Inspirational

Staying Focused During the “Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

A fortune cookie once said, “Imitation is the best form of flattery” and in a world of fad diets, endless meal plans and health clubs on every corner, imitation is all around. People waste time and energy working towards achieving something they are not. People get so caught up with imitating someone else’s diets, workout regiment and eating habits that so often people fail to realize there is not one answer which works for everyone.

Running is so much more than what meets the human eye. For some, the runner you see pounding the pavement on a brisk Chicago morning is just another person trying to stay in shape, lose weight, or fit into those trendy skinny jeans. They must be crazy all bundled up running at wee hours in the morning as people drive by staring out the windows of their heated car drinking coffee to get that morning rush of energy.

Runner’s high is not a statement; it is not a definition but a feeling that is so extraordinary that the only way to describe it is to experience it. There are thousands of reasons people run yet running is so often labeled first as a form of exercise to lose weight. Running to lose weight is last on my list.

FIT-ING IN YOUR WINTER WORKOUTS
Fitness Tips for a Healthier Holiday Season

No matter how long your holiday wish list is this year, I am pretty sure gaining five pounds is not on it. At this time of year when pumpkin pies are abound, cocktail parties rule your agenda, and last minute holiday shopping resides over your kick-boxing class at the gym… it can be very difficult to keep up with your health and fitness. Here are a few tips to help you improve your body through these weeks of temptation and kick start you into the New Year.

I recently submitted an article about Eugene Blakely that got me thinking about how many inspirational people who are out there that may have never been heard of. We want to get their stories out there, printed in magazines but it seems no one will listen.

Well, let’s put and end to that! I want to give a venue for you to share a story/photos about yourself or someone you know who has been an encouragement to you or others. It may not even have anything to do with fitness, it could be anything. A teacher who inspired your life, or a friend who brings out the best in you, a parent, child, brother/sister your pastor, rabbi, whatever.

I have a young friend back in Canton, Ohio who is really wanting to get big, lean and become a bodybuilder/fitness model. I must say that I am very encouraged by his drive, discipline and determination to reach his goals. I am 100% confident that he will, without a doubt, become everything he dreams of one day being.

Many of you saw Justin Stage on one of my video entries from when I was visiting Canton. He and I, along with his buddy Andrew, trained, hung out and ate chicken in the rain on a loading dock.

An interesting thing happened over the last 3 months. The last 3 months served as a competitive season for me. Having retired from fitness competitions in 2006, I began focusing on my education in the field of Exercise Science and Yoga. Time started to drift by and then I realized that I missed having a fitness goal. My workouts were sufficient and my consistent yoga practice and cardio on the beach caused me to lean out quite nicely. Then on a whim I decided to compete in a bikini and modeling contest, it was at this point that I woke up my “focus” muscle.

This muscle had lay dormant for a little while, sure it was present in my day to day studies but this new level of focus was at a much higher intensity. I was driven to give 100% and I was determined not to give up even when the dieting became really tough and that last 10 minutes of cardio seemed like an impossible task. Each workout became a training ground toward overcoming obstacles and beating odds. As I now look back, there was a change occurring within me that was evident inside and outside of the gym. My confidence grew, my tenacity grew, a strong desire to break barriers developed, I discovered I wanted more out of my career and I realized that the strong “focus” and determination that I developed would help me achieve it.

Does life sometimes get you down? Are you waiting for things to get better, but they never seem to? Do you complain more than you praise? If you can answer yes to any of these questions then I have some advice for you: learn to be grateful for the little things in your life.

Instead of looking at the negative occurrences in your life, begin to catalog all of the wonderful things surrounding you. For example:

1. You can either complain about your physical condition or you can make a step towards becoming healthier. Remember that you have to crawl before you can walk.
2. You can rant and rave about all the good things that happen to everyone but you; or you can genuinely be happy for the success of others, and open up a channel of positive energy that will also flow your way.

“Someone once told me that the only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is the will to try and the faith to believe it is possible.”

On April 24, 1998, James DeMelo was in a critical accident. A semi-truck hit his car, and the impact literally left him dead at the scene. There was a paramedic on the corner, and when he rushed to the car and checked James’s vitals, he couldn’t feel a pulse. But he began CPR and James’s heart began to beat again. Through the grace of God his life was saved, but he had broken his neck in two places, his back was broken in four places, his shoulder blade and a couple of ribs were broken, and he suffered various other injuries.

“I wore a halo brace on my head for three months so the neck vertebrae could heal,” explains James. “But even after that, I had a long way to go in the recovery process. Significant nerve damage remained, and a large portion of my muscle mass had atrophied. I had so much to overcome, and I wasn’t sure I could do it.

“But I had to try. Someone once told me that the only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is the will to try and the faith to believe it is possible. At first it was difficult, but I forced myself to go to the gym twice a day. Within the first two weeks I had increased my strength and stamina, and my mobility had greatly improved. I began to see that it was possible to regain my quality of life.