How To Survive The Holidays

Christmas is quickly approaching. As I write this, it’s only six days away. You’ve battled the bargain shoppers and survived Black Friday. The decorations are all put out around and on the house. You hear Christmas music everywhere. You’ve even finished your shopping early and won’t be rummaging through the Walgreens sales bins at 10 pm on Christmas Eve. You’ve done the hard part.

Or have you?

Christmas is the time of year for good cheer. It’s the time of year where we get together with our friends and co-workers for the excessive partying that we love so much.

Then, it’s Christmas morning.

After opening the gifts, for most of us, the best part of Christmas is over.

Then it’s time to pay for our sins. No, I’m not talking about the overcrowded Christmas mass for you church-going folk. Nope, I’m talking about the one thing you would like to avoid, but can’t. They are the bane of the existence of all of us.
Family.

Now, I’m referring to the fringe family members that we all have. I’m talking about the relatives that you haven’t seen since LAST Christmas and won’t see again until NEXT Christmas.
I’m going to explain the different archetypes of crazy that show up at family functions and how to deal with them.

The Drunk
This is probably the most common archetype that shows up at every family function and has the chance to ruin it. You know what I’m talking about. They show up at the party having already had WAY too much eggnog. It doesn’t matter what kind of drunk they are, they can be the angry drunk, sad drunk, or the really obnoxious I-Love-You drunk. If you let them get too far out of control, your party is ruined.

The Solution: Here’s my favorite tactic. If it’s your home, you have to prepare early. If not, get there early so you can help deal with this eventuality. Be part of the solution. Lure them into a room that you have prepared before they get there with no breakables or anything you want to keep. Tell them to hold on and leave the room and lock them in. Most sloppy drunks lose coordination skills and have trouble manipulating simple things like locks. If this is properly planned, no one will hear them banging on the door and they’ll give up and pass out within minutes.

The Politician
This archetype is seriously obnoxious. It’s considered good manners to keep political discussions/arguments out of polite company. However, this isn’t polite company, this is family and everything goes. The politician is the one who considers himself the expert on all matters political and the other party is dead wrong. This is archetype ranges from the non-bathing, tree hugging hippie to Rush Limbaugh. Neither has a place at the family events…or anywhere for that matter.

The Solution: This requires a bit of tact. You can easily find yourself sucked in the black hole of political banter. You want to avoid this at all costs. This can cost you valuable minutes off your precious life. This is a simple tactic that I’ve used over and over again to get people to leave me alone.

Find out their political affiliation. That won’t be a problem because they will be offering their unsolicited opinion anyway. When they stop to take a breath, say one sentence that rebuts their argument. Just one. When they begin to reply, walk away. If they follow you around the house giving you their rebuttal, at least you can be entertained while ignoring what they have to say. If they leave you alone, mission accomplished. This works whether you agree with them or not. The object is to shut them up.

The Brat
This can be a touchy one. Of course, kids will be kids and sometimes they just need some sleep. I can get a bit cranky when I need sleep myself. I am going to assume that this is a niece, nephew or a younger cousin whose parent needs to add some discipline in their life. Remember, sometimes The Brat may be a bit older. It might be someone who’s lazy and just not working waiting for a handout.

The Solution: This one is solved very quickly and effectively:
Discipline. In my family, a good belt or an old school switch (depending on which relative I pissed off). That usually scared the youngsters straight.

Like Robert Jebediah Freeman once said, “I hate to see a child go unbeaten.”

What about the adult? Another easy fix: An open hand smack to the mouth.

(Pat on the back to whoever can come up with where I got that one from.)

In conclusion, I know this is a much longer post than usual, but it’s important. We have live very stressful lives and the holiday season can be the most stressful. With these quick and easy solutions, you can not only survive the Christmas visits, but thrive.
Merry Christmas…or whatever you celebrate.

Face Your Fears!

What are you afraid of?

Most of us are afraid of failure or rejection. What if I told you that neither of these things existed? Well, I guess I just did.

Here’s the proof:

Imagine yourself going for a new job. You’ve written your resume and it looks flawless. You bought yourself a new suit (or whatever is appropriate) and you’re pressed, clean, hair looks perfect (in my case, my head is shaved clean). You’ve done your research about the company and possibly the person that is interviewing you. You are confident and ready to get that job. Then something awful happens.

They pick someone else.

