1. Hydrate. Approximately 65 percent water, our bodies require substantial replenishment of H2O to function properly.   Proper hydration flushes toxins, ensures proper digestive and body functions, curbs hunger and helps fight aging.   Opt to drink water (you can add lemon, cucumber or a splash of juice for flavor), unsweetened green tea or club soda.  To approximate how much your body needs, divide your weight (in pounds) by two.  The result equals the ounces of fluid you should drink each day. * This hydration formula doesn’t work for people who are obese.  As a result, if you are 50 – 100 percent above your ideal body weight, consult your physician on this subject.
2. Get Your Zzz’s. Adequate sleep is highly beneficial to your health as well as your waistline.  Those who get seven to eight hours of sleep each night tend to weigh less than individuals who are sleep deprived.  Try to go to bed at the same time every night and wake up the same time every morning.  Also, promote sound sleep by avoiding caffeine after noon, eating at least two to three hours before bedtime and limiting alcohol intake.
3. Strength Train and Exercise. Strength, cardio and flexibility training are all important to keep bones and heart strong, metabolisms high and bodies free from injury.  Find a variety of activities you enjoy and get in one or more (for approximately one hour) at least three times a week.  This should include two 20 to 30 minute sessions of strength training weekly.  Instead of weight lifting, you can enjoy Yoga and Pilates (both incorporate strength training) as well as other forms of exercise that require muscular strength.
4. Drink Moderately. Alcohol has seven calories per gram of alcohol, as compared to nine calories per gram of fat and four calories per gram of protein and/or gram of carbohydrates.  Alcohol in moderation, however, can help raise HDL, the good cholesterol.  Recent research suggests that the heart-health benefit of alcohol is increased if moderate consumption is consistent: three-to-seven times a week, as opposed to sporadic consumption. To balance the benefits with the calories, women should limit themselves to no more than one drink a day; men, no more than two. One drink is 4 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer (a bottle or can) or 1 ounce of hard liquor.
5. Manage Stress. Stress is part of life.  Managing stress, so it isn’t overwhelming, is critical in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  When we are over-stressed, we find reasons to soothe ourselves and, often, we do so with food.  Exercising, getting enough sleep and spending down-time alone or with loved ones, are all ways to help diminish the impact of stress on our lives.

Don’t forget to eat healthy too, but remember that other healthy habits are just as important!

Excerpted from "GET REAL" and STOP Dieting! Copyright 2009 - Brett Blumenthal

GET REAL TODAY!!! Learn the most simple, straightforward, no-nonsense way to lose excess weight, and keep it off for life...without dieting! BUY IT NOW!

by Brett Blumenthal

The past couple of times I’ve spoken at Spa Industry conferences, I’ve heard industry experts describe the consumers’ perception of a spa as “a place to get fluffed and buffed,” implying that spas are purely meant for superficial grooming benefits.  Sure, there are definite beautification benefits, but the reality is that there are a lot of mental and physical benefits that you can reap from a trip to the spa.  This misperception, however, once again inspired me to create a ‘Top List’ of reasons to venture out to the spa.

1. Stress Management and Relaxation: Every type of treatment or service, including massage and body work, can help you relax and decompress.  Further, you don’t need to actually buy a treatment to see the benefits.  Just sitting in a jacuzzi, steam shower or sauna , amenities a lot of spas, wellness and fitness centers offer, can help you to relieve stress
2. Detox: Many types of services promote detoxification, which eliminates toxins and excess fluids that can contribute to loss of energy, constipation, bloating and water retention.
3. Increased Self Esteem and Confidence: Taking time to pamper yourself and to take care of your body and mind can significantly improve your body image, increase your body awareness, and improve your self esteem.
4. Improved Circulation and Blood Pressure: Many services, such as heat therapy, hydrotherapy, massage and body treatments, help to improve circulation and reduce blood pressure.
5. Anti-Aging and Healthy Skin: Taking care of your body, mind and skin helps to ward off the aging process.  Treatments, such as facials and other skin care services, as well as body treatments, target skin problems to keep you looking your best.
6. Psychological Benefits: Being touched therapeutically through massage and other types of services provides many emotional and psychological benefits.
7. Pain Management: Many types of services can help alleviate pain.  Further, some treatments are known to help relieve symptoms of arthritis, fibromyalgia and nerve problems.
8. Improved Sleep Patterns: Through the relaxation process, people find that they are able to sleep better at night.  Further, some spas offer Sleep Therapy programs for those who have serious sleep disorders.
9. Improved Breathing: Sauna and other heat related therapies, as well as massage, can help to improve your breathing.  Further, spas that offer movement classes, such as yoga or pilates, can also help you strengthen your respiratory system.
10. Improved Flexibility, Range of Motion and Athletic Performance: Massage, Heat Therapy and hydrotherapy help to improve your joints and increase your range of motion.  Further, yoga and pilates help to increase your flexibility.

