How many times have you told yourself you are going to make it it to the gym at least three times a week only to find that your best-laid plans have been torpedoed? You know you need to work on your fitness goals but somehow the time and/or motivation just isn’t there?

In addition to my regular job as a marketing executive, I am an executive coach. I’ve noticed of late that all of my clients share a common struggle – taking care of themselves in the midst of managing a demanding career and busy home life. Their struggles resonate deeply for me because it was (and continues to be) my struggle.   How is it that most of us can squeeze in another meeting request but we can’t make time to tend our own well-being? I believe that working professionals (and especially busy working moms) really benefit from working with a personal trainer on a regular basis.  Think about it. You wouldn’t tackle a major project at work without putting a team in place. Why should it be any different for one of your most important projects – you?

What about group fitness you ask? I love exercise classes like Zumba and Spin but the challenge is that those classes happen on someone else’s schedule – not mine.  I’ll have all the intention of going but work or home life gets in the way. So how do you know if you need a trainer?

1. You need extra support to set and stick to your fitness goals. Ideally you have in your spouse or a best friend the perfect work-out companion. Years ago when I lived in New York, I had a small group of friends whom I regularly met up with at 5:30am a few times a week to run in Prospect Park near my Brooklyn home. Some mornings I didn’t feel like going but knowing my friends would be there waiting kept me feeling accountable. A trainer will do the same thing for you. He or she will encourage you, light a fire under your rear when you need it and hold you accountable to the goals you’ve set.

2. You don’t like to work out or you haven’t had a fitness routine in years. If it’s been ages since you’ve seen the inside of a gym or you simply hate working out, a personal trainer can really help. Your idea of fun may not be grinding it out on the weights but a good trainer will have a whole tool kit of exercises that may range from boot camp-type calesthenics to plyometrics.

3.You keep losing and gaining the same 5 pounds over and over. I’ve been a victim of this one more than I care to admit. One week you eat well and get all of your scheduled workouts in and the next week you go off the rails. A trainer who is knowledgeable about nutrition and exercise can provide great guidance on how to best eat. Equally important, she will switch up your routine frequently to make sure your body doesn’t adapt to your workout.

4.You’ve been doing the same workout routine for months and have stopped seeing results. Let’s face it. We’d all love to do as little as possible to stay fit. The reality is that our bodies need to be challenged. If you’ve been logging your same 30 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical trainer or doing the same weight circuit with diminishing returns – it’s time to switch it up. A good personal trainer will monitor your progress and alter your workout periodically.

5. You want to challenge yourself to accomplish a major fitness goal.  Maybe you’ve set a goal to run a marathon, compete in a triathalon or sign up for your first body building competition. An experienced personal trainer will tailor a program to optimize your fitness and prepare you physically to meet your goal.

I know what you’re thinking – that you can’t afford a personal trainer even if you wanted to hire one. A personal trainer can run anywhere from $65.00 to $100.00 an hour depending on where you live in the country.  To keep it affordable, you can do what I do and meet with your trainer once a week. I workout with Quincy on Fridays and he gives me a five day workout plan that I do for the rest of the week. Some trainers offer special discounts for buying multiple workout sessions. You could also go in on a trainer with a friend and workout together. Finally, you can find a qualified trainer who is just starting out and looking to build a client base. Newer trainers often will lower their rates to develop their new client roster.

Still at the end of the day, it’s going to be up to you make the commitment. Even the best trainer can’t turn you into a California beach goddess if you aren’t willing to do the work. Think about it. For all that you do for others, aren’t you worth the investment?

What do you think? Is a personal trainer worth the investment or a waste of money? Have you ever hired a trainer? How was your experience and what advice would you share?

“You are eating too many carbs and not enough protein.” This comes from my trainer Quincy (with whom I’ve recently reunited after an 18 month hiatus – more on him in another post), who is telling me this as I’m huffing my way across the gym floor doing  squats with a 30 pound bar across my shoulders.  I started back with Quincy after hitting a weight loss plateau and a stubborn tummy pooch that refused to budge no matter what I did.

While In my mind I am forever 28 years old, let me tell you what’s not 28 — my metabolism. It is true what everyone says about your metabolism after age 35; all of the delicious crappy food and alcohol you used to consume with nary a care, will stick to your thighs like glue. I’m amazed at how much harder I have to work just to maintain my weight let alone lose weight. So I’ve finally accepted that I need a permanent lifestyle change to my diet. I’ve long since past the time in my life where I can eat or drink anything I want without consequence.