Does that mean you’ve been rejected? No.

You don’t know what actually happened for them to choose someone else for that job. You make assumptions that you were not qualified, or overqualified, or they are idiots and have no idea what they want. You don’t know for sure, and you’re wasting energy trying to figure it out.

We only feel rejected when we reject ourselves. We are only failures if we quit. In the above example, if you don’t get the job and you decide there are no more jobs out there, then you are a failure. You quit trying to takes steps forward to get what you want. That’s it.

We reject ourselves way more than other people do. If you just accept that the interview process was a learning process, you’ll succeed much faster because you’re not moping and whining about the economy, the government or whatever or whoever we want to blame.

Our lives are in our control. We only control what we do and how we react to adversity.

I see this happen all the time when it comes to people’s fitness. They get started and they do well for a couple of days or weeks. Then, they are tempted with their favorite food and give in. It’s not the giving in that crushes their hopes of a “perfect figure”.

It’s their mindset.

They begin to call themselves weak. The judge themselves harsher than any other person would. They reject themselves.

Then they quit.

Stop the cycle. See what’s happening.

All you have to do when you get off track is to get back on it immediately. When you notice you’re off track that’s a great thing. It’s the first step to greatness. It’s the awareness that you’re somewhere else instead of where you want to be.

The next step is change.

Choose something different.

You are bigger and better than you can ever possibly imagine and when you continuously make even the smallest steps toward your ideal goal, weight or job, you’ll get there faster than you can ever imagine.

Do more. Be more. Make today your day.

Enjoy Your Life!!!

Have you ever had a day that you had a workout planned and just felt like skipping it? Of course you have. We all have.

I’ve mentioned biofeedback before to help guide you toward exercises that will be good for you that day.

What if nothing tests well? Honestly, you may not be asking enough questions. That’s a subject for another blog. Let’s just say that nothing tests well for the sake of argument.

Good. That means that you’re still recovering and there is always tomorrow.

Think about this: If you take an hour spinning class three times a week, that’s three hours of exercise a week.

What do you do with the other 165 hours of your week?

Enjoy them!!

Exercise is supposed to me only a part of your life. It’s important part to keep everything in working order. Keep it there.

Is it more important than spending time with loved ones? No.

Exercise is used to enhance your quality of life while you’re on this earth.

If you like to dance, then exercise should enhance your ability to dance longer, stronger, and happier.

We are supposed to enjoy our lives and keep them balanced. Most of us are imbalanced on the stressful side of things. Exercise helps me get through some of the more stressful times.

Focusing my mind on the good things happening in my life is an even better one.

Being grateful for all the things I have in my life.

A wonderful soon-to-be wife.

A loving family.

Great friends who love me despite myself at times.

All these things are what make life really living. Have exercise add to it and not just be another thing to check off your “To Do” list. Take time for yourself to enjoy whatever it is you enjoy.

Believe it or not, the way you do one thing is the way you do everything.

Imagine if you began to enjoy the more mundane things in life. Everything will be enhanced….

…including your exercise time and results.

Confession

I have to make a confession.

I have been on a mission for self improvement ever since I ruined my first marriage with my immaturity. I had a hard time forgiving myself over the last few years and have just now allowed myself to make my mistakes.

I’ve also realized that self improvement is a joke.

I am perfect the way I am.

…with all my flaws.

…with all my “mistakes.”

I am just now beginning to understand that I am who I am because I have something to learn. People, places, and organizations are put into our paths to help us learn and I just left one that helped me learn a tremendous amount.

It’s a place where thankfully has helped me continue to learn.

What does that have to do with you and your health?

If you’re like most Americans, you are trying to get healthier…

…and failing.

I’m here to tell you that it’s ok to fail.

It’s ok to make mistakes because you’re going to make them.

The part you have to do is learn from each mistake so you can get closer to what you want in your life. If not, you’re going to make the same mistake over and over again until you get it.

If it’s discipline, get a coach.

Better yet join a group of like minded people going after the same goal. If that group will hold you accountable, you will most definitely have more success than you’ve ever experienced before. No matter how successful you’ve been in the past this is true.

If you’re ready to make that next step, drop a comment or send an email to kyhandsonhealth@hotmail.com.

We’ll get you where you want to go.

Showing my gratitude

As I sit and write this, I have a ton of things to be grateful for. I know that my life is (in the grand scheme of things) amazing and there are days when I feel like I’m the luckiest person in the world.

