How often do we declare “I’m going on a diet” or “No thanks, I’m on a diet”? What is a diet anyways? To me, a diet is a fixed way of being specifically tailored to create optimum weight loss in a certain amount of time; the main outcome being, get skinny fast! Well, what happens when you lose that weight and look uber hot and sexy for your vacation? Most of us will feel so deprived that we booze our faces off and eat like we have never seen a buffet before. You end up fatter than you were to begin with. I can openly admit that I have most definitely done this. The results never stay because it’s not a realistic lifestyle change. These types of “crash-diets” cannot be sustained for long periods of time. If they could be, I would have 18% body fat all year round! I don’t believe there is any harm in wanting to shed a few pounds to look svelte in a bikini. It’s the after math that eventually catches up… We skimp on calories and over do work outs, just to make it to that “special day” or that “certain number” on the scale. Then what happens when you reach your goal? You go back to your regular way of being. You try not to think about it again until you get invited to an event where you know photos of you will be taken. It starts all over, you do your best to shed that underarm jiggle and pray that you will still fit into last year’s Christmas dress. I don’t want these potentially embarrassing situations to be the “fire under my ass” so to speak. I don’t want the prospect of wearing a bathing suit in public fear me into hitting the tred mill. This type of motivation doesn’t help KEEP you motivated. Motivation is the key.
Today I commit to NOT-Dieting. That’s right! I am starting the UN-Diet. I refuse to go to extreme measures to try and achieve unrealistic results. I want to create an advantageous lifestyle. I want healthy eating and sustainable choices to be the norm. I don’t know how I’m going to make this happen but I’m committed to exploring the options….
It’s not a secret that I need to lose weight, but I’ve decided the way to do it is NOT to diet, but to make changes that will last for the rest of my life. I don’t just want to lose the extra weight, I want to get fit and healthy. I want to get to at least 80, without all the health issues that plague my dad. He’s 60 and has already had 2 heart attacks, he’s in permanent AF (Atrial Fibrilation – means his heart beats too fast), he has high cholesterol, possible angina issues, and takes a few handfuls of medication everyday to keep these under control. He definately won’t be able to play football on the park with my kids (when I have them). I don’t want to be in that situation.
Because it’s not just about losing weight I decided I needed to start doing exercise. I do some things now, but not enough. So as well as a healthy eating plan, I’m starting running again, I used to love running but haven’t done any for over 3 years. It’s going to be slow start because at the moment I get out of breath if I have to run for a bus. I have a 10 week 5K plan from the Running Made Easy book (by Susie Whalley and Lisa Jackson) and I’m following it. I’ve signed up to run in The Leeds 10K (Jane Tomlinson’s Run For All) in July, on behalf of the Yorkshire Cancer Centre. It’s 22 weeks away and i’ll need to do the 5K plan followed immediately by the 10k plan to get me fit for the run. I WILL do this.
I also want to be able to walk into a shop to buy some new clothes and not spend 40 minutes crying in the changing rooms because I can’t find even 1 pair of trousers that actually fit me. I have clothes in a range a sizes in my drawers and wardrobe, most aree things that are now too small but I always loved to wear so I won’t get rid of them. This year I’d like to wear some if not all of those too small items that are in my wardrobe. I have some gorgeous skirts, shirts, trousers, and even a pair of really expensive pyjama’s. I WILL be wearing them by the end of the year.
There will be a follow up to this post with a nice bullet pointed list listing my exact goals; both short and long term.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading, more to follow soon.
I am not a cynical person. In fact most people who know me would say that I was a pretty optimistic person. I am a little bit of a skeptic, true, but not a cynic. I say this because the diet and health industry has driven me to unyielding, unending cynicism. I think, I truly hope I am looking at the worst of general human commercial behavior here. From outright lies trying to profit from harmful activities by claiming they are healthy to slick marketing schemes that pitch useless advice, the abject greed at the cost of the health of fellow humans is so constant as to make even the most faithful of us lose all belief in humankind.
It is like a person has fallen in the water and is drowning and 40 people run to throw them a rope. Some ropes look stronger than others and the person in the water has to choose one. The problem for the drowning person is that maybe one or two of those ropes may actually be pulled in to safety, most of the others will just drag you around, but never get you out of the water. Some will ask you for money before they pull you out and just leave you there after you have paid. The ropes that look the strongest, those aren’t ever going to pull you to safety. The people who say it is going to be easy to pull you out of the water, they are lying, they don’t have a clue, nor a care what it would take. If rescue operations were performed this way, people wouldn’t stand for it, and not many people need rescued each year. Still, the food systems, government diet recommendations, diet industry, supplements industry, prescription drug industry and health industry are all competing to ‘throw you a line’ and most of us need this help.
