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I’m back! After a year of a sabbatical (due to dealing with breast cancer), I am returning to you with the Winning LifeStyle ezine. After ten years of publishing the newsletter, it was difficult to stop delivering it to you. However, the time has gone quickly and you will be pleased to know your ezines will continue once again in 2006.

My goal will be to provide shorter articles, commentaries and insights on current issues related to vital, energetic, and resources for you to quickly find what you need to improve your health and life.

Knowing this is a busy season for you, I hope you pause and consider if you plan to enjoy the holidays or simply survive them. I sure hope you choose enjoy the richness of the season at hand.

Are You Having Fun Yet?

Most people who request lifestyle coaching need help in two areas: taking better care of their health and finding ways to have more fun. What’s your fun quotient like these days? Are you building time for recreation into your life during this busy season?

The Oxford American Dictionary defines recreation as “a process or means of refreshing or entertaining oneself after work by some pleasurable activity.” Recreation’s Latin and French roots mean “restore to health” or “create anew” and suggest a rejuvenating of strength or spirit. While leisure activities are pastimes, recreational activities are intended to restore physical or mental health. Plus, we do many of our recreational activities with others, so these things can connect and enhance our relationships, too.

I suspect you are already nodding your head in agreement. Yes, leisure and recreational activities are good for the body and soul. Yet, I wonder if you’re also trying to figure out where you’d find the time for this wonderful renewal. Especially going into the holiday season. Know, however, that it typically doesn’t matter what time of year it is. Most people find it challenging to make time for the activities they enjoyed as kids or those they’d like to develop as adults.

The question is, Are you having fun yet? When did life get so serious, so regimented and so scheduled? I suppose even if we figured out when it happened it wouldn’t matter. The truth is that some of us have forgotten and others have never learned how to be unproductive, but happy in the moment. We don’t even take time off that is given to us. In a report released in 2003, the World Tourism Organization found that Americans average 13 days a year for vacation. Every other country in the world takes at least twice that amount of time with Italy taking the most--an average of 42 days a year. Italy, anyone?

If you’re not in a position to or of a mind to shift your vacation schedule yet, think about how you can make more time for recreation during your daily life. What if your heart recognizes the need to discover, explore and experiment with new activities, but your head says that you have too many other things to do? Then stop and think about the benefits you gain from recreation. When you are convinced that fun is worthwhile for you and your family, you will diligently carve out time for it in your life.

How does fun benefit you? Doing activities you love fuels contentment, raises hope, reduces stress, diminishes resentments, keeps your brain alert, nurtures relationships, helps you discover yourself and, most importantly, relieves boredom. (Boredom for adults, in my opinion, leads to weight gain and in teens—leads to trouble.)

It’s time to make fun a priority and give yourself permission to be playful and lighthearted. A great start would be to give yourself permission to let go. Let go by doing things just for fun whether or not they get you anywhere. Experiencing the freedom and pure joy that come from taking time for fun rather than work can be immensely satisfying.

Many people want to take time for themselves, but find it challenging for different reasons. For instance, some find it uncomfortable to relax because of competing responsibilities and a lack of focus on the benefits of enjoyment. Vivian complained that she wanted to relax more, start scrap booking again and even plan a vacation to hike out east in the fall, but found herself getting “a panicky feeling” whenever she would explore vacation hiking ideas online. When she pulled out her scrap booking materials, she found her mind wandering to all of her “to-dos left undone.” She abandoned her hobby to get rid of the discomfort.

Other people find relaxing easy, however, their leisure habits sabotage their healthy lifestyle desires. Dan, said, “I relax. I consider it fun to sit in front of the TV at night watching ESPN.” Unfortunately, when he did that he also snacked and drank so he gained weight and lost overall energy. It’s easy to develop recreational activities that can actually sabotage your healthy lifestyle commitments because they take such little effort. Both Vivian and Dan found that they what they really wanted was to actively participate in fun activities that gave them a positive feeling.

What recreational activity is right for you? Ask 10 people how they have fun or what types of recreation they enjoy and you’ll get 50 or more ideas. What’s amazing is that some activities that you consider fun would cause your spouse, family or friends to cringe. For instance, the most popular participant sport in the country is bowling which had 55.5 million participants in 2002. I’d actually prefer a root canal to bowling! Meanwhile, people look at me incredulously and say, “You enjoy sports conditioning classes and sweating like a maniac?” Well—yes. The bottom line is that you’ll likely enjoy some activities alone, but find that friends and families will be willing to do others with you.

Life is just too short to be intense all the time. The world is too beautiful, rich and full to always need to be productive. If you’re not having fun yet, what is the point of working or running around to the exclusion of joy? The good news is that many of the recreational activities you love engage your brain (chess, cultural studies, writing, music, the arts), stimulate your body (sports, home decorating, gardening, hunting, biking) and connect you to others (spa days with friends, hobbies and crafts you can do with others, volunteer work—yes, for many volunteering is fun). There are no right or wrong choices for recreation. Look for activities that make your soul sing, your face light up and your mind expand.

