Wednesday 17 August 2011

Another Broken Elliptical Crosstrainer & A Challenge To The Manufacturers

My elliptical crosstrainer BROKE again! This is number EIGHT! I've had this one since April. I can now officially say that I do NOT recommend Reebok crosstrainers. I do not believe that companies build them to last for people who actually use them, and I challenge any company to prove me wrong.

The challenge is this: If you believe that your elliptical crosstrainer is of a sufficient construction to hold up with regular daily use (an hour to two hours of use a day, everyday), then send it to me. I will use it and do an initial blog about the features of it that I like and or don't like. I will do another blog post on it after 6 months, if it makes it that long without breaking down, to update everyone on how well it is or isn't holding up. I will do another blog post after a year, if it lasts that long. I will even do a third blog post after two years' time, if it is still functioning at that time.

However, if it is as weak and breakable as all of the rest that I have used, I will lambast it in my blog as a useless piece of rubbish.

I like machines that tell me calories burned based on my weight, distance covered, and that allow me to increase or decrease the resistance.

I am not a large person. I weigh, on any given day, between 125 and 135 lbs. I am 5' 2" tall, and my weight and size should not have an adverse effect on how well or poorly the machine works.

I am really just fed up with my exercise machine breaking down. Reebok has been good enough to replace them as they break, but I end up having to go weeks, and once a whole month, without a working machine in the meantime. And on top of that, each replacement machine has to be ASSEMBLED, which I hate doing.


Saturday 6 August 2011

Inspirational Quotes for Reaching Your Weight Loss Goals

I have assembled some inspirational quotes about achieving our dreams, reaching for our goals and succeeding at weight loss, including some quotes from my own blog posts, here to help you when you need a bit of a boost in your motivation. Enjoy!

Pink Rose 9th June 2011


"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world." ~Harriet Tubman

“Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand – and melting like a snow flake” - M.B. Ray

"Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal." ~Pamela Vaull Starr

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." ~Henry David Thoreau

"Next time you hear the voice of your inner critic, remember that your inner critic LIES, and try replacing that inner voice with a new one, one that encourages you and helps you to believe in your own worth." ~Rebecca Fyfe

"There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other." ~Douglas Everett

"So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
And we never even know we have the key." ~Lyrics from Already Gone, peformed by the Eagles for their 1974 On the Border album

"You cannot dream yourself into a character: you must hammer and forge yourself into one." ~Henry D. Thoreau

"Today is the day to choose. Choose to live longer. Choose to have more energy. Choose the be strong and capable. Choose to stop putting things off. Choose to be healthy." ~Rebecca Fyfe

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." ~Eleanor Roosevelt

"Commitment leads to action. Action brings your dream closer." ~Marcia Wieder

"The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up." ~Paul Valery

"#1 excuse for not following your dream -"I don't have time." Suggestion: Look at the unecessary things that do take up your time and replace them with things that help your dream. Never give up!" ~Rebecca Fyfe

"Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you represents determinism; the way you play it is free will." ~Jawaharal Nehru

"Believe with all of your heart that you will do what you were made to do." ~Orison Swett Marden

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do." ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Anything is possible is you are willing to take the necessary steps to make it happen. Focus on your goals and you can make them real!" ~Rebecca Fyfe

"We are still masters of our fate. We are still captains of our souls." ~Winston Churchill

""We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action." ~Frank Tibolt

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.” ~Ashley Smith

"The only things that stand in the way of your dreams becoming a reality are the limits you place on yourself." ~Rebecca Fyfe

"Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded." ~Johann Goethe

"Believe - even when it is not rational and good things will happen." ~anonymous

"If you have a dream, you have to believe, with every fiber of your being, that you can achieve it, and then you have to do the work it takes to make it a reality." ~Rebecca Fyfe

"We have the power to shrink our dreams to fit reality or the power to stretch our reality to fit our dreams." ~anonymous

"There is no authentic goal you can set for yourself that can't be reached, no dream that can't be realized. It's just a matter of learning HOW to achieve what you want." ~Jillian Michaels

"Whatever stage you are at in your weight loss goals, whether you are just starting out, halfway there or already at your goal weight, know that you are beautiful NOW." ~Rebecca Fyfe

"Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it." ~Johann Goethe

"My advice is, never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time." ~Charles Dickens

"Weight loss is ALL about figuring out your weaknesses, modifying and rolling with the punches. If you stumble, get back up and dust yourself off." ~Kayecee Spain