Look, I don’t know if this is getting to me because of the weather, or if it is because I have just started looking into the state of this business, but what I am seeing is really bothering me. Maybe come summer I will be shaking off the greed of supplement sellers and the disturbing laziness of magazine editors with a ‘come on, it is so beautiful out, why let yourself worry about a couple of bad people’. Maybe. Still it is the middle of winter here in Vancouver and it is a little gray out and has been for months and I am sick of seeing people knowingly make the world a worse place just so they can earn several MORE million dollars.
This morning, I was getting some skim milk at 7-11 for my morning protein shake. If I can’t eat a healthy breakfast I always makes sure I get a piece of toast or a piece of fruit and a protein shake. If I don’t start my morning out right, I am guaranteed to mess up the entire day. If I get my morning right, I almost never screw up the rest of the day. So, I am buying my milk and I end up having to wait for a minute or two at the magazine stand. I figure while I am standing here, I should take a look at the magazines and see if something infuriates me. I should know better and stay away from these magazines, but for some reason I just want to make myself more angry today, sort of like when you were young and had a tooth falling out. You would keep playing with it even though it hurt, maybe because it hurt…
I Hate Men’s Health
In any case I wasn’t disappointed. Right away in the number one spot on the rack is Men’s Health. I hate Men’s Health. I used to think it was a good magazine but that was back in the 90’s when I was anything but healthy and didn’t really have much of a clue how to get healthy. In fact it was only when I was getting so annoyed at the fashion and women’s magazines for their absurd diet claims that I noticed the constant promise of FLAT ABS!! from Men’s Health (and in general how much Men’s Health began to look like a women’s beauty secret and fashion magazine). Normally accompanied with the claim that they were easy and or quick. I know that flat abs are neither easy or quick for anyone to get, so this pissed me off. Don’t promise me something that is hard and maybe even impossible and sell it as easy and quick. It only makes you look like a asshole for promising me things that you can’t deliver and me look like a loser for believing you. Really you are only doing everyone a disservice here.
Then I noticed month after month, the renewed promises of flat abs, quickly and easily. The irony of this was not lost on me as after the months passed I didn’t see many more people with flat abs, in fact, if anything I would go with the contrary. Although I must admit on magazine covers I was seeing more and more of these rare creatures, but in everyday life, they were still rather elusive. This is surprising because Men’s Health boasts a monthly circulation of an astounding 1.85 million magazines and a readership of 12 million people!! That is a few more than this blog gets to be sure, but I may be catching up to their staggering 40 million page views per months (okay, catching up might not be the right term given the substantial lead that they have, but I am thankful and appreciative of the new readers I am getting every day. Thank you!).
So, flat abs are easy and 12 million people read this issue. Of course those 12 million people have flat abs, because they picked up that issue and to reiterate, flat abs are easy and quick…. but wait, the next month’s issue also offered flat abs… Why would you need to offer more easy flat abs… I am confused… It was then that I read this quote from David Zinczenko, the editor of ‘Men’s Health Magazine’:
In survey after survey, men and women say a lean, muscular abdomen is the ultimate symbol of sex appeal.
David Zinczenko obviously didn’t miss the importance of these studies. Most people would have seen that and said:
yep, flat abs are hot. They would be great to promise people, but that would be totally unrealistic, irresponsible and unethical. After all you would have to be a total douchebag to sell people a diet based on the fact that the outcome is popular, not on any belief that it works. Instead, I will just spend my time and effort to help people start to lose weight, because that is a first step and very possible achievement, albeit it will be hard and take work.
