Healing Blog

52412Thu
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There is a societal belief that as we grow up, we need to get serious. We go to work, raise children, and pay our bills. We learn the need to be rid of those fanciful activities and ideas that brought passion into our youth. Slowly but surely as the years unfurl, we discover that the only place passion might be left is in the bedroom. And the key words are “might be left”. Reinventing weight loss is about bringing more joy into your life by achieving two goals at one time: Living more passionately AND losing weight.

As a fitness professional for over 25 years I have watched people try and try to lose weight without success. One key to a successful weight loss program is finding activities that you enjoy – specifically, the very ones that get you excited about life and living.

Passion & Exercise

Think back to when you were younger. What class, sport, club, or hobby did you look forward to the most? We can combine so many things with exercise these days. Dance, dogs, horses, gardening, boating, travel, wine, flowers, sports, and even photography and art. I started riding horses at the age of 5 and gave it up at the age of 17 for a career in dance. I don’t want to take dance classes but I LOVE being back on a horse a couple of times a week. From fencing to boxing to the sport of your choice there is a class, club or team out there just waiting for your participation! If you love flowers, start a flower cutting garden. There’s no better exercise than digging, weeding, and planting! Do you have a dog? Is he/she overweight? Have your pet become your workout partner – it will benefit their hips and heart too! Plus, they never look at you and say: “Can we skip our walk today?”

Wine… Here’s a good one: you can take horseback riding, cycling, and hiking trips all over the US and Europe that center around your love of wine. Whether it’s horseback riding through Tuscany or cycling through France, what a wonderful goal to achieve! With every sore body part or push of the pedal you can remember that the work is worth the ultimate prize. Photography and art? Hiking through the National Parks with a camera around your neck or French easel in your arms. The best places are those seen off the beaten path.

Travel all by itself can be combined with exercise so many ways. You can go on a cruise and take advantage of their classes and gyms. You can hike the Grand Canyon or paddle down a river. You can check out National Geographic and go on one of their travel adventures. You can hike the Appalachian Trail – 2,184 scenic miles between Georgia and Maine, 550 of them right in Virginia – or follow the Kalalau Trail in Kaui. Want a more aggressive goal? Sign up for a rigorous hiking, kayaking, rock climbing trip with Outward Bound.

If your passion embraces a particular cause, you can use that as a reason to get fit and lose weight. Maybe you had a family member who struggled with cancer or a best friend who suffers from a rare disease. There are 5k runs, walks and triathlons for almost every cause you can imagine. Train, raise money, and feel good at the end knowing that you are in better shape and made a contribution that wouldn’t have happened without you and your efforts. Your money DOES count.

Passion & Food

Do you love to cook? Do you enjoy food that tastes great? Awesome. Why not use this passion for food to your health’s benefit. Good, nutritious food does NOT have to taste like cardboard. Play with recipes. Take classes. Read cookbooks. Go back to school: Brenda Cobb’s Institute for Living Foods or Living Light Culinary Arts Institute (raw chef school). If sushi’s your taste sensation, learn to make your own. Start your own organic vegetable and/or herb garden. By the way, you don’t need a large yard anymore to have your own organic garden! You can buy boxes and pieces for your deck that will give you all the veggies you want or need: www.gardenerssupply.com.

Passion & Relationship

Now we’re really talking: bringing the passion back to relationship means more fun everywhere (wink, wink)! If you both need to get healthy and lose weight, why not do it together? You can plan the vacation of your dreams that involves you getting in shape today to enjoy it. Dream big!
Be a team: if he likes to cook and you don’t, have him read the previous paragraphs about Passion & Food! Creating a goal to run a 5K for a common cause that has affected your family is a wonderful way to find the motivation to train every day. Maybe you want to take a ballroom class, he doesn’t. But he likes the idea of taking a couple’s massage class. Compromise and do both – one helps you lose weight while the other helps with recovery. You can be a team to motivate and complement each other on this journey.

Improve your relationship: I have found that the two places that we are most affected by our “stuff” is 1) in partnership and 2) with regard to weight loss and self-care. Well, again, two birds with one stone. Why not start couple’s counseling to improve your relationship, create more intimacy, and get down to the reasons why you aren’t paying attention to your health. If therapy isn’t for you, there are many couple’s retreats and classes that focus on improving your marriage, tantric sex, and weight loss and nutrition.

Passion and weight loss: they CAN go together. By combining the two you can make this journey more fun and find joy in places you haven’t had before. Growing up should be about enjoying life with ALL of its treasures. What better way to enjoy those treasures than with better health.

 
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This entry was posted on
Thursday, May 05, 2012 at 19:26 pm and is
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