Fit 183: Glutes, Guts, and Quick Weight Loss

In this episode:
Stretching your glutes, how and why. Your emotional health and what it means to your physical health. In Nutrition, a simple trick for short term or quick weight loss.

Training:
Check out the video below (and on Youtube.com/GetFitTV) for a great glute stretch using the stability ball. A form of this stretch is also used in my DVD workouts, Ball Sculpt 1: Nothing But the Ball and Ab Sculpt & Yoga Stretch This stretch is much like the pigeon stretch in yoga. Using the ball enables a great lower back stretch at the same time. Plus, it’s fun to do!

Stretching your glutes is important to the overall health of your back, especially the lower back.
If the glutes are over tight, they can affect the lower back, spine and even your upper back. Releasing the glutes with a solid, focused stretch like this one aids in proper alignment of the legs and hips, as well a release on the low back. It’s all tied together! Sometimes we forget that each muscle does have a specific stretch! Be sure to include this one before and/or after your next weight training or cardio session!

Motivation
Emotional health is just as important as physical health! Sometimes, even more so! We all have basic emotional needs. These needs can be expressed as feelings, like the need to feel important, accepted, and respected. While we all have and share these needs, each one of us differs in the strength of the need, just as some of us need more water, more food, or more sleep. One person may need more freedom and independence, another may need more security and social connections. Or one may have a greater curiosity and greater need for understanding, while another is content to accept whatever he has been told.

Unlike physical health, many people, including physicians, have somehow neglected the importance of emotional stability. Your emotional stability is vital in achieving overall health. Emotional stability contributes to your sense of well-being. Without this, you can be prone to internal chaos, depression, anxiety, self-esteem issues, despair, and isolation. In fact, your emotional health influences other aspects of your health such as physical, mental and social health.

Now let’s talk about stress. You know the toll that stress takes on your body physically and mentally! Physically, stress leads to the release of certain chemicals to prepare your body for action. The “Fight or Flight” effect. But when the action of “Fight or Flight” is not required, these excessive chemical levels can cause damage to your body over time. Emotional stress can come out of nowhere and the stress caused by it only heightens the emotions felt. As the emotional stress increases, the emotions get worse, heightening the emotional stress. Thus, the problem recreates the cause and the problem only gets worse. It’s a viscious cycle, just like the diet cycle. It may seem impossible to get out of it, but there are ways!

Emotional stress is often triggered by a traumatic, or in some cases, dramatic, event that puts your nervous system under severe strain. We’ve all had these situations in our lives. Some more than others, some events more severe than others, but still traumatic just the same. You know what these events are losing a loved one, seeing someone die, ending a relationship, job change, divorce, moving, or being put into a life-threatening situation. These emotionally-charged occurances put a severe strain on your mind. The incredible strain can cause changes in the way that the brain works. Maintaining emotional health is vital to your physical health and well being.

You should not be haunted or tortured by emotional stress. Instead, you want to look and try to understand from where this stress is coming. There are various support groups and solutions that are easily accessible to help you cope with emotional stress and illnesses. From professional services to forums, chat rooms, or even Facebook groups, you can always find someone that has either been in your shoes or that can help you with your feelings. Life is too short to dwell on negative feelings and emotions.. These can hold you back from what you want to achieve. These emotions can turn into “excuses” and set you up for failure.

In my years as a trainer, I have come to realize that most people don’t get in shape because they are hindered by their emotions and mental state, rather than their bodies. It’s not always easy to get to the root of your sabotaging habits! Many clients have told me that its like having a blindfold removed when we dig into the mindset and discover the real reason they are not losing weight due to self sabotage.

If you feel like you need help with this, visit CoachKira.com. I am now offering consultations and private coaching to help you break down the walls that are keeping you from weight management or weight loss success. If you have ever wondered why you can’t “stick to a diet or exercise plan” or if you have ever said to yourself “I know what to do, I just don’t do it,” then you are a candidate for coaching! With me as your coach, we peel back the layers to reveal the true cause or your self-sabotaging habits and replace them with supportive ones!

Now, here’s what I want you to do:
This week, start helping your emotional health! When you feel stress, or have sabotaging thoughts or continue bad habits, take a moment to write these actions in a journal. At the end of the week, review the journal and think about what changes you could make to improve or eliminate the things that jeopardize your emotional health. It’s a process, but well worth your efforts!

Nutrition:
Here is a very simple trick to drop weight quickly, or overcome a plateau. Pick three or four meals and repeat them. Yes, it’s that simple. Of course, these meals should be balanced with proteins, carbs, and fats. Preferably in a 40-30-30 ratio. Add lots of veggies and spread the carbs out during the day. It may be boring, but if you EAT THE SAME FEW MEALS OVER AND OVER AGAIN, you are more likely to drop weight or bust through a plateau. I’ve done this when preparing for a competition and many bodybuilders do this too. The most successful dieters, regardless of whether their goal is muscle gain or fat-loss, eat the same few meals over and over again. You can always return to a fancier menu. But for short term help, give it a try!

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Fit 183: Glutes, Guts, and a Quick Weight Loss Tip