Stop being so busy

If something is important to you, you'll make time for it.
You'll find a way, not an excuse and you'll make progress because something is better than nothing. 

You are an expert at being busy! 

So, if you are passionate about something or it makes you feel good, is feeling busy all the time, really the way that you want to live your life?

Athletes are fantastic at staying busy. We know how to put a lot on our daily to-do list but it seems like sometimes we can never get everything done. Like we are always playing catch-up but we can't stop being so busy. 

One of the hardest situations for an athlete to be in is to feel like you are always behind - behind on workouts, behind in life, behind on healthy eating, behind at work, behind on family obligations, behind on chores. It's very hard to make time for everything that is important to you and because of that, it would be to your benefit to stop being so busy. 

For many people, it can feel normal to feel busy all the time. If work duties are done on time, then your time at home is spent doing laundry, cleaning and paying bills. Once you get everything done at home, you feel like you have slacked on your workouts. And then on top of it all, you feel like you should be spending more time with friends and family because work and training has been super busy.

One word I don't like to use (nor my athletes) is the word sacrifices. Sacrifices do not get us ahead in life so stop saying you are making sacrifices. For us athletes, sacrifices can often make us feel guilty and we end up carrying around guilt. Rather than feeling like you are making a sacrifice, consider the investments you are making instead. 

Think about the last time you trained. What was on your mind? Your upcoming race in 6 months, your cadence or stride or stroke, your breathing or form....or the bills you need to pay, the errands you need to run, the dishes you forgot to put away, the laundry you still need to fold?

There are a limited number of hours in each day so if you invest your time wisely, you can increase productivity. You'll never get the most out of a workout if your mind is somewhere else and if you are too busy to make the time to eat healthy, you are just not fueling your body properly for your workout routine. If you aren't getting rested sleep, you will struggle to stay energized throughout the day.

With everything that you may be trying to get done, you are likely making a sacrifice somewhere else and this is no way to live life.

So, if you aren't busy does this mean you are lazy or not doing enough? Absolutely not! You just need to make your investments wisely and stop trying to be busy all the time.

Yes - you can stop being so busy!

The problem with staying busy is losing your present moment. Cramming too much into one day is exhausting and you miss out on important things in life that bring happiness and joy.

No matter how much you get accomplished each day or how much you put on your to-do list, it can become emotionally and physically draining to be so busy. You may say to yourself that there is no other way you can live without being so busy because you just have so much to do, but the most important take-away is asking yourself if you are making things happen and making time for yourself and others, or constantly feeling like you can never slow down or catch-up. 

Here are a few tips to be okay with with not being so busy:

-If you are an athlete, you likely have the trait that you will find a way to get it all done - no matter what. So next time you have a free 10-15 minutes in your day, enjoy doing nothing. You can still be super productive in life without filling in every second, of every day, with something to-do. Savor free time for yourself or with loved ones, every day. 

-Just relax. Enjoy an intentional skipped workout every now and then. Rather than cleaning your house, take an hour and prepare a home-cooked meal with your spouse, close friend/family or child. Don't bring your computer in your bed at night to answer emails, pay bills, book tickets or write on your blog, enjoy your free time wisely and if free time comes into your life, see it as rest time because you likely don't rest enough. 

-It's almost impossible for most people to turn off the work mode button (especially if you work from home). Our career/job is a big part of our lives (it pays the bills and pays for race fees) but what part of your job keeps you so busy? Is it the hours worked or could it also be the stress associated with work and the stress that comes home with you? It's very easy to feel unbalanced in life because of job-related stress or expectations. Figure out the best work-life balance so that you are not so busy making a living that you forget to make a life. 

-If you are willing to make the necessary investments to improve your performance as an athlete, you need to simplify your commitments. As hard working individuals/athletes, it's easy to take on too many responsibilities. Declutter your life so that you can truly enjoy the things in life that are truly important to you. This doesn't only include tasks and meetings but also TV, social media and anything else in life that is not a necessity. And if something in life helps improve your efficiency or helps you stay on the right track, consider it an investment to your time even if it costs you money.

-Schedule some time for yourself. Get inside your thoughts and what you really want in life. If there are negative people in your life draining your energy and robbing you of your happiness and joy, remove the negative energy from your life right now. 

