Often times we think we want to change and we really try. For a few weeks we’ll go all out! But then we get back to our old familiar routine whether it’s from catching up with old friends or enjoying our favorite pastimes, like a baseball game. Our new healthy lifestyle is one that takes a lot of maintenance, and gradual change. If it were easy we would have done it a long time ago. But it isn’t easy. Our environment very much dictates the way we live, what we eat, and how we feel. It is very important to surround ourselves with good supportive people and positive things, to remind ourselves the course we want our lives to take.  If the company we keep doesn’t support us in our change for a better life, should we really want to keep that company?

Don’t eat the piece of wedding cake just because you had a hard workout. Peer pressure is just in our teens, be sensible, do you want to spend your workout making up for the cake, or do you want to use the workout to push farther and burn the piece of cake that’s still there from last wedding season? Sharing that tid bit with your friends will really help the badgering. This spring, spring forward!

As we approach spring, this wonderful time of renewal and freshness we must also remember all the work we have put into our bodies and to our good health and build upon that and move forward. When the weather is nice, make sure to enjoy. Lace up your sneakers and enjoy a nice jog along the lakefront. Renew your love of Chicago and Lake Michigan and yourself! While you’re at the baseball game make sure you take in the fresh air not just the ballpark food. This spring go back to the simple things in life. Enjoy the great friends and times that we share!  Take in the beautiful parks on a picnic or a walk with a friend. I know I can’t wait for spring!

Don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers. You can also drop by in our GH Fitness Facilities

I helped a women touch her toes for the first time maybe ever. After weeks of struggle and persistence, she finally did it! This was the most rewarding day this month. Working in this field, I am so fortunate to help people achieve small goals, and gain competency in their daily routine and an awareness and connection with their body they never thought possible. I love it!

I have always known that I would be helping people, I have tried many ways, but it always came back to health and fitness. At an early age, I realized that prevention was a very important concept. In high school, it really hit home. My family health history is like that of most families here in the Midwest. Diabetes (Type II) and Heart Disease have made an appearance in my family. The two leading causes of death AND are both extremely preventable.

8 of the 10 leading causes of death ARE preventable. Prevention is something most doctors don’t talk about very often to their patients. My grandparents are very active, but never took their doctors advice. I always remember them saying ‘so the dr said that I need to be doing this and that’ but I never saw them follow through fully.

I found my calling from my family. I do this for them. I want more than anything for them to call and ask me for advice or help. But I will never seek them out. They know what I do, and if they want help I hope they know that I am here for them. In the meantime, I help everyone I can! I can’t help it! I just think of all the family members I am helping, everyone I’m helping is a brother, sister, mom or dad to someone. I wish someone had looked out for my family, just like I’m looking out for their families.

The woman that finally reached her toes, a small accomplishment but she will go on with her day pushing herself just a little bit further. She will keep coming back seeing this small success that I told her would be achievable if she kept up her hard work, will have more faith in my words, and know they are not just words but love and care and honesty and she will pass on that extra helping because I told her to work forward this weekend quit catching up!

Sometimes focusing on the little things will all add up to the bigger things. When you have much to accomplish, you don’t have to see the top of the stairs, just the first step. It may not seem to be completely correlated, but it will all make sense in the end. Keep working forward, progress in a positive direction and everything around you will seem more achievable!

If you are truly determined to change your eating habits it is highly recommended to prepare all meals yourself. Cutting back on eating out is the best way for you to lose weight. Making your own portion sizes and preparing your own meals make a dramatic difference to your health.  

Some people have a difficult time determining portion sizes. If you do enjoy visiting a restaurant or attend a lot of business dinners, keep it in moderation and choose the best options. Outrageous portion sizes served at restaurants are to blame for the misconception. People want to feel as if they are getting their moneys worth, there is no question where this confusion is coming from.

Our portion sizes have nearly doubled in size and physical activity is on a scary decline. There is no reason a 16 oz steak should be on a menu, but that’s not all it comes with. People like their steak, potatoes, and a vegetable.  Preparation is also important! You may have your grilled steak but what’s on it? Steak rub filled with sodium and butter? Or a nice chimichurri made with all organic vegetables? Hopefully you choose the latter.

What did you choose as a side? People think they are making a better decision choosing the baked potato over the mashed, which if cooked at home may be the better decision, the best option, the sweet potato or brown rice with limited or no topping this will provide the most nutrients and be the most satisfying. And the vegetable? Make mine the steamed vegetables. Not the stir fry, sautéed or creamed.  If you choose the chimichurri you may not even need a vegetable.

