I shot a segment today for Eyewitness News here in the NYC Area.  It will air this coming Monday, during the 5 PM news.   I won’t spoil the segment, but in doing a little research for the piece I found some rather amazing information.

In 2002 they did a study in England and Ireland where they asked women to walk up the stairs at work each day for 8 weeks.  They started with one flight of stairs and gradually worked up to walking 200 steps which took most people about 2 minutes.  They went up the stairs 6 x during the work day – for a total of 12 minutes of work.  Now mind you this wasn’t all at once, rather just 2 minutes at a pop.  The results?  In just 2 months these women increased their HDL (the good cholesterol) and improving the ratio of good cholesterol to bad.  They improved their work capacity (as measured by their “VO2 Max” and a decrease in the production of metabolic wastes during exercise).  Experts calculated that in just 8 weeks they had decreased their of having a heart attack by 33%!!   Working out just 12 minutes a day — and not changing their diet or anything else.

Then another study built on that and looked at a much larger group of individuals.  But in this study they only had them do only 100 steps/day for a total of 6 minutes of work spread out in their work day.  And guess what?!  These folks had similar benefits to the point that they decreased their risk for cardiovsacular disease by about 20%.  In just a few weeks with 6 minutes of exercise per day.

Now nobody is saying that these people became hard bodies from these workouts, but the fact is they had a tremendous impact on their health and their risk for having a heart attack.  That’s significant because every year 1.1 million people in the US have a heart attack and about 1/2 of those will be fatal.

This is really great news, because everyone has 6-12 minutes/day to exercise.  Best of all stairs are free and found everywhere…at home…at work…in the park…at the mall…you name it.  There is really no excuse! 
Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, author of Fit + Female:  The Complete Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women.  It’s a first of its kind program designed to fit into a busy women’s life.  Lose weight and look great — 90 Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee!!

I was on a teleconference today with some very bright business owners, and the message I heard loud and clear was that marketing can really suck. As in – suck you dry. But also, of course, it can be an awfully unpleasant thing (that you keep procrastinating) on your to-do list.

I personally have encountered marketing becoming a daunting and unpleasant activity, but I can also say that it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are three things you can do to improve how you feel about your marketing:

1. Remember that it’s like exercise – it’s critical that you do it, but sometimes it takes about 10 minutes to “warm up,” but, even still, you might be counting the minutes until it’s finished.

2. Remember that what feels like “rejection” or “being ignored” isn’t personal. It’s not about you – it’s really about the person you’re trying to reach not thinking they need what you’re marketing right now. Regroup and try again.

3. Remember that the marketing activities with the greatest impact are not the expensive ones. Remember what I said about exercise? Well, a lot of us try to motivate ourselves to exercise by spending a lot of money on fancy outfits and tools. In the end, you could put on a decent pair of shoes and just go for a walk. Marketing is the same way. Just get out and do it – you don’t need a lot of money to succeed!

Virginia Ginsburg is an entrepreneur and business & marketing consultant who delivers strategic, affordable marketing services through her company accordionmarketing. She also writes a blog called Body > Mind > Business, which discuses the connection between business health and personal health, and the struggles she faces in pursuit of work-life balance. Virginia has an MBA from the University of Southern California and is currently (slowly) pursuing a Ph.D. in Psychology at UCLA. She has more than 12 years of experience as a senior marketing consultant, and has served as a trusted partner, coach and consultant to more than 100 sole proprietors, partnerships and corporations. 
Virginia lives in Santa Monica, CA with her husband and daughter. As part of her passion for working with entrepreneurs, Virginia is actively involved in small business development projects in the U.S. and in developing countries.

I regularly meet with prospects and help them understand how much business they are getting from their network.  It is very enlightening and they are always surprised by their results.  Do you know your referral percentage?  No?  Don’t worry, most people don’t know, but it is very enlightening.  So, grab a pencil and a calculator and I will help you find your “Referral Percentage” here we go,

1. List 4 people in your network (not customers) who have passed you the most business by referral this year.  For instance Tom, Sue, Bill, Kim.

2. Now, for each person write the number of referrals they have passed you in the last 12 months.  Tom=4, Sue=12, Bill=5 and Kim=8

3. Think about each of those people, how many people do you believe each of them know?  On average, we each know about 250 people. So, Tom=300, Sue=500, Bill=800 and Kim=200

4. Next step, add all of the referrals you have received together, in our example it would be 29, and then add all of the network members together.  In our example, it would be 1800.

