What Motivates The Personal Trainer/Massage Therapist?

Since I am a "Personal Trainer", one may think that it is easy for me to do my workouts, eat correctly, and maintain good health. Well let me tell you, almost everyday is a struggle. I place amazingly high standards on myself. As I get ready for pictures that will go on the web site, my standards become even higher. Sometimes I feel that I will never be satisfied with my body. So the question becomes, is constant reevaluation of self a positive thing meaning that I am not stagnant, or does it mean that I am not able to be satisfied?

Alright here are the things in my life that motivate me as a Personal Trainer:

My dog, Winston, he loves to go jogging, hiking, swimming, and in general be active. When I don’t take him out enough he begins chasing the cats around the house. While Winston and I are out he makes me laugh. And not just a chuckle, but a deep down uncontrollable laugh, you know the kind that hurts but you just can’t stop. Animals can be a huge motivating factor.

My husband, Ken, who is a challenge to keep up with. I’ve never seen anyone work as hard as this man does, whether he is working on our home remodel, or hitting the weights.

The fact that I have to look in the mirror everyday. And if I do so without clothing, then that’s extra motivation. Although sometimes it can be depressing to see things where I don’t think they should be.

Having pictures taken of myself. Wow, you can really see what’s going on with a body in a picture. Pictures help me form goals as I can see exactly what I need to work on.

Simply being the "Personal Trainer". I must set a good example for my family, friends, and clients. If a "Personal Trainer" does not look fit, then who really has a chance.

So I don’t get my butt kicked on our next big hike.

My friend, Stephanie Hill, who I am training with for a ½ marathon June 24th, 2007. Steff is a great workout partner and is always willing to go the extra mile, literally. In addition her dog and Winston are best friends and love to jog together.

To help control my Diabetes. Burning off sugar with exercise is easier than taking extra insulin injections.

To further my career. If people see me as a fit person, they are more likely to hire me as their Personal Trainer. I would also love to be hired as a model for fitness magazines.

Back to my original question. Is constant reevaluation of self a positive thing meaning that I am not stagnant, or does it mean that I am not able to be satisfied? Another question; can we ever be fully satisfied. Perhaps I should be satisfied with the fact that I find dissatisfaction in myself. At any rate I will do my best each day. Some days that will look like me running a ½ marathon, but some days that may look like me watching movies all day and snacking.

What motivates me as a Massage Therapist:

Receiving weekly massages from various therapist. Just to remember each week how fabulous it feels to get a massage. To remember old massage tricks, and to pick up new massage tricks. My body counts on massage each week to relax, work out knots from being a Massage Therapist and from life stress, and to help reduce muscle soreness due to my rigorous workout schedule.

My client’s motivate me. I am able to see the improvements in my client’s body’s. They tell me how much better they feel physically and mentally. It is amazing to see a person barely be able to walk into my office, and then after the massage walk out perfectly. The look on a person’s face after receiving a massage is priceless as well.

Knowing that there is always more to learn. I could study forever and barely scrape the surface of the amazing body. I must also take into account that each person’s body is extremely different. For example some of us even have varying muscles and bones in the body.

These are the things that keep me ticking as both a "Personal Trainer" and a "Massage Therapist". I hope you will be able to apply some of my motivating factors to your life.

Tips To Stop Binge Eating

~ Ask yourself why you want something to eat?

- Did you come up with a plausible reason?

~ Look for your trigger points.

- Anger toward a loved one

- Problems at work

- Boredom

- Dissatisfaction with your day, week, life

- To fill a void

- Because the food is so good

- Parties or holidays with yummy foods

~ Tell yourself that you deserve not to eat.

- Overeat that is, picture food for what it’s truly intended for. Food is intended to nourish and replenish the body, not overstuff the body.

~ Tell your friends and family at functions that you will not be partaking in over snacking.

- This will be difficult for many of your friends and family to understand. They may even take offense when they have prepared an unhealthy dish. Don’t worry about them, they will get over it. You must do what is right for your body.

~ Fill your house with foods that you are not likely to binge on.

- Carrot sticks, celery, all vegetables really, fruits, lean proteins.

~ Make a list of how you would like to look and feel. Then hang it on the fridge, next to your vanity mirror, by your closet, and any other place you feel may help.

~ Find pictures of what you would like to achieve for yourself. The pictures can be old pictures of yourself, or pictures you have found in a magazine.

~ Do something, anything else.
- Take a walk, if it’s raining, take a walk in the rain, play a game, catch up on phone calls, prepare food that will take hours to be finished and don’t snack while cooking, read a book, cruise the internet.

~ Give yourself permission to relax.
- If you are tired and want to do absolutely nothing, but be a couch potato, well then do nothing. This means that you will not be munching while being a couch potato, you will be vegging. If you can’t stand relaxing in front of the T.V. without eating, then try allowing your mind to relax through meditation. You literally get into a comfortable position and let your mind go blank, how great does that sound?

NOTES:
How to meditate: You can take as little time as three minutes or you can take an hour or longer, whatever fits. Relax your body into a comfortable position and focus on your breathing. Let your breathe flow freely into and out of your body. Everytime you feel your thoughts drifting gently bring your focus back to your breathe. This is more challenging than it sounds as the mind has a way of wondering. Don't get discouraged, if you can only concentrate on your breathe for one minute, be happy with that one minute. Practice as often as possible. During your break at work take five minutes to sit quietly and listen to your breathe, or take a break from cooking dinner, have someone watch your children for a few minutes. My point is there is always a way to be happier and healthier, please make time for yourself.

Forming Habits: This will be a challenge as it takes approximately two weeks to form a habit. And you will have to reestablish this habit after each time your new lifestyle has been compromised. After a bad day, after the holidays, after a good day, well your whole life really. If you slip into a binge, don’t make it worse. Once you notice a binge is in effect don’t beat yourself up, just stop it.

Get help: If you need further assistance in your nutrition program, and almost everyone does at some point, then come see me for a consultation. The time to make your body and life into your dream body and life is now, don’t wait for the perfect time, for the perfect time is now!

Albany Massage & Wellness by Jill Wells

The Weekend Hike to Rooster Rock

To be perfectly honest, I got my butt kicked yesterday on a hike. Now keep in mind I work out on a regular basis as I am in training for a half marathon coming up this June. On both Thursday and Friday of last week I ran for an hour straight and it felt easy, so I must be in relatively decent shape.

With that being said, I must also be honest in saying that my husband who I hike with is not in the least sore. This is quite unfair when you take into account the fact that he had not been doing any cardiovascular activity the two weeks prior to our hike. As a women who can now barely walk up and down stairs due to hiking soreness, I have to say that men have it easy, at least this man does.

So, why do the hike if I get so sore? Well there is nothing else like it, the beauty, the peace and quiet, the challenge, the feeling of accomplishment, the new goals that form, and I could go on and on.

The particular hike Ken, my husband, and I went on was up to the top of Rooster Rock out by the South Santiam. If you look this hike up on the web it is described as "brutal". Ken describes the hike as demoralizing, I agree with both. Just when you think it’s almost over there is yet another switchback. And when you can barely place one leg in front of the other the path gets even steeper. Even Winston , our dog, kept looking back at us waiting for the trip to be over. You always know it’s challenging when your super buff, energy ball of a dog is tired.

Finally we make it to the top. Everything is so very beautiful from this grand view. We are over the top of the world it feels as we can see Eagles soaring below us. It was worth every forced step. After taking a rest and hydrating, I began to think about the decent. Most people love going down hill, however with the sheer steepness of the trail there was no love.

Here’s what happens to your body during the decent. The type of muscle contraction the body is performing during the decent is called an eccentric contraction. During this type of contraction the muscles are ripping more than during any other type of contraction, in addition the muscles are releasing the build up of toxins. As a result this is when your body is able to make the most gains, meaning this is how you will get the most sore.

Here’s what I feel happen to my body during the decent. I am trying to hold myself back as to not fall while going down the steep grade, and believe me I always almost fall at least once. My body feels clumsy due to sheer muscular and mental fatigue. It’s challenging to simply place one foot in front the other, and then my leg muscles begin to quiver and shake. Relief is brief on this trail in a couple of spots where the trail is flat. Then it’s back to down, down, down.

At the beginning, and now ending of the trail there is a little waterfall creek to cross. Ken, Winston, and I stop for a short break at the creek. Winston splashes around in the water as Ken and I talk about our accomplishment and begin setting new goals for future hikes. It sounds like we will be timing our next trip to Rooster Rock. The trip home was beautiful and relaxing even though Winston, who was sound asleep, smelled like a wet dog. Oh well.

Break Time: Hydrotherapy

Map of Rooster Rock:



More information on Rooster Rock

The First Massage

The other day I was referred a new massage client and it so happened that this was going to be her first massage. I was instantly excited to learn her first massage would be from yours truly. I began thinking about the importance of a person's first massage. Most likely this would determine whether the person would continue with massage therapy. The benefits that can be obtained with massage therapy seem to be endless, but here's a few off the top of my head, stress relief, carpal tunnel and tendinitis relief, increased athletic recovery rate and athletic maintenance, knot reduction, I'll stop here for now. My point is that everyone should receive massages, regardless of what their first massage experience was.

As I said I was instantly excited when I found out I was giving a first massage. I also am always excited to find my friends that are L.M.T.'s; and there are many; getting client's who are receiving their first massage. This is because I can be assured that the client will receive the best possible care, and be hooked on massage therapy.

Of course there is the flip side of the story, the client receiving their first massage and being turned off from massage therapy. This can happen for many reasons, but here are a few I would like to hit on. The client is uncomfortable with the massage setting, the massage made them feel worse after wards, the massage hurt during, the massage did not feel like it did anything, and the big one; the massage therapist was sexually inappropriate. The question then is; What do you do if any or all of these circumstances happen to you? The answer is easy; Find a new massage therapist who is better suited to your needs. It may also be important to contact The Oregon Board of Massage Therapy if the therapist was sexually inappropriate. I say this because the therapist must be stopped, not only are they giving massage therapy a bad name, but they are not following the number one rule of massage, "do no harm".

The best way to find a massage therapist who works for you is by finding out about the therapist prior to making an appointment. For me as a therapist, this usually happens through referral, meaning someone who they trust has told them about my massage style and what to expect.

There are all different massage types and styles. If you want lymphatic drainage massage, energy work, or just a Swedish, ask around and study up on massage therapist around your area. Please give massage therapy a try if you have not, and have faith that you can have a pleasant massage experience if you already have had a negative one.