But David Zinczenko isn’t most people. After seeing these results of these studies he figured, I will give people the Abs Diet, and he did just that. But that wasn’t enough, after seeing the remarkable marketing success of flat abs (it really is only a marketing success because no unfit people are getting flat abs from this book), he brought this offer to Men’s Health magazine (and Women’s health, but I will get into that a little later). Month after month he continues to offer the promise of flat abs, or six pack abs, easily, or quickly… Month after month circulation goes up and now it is the best selling man’s magazine on the newstands. In fact, some even more disturbing information as supplied by wikipedia includes:
Under Zinczenko’s leadership, Men’s Health has been nominated for eight National Magazine Awards. It won in the category of personal service in 2004, the first for the magazine, and for parent company Rodale. It was also named to Advertising Age’s “A List” multiple times, and to Adweek’s “Hot List.” In 2007, Capell’s Circulation Report named the magazine “Best Newsstand Performer of the Decade.” In March 2008, Adweek named Zinczenko “Editor of the Year.”
2 Magazines for the Price of One
Editor of the year… I am f@#$#ing floored!! Here I was this morning, looking at Men’s and Women’s Health magzines side by side and I am noticing something more disturbing than the monthly cry of ‘FLAT ABS’… Take a look for yourself:
Yes, this is the same magazine just packaged slightly differently for men and women!! Same tips, same flat/hard abs, some sex secrets, same tip from the book Eat This, Not That (the other book empire Zinczenko has helmed). Seriously, he is publishing 2 magazines for the price of one! This is the Editor of the Year!?!? This magazine has been nominated for 8 National Magazine Awards?!! WTF?!!? Seriously they sell the same Flat Ab Crap every month and they are winning awards with this laziness! They even have the same list of health tips each month, only changing the number. This is in both the women’s and the men’s magazine, each and every month!!?! Laziness on this level is unheard of in any other business. What, do they work a 2 hour work week!?? Do they come in and move a bunch of headlines around on the page and then go for lunch? And by the way, now that we are asking questions, how do they determine how many health tips? How about the number of sex tips? Do they use a random number generator? Do they roll dice?
Here is what I think happened… The creative director for the magazine went on vacation in 2001. He left the following image as instructions for the next magazine edition. He never returned from his vacation and was never reported missing (just for the record I am now reporting that the creative director for Men’s Health is missing, please somebody help find him). Ever since, the staff walk into his office, see the now faded magazine cover sketch on the desk and go to work. Magazines keep selling, they keep getting awards and no one cares.
To do my part to help find the creative director, I have sifted through covers of Men’s Health magazine to find when he went missing. I am concerned to have discovered it must have happened quite awhile ago. Turns out anyone can help out with this missing person conundrum by performing a google search. I have compiled a bunch of covers here, and you can see that, alas his disappearance may predate the rise of the internet as an image storage device as I cannot find the start of the activity of using the same cover design. See below:
Men’s Health Recycled Cover Controversy
Seriously the same magazine has been reissued for up to 10 years!! In fact, the very observant of you, and apparently one subscriber, has actually noticed that they don’t actually change the cover at all some months:
This issue has come up in the media and written about from several blogs. According to Gawker:
…putting the same cover lines on different magazines year after year is lazy at best, deceptive at worst. And Zinczenko’s defense that he’s merely repeating the cover lines on the newsstand version — the version of the cover that’s meant to convince someone to part with their money for whatever “New Plan” the cover’s touting — only underlines the point.
David Zinczenko’s defense to all of this is as follows:
Twenty years of Men’s Health has certainly produced several lines that have proven themselves effective at newsstand, which makes up about 20 percent of our print run. We plan to keep using the most effective marketing tools to reach the largest market we possibly can, and continue to reward readers with practical, positive, life-altering service information. And we’ll continue to break new stories as we do every issue – as reflected in these covers
So, he is just lying to us to get us to give him money so we can get the positive, life-altering service information that we wouldn’t have bought has we known what it was. Is it just me, or is he openly admitting to lying to us with that defense!! Apparently this whole controversy was cracked by Perez Hilton. You have to think that when Perez Hilton becomes the watchdog of ethical marketing in our society it is time to pull the plug!! To read more about this controversy, read here, here and here.
The Real Problem
One last thing to note. Jeff Bercovici of daily finance contacted Sid Holt, chief executive of the American Society of Magazine Editors, to find out if this behavior was acceptable to the society. Here is the response that he received:
ASME doesn’t comment on the editorial practices of its members (or nonmembers, for that matter), but everyone knows the first rule of journalism is, Tell the truth. And the second is, Make it interesting. We leave it to readers and media critics to determine when those rules have been broken.
Again, we really shouldn’t be surprised that no one cares about uneithical business practices. The government, the professions, no one. You are once again on your own. The real problem here is that you don’t own the media either. They do… You get to search and maybe find a blog that will talk about the lying in pop-culture magazines and David Zinczenko gets his magazines, books, the Today Show and Oprah….
