Tag Archives: weight loss

Fitness and Nutrition are Keys to a Healthy Self Image

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These photos are of Tony, a man who chronicled the changes to his body over a 3 month period. Top left was Tony at the start of his program. Top right photo was Tony mid way through. And the photo at bottom is Tony's transformed torso to date.

These photos are of Tony, a man who chronicled the changes to his body over a 3 month period. Top left was Tony at the start of his program. Top right photo was Tony mid way through. And the photo at bottom is Tony’s transformed torso to date.

My clients are always telling me that no matter how important fitness and nutrition are to their lives and to maintaining a healthy self-image, it’s not easy to keep up with.  Maybe even you are on a journey to improve strength and body shape.  Keeping fit and eating right are not spectator sports.  You can’t watch someone else do it and have the results rub off on you.  If you are concerned about enhancing your self-image by improving your fitness and nutrition, you have to do the work.

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True or False – Weight Affects Your Perception

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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

It’s practically impossible to see New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on TV or in person without reacting to his obvious obesity, isn’t it?  At the same time, do you feel that your opinion about Governor Christie’s weight affects your perception of the job he does as governor?

A recent Wall Street Journal article, “Want to be CEO? What’s Your BMI [Body Mass Index]?” got me thinking about how weight affects your perception.

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Covering Your Mirrors Also Covers The Real Truth About You

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Don’t just think about improving your personal image. Take action that pays off.

Have you read about the latest craze?  If not, you haven’t watched any TV in the last week.  The media is abuzz about women who are covering their mirrors so that they can avoid seeing their reflections, a practice I’m not in favor of.  Covering your mirrors also covers the real truth about you.

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Improving Your Image, One Bite at a Time

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Why would an image consultant like me take the time and effort to share insights into healthy nutrition? The answer is because the results of good nutritional intake show up through an improved body figure, healthy skin, better digestion [which hopefully only you know about], and best of all you feel – and everyone sees – a significant improvement in your energy level and focus.

No doubt a lot of us aim to do the right thing when it comes to eating healthy. But over the weekend, my partner Kevin and I took in the documentary film Food, Inc. We now swear we won’t ever look at American food in the same way.

Both of us have been giving ourselves what you could call physique makeovers by changing the way we eat and revving up our workout regimens. Since taking ourselves to task, we’ve gotten in great shape, and lost significant weight relative to our proportions and ages. But even with our newfound ways of looking at food and how we eat it, we were aghast by the film’s many points about the American food system, as we know it.

Kevin and I have moved away from eating processed foods and doing so has helped us to lose weight. We avoid most starches, breads, potatoes, rice, and corn. But corn is broken down and is in so many food items, as Food, Inc. makes abundantly clear. We were shaking our heads at how many ingredients are created from corn. It’s become the centerpiece of the American diet, but it does not have to become the centerpiece of yours.

Corn, however, was practically the centerpiece of Food, Inc., because of its pervasiveness in the American food system. In fact, we really learned a lot about the corn-beef connection that will have you thinking about your diet once you read this.

Cows are meant to feed on grass, but big cattle companies are not feeding cows grass. They feed cows cheap corn to fatten them up. Cows cannot digest this corn, and as a result, corn fed cows are prone to illness. How do you suppose ecoli bacteria get into the food supply? This is how. The way to avoid this is not to avoid beef, but to buy grass-fed beef. My St. Louis friends may not like this, but the folks at Monsanto have essentially genetically engineered all American corn to be made of their seeds and have created a “cash cow” unlike no other – literally.

So even when we think we’re eating healthy and doing the right thing, we have more to learn. Here’s an illustrative story Kevin and I recently read about an American woman’s experience of going to live in Germany that makes the point:

This woman was concerned about living in a country known for its meat-and-potatoes diet and that she’d gain a significant amount of weight. She ended up living in Germany for several years, and during that time she met a man and they married. While living in Germany, she actually lost weight eating the local diet and her husband’s weight remained steady. Eventually, when the couple moved to the United States, both of them gained significant weight without altering their diets. What she learned was that the food they were eating was processed differently, highly salted, laden with sugars [high fructose corn syrup, etc.], and that is was fatty.

One of the people who really influenced Kevin and me on our journey toward personal wellness is an old neighbor and friend, Richard Nikoley. He writes a very informative blog about eating natural foods and I highly recommend reading up on his posts for more information because he’s so passionate about this topic. It’s particularly changed his life like it’s changed ours. And if you haven’t gotten the hint to get out and see Food, Inc., it’s a must.

Your personal and professional image is created by more than just how you dress. It also develops based on what you eat and how you care for yourself. You can make a difference in your image, one bite at a time.

Designing and managing your image is the secret science to your success.

Joseph Rosenfeld helps professional men and corporate workgroups create effective visual brands. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.

My Personal Recession: Achieved

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Today’s the day it finally happened. The scale finally delivered the news I’d been working so hard to receive. I had dropped a whole 27 pounds according to doctor’s orders in an effort to combat borderline high cholesterol and to overcome some family health risks. Mission accomplished on all levels. I now officially weigh 130.0.

Nothing could be more important than knowing you’re in good health. Yet making the lifestyle changes that have brought about this amazing physical transformation have brought about other equally thrilling benefits. I’ve advised men for years as an image consultant about the importance of taking care of one’s body, but I finally brought the message home to my own and have newfound insights into just how powerful and important this is for your image.

