Kent Burden's Blog

My mother was hired to work in the factory at the Kellogg cereal company in Battle Creek Michigan in 1962.  Her job at the time was in the “Plant Services Division” which was a fancy name for the janitorial department. At the time it was the only department you could work in if you were a black woman at Kellogg’s. But by the late 1960’s the company was under tremendous pressure to open up the more lucrative 8 hour shift jobs to women. These jobs had traditionally been “men only” positions.
According to the company these jobs were too demanding or dangerous for women to do and having a woman in one of these positions would be distracting and would endanger the safety of the men trying to perform their duties. But these jobs were among the highest paying jobs in the factory and pressure was mounting to let women into these departments. So Kellogg’s announced a pilot program: they would open up five 8-hour jobs as an “experiment.” When the jobs were posted women could bid on the jobs and the company would choose who would fill the positions.
I remember how excited my mother was when she came home and announced that she was going to bid on the jobs, we sat and daydreamed about what we would do if she got such a high paying job. But a few days later that excitement turned to anger when the jobs were posted. The way my mother told it was: “As soon as they posted those jobs I knew the fix was in. Those were the hardest jobs in the plant, and men washed out of those jobs all the time. They weren’t  gonna let women get any of the good jobs. They wanted us women to fail.”
I remember my parents arguing over it. My dad told my mom to forget it. It wasn’t worth the trouble and she should be happy with the job she had. But my mother said she was going to bid on one of those jobs anyway. “Hell, what do I have to lose,” she said, “If I wash out they’ll just give me back my old job.”My dad countered with “You’ll look stupid, and besides those aren’t jobs a lady should be doing anyway.” Now my father had made a huge tactical error. I watched my mom’s lips set in a tight line and her eyes turn a bright cat-like yellow. My mother’s eyes were always changing color going from grey to green to light brown, but they only turned this particular amber color when she was furious, and at that moment I actually feared for my father’s life. My mother stood silently for a moment then said in a low whisper,
“I’ll tell you a secret, if I get one of those jobs, I won’t give you or the company the satisfaction of seeing me wash out.” Then she turned and stormed out.
The next day she put in her bid and waited. About two weeks later she found out she had been chosen for the job of “lamp changer.” Later my mom would say she was excited and terrified all at the same time,  because of the 5 jobs on the list, lamp changer was the hardest of all. Now if you simply read the job description for “lamp changer” the job seemed pretty mundane. Clean and maintain all light fixtures in the factory. But the devil is in the details. The light fixtures were industrial florescent fixtures that were between 2 and 5 feet long and weighed between 15 and 40 pounds. They hung from chains in the ceiling often as high as 30 feet off the ground.
Because grain dust is highly combustible the factory had to be kept squeaky clean, and no dust could accumulate on any surfaces, especially around electrical outlets and heat, so keeping the light fixtures clean was a top priority. To do the job of lamp changer they put you on a cherry picker (an industrial lift) and raised you up to the light. They kept the fixture at just about head height so you had to reach up over your head and unplug the fixture from its power cord then lift the fixture off the S hook that connected it to its chain. After that you lowered the light down to the basket of the cherry picker, you washed the fixture, replaced the light bulbs then lifted the fixture back up over your head and put it back on its S hooks and plugged it back in. Then you moved on to the next light. You did that for 8 hours. Remember that many of these lights weighed 40 pounds and were awkward and unruly and you were as much as 30 feet off the ground when you did this. Mom was five feet seven inches tall and at the time weighed 120 pounds so she wasn’t exactly a big burly girl, which is probably part of the reason she had been chosen. But they had made one big mistake: They had severely misjudged the size of the woman’s heart.
Mom said after the first week she found out there was pool going around and people were betting on how many weeks Elva was going to last as a lamp changer, which really pissed her off. For the most part mom was pretty easy going and always had a smile on her face, but if you made her mad she was an unstoppable force. She told a guy she knew that if he didn’t want to lose his money, he shouldn’t bet against her.
After a couple of months mom came home from work just beaming. I asked her why she was so happy and she said,
“A couple of my coworkers came up to me in the break station today and told me I had to slow down. I asked them why, was I breaking some kind of safety rule? They said no, you’re just doing too many lights.” When she asked them what they meant, they said, “You’re doing too many lights every day; we don’t do that many lights every day, so you don’t have to do that many lights.”
She smiled at me and said, “I’ve gone from being the girl who was gonna fail to the girl who is making them look bad. And that’s good.”
Mom didn’t wash out. In fact she held that job until the day she retired 20 years later. Mom became one of the most well-liked people in her department and one of the most respected. Later I got a summer job at the plant when I was in college and had the honor of working right alongside my mother (who by the way, I could not keep up with when it came to cleaning lights. She always did more than I could, no matter how hard I tried)

