This is why I love a new book to be released this October by Canada's fitness information leader - Kathleen Trotter – as it addresses this very issue.It is entitled, "Finding Your Fit; A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit."

The book answers, "How do we find the inner motivation to go from thinking about a healthier lifestyle to actually adopting one? How do we get off the sofa and out the front door?" It provides you with the practical tools that will allow you to connect the dots between wanting to make a health and fitness change, and actually making it.

If you've read anything by Kathleen, heard her on radio, and seen her on TV, you soon realise that there is something different in her approach – in a very good way. She is driven from a perspective of honesty, health, and compassion. A quick review of her website will make this very clear.

From my fitness blogging/writing/business life, I've seen time and time again that to get started into a fitness routine or healthier lifestyle – as in "get off the couch and out the front door":

* Knowing why you should work out is not enough

* Knowing what to do is not enough

* Having the equipment at home is not enough

* Having the best equipment is not enough

* Having the time is not enough

* Hearing inspirational stories is not enough

* Discussing fitness with inspirational people is not enough

* All of the above combined is not enough

In short, I realised that "it's all on you." You can have everything handed to you to start your fitness journey – but until you decide to start and then you actually start, nothing will happen.

That's where Kathleen's book comes in - it gives you the mental key to "start" and then stay with it.

Frankly, it provides the critical missing link.

Its themes include "10 simple, practical ways to get moving, get healthy and feel great." It clarifies that you should set "fitness goals not fitness wishes." It advises you to develop "a fitness entourage." It shows you how to "set yourself up for health success."

And just to be clear, Kathleen didn't just wake-up fit - she had her own journey that she details in her book. In fact, this segment alone is worth the read. You'll soon realise that she did, and still does, have fears and battles to overcome. So, you're not alone.

Finding Your Fit will stand in opposition to the extreme and unsustainable models of fitness that are so often propagated in the media. Finding Your Fit is the "anti–Biggest Loser" handbook for realistic, lifelong health.

Finding Your Fit is an intelligent and empathetic guide for the reader who wants both information and encouragement on their quest for long-term health and an easy-to-follow program to achieve it.

In only 136-pages and with 50 illustrations, Finding Your Fit is a "go-to" book health book: a motivational handbook with realistic strategies and practical information that helps them not only initiate but actually follow through and adopt a long-term healthy lifestyle.

Finding Your Fit will be released in October by Dundurn and available at Flaman Fitness. It will also be available from your favourite bookseller and even available on Amazon for preorder here. If you're in the Toronto area, you can attend her book launch on October 5^th

Summer is a busy season for almost everyone, for me it means spending an average of 5 nights a week on the diamond. I laced my first pair of cleats at the age of five and I haven't looked back. Softball is a sport predominately played by women; it's a popular summer past time and has many health and fitness benefits.

I enjoy softball for the fact it's a sport that provides total body conditioning. It requires multiple skills like running, fielding, swinging and throwing which all require a coordinated effort from many different muscles all while providing a great work out. The arm and shoulder muscles and the oblique muscles on the sides of the abdomen play a significant role in the swinging and throwing motions. The rotator cups, biceps, triceps forearms, deltoids are central muscles for being able to swing and throw with power. Like many sports flexibility in softball is also important so the risk of injury is minimized. The average softball player burns 384 calories per hour of play which for me doesn't even feel like work when I enjoy it so much.

Exercise, along with proper nutrition, plays a vital role in maintaining your overall health. Getting involved with softball at a young age helped me make exercise a part of my lifestyle and has increased my chance of a being a healthier adult. I have now played softball for 21 years and I have no plans to retire anytime soon.

Summertime in Saskatoon is a wonderful opportunity to see the city's beauty with the river banks, gorgeous parks and bike trails all over. One outdoor activity I enjoy is hitting the diamond. There's nothing like tying up my ball shoes on the bench, look up and see the shale infield surrounded by the freshly trimmed emerald-green, grass outfields protected by a fence that acts like a goal for so many. Baseball and slo-pitch have been staple summer sports in my life for 30 years (plus a few) and at 38 years old, I enjoy them just as much as I did when I had sported braces with the elastics snapping every 3 innings.

