Getting in Shape

Health care costs related to obesity are estimated at over $110 billion per year. Studies sponsored by the U.S. government have linked obesity to high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease. Is it possible that someday our health insurance may be priced according to one's weight? If you're wondering "What health insurance" - you're not alone. "Who can afford it?"

Take a good look around the next time you go to the local Supermarket - or out to eat. Check out how many people who are obese, or even a little overweight. How could this happen to so many of our neighbors and fellow Americans?

Is this strictly an American problem? I don't see too many obese Asians or Arabs or Africans.

I had the opportunity once to work with a wonderful boss once who often reminded us that behind every problem lies an opportunity! An incredibly positive man, he found a way to interject some humor in most of our workdays. So, behind ( excuse the pun please ) this national weight crisis lies the opportunity to lead a healthy and happy life!

Aren't we, after all, the product of the choices we make? Where we are right now is a direct result of the decisions we've made ( or not made ) in the past. So why not choose to get started on a toned and more muscular body? Why not choose to eliminate or even greatly reduce the amount of junk we put into our bodies? Why not choose better fitness and a healthy lifestyle?

You can easily make the choice to get a little more exercise each day. Or at least four or five times per week. Start today! Take positive steps every day toward a better life. Make this your best year ever. The year you chose a better life and started getting in shape.

Your Best Year Ever

Do you want a better life? Maybe you'd like to enjoy more happiness and less stress? Daily exercise is the time honored, proven path to a better, more fulfilling life! Not only will you Feel Better - You Will Look Better too!



Make time for exercise every day. Be selfish with your time. Delegate whatever you can or shuffle your workload in order to free up at least half an hour for your daily exercise time. Try something new! Do you enjoy or have a secret desire to try any sports? Pick up a cheap tennis racquet or grab a basketball and head off to the gym or nearest playground. If the weather outside isn't to your liking - get some exercise at home!

No need to spend a small fortune in the quest to reach your ideal weight. Enjoy eating healthy foods that you prepare and cook yourself. Skip the fancy (and expensive) health club - Work out in the comfort of home! Grab yourself a few inexpensive pieces of home fitness equipment.

Walking 30 minutes or more a day at a brisk pace is an excellent way to kick-start your journey towards a better life of good health and fitness! You can look younger and feel younger. You can have more energy and a much brighter outlook on life. Enjoy the natural high daily exercise gives you!

Hold on to your vision. Constantly remind yourself of your goal for better health and fitness. Take positive steps every day towards fulfilling your dream of a better life. Make this your best year ever. The year you started getting in shape!

Have More Fun This Summer

Do you ever wish you could have a slimmer waistline and tighter abs? Maybe you'd like to shed some of those extra pounds and inches so many of us have managed to put on over the long Winter.

Take heart - now is the perfect time to sweat those extra pounds off. Want to feel better and look better too? You're in luck - Summer is probably the best time of year for getting out and exercising. Enjoy the natural high every fitness buff gets when wrapping up a hot workout.

Check out Zuzana for a great workout. It clearly works for her. Exercise can do wonders for you this Summer too!



You don't need to drop a small fortune on health club dues every month. Get outside and enjoy your Summer. Build your muscles working up a good healthy sweat. Shed those extra inches and buy yourself a smaller size before the kids start heading back to school!

Summer means fun no matter where you live - so get out and enjoy yourself while you get in your best shape ever! Start today. Start getting in shape!

Getting in Your Best Shape Ever

A lady once asked Turner the secret of his great success.

"I have no secret, madam, but hard work."

"This is a secret that many never learn, and they don't succeed because they fail to learn it. Labor is the genius that changes the world from ugliness to beauty:



Simple, hard work building up stamina and endurance.

"We have but what we make, and every good
Is locked by nature in a granite hand,
Sheer labor must unclench."

Start simple. Get some inexpensive home fitness equipment and start getting in your best shape ever!

