Wellness Wednesday: 6 Rules of Life

By H3 Fitness Director Danielle Dunn

Arnold Schwarzenegger is a very well known former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician.  He began weight training at the age of 15, winning Mr. Universe at the age of 20 and Mr. Olympia seven times.  He remains a prominent presence in bodybuilding and continues to work-out an hour and a half with weights every day.  However, Arnold was not always successful.  He lost many competitions leading up to his big victories, had several obstacles in his way (born with a bicuspid aortic valve, breaking six ribs in a motorcycle accident, breaking his femur in ski accident), but he never gave up.  This clip shares Arnold’s 6 Rules of Life:



 

1. Trust yourself


2. Break some Rules


3. Don’t be afraid to fail


4. Don’t listen to the naysayers


5. Work your butt off!


6. Find time to give back

As Kelly Clarkson shares in her song, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”  Your body has a mental red line which individuals reach first and physical red line much higher than the mental one.  The mental red line keeps us away from reaching our bodies’ limits.  The physical redline is somewhere our body rarely crosses (passing out), however fear holds us back of reaching past the mental red line.  How far can you go? Do you know or do you tell yourself to tone it down or slow it down because you are not sure if you can do it?  Our bodies are such incredible tools and only you are in control of the changes to your body.  If you don’t work to make changes, no one will make those changes for you!  Get out there, trust yourself, break some rules, don’t be afraid to fail, don’t listen to the naysayers, work your butt off, and find time to give back!

Coaches Corner: A Letter to Family and Friends

If you are reading this post, chances are, you have attended H3.  Obviously, most of the articles posted on this site are intended for you, this one however is for your  spouses, partners, friends and family members.

Sometimes it’s those people, the ones who care about you the most, the ones that  truly want to see you succeed and be happy, that say and do things that backfire.   A comment meant to motivate, might cause frustration and resentment.  Words of encouragement might be received as judgmental.  Rather than supporting the changes you are trying to make they might actually unknowingly sabotage your efforts.  That is what researchers found when they surveyed young adults in Minnesota, ages 20 – 31 who were in relationships.  The results, published in the American Journal of Health Promotion, confirmed that was the case,  especially when comments were made to a partner about their weight.  Marla Eisenberg associate professor of adolescent health and medicine at the University of Minnesota commented that “encouraging a loved one to diet may do more harm than good.” The findings of the study are summarized in the attached video.

Encouraging a loved one to diet

Fortunately in most cases your family and friends have your best interest in mind.  They just don’t what to say or do.  It is up to you to give them guidance as to how they can support you.  The attached  letter from H3 to your family and friends ( if it looks familiar, it is included  as a part of the packet you received when you left H3), provides some guidelines on how they can best support your efforts. So pass this post on to the people closest to you, by following the suggestions provided, they to you can be friendly and effective supporters rather than friendly enemies.

FRIENDLY ENEMIES LETTER

 

Healthy Recipe: Thai Peanut Stir Fry

This week’s recipe is our Thai Peanut Stir Fry.  It’s a super simple way to add lots of flavor to a dish with out adding lots of extra calories or fat.

INGREDIENTS
Stir Fry:
2 cups Creamy Peanut Butter
1 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
1 cup Water
1 cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1 tsp Ground Cayenne
1 Tbsp Minced garlic
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp Onion Powder
1/8 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Ginger
2 each Soba noodle bundles, cooked
1 tsp. Sesame oil
1 each Red pepper, chopped
1 each Carrot, sliced on a bias
1 stalk Celery, washed, and cut on a bias
1 stalk Broccoli florets, washed, and cut medium size
12 each Crimini mushrooms, quartered
1 bunch Scallions, chopped large on a bias
1 each Pork tenderloin, cut into strips, marinated in sesame ginger marinade (4ounces raw per person)
Sesame Ginger Marinade/Sauce:
4 each Garlic, minced
2 T. Ginger, fresh, minced
1 tsp. Red pepper flakes
2 T. Sesame oil
2 ½ T. Brown sugar
6 T. Low sodium soy sauce

PREPARATION

STIR FRY:

1. Place the first 10 ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.


2. In large sauté pan, heat pan with sesame oil.


3. Sauté pork tenderloin for one minute then sauté peppers, carrots, celery, broccoli and mushrooms.


4. Once vegetables are soft, add in cooked soba noodles and Thai peanut sauce.


5. Sauté until all components of the stir fry are hot.

SESAME GINGER MARINADE/SAUCE:

1.  Heat small sauté pan.


2. Add sesame oil


3. Sauté garlic and ginger


4. Then add brown sugar, stir frequently


5. Finally add red pepper flakes and soy sauce


6. Let sauce reduce just a little bit then serve.

Note: This recipe works great as a marinade or as a sauce. This is a very flavorful sauce; a little goes a very long way. This is a great marinade for chicken, shrimp, tofu, tempeh, pork and beef. Or this can be a great sauce for your stir fry or even your favorite kabob recipe. Depending on how you use this recipe can change the calories- marinade would be about half the calories that are listed.

NUTRITION
  Stir Fry


Number of Servings: 4
Serving Size: 2 Cups
Calories: 320
Fat Grams: 10





Sesame Ginger Marinade/Sauce
Number of Servings: 6
Serving Size: 1 tablespoon
Calories: 80
Fat grams: 4.5

 

Fitness Friday: A Push-Up Progression

Push yourself this weekend!  ENJOY!

Eat your fruits and veggies

If there is one nutritional message that is universally accepted and endorsed, it is to eat your fruits and veggies.  The evidence that the consumption of vegetables and fruit lowers the risk of several chronic disease is overwhelming.  Some of you might remember the catchy phrase “5 A Day” from several years ago, this suggests that you should consume a combination of 5 servings of vegetables and fruits each day.  More recently however the message has been, especially with non-starchy vegetables, more is better.  Guidelines from the USDA, and  American Heart Association, as well studies such as the respected Omni Diet recommend up to 11 serving of vegetable and fruits a day.  Even for a veggie lover, consuming that much can be a challenge, and for someone who is not a big  veggie fan, that recommendation is downright intimidating if not seemingly impossible to achieve. As you might remember from Adam’s goal setting class, a goal that is unrealistic is a goal that is not achieved.  While I personally believe that, especially with non-starchy veggies, more is generally better, a new study suggest that the old 5 A Day guideline still carries weight. The study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that eating fewer than five servings of fruits and vegetables each day was linked with a higher chance of dying early.  Researches in Sweden found that people eating no fruits or vegetables were 53% more likely to die during the follow-up than those who consumed 5 servings per day.  Eating just one serving increased longevity significantly.  Surprisingly the researchers found no additional benefit for people who ate more than 5 servings per day.

If you like fruits and veggies and want to exceed 5 serving a day, by all means go ahead.  However, if you are part of the 77% of American adults who don’t reach the 5 A Day rule it may seem impossible to reach the recommended 10  or 11 servings.   Just think though, if you're only 1 or 2 servings a day away from the target goal, you might give it a shot.

For a refresher on serving sizes check this site out.

Wellness Wednesday: 5 Simple Ways to Simplify Your Life

By Lisette Cifaldi, Director of Behavioral Health, Hilton Head Health

1.  Tame the Clutter Monster: Keep your home environment clean and comfortable so that it remains your sanctuary. When purchasing something ask yourself, “Is this a want or a need.” Likewise, for every new thing that you bring into your house, an old thing must go.


2. Avoid Saying Yes on the Spot: When asked to volunteer or give your time to something, create a stall-tactic like, “Sounds good but I need to check a few things first. Can you call me in a week or so to follow up?”  That way you can determine if you have the energy to spare before committing your precious time while putting the onus on the person asking the favor to follow-up.


3. Create a Work-Life/Home-Life Buffer: After getting home from a long day at work, take 30 minutes to decompress in a healthy way such as meditation, exercise, reading, or taking a walk. A short buffer between work and home allows you to be fully present with your loved ones in the evening as well as provides renewed energy needed to tackle home-life tasks.


4. Allow People to Help: Many of us have a difficult time asking for help or allowing people to help us. The truth is, when we allow people to help us we are giving them the gift of being of service. Being of service to others helps us to get out of the monkey-chatter in our brains, while connecting to our spirit. It also allows us the gift of connecting to others. It’s a win-win situation. Try it!


5. Gratitude, the Reset Button: When life gets overwhelming and you find yourself ruminating on difficulties or hardships, start cultivating gratitude. Gratitude helps to recalibrate your emotions and negative thoughts by redirecting your energy on blessings. Doing so births only positive emotions…love, hope and joy. Set your phone for a daily prompt to focus on things for which you are grateful.  Write down 3-5 things each day that you are grateful for in a journal.

Coaching Corner: Self Talk

Self Talk

There are many people out there who influence the decisions we make.  Many of us have role models in our lives with qualities we aspire to have.  But probably the most influential people in our lives are ourselves.  There are very few people that we trust more than ourselves (if any at all).  Over the years, research continues to teach us more and more about the great capacity of our mind.  The things we believe dictate decisions we make and behaviors we have.  Our strongest beliefs sculpt our way of life (religion, health, family, etc…).  For example, if you believe that the Chicago Cubs are the best team in the world, than you are probably a die-hard fan who will continue to follow them no matter how many times they lose.  If you really sit down and think about it, your mind is your world, and the relationship you develop with your mind can change your relationship with the world.

How does one evaluate the relationship they have with themselves?  One way to do that is to listen to how you talk to yourself (Self-Talk).  Are you typically a “glass half full” or “glass half-empty” kind of person?  In fact, let’s take that a step further.  When it comes to your fitness, are you a “glass half full” or “glass half empty” kind of person?  What sort of things do you say to yourself?

 

Pessimistic

•  I’ve never done it before


• It’s too complicated


•  I’m too lazy to get this done


• There’s no way it will work


• It’s too radical a change


• No one bothers to communicate with me


• I’m not going to get any better at this

Optimistic

• It’s an opportunity to learn something new


• I’ll tackle it from a different angle


• I did not fit it in my schedule but could re-examine my priorities


• I can try to make it work


• Let’s take a chance


• I’ll see if I can open the channels of communication


• I’ll give it another go

One very easy way to make your relationship with yourself a healthier one is to turn your “negative self-talk” into “positive self-talk”.  There have been many studies done showing the impact of speaking positively to oneself.  One study in particular was done on a rugby team in the Journal of Sports Sciences that demonstrates the power of changing negative self-talk into positive self-talk.  In this study, half of the team was asked to consciously change their “self-talk” in a more positive way and the other half of the team was asked to change nothing.  It was found that the half of the team that consciously spoke to themselves positively improved their vertical jump performance significantly more than the half that did not.  It’s sort of like the phrase “fake it ‘til you make it”.  If you tell yourself something enough times, eventually you will believe it, and eventually you will become it.  If you are someone who believes that they will never enjoy fitness, never find something that is sustainable for themselves, and you continue to believe that, then you are probably correct.  You never will… If this describes you, I challenge you to regularly find ways to put a positive spin on your outlook on exercise and make that a new healthy habit!