“You eventually learn that true priorities are like arms; if you think you have more than a couple, you’re either lying or crazy.”

I got married yesterday. My wedding, was a huge priority. My marriage continues to be a priority in my life. Obviously we all have priorities be it family, work, God, and all the other things that unexpectedly happen as we make our ways through life.

Previous to getting married I graduate from college (for the second time).  As I look at that statement from Mann, I can agree. As I tried to keep exercise and fitness as a priority as I worked on finals, and then wedding plans (which required working more hours to pay for the wedding) I have to admit that fitness was not a true priority. Sure I still walked around the block. But at the end of the day instead of having 10,000 steps on my pedometer I was showing 4,000 more often. My fitness was an after thought - not a priority.

While I could use my graduation and wedding as reasons, they were excuses. I still watched the occasional television show.  And I was starting to eat the “occasional” happy meal more frequently. I’ve said it before, but when you do the wrong they, you are practicing doing the wrong thing, and the more you do it, the better you get at doing the wrong thing.  I understand that being perfect is impossible, but you need to hold your ground and keep your standards high. Don’t give up, and don’t stop trying.

I am now in a new position. My graduation is behind me, as is my wedding. My honeymoon starts tomorrow, and we’ve picked a lovely out door type of location with hiking and biking in mind (among other things). They key point is now that I WILL have more free time in the future, what will I fill it with? I will fill it in with the aerobic exercises that I used to do first thing in the morning. I will replace working on customers website it with logging into sparkpeople.com and staying focused on fitness. I will take the money I was saving for the wedding, and put it back into my gym membership that I temporarily disrupted.

The big key is when you “lose” a priority, realize the opportunity you have in front of you. So many of us want to fill this time with “Doing nothing.” Yes relaxing is very important. We need to give our body time to rebuild itself. But sitting in front of the television watching bad entertainment is not helpful relaxation.

So when you find yourself with “free time” that you didn’t have before, embrace that time to make yourself the priority. You are worth it, and your body, and your family will thank you in the long run.

Shaping Positive Habits

I’ve said it in the past, but when you do the right or wrong thing you are practicing doing the right/wrong thing. While we can’t be perfect, we do need to pay attention when we do the wrong things and do all we can to avoid doing them again. I’m reading the book “Financial Peace Revisted” by Dave Ramsey (a great book for a down economy). In the book he talks about an article from an anonymous author:

I am your constant companion.

I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.

Half of the things you do you might as well turn over to me and I will do them - quickly and correctly.

I am easily managed - you must be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons, I will do it automatically.

I am the servant of great people,
and alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.

I am not a machine though
I work with the precision of a machine
plus the intelligence of a person.

You may run me for profit or run me for ruin -
it makes no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me, and
I will place the world at your feet.

Be easy with me and I will destroy you.

Who am I?

I am Habit.

Start developing good habits today.

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The ability to play with another person makes it even more fun. I have the wii fit game. I think you get just as much exercise running the vacum than you do playing some of those games. This game seems to geared toward someone who really wants to work their body. As the reviewer put it, “It felt like being at the gym.”

Do you have this game? Let us know your thoughts if this is a game worth the $59 bucks.

You can read the full review and see screen shots by clicking HERE.

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One of the things I liked in this Oprah magazine was an article by Bob Greene that walked you through 12 weeks of getting back into shape. It showed how t0 start slow, and gradually increase the exercise intensity and more. You can read about the Back to Business Plan at Oprah’s site.

What Oprah is Hungry for - Balance

A friend of mine had an old Oprah magazine lying around. If showed skinny Oprah standing next to fatty Oprah. I read the article and one of the coolest things Oprah pointed out is that if you are looking for an excuse to not exercise YOU WILL FIND ONE. Just like our previous episode, if you quit exercising you will gain weight. It’s a simple fact, exercise burns calories, and if you are not burning calories, then you are gaining weight.

Other Topics:

Biggest Loser Winners show that age is not a consideration.

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Today I record a podcast in the car. I’m talking about Kirstie Alley who has gained 83 lbs (I mistakenly said 86 lbs). She explains to Oprah that she just quit doing what she did to lose the weight in the first place.  I also have a sneaking suspicion that she did this for exposure as she is planning on releasing her own weight loss program (after she loses the weight).

Are we surprised that she gained the weight? She ate better, and exercised, and she lost weight. Now she has quit doing those things and she gained all of her weight, and even more.

We need to stop the all or nothing mentality and strive for a balance.  Just because you have a bad day, you shouldn’t go “I know I couldn’t do it and quit.” Get back on the horse, plan for those times when you can’t avoid the cake, and try to find balance. Never, EVER, give up.

Here is a reporter with some excerpts from Kirstie on Oprah.

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One of his items is called The Crazy Cyle” where when a woman does not feel loved, she acts disrespectfully to her husband. When he feels disrespected, he acts unlovingly to his wife. See how that can go round and round? Well I made one for dieting.

The Crazy Cycle of Dieting

Without Belief (confidence).
We make bad choices (food, lack of exercise).
Without exercise we lose muscle
Without muscle we burn fewer calories
When we don’t burn calories, we gain weight weight.
When we gain weight, we feel bad about ourselves and lose confidence.

Turn this Around to the Energizing Cycle of Dieting

When we believe (Feel confident)…
We make better choices.
When we exercise we gain muscle
When we gain muscle
We burn more calories
When we burn more calories
We lose weight
When we lose weight
We become more confident

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