity for personalization.  I offer phone coaching in 15 minute increments or in packages to fit your budget and schedule.  (Phone coaching has actually been studied and individuals who were in contact via phone with a coach on a regular basis lost more weight and kept it off than individuals without a phone coach!)  Secondly, any questions you might have on a week to week basis, or about any one of our emails, can be answered through the blog so that everyone can learn from each other.  I will post answers and video demonstrations here.  (For instance, you say you don't know what a plank is?  I'll demonstrate it and post it here!)

What have you got to lose?  Umm...5 pounds, maybe?  Whatever you need to lose, give it a try!  If you pre-order now through September 1, you will receive 50% off, regularly $29.95, now just $15.  Check it out here! 

Questions?  Let me know!