Tighter Buns and Abs

Do you ever wish you could have more energy? Ever find yourself wishing you could have more fun and enjoy life more?

Well, take heart, the good news is You Can have way more energy and lift your spirits! You can start enjoying life more and improving your outlook! You can overcome those negative pressures we all seem to face at one time or another.

Get out your planner and shuffle your schedule so you can fit in just 45 minutes every day just for you. Now watch this video and see how you can start getting in your best shape ever! Start today! Exercise a little every day and you too can start looking this hot!



Want to give your exercise program a boost? Want to start burning more calories and really tighten up those abs? You might find the Indoor Rowing Machine to be just the ticket! Plenty of healthy and happy fitness lovers have already discovered the secret of rowing their way to tighter buns and abs!

Best Time for Getting in Shape

"Most of our obstacles would melt away
if, instead of cowering before them,
we should make up our minds
to walk boldly through them."
- Orison Swett Marden

Your body was designed to move. So take a walk, ride a bike, go for a swim, jump rope, or just lift your arms toward the sky and see how high you can reach.



Getting in shape is the outcome of frequent vigorous, heart healthy exercise.

If losing weight is on your list of goals this year - why not start today! Spring is the perfect time to pick up the pace of your exercise program. Or start one! The facts are clear - the best way to lose belly fat is exercise frequently.

Best Way to Lose Belly Fat

Recent estimates indicate that 34 million adults are considered obese (20 percent above desirable weight). Also, there has been an increase in body fat levels in children and youth over the past 20 years. After infancy and early childhood, the earlier the onset of obesity, the greater the likelihood of remaining obese.

Carrying around too much body fat is a major nuisance. Yet excess body fat is common in modern-day living. Few of today's occupations require vigorous physical activity, and much of our leisure time is spent in sedentary pursuits. The best way to lose belly fat is really simple.



Excess body fat has been linked to such health problems as coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, diabetes, arthritis and certain forms of cancer. Some evidence now exists showing that obesity has a negative effect on both health and longevity.

Exercise is associated with the loss of body fat in both obese and normal weight persons. A regular program of exercise is the healthiest way to lose belly fat - and keep it off. Fitness and regular exercise are key parts of any plan to lose or maintain weight. Getting in shape is most often the result of plenty of vigorous, heart healthy exercise.

If weight loss is still one of your goals this year - Spring is the perfect time to pick up the pace of your exercise program. Or start one! The facts are clear - the best way to lose belly fat is exercise frequently.

Self Discipline

Practical success in life depends more upon physical health than is generally imagined. Hodson, of Hodson's Horse, writing home to a friend in England, said, "I believe if I get on well in India, it will be owing, physically speaking, to a sound digestion." The capacity for continuous working in any calling must necessarily depend in a great measure upon this; and hence the necessity for attending to health, even as a means of intellectual labor. It is perhaps to the neglect of physical exercise that we find amongst students so frequent a tendency toward discontent, unhappiness, inaction, and reverie displaying itself in contempt for real life and disgust at the beaten tracks of men.

Dr. Channing noted the same growth in our land, which led him to make the remark, that "too many of our young men grow up in a school of despair." The only remedy for this green-sickness in youth is physical exercise— action, work and bodily occupation.

Avoid idleness, and fill up all the spaces of they time with severe and useful employment; for lust easily creeps in at those emptinesses where the soul is unemployed and the body is at ease; for no easy, healthful, idle person was ever chaste, if he could be tempted; but of all employments bodily labor is the most useful.

Self-discipline and self-control are the beginnings of practical wisdom; and these must have their root in self-respect. Hope springs from it - hope, which is the companion of power, and the mother of success; for whoso hopes strongly has within him the gift of miracles. The humblest may say, "To respect myself, to develop myself—this is my true duty in life. Start Getting in Shape Fast!