5. Last step, you will need your calculator to complete the process,  29 divided by 1800 equals .016%

What is your percentage?  Are you surprised?  Did you have 4 referral sources?  Many of my clients are shocked and frustrated when they do this exercise.  It is possible to increase this number.  The very first time I did this it was .010 and I was shocked.

Here is the real question, what are you going to do to change this percentage?  What steps can you take to develop a higher referral percentage?   Hint:  Stop adding people to your network, instead start digging deeper into your network and develop stronger strategic relationship!  Start with the 4 people you listed here and if you did not have four then work on the ones you have.  When you are sure that you have increased that relationship, then move on to create a new one, until your have your “Four”.

Hazel M Walker, owns three award winning franchise’s. She is a 10 year owner of two BNI Franchises where she teaches members how to leverage their time and network to build each others businesses. She is also a Referral Institute franchise owner and teaches Business Owners how to harness the Science of Referrals to develop Referrals for Life. Hazel is a published author in New York Times best sellers Masters of Networking and Masters of Sales. As a member of the National Speakers Association she travels the world speaking to businesses and women’s organizations on the topics of networking to create a life you love.

You’ve probably heard the saying, “the operational definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result”.

That’s something I see quite often in people who have difficultly either losing weight or keeping it off.  Inevitably, these people have a lot of very strong opinions about what they need to do to lose weight.   It’s as if their case is completely unique and no one else has had the same weight loss struggles – or been able to overcome them.

Given the fact that many of these people have never been successful with weight management it is surprising to how locked into their beliefs they can be.  Usually there is a lot of talking about the problem, but very little action.  And too often they are closed off to any advice — even from a health professional!

Case and point…I was working out at my gym the other day and someone I know approached and started asking me a lot of questions about weight loss and exercise. 

Now at the risk of sounding obnoxious, I usually try to avoid having conversations with people while I’m working out for a few reasons.  For one thing I consider that my “off duty” time, so I take my trainer hat off and try not to look at the million issues I see all around me that I would correct if I were wearing my trainer hat.  Another reason I don’t chat much (and keep my iPod headphones in my ears) is that I (like most people I know) am often pressed for time, so I’m usually focused on getting as much done as possible in whatever time I have.  And last but not least…honestly, I don’t like people giving me unsolicited opinions or feedback while I’m exercising — so I try not to do that to other people.

But I really like this woman, so stopped what I was doing and I answered all of her questions. And wouldn’t you know, she had answers for everything she was asking me that were in direct contradiction with my answers.  None of them were based on science.  In fact some of them were in direct contradiction to exercise science.  But it didn’t matter.  She knew what “works for her”. 

It’s kind of hard to argue with that line of logic.  But it does beg the question…if her system works so well, why is she still struggling with the same significant weight problem year after year?  Why wouldn’t someone in her situation entertain the suggestions of someone who has been successful in this area?  Especially when she’s asking — as if she wants to hear the answers?

“Success leaves clues” (as my buddy, Tony Robbins is fond of saying).  If someone else has done something and been successful at it…if you find out what they did and you do it too it should work for you, as well.  Or you can keep on doing as you’ve always done and see how that works out for you.

 
Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, author of Fit + Female:  The Complete Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women.  It’s a first of its kind program designed to fit into a busy women’s life.  Lose weight and look great — 90 Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee!!

Since September is Menopause Awareness Month, I thought I would share my own menopause memoir to commemorate the month.  I should warm my male readers that this post will contain information about my girlie parts, hormones and my periods menstrual cycles.  If you are squeamish of such topics or simply just not interested, then now would be a good time to click away.  However, if you stick around to read my post, you may learn a little more insight to the baffling female species.

Before children, my cycle was 21 days, but at the age of 34 after the birth of my second daughter, I began to have irregular periods.  For some cycles, my period would arrive 6 weeks later.  As you can imagine, these irregular period patterns would cause me to think I was pregnant, but then my old reliable Aunt Flo would finally arrive. 
About two years ago in the midst of this new pattern of irregular menstrual cycles, I became pregnant.  Unfortunately, the pregnancy was not viable and I lost my baby at 10 weeks, which was my first miscarriage and my first experience with all the awful symptoms that occur as a result, such as severe cramping and weeks of very heavy bleeding. 
Then, almost a year later to the date, I experienced another episode of severe heavy bleeding, which I thought I was another miscarriage.  I took a pregnancy test which read negative, but I doubted the accuracy of the test and tried 2 more tests which also read negative.  I began to think there was something more serious happening with me and I made an appointment with my obstetrician.

When I visited my OB, a number of tests were performed on me: a pregnancy test, blood work and an ultrasound.  As the other pregnancy tests already demonstrated, I was not pregnant.  Thyroid was also ruled out.  Nothing irregular showed up on my ultrasound.  So, what could be wrong with me? 