So, next time you might think that a trip to the spa is merely a ‘fluff and buff’, think about all of the wonderful benefits you will see from the experience. Why do you go to the spa? Relevant Topics:

• Everything About Spa
• Types of spa treatment and services
• Benefits and types of massage and body work
• Benefits and Types of Heat Therapy
• Benefits and Types of Detox
• Benefits and Types of Hydrotherapy
• Benefits and Types of Body treatments
• Benefits and Types of Skin care
• Everything about Yoga
• Everything about Pilates
• Benefits of Sleep

by Brett Blumenthal

I am not a marathon runner…probably never will be…but I do like to run 3 1/2 miles or so a couple of times a week and last night, I took part in the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge in Boston.  The ’Challenge’ is an annual series of 3.5-mile (5.63 km) road footraces owned and operated by JP Morgan Chase, with an intended focus on promoting “fitness in the workplace,” as well as raising money for non-profit organizations.  The last time I ran it was in 1997 in New York.  For various reasons, I hadn’t had the opportunity to run it again until last night and I’ll tell you, there were lots of good feelings all around.

The majority of the course is on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, where after a mile and a half or so, you literally make a major U-Turn and pass by the thousands of runners going in the opposite direction.   At one point, the course takes you through a short ‘Under-Pass’ where participants running in both directions cheer loudly.  This is where it hit me.  Seeing and hearing the wave of runners who were all there for the same reason was truly awe-inspiring, not to mention motivating.  I felt part of something much bigger than myself.  Something that was purposeful.  Something that was impactful. 

At this moment, it dawned on me why people like to race in marathons, participate in triathlons and even work towards competing in the Iron Man.  There is something really invigorating about ‘running with a pack’ and even more so when you know there is a good cause attached.  Participating in fitness events that also have a socially responsible mission really gets to the heart of balanced living.  It is an integrated approach…it is holistic…it addresses the mind, the body and the soul.  So, next time there is a reason to be active and to attach it to a cause, go for it.  You will be inspired.  You will be motivated.  You will be physically and mentally satisfied.

What cause related fitness events have you participated in?

Related Topics:

• Fitness and Exercise
• How I Lost 20 lbs without Directly Trying
• Balanced Living Defined
• Personal Sustainability: A New Movement of Sustainability

by Brett Blumenthal

Nintendo’s Wii Fit is revolutionizing the health and fitness industry, getting people of all ages off their butts and moving in a healthier direction.  I don’t own Wii…and there is a good chance I never will.  However, about 4 months ago, I tried out a friend’s Wii Tennis game for a few hours (I don’t feel the need to explain myself, it just happened). 

Throughout the game, I took it relatively seriously and found that I got quite a little workout.  I held the remote and swung my arm as if I was holding a real tennis racquet.  Feet in position…full strokes…both forward and back hands.  After about fifteen minutes, I actually started to work up a small sweat.  Not only did I have a ton of fun, I was really imprssed by how much ’exercise’ I got.  

After a full night of Wii, I slept really soundly and woke up the next day with a really sore shoulder.  I’m not talking a little sore, I was SORE.  The soreness persisted for about 4 days and I promise you, it made me rethink my strength training regimen. 

So now Nintendo has introduced the highly popular Wii Fit.  Wii Tennis was not part of the Wii Fit game, it was just one of their basic games, and as we already established, it busted my butt.  Wii Fit promises to do that and more.  It is meant to combine fun and fitness, transforming the traditional model of ’Couch Potato and Video Game’ to ‘Active Player and Video Game’.  Types of games include: Yoga, Strength Training, Balance and Cardio.  The Wii Balance Board, which you stand on during the game, is a scale that reads your real-life movements and brings them to life on screen, just like the Wii Remote controller I used during the Tennis Game.   It also allows you to set goals, chart your progress and find out measurements such as your BMI.

I think it is fantastic that it is getting people moving, but I do wonder how accurate the Wii is, and when it comes to ensuring safe movements and proper form, does it really substitute a personal trainer.  If you are out of shape to begin with, you want to make sure you aren’t doing anything that could cause injury.

Have any of you tried the Wii?  Have any of you tried Wii Fit?  I’m anxious to hear what you have to say…

Relevant Topics:

• BMI
• Nutrition Calculators
• Yoga
• Fitness Information
• Cardiovascular Exercise
• Strength Training

by Brett Blumenthal

You just went away for the weekend and you came back to find that you gained 5 pounds over the course of 3 days. In your disbelief, you quickly curse the Weight Gods for being so cruel. Sound familiar? This was me last weekend. A little jaunt to Montreal, eating at decadent cafes, packed it on quick. This inspired me to discuss the seemingly unbalanced equation of weight gain vs. weight loss, the facts that surround the issue and how losing the 5 pounds feels so much harder than gaining them:

FACT 1 – It is Simple Math: To maintain your ideal weight, you need to eat as many calories as you burn in one day. The balanced equation looks like this:

Calories Eaten = Basal Metabolic Rate + Physical Activity

If what you eat equals more than what your body uses, you will gain weight. In the situation of a vacation, it is likely that you eat more unhealthy food than normal and possibly get less exercise, resulting in an imbalanced equation, with a higher number of calories on the eaten side than on the burned side. That imbalance over the course of a few days can easily represent a few pounds. (To assess an approximate of how many calories you need, click here.)

