Page 30 - Expert Issue 2015 (2)

Linda Kennedy (Personal Trainer)

Being Your Best You

By Linda Kennedy

As women living in the 21st century, we have the remarkable ability
to live the life we’ve always dreamed of – we are empowered to be
professionals, wives, mothers, athletes, and sometimes all of these
simultaneously. Since giving is part of our nature we need to be
careful that we aren’t trying to be all things to all people, and that we
don’t let excessive stress cause us to become unhealthy. We must
put ourselves first and make good self-care a priority, which includes
eating nutritious foods, getting plenty of exercise, downtime and qual-
ity sleep, and maintaining a healthy weight. There’s nothing better
than looking and feeling your best every single day - we are happier,
more productive, and will live longer this way.

If you do not fall into this category and are carrying more weight than
you’d like, where do you turn? There are so many diet plans, weight
loss programs, and quick-fix supplements out there. After helping cli-
ents successfully achieve and maintain their ideal weight for the last
21 years, I know that in order to be successful in this area, one must
look within and establish what is really at the heart of their desire to Photo Courtesy of Linda Kennedy
30 lose weight and how committed they are to do so. Is it that you want
to look good for a wedding or don’t feel good in your clothes any-
more? Have low self-esteem and perhaps harshly compare yourself
to others? Or do you have less energy than you used to, feel heavy
and weighed down, feel frustrated with added body weight due to
hormonal changes, or worse, are at risk for diabetes or other serious
diseases? Whatever the reason, the most important ingredient for
not only losing the weight but keeping it off, is your motivation and
readiness to make life-long lifestyle changes. On a 1-10 scale (“10”
being the highest where you’re willing to do whatever it takes to lose
the weight and keep it off, and “1” meaning you say you want to lose
weight but you’re not really serious about it), where do you fall?
Studies show that of those who lose weight on a diet, only 15% keep
it off after two years, and most gain back more. My approach is to
coach clients step-by-step on making those livable changes in their
diet and training all at the same time - for a long enough period of
time to see visible and lasting changes in their energy, health and
physique. Can you live with just one or two glasses of wine per week
instead of that habitual glass or two every night? Are you doing the
proper fat-burning interval workouts or just going through the motions
on the treadmill?
My LEANPower!® System not only contains meal plans, work-
outs, the best ways to burn fat and get into the best shape of
your life, but is packed with the most current information on
food additives, disease prevention, stress management and op-
timal health and wellness. Personal emPowerment comes from
taking charge of your life and making lifestyle changes that will
last so you can feel great every day and live a life that you love.
You can be in the best physical and mental shape of your life if
you want it bad enough. Your life may actually depend on it!
To contact Linda or order a copy of her new book, “LEANPow-
er!® - Change Your Body, Transform Your Life,” go to
www.lindakennedy.net. using Firefox, Google Chrome or Safari.