That’s when the nurse practitioner revealed to me news I was not ready to hear.  “You are experiencing pre-menopause.” 

*Freeze frame for dramatic effect and insert tragic climatic music.*

According to my NP, my heavy and irregular periods could only be explained by perimenopause.  It would not affect my ability to get pregnant, but simply my biological clock ticking and reminding me to get cracking if I want more children.

After I left the doctor’s office, I researched pre-menopause and I even recalled a show that Oprah did years ago about the topic.  When the episode aired, I remembered thinking what an unfortunate situation for these women in their thirties to face.  Who knew I would be one of those women? 

    
As I read the symptoms of perimenopause, it became a checklist for all my bizarre ailments over the past 2 years, particularly an increase in allergies and insomnia.  Even my poor sex-deprived DH would attest to my change in libido. 

Upon my research, I also discovered that perimenopause can occur 5-15 years prior to the onset of menopause.  I recalled my mother’s menopause experience.  My mother went through her change when I was teenager.  When I did the math, I realized my mom could have very well been my age when her symptoms of perimenopause surfaced.

As with everything else, diet and exercise seem to be the key to ward off the symptoms of perimenopause.  At the time of my menopause manifestation, I consumed a lot of Diet Dr. Pepper, so my first course of action was to replace my daily dose of diet soda with green tea.  I began to eat more flax seeds and other foods with Omega-3.  I added soy milk and soy beans to my diet.  I also limited my morning coffee to one cup.  I increased my number of work-out days from 3 days a week to 5 days. 

Within a week of changing my diet and increasing my exercise, I felt remarkably better.  My energy levels rose and my sleeping patterns improved.  My menstrual cycles became more regular and my menstrual flow gradually decreased.

It has been a year since my menopause manifestation.  By simply changing my diet and increasing my exercise routine, I feel I have found my own Fountain of Youth.

It was once believed that pregnant women were fragile creatures, who should avoid exerting themselves during those 9 months.  However, now many studies have established that exercise actually helps the body deal with the stresses of pregnancy with benefits for the: aerobic system,  respiratory system and cardiovascular system.

That said there are some basic guidelines to keep in mind to keep both mama and baby safe while breaking a sweat.  ALWAYS check with your doctor before beginning (or continuing) a workout program, while pregnant to see if you have any special needs or restrictions.

• Workout with the goal of maintaining fitness, rather than training for competition.
• Avoid exercising in hot, humid environments which challenge the body’s ability to cool itself.  Your body temp should stay below 100 degrees.
• Stay well-hydrated, drink (preferably water) until your urine runs light in color
• Have a light snack before to avoid low blood sugar
• Keep energy bars, fruit and juices on hand in case of low blood sugar
• Do longer warm-ups and cool-downs
• Reduce the frequency, intensity and time of your workouts as your pregnancy progresses
• Try to exercise on flat even surfaces, balance and joint laxity is challenged during pregnancy, increasing the risk of ankle sprains
• Wear supportive footwear
• Work at an intensity you would describe as “somewhat hard”.
• Avoid situations which could result in abdominal trauma (roller-blading, kick-boxing, mountain biking, downhill skiing) especially as the pregnancy progresses
• Avoid breath-holding during exercise
• Avoid rapid changes of position between exercise or prolonged standing as these can result in dizziness or fainting from blood pooling in the legs and feet.
• Avoid lying flat on your back after the first trimester, as the weight of the baby can impair blood flow back to your heart and brain, making you feel dizzy, faint or uncomfortable
• Keep your pelvic floor strong by doing Kegels both during your workout and during the day (some experts recommend as may as 50 reps, 10-20 sets every day — Geez, that’s A LOT of Kegeling!!).  For directions on how to Kegel check out this link to The Mayo Clinic

Again, this list is just a guide and women with certain medical conditions and/or a high-risk pregnancy may need additional modifications.  Unfortunately, in some cases women may not be able to exercise at all.   Be sure to talk to your doctor and make sure he/she is okay with what you are planning to do.

Geralyn Coopersmith is the author of the critically-acclaimed book, Fit + Female, The Perfect Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type. Geralyn served as the exercise consultant for the highly-successful Joy Fit Club Program with Joy Bauer on The Today Show.  She is a contributing reporter and editorial advisor for iVillage.com and a member of the advisory board for Health Magazine.   Geralyn is frequently featured in national magazines and newpapers, including:  Health,Fitness, Self, Fit Pregnancy, Marie Claire, Family Circle, Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, The New York Post, Newsday and many others.