Take Action for Better Health and Fitness

"ACTION! That's the word. The great world itself throbs with life. Action, untiring harmony pervades the Universe of God. The Creative Power has so ordained it. The physical formation of the world, and all therein, forbids inactivity. The vast machinery must move, or the whole cease to exist.

Man was never designed to be a drone. Had he lived pure in the first Paradise, he could not have been idle. Sick or well, in cold or heat, day or night, he machine moves on, the heart, like a steam-engine, throbs away, and faithfully pumps its crimson currents unceasingly to every part of the animal frame.

Action is one of the key elements of better health and fitness. Take action. Start getting in shape

The Journey to a Better Life

The New Year is the perfect time to begin your journey towards whatever you desire.

Do you ever dream of enjoying life more? Perhaps you’d like to shed some of those extra pounds so many of us gain over the Holidays. Do you want to have more energy to get more done or simply meet the demands already on your plate?

What is your vision? Take a moment or two and picture yourself having more fun. See yourself in whatever you perceive to be your ideal body. Maybe you’d like to have a slimmer waistline. Or more muscles and a firm, tighter stomach. Some of us simply want to fit in those really comfy jeans that are suddenly just a bit too hard to slip on.

Now that you have an idea of where you want to be - in terms of your health and physique, its time to set your course. What is your first logical step in the direction of where you want to be?

Make a plan and then get started. Take at least one positive step every day towards realizing that vision you have. For quicker results - take more action. You don’t have to change your body overnight. Just keep moving - doing whatever you can towards your ultimate goal every day. Hold onto your vision. Write down your long range goal and review it every morning. Give yourself a little pep talk every morning and then before you go to bed each night. Be thankful for the vision and the steps you take every day!

Set little targets for yourself to help your eventually reach the big goal. Convince yourself to eat healthy foods at every meal. You know what the bad stuff is. Gradually decrease the amount of those foods we all enjoy and yet know deep down are not really any good for us. Cook up a bunch of healthy foods over the weekend and freeze them for later in the week. Pass on that urge to stop in the fast food place for lunch. Instead, pack a few simple and healthy fruits and veggies to enjoy throughout the day.

Make time for exercise every day. Be selfish with your time. Delegate whatever you can or shuffle your workload in order to free up at least half an hour for your daily exercise time. Try something new! Do you enjoy or have a secret desire to try any sports? Pick up a cheap tennis racquet or grab a basketball and head off to the gym or nearest playground. If the weather outside is best suited for ice festivals or not to your liking - get some exercise right in the comfort of your home!

You wont need to spend a bunch of dough to pursue your ideal weight. Enjoy eating healthy foods that you prepare and cook yourself. Grab yourself a few inexpensive pieces of home fitness equipment.

Walking 30 minutes or more a day at a brisk pace is an excellent way to kick-start your journey to better health and fitness! You can look younger and feel younger. You can have more energy and a better outlook on life.

Hold on to your vision. Constantly remind yourself of your goal and take positive steps every day towards fulfilling your dream. Enjoy this New Year even more. Start your journey to getting in shape!

Start Getting in Shape and Enjoy the Holidays More

Make small, manageable changes in your daily diet and exercise habits. Realistic changes that you can do now. Don’t commit to an unrealistic exercise plan; just do what you truly know you can do, like walking 20 minutes every day at lunch, or even three days a week. Include more vegetables and fruits in your daily diet. Cut back on refined sugars, soda and junk food. Small changes practiced daily will lead to big results!

Go for at least 30 minutes of cardio 6 days a week. As you get more comfortable – increase your pace and your time to 45 minutes or an hour. Build endurance. Interval training is also a great way to burn more calories. If you want to add some ab exercises in after the cardio, that’s great, but be sure to work your whole body.

You can enjoy better fitness and health in the coming year and for years to follow! If weight loss is one of your goals – you can exercise and lose weight fast! Start getting in shape and you’re on the road to better fitness and a whole better outlook on life! Physical fitness makes life more fun!

Have discovered pilates yet? Try it - you'll feel great and look great.

