It’s all about the health of you and your business

Fitness photo - blog 10-20-16What does health mean?

Health, it’s such a buzz word. Everywhere you go you hear “I want to get healthy” but what exactly does that mean? It means different things to different people. For an athlete it means one thing and for someone who is sick it means something completely different.

What does it mean to you?

Getting healthy doesn’t have to be a chore.

I’ve worked in the health & fitness industry for a long time. One of the things that I try to teach others is that getting healthy doesn’t have to be a chore. It doesn’t have to be hard, nor do you have to spend tons of time on it.

What it does have to be is a lifestyle that you choose.  As a business owner, one of major assets is your health, your personal health. I want to make sure I’m really clear here, that means your physical, mental and emotional health. Because the saying is true. If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything.

How it can be easy.

Start very small, I mean s-m-a-l-l. Here are several ideas:

  • Exchange one glass of soda for a glass of water a day for 5-7 days (or more if that’s what it takes) then increase from there.
  • Eat one new vegetable or fruit each week.
  • Park just a bit further from where you are going and increase it each week (or more if that’s what it takes).
  • Take 30-60 seconds and stand up to stretch.
  • Spend 30-60 seconds breathing slowing, inhaling and exhaling equally.

Yes, I have tons more ideas for you but if you are just getting started or thinking it is going to be hard and that you can’t do it, small is what will bring you the success you need to be healthy.  Trust me, biting off more than you can chew (pun intended) will get to exactly where you are and that’s not healthy.

Here is a quick video that can help you get started, it’s simple and you can do it in about 30 seconds, heck you can do it as you watch it. So click and watch, then share with me what you did!

 

Do you have the stamina to run your business?

2Who is running the business, is it you or the other way around?

I’ve been working with a lot of business owners recently who are stressed out and exhausted running their business. In fact, I’d say their business is running them rather than the other way around.

Most of them have been sitting behind their computer tap, tap, tapping away at their keyboards. And we all know what goes along with that, a lot of sitting. Sitting equals being sedentary and that equals a lot of poor health.

The low down on being fit to run your business.

Owning a business is much like running a marathon, it is a long journey. The difference is that marathoners have a specific well-laid out plan for them to follow where they are in constant movement, then rest and recovery. In addition they do a lot of tracking and reviewing to see what works really well and what doesn’t.

It is an absolute that as a business owner you must be healthy and fit. Before you get all up in arms over that, I am not saying you have to be a marathoner or anything of the like. But what I am saying without a doubt, you have to incorporate fitness, eating healthy, stress-reduction and rest into your business plan.

When you are healthy and fit you feel better, you have more physical energy and you have more mental energy. Maybe you have heard that our biggest successes and our biggest failures are all because of our mindset.

When you are run down, strung out and stressed out, you simply don’t have the mental capacity to be at the top of your game.

More great reasons for being healthy and fit for running a successful business.

A large study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine discovered that for workers who ate healthy and had regular exercise such as exercising at least three days per week were more likely to have a better job performance than those who did not.

You may not consider “job performance” when it comes to you because you probably don’t consider yourself an employee, but you really are. In fact, if you are like a lot of my clients you are the main worker bee so why not be the healthiest one?

When you put your fitness, eating well and sleep as a priority your brain power is boosted, stress is reduced and your work performance is improved. And least we forget, your overall mood increases! Talk about a positive mindset!

It doesn’t have to be hard!

Now for the good news! Increasing your health and fitness doesn’t have to be hard. Nor does it have to take tons of hours. What it does take is a bit of planning and execution but hey, you are a business owner you are used to that already. So take the skills you have been using and implement them on your health and fitness plan. And if you really aren’t sure where to start, here is a very quick video I posted to my Facebook page to get you started. It’s really simple, and you’ll probably go “really?”, yes really!

One of the things I make sure my clients have is their very own personalized health and fitness plan that supports their business goals (not to mention the personal ones too =) and that is easy for them to achieve. If that’s something you’d like but can’t seem to figure out on your own, let me know email me at kim@kimravida.com! I’d love to help you create a kick-butt plan that gives you all the stamina you need to run a healthy, successful business!

