| FT Magazine - DEC-JAN 2005 |
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Nutrition
Surviving Holiday Hurdles
Family Features Editorial Syndicate
Chef Kathleen Daelemans, best-selling author and host of the Food Network's Cooking Thin, is an expert at making simple changes in the kitchen to create healthy but satisfying recipes during the holidays and year-round. Daelemans has offered several tips to aid people in a healthier holiday season without forgoing their favorite dishes.
"The holidays are a time for fun, sharing and giving and shouldn't be spent feeling guilty every time you put a piece of food in your mouth," said Daelemans. "Some easy lifestyle changes during this busy time will allow you to enjoy healthier holiday favorites without sacrificing taste. Choosing fats and oils wisely, consuming leaner and healthier ingredients and not relying on fast food in between your holiday meals can lead to a healthier, more balanced season."
Healthy Holiday Tips
 Be choosy when selecting ingredients. Build holiday menus around naturally healthful ingredients. When using meat or protein, make the cuts lean; try sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes; and when incorporating dairy products, make them low fat. Also, fill people's plates with lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains to encourage a well-balanced, but delicious, holiday meal.
The three-to-one rule. When attending a holiday party, take three healthy bites for every single high-calorie bite. Instead of piling a plate with high-calorie foods, make a commitment to balance out what you eat by helping yourself to good-for-you foods first.
Go cardio. Build in more cardio workouts to counterbalance holiday indulgences. Cardio exercise releases "feel good" hormones and burns calories to offset big meals and high stress. Try exercising at least three times a week - if you add 10 minutes to a workout every day, you'll get in an extra 30 minutes at the end of the week.
No excuses for fast food. As you will be eating richer food than normal, keep in-between meals lean, clean and portion controlled. This is not the time of year to resort to fast food because you're too busy to cook. Plan for the extra demands on time by stocking the fridge and freezer with pre-made and pre-portioned soups, stews and make-ahead meals. Every time you cook, make extra and freeze. Do this three times a week and you'll have 12 meals in the freezer.
*Study from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), March 2000.
Sausage-Apple Holiday Bread Stuffing
1/2 pound pork sausage
1/2 cup Enova oil
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 pound dried cubed bread
1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
1 cup chicken broth
2 eggs
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely diced
Crumble and cook sausage; drain on paper towels. Heat oil in skillet, then saute onion and celery until tender. Add garlic and remove from heat. In large bowl, combine bread cubes, cooked sausage, seasonings, broth, eggs, apple and cooked vegetables. Mix gently. Turn into greased casserole and bake at 350?F 20 to 30 minutes. Serves 4
Holiday Green Beans
2 tablespoons Enova oil
1 cup diced onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 cups frozen beans
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup slivered almonds
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until crisp. Add garlic, green beans, water and salt. Cover and cook 3 to 5 minutes or until almost tender. Remove cover and cook another minute to evaporate liquid. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place in serving dish and top with slivered almonds. Serves 4
The Essentials
By Meghan Leahy, MS, CSCS
What do you have to do to lose weight? For most people responding to that question their answer comes quickly and without too much thought-diet and exercise. And if further quizzed on the type of exercise they had in mind, "aerobic" is the typical answer. While those are simple answers to simply stated questions, the real answer to successful weight loss is somewhat more involved, however, the good news is there is an answer!
The proliferation of fad diets and infomercials have confused many Americans into believing there is some supplement or macronutrient-eliminating-diet that will solve our weight loss woes. To make matters worse we've all been told for years that aerobic exercise is the answer to burning fat. You've seen the "fat burning zone" on cardio equipment. Just another example of misleading marketing designed to sell weight loss solutions in the billion dollar weight loss industry.
Forget all that misinformation then let me clear up the confusion and give you the three Essentials that clients who have successfully transformed their bodies have found so effective
The answers to what's wrong with aerobic exercise and how to master your weight loss are: synergistic implementation of resistance training (weight training), moderate aerobic exercise and the right nutrition, or what we call The Essentials.
It almost seems like common sense, but yet, very few people effectively implement all three components when pursuing their weight loss goals. Significant fat loss and avoiding the common fat loss plateau can be accomplished by incorporating a balanced effort of resistance training and moderate aerobic exercise with the support of the right nutrition. Too often fat loss efforts rely on a diet and aerobic exercise exclusively. This approach will only lead to a small amount of weight loss, a slower metabolism and the frustration of regaining the weight.
