Nutrition 101

This article is the Holy Grail to health. For many people, just following these guidelines can make huge changes in their bodies and their health. So the first thing to eat is water. What did I just say? Eat water? Yes water is extremely important for our overall health and is important for our digestion of food, as well as the absorption and transportation of nutrients. For more details on water, check out Secret to Looking Ageless
So make sure you hydrate well.
 A good rule to follow is to drink half your bodyweight in ounces of water a day.
The second, and most important piece of advice, listen up people; make sure you only eat food that spoils within a week if not eaten.

 

The image on the left is the food you should eat. The image on the right is the food you should stay away from. Most things that come in a box are severely packaged and have a ton of preservatives in them to make sure they don’t spoil. A definite game changer; going from eating packaged foods to foods that actually have life in them.
The third piece of advice is movement or exercise. Now many might say that this is not nutrition advice, but it is. Your food is being moved around in the digestive tract, such as your small intestine and the colon, by smooth muscles. They are the peristalsis muscles that pump our food through our digestive tract, turning and mixing it so that we can absorb it. This action works best with our own natural body movement. Unfortunately, in our sedentary society, we don't move enough and our food does not get digested as much as we would like. After your meal, go for a nice calm walk for about 30 minutes. This will aid in the digestion of your food.


Follow this simple advice and you will start seeing and feeling results. If you have mastered these basics and would like to take it a step further, contact a professional and start working with them.

To get more information on how to progress even further then the basic results contact me at yuri@absolutefitnj.com

HOW TO STOP BULLYING FOR EVER!!!

This message goes out to everyone. To the kids who get bullied, to the bullies, the teachers, the parents, the coaches, the bus drivers, the janitors and anyone else I forgot to mention. When I say everyone, I mean EVERYONE! This is more of a rant than a message, but there is only so much I can take!

Here goes...
There is a new movement that started recently to stop bullying. What is that about? There was bullying back in my day, how about yours? Everyone has been or will be bullied at least once in their life. It’s part of growing up, it builds character, and it makes you who you are today. More often than not, it makes you a stronger person. What is now completely new and unheard of from back in my day (and I'm not that old) is kids committing suicide because they are bullied too much.

Are you kidding me!? Suicide? That is the solution kids are choosing because they are being picked on at school? "But you don't know how hard it is for little Timmy or little Jimmy. He is always being picked on." I hope no one tries to defend the act of suicide. As I said before we have all had to deal with bullies and some of us still do. Some people have to call their bully “boss”.

First off, if you have enough balls/guts/will power/ planning to commit suicide, you better have enough balls/guts/will power/ planning to stand up to the bully. Take self defense classes, karate, wrestling, or pay a bodyguard to walk around with you. Anything is way better than the alternative (which was suicide). Fight the bully back, run away, tell a grown up, I don't know, but live another day and you will figure out what to do.

So stop bullying? Really? It's like saying stop breathing. It's the natural selection, Darwinism. The strong dominate the weak, you don't like being the weak become the strong. What we need to do is stop babying the kids.

What is this bullshit of everyone who plays a sport gets a trophy? When I grew up you worked your ass off to get a medal or a trophy and you were proud as hell of it to! You remember the day you got it, who was hurt, how you did, what you ate, where you were and how the weather was. You remember every detail of that day because you worked hard for that medal and you earned it. Now kids get medals just for showing up? Really? What does that teach them? That if you show up in life and you get a medal? That does not teach them lessons in life such as motivation, determination, hard work, sacrifice or any other lessons, and there are many more. You are robbing your kids of self confidence and self esteem. They don't cherish those trophies. Get them to compete and make it matter. You would be surprised at how much kids understand.
We just watched the Super Bowl. How great would it have been if both teams had won? If they all got trophies and rings? Did you see how happy the winning team was after meeting their goal? After getting what they had worked so hard for? You are robbing these kids of success in their younger years. Then when they get to middle school, when grades and scores actually matter, they are in for a rude awakening.

This brings me to another part discipline. There is no discipline at school, no discipline on a playing field, and no discipline at home, but hey, let's stop bullying because that is the problem. Discipline these kids; teach them that there are consequences for their actions. You won first place, you get a medal; positive action, positive reinforcement. You got in trouble, you need to be punished. My definition of punished was getting a beating by my parents. Then while I was wiping away my tears and my snot, I had to stand in the corner of the room, still most likely crying, until they told me otherwise. Did that happen often? No. But the fear of that stayed with me forever and made me think twice before I decided to do something bad. Definition of present America’s punishment is to send them to the room, where they have TV, video games, computers, you name it, and they have it. That's NOT punishment. Let's take it a step further. You take away their TV, video games, and computer for a week. Wow what discipline that is! What did they learn from that experience? They learn that if they get in trouble, you will just take away some of the luxuries that you gave them.

A great example: a kid graduates high school; his parents buy him an expensive car. He crashes the car. His parents go and buy the kid a less expensive car. LESSON LEARNED. Unbelievable! This may or may not have been someone I knew.

Stop bullying? .............

Well, my rant made me feel a little better. But every time I see the stop bullying thing I get mad again. Is it because I was bullied and I have some underlying issues that I need to resolve? Or is it the fact that this soft society is fighting the wrong battles and is making things worse?

All I know is that if I see posts or comments about stopping bullying, I'm posting my rant right underneath.

Comments? Email me at yuri@absolutefitnj.com

Mysteries of Cholesterol (Part 3)

In Part Two of the Mysteries of Cholesterol, we discovered that the actual culprit of heart disease and many other major illnesses is chronic inflammation. Inflammation is our bodies’ protective mechanism that is activated anytime any tissue sustains any type of damage.

What causes inflammation and how do we treat it/diminish it?


Causes of inflammation include:

Food allergies and sensitivities that may not present with heavy symptoms.

Having bacterial, viral, fungal infections.

Stress is a major contributor of inflammation;

Mental, psychological, chemical, and environmental.

Physical stress- too little exercise: such as lack of movement, or too much exercise: overtraining.

Exercise always leads to a mild case of inflammation because you break down and tear your muscles while exercising, and then repair to make the muscle bigger and stronger. That is why overtraining is extremely counterproductive. When there is too much inflammation, the muscle tissue is not repaired and the organism stops progressing, usually leading to illness or injury.

Nutrition- Too little good sugar, protein and fat and too much of bad sugar, fat and protein.

Let’s not forget all the processed foods/grains and sugars.

Lifestyle- drinking, smoking, too much consumption of sodas and other caffeinated drinks, too much caffeine.

Most if not all the inflammation processes is from the choices that we make. Which is great news means that we have the power to lower the inflammation ourselves without any help from drugs.

Now a couple of ways to lower inflammation the natural way:

Get good quality sleep!

If you do not exercise, start to do so, preferably strength training. If you currently exercise, then take a look at your training regiment and make sure you are not over training.

(Signs of overtraining: lack of energy throughout the day, not enough sleep, training 7 days a week unless you are a professional athlete is way too much, getting ill all the time, not making progress in the gym etc...)

Start making healthy lifestyle choices: cutting down on alcohol consumption, smoking etc… Tackle one lifestyle choice at a time because too much change is a huge stress on the body. Start with adding whole foods back into your diet; such as vegetables, fruits and meat. Increase your intake of good quality fats. Lower the consumption of processed grains and sugars. And learn to deal with life stresses by either meditating, breathing techniques, massages, etc...

What happens when cholesterol levels are lowered to low? Lots of body functions cannot proceed the way they are supposed to, since cholesterol is needed for every cell in the body. There are also numerous cases that show that with a cholesterol level that’s too low, there are more incidences of cancer. So do not be afraid of the yolk in the egg, or red meat, and coconut oil. This food has helped us survive for thousands of years before the chemists decided to make our food "better" by processing everything.

Finally, let’s discuss what to get tested for when getting your blood work done.

Obviously they will look at your total Cholesterol and your LDL and your HDL. If the number is above three hundred, that is a definite indication of severe inflammation in the body and time to make lifestyle changes to fix that. The other thing that will be tested is the triglycerides. That is a great test because if triglycerides are too high, anything above 200, and that number is not the best approximation, that means that you are consuming way too much processed food in your diet and it’s time to start limiting it or taking it out of your diet altogether. High Triglycerides have been shown to increase the risk of heart issues, which is definitely something to look at. And a great test that many physicians neglect to test for is the actual test for inflammation in the body. The test usually used to determine if you have chronic inflammation is a C-reactive protein (CRP) blood test. Your CRP level is used as a marker of inflammation in your arteries.