-Books, magazines, TVs, newspapers, podcasts. Wow - there is a serious issue of information overload these days. If we aren't learning something new, we are trying to confirm what we already know. It takes a lot of time and energy to be in the know of everything so only spend time on what is relevant to you. If the information truly makes you a better, healthier and happier person, this should be your only source of information. 

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Manage your time wisely, make investments not sacrifices and slow down and stop adding so much to your already busy life. 

Oakley Women event - my top 3 tips for improving your lifestyle

Feb 6th - Orlando Lens Crafters Summit with some of the Oakley crew

Do you have goals that you want to achieve in life? 

I love goals because they give every day a purpose. They give you a reason to get up in the morning but also a reason to get excited for another day. I find it really important that in order to reduce risk for disease, boost performance and to live a healthy and active quality life, we have to have goals in the area of life, nutrition and fitness.

Goals are super simple to create in your mind but the doing is the hard part. 

A common issue in our society is the tendency to skip steps when it comes to changing your lifestyle. You only get one life...why do we feel the need to rush it all the time?

For example: 

There are very precise steps in making a Meringue topping. 

Separate egg whites

Separate the eggs and place the whites in a large bowl. Let the egg whites stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before you start to make the meringue. (Egg whites that have been allowed to stand at room temperature beat to a greater volume than ones taken directly from the refrigerator.)

Beat egg whites to soft peaks

Add cream of tartar and vanilla before you begin beating the egg whites (cream of tartar helps stabilize the meringue).

Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. At this point, they will curl over when the beaters are lifted.

Add sugar gradually

Add the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, while beating on high speed. The sugar must be added gradually as the egg whites are beaten to stiff peaks (tips stand straight). Adding the sugar too quickly will knock air out of the egg whites and make them difficult to mix thoroughly.

Beat egg whites and sugar to stiff, glossy peaks

Continue beating on high speed until the sugar dissolves and stiff, glossy peaks form. When you lift the beaters, the tips will stand straight up. The mixture should also feel smooth when you rub it between your fingers; you shouldn't be able to feel any sugar granules

Spread meringue over filling

Quickly spread the meringue over the hot pie filling. Spread the meringue to the edge of the pastry to seal it and prevent it from shrinking when it bakes. The hot filling helps to cook the meringue from underneath and prevents weeping.

Curl peaks

Curly peaks give a lovely texture to a meringue pie top. Use a spoon to swirl and twist the meringue.Bake the pie as directed until the meringue is a golden brown. Let the pie cool for an hour on a wire rack, and then refrigerate for 5 to 6 hours before serving.

As you can see, there is no rushing or skipping steps when you make a meringue topping. If you rush the process or skip steps, you have wasted a lot of time and money. 

But in life, many people often try to skip steps when changing lifestyle habits. Jumping on quick fix diet trends or elimination diets, signing up for races without doing the prep work necessary or wanting to move up the corporate ladder without putting in the time or learning the critical skills to succeed. 

So when you are bored, comparing yourself to others to feel vulnerable or frustrated with your body, I am sure it's easy to search for something better. Perhaps a quick fix to instantly make you feel better. But as we all know, quick fixes do not solve long term issues. 

An athlete who signs up for a marathon 16 weeks down the road has plenty of time to build a strong foundation with his/her body and then gradual increase intensity to get faster before he/she goes longer. However, the athlete who is not motivated or struggles to find the time (or excitement) to train for the race may feel pressure with 4 weeks to go and then try to squeeze in too much, in too short of time. This ultimately creates haphazard training but also a body that is not prepared to sustain training stress or the racing distance. Sure, there may be the athlete who can pull this type of training off but we all know that short term changes and consistency bring long term, lasting results. 

As a health professional,it is my goal to make sure that my followers, athletes and fitness enthusiasts increase the odds of living a long active and healthy life. With the top leading causes of death being heart disease, cancer and respiratory disease, I want to help you live a healthier lifestyle.

Everyone has their own definition of health . Healthy living, healthy body weight, healthy eating. You may rank your health good at one time in your life and it may improve or get worse at another time in life.  So when it comes to living a healthy life, there are a few things that you can do to reduce the risk for disease and improve quality of life.

Eat a balanced, varied, wholesome diet, exercise regularly, get good sleep, focus on stress management, don’t smoke, get routine check-ups, and maintain a healthy weight.

Because “healthy living” can be a bit overwhelming with all the information out there from TV, magazines, doctors, research and “experts”, I am going to share my top three ways that you can immediately improve your health. These are not temporary suggestions. The more often you can focus on these tips, the greater change you will improve your health and quality of life. 

