Fitness Tips:The power of positive thinking

by David Garred,
Club Manager Dusit Resort Sports Club.

Sawadee Khrup, welcome to fitness corner once again. Hands up who is renowned for being hard on themselves? When it comes to being critical, are you your own worst enemy? How can you ever expect to feel good about yourself when you are always down on yourself for one reason or another? Maybe you are just not being fair with yourself.
How about we take a look at the other side of thinking, the positive side.
Believing in yourself is the hardest and most necessary ingredient (after true desire) for successfully changing your lifestyle. When you have been beating yourself up for years, it takes a fair amount of practice to turn this habit around.
Negative self-talk, the ongoing self evaluation that takes place in your mind, is a root for this predicament.
How often have you said to yourself, “I can’t do this”, “why should anything good happen to me?” or “if I can’t do it perfectly then why bother?”
This inner critic performs a powerful function: it protects you from experiencing feelings and situations that might be scary or unpleasant. While this is an important survival mechanism, this voice may prevent you from taking goal oriented actions because it can convince you that you aren’t capable or worthy of succeeding.
Positive thinking does not mean that you have to be cheerful all the time. On the contrary, it means that all of your thoughts are valid and you should try to figure out whether they have relevance to your present situation.
For example, suppose you are trying to modify your eating habits. You had been “really good” up until last night when you “blew it” by eating a “really bad” dessert. Now you are thinking, “I give up. I’ll never be able to do this.” If you look at the situation objectively, you can see that eating one dessert does not qualify as a failure. So the intensity of those feelings are more likely to be coming from some past experience than the one you had last night. Past performances and failures DO NOT have to become predictors of your future.
The first step toward positive thinking is turning down the volume on the negative thoughts that poke holes in your self-image. To accomplish this, start to become aware of your negative self-talk on a regular basis. When you’re ready you can begin the process of retracting your thoughts to determine where these negative messages come from and why.
Next turn the volume up on the positive self talk. Unlike negative self-talk, positive thinking focuses on what’s right rather than what’s wrong.
Positive thinkers affirm themselves; they remind themselves that they are WORTHWHILE humans WHATEVER they do. They visualise themselves as capable, happy and confident people. What they learn is: positive self-talk can help expedite the process of change.
A final word about positive thinking: there are bound to be times when you are feeling depressed or frustrated. Positive thinkers know these feelings are valid and don’t try to ignore them. They explore them, try to understand them and, most of all, they do not blame themselves for the conditions that led to these feelings. This clears the way for effective problem solving and a fresh start.
So tell me, all you new positive thinkers, when is the best time for a fresh start?
Seize the Day.

Fit for life

by Robyn at World Class Gym
Reading is to the mind what sport is to the body. Without both we would be poorer souls. We at World Class Gym believe that fitness is an essential part of living. Walking on a treadmill for 30 minutes, a low impact aerobic lesson, pumping iron, a sauna or just a healthy snack, all offer you an alternative way of life.
Everybody on this earth owes their body time. Being active, sweating it out in a steam bath or just taking a relaxing stretch lesson to improve muscle flexibility are all ways to give your body what it deserves: time pampering. Not only will you begin to feel better about yourself physically, but it is a proven fact that physical exercise relieves stress, strengthens your heart and general health. When all these gains are all so beneficial, by now you should be asking yourself, what am I doing with my time all day that I can’t fit in a two hour visit to my local gym?
Being fit doesn’t mean you have to run and jump to music at 152 beats a minute. Of course you can leave that to the fanatics. The results of 3 hours a week of callanetics, stretching or brisk pace walking offer the same rewards, plus the better conditions of the losing of a few kilos, suppler, stronger muscles, and time just to relax. Many people avoid going to the gym because they feel they are tired or they have too many things to do. But it is exactly the effort put into training that reaps extra energy!
Many local gyms offer a variety of training programmes for beginners and advanced sporters. A step-aerobic lesson is especially designed for leg and buttock improvement. It is exactly the same as aerobics, except it takes place on a step bench of 10 - 30 cm, depending on whether you are a beginner or not. It is a higher intensity lesson but a safe and effective manner of training. Good training shoes for this are a must.
Callanetics is a low impact programme which takes each muscle group individually and cares for a good fat-burning and building of a stronger physical condition.
It is never too late to change your lifestyle or to improve upon it. Accept the challenge and make 1997 a healthier and fitter year for you. We guarantee you will feel better about yourself, physically and spiritually, and thereby increase your quality of life.

Fitness Tips

Fit for life