FACT 2 – A Pound is a Pound is a Pound: One pound of body mass represents 3,500 calories. Regardless, if you are trying to lose a pound or gain a pound, the pound will always represent 3,500 calories. So, if you eat 3,500 calories more than your body requires, you will gain 1 pound. Similarly, if you eat 3,500 calories less than your body requires, you will lose 1 pound.

FACT 3 – Exercise is Weight Discriminating: Whether you are 120 pounds or 175 pounds, you will gain one pound from eating 3,500 calories more than you need. Unfortunately, this doesn’t hold true for burning calories. How much you weigh actually dictates how many calories you burn per hour. The more you weigh, the more you burn, and as a result, the easier it is to lose the pound…sound crazy? It is true. Check out the Calories Burned Chart.

FACT 4 – Aging Contributes to Weight Gain: As if aging doesn’t contribute enough to unfavorable things, it also contributes to weight gain. As we get older, our metabolism slows down, requiring us to need less food and calories. If you don’t modify your caloric intake as you get older to reflect this change in metabolism, you will start to see weight gain.

The Bad News: Unfortunately, eating an extra couple of unhealthy snacks or drinking a few extra glasses of wine can happen in a blink of an eye. However, the time and energy required to burn off those calories takes a lot more effort. We have provided a chart on what 1,000 calories looks like on both sides in the chart below (remember, it is 3,500 calories that make up a pound).

The Good News: Whether it is rapid or slow weight gain that you have experienced, losing the extra weight can be tackled through two avenues (and should be): calorie reduction and exercise. Choosing to lose weight through both calorie reduction and exercise will accelerate the process. If for seven days you burn 200 extra calories through exercise and reduce your food intake by 300 calories each day, you will lose that extra pound. Further, it is a lot easier than trying to either reduce your caloric intake by 3,500 calories (which is physically impossible) or burning an extra 3,500 calories during exercise (which takes a ridiculous amount of time and energy).

What you Can Do: Assess whether your weight gain was a rapid gain due to atypical behavior (E.g., vacationing) or a longer-term gain. If it was a rapid gain, there is a good chance you will lose the weight by returning to your normal habits. You might have to be a little strict for a day or two, but you shouldn’t feel like a major overhaul is in order. If, however, you have gained the weight over a period of time, assess your habits and think about what has changed in your life. Have you stopped exercising? Have you let your eating habits go? Have you hit a milestone birthday? Once you can assess the reality of your situation, remember the equation…to maintain balance, burn the calories you eat.

Stop Dieting and Lose Weight for Good! Eat healthy and Drop Excess Weight with #1 Bestseller "GET REAL" and STOP Dieting! - the most simple, straightforward, no-nonsense plan that reveals how to eat healthy today, tomorrow and always...without dieting! BUY IT NOW!

by Brett Blumenthal

Unfortunately, there may be times that smiling can be difficult – when it might not be easy and might feel virtually impossible.  Sometimes we get so caught up in the bad things that we forget that smiling is actuallly an option.  Maybe your boss inappropriately yelled at you…maybe you had a fight with a loved one…maybe you lost a loved one…or maybe you just feel mildly depressed for the day.  Whatever the case may be, there are always times when smiling just doesn’t fit your mood. 

Even though you may very well have reasons not to smile, here are a few reasons to push through…focus on the positive…and yes, smile:

1. It makes you Feel Better: Don’t write this one off.  Really.  I know it sounds ridiculously idealistic and corny, but it is true.  Next time you feel down or blue, smile.  Just smile as big as you can.  You might feel ridiculous forcing a huge grin when deep down all you want to do is sob your heart out, but if you do it, and you concentrate on it, you actually do feel better.  Believe it or not, there is research behind this.  There is a theory called ‘facial feedback’ hypothesis.  It states that “involuntary facial movements provide sufficient peripheral information to drive emotional experience” implying that you may actually improve your mood by smiling.
2. It is contagious: Ever notice if you smile at someone, they smile back?  If you don’t smile at someone or don’t have any real facial expression for that matter, you pretty much get a mirror image back.  Smiling is a proactive behavior, or action, which solicits a reaction.  Maybe Newton’s Law of Motion could be revised to say: To every smile there is an equal and opposite smile.
3. You look Marvelous: If you were to see someone smiling…and another person frowning, or expressionless, good chances are that you are going to find the smiler more pleasant to look at and more attractive.  Studies have shown that individuals who were asked to study posed faces found that those who were asked to smile received more favorable impressions. 
4. A Choice in Aging: If you look at people who have wrinkles or facial lines, you’ll notice that most of the lines on their face follow their most natural facial expressions.  If you were to choose between frown lines or smile lines as your lines and wrinkles for the future, which would you rather?  I think the answer is obvious…
5. Muscular Response:  Here is a test.  1) Smile 2) Try to maintain your smile and frown at the same time.  3) Now try to smile and furrow your brow at the same time.  Not so easy.  Actually pretty impossible right?  So what does this tell you?  The more you smile, the less you are physically capable of frowning or furrowing your brow.
6. Overall Outlook: The more you smile, the more positive you feel and see things.  There was another research study where participants were either encouraged or prevented to smile.  Those that were able to smile rated cartoons as being funnier than the group who were prevented to smile, implying that your overall outlook is more positive and happy.