1) The first one is MOVE YOUR BODY DAILY. Yes, getting to the gym or breaking a sweat is great and training for and finishing a race can be a great accomplishment. But one thing that we often forget that our body was designed to move and every time we move our body we have the chance to improve our health. 

I find many athletes who are training for races begin to get a bit "lazy" when it comes to daily activities that can help to burn calories (ex. if you are choosing training as a fun way to help you lose weight in a healthy way) or keep the body in good health (as we know, too much sitting can be a health problem). Rather than taking the stairs, parking far away or taking the dog for a long walk every evening, athletes often place too much focus on structured training and forget about the beauty of unstructured movement (and often times, athletes do not fuel properly to properly adapt to training stress in order to be consistent with training). 

Did you know that if you walk 3.5 miles per hour for 1 hour a day you can burn 225-265 calories? That may sound like a lot all at once but how about if you only worked out 3 days a week for 30 minutes to an hour (which is very doable for most people even with a super busy schedule) or stuck to your normal training plan for racing and then on the other days you walked for up to hour throughout the day? In one week you will not only burn over 1000 calories just from walking but you will also find it a lot easier to stay consistent with exercise when you don’t take an all or nothing approach to working out. 

(certainly - this doesn't apply to athletes who are unable to keep on weight and should be applied on a case by case basis such as athletes peaking for a big race. I am not encouraging inactivity but my message is to move your body more for health purposes instead of seeing exercise as black or white - all or nothing. So next time you need a break from training or feel like you just don't have energy to workout, just move your body for a walk or do some yoga).

2) The 2^nd tip is to EAT A MORE BALANCED DIET. Now this is where a lot of confusion occurs because what is a healthy diet? Without over thinking the topic, consider that real food is packed with vitamins and minerals and not wrapped with a fancy label telling you how healthy the food is.We want food that the body knows how to digest and absorb and contains the necessary nutrients that support optimal health and metabolism. By prioritizing a real food diet as often as possible, emphasize a plant strong diet filled with fruits, veggies, whole grains, heart healthy fats and quality protein. And don’t forget to stay hydrated with water thoughout the day. Keep in mind that food should energize you, satisfy you and nourish you so anytime you eat, keep in mind that you want to feel better after you eat then before.

3) My last tip is one of my favorites and probably the most beneficial tips in creating a more healthy lifestyle and that is SLEEP. Did you know that restless or inadequate sleep can increase risk for Depression, weight gain, cravings, health problems (Heart disease, heart failure, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes) , poor concentration, faster aging, forgetfulness and can impair judgment. Try to aim for around 7-8 hours of sleep most days per week. For many people, late night snacking, computer or TV are the main reasons why people stay up late.

Hopefully these tips were not overwhelming. The key to making changes is to aim for progress and to create a positive environment for success. 

Create a plan as to when you will workout, what you will eat for meals and when you will go to bed for two weeks. 

Two week is not that long to form habits but it is a manageable amount of time to be consistent. 

This way you can make realistic changes and reflect on what’s working or not working as you work hard to reach your goals and hopefully live a more balanced, healthy and active lifestyle. 

A few more pics from the event: 

My awesome coach, hubby, bike mechanic and partner in life.

My talks always include samples of a Trimarni creation. YUM!

Goal sheets! What's the point of an action plan if you don't have goals?

Yummy! My Trimarni chiachoco heart healthy mix

Changing some lifestyles.....

Make these 3 changes now before 1/1/14

Wow!
65 days until January 1st, 2014!!!! 

Where are my goal setters at? I know you are dreaming big right now just like me!

Even if 2014 will be an exciting year to conquer challenges and reach new goals, are you going to put off making small daily changes for the next 2 months when you could be working your way to developing better, stronger and smart skills for 2014? Do you really want one day, on Jan 1st, to be the day when you feel pressure to make extreme, unrealistic, temporary changes in the areas of diet, exercise and lifestyle when you can spend 65 days making small changes?


                                      

Don't wait for the perfect time - there will never be one. Create one small change today that will set you up for a better tomorrow in the areas of diet, exercise and life.

                                                               

Three changes I suggest:
-Diet: Eat a satisfying breakfast and continue to tweak it so that you can stay satisfied for 3-4 hours (ex. add a bit more pro/fat to your carb selection and stick with real foods).