I’ve always been proud to be Elva Burden’s son. She was one incredible woman. Here’s to you, Mom.

The trip got off to a challenging start. After hours of meticulous preparation, hundreds of online searches and many calls confirming & re-confirming travel details, things went to shit before I could get out my front door. I booked a shuttle to get me to the airport two hours before my flight. They were supposed to pick me up at 12:30 getting me there in plenty of time before departure without having to sit around the airport for to long. I was all packed and standing in the driveway at 12:30 when my cell phone rings, it's the driver and he's called to let me know that he overslept a bit (not what I wanted to hear) but he is about to get in the van. The only problem is he lives an hour and fifteen minutes from me, add in the hour and a half it will take to get to the airport then check in and security my plane will be long gone before I get to the gate. At that point I had an aneurism and dropped dead in the driveway. OK, I'm being overly dramatic, I didn't actually have an aneurism I just thought I was going to have one. After I did a couple of deep breathing exercises screamed a few expletives and cursed the driver his family and all his ancestors, I decided this really wasn't helping me get to the airport. Time for plan B! Parking the car at the airport really wasn't an option because of family needs so I had to call my wife and yank her out of work and have her drive me to the airport and in the process spending some serious marriage capital(I now owe her big time!) my wife was not happy o say the least and it was a tense ride to the airport but traffic was light and we made it in plenty of time...or so I thought. I hopped out of the car kissed the misses and thanked her for being so sweet and understanding (along with promises of flowers and romantic dinners) then rushed off to the Air New Zealand gate. To my horror the line at the gate was out the door! Come to find out 3 times a year Air New Zealand does a drill for its check in desk employees simulating a complete computer shutdown and they have to do everything manually. It took over an hour to check in and get my bags checked. I made it to the gate just in time for last boarding call.

Some of you may have noticed that its been a while since I posted. That's because for lack of a better way to put it, recently my life has been a bit of a shit storm. Just after the new year my mother became ill and within a month died, sending me into a tailspin. My mother had been in relative good health for someone who had recently reached her 80th birthday. Four years ago she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease but outside of her deteriorating memory she was living a vibrant active life. Unlike my father who was in poor health for years but had simply been to stubborn to die, my mother just kept humming along like the energizer bunny. Honestly I thought she would out last me. Her sudden death hit me like a ton of bricks. I think the thing that really got me was not only did I feel the sense of deep loss that comes with losing a parent the death of my mother also reminded me that no matter how healthy a person seems or how healthy their life style, death will eventually come for all of us. Before you run from my blog screaming into the night thinking that this is about to slide into a depression fueled rant give me a second to get to my point. The thing that my mother has taught me both through her life and death is that a huge part of being truly healthy is being truly happy. What do I mean by that? After being diagnosed with Alzheimer's I asked her how she was feeling she replied " this Alzheimer's thing isn't so bad, I'm sure I've got all kinds of problems, I just can't remember what they are!" Life is a long and winding road and along the way all kinds of bad shit is going to happen, but the quality of your life, health and character will be determined not by what happens to you but how you handle what happens to you. So rather than sit around feeling bad I have decided to open my heart and mind to the universe. Life has presented me with an opportunity to do something my mother loved to do with all her being, travel. When I was first presented with this opportunity I wasn't sure I had the strength or the courage but life's to short to to hesitate so I m going for it! I'm going to start the process of getting my life back into balance by embracing a new adventure in England! If you think you might like to follow along on this adventure please feel free and check back in as I follow my road to wellness.