The biggest difference I notice from then to now is my recovery time, I believe it was about 3 seconds in high school?? Now I have to make sure I'm stretching before and after with a Progression band or some type of aid, oh and foam rolling is a God send.

I love the game but what I love the most is the community it develops. And I'm not talking about just my team, the whole ball community is a wonderful thing. Hitting up the grocery store and running into the opposition, instead of ramming their cart with yours, you greet them with a smile and ask how they are doing and start up a quick conversation about how the umpire was so against them last game or how they tossed you out at home in the last match-up. "So, are you guys heading to Leduc August long for NSA's? We are and are staying at the … we should get everyone together and head out for a bite after the game."

I love summer, I love the beach, I love working out and most of all, I LOVE being on my paddleboard! It is the best possible way to work my body hard, clear my mind, and nourish my soul.

I have been an avid paddle boarder for at least 7 years, and I was asked to write a blog about it.

For a few hours, I was racking my brain trying to write about all the physical benefits of paddleboarding. I could have gone on and on about the plethora of fitness benefits including improved core strength, better balance, the great full body workout and the six pack you can get with all that paddling, but honestly, they have little to do with why I love the sport.

Don't get me wrong, I love an intense workout, probably more than most. But when its 30 degrees, and the sun is beckoning me, the last place I want to be is inside a gym trying to get my workout in as fast as possible so I can get outside to enjoy the weather. So to find a great workout that I can enjoy on the lake, in my bikini, getting my tan on is pretty darn amazing in itself.

Over the years, I have learned that paddleboarding has many other positive side effects. It helps clear my mind, improving my mental, emotional and spiritual states as well.

It helps me get out of my head and into the present moment. The minute I stand up and start paddling, I let go of any unnecessary stress or expectations I put on myself. I love the simplicity of it, no shoes, no socks, no iphone, no distractions. Just me and my paddleboard, and a paddle of course!

It is just being on my own little vessel in the water surrounded by nature, breathing it all in. It's a moving meditation, a fun way to practice the art of mindfulness. Every moment brings a new experience, a new challenge, and new growth. When I am on the water, trying to catch boat waves, or laying down listening to the sound of the water under the board, my excitement for life returns in full force, I feel rejuvenated and anything seems possible.

Summer months are the times we come out of hibernating, we change our winter clothes into shorts, we turn off our treadmills for walking outside. We settle down to patio drinks, late night BBQs and summer muffin tops? Heck no!

We have summer fun, while waging war against our waste lines.

At Flamans we have a huge selection of fitness products designed to push you to the edge while working on your summer tan. Want that superman physic battle down with our expert advice and our outdoor equipment lines such as battle ropes, TRX, weight sleds, agility ladders, GPS Polar Watches and weighted vests. Who says you don't have time for fitness in the heat of summer. Flamans bring fitness to your life. Please drink lots of water, and kick some butt this summer with Flamans!

To train or not to train? To train, obviously

When I started my journey into the triathlon world a year ago, I was already a seasoned full/half marathon runner one of the main lessons drummed into my head was the importance of consistency in training.

So, this off-season, I've decided to really make an attempt to run with this idea (pun intended) and up the regularity of training, regardless of whether the mileage increases as a result.

Like most amateur triathletes, this means fitting sessions in around work and particularly training before getting to the office. In his book, Be Iron Fit, tri coaching guru Don Fink asks that athletes commit to training everymorning for three weeks before assessing whether this regime is right for them or not.

In the main, he says, most continue, having got used to the early mornings. I can't say I ever really believed this would work, but after a month I'm starting to get antsy about the very notion of sacking off a session. Where in previous years the lure of remaining in a warm bed overcame all half-hearted training plans, now I can't bear the thought of breaking my good run of training.