"Diet schmiet. Feed it good food, give it fun and exercise, & your body loves you." ~Barbara Mack

"The difference between a successful person & others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will." ~ V.Lombardi

"Losing weight is not your life’s work. Your life’s work is to love, to serve, to be honest, to develop personal integrity, to be kind, to raise healthy children, to grow spiritually, to adore yourself. Which is not to say you can’t choose to shed some excess baggage. You’ll just do it with a sense of perspective." ~Lisa Turner

"Impossible" is just an opinion." ~ Paulo Coelho

"Get rid of that negative little voice in your head that whispers to you that you can’t do it, you’re not strong enough, it’s too hard and all of the other negative words. Just ignore it. You know, deep down, that you can achieve your dreams, so follow that deeper inner voice and believe in yourself." ~Rebecca Fyfe





Wednesday 3 August 2011

We Need To Be Healthy For Our Kids

I wrote this for Beverly Hills Child Magazine and it was originally published in the January 2011 issue.

Fathers Love


There are many benefits to being healthy and physically fit. Most of us are aware of how our being healthy benefits ourselves. We know that exercise helps to keep our heart strong and prevent heart disease. We know that weight bearing exercise helps to strengthen our muscles and that more muscle mass increases our metabolism. We know that maintaining a healthy body mass index and not letting ourselves get overweight helps prevent diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart failure and a host of other health problems. We know that strong bones help our posture and that strong stomach muscles can help prevent back pain. We know that being physically fit means we will have more energy than if we were heavy or out of shape. We know that eating healthy food like vegetables and other fresh produce helps prevent certain cancers.

There are a myriad of health benefits to maintaining a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet and getting a moderate amount of daily exercise. And we know about these benefits. Newspaper headlines shout about these benefits to us regularly. Television newscasts inform us of these benefits almost daily. We already know.

But parents are busy people, and often we ignore these warnings about diseases that being overweight can cause. Often we ignore the headlines that tell us to eat fresh produce every day. What some of us don’t understand is that when we ignore these articles, like the ones that tell us we should exercise to help prevent heart disease, we are being completely selfish.

Selfish sounds like such a harsh word. But it fits. Letting ourselves be overweight and unfit, eating fatty, sugar-laden food, sitting watching television instead of going out for a walk, all of those things are selfish acts for parents to do. How is it that doing something that is normally seen as only harmful to ourselves can be called selfish? It’s selfish because our lives are no longer our own once we have children.

By not taking care of our bodies, all kinds of things can happen. We can become more prone to injuries and illnesses. Our children need us to be able to take care of them, and that is very difficult to do if we’ve got injuries that keep us from walking easily, or keep getting sick and have trouble getting out of bed.

We can develop chronic diseases. These can be really frightening for our children to see in us, their parents. If Daddy goes into a diabetic coma, his daughter is going to cry and worry and miss him until he is okay, and then she will continue to worry that it might happen again. If Mommy faints because her blood pressure is too high, her son is going to cry and worry and miss her until she is okay, and then he will continue to worry that it might happen again. The safety he once felt will be gone.

We will have less energy. Anyone with small children knows how difficult it can be to keep up with them when all you want to do is sleep. We need all the energy we can find to keep up with our children and to have the patience that they so often require from us. Many of us will have less patience when we are tired. And many of us will be less able to concentrate when we are tired. And children are incredibly inventive at getting into trouble when parents are too tired to be patient or to concentrate fully.

We can die. It is silly to think that playing fire with our health will only affect ourselves. Any child who has lost a parent will tell you that he was never the same again. Our children need us to be in their lives. They need us to give them love and hugs. They need us to help them with homework. They need us to encourage them, to teach them, to listen to them, to talk to them, to just be there for them, always. They need us to live.

We also need to be an example for our children. Our children need to see us being healthy. They learn more from what we do than from what we say. If they see us eating fast food and sitting in front of the television most of the time, then that is what they will learn to do. If instead, they see us eating fresh fruit and going for a walk every day, then they will learn that from us.

It is selfish of us to live an unhealthy lifestyle. By living an unhealthy lifestyle, by letting ourselves remain overweight and unfit, we are harming our children. This is a new year, a time for new beginnings. So let’s start this new year by making a promise to make sure that we are living a healthy lifestyle for our children. We owe it to them.