My tailored clothes [suits, sport coats, dress pants] were just re-tailored to fit my now-fit body. It’s amazing how the same clothes feel on my body now, and how I am more aware of my body in these clothes than before. Some dress pants were so big they needed to be re-cut. This more expensive alteration is far less costly than chucking pricey pants that were in otherwise great shape. A reputable tailor did a knockout job re-cutting them. As if losing the weight wasn’t enough of a reward, putting on the re-tailored clothes makes me feel like a million bucks. Amazing.

Simply achieving a seemingly challenging personal goal is hugely fulfilling. Of course, this is what happens when you turn your attention to your personal image development. Many of my clients experience this when they learn how to develop their visual brand and achieve success with it. But based on my current personal experience, when you add a weight loss goal, achieving it is that much more fulfilling. A sense of personal pride comes with overcoming life’s obstacles and being in control of your own reinvention.

As it turns out, I have lost about 17.2% of my original total body weight. The cholesterol numbers have sharply improved. My waist size is now a 29, which hasn’t been that way since I was a high school senior. And I’m probably now in the best physical, emotional, and spiritual health of my life, just in time to turn 40 in July.

So how did I do it? You just won’t believe me if I wrote it here. So I encourage you to get in touch with me because I’d absolutely love to share with you more about how I did this because it’s entirely achievable if you set some realistic goals.

Joseph Rosenfeld helps professional men and corporate workgroups create effective visual brands. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.

Workout Inspiration Leads to Weight Loss

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It’s exciting to be getting into shape and on my own terms. People who see me regularly have been noticing the subtle changes to my physique. Sure it’s my responsibility to maintain healthy nutritional standards and to hit the gym with dedication. But thanks to some iPod inspiration, 5 tunes keep me in motion for my 30-minute daily cardio workouts. Without them, the exercise might just be a lot of heavy peddling, but because of the repetition of inspirational lyrics, sounds, beats, and musicians, the whole experience becomes meditative and healing in ways beyond the physical. If you should incorporate cardio exercise into a healthy lifestyle, try finding some music that gets the blood pumping for you. It’s like letting your iPod become your motivational assistant.

Here are my five selections in playing order:

1. Silicone Soul’s “The Answer”

I have a thing for deep House music. And this piece of music really is ‘the answer.’ Actually, it’s refrain, “love is the answer” is one of the things I love to hear first thing in the morning when I drag myself down to the gym. You can’t make changes to what you don’t love. So through love comes the abandonment of fear, and the ability to improve. This is really what exercising is all about for me. So I’ll take all the help I can get from the beat and the message.

2. Massive Attack’s “What Your Soul Sings”

Sinead O’Connor is a controversial artist for many. But I am not one to let the messenger cloud a good message. By the time this tune is playing I’m sweaty and ready for its electonica vibe and for O’Connor’s clear voice to give me some more inspiration with these words:

Don’t be afraid
Open your mouth and say
Say what your soul sings to you
Your mind can never change
Unless you ask it to
Lovingly re-arrange
The thoughts that make you blue
The things that bring you down
Only do harm to you
So make your choice joy
The joy belongs to you
And when you do
You’ll find the one you love is you
You’ll find you love you

Don’t be ashamed
To open your heart and pray
Say what your soul sings
To you
So no longer pretend
That you can’t feel it near
That tickle on your head
That tingle in your ear
Oh ask it anything
Because it loves you dear
It’s your most precious king
If only you could hear
And when you do
You’ll find the one you need is you
You’ll find you love you

Now how can you argue with such words like that? And the music is fantastic and makes me want to burn calories!

3. Swing Out Sister’s “Better Make it Better”

I’m a huge Swing Out Sister fan. They’re really a lot more popular in Japan than they are here in the United States. This is probably a risky thing to say because Naomi Campbell and Alyssa Milano have more successful recording careers in Japan, too. Except Swing Out Sister is a truly talented act, but that’s beside the point…

“Better Make it Better” inspires me to keep peddling because the music is totally upbeat, the sentiment inspiring me to live life fully and with no regrets:

Make the most of what you’ve got
For it’s better than to not have anything at all
Take each day as it’s your last
Or you’ll find the future’s passed as you’re left
With nothing at all

4. Angie Stone’s “No More Rain (In this Cloud)”

I admit it. Life hasn’t always been so peachy keen. It’s gotten a whole lot better. And Angie Stone’s neo-soul approach to life’s difficulties is nicely summed up in this song. But of all the lines, I just love it when she sings at the song’s beginning, “My sunshine has come/And I’m all cried out/And there’s no more rain in this cloud.” No matter how challenging life can be we have this choice to move out from under the clouds and to get some sun! A very good message for a Leo like me.

5. Cher’s “Love So High”

This is the song that means the most to me in my workout. It was two years ago when my mom passed away. I made a promise to her on her last birthday that I’d take care of myself. And while it has taken me all this time to make the effort to do it on my own terms, it’s finally happening. She’s the real inspiration behind this drive to get into shape. I’m sure Cher had Sonny in mind when she sang it, but when I hear it, in my own way, I think about Mom and how she loved me.

A love so high
I could reach out a touch the sky

I want my workouts to honor my mom and dad’s lives so that I can carry on their legacy and continue to do what I am on the planet to do. And in 30 minutes, I burn 360 calories, bringing this loving, meditative cardio workout to a cathartic full circle.

In just over a month, I’ve lost 8 pounds and am feeling great. As the rest of the weight loss happens, I’ll update my progress.

As an image consultant, it is very important to take this personal approach to share these anecdotal experiences, including the struggles of self-worth. The journey of self-improvement is a shared experience and should be celebrated. If you are going through such a transformative period, I honor your pathway.

Designing your image is the secret science to your success.

Joseph Rosenfeld helps professional men and corporate workgroups create effective visual brands. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.