As a mother to a toddler I’ve been on a pretty aggressive kick to get ultra fit,  improve my overall nutrition and hold back the hands of time.  With the help of Weight Watchers I  managed to lose all 45 pounds of the weight I gained while carrying D2 but I’ve still got an extra 15 pounds that’s plagued me for months now.   About a month ago I decided I needed to amp things up a bit to bust my rut.

Quincy told me that there was no way I was going to shed the last 15 pounds unless I cleaned up my diet.  He’s fond of saying “exercise is the wheel and your diet is the engine” for optimal fitness.   Quincy’s of the school that espouses 60% of a lean, strong body comes from diet and 40% comes from exercise.  Now, I’ve always considered myself a healthy eater. I shun pre-packaged food, don’t drink very much alcohol and eat lots of fruits and veggies every day. My downfall though is bread, sweets, the occasional pasta dish and fruits like grapes and bananas. In other words, I am a raging carboholic.

I’m a foodie and so oatmeal, egg whites, chicken breast and broccoli (a typical body-builder diet) every day weren’t going to cut it for me.  I need my food to have lots of flavor and texture. I love to cook so I quickly did an Amazon search on Clean Eating and came across Tosca Reno, author, fitness model, motivational speaker and patron saint of the Clean Eating lifestyle. I bought two cook books immediately. Tosca’s The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook: Great Recipes that Keep You Lean and Clean Eating Magazine’s the The Best of Eating Clean Cookbook. Both are well-designed cookbooks with easy-to-follow directions and beautiful full-color photographs. Both cookbooks are also written with busy families in mind so there are plenty of crowd-pleasing favorites like turkey burgers in addition to more exotic dishes like Quinoa with Sun-dried Tomatoes. All the recipes have average prep times of 30 minutes or less.

What is Clean Eating? As laid out in her bestselling cookbook,  Tosca Reno shares these lifestyle principles:

• Eat 5-6 small meals every day.
• Eat every 2-3 hours.
• Combine lean protein and complex carbs at every meal.
• Drink at leasts 2 liters, or 8 cups, of water each day.
• Never miss a meal, especially breakfast.
• Carry a co0ler loaded with Clean Eating foods to get through the day.
• Avoid all over-processed, refined foods, especially white flour and sugar.
• Avoid all saturated and trans fats.
• Consume adequate healthy fats (EFAs) each day.
• Avoid sugar-loaded colas and juices.
• Avoid alcohol.
• Avoid all calorie-dense foods containing no nutritional value.
• Depend on fresh fruits and vegetables for fiber, vitamins and enzymes.
• Stick to proper portion sizes and give up super sizing!

Not bad, right (well, maybe except the no alcohol part) ? So I’m going to give clean eating a shot for the next 30 days and I’ll try not to go on a Pop Tart binge report back. Last week I whipped up a tasty slow-cooker beef stew with fire-roasted tomatoes, black beans and butternut squash and it was fabulous. It was filling without weighing me down and it didn’t leave me feeling hungry like a pasta dish. I also tried out the Crock-Pot Porridge which is made from  cracked wheat, steel-cut oats, rye flakes, brown rice and small handfuls of dried fruit. And if that sounds like a lot of fiber, you would be right. I was wary of how “grainy” this dish would taste but it turned out terrific. It had a rich, nutty taste with more complex flavors than my standard oatmeal. Bonus, the recipe made enough for several mornings so all I need to do is reheat in the morning and go.

On the menu this week? Egg White and Turkey Scramble (the protein to go with my AM carbs), Oven-Roasted Root Vegetables to serve as a side to my baked chicken. I’m also doing a grilled shrimp and asparagus dish that looks divine. What I love about everything I’ve cooked is that the ingredients were easy to find, cooking times were minimal and every recipe is loaded with flavor.

So far my foray into Clean Eating has been a good one and it seems like a good lifestyle change I can easily incorporate into my and my family’s routine.  But with four business trips planned this month and a busy work calendar we’ll see how closely I can stick to this new way of eating. I think I’m up to the challenge.

What about you? How have you tried to incorporate healthier ways of eating into your own life? Have you noticed changes in your body or fitness level over the  years? And if so, what have you done to keep fit while maintaining a busy lifestyle?