Convinced yet?  The reality is that smiling in itself is a holistic, natural ‘medicine’ and anti-aging regimen.  It helps us feel better, look better and age better!  So next time you are feeling like frowning.  “Turn that frown, upside down!”

Related Topics:

• Mind/Body

Works Cited

Nike makes a great point.  Those three simple words – Just Do It – really sums up a lot of things in life.  Even when we know something is good for us or that we should be getting our butt in gear, it can be extremely hard to motivate.  We, as a species, have become masters of creating excuses…whether it be ‘the dog ate my homework’ or ‘I had a hard week and therefore deserve to eat a whole bag of Chips Ahoy’, we find ways of procrastinating and getting out of so many seemingly basic ‘have tos’, ’shoulds’ and ‘need tos’.

Unfortunately, the more often we make excuses, the easier it is to perpetuate.  Creatures of habit, we get used to things…whether they are good for us or bad for us.  A procrastinator myself, I thought it would be good to talk about excuses that are commonly used to get out of exercising.  The five excuses below are pretty common, but I’m sure there are tons more out there to poke holes through…

#5. I Don’t Feel Well: Ok, if you are in the hospital, are excessively nauseous or have a fever, you probably shouldn’t be running a marathon.  That said, a cold, allergies, a headache, menstrual pains or just ‘not feeling great’ shouldn’t stop you from breaking a sweat.  Is a matter of fact, exercise can sometimes cure some of the most common ailments, including: hangovers and colds.  Sweating, a form of detox, allows you to release toxins that are guilty of making you feel under the weather.  So next time you have a sniffle, get out there and sweat your sniffles away…

#4. I’m too Tired: This used to be my excuse.  When I got home after work, the idea of putting on my workout clothes and heading to the gym was a very painful concept.  So painful, I sometimes would rationalize that I didn’t need to exercise.  Granted, missing a day or two can be okay, but sometimes I rationalized that I didn’t need to go for several days in a row.  Not good.  The reality is, that exercise can get you over ‘being tired’.  Exercise is helpful with improving and maintaining stable energy levels throughout the day, regular sleep patterns and overall mood.  Exercise also improves regularity (yes, I do mean your digestive tract) and reduces incontinence, which can contribute to a feeling of sluggishness and being tired.

#3. It’s too Early or It’s Too Late: This isn’t too far off from #4.  And actually, if one of these is an excuse, the other shouldn’t be…unless you are a professional sleeper.  When I realized I hated coming home to exercise, and could think of a million other things I’d rather do, I decided that I needed to buck up and get up in the morning to get in the workout.  Yes, it was painful for two or three days, but now, I wouldn’t go back if you paid me.  If you are a morning person, get up and get your exercise groove on in the AM.  If you are a night owl, exercise at night (Although it is healthier to exercise in the morning, it is better to get the exercise in at night than to not get it in at all).  Be sure, however, to leave a couple of hours in between your workout and going to bed so that you give your body enough ‘downtime’ to transition to sleep time.

#2. I’m Traveling: Granted, it can be more challenging to exercise when you are traveling…especially for business…but that doesn’t mean you can’t exercise.  Some tips:

1. If you are staying at a hotel, try to stay at one that has a fitness center or gym.
2. If the hotel doesn’t have a gym, walk, jog or run outside.  Make sure you bring appropriate clothing for the weather.  And don’t forget your sneakers!!!  Seriously, forgetting your workout clothes should not be another excuse.
3. Tuck some fitness DVDs into your suitcase.  Play them on your laptop and exercise in your room.

#1. I don’t Have Enough Time: This is the absolute worst excuse of them all.  Why?  Because you have to make time.  If you don’t prioritize exercise, you will never have enough time for it.  Once you get used to making time, you’ll realize that you always have the time to fit in a workout.  Whether it be squeezing in a brisk walk at lunch, scheduling ‘you time’ in your calendar or developing a daily routine that you can stick to, your time is yours.  So use it wisely.

In short, the trick is to discover the excuses you buy and which excuses don’t fly so that you can Just Do It.  What are some of the worst excuses you have used?

Going to a spa can be a wonderful experience.  It is also a great way to bring balance into your life.  Massages on a regular basis help to alleviate stress and tension, while facials provide a great foundation to maintain and promote beautiful, youthful skin.  That said, throughout my work in the industry, I’ve experienced and heard about all aspects of a spa experience: what works, what doesn’t and what makes one go back for more.  Here are some reasons that warrant you never returning to a spa:

1. Dirty Dungeon: Under absolutely no circumstances should you ever accept a dirty spa.  Spas should be very clean…all the way from the locker rooms to the linens and towels you use.  Everything from the nail clippers to the massage tables should be clean and free from mold, dirt, bacteria, etc.  Not to say you want a sterile ‘feeling’ environment, but if you ever visit a spa and wonder when was the last time they washed the floors, you probably shouldn’t go back.
2. A Better than You Attitude: Chances are that when you go to a spa, you are looking to relax, feel special, get pampered and let your worries melt away.  If for any reason you are made to feel that you aren’t ‘good enough’ for the spa or that you ‘don’t belong’ at the spa, leave.  You are paying good money to be at the spa, there is absolutely no excuse for rude or inappropriate treatment.
3. Mismatched Personality: There are many spas out there that create a great environment…but not all environments appeal to all people.  I’m not talking about the actual service or treatment…services can be good, bad and indifferent and they don’t speak for the spa as a whole…what I’m talking about is how you feel from the moment you walk in to the moment you leave.  What was the experience like?  Do you feel at home?  Were you comfortable?  Were you able to relax?  If not, then it is possible that the spa just doesn’t have a compatible personality with you.  That is fine!  It could be a great spa…just better suited to other personality types.  For instance, if the spa has a very ornate and luxurious feel to it, but you find yourself feeling very stiff, formal and unable to relax, then you might be better off finding a spa with a different environment and approach.  Maybe one that is more understated, simple and modern in feel.
4. Underwhelming Staff and Services: Sure, there are going to be therapists and/or treatments you don’t like, but if you go to the same spa two times and find both of your experiences undewhelming.  Don’t go back.  The first time, speak to the spa manager or director and talk through your experience and what you liked and didn’t like.  The spa manager or director should be proactive at this point and look to match you with the right treatment and the right therapist.  They should aim to bring you back and rectify the bad experience.  If you go back, and once again you are left underwhelemed, there is a good chance the spa just isn’t up to snuff.  Don’t feel guilty…just move on.  This is not a long term relationship!
5. Unsafe or Dangerous Treatments: Although very rare, you may come across a spa that has bad practitioners, or even worse, practitioners that lack training or aren’t certified.  Anytime you try a new spa, it is always good to do some preliminary investigation to know that the spa is reputable and offers quality services.  If you ever have a treatment and it ‘hurts’ or even worse, you leave with scars, infections or a serious injury, absolutely do not go back.  These results are completely inexcusable.  Is a matter of fact, you should probably do some investigation to find out if there are other individuals that have had similar experiences.  You might have reason to take legal action.

Remember, going to the spa is a very personal experience, and you have to know what makes you feel comfortable…what you like…what makes you feel it was worth every precious penny spent.  We are all different; and what makes me happy might be very different from what makes you happy.   So when considering a visit to a spa, be careful.  Do your homework: make sure you know about the spa, what to expect and what treatments are good.

Have you ever had a bad experience at a spa?  Any reasons you would never return?  Share with us!

Relevant Topics:

• Spa Information
• Choosing a Spa
• What to Expect at a Spa
• Massage Types
• Types of Skin Treatments (Facials, etc.)

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This past weekend I was completely caught off guard:  I got the flu…and I’m still getting over it.  I know…I know…it is the season…or maybe the end of the flu season and I should have expected it, but nonetheless, I didn’t.  And when I got it…it stunk.  During the worst of it, my fever rose to over 102 degrees (and stayed there for 24 hours) and I was relegated to curling up like a ball under 3 blankets, wishing I could just drift away to another place…away from the chills…away from the pain in my throat…away from my throbbing head…away from the cough that felt like it was going to tear my insides and head to shreds.

Our health is so precious and when we have it, we take it for granted.  Often, we find ourselves overdoing it in all aspects of life: working hard…playing hard…sleeping the bare minimum, etc.; but when we get hit with some awful bug it can prove to be devastating. During the ‘worst’ of it, I was reminded of how important our health is and that when you don’t have it…you pretty much have nothing.   You really could care less about anything other than feeling better…feeling healthy…feeling ready and willing to take on the day and to live life.

Mind you, this is the flu we are talking about…nothing really serious for most people…and yet, it still packs a powerful punch.  As a result, it made me stop and think for a minute about all of the individuals out there with serious, serious health issues…whether short term, long term or even terminal…how very awful it must be to go through treatments, hospital visits, uncertainty, pain and even worse, the possibility of death, day after day.  I can’t even imagine how challenging it must be…how the thought of giving up could be so attractive.

I’m not trying to be morbid…if anything, I’m trying to talk about how precious our health is and that we should be thankful for the days when we don’t have any ailments, disease, viruses, etc.  We should respect ourselves, value our health, worship our bodies and cherish our souls.  Every day that we can live healthy is a gift to be treasured.  And the more days that we live healthy, the more we gift ourselves.  We must make the commitment to treat our bodies and minds with care and to nurture them.  We do this through all aspects of personal sustainability: mind, body, soul and personal environment.

So if you are healthy today, give a little thanks and treasure every minute of it.

Recently, I have been hearing about a lot of adults who obsess over some aspect of their health.  I’m talking about adults that fall into the age group of 40 something to 60 something.  I’m also talking about individuals whom most would perceive to be ‘perfectly healthy and fit’…individuals, that if I looked at, I’d say, ‘They are in good shape.’  I guess, for some reason, I always assumed that this type of obsessive behavior around weight, eating and exercise was mostly prevalent among people in their teens and early 20s.  I never really associated this kind of behavior with adults in a mature age group.

I personally know many individuals who at some point, struggled with their weight, were bulemic or anorexic or would work out extensively to ‘work off their calories’.  Many of these individuals eventually saw the light and have overcome these problems, but many, unfortunately haven’t.  It isn’t easy.  Whether it be stress induced, peer pressure or an emotional response, many people have an unhealthy relationship with food and/or exercise.  As a result, some become obsessed.  It is terribly disturbing and for them, it is terribly frustrating. 