Generally speaking:

A CRP level less than 1 milligram per liter of blood means you have a low risk for cardiovascular disease; 1 to 3 milligrams means your risk is intermediate; and more than 3 milligrams is high risk. There are a couple of things that can raise this test level, such as being pregnant and birth control pills. This is a great test, but again all it will tell you is whether or not you have huge amount of inflammation in the body. It will not tell you where and what is inflamed. This test needs to be asked for, since most of the time it is not offered unless the physician suspects tissue damage or bacterial infections.

To sum up: When getting tested, take a look at your Triglyceride levels and get the CRP blood test. These will be an indication of the inflammation in your body. When the physician decides to prescribe you a cholesterol lowering drug, remember whether the risk is worth the reward, and whether this drug will help in lowering the inflammation in the body. Begin with making positive lifestyle changes and start lowering the stress in your life, or learn how to deal with the stress.

If you know of anyone who is on cholesterol medication, please share these articles with them:


Mysteries of Cholesterol Part 1 Click Here
Mysteries of Cholesterol Part 2 Click Here


Resources

http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/crp/tab/test

http://bodyecology.com/articles/inflammation_cause_of_disease_how_to_prevent.php

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/08/10/making-sense-of-your-cholesterol-numbers.aspx

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_04/b4068052092994_page_2.htm



Comments or questions contact me at yuri@absolutefitnj.com

Mysteries Of Cholesterol (Part 2)

Now that we know what cholesterol is from Part One of my cholesterol article, lets discuss why it’s so important and how we should treat it, if at all.


Unlike the popular belief of modern medicine, cholesterol is not the bad guy. As mentioned before, cholesterol is part of every cell. We need it for our survival.

A prime example of how important cholesterol is; breast milk. From the first day that babies are born, they start consuming their mother’s breast milk. That is their sole food source for the first 4-5 months of their life, until they can start eating baby foods. So what is actually in breast milk? Water, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and minerals, and more than half of it is fat. Fat that is loaded with cholesterol. This cholesterol is needed for proper brain development and for all the other cells in the body. As you can see, in the evolutionary process, we as humans have adapted the highest possible way to survive. Everything that is provided in a mother’s breast milk is there in order to make sure that infants grow into a big strong babies or toddlers ready to consume regular food.

Question: Why is cholesterol viewed as the enemy and often lowered with medication?

There are a couple of answers to that question. The first being that it is a great scapegoat for physicians and a great profit making machine for drug companies. Why is it such a profitable market? Because we all produce cholesterol, and since we all have it, it is extremely easy to test for it in our blood and set a "norm" for what the total cholesterol should be, then start lowering it with medication.

Here is a history of normal cholesterol levels and how they were established:

As stated by medical world, the normal cholesterol levels should be lower than 200; With LDL "bad" levels being lower than 100 and HDL "good" being higher than 60. These are the new stats after they changed them in 2004, when the LDL level was 130. This change was voted on by a board or doctors to lower the standard, with 8 out of 9 of those doctors also making money from the drug companies that were making statin cholesterol-lowering drugs. This brings us to our current state: Our war on cholesterol. Let's lower this evil substance until there is nothing left. Now let's see if the cholesterol lowering drugs help in preventing heart attacks.

"The second crucial point is hiding in plain sight in Pfizer's own Lipitor newspaper ad. The dramatic 36% figure has an asterisk. Read the smaller type. It says: "That means in a large clinical study, 3% of patients taking a sugar pill or placebo had a heart attack compared to 2% of patients taking Lipitor.

The numbers in that sentence mean that for every 100 people in the trial, which lasted 3 1/3 years, three people on placebos and two people on Lipitor had heart attacks. The difference credited to the drug? There was one less heart attack per 100 people. So to spare one person a heart attack, 100 people had to take Lipitor for more than three years. The other 99 got no measurable benefit. Or to put it in terms of a little-known but useful statistic, the number needed to treat (or NNT) for one person to benefit is 100.

