Gentlewoman: Etiquette for a Lady, From a Gentleman (30 page)

And that’s often what happens – your metabolism is slow, body is getting fat and people think not eating is the key. Wrong again! If you don’t put fuel in a car, after a while it does what? Even before the car stops, it slows down and functions stop working. The car may still run, and you think it’s OK because it cranks, but underneath, certain things just aren’t working the way they should. Sooner or later that car will die out.

Life catches up to you.

What to avoid?

Alcohol is a huge problem many of my adult clients don’t want to address. Oftentimes, they consume alcohol to offset underlying issues. As a personal trainer, I also serve as a goal coach. When we dig a little deeper, together we find out why a person may turn to alcohol at certain times of the night or the day, or the week or their life. We get to the bottom of the stressful satiations they’re trying to mask.

What are some quick, simple and effective routines that can be done at home with no equipment regardless of body type?

If you only have so much time and can fit in certain exercises, I recommend:

• Burpees: Great total body exercise
  
• Walking Lunges: great for legs, glutes, quads and hamstrings. Whenever you’re working bigger muscle groups, you’re burning more calories.
  
• Push-ups: Any variation will work your chest as well as your triceps.
  

Final words.

When you’re dating, you have to check a person’s commitment to health and fitness. A lot of my clients I’ve converted to healthier lifestyle will say, “If the person I’m dating or the person I’m with isn’t committed to health and fitness, I don’t see how I can raise kids with this person. We’ll be teaching two totally different things.” Make sure you’re equally yoked. Make a commitment to living a healthy lifestyle.

You will reach your goal! I’ve had clients who’ve been overweight their whole life and have never been comfortable with their bodies. They finally buy into fitness and healthy eating between 25 and 30 years old and finally realize it’s attainable for anybody. When you work hard, there really are no limitations to what you can do. Find what works for you. Make no excuses. Hair is no excuse. If a woman is confident about the way her body looks, by default, she’s going to take care of her hair. If you get your body where you want it, you’ll make sure your hair looks good even if it takes an extra 15 to 30 minutes preparation time because everything else looks good. Shut up and train!

2-Minute Abs Workout (2 sets)

• Crunches
  
• Rocky Balboas aka Boxer Sit-ups
  
• Toe Touches
  
• V-Sits aka Vertical sit-ups
  
• Muffin Tops aka Core Twists
  

+ Set 1: 25 reps of each exercise | Take a 30 second rest

+ Set 2: 20 reps of each exercise

Rahman Ray Grayson, a.k.a. Mr. Shut Up And Train | Celebrity Personal Trainer | Goal Coach |
MrShutUpAndTrain.com

Disclaimer:
All material provided is provided for informational or educational purposes only. The Bereolaesque Group, Total Fit team nor anyone associated with Mr. Shut Up & Train will be responsible or liable for any injury sustained while exercising at your home, gym or elsewhere. Consult a physician regarding the applicability of any opinions or recommendations with respect to your symptoms or medical condition.

A gentleman’s appreciation for the feminine form is more sophisticated than the average man. That subtle jiggle in your sundress is like ocean waves crashing onto the shore, only to build back up and crash over and again with each step. An encounter so beautiful, it makes me forget what to type next...

Your curves shouldn’t get on your nerves. What’s beautiful road scenery without a few twists and turns? Embrace your shape. We certainly do. The goal isn’t to be thin; the goal is to be healthy! Say yes to the sundress!

REST.

Good sleep has been compared to good sex, but the majority of people aren’t getting much of either. For a younger and more ambitious generation, staying awake has become an increasingly fashionable topic to brag about. The damage done to the body due to a lack of rest can kill you before you get to enjoy what you’ve worked hard for. Rest is a gift from God. Even He rested after creating the earth (Genesis 2:2). What makes you think you don’t have to?

Insomnia isn’t sexy–it’s an illness. The only bags that look good on a Lady are under her arms, not under her eyes. A restless woman is a rest-less woman. Tirelessly working isn’t always the solution. The human mind, body and spirit are like a webpage that times out–it requires refreshing. Sleep replenishes and reinvigorates you. Beauty rest isn’t some catchphrase reserved for high society. When you don’t rest, it shows and overtime, it can decrease your quality of life.

Set a schedule. Go to bed earlier, and you can wake up earlier. There’s always work to do. When you’re dead and gone, there will still be work to do. So while you’re awake do your best, but God will do the rest while you rest. You can’t outwork God. Take your butt to bed and sleep like your life depends on it…because it does.

Despite how it looks, no one has it all. But it’s not about having it all; it’s about successfully balancing what you do have. If you decide to stay home and raise kids while your husband works, it doesn’t devalue you in any way. If you want to be a career woman, it doesn’t make you any greater than a stay-at-home wife. Whether you want to be a workaholic or balance work and family, you choose your priorities. Never neglect your health chasing success.

DOCTOR’S NOTE

Idoroenyi Amanam, M.D.