Now let’s go back to the steak, did you know that correct portion is just the size of a deck of cards or the size of your palm? I also am willing to bet that your steak is not lean cut. And that potato, should be the size of your computer mouse. Those vegetables should be the size of your fist. Here is a list from WebMD Medical Reference provided in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic, they have made portion sizing as easy as looking at your hand.

• Vegetables or fruit is about the size of your fist.
• Pasta is about the size of one scoop of ice cream.
• Meat, fish, or poultry is the size of a deck of cards or the size of your palm (minus the fingers).
• Snacks such as pretzels and chips is about the size of a cupped handful.
• Apple is the size of a baseball.
• Potato is the size of a computer mouse.
• Bagel is the size of a hockey puck.
• Pancake is the size of a compact disc.
• Steamed rice is the size of a cupcake wrapper.
• Cheese is the size of a pair of dice or the size of your whole thumb (from the tip to the base).

To get in the habit of correct portion sizes, pull out the measuring cups. Just for one week, measure everything. Pour it into the bowl as you would normally then measure. See how far off you are from the serving size listed on the package. Now consume the correct amount.  Doing this will not only make you aware of serving sizes but how much you are overeating and will make it easier to make smarter decisions later.  Changing your eating habits can be easy by making those small choices and taking the time for one week to measure out the correct portion, later you will be able to “eyeball” the correct amount.

Look at this as a challenge. Good luck on your journey! Happy eating!

Reflecting over the past year of diet fads and thinking about the New Year’s resolution season here and almost past, I think that it would be nice to address some of these fads. Here at GH Personal Training we like to remind our clients to focus on something to improve that’s achievable. Talk to your personal trainer about what you have in mind. Your personal trainer will be able to find and develop a program for you to reach that goal. Now should be the time to start your resolution, all holiday stress should be out of the way, holiday bills almost paid, family back on schedule and holiday snacks out of the house!

Being a personal trainer in Chicago and only have swimsuit season for a few months we want to deter those seeking that sleek body this swim SEASON, but encourage those trying for the YEAR!  If you want to improve your body you should start by improving your health first, the body will follow, by making simple healthier decisions. You have a choice with each decision you make, life is about choices. Your personal trainer will to direct your attention the right way. If you chose to make a commitment this New Year’s to better your health, make sure you are making the little choices that will lead you to the goal. Let’s try a new way with the resolution this year.

Make sure you eat your healthy filling breakfast, oatmeal with fruit or egg whites with veggies, instead of grabbing that donut! You will reap the benefits of that choice all day! You will crave more nutrient dense food throughout the rest of the day; you wouldn’t want to ruin the progress you started out with. You’ll choose that apple and unsalted nuts you brought to work instead of the candy in the machine, and you’ll feel amazing after having that healthy snack instead of the crash from the high sugar content of the candy. As a personal trainer in Chicago, these winter weather months really try to entice you into more starchy carbs, and comfort foods, but instead stick with your nutrition plan and when the workout comes along you can focus on building muscle to do the work instead of working off those extra carbs to maintain your physique.

Some fads insist on all liquids or all grapefruit as a way to diet, this is great if you want to lose two pounds this week and gain 10 next week and starve and be irritable! A better decision is to increase water intake and increase the amount of meals and decrease the portion size. This not only helps you make healthier choices but boosts your metabolism. If you are regularly feeding your body in small nutrient dense meals, small salad packed with vegetables, your body will love that it is getting fed more often and will not store the food as it would if you skipped a meal. Skipping a meal is much more harmful than you can imagine.

Some people may eat a less healthy meal and then decide to compensate by skipping the next. Your body will create starvation hormones which will hold that meal, instead of taking the nutrients and letting it pass. By eating small healthy meals 5-6 times per day will help the body take what it needs and let the rest pass, not holding on to more than necessary. When making this decision to better your health and eating smaller healthier meals more often you will notice that your body will truly enjoy the good you are providing. And will start to shift, and this change will become easier and easier.

Exercise is a great compliment to changing your diet. By eating healthy and exercising your body’s metabolism will increase in great amounts. Building muscle will increase the amount of calories burned at rest and you will doubly benefit, fueling your body with great nutrients and healthy calories as opposed to empty calories, those you get with out any gain in nutrients.

This year you if you are thinking of changing something you should choose something with long term benefits and let it change your lifestyle. It may be an absolute shift in your life or just a small change. But remember that you have a choice each time you walk past the cookie jar. Put the bowl of grapes, or fruit bowl right next to it, it will be harder to reach for that cookie! This will make your personal trainer proud and shift their focus from your nutrition plan to increasing your muscle size.

Is putting an extra $20 into your savings every week going to make a big difference?  Just doing this small thing equates to an extra $1,040!

Changing little things everyday can add up to a large change over the course of the year… tiny tweaks made to your form make a huge difference. As a Personal Trainer, I always remind my clients that what may seem like minor changes to their form can make a huge difference over the course of the year! This could mean that you lose an extra few ten pounds, take off or put on and extra inch, or get that promotion at work just because of the extra edge!!!

Exercising efficiently can be done by isolating the muscle effectively. Turn off the muscles you are not trying to work. If you are let’s say on the bench press, you have to make sure you have your shoulders down and back to really decrease use of the shoulders and help focus on the pectorals. By making this somewhat small change to the exercise, you work your pectorals up to 40% more! When you use correct form, you only need to work that group once a week because you are working it almost 100%

Increasing the intensity of your cardio work each week, or getting outside of the comfort zone and pushing yourself could increase your confidence and self-esteem. Depending on your level, could it could also inspire you to take a 5k challenge head on!

One small nutritional change, changing from vegetable oil to canola or olive oil could mean lower cholesterol, or a few inches off your waist! Reducing your alcohol intake by one glass/pint per week, could also make a huge difference.

Think about your goals and things that you can change daily, WRITE THEM ALL DOWN, and post them on your fridge or mirror, or even inside your planner. Seeing these goals will remind you of why you do what you do every day and inspire you to think of more goals and stay on track.

Think of the small achievements as the $20, what do you think you save/lose/gain over the year?

Changing your diet by making healthier choices will help you to live longer. Greg, owner of GH Personal Training in Chicago, agrees that by giving your body the fuel and nutrients it needs you will live a longer, healthier life. When you feed your body what it needs and what it was made to consume, your mind and body can focus on the other things it was made to do! Here are some simple guidelines to help you get started:

1. Sticking to good, clean food will make a huge difference in how you feel! You will fall in love with how you feel and making healthier decisions will become easier and easier. Before you eat, think about how long the type of food you are about to consume has been around. For a great clean eating plan, try sticking to foods that have been around for 100 years. This is an easy way to distinguish between processed and unprocessed foods.
2. Look at the preparation of the foods you love. Going for steamed vegetables instead of stir fried is a great example of the difference preparation can make. If a recipe calls for sour cream, mayo, or heavy cream use non fat Greek yogurt instead. Choices like these will keep you going in the right direction.
3. The most important factor to my personal success has been to plan ahead. Thinking about the consequences of poor decisions and the benefit of great ones helped me to survive the holidays without weight gain, even though I knew that my favorite fudge would be at the annual holiday party. I kept thinking of how the sugar from the fudge would give me a short sense of euphoria, but I would feel terrible later. Because I prepared myself mentally to face this challenge, I was able to resist. Instead, I brought some fresh berries and enjoyed those while my family members all indulged and joked about my choice. And guess what? 20 minutes after their dinner and fudge, they went into food coma, while I was energetic and ready for the card games. I was more alert and able to think about the game instead of how full I was from overeating! I could focus on my friends and family without guilt about holiday bingeing.
4. Training your taste buds may be a new concept for you, but it works great. Deliberately conditioning your taste buds and trying new healthier foods is just like training your muscles to a new exercise. It takes time. Think of it as a challenge and an adventure. Gradual changes will ensure a stronger more capable change and will help to avoid YO-YO dieting. Remember your goal is a healthier lifestyle. Adapting your taste buds to like broccoli instead of chips is hard, but if you stay attuned with your body and reflecting on how you will feel after making the healthier will help reinforce your healthier actions.

As I am making changes to my diet, I have noticed that I now have adapted to the new flavors of clean food and can actually taste and feel the difference between processed food with preservatives and actual fresh food. I am now finding it easier to turn down my old favorites and taking on some new favorites. I cannot believe how much I enjoy eating egg whites! I love how clean they taste and how good I feel after I eat them.

You will reach this point. You will have slip-ups that cause you to feel guilt and remorse. Rather than let these feelings turn into a self-defeating attitude, use them as motivation to reach your goals. The feelings of accomplishment you get when reaching a goal are related to how difficult the journey was. Challenges make success that much sweeter!