 

Kent
Burden, internationally renowned wellness expert, celebrity trainer and
bestselling author, has written a book on the subject of losing weight and
keeping it off without “exercise.”  The
book, “Exercise Sucks! The Secret to
Losing Weight Without Really Trying” is now available on Amazon.com.



As 2013
begins, millions of people will make New Year’s Resolutions to lose weight
through conventional exercise. Most of those people will fail to keep those
resolutions. Burden’s new book shows readers that being more active over
the course of their day burns more calories and helps the body shed more fat than
a standard 30-60 minute exercise session.



For many people, the title of Burden’s book sums
up how they feel about working out: Exercise
Sucks!

But the reality is that losing weight and keeping it off through diet alone is
virtually impossible. That is why most people fail when they try to diet for
weight loss. To lose weight and get the lean, healthy body most people dream
about, one must eat well and be active on a regular basis.



 



“Exercise Sucks! The Secret
to Losing Weight Without Really Trying” is based
on the new science of sedentary studies which shows that not only is sitting
for extended periods making us fat, it is also implicated in the development of
serious diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and some forms
cancer. One of the top researchers
on this subject is Dr. James Levine of the prestigious Mayo Clinic who coined
the phrase “sitting disease.” Most people sit an
astounding 7-11 hours every day. Four major studies published in 2012 showed
that people who sat for the longest periods during the day had larger
waistlines than those who sat the least regardless of how much they exercised. Levine
says that brief segments
of activity (1-5 minutes) each hour or so are far more effective than 30-60
minutes of sustained conventional exercise. While short bursts of movement may
not seem intense enough to qualify as exercise, research clearly suggests that
they can have huge weight loss benefits.



Burden takes this science and turns it into
actions people can use in their everyday life. The book is not a rehash of the
same old exercise/weight loss doctrine, but shows people how to

•Change their habits and bring more regular activity to their day

•Bring delicious and healthy “real food” back into their lives

•Do movements at their desk or kitchen counter to burn calories



•Choose foods that will help them lose weight

•De-stress their lives to make weight loss easier and faster







Burden says “This year I’m encouraging people to
make a New Year’s resolution that is actually sustainable. Instead of starting
one of those crazy infomercial exercise fads that leave you sore, exhausted and
feeling like a failure, resolve to make some small, simple, sustainable changes
that lead to big results.



 



Click here to watch the book trailer for Exercise Sucks! The Secret to Losing Weight
without Really Trying



Kent Burden is available for
interviews and speaking engagements and can be reached at (805) 276-0572



kent@mylifefitness.com 
Website: www.kentburden.com 
Blog site: www.kentaburden.blogspot.com



Twitter: @kentburden



 



 

Are you a big fan of reading? Tired of spending big bucks to find new authors you like? The Indie book revolution is in full swing and this just may be the golden age for reading.



There are thousands of new writers out there with great stories to tell, and for a limited time, finding them and buying their books is cheap! Starting tomorrow, December 28th and continuing through December 31st, the Indie Book Festival is having a huge holiday sale! All books are UNDER A DOLLAR!



This is your chance to load up that new iPad, Tablet, Kindle or Nook with weeks of great reading material in all genres for a buck each. Don't have an E-Reader? No problem! With the Kindle app for your smartphone or computer, you can download and read books from almost anywhere. What have you got to lose?




Here's the link


With the New Year right around the corner many of us are starting to make plans to improve our health. But for most of us the biggest obstacle to keeping those New Years resolutions is time. Fitting in a 30-60 minute workout between your daily comute, work, family obligations and social life can be daunting. But what if you could just squeeze in 1 to 5 minutes every hour over the course of the day? Wouldn't that make it easier? That is exactly what my new book series "Workout at Work" shows you how to do. You can easily get in your workout between phone calls and e-mails and not impact your productivity at work or home in the least. The first book in the series is Workout at Work: 25 Upper Body Strength Exercises with Resistance Bands to do at Your Desk. Click here to buy the book

Here's a snipet from the book:


   



Bicep Wing Curls with Resistance BandsGrasp ends of resistance band. Stand with feet hip width apart and place center of band itself under both feet as an anchor. Keep wrists straight while holding hand bars. Don't bend wrists toward you or away from you. Rotate both arms outward then maintain a slow, deliberate movement as you pull both hands up towards shoulders. Hold hand bars at shoulder level for 1 second before releasing arms down. Release arms down, keeping hands facing outward. Keep resistance band taut as you release hands to hip level. Maximum results will come from constant resistance of band during entire movement. Repeat for one minute.