Physician

Gentlewomen,

I’m a physician and contrary to popular belief, I would love to see less of you. My job is to keep you alive when you fall ill, but more importantly, impart advice that keeps you in good health (and out of the emergency room). If you’ve had the good fortune to pick up this book and open to this chapter, I can deduce that you’re a pleasant, curious and logical woman of the world. I bet you make appointments and keep them, deliver food to your friends who are new moms, heed traffic signs, and only bring 8 items to the 10 items-or-less counter. This is you managing the vicissitudes of life. Unfortunately, I can’t say that your stellar life management skills will translate into you making the right choices about your health. What are those choices you ask? Read on…

Preventative medicine is more important than ever – this is not new to your intelligent reader. However, the hardest part of my job is convincing you to follow my recommendations and advice aimed at…prevention. I’m regularly dismayed and baffled at my inability to convince you, who is otherwise healthy that it’s imperative that you take your blood pressure pills. I get it - you have no symptoms, and there is no physical evidence of disease - thank goodness. But I’m not in the business of prescribing unnecessary medications or needless advice, so if I prescribe it, you should probably take it
as directed.

Take Camille, a gregarious 42-year-old woman who meticulously has cared for her skin looks to be just shy of 35. She appears healthy and generally is (based on routine physicals and tests), but her uncontrolled blood pressure will kill her. She can’t see it. So to her it doesn’t exist. I see cases like Camille’s daily. Many people’s understanding of illness is the bacterial infectious disease model. You contract an illness. Shortly thereafter you have symptoms. Then, you have treatment that resolves symptoms and cures the illness. The problem is that model only fits for a portion of illnesses. The top two causes of death for women: Heart Disease and Cancer (via 2010 CDC statistics) definitely do not fit the infectious disease paradigm.

My job is to convince my patients that those statistics are real and the mundane advice that doctors give their patients are actually worthwhile. So what’s that advice?

Heart disease the leading cause of death in women is an all-encompassing description of any disease that affects the cardiovascular system. This includes coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, and structural heart diseases and irregular heartbeats. I still haven’t figured out how to make my advice exciting. It’s the same that you’ll hear from more famous professionals like Dr. Sanjay Gupta or Dr. Mehmet Oz. I’d like to think I’m much more captivating than Mehmet to convince you to eat a low fat/high fiber diet, exercise at least 30 minutes a session five times a week, limit alcohol consumption and abstain from smoking. But who am I kidding. We’re inundated with valuable information over television, radio and the Internet that by the time I get my opportunity, you’ve become apathetic to this news. Even so, if you don’t follow my advice you increase your chances of acquiring heart disease.

Cancer is a very complex disease process that affects a variety of organs, but to put it simply, it is uncontrolled cell growth. Though cancer, originally named by Hippocrates in 400 B.C., has been known to medicine for a very long time, we have just begun to understand the complicacy of it all really. Though we’ve made significant advances, we are still trying to find better tools to treat cancers. Until then, we have to rely on screening and prevention of cancer.

The American Cancer Society does a fantastic job of bringing awareness to a variety of cancers. I mean what other organization can convince men, with high levels of testosterone that are paid millions to demolish each other physically on Sundays that pink socks and gloves in October is the cool thing to do? Though billions of dollars are raised annually to assist in screening and prevention of a variety of cancers, we still lose half of our cancer deaths per year to preventable causes (via report released by AACR ‘2010).

Lung cancer to me is especially frustrating… the most common killer of cancers among women (4 out of 5 are caused by tobacco). The key is to not smoke. I know it may be difficult for a woman who thinks it’s cute to smoke in her black little dress to stop smoking. But we have so much proven data that you should. I’m definitely not the first person to say that smoking kills. But it just does. I’ll also add that it makes your breath stink and decreases your ability to discern between flavors.

There is no consensus in the medical community regarding lung cancer screening, and currently it is not routinely done. At the age of 50, you should have started your breast cancer screening with mammograms at least every two years and should have been screened for colon cancer with a colonoscopy (frequency every ten years). Those lung, breast and colon cancer death rates are not static, and I’m confident those numbers will improve for the better.

My recommendations are very general and superficial considering the subject matter of this book. You should see a medical professional in order to receive expert assistance regarding your health. Depending on the specialty of the health care provider, you may be presented with slightly different recommendations.

My keys to survival are simple: build a great relationship with your doctor so they can tailor their knowledge to your unique life experience. Live a healthy life. Be in touch with your body…

Most Sincerely,

Idoroenyi Amanam, M.D.

BREAST SELF-EXAM

All adult women are encouraged to check their breasts and perform a self-exam once a month. The best time to perform the exam is three to five days after your monthly cycle to ensure your breasts aren’t as lumpy or tender.

Many cases of breast cancer are discovered by women noticing unusual changes and of course, paying a visit to their doctor. The earlier that breast cancer is detected, the better the chance you have at beating this thing. Here’s a quick guide to the self-exam:

STEP 1

Lay on your back. Now put your right hand behind your head and use your left three middle fingers to trace your right breast. Repeat the process with your left hand above your head.

STEP 2

Next, stand in front of a mirror and relax. Be at peace. Place your arms to the side and look at your breasts for anything visibly abnormal. Keep an eye out for any changes in shape, any dimpling or swelling of the skin. Repeat the same with hands in the air. Place your palms on hips firmly so that your chest muscles flex. Look for any noticeable changes on either one side. Last, squeeze the nipples and check for crust or discharge.

Please consult a physician for medical advice upon finding anything out of the ordinary. There’s no such thing as overreaction or an inappropriate inquiry when it comes to your health. Do not rely solely on self-examinations for detection. Seek medical instruction from a doctor.

King James Version

King James Version:
Faith