Diets normally don't work. Diets are not realistic and are often short lived. One of the most popular diets actually asks you to practically eliminate an essential macronutrient. In reality, the answer to your nutritional program lies in educating yourself about balanced nutrition and eating behavior modifications-not in eliminating nutrients or severe calorie deprivation.
The severe calorie deprivation diets will only slow down your metabolism by decreasing metabolically active muscle tissue and putting your body into a natural defense mechanism we commonly call the starvation mode. The release of a weight regulating hormone and an enzyme (lipo-protein lipase) will slow your body's metabolism when it interprets your diet as starvation.
In addition, an hour of cardio will not give you the long term weight loss you desire. If you want to change your body you must decrease the importance of aerobic exercise and shift some of your efforts to implementing resistance training. Resistance training is critical if you want to take control of your metabolism. An increase in muscle (and I don't mean bulking up) will increase your metabolism.
For example, one pound of muscle requires 40-50 calories a day just to maintain it. Think what five added pounds does to your bodies caloric needs in a day-in a week! Not to mention, 48 hours after a resistance training workout your metabolism will still be elevated to aid muscle recovery. That's the key to long term permanent fat loss. It's not just what you do 5 percent of your day (exercise)-it's what your body does the other 95 percent of the day.
Let's face it, most people really don't enjoy the boredom of a long drawn out cardio workout. Don't get me wrong, cardio is an important component to the Essentials, but in moderation. Excessive aerobic exercise will unravel your toning efforts by decreasing lean muscle. If your body is not being provided the right nutrition and resistance training to increase or at least maintain your body's muscle, your body will break down muscle protein as an energy source and you now know how important muscle is to your metabolism.
The synergy of all three components is critical. If your nutrition does not provide the right "fuel" for your resistance training efforts you will not increase your muscle tone and therefore not increase your metabolism. What's more, poor nutrition will not help in optimizing fat utilization during moderate aerobic exercise. You see, with the right nutrition you can decrease the amount of cardio you have to do, this reduction will allow for optimal maintenance of muscle tissue, and you will effectively turn your body into a fat burning machine.
Let me give you one more way to look at it. If you look at the chart on this page, all three components have equal percentages of the pie chart (33.33percent)-and all Essentials have been perfectly executed making a perfectly round wheel. Now imagine that resistance training remains at 33 percent of the chart, aerobic exercise is 20 percent and nutrition is 10 percent. It is no longer a perfectly round wheel. So which wheel do you think would allow your car to run the most effectively?
You can see, an equal concentration on all three components of the Essentials will eliminate frustration, make your pursuit enjoyable and reward your self confidence with a successful body transformation.
Supplement Solutions
Magic Weight Loss Pills?
By Brian Stoltenberg BS, CSCS
But when you take the time to read the fine print, it almost always discloses the results shown in the advertisement are not likely what the average consumer will experience. Not only are these results not typical, they are not achieved by simply popping a "magic pill" and sitting back while the fat magically melts.
As you know, there are no "quick fixes" when it comes to permanent weight loss and there is certainly no such thing as a magic pill that will make you lose weight. However, supplement companies are spending huge amounts of money to convince consumers that these pills do exist. A closer examination of the ingredients in a popular supplement demonstrates these pills are not a "quick fix" to a weight loss problem and in certain situations may be dangerous.
I selected that particular supplement because it has been in the limelight over the past few months. Most recently, the infamous Anna Nicole Smith has received much attention with her body transformation and endorsement of that product. We can all see she has undergone a complete body transformation and looks fabulous-for the time being. She has lost a large amount of body fat and has toned up nicely. Anna, predictably, attributes the supplement with her recent weight loss success.
While researching the ingredients of the product, I discovered some components do have a valid weight loss use, while others are poorly researched and unproven. The primary ingredient is a fiber known as Glucomannan. Studies have shown Glucomannan is an effective weight loss aid if one gram is taken with eight ounces of water one hour prior to meals. The reason that this fiber is included in the product is to enhance the feelings of "fullness."