         Seated rowSecure the band in a door or to a stationary object at chest level while seated. Facing the anchor point, grasp a handle in each hand and sit far enough from the anchor point that the band is free of slack when your arms are fully extended in front of you. Engage your core, keeping your upper body still and upright. Bring arms back towards your chest, sweeping the elbows out and back until your hands are even with your upper chest. The motion should be similar to the action of rowing a boat with two oars. Repeat for 1 minute.    The HugSecure the center of the band in the door or to a stationary object at waist height. Grasp the handles of the band in each hand and step away from the door until the band is free of slack. Place the right foot in front of the left and lean forward slightly. With arms extended and hanging at waist height, slightly away from the body, sweep both arms outwards and across the chest, in a motion similar to a bear hug. Finish with wrists crossed in front of the chest. Arms should stay extended throughout the motion. Return to original position. Repeat for one minute.     Front RaisesGrasp ends of resistance band. Stand with feet hip width apart and place center of band under each foot as an anchor. Holding handles of resistance bands in each hand, With hands down at your side’s palms facing backwards lift both hands up with the palms facing down keeping the arms straight as you bring the hands to shoulder height. Lower the hands back down to your sides and repeat for one minute.     Wood chopGrasp handles of bands in each hand and step on the center portion of the bands. Still standing on the band, step feet out so that they are hip distance apart. Bring hands together and hold both handles at the same time with both hands. Bring both hands to the left side of the body. Pull the band across the body upwards towards the right shoulder. Return to original position. Repeat for 30 seconds, then switch sides and repeat for 30 seconds.To see all of Kent's books and for more info, click here.

With the holiday season in full swing many of us find ourselves a little short on time. But this is the worst time of the year to start skipping your workout. With all the stress from shopping and holiday goodies like eggnog, cookies, candies and of course adult beverages, working out is probably something you really NEED to do right now. But who's got the time? Well, if you can spare 20 minutes, this little workout will get you exactly what you need this holiday season in half the time it usually takes you to get through a typical workout. I suggest three days of strength training and three days of cardio a week but you could get away with just two days of each. Then get back to your regular schedule after the New Year. This time-saving workout comes from my book Exercise Sucks! The Secret to Losing Weight Without Really Trying which is available at Amazon.com.

Click here to buy it!

To do this workout you will need a resistance band, an exercise ball and a set of hand weights.

Chest Fly with Resistance Bands
 
Anchor band in a doorway or other stationary waist-high fixture and stand with back to band. Holding a handle in each hand, allow band to pull arms slightly behind you. Take a firm stance with one leg behind body for stability. Bring hands together in front of you, insides of fists almost touching. As you move, focus on chest muscles tensing as you bring hands together. Use a slow, controlled motion to get the most out of this exercise. Extend arms out to sides, roughly parallel with floor. Return to starting position, then repeat for 50 seconds.






Triceps Pull Downs with Resistance BandsAnchor resistance band at top of a door, (making sure  it is above head). Stand in front of resistance band and grab both handles with an overhand grip, then turn away from where resistance band is anchored and walk away from object holding band until desired resistance is reached. Bring hands above head, palms facing forward, elbows bent at forehead level. Press hands forward until elbows are straight then return hands to starting position. Repeat for 50 seconds.
                        














Bicep Wing Curls with Resistance BandsGrasp ends of resistance band. Stand with feet hip width apart and place center of band itself under one foot as an anchor. Keep wrists straight while holding hand bars. Don't bend wrists toward you or away from you. Rotate both arms outward then maintain a slow, deliberate movement as you pull both hands up towards shoulders. Hold hand bars at shoulder level for 1 second before releasing arms down. Release arms down, keeping hands facing outward. Keep resistance band taut as you release hands to hip level. Maximum results will come from constant resistance of band during entire movement. Repeat for 50 seconds.                                        






