Seriously, People we have to demand more and complain more often. Men’s Health and their ridiculous covers sell. We buy them. They are marketed very professionally, using buzzwords that apparently make us buy them but have no connection to the content within. This isn’t okay. Men’s Health magazine is a vapid, empty, worthless periodical. They can put lies on the cover and people don’t even notice because the content is meaningless. They publish over 12 billion pages of hollow advice every year. Pages that must be printed and shipped around the world. Forests are dying for this claptrap. This is just a case of excellent marketing. In fact, if you look into it, all of the awards that this magazine has received have been for marketing. David Zinczenko is a master of marketing magazines and diet books. So much so that nutritionists are listening to his tips (which are inconsistent and in some cases just plain wrong and I will tackle this issue in a future entry).
Selling False Hope
And this is why I am angry. I really don’t care if they are re-selling the same story lines on their magazine, and if they spend 2 minutes or 2 months developing their cover. What I care about is that they are selling false hope. The problem with people who sell false hope is that they think they are just taking your money. They will point out the 1% of people who actually got fit after reading their advice and say, if it worked for just 1 person than it is worth it. But it isn’t, because the 99% percent lost more than their money. They lost the belief that they can succeed. If you follow bad advice enough times, and continue to fail because of this, you will lose the belief that you can succeed. So people like David David Zinczenko are stealing your ability to succeed by giving you empty promises so he can sell magazines, something he openly admits to!
Where this goes from simply being infuriating to being alarming is that people know that he is the editor of a tremendously successful ‘Health’ magazine (after all it says health in the title), so he must be a health expert, right? Wrong. But now he is revered AS A HEALTH EXPERT and has been shown on the Today Show, Oprah Winfrey and other shows as exactly that. So we continue to reward a man who is making the world a worse, more difficult place for us unfit people, a person who repeatedly promises us an easy six pack, and we reward him because his marketing skills are making him rich.
The world doesn’t have to be this way. If we demand more they will give it to us. If we stop flocking to buy their lazy output, their mind bogglingly formulaic drivel, they will actually put in a real day at work.
What We Can Do
We have to stand up and call people liars when they are. Flat abs aren’t easy and anyone who says that they are and that they have a simple way to get them is a liar (don’t confuse saying something simply, such as ‘eat less and workout a lot’ with a simple action, because eating less and working out a lot is anything but simple). We have to stop confusing good marketers with health experts (as well as experts in other industries) and we have to stop rewarding people who take from us, even if they do it very effectively. Write to TV shows that confuse expert marketers with health experts, expert trainers with endocrinologists, etc. Tell them we aren’t stupid and we demand real expert. TV shows hate real experts because they don’t make absolute statements and rarely are involved in fear mongering…
We have made David Zinczenko an incredibly rich man. All he has done is assist in the raping of a number of forests to print his lazy, intelligence insulting crap and then god knows the amount of hydrocarbons he has used to ship this to us all the while writing on the cover claims of stories that may or may not be included in the magazine but certainly will make people buy it. He has done all of this just to get us to part with our money and shown no concern whatsoever about helping guys (and girls) lose weight.
So, if you were wondering what pisses me off, look no further, you have found it. Men’s Health, Women’s Health and David Zinczenko all piss me off. That said, I am not one to hold a grudge, so David, feel free to use that graphic that I made to train your new employees in continuing to produce such high quality output. It may cut down the workweek from 2 hours to 1.5. No need to drop me a line and thank me…
The US is thought of as the leader of the free world. We are a superpower, setting the standard in many areas when it comes to freedom, rights and privileges. So, why is it that we can’t seem to come to agreement on health care for all workers.
Are there actually those among us who think our health care in the US reasonably supports the majority of our citizens? Yes, we have great medical care available to us, arguably the best in the world, in fact. But, if a large percentage of our population can not afford to use these great doctors and facilities, what’s the point in having them? Do we, the people, really believe that good medical care is a privilege of the rich and famous.
Do we hold our doctors in such high esteem that we believe that their right to make $400,000 a year is more important than the right of the person making minimum wage to get good treatment when he has cancer? Do we really believe that it’s OK for a middle class person to go bankrupt in order to pay medical bills? Do we really think that prescriptions need to cost $300 a month in order to keep us healthy.