One individual I know, would exercise in the morning, at lunch and at night.  That is three times in one day!  And she would do this at least six days a week.  I know another individual who did the same thing throughout her whole pregnancy.  Unfortunately, her baby was born with health issues and retardation.  The doctors believe that this was attributed to her over-exercising throughout her pregnancy.  I also know individuals who look great and keep cutting things out of their diet so that they can lose more weight.  Yet, they can’t.  I know women who at one point were anorexic and have messed up their metabolisms for the rest of their lives. 

It is hard to maintain our weight and make sure we get our daily activity in, but when we do, and we are truly mindful of how we are eating and living, it is important to remind ourselves that our bodies have a way of knowing what is healthy.  If we aren’t being healthy, our bodies will find a way to let us know.  It is important to pay attention to how our bodies communicate with us…in a sense, they are our health compasses.

If you are dieting and you are doing all of the things you are supposed to be doing, but you can’t lose any more weight, sit back and really think about the reality of the situation.  If you are being honest with yourself, there is a chance that your body doesn’t need to lose any more weight.  If, however, you journal your food intake and exercise, and you find that in reality, you are eating more calories than you should, or you are depriving yourself of the right nutrients, or you are over-training, there is a good chance that you won’t see any more results.  How often you eat, what you eat and when you eat are all very important to maintaining a healthy diet. 

The same can be said for exercising.  Over training (exercising more than you need to or should), as well as under training can be just as detrimental to your health and balance.  There is very little reason for any individual to have to exercise three times a day.  Unless you are an athlete, professional exercise instructor or training for a competition, one really productive workout should be enough. 

Obsessing about your health is just as detrimental as neglecting your health.  Be an informed consumer.  Understand good nutrition and understand effective exercise programs.  Set realistic goals and listen to your body.  It will tell you what is working and what isn’t. 

Relevant Topics:

• Nutrition
• Fitness
• Dos and Don’ts of Nutrition

by Brett Blumenthal

We all have been on the band wagon about sustainability….green living…triple bottom line…social responsibility…yada yada.  When looking at the environment and when looking at our recently grown passion for sustainability, we have been in a reactive mode: slapping band aids on to fix the wounds we have inflicted on the earth.  It has taken astronomical energy and oil prices for us to realize the fragility of our resources.  It has taken threats and ‘inconvenient truths’ of global warming for us to understand our detrimental impact on the environment.  It has taken the loss of or near loss of species to realize how very precious every creature is on our precious earth.  As a result, for the better part of 5 years or so, we have been scrambeling to reverse the damages and reconsider how we treat mother nature and how we use energy and how we ultimately ’save the earth.’  This approach, unfortunately, is how many of us approach our own lives.  

I recently have had a lot of clients who have been interested in pursuing development and projects around the concept of wellness and although many of them get it, the words ‘wellness’ and ‘wellbeing’ just aren’t as impactful as I think they could be.  What is wellbeing?  What is wellness?  What is balance?  Many people think these are touchy feely concepts that don’t have much merit.  Or, they understand a couple of components of these concepts, such as fitness and nutrition, but they don’t get the rest, such as mental health and prevention.  Well, over the last ten to fifteen years, with the exponential growth of technology, we’ve been living more and more chaotically and unbalanced.  We don’t stop to really relax.  We don’t take a deep breath and release the stress.  No.  We are constantly on the go.   We are seeing a rise in blood pressure, depression, obesity and other medical issues.  We can never remove ourselves from the frenetic pace we live our lives in and unfortunately, it takes a big toll.  This toll manifests itself as health issues and sometimes even death.  This does not spell sustainable living to me and unfortunately, all too often, the toll that becomes all too consuming is what it takes to jolt many of us into reality, waking us up and causing us to rethink how we live. 

It shouldn’t take a near death experience for us to value life.  It shouldn’t take extreme health conditions for us to take better care of ourselves.  As a result, what we now see is a new emerging dimension of sustainability…’Personal Sustainability.’  Living balanced, which is what Sheer Balance is all about, is what Personal Sustainability represents.  It is about being healthy…mind, body and soul.  It is about living in an environmentally friendly and conscious way.  It is about taking the time to nurture and do what is right for yourself.  It is living in a way that is personally fulfilling and meaningful in all dimensions of life.  And it is living a life that is as ’sustainable’ as one can live.  Granted, we are mortal and can’t live forever, but living ’sustainably’ is a concept that we can apply to our every day lives.  Being proactive…working every day, to live a life that is valuable…and valued.  This is Personal Sustainability…our strategy to promote and prolong life…not harm or shorten it. 

So get on the new band wagon…and join the Personal Sustainability movement.  Make a change for the better…for yourself.