Lateral Raises with Resistance BandsGrasp ends of resistance band. Stand with feet hip width apart and place center of band under one foot as an anchor. Holding handles of resistance bands in each hand, drop arms down to sides. Keeping arms bent, raise elbows and hands up until they reach shoulder height, then lower them back to sides. Repeat for 50 seconds.                                                    



















Wide Leg Seated SquatStand holding 1 to 10 pound weights in both hands with a stable chair behind you. Spread legs so they are twice hip distance apart with toes pointed outward at a 45-degree angle from mid-line of body. Bend knees and drop buttocks down to chair behind you, keeping torso as upright as possible. Return to starting position. Repeat for 50 seconds.                             



















One Legged LungeBegin standing with back to a bench or step. Place one leg up on bench or step so that shoelaces are resting on bench. Align front foot forward so you are in a lunging position. Keeping hips rolled under, lunge straight down until back knee is close to ground and front leg is at a 90-degree angle. Pressing through front heel, push up and return to starting position. Do on one side for 25 seconds, then switch to opposite side for 25 seconds.           



















Roll UpLie back with legs straight and arms extended above head next to ears. Bring arms forward, tilt chindown, and slowly curl upper body up, reaching hands up towards ceiling. Extend spine upwards, bringing torso up and tall. Slowly lower torso back down to floor one vertebrae at a time, bringing yourself back to starting position. Repeat for 50 seconds.                



















Ball PlankPut exercise ball on floor under upper body. Lay down on exercise ball face down, keeping it under chest with feet extended away from you, hands gently holding side of ball. Keep torso as still as possible with toes on floor in plank position. Hold position for 50 seconds, keeping ball as still as possible. Interval training You should do this workout 3 days a week on days that you do not strength train. Each exercise has been given an intensity rating based on a perceived exertion test or (PE). This test uses a scale of 1 to 10 to rank how hard it feels like you are working during a given exercise. A ranking of 1is: I’m almost asleep. A 10 is: Dear lord I’m going to die! A ranking of 1-3 is easy, 4-6 is moderate, and 7-10 is hard. You can do these intervals outside in your neighborhood or on a treadmill walking, jogging, or a combination of the two. They can also be done on a stationary bike or even swimming. For this workout you will need a timer or a stop watch that you can easily carry with you.Minutes 1-3Begin at an easy pace (PE 2-3) for 3 minutes to warm up your body.Minute 3-5Pick up your pace to moderate (PE 4-5) for 2 minutesMinutes 5-7Pick up the pace to fast (PE 7-8) for 2 minutesMinutes 7-10Slow down to a moderate pace (PE 4-5) for 3 minutesMinutes 10-12Pick up the pace to fast (PE 7-8) for 2 minutesMinutes 12-15Slow down to a moderate pace (PE 4-5) for 3 minutesMinutes 15-17Pick up the pace to fast (PE 7-8) for 2 minutesMinutes 17-20Slow down to a moderate pace (PE 4-5) for 3 minutes cool downWhen you have finished this four week program you can continue doing the final weeks’ exercises, slowly increasing the weight and intensity. Of course there are many other programs out there as well; the main thing is finding a program that is right for you. The best exercise program in the world is simply the one YOU WILL DO on a regular basis.

I would like to introduce our guest blogger David-Dorian Ross.

 


David-Dorian Ross has been playing Taijiquan (The Art of Harmony) for 35 years. He is America’s “Chi-vangelist,” whose public appearances introduce people to the benefits, accessibility and sheer joy of learning Taiji (T’ai Chi).

Read about David-Dorian’s philosophy of Taiji.

He recently hosted the prime-time special “T’ai Chi, Health and Happiness” for the PBS network (airing November/December 2012). It’s his second public television program on T’ai Chi; his first show was called “T’ai Chi in Paradise,” produced with Hawaiian Public Television in Honolulu. Inside Kung-fu Magazine called him “the man who brought T’ai Chi mainstream.” David-Dorian’s T’ai Chi instructional dvds have sold more than 1 million copies world-wide, and his program T’ai Chi Beginners’ Practice is the best-selling T’ai Chi dvd of all time.

