The latest science is indicating that exercise is as, or more effective for fighting depression as anti-depressants.  It can also combat Alzheimers, Parkinsons and other diseases of the brain. That’s incredibly good news since so many of us battle various degrees of depression at times in our lives.

Scientists think it’s the connections made in the brain (neurotransmitters) that helps us feel better. Here’s what we need to know about exercise to maximize the benefits:

• Do at least 20-30 minutes a day, 5 times a week, or more
• Walking works but doing a circuit with resistance (Peter’s 5 Minutes to Fitness+ Workout- pictures above) works better to challenge your brain and body
• Remember to smile, breathe, direct your thoughts and bend your knees (activate your core) for full effect
• To maximize exercise’s benefit, make sure you are doing something to build muscle everyday
• You can call it “training” to make it more compelling if you hate “exercise”

So feel better today by exercising; start slow, have fun, and look great.

Although Susan did it, her 2nd 5K, she’s not thrilled. However, she was thrilled to meet Elizabeth, Elana, Lori and the others.  I created this club to help connect people who want to change their lives through health. Club members, thank you for making that vision come true.

Below you’ll read about her cousin Sam who shaved her head for St. Baldricks Children’s charity. I’m proud to say Peter K Fitness has made a donation to Sam’s charity on behalf of everyone who showed up to our 5K. Thank you! You can see Sam’s picture below. You can still donate here > http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/521351/2012

Susan, though you’ve had a couple of challenging weeks, you have brought many people together by sharing your story in this weekly blog. Karma will repay you with the focus and success you crave.

And now, Susan:

I have been on vacation this week- I have had the luxury of having my time all to myself for the last 6 days. Ironically though, it’s 4 AM and this blog needs to be delivered to Peter’s in box in about an hour and a half. So, why am I pulling the 11th hour crunch and starting this blog now like an errant college student frantically slamming together a term paper at the very last possible moment? While it’s true that sometimes the pressure of a deadline gets my ass in gear and makes the words just magically flow- that’s not the case here. I have been struggling this week; I have been at war with myself in a way, and though I tried to sit down at least 10 times over the course of the last week in an attempt to write the blog, the ideas and words would not come. So, it’s 4 AM, and I am still not sure what’s going to come out- but I made a commitment to myself to write this blog every week, and I am morally obligated to keep that promise. So here we go.

I have taken enough Psychology classes in my day to be able to clearly state that I do not have a split personality disorder, however, my behavior this week might lead some casual observers to think it might be a distinct possibility. To steal some lingo coined by our beloved Alison, my own” Fit Girl” and “Fat Girl” have been having a knock-down, drag out “cat fight” with each other for control of my brain. When my world is in order, and “All’s Quiet on the Western Front,” it’s relatively easy to make my health and fitness goals a top priority. It’s during these periods, when I make the most progress, feel the most motivated, am the most optimistic and inspired about my journey. When my stress level increases and I start paying more attention to outside forces and the noise and interference that it brings, my motivation and focus head for the hills, and negativity and bad habits rein supreme. These fluctuating states used to run seamlessly on auto pilot, each popping in and controlling my behavior depending on circumstance. Peter, however, has messed me up in a major way. I have read enough of his posts, had enough of his coaching sessions, and heard enough of his strategies for success, that I have learned quite a few things over the last year. So, when bad stuff happens and my focus goes out the window, “Fat Girl” waltzes in, fully expecting to have her way, and isn’t too happy lately. Why? It seems that “Fit Girl” is a nagging b*tch who won’t shut up and leave the “Fat Girl” alone to eat her junk food in peace. There was a time when I could stress eat for comfort’s sake, and actually enjoy what I was consuming. Now I find, that when I do succumb to poor eating, bad habit’s etc… I have “Fit Girl” lecturing me and ruining all my fun. So both my alter ego’s are currently pissed, and beating the crap out of each other trying to gain control.

When Peter asks me a question, and my response is, “I don’t know…” He has occasionally flipped the question back to me by saying, “Well, if you DID know, then what would you do?” I have been in a pretty negative state for the last few weeks. I was not jazzed about doing our 5K on May 6th. To be frank, I didn’t want to do it. “Fat Girl” was all for bailing and was making some pretty convincing arguments to put a stop to the whole thing. “Fit Girl” put her two cents in, and convinced me that even if everything “Fat Girl” was saying were true, I still need to “act as if…” I was in a good place. So I did make it to the 5 K, and to be honest, my performance wasn’t stellar, I finished dead last, and I didn’t feel the same euphoria I did when I did my first 5 K. So, was the day a negative experience, a complete wash out? Surprisingly not. Why? Because, when you look hard enough, you can find something positive in any experience. I had a great conversation with Elizabeth before we started the 5 K. She said some really kind things about my writing and blog that put a smile on my face, and her warmth and sincerity touched me. Talking to her was a bright spot in a difficult week, she had no idea how much that conversation meant to me at that moment. Elana- what can I say. Without her by my side, I probably would have quit after one lap around the lake. She is one tough cookie and a great coach. I have been hearing about her forever, it was so nice to finally meet her in person. Another highlight was Lori. I had heard she was leery about undertaking her first 5 K, and that Peter had used me in part as an example to persuade her to participate. Let me tell you, I am so proud of her! Not only did she have the courage to show up, she kicked major butt! She completed the entire 5 K, and pushed her mom’s wheelchair for the whole 3 miles to boot- and she outpaced ME! In fact, at one point, I was cursing her under my breath, because she was too far ahead for me to catch up, knock her poor old mom out of that wheel chair, enabling me to “ride out” the rest of the 5 K. Way to go Lori! It’s nice to know that I was part of the reason you joined us that day- you are AMAZING!

I want to end on a bright note with a big thank you to everyone who supported St Balderick’s charity and my cousin’s Samantha’s event. All Sam’s student’s passed her class, and the big day was May 3rd. She lived up to her end of the bargain, and had her head shaved- she even made the 10 o’clock news that night. Her two sons, Ryan & Ethan, as well as two of her students, also had their heads shaved to support the cause. To date, she has raised approximately $6,000 and still has another week before the deadline for donations ends. Her shorn hair also got donated to “locks for love.” I have never been so proud of her- she touched many lives in a positive way, and the lessons she has taught her students are invaluable. Thanks again to all for your support.

FYI- I weighed in today at 258lbs. I lost 1.4 pounds this week- total weight loss to date- 73 lbs.

• Feed our children healthy foods
• Schedule our kid’s physical activities and sports
• Like to take walks in the park
• Instill confidence and security in our lives
• Organize our homes
• Have successful careers
• And generally do 90% of what needs to be done to make a family run

Thank you for what you do! Please enjoy your day.

Firstly, I love eating good quality bread and my intention is not to bring you bad news. My goal is to give you the latest info on how to be healthy.

The answer seems to be yes, bread does make us fat.  I know that’s bad news for many of us for many reasons.

There is an article in Newsweek this week that’s talks about obesity and some of the governments effort to fight it, and how it’s failing.  We are fatter than ever, regardless of the governments campaign to tell us to eat less fat and salt while eating more grains (carbs).

My firm is fortunate in that we do corporate wellness programs some of the largest companies in the world. Some have very large budgets to spend on wellness, and have been for years, with little to show for it too often.  One reason is they don’t focus on the motivational component, which is the niche of my wellness firm. Another reason for lack of success, is the conflicting information that’s out there.

Here’s my professional opinion on one of the best and most effective ways obtain a healthy weight and maximize your health. It has do with the fact that we eat too much sugar in the form of grains, particularly bread and pasta, as well as the obvious refined sugars.  Warning; it may be extreme for some:

• Replace all sugary drinks, candy and sweets with water, fruit and nuts.
• If you eat bread, limit it to 2-4 times per week. (Even if it’s whole grain) Start with eating grains once per day and go from there. Replace with more vegetables and lean meat if you eat it, and the other suggestions below.
• If you do eat grains, these seem to be healthiest: brown rice, quinoa, barley.
• Some sources say don’t eat potatoes, even sweet potatoes. I don’t agree. I believe  potatoes in moderation can have a health benefit.

I say, “seem to be” often because the information we receive from studies and the government changes almost daily.

Our Goal: Every day lets use common sense, eat foods in as natural a state as possible, and replace all harmful food items with vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, the grains above,  lean meat, eggs, and wild fish where possible.

Of course, try to eat organic, free range, hormone & antibiotic free, wild and sustainable foods.  Good luck!

I’m happy to announce, everyone who came to the 5 Minutes to Fitness+ Club 5K completed the walk/run!  Awesome job to everyone who came. If you couldn’t make it, we’d love to see you next time. Stay tuned for the next 5K race announcement.

Several kids came, including my 11 and 4 year old daughter and son, and Liza’s daughter Emily was there again.  We love her. And they did it without any complaints, (or bathroom emergencies .  Go kids!!

Some special highlights- Lori brought her mother in her wheelchair and pushed it the entire 3.1 miles, Liza brought her whole family except for 1 son, and of course our very own Susan completed her 2nd 5K. One word- Awesome!

My thanks go out to the 5 Minutes to Fitness+ Club Team, Jane, Elana, Elizabeth and Matt. You guys rock!

Thank you to my friends at Latham & Watkins and NRI who were there with us. It was great to see you!

And a special congratulations to those who did it for the first time, as well as congrats to the veterans. I was so proud to take the picture above. Please make sure to mark this and any accomplishment as a big step forward in your continuing health journey.

Thank you for being there and see you next time!

I want to give Susan a compliment but I don’t want it to sound egotistical.  In her blog, she reminds of someone I know, ME. I say that because I went through similar self exploration, trial and error, and ultimately, forward progress.

She was almost ready to give up the blog. When you are ready to quit, that is a sure sign that you are succeeding. The problem is, most people quit. This is supposed to be a difficult journey. Without the agony of defeat, there is no sweet success.

Susan:

Another week, another blog, and so we begin again. During my last coaching session, I told Peter that I was leaning towards giving this whole writing thing up. I’ve felt like I’ve been at a standstill in my journey for awhile now. Up and down, back and forth- playing with the same 15 pounds over and over and over again- saying a whole lot of things; not making a whole lot of progress. I told him it was beginning to stress me out trying to write this each week- I was feeling a bit like a hypocrite, and not feeling like I should be held up as an example for anyone. Peter squashed my dissent instantly. He reminded me that I am not writing this for everyone else, I am writing it for me. I had lost sight of that recently. Getting up in the wee hours of the morning, or finding some little pocket of quiet time in my day once a week to write this, forces me to “quiet” the noise of what’s going on in my world at any given moment, and forces/allows (depends on the day, lol) me to look inward and figure out what’s going on and what’s really important. So Peter wins, and here we go again. I hope you can learn something from me along the way, but this blog is for me, that you get to watch is bonus. ☺

Sunday’s 5 K. Is it here already? Oh boy. Let me give you a little refresher in case you weren’t a member last November when I completed my very first one. I had signed up for that one in an attempt to jump start my fitness routine. Before I knew it, the event was at hand, and I felt completely unprepared- aka- scared. I tried to weasel out of it, but Peter and Alison worked their magic on me, and I found myself in Central Park fully expecting to humiliate myself and collapse, forcing me to be carried around Jackie Kennedy’s little lake. An hour and twenty minutes later, all that negativity was blown away. I completed that 5 K and was absolutely euphoric. I achieved what I had believed was unthinkable. My blog the following week was full of statements about shredding my comfort zone, obliterating self doubt, and predictions of running future 5 K’s instead of walking them. I pulled that old blog up this week to re-read it. I was again thinking about a 5 K I was not prepared for, sullen that I would not see an improvement in my time as I predicted, and again feeling like I was not fit to be held up as an example for anyone. I ended that old blog with the following paragraph:

“It’s funny, the first time I ever saw a 250ish number on a scale, I remember being horrified I had gotten so heavy. Little did I know back then where I was headed and just how much higher my weight would eventually soar. When I saw that 250ish number again today, I was thrilled to welcome it back like an old friend I never thought I would see again. Though I have to say- I was a bit rude and reminded it that while I was glad to have it visit, it wasn’t welcome to stay all that long…”

The irony hit me square in the face. Be careful of what you say etc…. and all that good stuff. The 250’s weren’t welcome to stay long??? HA! The joke’s on me- because after all these months, I’ve never gotten past them. The negative loop in my brain kicked in, and I’ll spare you all the nasty things I was thinking about myself- but it boiled down this simple thought- “You are a failure.”

I have had some bumps in the road as of late, and had a lot of turmoil in my life. When the proverbial sh*t hits the fan, you basically have two choices; curl up in a ball and feel sorry for yourself and be mad at the world, or take a step back, suck in a big breath, and try to figure out what’s making you unhappy, and why you find yourself in this position. I am guilty of wallowing for a day or two, but I have done my best to be introspective and not let drama choose my future course. I’ve had chats with Peter, read some Tony Robbins, and spent a whole lot of time staring off into space while thinking things through.

As for my weight loss, I have spent the last several months whining about being stuck, feeling terrible about how I have not been progressing as quickly as I would like, feeling like I am failing myself and all of you along the way. What I have realized is this line of thought is pure bullsh*t. Here is what I have done that I have not recognized, acknowledged or taken credit for. I have lost roughly 80 lbs and kept it off for a whole year. I have never, ever done that before. I have dropped the famous 50 more times than I can count, but I never got much farther than that; within 6 months, I had always regained that weight, and added more pounds on top of it. The fact that I have kept this weight off for a substantial amount of time is amazing progress! Why did I not recognize how cool that is until now? The fact that I have held ground for a substantial amount of time is indicative of permanent change. Hmmm- seems like I have learned something along the way after all.

I had my “plastic bag” revelation in the past week or two. That concept has forced me to tune out everyone else’s “stuff” and stop reacting to it. It puts me in a position to work on ME, and that is the key to finding my way to happiness. Peter and Tony, Tony and Peter… their words have all jumbled into my head, because their message is the same. The following statements are things I have learned from them and said to myself everyday this week when I start my day, or they are things that have popped into my head when I have faced temptation, etc… This is what has kept me feeling fierce, positive, motivated, and on track:

“What can I do today that will make my life better?”

“If you say you can’t do something, you’re right. You shut off the part of your brain that CAN. If you say you can do something, you’re right. You open up a world of possibilities for yourself.”

‘Instead of looking at people who have what I want and thinking they are so great, so lucky etc… I need to watch everything they are saying and doing, figure out what they believe in, their thought processes, etc… and model them- replicate what makes them successful; then I in turn, will be successful.” I know this one sounds simplistic- but you have no idea how many times this kept me from plunging my hand into a jar of M & Ms this week. In the grand scheme of things- would a few M & M’s really make a difference? Not at all if I want to keep striving for mediocrity. But I don’t want to be mediocre- I want to be FIERCE and blast past that 100 lb milestone- and I won’t get there by sneaking in those few M & M’s, at least not in the next century.

“Failure is not an option.” How many times will you try something, fail and then give up? 2, 5, 10 times? I guess it depends on the situation. But lots of us do get frustrated and quit whatever it is we set out to do. Why? When our kids try to do things like tie their shoes, learn to walk etc… we tell them “try again” over and over until they finally get it. Giving up is not an option. How come it’s OK to tell our kids that, yet not hold ourselves to the same standard? Imagine what you could accomplish if you refused to give up?

“No experience is a mistake if you learn from it!”

Ok- I am out of inspiration for the time being. I got back on the scale again Monday morning and weighed in at a whopping 264.4. On Thursday morning- I weighed in at 259.4. I lost 5 pounds in 3 days by being FIERCE. Total weight loss to date- 72 lbs.

This Sunday, May 6th, we will be hosting another great 5K Walk/Run.  This is a fun and informal event and we hope you make it.

Here’s what you need to know.

RSVP to save your place right now please-  contact@peterkfitness.com

Meeting time: Sunday May 6th, 7:30 am. We’ll be starting the walk/run at 8 am.

Meeting place: 90th and 5th ave NYC at Central Park. Meet there at 7:30 am and we’ll walk to reservoir nearby.

Event site: We will be walking and/or running around the Jackie Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. 2 loops is approximately a 5K (3.1 miles). You can choose to do 1 loop which is 1.5 miles, or 2 loops.

Wear what you’ll race in: Sneakers, light jacket & light shirt, shorts or pants. Bring a water bottle for yourself. Please only bring valuables you can carry. There will not be a bag check.

What to expect: This will be a fun, informal and supportive event. Some will walk, some will run and some will do a combination of both. Do whatever you are comfortable with and have fun.

Parking: You can try and find parking on the street. Many found parking on the street last time. There is a parking garage at 115 E 94 St (bet. Lexington Ave-Park Ave) ULLTRA Majestic Car Park. Go to this website type in the address and print out a coupon for $18 parking.http://nyc.bestparking.com/index.php

Restrooms: Go before you arrive There are no immediate restrooms but some are located off the route that require a walk to the Tennis Center near 94th Street and the center of the park, just above the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. Just run down the little hill from the top of the reservoir or bridal path and look for the building beside the tennis courts.

Contact info: 877-364-7383, peterk@peterkfitness.com

If you’re doing the race from your hometown: Find a route that’s 5K (3.1 miles long) and start at 9am. Take a picture of yourself and send it to us from wherever you are in the world and we’ll post it. The 5 MTF+  team will be with you in spirit. Have a great race!!!

If you’re not sure about coming: “Just show up” is what my mentor Barry Farber always told me and it has changed my life. Hope to see you Sunday!

Not only we walking or running a 5K this Sunday for our health, we are also raising money for a great cause, fighting children’s cancer!

You all know Susan who blogs for us weekly.  Well her cousin Samantha is just as courageous!  She’s a teacher and has vowed to shave her head bald  to raise money for St. Baldricks children’s charity, if her class passes this semester. Here’s a special message from her:

“My students and I have answered the call to be heroes. I’ve challenged every single one of my students to pass my class for this marking period and in return, I would raise $10,000 for children’s cancer.

Please support my students with a donation to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. This volunteer-driven charity funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government.

Your gift will give hope to infants, children, teens and young adults fighting childhood cancers. So when I ask for your support, I’m really asking you to support these kids. Thank you!”

You can contribute in 2 ways. Bring a check for whatever amount you can give with you this Sunday, or go to her website to donate now. Thank you! http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/521351/2012

I hope you join us this Sunday, May 6th, at 8am in Central Park NYC for our Spring 5K walk or run.  I say walk or run, because you can do whatever works for you. Click here to go to the 5K page for training plans.

I’ve heard from several of you who are nervous about being able to complete it. Good news, it’s just like taking a walk in the park.  We do two, 1.5 mile loops around the Jackie Kennedy Reservoir, at your own pace. Don’t worry, you won’t be last, I will. Everyone who has tried it in the past has made it and was so glad they did!

So, make sure you join us no matter what your fitness level is. I’ll send out more specific details about where we are meeting in a couple of days.  See you Sunday!

Please RSVP now- contact@peterkfitness.com.