OK, I know Dave’s calls it 100 days of discipline in his blog, but I think I’m going with 100 days of pure hell & torture LOL I met with the trainer at the gym this morning. And BTW, I AM NOT a morning person. Really nice guy, wish I could afford to use the trainer all the time, but for now, I will take the info that he gave me & apply it towards my fitness goals.
Best guess, because I refuse to buy a scale, I thought I weighed around 160-165. I was surprised when I got on the scales that it’s only 152. However I’m only 5′4″, so yeah…I’m overweight. Gee didn’t need a scale to tell me that I have plenty of mirrors & recent pictures that tell me that!
OK, here’s the GROSS part…at 152 pounds, my body fat percentage is 31.5%, or 48 pounds of FAT…GROSSSSSS!!!!! My lean body mass is 108 pounds.
The goal is 134 pounds, 17.9% body fat (24 pounds), and 110 pound lean body mass. Of course this is all according to the trainer. Personally I would like to be between 125-130, but who knows, I may be too skinny then.
Going tonight to work out with the BFF again, working the legs tonight! YAY!
It has been a long time since I was last in any kind of ‘keep fit’ process. In fact the last time I did anything with any gusto was back in 2005 for the York Bikeathon for Leukaemia Research which was linked to Geoff Thomas’ Le Tour fundraising event.
Over the years I have had spurts of mainly gym activity however never a sustained effort beyond a few months. No excuses, although I do enjoy the gym it just does not excite me enough to keep a sustained regime.
So, here we are again. A real target to hit with my Pennine Way Challenge and knowledge getting fitter than I am (which is a low base to start from!) is only going to help.
The key for me is to have the stamina to walk 14-16 miles up hill and down vale pretty much every day for three weeks to cover the 270 miles.
On top of this on certain days I will be carrying a decent sized and weighted backpack to cover some wild camping. Whilst this will not be every day I certainly need to be ready for it, so some core and upper body strength is required.
I am a believer that you can ‘walk yourself fit’ and if I had the time would happily go out and walk a few hours every day.
Unfortunately time does not allow me to do this so it is back to the gym.
With the snow of the festive period gone my new regime in Galtres gym has taken shape.
Monday evenings is a tough session with a good 75 minutes of aerobic machine work on cross trainers, running machines, rowing machines and bikes followed by a session of weights with good friend ‘let’s do weights’ Simon! Definitely the hardest session of the week.
Wednesday onwards is then in for early morning 60 minute aerobic workouts. If you had told me a few weeks ago I would be in a gym at 7:30am on a morning I would have outwardly laughed!
However, here we are and it feels good!
Not only can I see progress every day in the gym but I have to say it really sets you up for the day and does not take anything out of it.
It looks like a by product of this is going to be some weight loss. Now whilst this is not my main aim I could certainly do with seeing a couple of stone disappear!
So hopefully in the next few weeks you will start to visually see a re-sculpting from packhorse to mountain goat!
So, whilst I will be physically walking the Pennine Way in June the challenge for me has already started and it’s a 6 month one, and after that let’s just see what happens…
I am convinced that exercise equipment manufacturers have colluded with the Surgeon General while health websites are colluding with fitness trainers. Here is my reasoning:
For my first block of walking the treadmill – which took into account my distance, pace and weight – clocked my calories burned at 666. Not too bad I’m thinking. Then, I also used a heart-monitor watch which took into account the time and average heart rate. It clocked me at a whopping 952 calories! Now I’m thinking, either this treadmill is out of date or my watch is too flattering. The watch is missing my weight and pace, but the treadmill has no idea how hard my heart is working (I was averaging 138 bpm).
Then, I decided to see what the internet had to say. Most only calculate based on your weight, some with height for BMI (probably assuming you don’t have your heart-rate on hand to enter) and, in general, the average was about 480 calories. That 186 lower than the treadmill which itself is 286 calories lower than my heart monitor.
So, either the internet wants you to think you can’t do it alone so please purchase our advertisements – or, the exercise equipment wants you to think you’re doing just fine and any exercise is good exercise.
Of course this is only half of day 1, so on the overly attractive side of my watch I could pump out 1900 calories (ridiculous), or the treadmill’s 1300 calories (pretty high), or the modest 960 calories on the internet.
