At the beginning of each year, people set training goals with the best of intentions. Faster, longer, stronger, better in some way at something. The reality is, by the time we flip the calendar to mid February, most of these goals have fallen by the wayside. Sound familiar? If so I’m here to tell you it’s not the goal that’s important, it’s your method of getting after it. If you ensure your goals are S.M.A.R.T. from the get-go, you’ll be well on your way to realizing them.

S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely.  My clients as well as anyone who has discussed with me has heard this before however, its more than worth repeating

S = Specific: Do you know exactly what you want to accomplish with all the details? Goals must be well defined. They must be clear and unambiguous. To go even a bit further, why do you want to accomplish this?  Knowing the why is just one more step that will help you achieve and realize your goals.

M = Measurable: Can you quantify your progress so you can track it? How will you know when you reach your goal? Define specific criteria for measuring progress toward the accomplishment of each goal you set so that you can measure and keep track of your progress.

A = Attainable: Is your goal a challenge but still possible to achieve? Goals must achievable. The best goals require you to stretch a bit to achieve them, but they are not impossible to achieve.

R = Realistic: Is your goal realistic and within your reach? Are you willing to commit to your goal? Almost certainly your goal is realistic if you truly believe it can be accomplished.

T = Timely: Does your goal have a deadline? Goals must have a clearly defined time frame including a starting date and a target date. If you don’t have a time limit, then there is no urgency to start taking action towards achieving your goals.

Whether your goal is to lose 20 pounds, accomplish a personal best on your daily run, rehabilitate an injury or bench your own bodyweight, this is the year your goal will become reality. I’m here to help you realize and achieve these goals and getting started is only a few steps away so please contact us for you free consult today and together we will define you S.M.A.R.T goals and put you on the path towards achieving them like so many of my other clients have.

So what’s your goal going to be? Make sure it’s S.M.A.R.T. and get after it! This is one year your fitness goals won’t fall by the wayside.

If you’ve known me for any amount of time you know that I used to travel a lot and I enjoy technology quite well.  These days I don’t travel quite as much as I’m chasing my toddler more however, my clients do.  Which is why when I came across this little App I thought I would further investigate and review.

I think it imperative to start with the simple cooking instructions for wild rice as the salad above calls for the rice to be already cooked so you can get to mixing the ingredients, chilling and most importantly eating.  All the prep for this recipe can easily be accomplished while the rice is cooking. Wild rice is actually not rice at all, its a long grain from wild marsh grass however, its nutritious and these days its cultivated in California (Yay for local!) Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Wild rice can be found in the bulk sections of these local Berkeley and San Francisco stores; Whole Foods,  Berkeley Bowl and Rainbow Grocery.

BASIC STEAMED WILD RICE

INGREDIENTS

1¼ Cups Wild Rice

3¾ Cups Water

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Place the rice in a fine mesh strainer and rinse well under cold running water to clean

2. Place the rice and measured water into a medium saucepan with a tight fitting lid and bring to a boil over high heat.  Cover and reduce the heat to low.  Simmer undisturbed until the rice has absorbed most of the water and the grains have swollen (some may split apart to show their white pith, this is fine and actually having the bulk of the grains split will give you a less chewy texture and more even cook throughout the rice).  About 35-55 minutes (generally the longer and darker the grains are the longer the cooking time will be). If some liquid remains after the rice is don, drain it off.  Fluff the rice and cook, uncovered, over low heat for about a minute to let any excess liquid evaporate, about 1 minute.

If there is anything in particular you would like to see more of here please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will see if it makes sense.

All the best to you and yours in 2012!

If you are someone who is waiting for the perfect time to start a fitness plan, I’ve got news for you…

There will never be a perfect time for you to start a workout routine.

I am not saying this to rob you of your motivation, so let me explain.

Even when you think your starting your exercise routine at the most perfect time and Nothing can get in your way, something always happens, its Murphy’s Law

It is inevitable.

Here is the common scenario:

You signed up for a 3 month personal training program thinking that this time you will have no scheduling conflicts.  You have bought new workout clothes, marked the calendar with the days of your appointments for 4 days a week and even have your meals planned out through the month.  You are ready to lose the 20 lbs you put on this past year and know that because you have no trips planned, etc for the next 3 months, nothing is going to stop you.

