Reviveyourlife

Wellness is not a luxury. Live the life you deserve.

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Published February 25th, 2008

Search for “Vital Behaviours” that help you lose weight and get healthy again.

I have been reading a book called “Influencer - the power to change anything”. It sort of yelled out “buy me” when I was in a Barnes and Noble bookstore in the USA a couple of weeks ago.

Anyway here is what it sums up as vital behaviour when losing weight.

“take care to focus on strategies that focus on behaviour, not outcomes. You already know what you want to achieve (weight loss and good health) - now you want to learn what to DO. Be leery of vague advice. people make mistakes and yet find a way to quickly get back on track. If you fail to follow your dietary and fitness plan one day it should cue you to look for where you went wrong so you can take corrective action - not to take a one time “failure” as a sign you won’t be able to succeed and thus give in to your cravings”.

How often has that happened to you? I still have to fight this thought process myself…

At Fitness by Phone we use a DAILY action plan, which shows you what to DO each day to lose weight and get fit.
Each day ads up incrementally. Every pound you lose is made up of ounces lost each day you behave in the correct fashion.

The Fitness by Phone motivational activity monitors show you if you are on track, every day. And if you do overindulge or miss an activity session, no big deal.

I was lost without my Caltrac (it fell off on a motorbike ride just before I left for the USA) and even though I thought I was doing OK, I actually gained 3 kg over 3 weeks of holidays and fun.

The more I use Fitness by Phone with my own FbP coach, and with my existing clients, the more impressive it becomes.
I urge anyone who has had trouble staying on a weight loss program to try it. The guarantee is strong, and has never been exercised in the 10 years Fitness by Phone has been in business.

Simply, Fitness by Phone works.

Cheers
Rick Rakauskas

Published January 26th, 2008

Cognitive Restructuring.

A fancy phrase for eliminating negative self talk when it comes to skipping healthy activities like exercise. If you have a look at the page cognitive restructuring where you can learn a bit more about it.

Discover how to stop making feeble excuses that keep you fat, unwell, and shorten your life by decades.

Published January 11th, 2008

Fitness by Phone

Do you think you could get fit in 20 minutes a week by phone?
I was skeptical too, until I tried the system.

The results are amazing! I have lost nearly 3 kg of holiday blubber in just a week. At a faster rate than I normally would have for sure…

Here’s how it works…

They showed me how to make a commitment to an exercise program easier and how to get motivated without depending on a personal trainers presence to do so.
They gave me motivational activity monitors so that I know, minute by minute, hour by hour that what I am doing is WORKING so I don’t waste time doing things that won’t.

I was able to tailor specific exercise strategies to meet my goals and lifestyle and I was able to lose moreweight in less time than I thought.

And the motivational activity monitors are like having a 24×7 trainer looking over my shoulder.
You may not know it but all good trainers have a trainer too and I am no different.
However, I am not tied in to a particular time or place now, so I dispensed with my own PT (sorry Matt).
And it has lifted my confidence to a whole new level, because I am spending every minute of exercise time effectively.

Since I am now my own fitness coach, the 20 minutes I spend with my own Fitness by Phone coach is all I need to get specific focus and direction, and to set progressive new goals each week. This accountability ensures I will be more successful.

I was so impressed I decided to do the Fitness by Phone coaching certification.

Fitness by phone isn’t for every one, but the adherence rate of up to 95% after 24 weeks is a lot higher than any other method of fitness and weightloss I have seen. This tends to back up the results of a 20 year long Stanford University research program which discovered the adherence rate stayed at a whopping 90% when phone fitness coaching was employed. I don’t know why we are not taught this stuff in college when we get our fitness qualifications…

If you want REAL results, in the comfort of your own home, drop me an email or call.

Cheers
Rick

Published December 13th, 2007

Fitness by SL

In my spare time I play a bit in Second Life.

Since all folks in SL are fit looking and beautiful, you may ask how a fitness business can use SL to grow its customer base?

I like a couple of the roleplay Sims. And as you do, you talk to folks and find out what they do in their real lives. With only a couple of exceptions, whenever I tell folks health and fitness is my business, they say they have to get fit and start asking me how to do it.

I had one girl in her later 30’s mention this was the third year she wanted to do a fun run triathlon, but couldn’t figure out how to get fit enough to do it.

We chatted and i discovered what she really wanted. Bottom line it was weight loss, but she had tried and failed so many times before, she didn’t want to try again. So I asked her to do a few things for me in the way of fitness tests over a few days.

And discovered she is fitter then she knows.
Anyway, when I proved this to her, she suddenly became motivated to do the thriathlon.

We set up a training regime, and the necessary feed back mechanisms for her and me. We talk in SL every say to chart her progress. And I know she will do the triathlon no worries. But a great side effect will be the way her body fat decreases as her lean muscle mass increases.

So she will end up losing the extra weight and regain a pretty trim figure and a better self image.

We are patient and she understands there will be no miracles and that at times she might backslide a little. But with the support I can give her with daily coaching, I just know she will succeed beyond her wildest imagination.

Ala, you make me proud.

Maybe this is something you would like to try out.
If you are on SL just IM or notecard “Turzikas Hax”.

I will also be starting a fitness by phone coaching program in the new year.

“Only the past is impossible to change…”

Published July 17th, 2007

Are Fish Oils and Fish Oil Supplements Safe?

By now you will have heard about the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids. They lift your heart health, they lift your mood, they reduce low level inflammation caused by stress and other factors, they protect your brain from disease and they even relieve joint pain.

And the best source of these miracle nutrients? Oily fish like salmon and tuna.
But a nagging question these days is, are these fish really safe for you to eat?

Look, you’ve probably heard that many fish species are contaminated with mercury.
Unfortunately the problem doesn’t stop there.