In fact, the startling training conclusion forming is not one of improved performance – though swimming couching has certainly help me lay a foundation for a better season in 2016 – but in the emergence of an addiction to training.

Despite the questionable mental healthiness of such a pattern, there are loads of pros to early morning training every day. Somewhat counter intuitively to the uninitiated, it's definitely a boost to overall energy levels. There's also a fantastic sense of satisfaction that the day's training is done and that less motivated colleagues were still in bed while you were out pounding the pavement.

Perhaps the biggest benefit though is scheduled rest days: those wonderfully guilt free lie-ins; being able to eat what you want and having whole hours normally spent training to become reacquainted with the Xbox or iPlayer, and all because of consistent training.

It must be said that there are downsides associated with such an addiction to training though. Early nights become a must, and you can also expect food expenditure to increase exponentially as you add second breakfast, brunch and afternoon tea to your eating schedule to satisfy your fuel cravings.

Speaking to other athletes who have taken the plunge into being paid up members of tri training addicts anonymous, I have to say that I'm also quite glad to not yet be at the stage where a weekend away means absolutely having to take the bike to get a quick hour in before breakfast. But I'm not that far off.

The strange thing about my sport is that it rewards such obsessive behaviour. To the point of overtraining, the more you put in with triathlon, the more you get out. During races there are no team tactics and aside from those vying for the top spots, most are only competing against themselves, looking to go one better than last time.

This sense of self-improvement is therefore pervasive in triathlon, hence the sight of the regular addicts at the pool who seemingly live in the water, unwavering in their commitment to triathlon and the attainment of the slightest gains. For me, it's the feeling of knowing I've put in the hours and raced as hard as possible, regardless of the actual result.

So the real question is, is it worth committing to training and dragging myself out of bed every morning just to move up a couple of places in the middle of the results spreadsheet? Absolutely.

But, here's the interesting part, they also were metabolically healthier, and had different stomach microbes, than rats that keep the weight off by cutting back on food (and not running).

Sort of a diet alone vs. exercise test.

In essence, the runners, while weighing the same as the dieters at the end of the study, seemed better set up to avoid weight gain in the future.

In this new study, which was published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, researchers at the University of Missouri in Columbia and other schools first gathered rats from a strain that has an inborn tendency to become obese, starting in adolescence. (Adolescence is also when many young people begin to add weight.)

These rats were young enough, though, that they were not yet overweight.

After weighing them, the researchers divided the animals into three groups:

• Group one:allowed to eat as much kibble as they wished and to remain sedentary in their cages. These were the controls.

• Group two: the exercise group, also was able to eat at will, but these animals were provided with running wheels in their cages. Rats like to run, and the animals willingly hopped on the wheels, exercising every day.

• Group three: the dieting group, was put on a calorie-restricted meal plan. Their daily kibble helpings were about 20 per cent smaller than the amount that the runners ate, a portion size designed to keep them at about the same weight as the runners, so that extreme differences in body size would not affect the final results.

After 11 weeks, all of the animals were moved to specialized cages that could measure their metabolisms and how much they moved around. They then returned to their assigned cages for several more weeks, by which time they were effectively middle-aged.

At that point that group results were:

• Group 1 (eaters):The control animals were obese, their physiques heavy with fat.

• Group 2 (runners) and 3 (dieters) similarities:

• The runners and the lower-calorie groups, had gained ounces but had put on far less weight than group one.

• b.None were obese.

• c.Both running and diet, had effectively protected the animals against their tendency to obesity.

• Group 2 and 3 differences:

• But beneath the skin, the runners and the dieters looked very unalike.

• By almost all measures, the runners were metabolically healthier, with better insulin sensitivity and lower levels of bad cholesterol than the dieters.

• They also burned more fat each day for fuel, according to their metabolic readings, and had more cellular markers related to metabolic activity within their brown fat than the dieting group. Brown fat, unlike the white variety, can be quite metabolically active, helping the body to burn additional calories.

