Should You Stay Or Should You Go?

One of my favorite bands from the 80's is The Clash. They had a slew of great songs and one was titled, "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" The song is about a personal relationship, but the title makes me think of many of you who joined our MeetUp.com "Burn the Fat Hiking Group."

I have to admit that I am deeply disappointed that too many peoeple have joined this group and have never been on a hike, not one hike! Hmmmm. But many of our blog readers live all over the world and couldn't come on a hike if they wanted to. So for everyone else think of the hikes as anything you feel that you want to do to improve your health but don't seem to get to, like going to the gym, eating healthier meals, etc.

What's that you say? You have a good reason why.

Maybe so. Do any of these "excuses" resonate with you?

- The hikes are too early in the morning (8:30am)
- I have to work
- I have church at the same time
- My kids have sports
- I live too far away
- Larry, it's Sunday morning for cryin' out loud!
- My pillow wouldn't let me go
- I stay out too late on Saturday nights

I hope these make you chuckle. But then again the truth is that you really just don't value our hikes as something that is important to you. I get that. I just want to make sure that you get that too. Stop pretending that "someday" is going to come and that you will eventually come join us. When you state things in the "future" they tend to always stay in the future, and the futre never arrives.

Be honest. If you can't attend a hike, why join in the first place? Well there's a reason for that too. The reason is because joining makes you feel like you at least made the effort. We all have two things in common. One is our intentions. The other is our actions. So joining a gym or a hiking group means you have good intentions, but actually going is a whole other story.

Let me appeal to your emotional side for a moment. Do any of the following situations fit your life.

- I'm at least 15 lbs over-fat
- I lack energy throughout the day
- I drink 3-4 cups of coffee in the morning to "get going"
- I generally skip breakfast
- I lack motivation
- I'm afraid to start
- I don't know where to begin
- I'll just go back to Weight Watchers...AGAIN?
- I know what to do, I just have to start doing it.
- I work out 3-4 times a week, but I can't lose fat.
- I think I eat healthy?

I could come up with many more, but I think you get my point. Many of us are stuck, but not in what we're doing so much as in what we are "thinking". If you are over fat, it's because of what you are "doing". What you are "doing" is determined by what you are "thinking". You just need to change the way you think. Knowledge is power and applied knowledge is off the hook!

That's what you'll get at a hike. You'll get the information, the motivation, the inspiration, and you'll burn some fat on day one! Get out of your own head. Stop making excuses (okay you call them reasons) but in the end they are excuses. Change your values and make your health a higher priority.

Larry, how can I make my health a higher priority than my kids?

That's a tough one. But if you were stricken with a life threatening disease like CANCER, you'd have to prioritize your health over everything else. I'm just giving you the idea that if you continue on a path of poor habits, one day you may not have a choice.

So choose health now and realize that you ARE actually giving your family a healthier and happier YOU! That's the most loving thing you can do!

So in answer to the question, "Should You Stay or Should You Go?"

The answer is two-fold. YOU SHOULD STAY (in this group) AND GO, (on a hike that is!)

I'll see you on the trails!

Happy Rainy Sunday! A Perfect Day For a Hike!!

( I got up this morning and wrote this email to my list of hikers on MeetUp.com. For those of you not familiar, we have a Sunday morning hiking group that is organized through MeetUp.com.
Here's the link: http://www.meetup.com/Body-Basics-Burn-the-Fat-Hiking-Group/)

Okay, so about 99% of you won't read this until it's too late. Too late for what? Too late for today's hike! The weather is not exactly perfect, but it's clearing and the chance of more rain is very low.

I know what you're thinking.

"It's still crappy out, and staying in with a hot cup of coffee or sleeping in seems like a better plan."

I agree! But. . .

Think about what else may be going on in your life in regard to your physical health. Are you over fat? Sorry to be so blunt, but I don't have much time here. The point I want to make is this. Changing your health also means changing yourself and the way you do things. Becoming "less comfortable" or "leaving your "comfort zone" is where you need to start. So getting up and going out for a hike today is a metaphor for change.

"Be the change you want to see in your life" ~Ghandi

So if you are like me and forgot to set your clock back this morning, (DOH!) or you couldn't sleep and got up early and logged in to check your email. Let me appeal to your inner voice. Let me plant a seed in your mind that today could actually be a pivotal moment.

If you are receiving this message it's because you are on this list, and you actually asked for that. So for starters, you are looking for something. Maybe you are just a casual hiker, or maybe you are looking to meet people. All good! But some of you also want to lose fat weight. What's curious to me is that many of you still haven't taken the next step. There hasn't been any follow through. To be more specific, there are over 175 members in the hiking group, and over 100 have never even been to a hike. That is just plain sad. WTF?

Weekends come and go and you never seem to have the time to come to a hike. Something else always comes up that takes priority. It's not for me to judge, but I will tell you this. If you are fat, and I mean 15 pounds or more to lose, stop and think about what your priorities are. Where do you spend your time?

The truth is that your desire to be leaner is not a major priority. You are in a comfort zone! You may not like it, but you are not doing enough to make any significant changes. If you plan on doing something "soon, eventually, or some day", let me tell you that as long as your plan is somewhere in the future, it will ALWAYS be in the future, and the future never arrives!

