Good Expectations

Have good expectations about your health. What do I mean by that? Some people think that expectations, like getting three dozen long-stem roses on Valentine's Day, lead to upsets. And they very well can. I think that most sayings have a flip side, as the work of Laozi (or Lao Tse or Lao Tze) shows us. On the other had, if you have bad expectations about your health, vitality and weight, they are likely to become true, as we create our own reality to a large extent. If you think you messed up on a diet in the past and therefore will in the future, or ran slowly in a race and therefore were not cut out for that, chances are you will not enter or quit the next diet or race, or set your mindset or diet and exercise structure to fail.

Dr. Richard Wiseman and others did scientific studies to show that people to a large extent create their own luck. His book is The Luck Factor: The Four Essential Principles. He was featured on ABC's 20/20 recently. Often people have good expectations in certain areas, but not in orders. This is shaped often by what people told them about themselves or by
how these areas worked in the past.

Have the expectations to be healthy and happy, and to have what you want!

Disclaimer: Information on this blog is posted for information purposes, not as a substitute for professional medical advice.

Don't forget to check out www.louizapatsis.com!

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on http://www.authorhouse.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories. These two books are on my Web site http://www.louizapatsis.com.

Jump Rope

Jumping rope is an excellent cardiovascular activity to incorporate into aerobics, boxing or weight-lifting. As a matter of fact, most boxing coaches tell their clients to do it in between punching sessions. It is a great way to get your heart rate up and deplateau.

Here are some benefits from the Web page http://health.discovery.com/centers/nutritionfitness/nutrition/foodfit/jumprope.html (Accessed on July 28, 2007):

"An unparalleled all-around workout, rope jumping strengthens the heart, muscles and bones, promotes leanness and improves agility, coordination, timing, rhythm and explosive power on both sides of the body."

Start by jumping continuously for five minutes. Work your way up to ten minutes weeks late and then 15 minutes weeks after that, at your own pace. Vary the speed of jumping and learn to do tricks like jumping on one foot for awhile to "shock" you body. This Discovery Health Web page author recommends jumping at 120 to 135 beats per minute.

Disclaimer: Information on this blog is posted for information purposes, not as a substitute for professional medical advice.

Don't forget to check out www.louizapatsis.com!

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on http://www.authorhouse.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories. These two books are on my Web site http://www.louizapatsis.com.

Swiss Ball for Abdominals: Catch and Throw with Yourself

Here is another great abdominal exercise: Take a medium-shaped or large-shaped Swiss ball. Hold it with your palms facing each other. Do not lock your elbows. Lie down and bend your knees. Now lift your knees so there is a 90-degree angle of your knees to the floor. Keep your back on the floor. Throw the Swiss ball to your knees and catch with your ankles. When you throw, engage your upper abdominal muscles to move up and when you catch, engage your lower abdominal muscles to get your hips off the floor so that you can catch the Swiss ball around your ankles. Squeezing your legs together to keep the ball also engages your abdominal muscles. Now "kick" the Swiss ball to your arms, lifting your hips again. When you catch it, use your upper abdominal muscles again to lift your shoulders off of the floor. Do five sets of ten repetitions.


My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on http://www.authorhouse.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories. These two books are on my Web site http://www.louizapatsis.com.

Dance -- Subtle Movements

It is great to get off a plateau, as I have written. For about three weeks, I have been taking modern dance classes at Martha Graham Contemporary Dance School in Manhattan. It has been fun. She was a wizard. look her up online.

I love connecting my body to my emotions, which is raw and refined at the same time. You get a newfound respect for your body, and connect the spirit, mind and body once more. you also respect and love your fellow classmates. they are so beautiful. You get how discipline can lead to freedom, which is what she said in a tape of her that I saw at the Tisch School of Arts floor of the Elmer Bobst Library of New York University.

With subtle movements, you work muscle fibers you never worked before and get off plateaus. You equally work the right and left side of your body, which strengthens and elongates the spine and works on your core and balance. You of course also work out your extremities.

Here are some moves for this balance:

Sit on the floor. Place your left heal in front of the middle of your hips. Bend the right knee the other way so that your right ankle is next to your right buttock to the side behind you. Keep your arms out on either side at shoulder height. Turn starting from your pelvis and then waist about an inch or two only to the right. Let your shoulders and then head follow until you are looking over your right shoulder. Those subtle slow inches do wonders for pelvis, oblique and back muscles. Try it and then do the same on the reverse.

Stand with legs shoulder width apart and feet parallel. Keep your arms at your side with palms facing your hips. Do not let your arms dangle. Turn your waist, then ribs, then shoulders, then head one or two inches to the right. Repeat for the left side. Now repeat both sides with your feet turned out so that your heels touch.

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on http://www.authorhouse.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories. These two books are on my Web site http://www.louizapatsis.com.