• Interestingly, the runners also had developed different stomach microbes than the dieters, even though they ate the same food. The runners had greater percentages of some bacteria and smaller populations of others than the dieters or the control group; these particular proportions of gut bugs have been associated in a few previous studies with long-term leanness in both animals and people.

• Perhaps most striking, "the runners showed no signs of compensatory eating or compensatory inactivity," said Victoria Vieira-Potter, an assistant professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri who oversaw the study. They didn't eat more food than the control group, despite running several miles every day and, according to the specialized cages, actually moved around more when not exercising than either of the other groups of rats.

In essence, the runners, while weighing the same as the dieters at the end of the study, seemed better set up to avoid weight gain in the future.

What?

Personal best is a number – how much or how fast have you done it before, it's a measure by which we mark improvement. Something to beat! You're always asking, "Did you do it better this time?"

Traditionally it's been an objective measure – that's where the phrase started. It stems from a belief system of "you did your best" or "do your best." A somehwat wholesome way of looking at things - "you don't need to beat someone else, just do your best." It's always affiliated with exact measurements of speed, weight moved, endurance, and the like.

But what if you don't believe in that system, what if you want it to be "feeling better than you ever have before, which also includes fitness or "personal best life." What if I started seeing it as a number, but then started seeing it as a feeling?

Why don't we think of "personal best" as a feeling – how about "personal best life?"

You could start into fitness with a "personal best life" attitude or maybe it evolves within you – you begin with "personal best" as 'a measure' and it changes to a "personal best life" or 'a feeling.'

I started doing circuit training with weights at 20-years of age and did it almost religiously until I was 51. Now at 52 my interests have shifted from looking a feeling physically great, to more feeling great about who I am and life. Maybe I should have been that way from the beginning, but that's a different blog.

Now I find myself working out just to feel good, but balance the workouts with my day-to-day activities on our acreage. For example,over the weekend, instead of doing an upper body or leg workout, with a very measured routine, I cleared dead-fall trees.

Now, by clearing the trees I will not develop or maintain sculpted chest muscles (pecs), but I will keep "in shape" and that's part of my personal best life. It was sort-of a few hours of cross-fit? I have a sense of accomplishment from clearing land, enjoying nature, and getting some exercise.

I recently realised – as in 15-minutes ago - that I learned a valuable lesson about this from Dyan Cannon. You see, while I worked in LA, Dyan became a dear friend and mentor – I met her through my work with Tim Storey at "The Study" which Dyan co-created.

I was 32 and had achieved everything I'd ever dreamed of in life, but I wasn't happy - I was working in the entertainment industry with artists I'd always admired. Dyan was a friend and we discussed this a lot. Dyan told me a quick story that frankly, if I didn't believe her, who would I believe (you'll see)?

Dyan said, "I thought if I just married the right guy, I would be happy. I did, I married the right guy, I married Cary Grant."

"Well, I still wasn't happy."

"So, well, if I just had the right acting part!"

"I did get the right part. I got an Academy Award nomination for Bob, Ted, Carol, and Alice and then again for Heaven Can Wait . . . . that didn't work."

"Well, the right directing role . . . . . I got another nomination. . .I still wasn't happy."

"Well the right house . . . . I got the biggest one in Bel Air . . . . the right car . . .I got a fleet."

"I learned I wasn't happy until I found God and some great friends," she finally realised.

Her early goals inspired her to greatness, fame, and moments of happiness. Her later realisation inspired her to enduring happiness, with a new goal. Both sets of goals or sources of inspiration are great, just different for different people, at different times of their lives.

At the time, the message inspired/allowed me to move from LA to back-home in Saskatchewan to start a different life.

Now, those same guiding words have helped me to see how my "personal best" switched from a number to a feeling - the words explained what happened. The message's meaning evolved just as I have.

