Health and Nutrition That Is AboveNBeyond

Wow, this week we hit the ground running with 2 great posts on How To Start Running.  I’ve been running since April 1997 and haven’t considered quitting anytime soon.  With this being February, I thought this would be a great time to devote some articles on the sport of running.  Especially since, if one would get started now, by the time Summer would get here, the newbie runner would have some time invested in the sport and would be able to start  having a summer filled with running.

I know when I haven’t been running in a while.  My attitude changes, as well as my outlook.  Running changes everything for me and I  end up paying for it if I am not running.  Running is my outlet and there are those times where tuns of frustrations get dealt with during a good run.  I run any distances ranging from 2 miles up through and including 8 to 10 miles depending upon my motivation.  My favorite distance has to be 4 miles.  It’s just that I am the most satisfied after returning from a run after doing this distance.  If I do any distance shorter than 4 miles, than it’s like I missed something or was short changed.  Though, there are times I have no choice and don’t have the time to run longer runs.

For those who are a bit aggressive, be warned, there have been times that my focus changed to the point where running wasn’t fun, that I was only training to do races and it became like a job after a while.  So drops the motivation when this happens.  But, it’s what you want out of running that matters.

No matter the person, we all need nutrition. It doesn’t matter who you are. The athlete, stay at home mom, the acute-work-a-holic husband, you, me, we all need good nutrition. Without it, everything else is pointless. What happens if you put the wrong fuel in a sports car? Put put put put phhhssss ……. We all need good fuel to keep us going and sustain us throughout each day. In previous posts, I discussed the importance of both getting active as well as portion control. Nutrition is another slice of the pie we need to be concerned with. To some, this is a no brain er, others, either didn’t get it (yet) or don’t care.

If one of your goals is to loose weight, you need good nutrition to help you loose weight. Good nutrition helps keep your body in top running order to help you do all the things you need to do in a day. How could you expect a world class athlete to accomplish Olympic gold without good nutrition?
It just won’t happen!

You should first determine if your diet is a healthy one. Take this test, it’s free and very informative.  You need to figure out how many calories your body needs on a daily basis. The human body is remarkable. Even if you spent years not getting good nutrition, your body will say “ahhhhhhh” when you change your diet for the better.

Imagine how good you’ll start feeling when the body starts getting the right stuff.

Getting good nutrition doesn’t mean you have to stop eating some of those other foods. Eating those other foods in moderation is the key. Those other foods should be like a treat and not an everyday part of your diet.

As is our slogan “Make life better one choice at at time”, try to make small changes in your diet each day. This is better than attempting to jump on one of those trendy fad diets which may not be safe for you anyway.

How do you know if your diet is healthy? You need to take a look at the USDA’s Food Guide to see if you are getting the recommended number of servings of various food groups.

Consider your choices, do you want to be like that sports car, revved and ready to race down the road, or do you want to be like an old heap ready for the junk yard? This is how important good nutrition is. It can make a real difference in your life. You may not notice much in your younger years, but, as you start to get older, the body changes. Getting good nutrition is an important part of everyone’s life no matter the age.

If you are a very active person, such as a runner, marathoner, biker, or other types of sports, then your need for good nutrition can be even grater.  Consult your specific sports type website for more information on nutritional needs.  For runners, I highly recommend Runner’s World.

See also:

1. More Nutrition related articles.
2. Food Pyramid

In recent articles, I talked about the importance of getting active. Ok, now I am going to put you on the spot here.
Are you one that goes to work every day, come home, watch TV and/or go out with the guys/girls now and then? Is that kind of what describes your week? You can still do that, but, why not change your activity? Getting active can be even more intense if you do it with a group of people. There is more to activity than just the hand and elbow coordination at your local bar or where ever. I’m not suggesting to stop certain activities, though that would be a bonus.