I’ve decided to take the middle choice – the treadmill. I like the idea that my watch changes to my heart (in fact at lower heart rates I averaged less calories than the treadmill, but after I clocked 138 bpm it sky-rocketed) but it seems obscene that I could burn more than I’m eating.
In other news, I’ve weighed in, taped up and added together:
Weight: 165lbs, Target: 145lbs
Gut: 36.75”
Calories Consumed: 815 (so far!)
Calories Burned: 666 (so far!)
Weight Lifted: ?? (see below!)
Even though 20 pounds is a modest goal, that includes the weight I expect to gain from body-building. Everyday I only intend to do two exercises: Tu-Th-Sa bench press and bicep curls; M-W-F pull downs and lower back extensions. As you can tell, I only really care about my upper body muscle – that’s because I’ve got tree trunks for legs and the only thing they need to do is walk off the weight. So I’m keeping track of my gut which is the real measure of my success – even if I stayed at 165lbs, if my gut dropped 8” that would be phenomenal.
Finally, I am having a hard time figuring out this all-in-one gym we have in my apartment building. It has these ambiguous numbers of 1-9 for the weight. I used a 5 for bench press and this felt pretty good, but am I to assume this means 50 pounds? Can’t be! But does 5 = 100 pounds? Sounds more right for my experience but makes no sense how they determined this. I’ll be assuming 5 = 100 pounds (1=20, etc.) and make up some fun way to equate what this means later.
People who know me will realize that something is strangely amiss that I would be pulled from the warmth of the bed I love to descend to a computer and a rigid wooden chair before dawn.
The culprit? I am seriously hungry. [Hungry, people--not pregnant].
In light of the tragedies in Haiti and the devastating and legitimate hunger of others around the world, I will not say that I am starving.
I am not starving. Thank God–truly.
But I am seriously hungry.
Ten days ago I started a detox to help reposition my view of food and hopefully to change some habits that I was ready to conquer. This particular detox demands that for 28 days I eat sugar-free, dairy-free [eggs OK for part], gluten-free, and beef/pork-free. Additionally, at specific times of the plan [like this week], I am to cut out even lean meats like chicken and turkey, nuts, beans & legumes, and eggs. This is all supplemented with certifiably “yummy” shakes [read: grainy, gritty, and taste like a pile of wet autumn leaves]. That’s why I woke up hungry. Fruits, veggies, and rice, while delicious, aren’t really giving me the satisfaction that a warm and crusty piece of toast would, carefully smothered in jam and served still-warm on my plate.
My love of sugar, in fact my felt need for sugar, was something I did not run away from. I loved to sit with a glass of Coke–or three–or mix up a batch up chocolate chip cookies so I could devour a respectable portion of the dough. And don’t even get me started on the holy grail of chocolate and peanut butter. My goodness. That has the prospect of taking on a life of its own.
I began to acknowledge patterns I had long denied or downplayed. Like how my lack of self-discipline when confronted with certain things meant that food didn’t submit to me and my fork, but that I submitted to it. And the more I’ve been learning about enjoying pleasures and following Jesus, the more I realized that the former will only truly be realized when put in right relationship and in its proper place with my heart and faith. Giving free reign to self-indulgence doesn’t seem like the best way to move through life. At least not for me.
As I’ve mentioned before, I had the distinct joy of reading Gary Thomas’ latest book, Pure Pleasure: Why Do Christians Feel So Bad About Feeling Good? [I'll be reviewing this book and offering the chance to win a free copy on my blog next week!] Gary approaches the subject of pleasure in such new and interesting ways I was unable to put this book down. While he lauds accepting gifts of relationships, food, hobbies, and intimacy with open and grateful hearts, he cautions how blind abandon can, though won’t always, lead to sin. His chapter entitled “Dangerous Pleasures” gave me particular pause as I contemplated this detox:
“I grew up in a conservative Baptist church. Many of the older widows wouldn’t be caught dead saying “heck” or “gosh,” much less their demonic counterparts. They wouldn’t think of watching an R-rated movie or, sin of all sins, participating in a poker game. But they would all but clean out the desserts during potluck. Perhaps bereft of many common pleasures, they gorged without restraint when an “acceptable” pleasure sat before them, in much the same way that a climber atop Mount Everest desperately tries to suck down some air…
“…It would be a monstrosity of a generalization (as well as a lie) to suggest that being holy means being thin. God creates different body types, and it can be just as much a sin of vanity to spend hours crafting a certain physique as it can be a sin of gluttony to exert no control over our food appetites. So without referring to body size, let me gently ask you this: Does your discipline toward food honor God? Is your witness undercut by your failure to control, or even address, this particular issue? [emphasis mine] Ultimately, only God knows. I raise the issue primarily because it would be simplistic to talk about “dangerous” pleasures and ignore the most common, and therefore perhaps the most dangerous, pleasure of all–gluttony.” [pgs. 150-152]
Am I the only one who reads this and says, “Ouch“?