I am pursuing my passion everyday.

I have a loving fiancée.

I am so abundant in family and friends that love me…sometimes despite myself.

I’m also grateful for my health.

Most importantly, I’m grateful for the Grip and Rip DVDs that I bought a few months ago. That’s where I learned about biofeedback and how I can progress in my chosen exercises every single day and be better for it.

What is biofeedback?
Biofeedback is taking the information your body is giving you and then using it to dictate/guide your training. This can be heart rate, range of motion, rating of perceived exertion (RPE) or exercise speed.
What are the benefits?

What about faster weight loss? I have a client that has lost 2 sizes in her clothes in about a month. That’s without changing her diet too terribly much. Imagine when she gets her food intake dialed in better?
Looking to get bigger? Well, it’ll help you there too if you want it too. If you pick the better exercises for getting bigger, and eat correctly. You will get bigger.

Want to get stronger? I am a testimony to this one. I started doing the deadlift at the gym again using biofeedback. After 2 months, I added 60 pounds to my max deadlift. Those numbers are staggering considering I was barely pulling 300 lbs for my max when I started.

Want a female perspective? I have another client that I train with kettlebells and when she started with me, she could barely swing an 18 lb kettlebell. Now, after 2 months, she can swing a 35 lb kettlebell with relative ease. I’ll write a full blog about her next week.
These are not amazing results. They are typical.

Other benefits? I move better than I have in a long time. I almost feel like I’m barely working out. I feel better after my workout than I did when I came it. That’s a nice feeling when I come from the old school way of working til you pass out and then do some more. I have no desire to do that and possibly hurt myself anymore.

Most importantly, it puts YOU back in charge of your workouts. Your body will tell you how many sets, reps and exercises you will do that day. No more personal trainers pushing you too far and hurting you.
Is it too good to be true?

Nope.

Like the 2nd greatest villain in movies, Darth Vader, once said, “All too easy.”

#1 Thing Holding You Back

So what’s the #1 reason for slowed success?

Simple. Your thoughts.

How many times have you said the following?

“I’m not good enough.”

“I can’t…”

“I’m too old (too young, too tall, etc)”

“I need to get in better shape before I go to the gym”

All those things are ridiculous. Not only that, they are all lies. We see them as truths because we say them to ourselves way too often.

Here’s a little secret: I am guilty of it too.

I’ve had a couple of days of this lying to myself. Yes, I consider those negative thoughts lies because I believe that I am capable of way more than I have accomplished so far in my life.

Graduation from Purdue University.

Graduation from massage school with straight As.

Deadlifting double my bodyweight.

Succeeding as a professional wrestler.

I have accomplished many things in my lifetime thus far and I’m capable of more.

Way more.


You are more capable than you think as well.

You are good enough.

You can.

You’re old enough (tall enough, etc.)

You are where you are right now, so you can go where you’re supposed to be. If you changed any thought or decision, you’d be a completely different person.

Pay more attention to you thoughts and remember who you are, and you’ll begin to see life in a more grand way.

You’ll also see how important you are.

The #2 Reason You Don't Have The Body You Want

You are working too hard!

What I’m going to tell you will change the way you will look at exercise forever. We’ve all been told to get the results you want (fat loss for most), you have to starve yourself and workout until your tongue is dragging the floor.

Here’s what usually happens:

1. Get some inspiration to go to the gym and take control of your health.
2. Vow that this time it will be different.
3. Get a gym membership and/or personal trainer.
4. The first couple of workouts leave you sore
5. Exercise for a week or two…at most a month.
6. Start skipping workouts.
7. Quit altogether because you “don’t have enough time” or whatever lie you tell yourself.
8. Go back to Step 1.

What if I told you that you just need yourself?

Yes, a personal trainer is usually not needed.
Can your personal trainer take into account the changes in your stress level that day?
Of course not.

No more getting pushed to do more than you can because some meathead said you should.

You need to learn how to listen to your own body.

You can do this.

Thanks to biofeedback.

What is it?
Biofeedback is nothing more than taking the information your body is giving you and then using it to dictate/guide your training. This can be heart rate, range of motion, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), etc.
Exercise either makes your movement either better or worse. The choice is yours.

I want exercise to help you move better.

This gives you a way to see if that is true!