Regardless what you are doing each week, there are many ways to get active and have a great time. Wouldn’t it be neat to find an activity that you have fun doing and burn calories at the same time especially if it is with a group of friends? Not to say that you can’t do something by yourself, but with some friends it only magnifies it’s effectiveness. This is one of the reasons why I like running in races. I run with lots of people and it’s competitive too.

If you are able to get active with friends, you are even more likely to continue getting active then if you are doing it alone. Though, that never stopped me. Think of the calories you’ll burn off during your activities.

So, regardless of your activity, doing it solo or with friends, getting active can really aide in loosing those pounds thus helping with weight management. Best of all, some activities don’t cost a thing to do. It doesn’t cost me anything to go for a run except the time it takes to do it.

So, what’s your next move?

Some give lots of effort and some don’t on loosing weight and burning fat. The truth is, until the individual has a strong mind set and has mentally committed to the effort to loose the weight and burn off the fat, the battle will continue on. You have to take control and make changes to bring about results to achieve your goals. Until you get their “mentally”, you are not there and won’t get there. It all hinges on the brain, your control or command center of your life. You have to decide where you want to be. One’s mind set is any of the following: a) wants weight loss bad, b) dreams of weight loss, c) happy, or d) doesn’t care. These are just some possibilities of where someone is mentally on this subject.

But as I said, until you make that all important decision to get it done, you’ll never be done.

It’s not just about loosing the weight, it’s about changing your life and creating a new lifestyle. If you don’t change your habits, you’ll only end up right back where you started from or worse. Ask yourself this question “If I figured out how to do something good for myself that works, why would I stop?”

For the weight loss issue, there are many options to choose from. You could do any of the following:

1. Exercise, portion control and getting proper nutrition
2. Herbalife weight loss, exercise, portion control
3. Weight Watchers, exercise and portion control
4. Other weight loss method, exercise and portion control.

If you haven’t gotten the drift yet, it’s all the same. The key factor is what works for you. What you want and need is what works and is nutritious for you. You don’t want something that is less-healthy for you. You’ll notice that each option above includes exercise and portion control. It’s just that you need exercise to burn off calories as well as to tone up. You need portion control to aide in the decrease of calories consumed. You don’t need to eat more than the body needs to sustain itself. If you eat a sensible portion and wait 20 minutes before deciding to have more, odds are you wont’ eat anymore because you’ll start to feel satisfied since the body would have caught up with what you just ate.

You’ll notice that AboveNBeyond4u.com is not affiliated with any one weight loss company. The reason for this is because what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work another. I used both Herbalife and Weight Watchers to achieve my goals. However, just because I had success with these two companies, doesn’t mean everyone will. You may find something else either through this site or on the Internet that you prefer. The main thing is that you find what works for you. As long as what you find is healthy and nutritious and works that is all that matters. As I find other options I will post them throughout this site.

Years ago, I saw things that I did not want for myself. Some people related to me or in my immediate family were overweight, or heavy drinkers and having health issues related to this reality. However it wasn’t until after my father passed away that the bomb hit me HARD! That experience transformed me into a health nut and hence fourth born this website (a long story very short). Sometimes the warning signs can be seen around you instead of on you. You just have to know what you don’t want and take action NOW! I’ve said that I did drink beer at one time, It’s been 12 years now since I gave it up and I don’t miss it at all. Ohhhh the calories not coming in as a result of that! I rarely over eat to extreme and almost always control my portions. I never have or never will smoke. Now, if you don’t smoke, but are around a lot of second hand smoke, you need to start complaining to those around you who are smoking. Second hand smoke is not good for you either. I know, because I was a victim of this. My father smoked and I had to get out of the house to get cleared up from the smoke.

Life is about making choices, and you make them everyday.

Isn’t it time to pull out the weeds and have a clear path to good health? You can’t rely on the doctor for everything. He’s just there to help you when you can’t help yourself. He’s not there to be relied upon around every corner. My doctor is lucky if he sees me once a year.

What happens yeas down the road when one starts to realize the outcomes of one’s choices and discover that they are not happy about it. If they are thinking correctly, they will stop and change course. Hence the phrase “better late then never”. The body is remarkable and making positive changes can yield positive results.