This new age fiber absorbs up to two hundred times its weight in water. So what does this mean? Simply put, this fiber will absorb water and keep it in your stomach leaving less room for food, which is a positive. In addition to Glucomannan, the supplement contains numerous other untested weight loss enhancing ingredients. Therefore, if you are interested in the benefits of this fiber you should seek it from other sources of supplementation.
One example of an unproven ingredient in the supplement is Hoodia Gordonii. Claims have been made that this ingredient can be used as an appetite suppressant. These claims are exactly that-simply claims. No scientific evidence has established that this ingredient is actually an effective appetite suppressant. Another popular ingredient in supplements of this nature is green tea extract. Green tea has been proven to increase the metabolic rate, but at a low level of only four percent. For an average person this comes out to approximately 100 calories per day, which could easily be burned by going for a short walk.
A larger concern is the stimulant effect many of these weight loss pills produce. Nearly all the companies' claims of weight loss or an increased metabolism using their products are the same, but with different labels. Some claim to be "all natural" and they may be, but it is important to understand herbs can be stimulants as well. This can be very dangerous for someone who has high blood pressure or should be avoiding caffeine.
There has been more than one incidence of individuals exercising with these stimulants in their system and having difficulties breathing because of an already increased heart rate. Combine the diuretic effect the natural caffeine stimulants found in these products produce and you have numerous reasons for keeping these pills out of any healthy weight loss program.
It is true the Glucomannan found in many weight loss pills have been proven effective in aiding weight loss, but only in very specific doses and frequencies. In fact, much of the research showing these benefits is conducted on animals. So unless you're a laboratory rat, I'm not sure how much credibility you want to give these studies. The point is that these ingredients alone are simply not effective. Without the addition of increased exercise and a nutritionally balanced diet, weight loss will not be achieved.
In addition, there are unsafe, unproven and potentially dangerous ingredients found in these products that could increase the potential for certain health risks. All of this may make the possible "benefits" of taking these products just not worth it. If you want to lose weight and change your life you need to do three things and none involve a magic pill. First, work to change your habits. Certain habits have probably made you successful, but we all also have habits that are not supportive of our goals. Second, make some changes to your current nutrition, cut out the fast food, avoid refined sugars, watch your portions, add fruits and vegetables, include whole grains and drink plenty of water. Finally, increase your level of physical activity. It's not always what we want to hear, but it is what we need to hear. Avoid continued frustration because the only weight you will lose with the supplement products will be from your wallet.
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Real People - Real Results
Dane Scag
By Jeanette Hurt
Some people may say they're "too old" or "too set in their ways" to try a new exercise program, but Dane Scag can prove them wrong. This month's Fitness Together success story focuses on a very remarkable man who has no time for people who make excuses--he's too busy getting things done. He's now in top form, both mentally and physically, and he just started working with Fitness Together last year. And, by the way, did we mention that this Elm Grove resident is 87?
Prior to his "retirement," Dane managed to fit in a variety of careers, including founding three different companies and teaching physics at the university level. Today, he travels, flies his own plane and even fixes his plane. Still, despite these and many more entrepreneurial activities, Dane works out regularly with his Fitness Together trainers. Just before he flew off to Colorado, Dane and Fitness Together consultant Pete Piranio sat down to discuss his experiences.
What led you to Fitness Together?
Dane: "I received a letter from them. It was a very encouraging letter, but it was also a very challenging letter."
Pete: "We know that it is a challenge for people to get started in exercising, and what we try to do with our marketing is different from what you might find in other exercise facilities. Instead of showing pictures of these really fit people who are about 22, we try to talk about accountability. We believe we need to do something to get people motivated so we invite people to just come in for one hour."
Dane: "It was a little bit of throwing down the gauntlet, too, to just come in for an hour. So I came in for an hour."
But you stayed a lot longer than an hour, you joined the program.
Dane: "They gave me a physical assessment...let's see how fit you are and how strong you are. Then, every eight weeks, they did another assessment. Within two-and-a-half months, the changes were so striking."
Tell me about those changes.
Dane: "Well, most importantly, I have to tell you I'm a pilot, and to keep my pilot's license I needed to take a medical physical. I was quite sure before I came here that I would not pass it. I was concerned about my blood pressure. My systolic blood pressure was at 155. Then, very shortly it started to come down, and it came down so dramatically to 144, and now it's 132. Let me tell you, I passed my pilot's test handily."