Maybe I wasn’t cleaning out the dessert table at potlucks, but that doesn’t mean I have the right to ignore patterns of indulgence in my life. I want to honor God with a right view of food–one that allows me to enjoy the distinct pleasure of sharing a meal with friends, to slowly enjoy and savor my [one] piece of dessert, and one that reminds me that I eat to live–not live to eat.
So in these pre-dawn hours I think on these things. I remember that the inconvenience of giving up chicken and bread is a daily circumstance beyond the control of billions of truly hungry people around the world. That most people on our planet won’t have fresh fruit and vegetables today. That most people will be grateful for a bowl of rice and nothing more. That most people don’t even have a glass of clean water to drink.
In light of those truths, my brief sacrifice is small and ordinary. My hunger is not a true concern. My sleeplessness: a poignant reminder that at dawn and always, my heart sings with gratitude for the gifts and provisions of God.
When we’re kids, we’re very in tune with what our bodies are telling us. Time to eat, time to stop eating, don’t do that because it hurts, don’t put that in your mouth because it tastes bad, etc. Over time, though, at least for those of us who struggle with weight, it’s like the lines of communication between body and mind are cut. We eat when we’re hungry and when we’re not, we eat until we’re full and then keep going, and we forget that underneath the layer of adipose tissue that separates us from the outside world there are actual muscles chomping at the bit to do something! We know in our minds (and our bodies told us at some point, too) that we need exercise and that food is fuel, but somehow we’ve learned to ignore those signals over time.
It’s kind of like drinking coffee, as I mentioned above, or beer, or eating raw oysters or blue cheese (the latter of which I still can do only in extreme moderation) – these are acquired tastes for most people. You have to ignore the signals your body initially sends you to in order to learn to like these things. Obesity is, in some sense at least, an acquired taste, as well. I don’t mean that any of us set out to become or remain obese, or like it when we get there, but we do often begin to ignore those basic signals like hunger, fullness, and needing to be active, that our bodies are sending us.
I think at some point, your body is so far from what you feel it should be, that it doesn’t even feel like a part of you anymore, and you just get out of touch with it. It’s almost like your body and mind subconsciously have it out and quit talking to one another – maybe kind of like this:
Body: Yo! Mind! No more room in the stomach down here – if you could put the brakes on the Oreo’s, that’d be great!
Mind: Did I hear something? Oh was that you, BODY? The one who’s totally out of shape and doesn’t look a thing like we should anymore?
Body: Um…yeah! But that out of shape thing is your fault! I’ve been telling your stubborn butt for YEARS that we were full and needed to go for a walk. But do you listen to anything? Noooo!
Mind: I’m done with you!!! We’re not speaking – ANYMORE!
Body: Bitch, please.
Thankfully, the body never really shuts up, and at some point in the past year or so, I began to realize that I was totally ignoring many signals (or more accurately, alarms and warning buzzers) my body had been sounding for a while. I had a cough that wouldn’t go away, frequent backaches, and even gallstones that led to surgery last year. In an odd way, I have these bad things to thank for helping me pay attention to my body again. So began the wheels turning of my deciding to take my health back into my own hands, and it’s amazing how quickly your body and mind can become fast friends again.
When I started eating properly, I realized that feeling true hunger had become a rarity for me, and when I had felt hungry in the past few years, I’d often ignored it if I was busy with other things, leading to binges later in the day. When I started exercising, I became aware once again of the body that’s underneath the fat – the muscles that need to be worked and the fit guy at my core that’s waiting to be set free. Once you begin to realize that you really are connecting with your body again, it makes continuing with your weight loss journey that much easier. Reconciliation is a good thing!
Body: Gee, it’s good to have you back – wanna go for an ice cream?