Just launched today, January 14th, 2010, a new section to bring about the New You.  Check it out and good luck!

Any comments, feel free to express them.  See section — NEWU

When it comes to being active, Winter is kind of like a weekend for some. Lots of people slow down this time of year. While the weather can really interfere with outdoor events and activities, if you can’t be out, stay in! There are ways to continue to staying active. Treadmills, and other machines plus weights and other accessories. I don’t get out and run as much, but, I still get out when I can and when I can’t I stay in for my workouts. This can be a good time of year to begin building up for the rest of the year. What a better way to beat the winter blues. You don’t have to be a runner to get active this time of year, indoors or out. For indoors, you can weight lift, exercise, use an Ab-Lounger, Treadmill, jump rope etc. There are many options. You can find other ideas on such sites like Runners World and Men’s Health / Women’s Fitness.

Once you get to the place where you achieved your first weight loss goal, you see what you need to do and how to keep it off. Then, you can set an upper weight limit, so, if you would reach that limit, you would kick it up to high gear and reverse the course again. Kind of like a safety net keeping you from disaster. Now of course the best thing to do is to maintain a specific type of effort producing a whole new lifestyle. Keep in mind you don’t want to drop in weight too much. You need the right combination of exercise, nutrition and portion control to keep you were you want to be.
You just never know where your life will head when once you embark on a whole new healthier lifestyle. Now, you don’t have to get into hang gliding like the dude in the picture, but you should get the point. The more active you are, the more calories you burn to help in your weight management. If you are just starting, keep in mind, it took a while to get where you are, it will take a while to get the weight off. The safest guide is one pound or 2 a week. If you’ve fallen off your horse, get back on and head down that trail! The real you awaits!

One thing that I have noticed during my efforts is that regardless of what your goals are, there is one key factor that makes are breaks your efforts. It doesn’t matter what you are doing to loose the weight or burn the fat. It doesn’t matter what combination of things you are doing to achieve your goals. The key that I am talking about is your focus. You staying at what you are doing. Never stopping or giving up. Now if you have a bad couple of days, those 2 days will not cave your efforts. Just get back at it right away. It’s your non stop, consistent focus and effort that will get you across the finish line to achieving your goals. For the active part that you do to burn calories, you need to find something that excites you and empowers you to keep yourself motivated on your journey. There are a lot of good websites listed in our Suggested Links page that can help you with your efforts. This list keeps growing as more are sources are found.

Yes, there are a lot of good weight loss supplements, programs and exercises available to help you, but, unless you get yourself properly focused and your head is in the game, you are probably spinning your wheels and/or getting stuck in the mud.

You could go by the fact that “Oh, I’m not that bad” or “I’m not alone”, but, those statements are just a way of accepting denial or masking the truth of how you really feel.

They key is you and you developing a whole new lifestyle for yourself.

Did you ever wonder why no matter how hard you try, you don’t seem to loose much weight or achieve your goals? Week after week, try as you might, you barely get anywhere. There is a reason for this. Fortunately, the reason has a lot to do with you. It’s fortunate, because this means you can do something about it. You have to figure out what is causing you not to meet your goals. Get to the root of your problem. Until you deal with what ever the issue is, you’ll be at a wall. Walls are made to be broken and not a permanent barrier. If your goal is to loose weight and you are barely getting anywhere, you need to look at what is going on to causing you not to meet your goals here.

Ask these questions to start with:

1. Are you over eating?
2. How active are you?
3. Is there any stresses in your life other than your weight loss goals?

Until you discover the root cause of what is influencing your actions, you will be at a wall. You need to find and deal with what ever is causing your problem in order to bet over the wall.

The same can be applied to just about anything including finances. Like, what is causing your overspending? What stress is influencing your actions?

It comes down to you and what you are dealing with subconsciously. Once you get to this point, you can start making choices or taking proper actions to make these issues less prevalent in your life.