Thursday Thoughts Ed. 90 - Love what you eat

6:36 PM Remy Maguire - Manifest the Best 0 Comments



How many rice cakes does it take to satisfy a craving for chocolate?

Nine rice cakes. 15 baby carrots. 4 celery sticks. One orange. A container of light yogurt. And a Snickers bar.


I read this in an article today. Hilarious and so true! I have often found myself trying to avoid scooping a bowl of ice cream only to devour at least as many calories worth of ‘healthy’ other stuff. Not satisfied. Even a little disappointed. Should have just had the ice cream. Will I ever learn?

Yup. I will. But it takes practice.

So many of us fall into the trap of eat-repent-repeat and get all wrapped up in a sad cycle of guilt. We are told certain foods are bad. We tell ourselves as we try to eat better that we ‘absolutely will not have any more xyz’. None! But, we love zyx. And our family eats it every Tuesday night. Good luck to us. 

This kind of deprivation and fearful thinking works against us and all our good intentions.  How we think about food, among other things, creates certain emotions. These emotions lead to actions. And it’s actions that produce results.

If we label our Valentines chocolate as “bad”, something to be avoided, for example, then we feel bad when we eat them. If we clench our fists and try to avoid them, they seem to call to us, taunting us, controlling us. Then, if we give in, we feel even worse, out of control and guilty.  For some of us, this triggers a “screw it all” attitude and we eat more solidifying our thought that chocolate is bad and makes us freak out.  Then, here we go again.

Truly, almost any food you love can fit into your healthy eating plan. If the food you love is salty, sugary or fatty and you wouldn’t put it on a salad, then you may need to exercise some moderation. If you can do this, and eat the slice of cake without a side of guilt then, you’ll stay in control and be the boss of your fork. With practice, you’ll be able to eat what you like, with out eating everything.

Food isn’t bad. You are not bad. Stealing is bad. “Indulging” leads to denial. Taking care of yourself, eating healthfully, and eating what you love that feels the best. There’s a lot of junky food and junky thoughts in our lives. There’s a lot of everything. It can get overwhelming. Take time to recognize what it is you really want, what you are hungry for and make it work for you, not against you. 
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Thursday Thoughts Ed. 89 - Types of Cardio

8:03 PM Remy Maguire - Manifest the Best 1 Comments

Run, bike, walk, swim, skip, step, dance....

The different ways to pump up your heart are endless. Your task is to find one you enjoy, enough, to do routinely. 

The benefits of cardiovascular activity are GREAT. Here are a few things cardio can do for you...

-strengthen your heart and lungs and build your endurance.
-help burn calories and make losing weight happen faster.
-lift your mood and you help deal better with stress and anxiety.
-sharpen your brain power and memory.
-give you more energy all day.
-makes you feel good, go endorphins! 

Cardiovascular exercise (cardio) is any physical activity that gets your heart pumping, between 50%-90% of your hearts max capacity. Find out your level here.  There are a variety of different ways to do this, but the point is to find a way that you can sustain for at least 20 minutes on a daily basis. 

Being more active is what it's all about; move more now and you'll keep moving longer. Taking the stairs, walking after dinner, biking to work are all great ways to easily add cardio into you life. 

Todays Real Results class was all about cardio. I strapped up the ladies with heart rate monitors, rolled in a spin bike and put them to work! (Well done, DC, you were a champ!) 

Using a heart rate monitor and comparing the data to your rate of percieved exersion (RPE) will help you pick the right activity and the the level for you. Let me know if you'd like a session to go over this personally.

Here are few different types of cardio and intensity levels. All of these give you the benefits listed above, but each gives the body different challenges and will help you reach a variety of goals. 


Low intensity, long duration. This includes lots of daily activity, plus walking, riding a bike, swimming at about 60% of your heart rate max. This is great for beginners,as warm up for more intense workouts, or for fun. Try to keep your heart pumping at this level for 30-40 mins if possible.


Moderate intensity, moderate duration. These sessions should range between 20 and 45 mins and get your heart rate up to about 70% of its max. Great for intermediate, regular exercisers and folks on a mission for weight loss who want to up their calorie burn. This is a workout that should have breathing heavy, breaking a sweat but still able to talk to your buddy.


High intensity, short duration. This is a lot of work, which is why it's done in short bursts like sprinting, spinning or racing. These workouts push the limits and your comfort zones. Expect to be breathing heavy, sweating buckets and really not interested in talking to anyone. (Don't worry that grimace will be replaced by a smile just a fast!)

Circuit/Strength Training. This is one of my favorite ways to get fit faster. I love integrating cardio "bursts" into my training sessions. Imagine performing 4-8 weight lifting exercises with just a little rest in between so your heart rate goes up and stays strong the whole time or adding a minute of jump rope in between a set of exercises. 

Whatever you do, have fun and push yourself a little bit. You'll be surprised by what you can do. 


----Personal sessions to come up with YOUR own zones take about 30 minutes and can dramatically change the way you exercise and how quickly you reach you goals. 

Always here to help. 

Remy

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