So, maybe for you "personal best" is about your life or how you feel. Maybe it always was, or maybe as you aged it has changed.

That's OK.

So, as you work-out maybe your goal has changed? Maybe you don't feel so inspired to always lift more, maybe now it's about feeling better? That's great!That's what happened to me.

Maybe this explains why I was having such a difficult time restarting my workouts? Maybe my true inspiration had changed? So, trying to go about things the way I always had wasn't working because of this?

Maybe that's why I had to rethink things?

For me, it is now about "personal best life."

Hey Guys !!

Training is going great, currently just under 6 weeks out now from Toronto provincials.

As an update from my last blog . . .

My motivation is always high, in a bodybuilding prep my energy levels go up and down very frequently but I have a goal in mind and I love seeing the final result ! Nothing beats accomplishing something!

New challanges this prep is that I am carb cycling so my meal plan that my coach Aron Giberson out of Guelph Ontario gives me changes very often. So staying on top of that and dealing with feeling very hungry on my low carb days. We measure progress by check ups with pictures or in person meetings every few days as my weight drops. Right now I have no other goals in mind but bringing the best me to this show. Once this show is over, then myself and Aaron can start planning for future goals !!

Today is my 52^nd birthday. People ask me if I feel older. I don't. I feel less dumb. Perhaps a certain level of dedication to fitness has helped me feel about the same physically?

One thing I feel less dumb about is, "I don't get as stressed when things don't go as I thought they should." For example, I didn't restart my work-outs after a surgery, for a lot longer than I had planned – but I did get started again and things are going well..

They key thing is I didn't need to start over, just start again. My fitness level declined, it did not end - that would be defined as "death." So, I only needed to start again from where I was, not over.

I also feel less dumb since I now see more value in others' stories. I love to see when people's "tests become testimonies and their messes becomes messages." This is something I learned from a man I worked with for a while about 20 years ago – Tim Storey - he's truly blessed.

(That's Tim in the back middle and me on the chair to the left. Ok, maybe I don't feel older but I look older - this picture was from 1995. In the front is Tim Miner - I was managing his business in San Diego at the time).

Anyway, an amazing example of the 'test and mess' plus the "start over not again' themes is Chandell Tytlandsvik.

Chandell Tytlandsvik is the girl in the Bowflex TreadClimber TV ads from Estevan, SK - she is also on their website and all print materials. She lost 105 pounds in less than a year and then has kept it off and further refined herself since.

Chandell is the poster-child for success in fitness. Her mess became her message and her test a testimony, that inspired 1,000s to begin a fitness journey. And today she continues her journey as well as inspiring others.

Well, guess what, even she misses some workouts. Heck, in March she missed a bunch/most of them since as she wrote in her recent blog, "life happens for everyone." Chandell's life formed a perfect storm and derailed her fitness plan, program, schedule, or whatever you want to call it.

Note, she wrote it happned "for" us not "to" us. She sees it as a positive!

This interruption is not a first for Chandell.

Now, what makes Chandell successful and has evolved her into the fitness poster child, is that challenges us with "when you have a couple weeks or like me a full month where you weren't as consistent as you like to be, what do you do..... You make a plan, and you START! Don't doubt yourself and just do it."

The longer you wait to restart, the longer it will take to get back to where you were. Even if you are only sporadic and not as regimented as you want, you can maintain yourself or maybe not slide as far back.

This is a long term goal, not a short-term measure. The only solution is to start again (not start over, just start again).

A lot of people begin the New Year with a fitness goal – a plan to change their life. This is the time of year where things change – it's spring – so our routines are interrupted.

Remember that even the fitness poster child has this happen to her, but what makes her successful is what she does next – she starts again.

So please remember our tests and messes, let them have value as testimonies and messages. Sometimes life happens – but it's not a big deal unless you make it one. Just start again and eventually it will fade into the foggy blur known as memories or "did that really happen?"

A finally, remember, you only need to start again, not over.