Gym Etiquette

by Kris Pitcher

I always like to provide a few tips on gym etiquette this time of year. As lots of new people are hitting the gym, and folks who might have taken some significant time off...it might be time to revisit the rules of the road.

As a general rule, think common courtesy when you are at the gym. You're sharing a space with others, sharing equipment, and sharing a community. It's a busy community this time of year so let's review some basics.

1. Leave your perfume and cologne at home. While we understand you want to smell nice, perfumes can be offensive while exercising, people may have allergies, asthma or breathing difficulties, migraines etc.
2. This is not your basement gym. You must share equipment with others. Monopolizing equipment is frowned upon. Allow others to "work in" meaning, let them have a turn between your sets. Do not sit on equipment between sets.
3. Wipe down equipment after use. No one wants to experience your sweat. Thank you anyway.
4. Re-rack your weights. This means put them back on the rack or weight tree, in ascending order. Never leave them on a machine, or bar. Never.
5. Do not spit in the drinking fountain. No explanation required.
6. Do not gather up all the dumbbells, steps, a bench and the medicine ball in and around the squat rack to do your P90XCrossfit workout. You will get massive stink-eye. Do that workout at home.
7. Ask the staff for help using the equipment. Staff are there for your safety. If you haven't been in the gym in the last year, get an appointment for an equipment orientation.
8. The time limits on the cardio equipment DO relate to you. As do all rules. Rules of the gym assist in maintaining a community where common courtesy is displayed. This means you.
9. Fit in and get to know the locals. Be observant, watch for patterns, get to know people, assimilate and enjoy your workout.    

A little common courtesy can go a long way in the gym. We want you to stick around, not stick out like a sore thumb. If you need help, ask. If you look like you're in trouble, consider taking a suggestion if one is offered. We'd hate to see you get hurt...or taken out back. Pack your bag, it's time to hit the gym!

Fitness Resolutions for the New Year

by Kris Pitcher

Happy New Year! Today's the day. Right? It's the day everyone is going to start getting healthy. It's the day we'll make better choices, start a plan, go to the gym. This is it, this will be the year! Who's excited?!!!

Good for you! Let's get going, why not? Well, actually...it's Wednesday. No one starts on Wednesday. Besides, everything is closed. It's a holiday. Maybe you could start tomorrow?

But Thursday really begins the weekend, doesn't it? And you probably have plans to meet friends for a last ditch cocktail, or happy hour, or to watch the game. No, the weekend is not a good time to start. You'll start on Monday. Monday is good. It's a great time to get going. Monday it is!

And that's how people lose another entire year. Which is why I don't like resolutions. I don't "do" resolutions. If you want to do something, just do it. Sorry Nike. But really, just get to it. Get after it. Start right now.

Well, I mean finish this first, but then get started. There is no magic time to start. There won't be greater success if you begin on a Monday vs. a Wednesday. Go to the gym today. Guess what? They know you're coming.

Stock up on healthy foods so you can begin that eating plan. Get the junk out of the cupboards, and your trunk, so your goals will be supported by your environment. Plan ahead so you have meals at the ready and come Monday you are ready for a week of new habits.

Set yourself up for success by being organized and by putting plans into action now. Don't wait for the perfect time. Believe me, there is no perfect time to start. Start now. And guess what? Your new habits won't end.

What?! That's right, you only have to do weight management as long as you want it to work. So, get comfortable. You're in this for the long haul...not just until February. Start slow. There is no rush.

You've got plenty of time to incorporate your healthy new habits. You don't have to master all your fitness resolutions today. Take one at a time. Start moving. Begin drinking water. Take your meals to work or school.

All those things add up over time. Time. It takes time. So, like I said before, settle in. This is your new lifestyle. You're going to like it. As you begin to shed a few pounds, sleep better and have a clear head...you'll see, you're going to like it. Join the masses but plan to make it through, beyond January this year.

Your fitness resolutions can begin now, no need to wait. Get started nice and easy, and before you know it, you'll be seeing changes that you like. What are you waiting for, get moving. This New Year is ON!

Giving it Up in 2014

by Kris Pitcher

There are a few things you should consider completely giving up in 2014. I want to run them by you while you are in the process of developing your resolutions. Please consider adding these...I mean, subtracting these this, coming year:

1. Beast-Mode: All year everyone, I mean EVERYONE, has been in beast-mode about everything. It's time to admit, this is silly. Everyone can't be a total beast. Let this one go. Give your shirt away.
2. Killing It!: This should be obvious. You can't be killing everything either. Killing your bis! Really? Just do your workout. We know you've killed it. Tough girl...
3. MY Way: Stop getting mad if someone isn't doing it your way. There's more than one way. This isn't a cookie-cutter deal. Stop hating on the way someone else does cardio. Don't be mad.
4. Gangsta: I know you are not in fact a gangster. Please let being "gangsta" go. Just take your hoodie down and grow up.
5. Bad Ass: I know, this is hard for me too. I even have socks to declare my status as such. But do we really have to stomp around and act like one? Feeling like one on the inside is fine. This gig is over.

If we can just let go of some of these tough exterior, self-driven, labels...we might just have a kinder, gentler 2014. Check yourself and decide if these things are really "age appropriate". Are you really making friends projecting yourself this way?

Put down your attitude and you might just make some new friends. You might just begin to surround yourself with people who have similar interests, who are on the same path as you...who aren't laughing at you.

I'm not exactly sure what the new year will bring, but I'm pretty sure these things are tired. 2013 used them all up and it's time to seriously consider giving them up yourself. Expand who you are and how you define yourself. Give it up this year :)

A Season Unwrapped

by Kris Pitcher

Happy Hanukkah, and Merry Christmas to all those around the world who celebrate those holidays this time of year. And a Happy Non-denominational Winter Season to those who celebrate in other ways! Regardless, it's a season full of tradition and reflection.

It's a good time to reflect on the year behind us, and to look forward to the season ahead. You know me, I'm not big on resolutions. But I am big on getting your head straight about what is important to you.

As you spend time today with family and friends, loved ones, get straight on what it is you value. What is important to you in this coming year? What will mark success? What will you work toward? And in the end, how will you measure it?

Will you measure it by the biggest pile of wrapping paper and ribbons? Will it be measured by who got the biggest, most expensive gift? Or by the most decadent meal? Will it be measured by how you spent an extravagant amount on surprising someone special? Will it be having all the latest electronics?

Maybe it will be some of those things. Part of feeling success is providing such that those in our lives don't "want" for things. But maybe success will be in health, in happiness, in moving your goals forward. Maybe it will be in traditions unspoken, whispers of who you are as a family, or as friends.

Maybe reflection will bring pride in accomplishments, or hunger for more. This is a good time to slow down and think about your success to goals in the year past, and how you'll meet your own expectations this year to come. What do you want for yourself? What will build on the year behind us?

Once you clear the piles, and piles, of wrapping paper from the living room floor, take note of your own season unwrapped. As you enjoy the festivities, whatever they may be, take joy in those quiet moments to wrap your head around what you want for the upcoming season.

'Tis the season, to make it all yours. Happy Holidays from Fitness Bliss!

Attraction, It's the Law

by Kris Pitcher

You know those positive people, always seeing their cup half full? They just have all the luck, right? I mean, everything just falls right into place for them.

Or does it? I believe very strongly you attract things into your life. The energy you put out into the universe, comes back to you. This is the law of attraction and it can work for, or against you. It's up to you.

What kind of energy are you putting out? What kind of messages are you sending, to yourself? Are you focused on what you can't do, or what you are capable of? Your perspective determines what comes into your life.

If you want success in life, any aspect of life, you must attract it to yourself. That begins with clarity on what it is you want, and what it is you don't want. What will you accept in your life, and what are you unwilling to tolerate?

Big questions. But attracting energy, success, into your life begins with you understanding what it is you want. Once you define exactly what that is, you begin to do the things necessary to achieve it. If you're the least bit unclear of your goals, you'll attract chaos.

So get clear. Write it out, cut out a picture, put up a calendar...what ever it takes to literally put it in front of yourself. Do it. I have a calendar on our refrigerator that has a contest picture of me from last season. It has contest dates, and I can SEE my path every single day.

Everything I choose begins to attract my goals into my life. I am manifesting them. I am surrounding myself with the right people, I'm centering my thoughts around them, I'm literally keeping them in front of me, and I'm making decisions which will draw me to them, and them to me.

It's a conscious process, a thoughtful and deliberate process. The law of attraction is not based on hope, or prayer. It's based on work, on focus, and on clarity. As the new year dawns, we have the perfect opportunity to find clarity about what it is we want to focus on.

We have the chance to make a fresh start, to turn the page on the new calendar, and to see our path forward. Put yours right in front of you. Look at it. Make choices around it. Draw it to you. Attraction, it's the law.

Weight Loss Goals, Just Go!

by Kris Pitcher

Our town built an epic new round-about. Watching its engineering was both frustrating and exciting. Not quite sure how it was going to turn out, when the (slightly overdone) traffic revision was completed...I was excited.

Now, a round-about works when everyone just moves into it, yielding as directed, going with the flow. I'm still waiting for the snow to really fly so I can practice my drift turns around this beauty.

There's always the driver who stops, literally stops, and signals their direction of travel. When I was behind said person the other day it made me think of all the people who will soon take on challenges for the New Year.

Many of those will be weight loss goals, or goals around eating differently. Let me give you some advice. You don't need to stop and "signal" your direction of travel to everyone. Just start moving in the only direction there is to go.

See, I've found the most excited people, who shout the loudest (signal) often are the quickest to lose direction. You want to make changes? Great! Just begin to move into traffic and make them. You've tried lots of things before, and frankly, people expect you to fail.

Don't tell them. Keep your indicator off. You don't need to signal. Just move - they'll figure it out. My point is, it's unnecessary to indicate all the changes you want to make to people who only sort of care. It's really just important to you and maybe your closest confidant.

Telling the person behind you in line, or your co-workers, or everyone on your social media friends list isn't necessary. You don't need to signal. Just go.

Signaling just puts the pressure on you. You don't need that. You need support from your closest people and that's it. Signalling puts some huge end-all out there. Simply begin. Just go.

You'll be more successful with less pressure, less fanfare, and fewer people around you watching for you to fail. Don't hesitate as you move into the round-about of what you want to change. Simply go forward and do it without signalling. Just. Go!

Take it Back

by Kris Pitcher

Life gets busy. Even my life full of balance and blah, blah, blah. When it does, I don't always find time for writing. Heck, I don't always find time to move the folded laundry off the coffee table. But then, who has a problem with getting dressed in the living room?

The thing is, writing centers me. Sure, I do it for you...but mostly it's for me. It helps me find my balance, express my creativity, gives me a platform to share what I think, and keeps things going in my brain where I store my "stuff".

It also helps me create a community of like people who are all trying to do similar things...or are at least struggling in similar ways. Which we all are. And what I was thinking most recently, is - where has my time gone?

It's a busy season full of too many pot-lucks, too many social obligations, and far too many errands buying gifts for people. We were out on one such trip and I simply told my husband if the gift didn't work, the recipient could take it back.

"Giving a gift that someone has to take back is giving them the gift of work." he said. I laughed at the simple truth to that. No one wants to return a gift. In a time when most of us have too much stuff, what we don't seem to have too much of is time.

Managing our time is an important factor in determining our success. So, while I'm getting my meals prepped, waking to the alarm at 4:30 am to do my cardio, and conserving most of my precious evenings to get my lifts in...somehow on the weekends I'm not finding time to write.

And I'm missing it. So, get ready for (and this is by no means a resolution), get ready for thought provoking blogs. Be ready to feel slightly uncomfortable. Smile when I tell you we need to sit down for a chat. Know I will tell it like it is. And finally, let's not ever have to make time to take anything back in life.