As you head into the busy holiday season, consider including “non-productive” leisure time into your schedule at least periodically so you have the energy to genuinely enjoy the events you attend. And, as you roll into the New Year, make recreation a part of your goals for renewing, refreshing, and rejuvenating yourself throughout the year. Then when someone asks if you are having fun yet, you can respond with a big “yes!”

Holiday Ideas

Order the Self-Coaching Series for your family, friends or co-workers. You might even want to purchase a gift for yourself and have your kids give it to you. (Yes, that’s what I frequently do.)

The Scripture Memory cards are a particularly great idea at this time of year. And, they encourage walking. Give a gift that encourages a workout for both the spirit and body.

Go to www.katelarsen.com and click on products on the left-hand side of the tool bar to order. It is a secure website.

Exciting News!

While I have been recovering I haven’t been idle. I have FINALLY finished my book. The infamous book so many of you have been asking me to publish for years. The title is Progress, Not Perfection; The How To Manual to Improve Your Health, Enhance Your Life and Reduce Your Stress will come out early this next year. Watch for more details and your pre-order opportunities.

“Gratitude is the heart’s memory.” I am especially grateful for you my clients, friends, family and fans. Thank you for letting me join you on your journey of life.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.

And, as we say in our home “Merry CHRISTmas.”

Kate

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 Other news you can use

Anytime I read the words, "small choices or small steps" my attention perks up. So, when I read this most recent recap in a professional journal, I thought to share it with you.

Modest exercise staves off weight gain*
Deconditioned people who feel overwhelmed by the idea of starting an exercise and diet program can be confident that small steps do matter. A study finds that overweight, sedentary adults who are not dieting can stop future weight gain by participating in moderate exercise. The study, published in the January issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, included 120 overweight men and women between the ages of 40 and 65. The subjects, who were instructed not to diet during the 8-month program were assigned to one of three exercise groups: high amount/vigorous intensity, low amount/vigorous intensity and low amount/moderate intensity.

Although the high-amount group lost the most weight and fat, the two low-amount groups also lost some of each. Without changes in diet, a higher amount of activity is necessary for weight maintenance; however, weight gain can be cut off at the pass with modest amounts of exercise. Most individuals can accomplish this by walking 30 minutes every day, the study recommends.
* Source IDEA Fitness Journal June 2004

Wellness Vision Plan

I'm curious as to whether you created your Wellness Vision (January's ezine edition). If you did, how helpful has it been? We're half way through the year, if you're not at least half way to your goals for this year, it may be time to go back online and download the article and tool for creating your Wellness Vision. I challenge you to see the difference focused effort can make.

Kate's Contributions to the publishing world

During the past few months, I've had the privilege of writing for or contributing to the following articles;

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kate Larsen, PCC, of Winning LifeStyles, Inc., works with people who want to simplify their lives and take charge of their health. Kate works with organizations that want their people to do more with less stress and be at their best. Kate works one-on-one with individuals and conducts presentations and workshops throughout the US, Canada and Mexico.

Winning LifeStyles, Inc. has a lineup of training and educational materials designed to help individuals look better and feel better. Programs are designed to help busy professionals, entrepreneurs and motivated individuals create and maintain the lifestyle/workstyle that fuels their passion and purpose in life. Kate creates a win/win relationship with her clients. The bonus is her ability to speak and train before large or small groups. She has been an active member of the National Speakers Association since 1989. She is a certified personal trainer and an experienced group exercise instructor for over 19 years. She also walks her talk; literally, conducting walking clinics nationally.

Clients turn to Kate for information, guidance, motivation, skill-building tools and relationship improvement. Her focus is to help clients live congruently with their values, to be their best, to make choices that enhance their relationships and health, to create a "do-able" lifestyle plan that is designed for continued success. Kate is a successful entrepreneur, consultant, international speaker, addictions counselor, author, fitness instructor, wife and mother.

Touching the world at large

"One of my greatest goals is to make a positive difference in the lives of people everywhere and anywhere I have the privilege of being invited-TV, radio, the Internet, newspapers and magazines allow me to do that in a way I could never imagine. How fun is that!"

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CONTACT INFORMATION

Kate Larsen, PCC
Tel: 952-943-1430
Fax: 952-941-3521
E-mail: Kate@katelarsen.com

==============COPYRIGHT AND REPRINTS==================

Reprint permission is granted when the following credit appears: "© Kate Larsen, PCC, 2004. Reprinted with permission from 'Kate Larsen's Maximum Performance Resource, 2004' a monthly internet newsletter. For your own personal subscription, go to www.katelarsen.com"

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