Mind: Not on your life…
Week 8: And then, fatigue set in…………………
Not bad fatigue, just the sort that tells you that you’re pushing the boundaries. Took 2 days to fully recover from Big Wednesday (long run on hot day, swim squad, stretch and core class), legs felt trashed on Thursday’s ride and I felt lightheaded doing 200’s at squad Thursday night. A quiet Friday and back on track for the weekend with some great training Saturday and Sunday. I really know I’m a few months out from Ironman now, getting a little leaner, can’t stop eating and drinking.
So, let’s look at this weeks numbers: Swim: 4 swims, 2 squad sessions, 2x 1 hour swims alone,
13.6km 4 hrs 22, 34,060 beats
Ride: 4 rides this week, an extra 90 minute easy paced ride thrown in on Monday. Usual interval ride Tuesday, easy 2 hrs Thursday and then 160km in rain, wind then pea-soup fog early Sunday morning. Bike position feels really comfortable, nailed my eating and drinking plan on the bike and felt great the whole way.
283km, 10hrs 53, 71,830 beats
Run: 4 runs this week as well, a 20 minute run off the bike, long run Wednesday, did Sutherland Half Marathon course on Lady Carrington drive plus part of the way up to Garie on the road, 23.4km, comfortably negatively split the run, happy with pace and it was pretty hot as well. Great session. Sandhills Friday then interval run Saturday and the runnin’s done!
Heart Facts for the week: I thought I’d spend the last few months highlighting one risk factor a week for heart disease. This week: SMOKING! Info taken from quitnow.info.au, specifically the smoking fact sheet http://bit.ly/7umJVM PLEASE, quit smoking if you are a smoker, or pass on this fact sheet and ask a smoking relative or friend how you can help them quit smoking, whether it’s a regular exercise session together, being there on the phone for moral support, whatever it takes. I wish I had persevered with my sister Jodi, in the end I gave up as we would argue over her smoking and I know she was trying, when she died there was a box of nicotine patches in her kitchen. It was just 17 years of smoking too late.
Smokers have more heart attacks, repeat heart attacks and angina (over 20 times more angina) than do non-smokers. Smokers also have heart attacks at a much younger age than non-smokers.
People who smoke are up to four times more likely to die from coronary heart disease than non-smokers. The number of years you smoke and the number of cigarettes smoked increases this risk.
In addition to the effects smoking has on atherosclerosis, each time you smoke (even just one cigarette) you make your heart work harder by:
• Increasing your heart rate
• Decreasing the oxygen carried in your blood – with each inhalation of cigarette smoke, oxygen is replaced by carbon monoxide and other gases
• Short-term increase in blood pressure
Quitting smoking will reduce your chance of developing heart disease. After one year of not smoking your risk of heart disease is halved. Fifteen years after stopping smoking your risk of heart disease is the same as a non-smoker.
Even if you already have heart disease, stopping smoking is the single most important thing you can do to reduce your risk of further coronary heart disease.
The risk of coronary heart disease is not reduced by smoking low-tar or low-nicotine cigarettes rather than regular cigarettes.
Smoking around your family can also affect their health. Non-smokers living with smokers have about a 25% to 30% increase in both the risk of coronary heart disease and death from heart attack.
Decided to quit? For help, talk to your doctor or pharmacist, call the Quitline on 131 848 or visit the Quitline web site at www.quitnow.info.au.
Breathing sends oxygen to the cells and keeps you alive. But it is easy to take for granted. A body that gets more fresh air is relaxed, happier, and healthier! Incidentally, getting fresh air is less about spending your life on a mountain top and more about breathing into your stomach.
Although the act of breathing is automatic, for most of us, taking deep abdominal breaths does not come naturally. While we are thinking about this-that-and-the-other, immersed in the world, we generally breathe into our chests… without filling our lungs to capacity. This shallow breathing gives us enough oxygen to exist, but I would argue that it does not give us enough oxygen to grow and thrive.
Deep breathing for an inspired life…
Focused, abdominal breathing is one of the most important physical exercises you can do. It holds your attention within the body and the present moment, which is preferable to being wedged in some past or future dramatic presentation of the mind. Beyond consciously refreshing your mood, better breathing will also give you more energy, help the body eliminate waste, increase metabolism, give you a better night’s sleep, and improve circulation, muscle/joint health, and blood sugar levels.
To breathe into your stomach, inhale deeply and evenly through both nostrils. Imagine that you are gathering oxygen (and with it power, energy, love, courage, light, support, mojo, good vibrations, clarity, peace) directly from the atmosphere, right into your gut. