168.
168 hours in a week.
A problem I am deeply passionate about – and it will take a minute to explain. Folks are not afraid to work hard with me. I’m great at training people physically. I understand biomechanics, am confident in my ability to keep you healthy when we work and feel that if we decide to work together, I am the best person in the world to help guide you. Period.
With that said, the problem I most commonly see is figuring out and investing time in improving those 168 hours.
I see people every day of the week – they’ll work hard, burn some Cals, burn some fat, have some fun and feel AMAZING after they workout…only to head home, eat crap food, sleep like crap and not think about exercise until the next day we workout. Having worked as a fitness professional for a while has opened my eyes to this problem – and one I am actively trying to solve!
In general, it is hard to always be mindful. Even the most dedicated clients – the ones who work out for an hour each day, have 161 extra hours per week where things could really turn a great week, into a less than stellar week.
Here is where I am trying to inject something new to my programs – daily health tracking. Tracking health. Tracking food. And mindful reflection of how you felt you treated your body. For a week so far, my clients have been keeping a log of their daily routines and habits. Even if it is just a minute of reflection into our connected health journal, I can be confident that for at least a small amount of time, the people who hire me, are taking their health seriously.
Reflection is good, awareness is great and action is best!
I got to reading through some of your health tracking logs and it brought a smile to my face. The whole point of our programs are to make this exercise thing more fun and get you investing time into your body on a regular basis. The health tracking has been GREAT thus far and I am happy each time I log into the programs and see that people are keeping account of your health!
With that said, I wanted to share a few highlights from this week and last because some of these are just too funny to keep to myself:
‘Feel good about going to the gym. Did a kick ass zumba class which got my heart pumping and singing both at the same time. Made me happy. Have had a few good days at the gym, so I feel good about that.’
‘Let’s be honest about “hearty dinner.” I got home and was ravenous. I had leftover chicken that had a delicious, carmelized skin followed by a sweet potato. I washed it down with a glass of red wine. Those weren’t transgressions. The real transgression was the sharp cheddar cheese and slices of rye I ate, after dinner didn’t feel quite complete. But I found justification: “Cheese may help you stay slim thanks to a substance called butyrate, found in many cheeses like Gruyère, blue, and Gouda, Parmesan, and cheddar. Research suggests that it may help boost metabolism. These cheeses also encourage the bacteria in our gut to make even more butyrate, so it’s a double win. Yay for sharp cheddar!’
‘Its crunch time. next two weeks are about studying and lifting and that is it. Can’t wait to be done. LIFT CITY!!!!! P.S. feeling good.’
‘Star date 70396.1: Typical work day. Woke up, worked all day. I had to start right at 8 and unfortunately had very little for breakfast. Didn’t get a workout in though because Sarah had a concert to go to, giving me zero opportunity between work and kids to do much. My cough was better, but I also started taking mucinex to see if that would help.’
Stella Fitness 
Mike, I agree with you. Journalizing is a good way to keep yourself accountable for workouts and nutrition. I know for me personally, the nutrition/diet area is where I can use more work. If you ever get back to the Mitten. I would love to workout with you. You must try a Syphus Training if you visit. I do it 5 days a week at 64 years of age. Katrina and Ellery Sagert also do it.
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