“The word aerobics came about when the gym instructors got together and said, ‘If we’re going to charge $10 an hour, we can’t call it jumping up and down.’”  ~ Rita Rudner.

Aerobics is so “eighties”! Now it’s Pilates, Ballet Boot Camp, Wii, and Zumba. If you need help with healthy weight loss, check out the P90X Extreme Home Fitness with Tony Horton – it’s Amazon’s bestselling health and fitness product. And, here are five steps to losing weight and keeping it off…

6 Steps to Healthy Weight Loss – Rita Rudner

1. Have realistic expectations. Healthy weight loss happens slowly, so don’t be discouraged after the first couple of weeks! It can take six weeks before you see physical changes in your body. “To avoid getting derailed,” says fitness instructor Amanda Vogel, “follow this six week approach: In the first three weeks, expect mental and emotional changes – more energy or a confidence boost. Expect to start seeing a slightly slimmer, tighter body after three weeks.”

2. Find what motivates you, and keep it under your nose. Do you get discouraged when you hear comediennes like Rita Rudner say, “I burned sixty calories. That should take care of a peanut I had in 1962.”? It’s true that it’s easier to NOT eat food than to eat it and burn off the calories you consumed, but don’t let that stop you from working out. Keep inspirational quotations or motivational sayings in your workout clothes, taped to your mirror, and on your computer monitor. To avoid becoming blind to them, move them around or replace old motivational sayings with new ones. Highlight strong, successful, athletic women like Venus and Serena Williams!

3. Put your workout gear on first thing in the morning. If you work from home (like me!), you may have an advantage when it comes to healthy weight loss. As soon as I get up in the morning, I put on my workout gear. Since I can “go to work” in whatever clothes I want, and I’ve found that putting on my workout clothes first thing solidifies my goal to exercise. If you can wear your workout clothes under your work clothes, you may find yourself one step closer to losing weight and keeping the pounds off.

4. Sleep in your workout clothes. Check this tip out – it’s from Barb Gormley, the owner of Custom-Fit Personal Training in Toronto. “Sounds crazy, but in winter, I wear my sports bra and workout T-shirt to bed so it’s super-easy to get out the door on cold dark mornings.” That’s like me, putting on my workout clothes as soon as I wake up! But, I don’t work out until 11 am or 4 pm, depending on how the day’s going.

5. Don’t exercise forever – exercise better. You can get a great workout in just 10 minutes! Instead of an hour-long workout with exercises or reps that isolate one body part at a time, try five or six exercises that target multiple muscles. Pilates is a great way to do compound movements, which is a healthy way to lose weight. The 10 Minute Solution Rapid Results Pilates are one of my favorite ways to exercise. Pilates – and these particular exercise DVDs are brilliant because they use your whole body in the workout.

6. Factor in your personality traits. Are you an introvert? (take this test for introverted personality traits to find out!) Introverts may not enjoy working out with groups of people, and may lean towards solo running, biking, or swimming. On the other hand, extroverts prefer intense workouts with groups of people, and are prone to exercising fairly often. Scientist Amy Hagan said, “These excitement-craving people love lots of activity, and want to go, go, go.” Extroverts also prefer to listen to music while exercising. To lose weight in a healthy way, be aware of your personality traits. 

One last  quotation from Rita Rudner:

“Men are very confident people. Even a sixty-year-old man with no arms thinks he could play in the Super Bowl if he had to.”

Wouldn’t it be great if women were this confident? We need more exposure to women like Whoopi Goldberg, Eleanor Roosevelt, Judge Marilyn Milian, and Queen Latifah!

If you have any thoughts or questions on these steps to healthy weight loss, I welcome you below…

Source of quotations: “Resolve to Tone Up,” Best Health Magazine, February, 2009.

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3. How to Stop Feeling Depressed About a Relationship Breakup – Rita Rudner

I have some breakup advice for her – but first, a quotation from a funny woman!

“I love to shop after a bad relationship,” says comedienne Rita Rudner. “I don’t know. I buy a new outfit and it makes me feel better. It just does. Sometimes I see a really great outfit, I’ll break up with someone on purpose.”

I’m not a huge shopper (I despise shopping, in fact), but I can get behind Rudner’s breakup advice! It’s all about “self-soothing”, which I describe below. If you need help getting over a breakup, click on It’s Called a Breakup Because It’s Broken: The Smart Girl’s Break-Up Buddy. And, read on to learn how to stop feeling depressed when you’re letting go of someone you love…

How to Stop Feeling Depressed About a Relationship Breakup – Rita Rudner

Remind yourself that the breakup happened for a reason. No matter how you feel right now – trust me, I know how devastating it is to lose someone you love – the relationship was not working. To stop feeling depressed, stay focused on the fact that the relationship wasn’t meant to be. For whatever reason, you and he weren’t a good match. For more help, read Overcoming an Unexpected Relationship Breakup – Eleanor Roosevelt.

Learn the difference between mourning and wallowing. The first few months after a breakup are the worst. Allow yourself to mourn your loss, but don’t let yourself wallow in depression because the relationship didn’t work out. Mourning involves crying or expressing your feelings in writing, painting, creative dance, etc for some amount of time each day. Wallowing is talking about the relationship breakup endlessly, obsessing about it, and refusing to think beyond your current feelings.

Think about your role in the relationship and breakup. To stop feeling depressed, find ways to empower yourself! Empowering yourself is about taking control, about learning how you can be a better, smarter, healthier woman. So, think about the breakup. Be honest about your mistakes and foibles. You don’t need to change who you are; you just need to learn from your experiences.

Learn how to “self-sooth.” I found this term in a book about eating disorders, and it’s great breakup advice! Self-soothing addresses Rita Rudner’s quotation about shopping and relationship breakups: to stop feeling depressed, do things that make you feel better. Avoid unhealthy habits such as spending too much money, overeating, or harming yourself. Self-soothing strategies come from inside yourself – not outside, like shopping (sorry, Rita Rudner! Your quotation about shopping and relationship breakups was funny). An example of self-soothing is to recall a time that you were happy, proud, and centered – perhaps after you made a mistake and moved on or accomplished something you were proud of.

Rebuild your personal identity. Take the breakup as an opportunity to figure out who you are. Many women lose their personal identities in relationships; now, you have a chance to get back in touch with your authentic self. What do you want out of life, who do you want to be, where do you want to go? You’re now free to answer all those questions; this breakup could open all sorts of doors for you.

I know I haven’t covered all the ways to stop feeling depressed after a relationship breakup! If you have suggestions – or questions – please comment below…

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1. Stop Feeling Guilty Over a Relationship Breakup – Quips and Tips
2. 6 Steps to Healthy Weight Loss – Rita Rudner
3. Overcoming an Unexpected Relationship Breakup – Eleanor Roosevelt