Kim's Fitness and Nutrition

So much of our time is spent in an attempt to control things that are no more in our control then the cycles of the moon. Somehow, many of us were brought up, trained and programmed to believe that if we can control the conditions, the people and the events in our lives, THEN we would be happy. Unbeknownst to me, I had learned very early on how to be quite the little manipulator. I was shocked and appalled at this discovery, but once I realized that there really are no mistakes, and that I had the power to change that and be whatever kind of person I wanted to be, well, I relaxed and began the work of changing my patterns. Our thoughts are just that, OURS, and we have complete control over them. Really, that is the only thing we have complete and utter control over, but it is enough. Actually, it is more than enough.

Too often I find myself caught up in the details, the nitty gritty of being a human, and suddenly I feel terrible, powerless, and as though someone has pressed a pillow to my face. As a devout student of Abraham, I can gratefully realize fairly quickly, the gift in those feelings. My emotions are always my best guidance and are precisely indicating my relative position between who I am allowing myself to be in that moment versus who I have become. In other words, those feelings are my barometer to assist me in my awareness of who I am being in this red-hot minute. The closer I am to being my larger, broader, wiser self, the better I feel, and of course the reverse is also true. The worse I feel, the less I am allowing myself to be in residence with my higher self. In moments when I am experiencing negative emotion, as quickly as I can become conscious of those feelings, I begin choosing thoughts that bring me relief ... that soothe me, particularly around that specific topic.

There has never been a more powerful set of words than those found in "I am" statements. Every time you use a sentence with "I am" at the beginning of it, you are announcing to the Universe clearly what you believe to be "true" in regard to you. How often do you say internally or even out loud, "I am so tired, I am getting sick, I am always broke, I am lonely, I am hating my job, I am ... ?" Fill in the blank. Those simple statements pack an enormous amount of power and energy. Think about it. Do you ever hear anyone talking like that who isn't living exactly that? In my experience, those people who speak primarily of the positive, live very positive lives, and those people who beat the drum of "what is not going well," live pretty unhappy lives. Certainly what is, is what is, but staying focused on it can only perpetuate it. Are you focused on the problem or the solution? Now, some would say there is an element of luck or being born into more fortunate circumstances, or that some are simply blessed where others are not. Me, I believe we are all capable of choosing to think in ways that, no matter what the circumstances, improvement must be eminent.

I have been actively involved in the Health and Fitness Industry for 25 years now, and it is really interesting to watch all the various "crazes" in food programs come and go. Even as a child and teenager, I was painfully aware of the many fad diets that kept emerging. At 9 years old, my mom put me on my first diet. In 1967, the newest diet boasting fast weight loss was from a high carbohydrate food plan. I could eat all the pasta, bread, crackers and rice I wanted, but could put nothing on them; however, margarine was okay (YIKES!). I could eat practically all the saturated fat I wanted, but I had to limit my meat intake to very small portions of very lean meat. I remember eating a lot of tuna fish. Then, in the 70s, we could eat meat again, but only if it was poultry or fish ... all beef and pork were banned. I wondered why I was anemic?

The Fitness Connection and Ideal Health are joining forces to present an informative, fun-filled, 2-day event. Mark your calenders now for Friday, February 22, 2008, 7-9 p.m. and Saturday, February 23, 2008, 9 a.m. until noon. This cutting edge educational event will be held at the beautiful Smokey Falls Lodge in Maggie Valley. IT is FREE to all! No reservations are required, and they are sure that the unique breakthrough information that you will receive will make it well worth your time. Kim May, owner of The Fitness Connection, will be presenting on nutrition and exercise, and Maria Lyons of Ideal Health will be presenting on customized nutrition, appropriate supplementation, and high quality, affordable testing of such issues as osteoporosis, breast cancer and metabolic levels . Their mission is to impart information to you that is changing the health of America. Come and get the answers to all those health, exercise and nutrition questions that you have always wanted to ask and much more! Learn how to focus your POWER to make POSITIVE changes in your health. No event would be complete without fabulous door prizes, and this one is no different! Make it a point to schedule this into your calender today. It just might be the best thing you have done for your health and well being in a very long time. For more information or to answer any questions you may have, please call 452-3604. Put your health at the top of your list. You are worth it, and nothing is more important than great health!

Recently I was speaking to my dearest friend in California, and we hit on a realization that my next article needed to be about how one goes about using imagination. What an incredibly powerful tool. We adult humans have forgotten how to relax and let go of the concerns of our daily world and allow ourselves the joy of dreaming. Not only is it fun to do, but it has been scientifically proven to cause circumstances and events to line up and be made manifest into our reality. We are quite literally living in the very best of times. Since our primitive emergence, there has never been a time when we, as a species, were as capable, and we are becoming aware of just how capable we are in creating our own personal realities.

I really wish that I could tell about "a magic pill" that would instantly provide, even the sickest among us, miraculous healing. With absolutely no effort on our part, we could all have vibrant health, strength, flexibility and balance. If I, or anyone for that matter, could create such a pill, billions would be spent buying it. The reality, however, is that we are all creating our health individually for ourselves, either consciously or unconsciously. The Fitness Connection staff of Personal Fitness trainers were up on Main street on a Saturday in October participating in the annual Apple Festival celebration. The weather was marvelous, and there was a wonderful turnout of people that day. What struck me was the large number of people who walked by our booth shaking their heads, saying, "Oh no, not me, I don't exercise ... no way, that's not for me." This caused me to begin to ask why - why don't you exercise? Many people think that they are too old. Not true! There is never a time that we are too old to improve upon our fitness. Many think that exercise means that they have to hurt, be uncomfortable, or do something that they really do not enjoy. Nothing could be further from the truth. One's fitness depends heavily on finding activities that are fun, enjoyable and motivating. The rest of the folks I spoke with were quite simply in denial. They simply refused to think about taking good, sound, physical care of themselves, and that is perfectly okay. We are all free-will human beings that absolutely get to choose what we want to be, have and do.

For every human being there is on the planet, there are as many different and unique perceptions. It can be no other way. Each of us has had our own individual experiences throughout our lives that have put into place filters that we, and only we, see life through. That is why when you ask a crowd of bystanders what exactly took place at the scene of a crime each of them witnessed simultaneously, you will get as many different representations as there are witnesses. No one is lying or even trying to distort the truth of what they saw. They are giving the most accurate description of what they saw as they possible can, and yet, each story is very different. Given this fact, we all would benefit from remembering that our reality is never going to look like, sound like or feel like it does to others. It is pointless to even attempt to bring another human being to the place of seeing "IT" your way ... it isn't going to happen.