 

 

Yes, there are some things you should do when it comes to your health & fitness

I know, you probably don’t want to be told what you should be doing. I get that. However, what if it were something that would add to your business and your life success? Would you be open to listening? Being healthy & fit is an important component for you to have in your business.

Health & fitness is another one of my specialties.  I’m a huge advocate of being healthy and fit. It helps us stay focused, gives us more energy and even brain power. Recently a client came to one of her sessions asking for “help getting healthier”. I’m qualified to help her with this too as I am a Certified Personal Trainer and have many years of both personal and professional experience and success in this arena.

A lot of people struggle with their health when they have their own business. True, it can be a challenge to run a business and be healthy but it isn’t impossible. Often, we talk about setting aside time for business related tasks and appointments so we can use time here as it pertains to your health & fitness.  Here are a few to get your started:

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  • Make time for movement. Take a short walk, get up and stretch, go up and down a couple of flights of stairs a few times. Simple movement will bring oxygen into your body and will give you a boost in energy and mood.
  • Make time to plan, shop for and eat healthy meals. Plan and shop for what you will eat for the week, this will cut down on you just grabbing something unhealthy. When you know what you’ll be eating it is easier to just eat it.
  • Make time for sleep. Yes, sleep plays a hugely important role to your health & fitness. Just think about the time you didn’t get enough sleep and how hard it was for you to do the simplest tasks the next day, enough said!

That’s it, very simple “shoulds” right? Yes, absolutely. I’ll expand on them in later blog posts but for now, contemplate how it is you will fit these key three into your life so that you have optimal health & fitness!

I’d love for you to share your experience with your own health & fitness. Feel free to post a comment here.

If you would like to set up a free Strategic Plan of Action Call to get clear on how you can bring more health & fitness into your life, simply email me at kim@kimravida.com with the subject line of I want to be fit and I’ll email you back to get set up!

Top 5 Tips for Eating, Drinking and Being Merry!

cookiesThe number one habit to “go south” this time of year is health.  Suddenly there is no time to do your exercise program yet plenty of time to eat, drink and be merry.  While eating, drinking and being merry are fun and exciting, it often reverses all of the hard work that has taken place over the course of the year.  Whether you celebrate or not this holiday season, use my five tips below to keep all the success you have had so far from going down the drain.

  1. Make a Plan.  Planning is the number one secret to staying on your fitness plan, not gaining weight and not having to start over come January.  Plan your workouts.  Put your workouts in your calendar.  Even though you have a standing class or training session, when you see it in your calendar you will be more likely to keep them.  Plan your eating.  If you have ever have said “I shouldn’t have eaten all of that” you know it has the potential to happen again. So before you hit any party (or sweet tray), plan to do it differently and it will be different.
  2. Write down and share with a trusted friend (or even your fitness instructor) what your plan or goal is for the holiday season.  Whether it’s deciding to eat festive foods in moderation or not at all, or cutting your exercise routine down by half instead of discarding it entirely, when you commit to something and share it with others, you are more likely to follow through.
  3. Know your serving sizes.  You know what you like to eat—and therefore might overindulge upon.  Instead, plan to eat a healthy serving size.  When at a party or even at home, before you fill your snack, dinner and dessert plates, look at the choices first and then choose wisely.  Use http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-portion-size-plate to look up what a healthy serving size is if you are not sure.  Being aware of what and how much you eat is key to staying on target.
  4. Drink non-alcoholic beverages.  When you overindulge in alcohol, all bets are off as you almost always will eat more.  Drink a healthy non-alcoholic beverage while you enjoy your favorite food.  If you wish for an alcoholic beverage, have it after you have eaten and drink it slowly and mindfully.  This keeps your mind aware of your actions and easier for you to ‘be good’.
  5. Prepare ahead of time.  Before heading out to a function, party or even the grocery store, have a small healthy meal first.  This can make sure that you are not starving when you arrive and therefore you will not dive into the bowl of chips, eat a tray of cookies or buy junk food.

This time of year there are extra temptations to lure you away from your regular healthy diet and fitness routine.  Do not be one of the millions of people who every year say “I need to lose the weight I gained from the holidays” or “Next year will be different”.  This is your year to do things differently!

Also, feel free to share your thoughts, insights and revelations below… you know I love hearing from you!