Spring is a great time to refocus on getting in shape, now that us average joe workout types are willing to exercise outside on a regular basis. Here are some great suggestions in todays Winnipeg Free Press and thy work even if you don't have a wedding to prepare for. I do remember they did have an article recently on Wedding BootCamp for those highly motivated.
The Winnipeg Free Press Online Edition
Perspiration inspiration
Devoted exercisers, fitness experts offer words of wisdom, motivationMon Apr 9 2007
Healthy Living / Shamona Harnett
IF you celebrated Easter yesterday, you probably feel as overstuffed as the turkey you gorged on.Now you're looking for some inspiration -- a way to get back on track to swimsuit season.
Here is a compilation of some of the best and most inspirational advice I've come across during recent interviews:
Who: John Wichers, a Dutch-born Winnipegger who took up running later in life -- at age 46. Twenty-three years later, he's completed 22 full marathons, close to 40 half-marathons -- and just last year alone, he ran 12 races.Advice: Wichers advocates doing "silly things" -- physical activities that others might consider off-the-wall. For example, one winter Wichers did a run across a frozen Lake Winnipeg. In 2002, he incorporated his favourite activities into a charity adventure when he ran and cycled from Thompson to Winnipeg with his best friend following him in a trailer. He ended up raising more than $11,000 for his workplace at the time, the Rehabilitation Centre for Children, a hospital for kids with special needs.
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Plus, he enjoyed the challenge of meeting his goals."It builds character. Once you start something you see it through. That's the biggest thing. Never give up. Start something and be big enough to finish it," says Wichers, 69. "You're not (running) for anybody standing on the sidelines. You're doing it for yourself."
Who: Jari Love, Calgary-based fitness guru and creator of creator of Get Ripped! -- a series of best-selling resistance exercise videos.Advice: Men and women should include weight training in their workout regimens, says Love, who was recently in Winnipeg to promote her latest video.
The ultra-sculpted 41-year-old says women, in particular, should not be afraid that weight training will add unwanted beefiness. In fact, working out with weights helps battle the bulge by boosting metabolism and building muscle tissue -- both factors that make the body look leaner.
Love says she has fought her own genetics by working out with weights. (Her biological parents were obese.) An added bonus: Using weights helps maintain bone density and stave off osteoporosis.
Who: Cheryl Bartmanovich, a Lake Francis woman who appeared on Dr. Phil and Oprah after losing more than 100 pounds in one year through exercise and a healthy diet.Advice: Bartmanovich, who has become a marathon runner and motivational speaker since dropping her excess weight in 2004, says that a workout buddy can keep you motivated.
But if you're like Bartmanovich and prefer to actually work out solo, find an online exercise community, she says.
"Just because I'm running by myself doesn't mean I can't talk to people with like interests -- somebody to whine to if you've had a bad day," says Bartmanovich, who, while trying to lose weight, found motivation by chatting on a Dr. Phil website bulletin board.
Who: Phyllis Reid-Jarvis, a Winnipeg registered dietitian and author.Advice: Reid-Jarvis advocates fasting once a week -- but not the kind of extended food deprivation that's typically associated with the practice.
Instead, Reid-Jarvis recommends that normal, healthy adults (people who aren't pregnant, diabetic or suffering from an eating disorder) fast for a few hours once a week.
Starting off with a moderate six-hour fast (after a hearty breakfast) and increasing each fast by an hour until reaching a 10-hour fast is both psychologically and physically beneficial, says Reid-Jarvis.
She notes that going for a few hours without food will help you understand when you are truly hungry or full. "In our western culture, we have the opportunity to eat 24/7," says Reid-Jarvis, pointing out that most people tend to take full advantage of their eating opportunities -- gorging to excess. Not only are our stomachs too big, she says, but we tend to eat "on cue" rather than when we are hungry."When you fast, your stomach actually shrinks. And after they walk through the process of breaking their fast, they will realize what it feels like to be comfortably full -- not stuffed, not uncomfortable, not ready to burst," says the 14-year industry veteran.
Who: Dr. Melissa Hershberg, a Winnipeg-born physician who now lives in Toronto. She wrote The Hershberg Diet: Discover How the Fourth Macro Can Help You Shed Pounds and Beat the Metabolic Syndrome, a book that advocates the importance of eating more water-packed foods.Advice: Ditch the dried fruit and opt for fresh, says Hershberg, who explains that a bunch of grapes is a decent amount of food for relatively few calories. On the other hand, eating a bunch of raisins -- the same fruit with its water removed -- will give you double the amount of calories and sugar, and leave you feeling less satisfied.
"Those foods are healthy, but they are also dry. So every bite that you put into your mouth is a calorie. People can just eat tonnes of calories and it doesn't fill their stomach up because there's no water," says Hershberg.
As well, water-packed foods such as fresh fruits, veggies and lean protein tend to be packed with more nutrients than their dry counterparts -- crackers, pretzels, etc.
Writer: Shamona Harnett