Compare that with say, today's standard antibiotic therapy to eradicate ulcer-causing H. pylori stomach bacteria. The NNT is 1.1. Give the drugs to 11 people, and 10 will be cured." One out of 100 people is helped by taking this drug! And the commercial on tv claims that it is 36% effective? Wow that is something.

A great question comes to mind. "Is the risk worth the reward"? In this instance, no it is not.

What is the connection of High Cholesterol and inflammation of the body?
Definition of inflammation - the reaction of living tissue to injury or infection characterized by heat, redness, swelling, and pain.

Chronic levels of Inflammation are now being recognized as one of the leading causes of heart disease. Cholesterol is being blamed for this.

An example that best describes inflammation is when you get a cut. The inflammation process is activated, and that is what helps us heal.

Specifically during inflammation:

-- Your blood vessels constrict to keep you from bleeding to death.

-- Your blood becomes thicker so it can clot.

-- Your immune system sends cells and chemicals to fight viruses, bacteria and other "bad guys" that could infect the area.

-- Cells multiply to repair the damage.


Ultimately, the cut is healed and a protective scar may form over the area.

The image below shows how inflammation is the first and second step of the healing process.

The process of inflammation is activated when our arteries sustain damage, forming scar tissue called plague. The reason why cholesterol is called upon is to repair the damaged cells. Remember that without cholesterol no repairing can be done.

Finally we get to the root of the problem; inflammation. It would be a better idea to lower the inflammation, since that is the cause of high cholesterol, instead of taking medication to lower cholesterol which is causing more inflammation in the body.

In my next article, I will discuss how to lower the inflammation of the body and what to test for when getting blood drawn.

For those who missed Mysteries of Cholesterol (Part 1) CLICK HERE.

Resources.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_04/b4068052092994_page_2.htm

Sally Fallon. Nourishing Traditions

http://www.crestor.com/c/your-arteries/manage-cholesterol.aspx?WT.mc_id=CRTCC13181&source=CRTCC13181&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&umedium=cpc&uadpub=google&utm_campaign=U_Cholesterol&ucampaign=U_Cholesterol&utm_content=Levels/Numbers&ucreative=Levels/Numbers&utm_term=cholesterol%20levels_Phrase&pkw=cholesterol%20levels_Phrase

www.articles.mercola.com


Questions or comments email me at yuri@absolutefitnj.com

Mysteries Of Cholesterol (Part 1)

The topic of cholesterol is widely misunderstood but is a major concern for people. Since it’s such a huge topic, I’m going to discuss it in a series of articles. I want everyone to understand the information, but don’t want to overload you with it all at once. I will keep these articles short and to the point so that they are less confusing.


What is cholesterol? And why is it around if it’s so bad for us? As modern medicine will tell you, there are 2 types of cholesterol:

High-density lipoprotein, or HDL: This is the "good" cholesterol that helps to keep cholesterol away from your arteries and remove any excess arterial plaque, which may help to prevent heart disease.

Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL: This "bad" cholesterol circulates in your blood and, according to conventional thinking, may build up in your arteries, forming plaque that makes your arteries narrow and less flexible (a condition called atherosclerosis).

Triglycerides and lipoproteins also make up the total count of your cholesterol.

Triglycerides: Elevated levels of this dangerous fat have been linked to heart disease and diabetes. Triglyceride levels are known to rise from eating too many grains and sugars, being physically inactive, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol excessively and being overweight or obese. (Do any of these symptoms sound familiar in this day and age?)

Lipoprotein (a), or Lp(a): Lp(a): is a substance that is made up of an LDL "bad cholesterol" part plus a protein. Elevated Lp(a) levels are a very strong risk factor for heart disease. This has been well established, yet very few physicians check for it in their patients.

So now that you know the definitions, where does cholesterol come from? Well 75% of cholesterol is made in the liver. It's found in the bloodstream and is responsible for every hormonal change in our body. Cholesterol is also part of any cell membrane repair, and is extremely important for neurons.

So then when more then 3/4 of our cholesterol is produced in our own body, why do most physicians tell you to limit eggs? Is there more cholesterol in that egg than we produce in our bodies? Instead they would recommend eating processed cereal that will magically lower your cholesterol levels (we will discuss why we may not want to lower the cholesterol in the first place, most likely in the next blog).

Myth number one, BUSTED! According to the way conventional medicine defines it, there is no good or bad cholesterol.

Ron Rosedale, MD, who is widely considered to be one of the leading anti-aging doctors in the United States, does an excellent job of explaining how the cholesterol differs.

"Notice please that LDL and HDL are lipoproteins -- fats combined with proteins. There is only one cholesterol. There is no such thing as 'good' or 'bad' cholesterol.
Cholesterol is just cholesterol.
It combines with other fats and proteins, to be carried through the bloodstream, since fat and our watery blood do not mix very well.
Fatty substances therefore must be shuttled to and from our tissues and cells using proteins. LDL and HDL are forms of proteins and are far from being just cholesterol.
In fact we now know there are many types of these fat and protein particles. LDL particles come in many sizes and large LDL particles are not a problem. Only the so-called small dense LDL particles can potentially be a problem, because they can squeeze through the lining of the arteries and if they oxidize, which means they turn rancid, they can cause damage and inflammation.
Thus, you might say that there is 'good LDL' and 'bad LDL.'
Also, some HDL particles are better than others. Knowing just your total cholesterol tells you very little. Even knowing your LDL and HDL levels will not tell you very much."

So the total score of your cholesterol levels and your LDL and HDL do not tell you the whole story. In my next blog, I will discuss how to read your medical test and what to get tested for.


Questions or comments email at yuri@absolutefitnj.com

Happy Valentines Day. My Gift to You...

Valentine’s Day: a day of love; of sharing and caring. Well I have some love and some sharing to spread, and a gift to give to all of you. That gift is knowledge. And my dear friends, knowledge is power (if it is applied). After the information I present to you today, I'm sure that you will apply this power. In my search for better health, I have come across a bunch of fun facts on how the food industry, how to put this lightly, does not give a damn about the well being of anyone, as long as they make money. Here is an example of what I'm talking about.


"Another unpublished experiment was carried out in 1960. Researchers at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor were given eighteen laboratory rats. These were divided into three groups: one group received cornflakes and water; a second group was given the cardboard box that the cornflakes came in and water; the control group received rat chow and water. The rats in the control group remained in good health throughout the experiment. The rats eating the box became lethargic and eventually died of malnutrition. The rats receiving the cornflakes and water died before the rats that were eating the box! (The first box rat died the day the last cornflake rat died.) Furthermore, before death, the cornflakes-eating rats developed aberrant behavior, threw fits, bit each other and finally went into convulsions. Autopsy revealed dysfunction of the pancreas, liver and kidneys and degeneration of the nerves of the spine, all signs of insulin shock. The startling conclusion of this study was that there was more nourishment in the box than in the cornflakes. This experiment was designed as a joke, but the results were far from funny." for the rest of this article Click Here.



For those of you who did not want to read the lengthy article, I will sum it up for you. There were three groups of rats. One group was given cereal, the second the cardboard the cereal came from and the third, rat chow. All three groups were given water as well. The group that received the cereal died the fastest. This basically means that the cardboard has more nutritional value than the cereal that is in the box. BOOM! That's some heavy knowledge being dropped on you. Digest this for a minute. Now you will look twice at the box of Cheerios that claims that it lowers cholesterol. Or is it heart disease? They can claim anything they like on these boxes, and they do.



Here’s more information that some of you may enjoy; most breads, muffins and other processed packaged floury substances that people buy have cellulose added to it. Cellulose is wood chips. So basically we are eating the cardboard that the cereal came from. Here is a great article on Cellulose that was in the Wall Street Journal.
There are tons of others, just type in ‘cellulose in food’ in your favorite search engine and you will get tons of hits.



Knowledge is power. How will you use yours? Share this with your loved ones. Prevent them from eating cardboard.



Comments and questions contact me at yuri@absolutefitnj.com

Life Lessons

Found this great story thought I would share.

When things in your life seem, almost too much to handle,
When 24 Hours in a day is not enough,
Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class 
and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly,
He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar
And proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students, if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured
them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open Areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively
filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things - family,
children, health, Friends, and Favorite passions – 
Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, Your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else --The small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' He continued,
there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,
You will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So...

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

'Take care of the golf balls first --
The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled
'I'm glad you asked'.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
There’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

Prepare For The Super Bowl

Are you ready for some football? Super Bowl Sunday is almost here! That means junk food, fast food, and all the beer you can handle. Meanwhile, Monday morning, you wake up with a food and alcohol hangover and you don’t even remember the game.

Well I have a couple of ideas to make your Super Bowl experience more enjoyable. You can host it at your house and still serve all your favorite foods, but just make it a healthier version of them.


For your main dish, which is most likely chicken wings, make them yourself instead of buying them fried in God knows what. You can either bake them or grill them, and top it off with the sauce of your choice. Make sure the sauce does not have too many ingredients on the label and that it is not too calorie dense, because that's how calories sneak up on most people.



What kind of super bowl party would it be without chips? Here is a recipe to make your own. Take sweet potatoes or yams and slice them up extremely thin. Coat a baking pan with coconut oil and then place the slices in the pan. Make sure that each yam is making direct contact with the pan. This will take lots of surface area, so it would be better to have more than one pan in the oven, otherwise you will be making many batches. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place the pans in the oven. They should not cook for more than 10 min. If you want a bit more flavor, sprinkle Celtic sea salt on top of them. MAKE SURE TO KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THEM BECAUSE THEY WILL BURN QUICKLY IF YOU DONT TAKE THEM OUT IN TIME. They come out delicious because of the coconut oil. You won't be able to buy anything of that quality and taste at the store.



For the dip, good old guacamole will do. The better and fresher the ingredients, the better the food tastes.



If the weather is nice and you decide to grill, you can grill up some burgers, and use eggplant slices in place of the buns. Slice them up thick enough for you to hold it as a bun, throw them on the grill and enjoy a nice tasty burger. (It really does taste great).



Baby carrots and celery sticks are always a crowd pleaser. As for the dip, good quality humus will do.



For dessert, make a party fruit platter. If you don’t have the time to make one, then you can always buy one.



Now since this is the Super Bowl, I know that there will be drinking involved and the most common beverage consumed is beer. Since I know nothing about beer, I have included a great link to an expert on the subject. She wrote a specific blog for the Super Bowl so that you can enjoy the best tasting beers during the big game. Check out this blog entry “It's Better with Beer”. This blog has lots of beer information and lots of good healthy recipes as well.


If anyone has any other great ideas on what to make for the Super Bowl, please comment below.



Questions or comments email at yuri@absolutefitnj.com

Fail Proof Way To Achieve Success

How much closer are you to achieving your New Year’s resolution or the goal that you set on January 1st? I ask because it's February 1st, which means, one month has gone by since you made your New Year’s resolutions. That's 31 days, 744 hours or 44640 minutes. Now that's a lot of time!

If you are still in the same predicament as you were in a month ago, then it's time to ACT. STOP PROCRASTINATING!! If it’s extremely difficult to start on your own, then seek out professional help. It's always easier to start something new with a professional who has been there and has done what you are trying to do.



The most typical New Year’s resolution is to lose weight or get in shape. A month has now gone by, and if all you did was join the cheapest gym in the neighborhood, but have failed to go, then it’s time to switch up your tactics. Work out with a friend who can get you motivated, or find a privately owned gym or studio near you, where you can work out with professionals either one on one, or in a group setting. Begin educating yourself on the subjects that will help you achieve your goal. Whatever it is that you choose to do, ACT now.



For a great motivational story read, “Which Wolf Do You Feed”.



As for me, I have done what I said I was going to do. I have been growing my business and learning more and more in my field. I have cut down on watching television, which gives me more time to expand my knowledge. I kept up my promise of blogging at least once a week, and I still keep my work area and my room clean (which is still the hardest thing by far).



The best thing about achieving a goal is that you can always create a new goal to reach for. This makes life more exciting and at the same time, you continue to evolve.



Any questions or comments contact me at yuri@absolutefitnj.com