I received an email from one of my mentors
last week. He was using the problem I’m
referring to in a different light. But
immediately I realized it’s the biggest problem
mother’s face. Here’s what he said…

“Author and motivational/self actualization guru,
Larry Winget, has a book out that I recommend to
you. It’s called “No Time For Tact.” Great title.

In the book he shares 365 daily nuggets of wisdom.
It’s good stuff. His July 2nd nugget says:

“I believe in selfishness. The best way for me to
serve others is to selfishly serve myself well.

When I take the time to feel good physically, I do
a better job. That requires some selfishness.

When I do what I want to do, I am better at it,
and the better I am at what I do, the better
others are served by what I do.

It is possible to give so much of yourself away
that you compromise the quality of what you have
to give.”

Sean (his business partner) uses the airplane
oxygen mask analogy to describe this, and it’s an
accurate way to think about it.

“If you’re traveling with small children, put your
mask on first THEN help your children with
theirs.”

Because if you can’t breathe, you can’t help
anybody.

VERY serious advice that cannot be overlooked for
long or you *will* pay the price.”

I think he’s spot on. But this is THE biggest and
most common problem I hear from mothers.

I firmly believe we’d be lost without our mothers.
They always put themselves on the bottom
of the totem pole and serve others first.

But it shouldn’t be that way. And it doesn’t have to be
either. I just finished meeting with Jennifer Janson. She
trained with us last year and came back in to get get
re-started.

Jennifer runs her own ‘company’ of 6 at home. Plus
her husband. When she went on hiatus from FT, she
realized that going it alone and doing it on her own was
not realistic. Too much distraction. Too much room for
error. Too much time. She was better when she had a
disciplined and structured exercise routine. It was time
for her. No one else to think about. No one else to tend to.

FT helps leverage her health and fitness. And she
knows her family is better served because of it.

This is even more important with your health, your
fitness, and your weight loss. You will serve
others better (spouse, kids, friends, etc…) if
you serve yourself first.

How to be effectively “selfish”:

Plug these into your calendar first:

- Your personal down time
- Your workouts
- Your nutrition
- Your sleep

And then be discplined about
honoring and protecting that time. Will it
be perfect? No. It never will be. But you
can certainly strive for it.

If you are married, have kids, work a lot of
hours, there are always others to tend to. It
takes discipline and commitment or your time can
soon fade away.

Gotta guard against that – at all costs.

Here’s to the Mom’s out there!

P.S. If you think this is only applicable to mothers
you’re sorely mistaken. Make sure you take time
for yourself, your health, your fitness, and watch
your care for others improve!

P.P.S. Would you like help being ‘selfish’? Would you
like a way to leverage your health and fitness? See
how Jennifer does it by clicking here.

Posted under Fitness Tips, Personal, health

I’ll get to the big news in a minute. But first, the secret…

I just implemented a Corporate Wellness Program with an insurance firm in Clayton. We’ve put together an 8-Week Challenge to help everyone get motivated and in their best shape! It’s a ‘Biggest Loser’ Challenge in-a-box if you will.

Last week as we were going through their Fast-Start Orientation we covered goal setting.

This step is often overlooked with an exercise program. But it’s so important! If you don’t have anything to work towards, then you’ll end up just spinning your wheels. And that’s not productive.

To help ensure weight loss and fitness results you must set goals.

As I spoke to the group of 20 or so, most hadn’t heard of S.M.A.R.T. goals. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. Your goal must incorporate each category. I’ll break them down one by one and give you a few examples.

Specific – Your goal must be specific. “I want to lose weight” is not a goal. That’s simply a wish. But, “I want to lose 18 pounds” is a specific goal. Now we know where you are (your current weight) and where you want to go (your current weight minus 18 lbs.).

Measurable – Goals must have some form of measurement. Weight is easy. You step on the scale, and then you step off the scale. What about getting in shape? How do you measure that? Maybe it’s walking up a flight of steps without panting. Maybe it’s to run 30 minutes without stopping. Whatever it is, make sure your goal can be measured.

Attainable – I’ll admit this is my least favorite. I like to be aggressive with my goals. And I hope you do too. But keeping a foot in reality is important. For instance, a goal for me “To make it in the NBA” would not be realistic (no matter how much I would like it to be . I’d be setting myself up for failure. Make your goal aggressive, but attainable.

Realistic – This one is somewhat like attainable. Losing 30 lbs. in 30 days is not realistic. Nor is it safe! Give your goals some boundaries. When setting health and fitness goals you must keep physiologic abilities in mind. When losing weight, 1-2 pounds of weight loss per week is a safe estimate, but having a resting heart rate of 30 or doing 1000 pushups in a minute is not realistic.

Timely – Last but certainly not least. I heard someone say once, “Nothing would ever happen without a deadline.” And you know what? It’s true. Without a deadline or some sort of timeline, the chances of follow through are slim to none. Adding a time element creates a sense of urgency. Going back to the goal of “I want to lose 18 lbs,” adding “in 12 weeks” now gives you your deadline. Always, always, always have a deadline.

Goal setting is always our first step when setting up a health and fitness program. A SMART goal is one that works. Take out a pen and paper now and write down some goals. Make sure each one includes each category. (If you have an ipod, stay tuned… my brother’s company is putting together a SMART goal App as I write. I’ll keep you posted!)

To your health and fitness success,

Tim Chudy

P.S. If you think your company might be interested in the “8-Weeks to Your Best Body” Corporate Challenge please call me directly at 314.863.7799.

P.P.S. Hope you had a great holiday weekend. Over the past couple of years you may remember me mentioning my girlfriend Joella. Well, I took a surprise trip to New York City over the weekend and popped the question. She said, “Yes!” making me the happiest guy in town!  I couldn’t be more excited and thought I’d share the awesome news with you.  I love you Jo.

Posted under Fitness Tips, Personal, Weight Loss Tips, health

When I was a kid, my family would take the 3 hour
drive down to the Lake of the Ozarks every weekend
during the summer. With 4 kids in the back of the
car, you can imagine some of the stuff my Mom and
Dad had to live through! I know many of you can
relate. The only difference was back then they
didn’t have a DVD player to keep us occupied.

Every so often that drive would be extra special.

My dad liked to make good time in the car. But
stopping at Casey’s General Store for candy was a
must have to keep my siblings and I from going
crazy.

To please my Mom, we would stop at Wendy’s for
some ‘coffee’. Now ‘coffee’ isn’t really coffee.
‘Coffee’ was actually a Frosty!

My mom would ask ME to go in with her to get a
‘coffee’ while everyone else stayed in the car.
She’d get me a Junior Frosty and we’d go back to
the car having enjoyed our ‘coffee’. Just me and
Mom. No one else.

I can’t begin to tell you how much my Mom has done
for me in my life. The love, support and care
she’s given me is beyond anything I could describe
to you. I’m very blessed to have a Mom like I do.

And getting ‘coffee’ with my Mom was a special
little time we shared that I’ll never forget.

We help a lot of moms here at Fitness Together
get started and achieve their health and fitness
goals. And the one reason always preventing
them from having started an exercise program
earlier is putting EVERYONE else first. Well,
this weekend, you’re number 1! As a Mom you
deserve it.

I’d like to wish all Moms, especially our FT
Mom’s, a very Happy Mother’s Day. You deserve to
be honored for the love, care, and support you
give to us.

Tim

P.S. I’d love to hear your Mom stories. Post a
quick story of why you’re Mom is special.

P.P.S. I love you Mom! And yes, I won’t forget to
call;-)

Posted under Personal