Enjoy Life More!

Is it a realistic hope to get in better shape between now and the end of summer? Can you lose some of those extra pounds before school starts up again? The answer is a resounding Yes! You know you can do it! You can get with the program and lose those unsightly bulges. Trim that waist and work on slimmer thighs. You can firm up that butt. And strengthen your ab muscles.

Six-Pack abs may be just a dream - before Labor Day! And - you can start getting some serious aerobic exercise in most days and have a tighter tummy by Halloween! Just in time for all those hilarious Halloween parties!

Yes, there is time to shed those unwanted extra pounds. Time to slim down and look real hot in whatever outfit you put on! There's still time to get in better shap shape and fit into that beautiful little bikini. Getting in shape fast is possible. You CAN have a healthier, sexier body before this Summer goes into the history books.

The key is getting started. Right now! Don’t delay. Just do something to get rolling. And keep increasing your physical activity each day. Enjoy a better diet.

Getting in shape fast is a realistic goal. Start eating healthy foods, exercising and building muscles! The sooner you starter the sooner you too can enjoy the countless benefits of better health!

Have fun with whatever exercise routine you go for. Try new things. A variety of workouts and exercises will help you maintain a better balanced physique! Take up a new sport – or two. Work hard at having fun!

You can reshape your body into a leaner, sexier body with plenty of energy for just about any pursuit. People will start to notice your better health. You’ll start to display a renewed vigor for life and have a much better attitude. Your self confidence will continue to grow. You can enjoy life more!

Celebrate Health - Start Getting in Shape!

Earth Day is fast approaching! While we take some time to give thanks for this beautiful planet we live on, maybe today is the perfect day to start taking care of ourselves in addition to our planet!

It doesn’t matter what age you are when you begin to exercise, or how long you may have been inactive. Exercise will improve your physical and your mental condition. Exercise improves flexibility, strength, and endurance. It is important to begin any exercise program slowly and build up gradually.

Remember, it may take a few months to get back into good shape - depending on how long you’ve been inactive and your current physical condition. Just keep at it. Exercise a little every day. Keep eating healthy foods and soon you’ll look and feel great!

Stick with it, and you will see results!

Try these tips to help you get started:

Always Warm Up First:

Preparing your body for exercise is important for people at any age or fitness level. A warm-up period might begin with slow, rhythmic movements like walking or jogging in place.

Gradually increase the intensity until your pulse rate, respiration rate and body temperature are elevated. Soon you will break a light sweat. Do some slow, easy stretching exercises before moving on to the strength and endurance workout. Fitness buffs agree - stretching helps build healthier and flexible muscles!

Once you begin your daily exercise, keep these points in mind to get the best results:

* Always drink water before, during and after you exercise.
* Make exercising a part of your daily routine. You may want to set a regular time to exercise each day and invite a friend to join you.
* Start gradually, about 5 to 10 minutes at first.
* Increase the amount of exercise each day, up to about 30 to 60 minutes.
* Breathe deeply and evenly during and between exercises. Never hold your breath.
* Rest whenever you feel the need. Drink some water while you rest! Eat something healthy!
* Keep a daily written record of your progress. Track your progress. Celebrate your success!
* Exercise to your favorite music, or with some friends for even more fun!

The key is - Just get started. And stick with it! There a plenty of natural and healthy ways to lose weight fast. Daily exercise - combined with eating healthy foods is the quickest way to lose weight. Take your time. If you’re new to this whole exercise thing - don’t worry - you can soon be enjoying a much healthier lifestyle - at any age. Enjoy your journey!

Start today! Start building muscles and getting in shape fast. Soon you will notice you have more energy, and more fun! You will look great and feel great! Make time for yourself. You deserve to feel good. Have more energy. A better outlook. Be a little selfish and schedule time just for you.

Celebrate Your Health - Start ( or keep ) Getting in Shape and Have a Happy Earth Day!