For instance, a recent review of contaminants in fish and shellfish throughout the U.S. found more than 30% of fish have levels of accumulative toxins that are potentially cancerous. Twenty-nine percent have unsafe mercury levels. Eleven percent have unhealthy levels of DDT and DDT derivatives. (Harvey J, et al. “Contaminant concentrations in whole-body fish and shellfish from US estuaries,” Environ Monit Assess 2007 (June 13))

As well, we have to confront the reality most of the fish on our shelves is now imported, some of it from very suspect sources. And reef fish can contain siguatera, which may make you quite ill.

What this means is that you can’t trust the fish in our general food supply.

Accumulative toxins build up in your system and can lead to cancers, nervous system issues and neurological disorders. Mercury is a well-known neurotoxin. In other words, you don’t want to eat foods that have any levels of these substances.

What’s more you don’t want to take fishoil supplements which contain these substances either.
Despite what manufacturers and health regulatory bodies tell us, there isn’t any “safe” level of these poisons.

So, how do you take advantage of the health benefits of fish while avoiding all these nasty drawbacks?

The first step to choosing fish that’s healthy and non-toxic is to know which fish are most likely to be contaminated.

Typical fish with high levels of mercury and other contaminants include farmed salmon, mackerel, tuna steaks, swordfish, shark and bass. You should avoid eating these fish unless you can find a source that guarantees the safety and cleanliness of the fish they sell.
Remember farmed fish can be laced with antibiotics, and fed unnatural food. Farmed salmon are also fed drugs to make their flesh the distinctive pink colour.

In the low-contaminant category, you have anchovies, crayfish, Pacific flounder, sole, scallops, clams, light canned tuna, and Alaskan salmon. You can eat these kinds of fish as often as you like with no ill effects.

Besides knowing which fish are clean and which are toxic, you can also protect yourself by purchasing your fish from a source that guarantees low-contaminant levels. These kinds of providers hold their product to strict quality standards, so you can relax and enjoy your fish worry-free.

To make sure you are getting all the omega-3 fatty acids your body needs, it’s a good idea to take a supplement. But not just any supplement. You need a Pharmaceutical Grade Fish Oil (PGFO) where the product is guaranteed to contain NO accumulative toxins or heavy metals.

When you are taking 4-6 grams of fish oils a day, you want to make sure you are going to become more healthy, not less. You need a SAFE supplement, and PGFO fills the bill perfectly.

Most health food stores don’t sell PGFO, many don’t even know what it is.
We sell a great PGFO locally. You can find it on the “products” page of this website.

Get great Omega 3’s and Revive Your Life.

Published July 17th, 2007

Build a Steel Strong Frame for Your Body…

I keep seeing ads by drug companies selling osteoporosis prevention pills.
Being naturally sceptical of anything sold by drug companies (remember Vioxx and Celebrex)
I thought it would be a good idea to show you how to prevent osteoporosis.

So how do you strengthen your bones without drugs and their harmful side effects?

In men and women, a lowering of levels of key hormones is at the root of the problem. Estrogen is the main regulator of bone breakdown. Progesterone regulates bone build-up. And the most powerful bone-builder of all is testosterone.

In men and women levels of all these hormones go down as you get older.
This results in decreased bone strength, lower levels of calcium in the bone, and increased risk of breakage.

Like all age-related physical changes, these problems can be easily reversible. Here’s a simple 6-step process to reverse the effects of osteoporosis:

• Exercise: The best way to increase bone density and reduce fractures is body weight exercises (like calisthenics) and resistance (weight) training. Make a habit of doing these exercises two or three times a week. Even thirty minutes of walking a day can lower your risk of fracture by thirty percent. (Willett W. Calcium: too much of a good thing? Report from the Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Roundtable.)

When you exercise, your muscles pull on your bones where they are attached by the tendons. This pressure creates a challenge that your body responds to by lifting bone density.
The bone crystalline structure gets more compact. This process ensures that you stay physically mobile and independent as you get older. because you are also stronger.

Unfortunately Pilates won’t cut it. You need to lift weight using particular exercises under the supervision of a suitably qualified personal trainer. (Their Fitness Queensland registration will show if they have the training or not).

• Forget calcium supplements and get your calcium from your diet: Eat a variety of small fish, dark, leafy green vegetables, almonds and cashews, or dairy products like milk, cheese, and yogurt. You should be aiming for about 400 mg per day. Most supplements are in a form that is converted by plants into the calcium we eventually absorb. Plants eat crushed rocks, we don’t.

• Take a vitamin D supplement: Recommended dose is 400 IU per day. It helps your body absorb calcium and maintain bone density. Without vitamin D, all calcium supplements are worthless anyway! The best source of vitamin D is the sun – 10 to 15 minutes of exposure a day should be enough. During the winter, take cod liver oil. It’s by far the best supplemental source of vitamin D.

• Get vitamin K in your greens: Vtamin K regulates calcium whilst stabilizing bones. In addition it regulates blood clotting. You should at at least one serving of green vegetables like spinach, kale, collard greens, mustard greens, Brussels sprouts or broccoli every day. One study found people eating just 0.1 milligrams of vitamin K daily (about one large serving of greens) were 30% less likely to break their hips than people who ate less than that amount.

• Eat foods rich in B-complex vitamins: Your body also uses a variety of B vitamins in bone building. The best sources are liver, eggs, lean meats, yeast, fish, raw nuts, asparagus, broccoli and bananas.

• Get a blood test: A simple blood test will tell you how your hormone levels affect your bone health. This is the best way to determine the health of your bones and your risk for fracture. Women may need to take natural progesterone. For both men and women testosterone is the most powerful controller of your bone density.

So there you go.
A simple and easy primer on bones and how to keep them dense.