Try this: Nutty Pear Oatmeal

1/2 cup oats (dry)
1 tbsp raisins
1/8 cup seeds + chopped nuts (mixed)
Dash of cinnamon
1/2 large pear (sliced - save the other half for snack + 20 pistachios)
~15g of protein powder (whey, soy or vegan - different products may cook differently, mix together before cooking and stir at 45 seconds)
Water/milk to meet consistency needs
(if you don't want to add protein powder, you could mix it or have a side of 4-6 ounces greek yogurt plain (0%).
1 tbsp chia seeds OR 1 tbsp ground flax seeds

-Cook for 60-90 seconds and add more water/milk to meet consistency needs. 

-Exercise: Don't think big, even a 20 minute workout or movement will burn calories. Try to aim for 30-60 minutes of movement daily. Try to walk more.

Try this: Fitness magazine walk workout (perfect for lunch break or before/after work)

Source

-Lifestyle: Try to go to bed earlier to get a restful night of sleep. Consider evening habits that may be keeping you from getting a good night of sleep (Eating dinner too late, snacking too much in the evening, staying on the computer too late, watching TV, bringing stressful thoughts or a big work to-do list with you too bed, too much afternoon/evening caffeine).

Try this: Read an old blog post I did on sleep (it does a body good!)


                              


So, are you ready to make the changes now in order to receive the results on January 1st? 

You are in control of your choices - don't wait, act now. Making small tweaks to set yourself up for a better tomorrow. 

Is your brain aging faster than your body?

I've always been that student. The one in the front of the class, asking "why". Throughout my post High School educational career (2000-2011) I have found myself becoming a better educator because I take the time to learn as much as I can about a topic before instructing, counseling or motivating others. One of the biggest problems in our society today is that most people like quick answers. When it comes to research and making conclusions, nothing is done quickly and that frustrates people. They don't have time to "work" on their own lifesyle so they need a quick fix (ex. meal plan, diet fad, answer from a forum) as to how make changes yesterday rather than learning how to make for a better tomorrow.

I never feel content just scratching the surface of any topic. I can't be an expert in everything but I can use my resources to be as up-to-date as possible to make educated choices and to better serve the public.

I recently read two great articles on the brain which ironically, got me thinking. It got me thinking about the value of our brain as the primary tool for keeping us healthy and well for the rest of our life. Without it...we couldn't make decisions that help us cross finish lines, eat a balanced diet, love others or perform well at work.

Source

 

The first article was on the topic of Stroke (from Nutrition Action Nov 2012 issue) and how to keep the brain in working order. The second article was from The Wellness Advisor (Fall '12/Winter '13 issue).

Both articles were great with lots of research supported statements and practical suggestions. I wanted to share some of the article from The Wellness Advisor titled "Are your diet and lifestyle causing your brain to age faster than your body?" By Daniel G. Amen M.D.

A little about Dr. Amen:
Clinical neuroscientist, psychiatrist and brain imaging expert who heads the world-renowned Amen Clinics. He has authored 29 books and is an internationally recognized keynote speaker and host of six popular public TV specials.

When we think about how well we're aging, we care about wrinkles on our faces and the fat around our bellies. Those are the things we can see in the mirror. But we don't get that sort of feedback on how well our brains are aging until it's late in the aging process. In truth, the fountain of youth is between your ears.

When you get up in the morning and look in the mirro, you probably think "I need to wash my face and comb my hair." Because your brain doesn't have a mirror,we don't care about it until we can't remember things. Or we feel cognitively tired and start making bad decisions. A lot of people 40 years and older think that memory problems are normal. Not all of them are normal. It may be a sign of trouble.

Every choice you make today will either help or hurt your brain. Here are some concepts to consider:
1) Develop brain envy: You've got to care. You must start honoring, loving and respecting your brain.
2) There are many things we do to accelerate brain agining. A lousy diet,chronic stress, poor sleeping habits, being overweight and having hormonal imbalances are some of the most common. Hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and any other kind of vascular disease that decreases blood flow to the brain will also be detrimental.
3) There are many things you can start doing today to slow, or even reverse, the brain's aging process. Get enough sleep, keep your blood sugar in balance, get plenty of physical and mental exercise, have a sense of passion, meaning and purpose, maintain healthy cholesterol levels to keep a healthy blood flow to your brain.

Think of your brain as a computer. If the hardware isn't right, it will be more difficult to learn. It's critical to respect both your hardware and your software.