Building Muscle and Living Happier

The benefits of building muscles are practically never ending. If you want to live a more satisfying life and just plain enjoy life more - start getting in shape! Start exercising and building muscle. You'll soon find yourself enjoying life more. You'll feel better and most likely look better! People will notice a change. A positive change - for the better!

Building muscles and getting regular exercise can help you live longer and spend less at the Doctor's office! ( Have you been to the Doctor lately? ) Some known and time honored benefits of exercise include:

Lose Weight or Stay at a Healthy Weight

Exercise and strength training are crucial to weight control, because individuals who have more muscle mass have a higher metabolic rate. Muscle is active tissue that consumes calories while stored fat uses very little energy. Strength training can provide up to a 15% increase in metabolic rate, which is enormously helpful for weight loss and long-term weight control.

Improved Glucose Control

More than 14 million Americans have type II diabetes—a staggering three-hundred percent increase over the past forty years—and the numbers are steadily climbing. In addition to being at greater risk for heart and renal disease, diabetes is also the leading cause of blindness in older adults. Fortunately, studies now show that lifestyle changes such as exercise and strength training have a profound impact on helping older adults manage their diabetes.

In a recent study of Hispanic men and women, 16 weeks of strength training produced dramatic improvements in glucose control that are comparable to taking diabetes medication. In addition, the study volunteers were stronger, gained muscle, lost body fat, had less depression, and felt much more self-confident. The results are clear. Just half an hour of exercise and strength training five days a week leads to better overall health.

Don't wait - start today! Start getting some exercise every day. If you are working out with weights - you'll need to rest your muscles for a day. Get some aerobic exercise - like brisk walking or running - at least four or five days each week!

Try it for a month. You'll have more energy and feel way less stress! And, you'll be on the road to a healthy, happier lifestyle!

Healthy Benefits

Why do people want to get in better shape? What motivates you? Some people want to look better. Others hope to impress that really hot girl across the street or that good looking guy who works in marketing.

Some people want to lose weight - and just feel better about themselves. Others want to improve their performance in their favorite sport.

A number of goals can motivate people to begin and stick with their exercise program.

The coolest thing about fitness and getting in better shape is that whatever benefit you seek is often but one of the many benefits you end up with! If you want to improve your ability to play golf and end up looking years younger and with greater self esteem - well, you win big!

Fitness benefits everyone.And the benefits can far exceed your expectations!

Here are but a few of the benefits some fitness seekers are working towards:

* Pleasure. People often really enjoy strength-training exercises; they find them less taxing than aerobic workouts and love the results.

* Runners swear by their daily run. If they had to give up all there favorite daily habits except for two they would almost unanimously choose their daily run as one of their top two!

* Health and fitness benefits. Strength training increases muscle mass and bone density. It makes you feel strong and energized, alleviates stress and depression, and gives you a better night's sleep. And it can help prevent the onset of certain chronic diseases or ease their symptoms.

* Improvements in appearance. Lifting weights firms the body, trims fat, and can boost metabolism by as much as 15%, which helps with weight control. Walking or running five days a week can help you get rid of that belly fat so many of us seem to accumulate after age forty or so.

* Social opportunities. Exercising with friends or family gives you a chance to visit and chat while you work out. The friends you make while you play can often last a life time! Have more fun playing sports and working out with our friends. Or turn it into a family tradition.

* Thrills. People who start fitness training later in life often find that they are willing and able to try new, exciting activities, such as windsurfing, or kayaking.

These are but a few of the benefits so many fitness enthusiasts enjoy. If you are wanting to make some simple changes to your life and maybe improve your life in some small way - Start exercising several days a week. Take up a new sport! Buy a bicycle or some rollerblades. Or a skateboard. Or some golf clubs! The possibilities are nearly endless.

Make a difference in your life. Start an exercise program for yourself. Establish a habit in your daily life. Make some time for fitness!