So you start your plan on a Monday and for the first 2 weeks, everything is going great, just as planned.  You are attending all of your appointments just as you scheduled, are starting to have more energy, are getting over the muscle soreness, you even dropped a couple of lbs and are starting to feel like yourself again.

And then it happens:  Your boss ask you to stay late at work due to a project deadline and you have to miss your Monday’s workout session.  You are bummed because you don’t want to lose the momentum but the work has to get done, so you cut your losses.

Tuesday rolls around and you are not feeling so hot (probably because you stayed late at work the night before).  You are feeling sick and low on energy so you decided that maybe you should come home early and sleep which means you are missing two workouts this week.

Now its Wednesday and you are feeling better but your boss throws an unexpected business trip on your calendar for the following week for client meetings and you have to be there.  You are disappointed in yourself for missing Monday and Tuesday, especially now that you know you will be gone the following week.  So now you are thinking “well, I already missed Monday and Tuesday and will have to miss next week. So this week and next week are shot.  I guess I will get back into it the week after my work trip.”  … And on and on..

I’m going to stop the story her so I can ask you a question:

Don’t you think it is better to work out once a week than no times at all?

Of course it is!  Any of you would tell your friends and family the same.  So why don’t we say this to ourselves?

In a perfect world, life would not get in the way of our plans to better ourselves but since it does, the best thing you can do is mentally prepare for the situations and weeks where you can’t get to the gym 4 to 5 days a week by letting yourself know that its okay.  If 1 time is better than nothing, then be okay with working out 1 time!

Here are a few tips on how to give yourself a break when starting a new fitness program:

1 – Plan on being okay with getting to the gym at least 1 time a week.  This way if something does come up you will not feel that all your efforts are lost.  If you know you are doing everything in your power to get your workout in but you cannot make it, don’t stress yourself out about it.  This will further inhibit your weight loss efforts

2 – Pre-Cook healthy food items so you can keep your diet on track if you get busy.  This is a huge par of the weight loss battle.

3 – Have a short at home workout prepared ready to do in case you have to miss your class.  Body weight exercises like squats, pushups, back extensions, planks and lunges can all be designed into a 10 minute circuit to help you get some type of workout in.

4 – Sleep.  You will never have the energy to get through your workouts safely if you are overtired, let alone get to the gym in the first place.  Sleep is one of the least expensive gifts you can give yourself.

If you are someone who wants to get started on your 1 Time this Week, please sign-up for your no-obligation, no-charge consultation to discuss your goals and how Dialed-in Fitness can work for you.

Raw Sugar

Most of us have come to know that plain white table sugar is not good for us in large quantities.  It is well known that in short, it is very refined and breaks down in the body quickly which causes spikes in insulin and then drops in energy or better known as the “crash”.  More importantly, it is imperative to remember that no matter what form of sugar is being consumed; honey, turbinado, brown sugar, sucrose or the infamous high fructose corn syrup it is all sugar and intake needs to be monitored.

Men in particular should consume no more than 150 calories of added sugar in a day, but the average American takes in twice that amount.  High-sugar diets may increase heart-disease risk according to studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Where are you consuming your sugar and are you keeping an eye on it?

One of the most effective ways to increase flexibility and take advantage of the stretch is to hold the lift at the bottom of the down position ( or the bottom of the eccentric contraction) for 2 to 3 seconds without relaxing before forcefully contracting the weight back up (concentric contraction).

This is just one more reason to ensure that you are working through a full range of motion to not only maintain flexibility but work to increase it and ensure balance in your body.

This marathon features 26.2 miles of Fun!  Runners see many of the iconic sites of San Francisco and have the experience of running on the roadbed of the Golden Gate Bridge.  People from across the country and some from the other side of the globe will be in attendance for what will surely be an exciting event.  For more info check out the official site http://www.thesfmarathon.com/

By now anyone planning to run this event should  either just have started, or be several weeks into a training plan, how is training your plan working for you?

Please leave a comment as we would enjoy  hearing from you.