The secret to making changes in your health and your life for that matter is to take action, daily action, and to be persistent even through setbacks. Today would be a perfect day to go for a hike because it's not a perfect day at all. If you can get yourself motivated to get up and out on a "less than perfect" weather day, then you have the inner strength and tenacity to get up and out of your old habits and "be the change you want in your life".

I'll see you on the trails!

Larry Wasserman

Dr. Jeffrey Larkin to Speak on Active Release Technique

As a personal trainer and boot camp coach I put my body through it's paces day in and day out. My recovery isn't what it used to be and I occasionally visit my Chiropractor who "tunes me up" and keeps me going. My doctor of choice is a local Chiropractor, Dr. Jeffrey Larkin of Larkin Chiropractic in Warren, NJ (www.drjefflarkin.com).

What sets Dr. Larkin apart from other Chiropractors is the fact that he has a specialization called ART, which stands for "Active Release Technique". Simply put, ART is a deep tissue therapy that allows Dr. Larkin to locate and break up scar tissue that could form in the ligaments, tendons, or fascia. These scar tissue "adhesions" can wreak havoc on one's body if not treated, causing pain and discomfort that can not only last for years, but will continue to get worse over time.

My own personal experience with ART has been solely with Dr. Larkin. The two most impressive things about ART is that the treatments work fast and the results for me were permanent. I had three maybe four treatments and I was done. That's "powerful medicine" if you ask me. In the past I've had soft tissue injuries that kept me seeing a PT for weeks, eventually turning into months.

I've invited Dr. Larkin to speak this Sunday, November 23rd at out Body Basics Hiking Group. The location will be the Miller Lane parking lot and the time will be 8:15am. Please note that we are moving the time back 15 minutes than our normal start time.

If you want to attend you must RSVP through MeetUp.com. Please go to meetup.com and then search for "Body Basics Hiking Group". Join our group and then RSVP "Yes" that you plan to attend. The hike will be limited to just 15 people and the MeetUp site will keep a tally. So if you plan to attend, sign up early and commit. Whatever you do, please do not RSVP "yes" and then not show up as you would be preventing someone else from attending.

Please come prepared to hike four to five miles after Dr. Larkin's talk. All of the details are on the MeetUp.com site.

Sunday morning hike in the rain

One thing is certain, the weather did not cooperate this morning. The last report I saw said the rain was supposed to move out by today. When we arrived at the park it was overcast and not raining. But as fate would have it, just as we were getting started with the nutrition lesson, it began to rain. I started to speak faster so we could get to the hike. I even moved us over to the park bulletin board that had a small overhead canopy which provided a bit of shelter from the rain. It wasn't raining hard so we set out and hit the trail. But that quickly changed!

Those that showed up this morning are real troopers. No one complained about the rain, and I think most of us felt like kids jumping in puddles, thrilled to get splashed. I did make one very important observation. The rain made the trail a lot more challenging . The trails are hilly, and with wet rocks and wet moss covered logs to walk over, it added an opportunity to easily slip and get hurt. Fortunately, no one did.

We had one "brand new" visitor today, and I don't think she was prepared physically for this hike, especially in the rain. Also, I think the trails were a lot more challenging than she expected. I was impressed as she was very resourceful and quickly fashioned a "walking stick" from a tree branch she found in the woods. I spoke to her as we walked and asked her if she'd come back again. This was a "not so great" first-time experience. I encouraged her to come back and try this again on a dry day. We really have a fun time. I hope she does.

To make matters worse, her sneaker's sole came apart and was flapping at the front of her shoe where it was still attached at the toe. She had no rain gear and she wasn't alone. We were all pretty well soaked to the skin by the end of our 3.6 mile trek.

One of the things I personally enjoy is talking with people as we hike. We walked and talked, touching on the subjects that are on most people's minds, namely our nation's financial crisis and the upcoming presidential election. Good stuff.

We actually wrapped up on time and afterwards three of us met up at Dunkin Donuts for coffee. I don't drink coffee very often, but this cup was sooo good after being soaked to the skin. The conversation continued and we all enjoyed the spontaneity of the moment.

So what does all of this have to do with health? It has everything to do with health!!

Part of being healthy is finding activities you like to do, so that you'll do them and do them more often. Getting together with other like-minded people makes activities a lot more fun. Not only do we meet to hike and get some exercise, but being social is important too as it makes us feel connected and this makes us feel good. Feeling good is a very healthy state of mind wouldn't you agree?

Some of our hikers are not in the Body Basics Boot Camps program ( I know, can you imagine?) For those that are not in boot camp, or any exercise program for that matter, the hikes provide everyone with a great fat-burning workout.

If you are an avid exerciser, the hikes provide you with an "extra" workout. If you are not an exerciser at all, the hikes provide a means for which you can gage your current level of fitness and then find/create opportunities to get more exercise during the week.

If you live locally in Central New Jersey, please join us! I've set up a group on MeetUp.com called "Body Basics Boot Camps Hiking Group".

And if you don't live locally, consider finding a group or starting your own group around one of your favorite activities.