Were you involved in exercise or physical activities before you started working with your trainers at Fitness Together?
Dane: "I had always been active socially, but when I turned 40, I started to gain weight, and I became flabby. So at the age of 40, I started running. And from the time I was 40 until I was 70, I ran two to three miles a day, every day, seven days a week, snow, rain, sunshine. My weight, which was about 210, came down to about 160, and then it stayed at that.
"But when I turned 77, I stopped running because of my knee, and my weight started to creep up again. You feel kind of helpless, that it is a sign of growing old. Sometimes you feel less capable of doing the things you used to do. But that's all nonsense. I feel, starting at age 86, that I have reversed the signs of old age."
Tell me what you have reversed.
Dane: "Well, the first thing I noticed was my blood pressure. That's probably the single most important thing because if you can keep your blood pressure down, you can prevent stroke and heart attack. Another thing is, I would get fatigued when I walked up my basement steps. I had to pull on the railing. I thought that was something I just had to live with. Now, I can prance up the steps without holding onto the railing at all.
"One of the other changes I could see was...I have an airplane, and I am my own mechanic. It got to the point where I could hardly pick up a part, and once it was on the ground, I couldn't pick it up. Here, they taught me how to get up from touching the ground and how to pick it up."
Pete: "I think part of that is we base your program on what your goals are. Then, we do functional training, how to get up the stairs, get up off the floor. If everything's machine based, as it is in many health clubs--you get on a machine and it's guided motion--that's not going to help you a whole lot with balance and control while you're trying to take a part off of a plane or walk up a set of stairs. You have to train your body to do that. Functional training helps accelerate that."
Dane: "But with that, it changed other things. I'm more anxious to do things, I'm anxious to travel. The quality of life, the various things I enjoy, have improved as well."
What was it like to get started in an exercise program at age 86? Was it harder to get started than at age 46?
Dane: "It's no different, and as a matter of fact, it's easier than I thought it would be and I questioned whether I would see the improvement I was striving for. The program is set up so that you develop one set of muscles at the time. When you do the exercises--sometimes very simple things like lifting a medicine ball--pretty soon you're tightening the muscles and you can feel the change."
Have other people noticed the change in you?
Dane: "I've been around the Waukesha Airport for many years, and many people who fly planes are doctors. One retired physician, whose weight had climbed up to 300 pounds, saw me getting stronger and tougher, and he asked me what I was doing. I told him, 'you've got to go to Fitness Together, give it a try.' He was skeptical, but since then, he's told me he's never felt better."
What is your advice to other people who are afraid of starting a new exercise program?
Dane: "The most successful business person works a 70 or 80 hour work week, which is about 3,000 or 4,000 hours a year. What if I were to tell these people that if you put in 150 hours a year, you can improve every single aspect of your physical being and throw in your well-being on top of that? I'm telling you, it can be done. I think the hard part of this story is that people are going to be skeptical. Someone is going to read my story and think I'm different from them, but I'm an ordinary guy, physically. Let me leave you with a poem. 'Playful little puppy dogs remind us we should live with gay intent, and departing leave behind us, footprints in wet cement.'"
Get Going
Get Leverage to Get Fit
By Pete Piranio, BS, CSCS
Have you ever procrastinated on an office project or put off cleaning your garage? Why do we do this? Why do some people put things off to the last minute? The answer to these questions is also the secret to achieving your health and fitness goals. Knowing the answers will get you the leverage you need and the results you desire.
The answer is found with what I like to call the "Two Ps" or pain and pleasure. Human psychology tells us that we naturally want to avoid pain and are attracted to pleasure. This may seem obvious, but what is not so obvious is the battle between pain and pleasure. The questions I posed demonstrate how we often avoid the pain associated with starting a work project, cleaning the garage or anything that doesn't offer us enough pleasure to trigger immediate action. The fact is we do not associate enough pleasure with completing these projects and therefore are not overly enthusiastic to get started.
I don't mean physical pain, but the undesirable feeling we associate with having to do a particular task, change a habit, making a decision or even just thinking about how to do something.
Anything you struggle to motivate yourself to do is most likely due to you associating too much pain with the process. This is the biggest barrier to fitness and fat loss success for many. They associate too much pain with the process of exercising or changing their nutritional habits. They have not created enough pleasurable thoughts about how great they will look or how much energy they will have to play with their kids.
