Most people understand metabolism to be how quickly your body burns calories. While this is true, it also includes how all the processes in your body work together to create the energy it needs to get through the day. How much you eat and how much energy your body needs will determine if you maintain, gain, or lose weight.

Our mindset is as important as our physical condition. Without the proper mindset we cannot commit to an exercise program, successfully engage in an activity, or make the mind/body connection necessary to have a safe and effective workout. Few people consider their mindset when thinking about, starting, or maintaining an exercise program. I believe mindset is the foundation to engaging and maintaining a successful exercise regimen. Mindset plays a key role in several areas.

As we age our muscles can become tighter and less flexible. This can impact our everyday lives and lead to possible injuries. We can make a tremendous impact on our flexibility by giving proper attention to our muscles.

Many people focus their attention on strengthening their body while paying little attention to strengthening their brain. Since our brain is the central processing point for our body, it is extremely important to take good care of it. And, like our body, if you want to strengthen your brain, you must continue to challenge it with different exercises and activities while feeding it healthy food and giving it sufficient rest.

Most people’s New Year’s resolutions are focused around exercise and diet. This year, I would like you to consider a resolution to improve your sleep habits. Sleep is a very important element of your overall health and can also benefit your exercise and diet. When we don’t sleep enough, the body has difficulty processing protein, which in turn can cause muscle loss. So even if you are exercising and trying to eat healthy, you will not have much success if you are not getting enough sleep.

I am often asked, “Should preteens exercise? And if so, how much should they do?” I strongly believe in introducing movement and exercise to children at a young age. I have seen great results and benefits not only with the children I teach exercise to, but also with my own four kids. If exercise and movement is taught at a young age, it then becomes a way of life rather than having to learn and incorporate it into our lives as adults — we all know how challenging that can be.

As winter approaches and the weather gets colder and the days become shorter, this may lead to the onset of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). SAD is a form of depression that appears around the same time each year. In most cases, SAD symptoms appear during late fall or early winter and go away during the sunnier days of spring and summer.

Today, more and more grandparents are helping care for their grandchildren. This requires grandparents to take good care of their own well-being. Since mental and physical health is closely related, it’s important to focus on both.

I am sure you have all had times when life becomes overwhelming with the stress of the family and relationships challenges, financial pressures, and day to day issues such as the car breaking down, family schedules, work stress, the list goes on. Not only is the stress overwhelming, but because we usually end up not taking care of ourselves physically, our diet and sleep suffer as well. It’s as if we are burning the candle at both ends.

Every morning we wake up and start the day, rarely thinking about our balance. While it’s not something we tend to focus on, balance does play an important role in our daily activities in addition to when we are playing sports or exercising.