David-Dorian also holds the record as America’s competitive T’ai Chi Champion – winning 8 US Gold Medals, a World Silver medal and 2 World Bronze medals in T’ai Chi performance (still the highest record of any American T’ai Chi athlete). David-Dorian is the founder of T’ai Chi Fitness Instructor Training (F.I.T.)™ – the first teacher training program recognized by the fitness industry. He is also the founder of T’ai Chi Connect (www.taichiconnect.com) the first international social networking site for players of T’ai Chi.

David-Dorian’s presentations are highly interactive and include lots of how-to oriented content. He uses stories, metaphors, examples and humor to make his seminars and keynotes highly memorable, practical and motivating for any audience. He engages the audience in the physical application of movement, which results in resounding Aha! moments for all participants.


Everyone
knows that dynamic good health depends in part on physical exercise. The human
body was made for work - for movement. Our ancestors got their exercise from
survival activities, like chasing down the woolly mammoth or plowing the lower
forty. In our modern world, however, our lives are too sedentary. Our work is
in the factory rather than the field, or in the office instead of on the ocean.
So we need to add exercise to keep our bodies healthy.

 

 

David-Dorians Ross's new book Exercising the Soul: How Tai Chi Connects You to Your Authentic Self is available on Amazon.com. Just click here to get your copy

http://www.amazon.com/Exercising-Soul-Connects-Authentic-ebook/dp/B00AF3TINM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1355349086&sr=1-1&keywords=exercising+the+soul

 

 

 







 The Ultimate Workout





The
question is, what kind of exercise is best for you? Weight training for
strength? Pilates for six-pack abs? Yoga for flexibility? Or perhaps a mixture
of several different kinds of exercise that you blend together - a format that
fitness professionals call, "cross training."





 





But what
if there were a single workout that could satisfy all your fitness needs, and
more?  And what would you call it?  What would you call a workout that was simultaneously a
system of self-defense, a shield against disease, a means of meditation and a
beautiful dance?  Well, you might call it
"T'ai Chi Ch'uan" - one of the world's most popular workouts. It's
practiced by hundreds of millions of people throughout Asia and around the
world. T'ai Chi Ch'uan is called "the ultimate exercise" for body, mind
and Spirit. If you've ever been curious about this ancient Chinese martial art,
here are just three things you ought to know.





 





First of
all, T'ai Chi is a phenomenal physical workout. It builds great lower body
strength and flexibility, and along the way delivers a terrific cardio workout.
The upper body also gets a great resistance workout as you begin to practice
the T'ai Chi sword, or include the weighted T'ai Chi ball. The greatest workout
benefit of T'ai Chi, however, is how it hones your balance and coordination,
which makes it the perfect complement to any other workout. No matter what your
other sport may be, T'ai Chi will make it better.





 





The
second important benefit of T'ai Chi is how it helps you manage and relieve
stress - and who couldn't benefit from that?  Good
T'ai Chi practice teaches you to trigger what is known as the "relaxation
response." The relaxation response is a total release of the unconscious
muscle tensions and a reversal of the stress hormones that have created our
chronic "stress responses" (our automatic reactions to stress, like
increased blood pressure and heart rate, shallow breathing and elevated
cortisol levels).





 





Finally,
T'ai Chi has a deeply metaphysical or philosophical side (some would even say
Spiritual). The art of T'ai Chi is based on ancient principles that not only
teach you about exercise and self-defense, but about life itself. What T'ai Chi
does is teach you the principles for living in a very physical way. Here's just
one example: almost all Spiritual systems talk about the importance of
"balance" in your life. But what does that really mean? How are you
supposed to use balance to your advantage? Most of the time, you are left to
figure that out for yourself. But T'ai Chi demands that you balance your physical
body, teaches you how to do it, and shows you the consequences of not having
balance (you fall down).





