Zen Pen Fitness

Do you spend a lot of time in the mirror criticizing yourself, always in dissatisfaction with what you have? If this is you, I suggest you begin to make peace with who you are. I say control the things you can & throw the rest out! For instance you cannot control your muscle & bone structure, so don't try to be a size 0 when you are naturally a size 6. Don’t limit your thinking. It's important to set yourself up for success. I hear all the time from clients "I want to be thinner & I've been struggling my whole life but I can’t seem to get there".

I say to them, first things first: What is thinner to you? Do you have an image? Bring me a picture because there's a healthy body image...and then there's the LA/Hollywood body image... From my own personal experiences with body image and many years of working with weight loss, I realize that "FAT" is really a state of mind. Being overweight is a physical attribute. You don't have to be physically overweight to feel fat. We can all relate to that, right? It's when we eat emotionally, that we soon start to feel "we are what eat!" I call it being in touch with our internal fat checker. We all have one, it's just how well we are tuned in with them that determines if we are overweight or not.

For example, if you start eating poorly, day after day, week after week, soon your clothes get tighter, your bra doesn't fit, and suddenly you have the blues, (there is no such thing as eating bad & feeling good, they just don't harmonize). Soon your husband walks by for a quick kiss, grabs your belly & says "look at that cute belly" or your kids go in for a hug & without failure every time, they pinch your belly so tight & giggle sheepishly, or you’re at the grocery store, you've put on a few pounds, you have on some loose clothing & the checkout guy says, "long time no see, are you expecting?" And suddenly you feel your world crash, BAMM! That's when you KNOW you've reached your "fat" limit, Right? We have ALL been there. That next morning you are running out that door to the gym and adjusting your diet! Reaching that limit promotes you to change. Which is a good thing! We all reach this point somewhere in our life. Some sooner than others, even in obesity there is a "limit" reached that then promotes "the change". Do you watch The Biggest Loser? They have all reached their limits & instinctually promoted change.

I've discovered all we really need in life comes from within and if we can just stay still long enough to listen to ourselves, we will soon realize this. As a tip, I will tell you from working with clients of extreme weight loss, having struggled with my own weight since my teen years and from working with some of the top leading doctors in this field, the biggest fighter of fat is knowledge. Educate yourself about yourself. Pay attention to what your triggers are that cause you to eat unconsciously. Once you're aware of them, you can then build a defense to combat those issues/bad habits once they arise. This is all normal. This a good way to give ourselves a check up from the neck up, if ya know what I mean! :-) . Another great fighter of fat is cardio! If you are not involved in a cardio program, I suggest you start! Burning Fat is about oxygen consumption which happens in the "aerobic system." When your heart rate is elevated, your lungs expand taking in more oxygen, therefore you are burning more calories! You can visit a local gym, or call me to arrange taking your own specific v02 max test which will measure your rate of oxygen consumption, therefore providing you with the knowledge of how many calories you can burn at rest & with exercise. Go ahead and drop the weight physically or mentally; Work it out and stay in touch with your own internal fat checker!