On the other hand, we can also utilize pain to our advantage. For some, an effective strategy is to associate enough pain to not acting and therefore action is the only option. It may be the painful thought of having to wear a swim suit on vacation or not being able to enjoy retirement because of physical limitations. The pain associated with this could be enough for someone to stay committed to an exercise program.
Either strategy can be effective, but in my experience the most effective strategy for health and fitness goals is the avoidance of pain. People usually do more to avoid pain than they ever will to gain pleasure.
What absolutely must not take place is lowering your standards (Oct/Nov. issue of FT Magazine) and saying it is "not that bad". This is avoiding pain through acceptance and ensuring that you will stay the way you are. I am not saying beat yourself up all the time, but it is appropriate to listen to the pain you have and utilize it to create leverage.
Before you can create leverage, however, you must decide on what you really want. You must create a crystal clear vision for what you will look like, feel like and act like when you achieve your goal. An effective tool can be visualizing what it will be like when you achieve your goal. Drum up the emotions as if you already achieved your goal. And take the time to write a detailed personal vision for what will be the end result and read this once a week. After reading your vision, establish weekly goals that are in alignment with this vision. Each group of weekly goals will be steps towards achieving your ultimate vision. Both of these tools done repeatedly can create a neuro-associative condition that will guide unconscious decisions supportive of your goals. It's not enough to just say I want to lose 20 pounds.
After you have decided on what you want, you must create enough leverage to get yourself going. Desires without leverage are merely wishes and wants. Wanting is not enough to push you towards consistent action that will turn your vision into reality. You will make changes in your life when you see changes as important and urgent. This "must" feeling is developed using the leverage of avoiding pain.
I mentioned in last months issue how sometimes this leverage finds us. We have a heart attack or receive some life changing news. Let's not wait until the pain finds us to create leverage. We want to intentionally create our own leverage and be proactive in making positive lifestyle changes.
The question is how do we create intentional pain to gain the leverage we need. The following are examples that, if used repeatedly, can create your leverage:
1. Wear an article of clothing that is one size too small and uncomfortable. Possibly a pair of pants in the closet you used to wear.
2. Compare a picture of the skinny you and a recent picture.
3. Write commitment letters to a few people you respect (see sample)
4. Get a personal trainer or workout buddy to hold you accountable to consistent exercise and health nutrition.
Utilizing these examples may work for you, but the most effective pain triggers are found by asking yourself some tough questions. What is it about my body that I don't like? How long has my weight been a problem? How do I feel about not being able to buy the clothes I would like? The bottom line is that change will only occur when you see change not only as important, but URGENT! Creating urgency starts by leveraging pain to force action and utilizing the pleasurable thoughts of your vision as the icing on the cake.
My Commitment Letter
Dear Sally,
You have been one of my best friends for years now. I trust and respect you immensely. I am writing to ask you for a very important favor.
Fitness Together or Apart
By Jeanette Hurt
 Long flights, packed itineraries and no fitness equipment can make working out while traveling very difficult. But business trips and family vacations don't have to derail your fitness program. With a little planning-and the new, healthy amenities offered by several hotel chains-you can keep your fitness goals on track, even if you're nowhere near a Fitness Together center.
"A lot of people think that it's a waste of time if they can't fit in a full workout," explained Kurt Hemmingsen, M.S. and C.S.C.S., fitness consultant and manager of Fitness Together's Brookfield studio. "They think if they can't schedule in everything, then it's not even worth attempting. Most of the time, as trainers, we have to help them shift their thinking and conquer those mental obstacles: some is definitely better than none."
Although it's harder to exercise while traveling, it's not impossible. If you're traveling and want to continue with your exercise program, the first step is to make a decision that you are going to fit in exercise time. After you've made that decision, it's very important to talk with your trainer who can help you analyze your travel situation and figure out how you're going to overcome any obstacles to working out.
"Even if you are on the road, we can write you a travel program that you can do in your hotel room," Hemmingsen said. "With our exercise philosophy, we can design a traveling workout that you can do in your hotel room or hotel fitness facility."
A traveling workout is not going to be as intense as the regular workouts Fitness Together trainers put together for clients in studios. Instead, it's a modified workout, usually about 30 minutes in length, and covers resistance for the whole body that can be done with stretch bands which can be tucked in a suitcase, or just by using body weight.