 





Of
course, the most important feature of T'ai Chi is simply this: it's fun. The
traditional way of telling people you practice this art is to say, "I play T'ai Chi." That by itself may
justify the name, "The Ultimate Workout."

 

 

 

Want a sneak peak at some Tai Chi and a short lesson on how "Chi" works?



 


For more info you can contact David-Dorian at: http://daviddorianross.com/

My new ebook Exercise Sucks! The Secret to Losing Weight without Really Trying is FREE December 1st and 2nd on Amazon.com. Get your FREE copy here http://tinyurl.com/awpqp2l 

Don't have a kindle? No problem, there's an app for that. Just down load the free kindle app and read on your smartphone, tablet or computer. Get your app here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771 

And you can gift the book to your friends and family for FREE as well. Don't miss out on this great no strings attached offer!


Here's a little taste of the book for my blog fans:

But how can it be true that the little things we do every day could actually be big calorie burners? If running for 30 minutes at a ten-minute-per-mile pace only burns about 365 calories, how can the stuff I do during the course of my day possibly be considered a bigger calorie burn?
Well, it has to do with the law of frequency, or as I like to call it “The Sydney Effect.” Sydney is my incredible daughter. She is the light of my life, she’s beautiful and smart…very smart! And Sydney completely understands the law of frequency. Sydney knows, for example, that if she comes to me and asks for a largish sum of money, let’s say $60, I will ask her what she needs it for (it’s usually a “cute little top” or a pair of “drop dead gorgeous shoes”). Now, Sydney knows that getting me to hand over sixty bucks is like pulling teeth; it’s a struggle she really doesn’t want to deal with.
So instead, Sydney asks for $5. But it’s not just a one-time occurrence. She asks for $5 twenty times over the course of the week. She sneaks up on me when I’m watching TV, she waits until her mother and I are deep in conversation, she asks while I’m cooking dinner. For me, $5 is painless and if I’m not paying attention, I forget that I gave it to her. With this simple strategy she knows she’ll get that $60 plus a little extra for that great little skirt she’s had her eye on. We can apply this same approach to our everyday activities.  Most of us spend an average of 16 hours awake each day, so 20 calories here, 30 calories there, and the next thing you know you’ve burned seven or eight hundred extra calories over the course of just one day
 

My new ebook Exercise Sucks! The Secret to Losing Weight without Really Trying is FREE December 1st and 2nd on Amazon.com. Get your FREE copy here http://tinyurl.com/awpqp2l 



Don't have a kindle? No problem, there's an app for that. Just down load the free kindle app and read on your smartphone, tablet or computer. Get your app here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771 



And you can gift the book to your friends and family for FREE as well. Don't miss out on this great no strings attached offer!





Here's a little taste of the book for my blog fans:






But
how can it be true that the little things we do every day could actually be big
calorie burners? If running for 30 minutes at a ten-minute-per-mile pace only
burns about 365 calories, how can the stuff I do during the course of my day possibly
be considered a bigger calorie burn?





Well,
it has to do with the law of frequency, or as I like to call it “The Sydney
Effect.” Sydney is my incredible daughter. She is the light of my life, she’s
beautiful and smart…very smart! And Sydney completely understands the law of
frequency. Sydney knows, for example, that if she comes to me and asks for a
largish sum of money, let’s say $60, I will ask her what she needs it for (it’s
usually a “cute little top” or a pair of “drop dead gorgeous shoes”). Now,
Sydney knows that getting me to hand over sixty bucks is like pulling teeth;
it’s a struggle she really doesn’t want to deal with.





So
instead, Sydney asks for $5. But it’s not just a one-time occurrence. She asks
for $5 twenty times over the course of the week. She sneaks up on me when I’m
watching TV, she waits until her mother and I are deep in conversation, she
asks while I’m cooking dinner. For me, $5 is painless and if I’m not paying
attention, I forget that I gave it to her. With this simple strategy she knows
she’ll get that $60 plus a little extra for that great little skirt she’s had
her eye on. We can apply this same approach to our everyday activities.  Most of us spend an average of 16 hours awake
each day, so 20 calories here, 30 calories there, and the next thing you know
you’ve burned seven or eight hundred extra calories over the course of just one
day