Relevant Topics:

• Balance Defined

by Brett Blumenthal

Have you ever missed a good night sleep and then the next night stayed up late to watch your favorite rerun of Friends, Frasier or Scrubs…because even though you had seen it five times, you just couldn’t get enough?  And then the night after, you went out with friends for drinks and dinner, and it went later than you expected?  Before you knew it, you were 4 or 5 nights in the hole.  I find that not sleeping becomes some sort of an addictive behavior and unless you break the vicious cycle…you end up feeling like I’ve been these last four or so days…extremely sluggish and moody.  Basically, falling quickly into a downward spiral.  It is funny how, sometimes, although you might know what is best for you and might be able to give the best advice in the world, when it comes to yourself, you somehow forget it all and everything you ’should do’ goes out the window. 

Sleep is more vital than people give it credit for and as we get older, it becomes even more important.  It is harder to rebound from the late nights: you look like you’ve been out late for a year and you feel like you’ve been hit by a truck.  I look back to the days I was an architecture student and I would literally, day after day, get up at 7am, go to school, teach one or two aerobics classes at night, stay up really late in design studio working on projects and then would finally go home and crash at 4am to then wake up again at 7am the next morning.  This cycle would continue for 5 days out of the week straight.  I don’t know how I did it.  Today, if I even thought of trying that shtick, I’d fall on my face.  It would be virtually impossible.

Well, none of this is anything new to any of you, I’m sure.  However, it is worth mentioning.  It is worth reminding ourselves that taking care of yourself, letting your body rest and recover, letting it regenerate is really, really important.  They call it ‘beauty sleep’ for a reason.  If you deprive yourself of the luxury of sleep, you actually deprive yourself of life.  The way I feel right now, I feel as though I’ve missed about 3 nights of sleep, and a couple of days of living.  So tonight, when my favorite reruns are on, I think I’ll pass.  I’ll crawl into bed and sleep happily.   

So my friends…don’t miss out on your sleep!  Make sure you are getting seven to eight hours of your vital rest a night…

Relevant Topics:

• The Basics of Sleep
• The Stages of Sleep
• Solid Prescription for a Good Night Sleep

Did you ever wish that you had an internal alarm to tell you to ’slow down’…or to ’stop eating doritos’…or to ‘get back to the gym’…or to even ‘take a vacation’…before it is too late?  I got mine this morning.  I think I’ve continued to celebrate my birthday now for about three weeks…and well, I woke up this morning feeling as though I was a stuffed up whale.  Don’t worry, I know I’m not a whale, but I felt like a whale…and that was enough.

The reality is, at some point, we all get off track.  It is normal.  We have a birthday, a celebration of some sort, or are under tremendous stress and we just let things go.  Either there isn’t enough time in the day, or we just want to be bad for awhile.  It’s human.  Granted, there are various levels of this…we might not eat well, we might stop exercising, we might even ‘forget’ to brush our teeth…I don’t know…for some reason, we just need to do this.  So, what to do? 

Falling off the wagon or having a short period of cheating isn’t the problem, it is when that period doesn’t end that we get into trouble.  The best way to keep these weak moments under control is to be cognizant of your individual ‘tipping point’…when enough is enough…where if you go past it, it will be much harder to reverse the damage then to stop the damage.  Unfortunately, if we look around us, there is a good chance that many of the people we see aren’t aware of this point…and as a result, they get into trouble.  For me, I know that after three weeks of being bad, my body starts to react.  Four or five years ago, I had a little bit more leeway.  And today, it might take me a couple of weeks to get back to normal, while four or five years ago, I could rebound in a few days. 

As we get older, our bodies can’t rebound from these spurts as easily.  So it becomes more important to be in tune with our mind, our body and our soul, to know when we aren’t honoring them, respecting them and treating them as they deserve to be treated.  Moreover, we need to understand what is ‘healthy’ or ‘normal’ for ourselves, and when we are wandering away from those personal benchmarks.  Understanding our individual ‘tipping point’ will allow us to be a little bad, without losing total control and reaching a point that is past ‘easy’ return.

Relevant Topics:

• Balance Defined
• New Year’s Resolution
• Stuffed Like a Turkey

Diane, for example, is a poster child when it comes to eating right…she is passionate about good nutrition, knows everything here is to know about maintaining a healthy diet and she is the go-to person for friends and family for insights about making ealthy choices. On the other hand, she is a new mom, works full-time and has very little time for herself, resulting in a lot of stress with very little time to manage it. She continually develops tension headaches, has a weak immune system and complains about feeling sluggish or too tired. What is wrong with this picture? How can someone who eats right and is so ‘healthy’ be feeling so bad? The fact of the matter is, that although she has successfully addressed one component of healthy living, she is neglecting others, creating a lack of balance.

Essentially, each factor – nutrition, fitness, your mental health and your environment – plays an important role in laying the foundation for balance. It is the intersection of all of these components that creates balance and overall health.

I travel a lot for business, and, as a result, I have gone to a lot of gyms in a lot of hotels. A lot of these gyms have scales and being human, every once in awhile I give into the temptation to ‘test’ out one of them. The last time I ‘tested’ one, I nearly fell off the scale. It reflected a 7 pound lighter me…WOOHOO! right? Not so much.

Although you would think I’d be happy about my rapid weight loss, I wasn’t. Instead, I was dumfounded as to how I could possibly weigh so much less in only a few days. It was virtually impossible. Moreover, I didn’t need to lose weight. And, lastly, it made me doubt the accuracy of my home scale…the scale I’ve used and trusted every week for the last 3 years. All of this just confirmed to me that although we as humans are mentally drawn to the scale like a moth to a flame, weighing yourself is a poor way of measuring your level of fitness, wellness and overall health.