For example, core movements, lunges and squats are all resistance exercises that can be done in a hotel room without any equipment. In fact, the FT workout of the month is a travel workout that can be accomplished with simple exercise bands." When someone's traveling, if it's a longer workout, they might skip it if it is too long, or they might not remember how to do some of the exercises correctly," Hemmingsen added. "We also encourage them to include some cardiovascular activity, too, whether it's a brisk walk or using a hotel's cardiovascular equipment."
The exact workout a trainer will come up with for you depends, in part, on what your hotel offers. "One thing to think about is to call ahead to your hotel and find out what type of exercise facility they have, if they have one at all," Hemmingsen pointed out. "It's just a matter of knowing ahead of time what equipment you're going to have available, and we can design a program that integrates that equipment, depending on your needs."
Hotels, today, are providing more fitness options than ever before. The Hilton Garden Inn just introduced a new, complimentary "Stay Fit Kit" and in-room fitness programming that guests can check out at the front desk. The kit includes a yoga mat, bricks and strap, pilates band, resistance cord, hand weights and a medicine ball. Guests can use these pieces of equipment in their hotel rooms or in the hotel's fitness center. For a nominal fee, they can also watch in-room fitness programming.
"At Hilton Garden Inn, we've taken our fitness offering to a whole new level by giving guests a menu selection for maintaining their workout routines while on the road," explained Mark Nogal, vice president of marketing for Hilton Garden Inn. "Staying fit is an essential part of many travelers physical and mental health, and our new workout option is just one more way we're helping our guests get the most out of their hotel experience."
Marriott hotels also offers a "Great Health-Fit for You" program. This in-room fitness program features three basic workouts: BodyRev, BodyWedge21 and Michael Sena's Traveling Trainer.
The BodyRev is a portable exercise device and video routine that was designed by Aiden Mills, a former Navy SEAL and professional trainer. The BodyWedge21 is a workout involving a foam wedge, and there are 21 different exercises targeting specific muscle groups. Michael Sena's workout involves resistance tubes and an instructional guide. "Marriott is dedicated to providing our health-conscious travelers with options that meet their own individual needs," said Bob McCarthy, executive vice president of North American lodging.
Omni Hotels recently introduced a "Get Fit Kit" which is a duffel bag filled with a set of dumbbells, stretch cords and a floor mat. Guests can check out the kit at the front desk, and then use it to work out in their rooms at their leisure. The kit is part of Omni Hotels' "Ideal World" campaign, which includes an upgrade on all of the hotels' fitness rooms.
Some portable workouts are more than just hand-held equipment. The Westin Hotels & Resorts chain has introduced the WestinWORKOUT rooms. These are rooms where guests can stay that feature an indoor cycle machine or treadmill, as well as Pilates, yoga and spinning DVDs. They also have a custom-designed fitness shelf which holds weights, resistance tubing, a stability ball, yoga mat and other equipment. Every room boasts its own private fitness library which includes a customized local running map of the area. Not only that, but some Westin hotels even employ a running concierge, who leads guests through a complimentary, guided three-mile morning run, three days a week. Jogging strollers are also provided for parents.
"This variety of options makes it easier," Hemmingsen explained, "but a huge issue that we deal with is accountability. People need to follow through with their workouts. They're not going to get the best results if they don't exercise."
Following through while at home is usually pretty easy-setting up appointments with trainers normally ensures that workouts won't be skipped. But when traveling on business or for pleasure, it's important to stick to your schedule by writing down your workouts in your fitness journal. Logging in workout times-and then having to show a trainer upon return-can help you stay on track.
One couple who took a vacation in Mexico traveled with their exercise bands and journals. "They got some funny looks from customs, but they took them along and they did their exercises," Hemmingsen said. "The most difficult part is following through, but they followed through."
Although it may be hard to fit in exercise on your first trip, after a while planning your exercise while traveling becomes easier. "What we're trying to do here at Fitness Together is to change people's habits and their lifestyles permanently," Hemmingsen concluded. "That means that when they're traveling on the road or on vacation, it just becomes part of their nature to exercise. It becomes instinctive, and it no longer seems like so much work or a hassle. It's just a habit."
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