If you've been inactive for a while - start getting in shape. Enjoy the countless benefits so many people get with fitness and healthy living!

Stay Positive - Believe You Can Enjoy Better Fitness!

I was almost embarrassed to walk out onto the court that afternoon. Since our wedding day I hadn't played much tennis. Hadn't jogged the usual 15 - 20 miles each week. My daily walks turned into twice a week at best. I was getting a pot belly. Months of great eating and several beers every day were adding up. In my waistline!

It was time to take action. To get back into that size 32 waist. Time to get off the couch and start getting some exercise again. So, I enrolled in a class at the local University and started using their fitness center when the weather outside was just too cold! Running on the indoor gym floor was nice. Seeing all those young college kids in their skinny little frames gave me some encouragement!

I'll never be 18 again. But that doesn't mean I can't regain the same level of fitness that I had when I was younger. Oh sure, getting around the tennis court may not be as effortless or as fast as your typical teenage tennis buff! But we can have the same amount of fun. Reap the same healthy benefits!

You can make it just one more lap around that jogging course! You can do another set of reps! Enjoy the feeling that inevitably kicks in every time you wrap up a good 30 minute workout! Feel the sweat on your brow! Smile as you slowly return to your normal heart rate and breathing. Close your eyes and see yourself looking younger - and feeling younger at the pool or beach this Summer! Visualize your success!

If I can drop 25 pounds in three months - you can too! It really wasn't that hard. Taking a brisk walk every evening after dinner. Running 3 or 4 miles five days a week. Weights and ab exercises three times a week. BAM - in just a few short months you'll see a difference! And feel it! You can drop those unwanted pounds. You can start getting in shape - fast! And you can look younger and feel younger when you consistently pursue better fitness!

Make Fitness A Family Affair

Fitness benefits everyone. Perhaps one of the best lessons we might share with our children is the fitness habit. Make the most of your family time and enjoy some good, heart-healthy exercise. Try a few of these ideas to help you and your loved ones enjoy a life of good health and fitness.

* Walk your children to school.
* Do sit-ups in front of the TV. Challenge your children to see who can do the most sit-ups in one minute.
* Walk instead of drive whenever you can.
* Take a family walk after dinner.
* Join an exercise group and enroll your children in community sports teams or lessons.
* Replace a Sunday drive with a Sunday walk.
* Do yard work. Get your children to help rake, weed, or plant.
* Get off the bus a stop early and walk.
* Work around the house. Ask your children for help doing active chores.
* Take the dog to the park. Run with your children and the dog!
* Go for a half-hour walk instead of watching TV.
* Wash the car by hand.
* Pace the sidelines at kids' athletic games.
* Choose an activity that fits into your daily life. Being physically active with your family is a great way to spend time together.
* Park farther from the store and walk.
* Walk around the mall in colder months.
* Use an exercise video if the weather is bad.
* Perform gardening or home repair activities.
* Avoid labor-saving devices, such as a remote control or electric mixers.
* Play with your kids 30 minutes a day.
* Dance to music. Play your favorite dance music for your children and have them play their favorites for you.
* Make a Saturday morning walk a family habit.
* Walk briskly in the mall.
* Choose activities you enjoy—you'll be more likely to stick with them. Ask children what activities they want to do.
* Explore new physical activities. Try a new sport. Take up Yoga!
* Acknowledge your efforts with non-food related rewards, such as a family day at the park, lake, or zoo.
* Take the stairs instead of the escalator.
* Join the Y and Swim with your kids.
* Use a snow shovel instead of a snow blower.
* Take your dog on longer walks.
* When walking, go up the hills instead of around them.
* Buy a set of hand weights and play a round of Simon Says with your kids—you do it with the weights, they do it without.

Enjoy a longer, healthier life when you embrace fitness. If you've been inactive for a few years or out of the exercise habit, start slow. Enjoy the journey to better health and fitness. Start getting in shape and enjoy the countless benefits of a healthy lifestyle!