First off, weighing yourself is only one measurement of health. It does not factor in your height, your build, your body fat, your lean muscle tissue or your bone density. When you think of your health, all of these factors need to be considered. Your weight is in a sense a broad summary of the components just mentioned. If you are 5’ 5” woman and weigh 140 pounds, you might think you are at a healthy weight. If you have a body fat percentage of 30%, however, that means you are fat. Yep…fat. However, if you are a woman, are 5’ 5” tall, weigh 140 pounds and have a body fat percentage of 22% you are probably looking like hot stuff. What does this mean? What your weight is made up of is what is important, not the actual number.

Second, if you weigh yourself on different scales at different times of the day, you don’t have a consistent point of reference. Further, if you are like me, and you are traveling across time zones, your ‘normal weigh-in time’ can shift a few hours, which might cause some differential. You could ‘weigh less’ as I did, or you could weigh ‘a lot more’. Either way, you don’t know the reality. Do you weigh more or do you weigh less? The danger in this is, depending on the number, you could delude yourself into thinking you are at a ‘good weight’ or that ‘you are fat’’ or in my case, that ‘you should or CAN eat more because you have lost too much weight.’ None of these conclusions are good because they are inaccurate…they are merely perceptions.

Lastly, your weight doesn’t measure how you look or feel. If at your healthiest point in life you were a size 6, and now you are barely squeezing into a size 10, you are probably fat…and this doesn’t mean that all you need to do is lose weight. It means you need to lose the weight that is specifically fat. Also, if you are honest with yourself and you genuinely feel good…you have lots of energy, you feel attractive in your clothes (assuming you have a healthy self-esteem), you feel healthy…there is a good chance you are healthy and that your body composition is in great condition. In short: being realistic and being observant goes much further than the number on a scale.

So, next time you feel the urge to weigh yourself every day, three times a day, with multiple scales, resist the temptation. Instead, start assessing your body composition, how your clothes fit and how you feel…these are the best indicators of your health.

Relevant Information:

• Body Mass Index
• Lean Body Mass
• Body Fat Percentage

by Brett Blumenthal

Over the last month or so, I’ve received questions submitted by readers and friends asking how I personally manage to find balance in my hectic schedule.  The short answer: I’m not sure I ever have.  In all honesty, I feel like true balance is much like true perfection: Never quite attainable…but definitely something to strive for.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve never been satisfied by the status quo, by average, by everyday…I’ve always looked for ways to make things better.  And, I have always been overly involved with a wide number of things at the same time.  Whether it was in high school when I was in 5 music groups, 3 extra curricular activities and volunteered at a local nursing home all at once, or today, when I run my own company, work for a global architecture firm, am President of a local chapter of an alumni organization, sit on the Board of Alumni Leaders for my alma mater, and try to be a good wife and daughter, I’ve always been ‘busy’.  I’ve never known how to be anything else.  This is how I live my life, and this is how I hope to always live my life.

So…finding balance, how do I do it?  Well, to be honest, it is a matter of prioritization.  There are certain things I just will not compromise on: exercising, eating right, maintaining myself (hair, skin and nails) and letting loose at least once (or twice) a week.  I’m not saying that I’ve always been able to successfully do all of these things, but when I slip up on one of these areas past a certain point, I remind myself to reprioritize and get back on track.

Balance means different things to different people.  My idea of balance, I know, is not the same as my mom’s or my girlfriends’.  Remember, balance isn’t just about one component, it is about mind, body and soul, all together, feeling good.  And it is very personal.  You have to discover what amounts, of what things, will take care of all three for yourself.  Be true to your needs and make them a priority.  Here is my prescription for balance:

1. Create a Vision: Be dreamy and visualize yourself as being balanced.  How do you feel?  How do you look?  Are you relaxed? Are you busy? Are you stress-free?  Are you alert and awake?
2. Make a List: Now that you know how you want to feel, list the things you think are important to achieving this vision of balance.  Keep them as general topics: eating right, going to the spa, meditating, exercising, traveling, etc.
3. Get Detailed: Take each item on your list and think through the details:
   1. How much time do you need to spend on each item?  30 minutes?
   2. What time of day / week do you see doing it? Morning, evening, weekends, afternoons?
   3. How often will you do it? All the time? Once a week? Once a month?
   4. How much will it cost you? Is it free? Do you need to budget for it?
   5. What else do you need? A gym membership? A recommendation for a masseuse? A travel agent? A good grocery store?
   6. What obstacles exist? Money? Family? Time?
4. Create a Roadmap: Now that you know what it will take to be balanced, create your monthly roadmap of how to incorporate these things into your life.  Be realistic so that you know it is achievable…but don’t compromise.  This is your happiness we are talking about!
5. Stick to your Guns: Best laid plans are only as good as how they are implemented.  This is most key.  You need to prioritize what is important to you.  Only you can create balance in your life…

For more information on Balance, refer to the following articles:

• Balance Defined
• New Years Resolution Roadmap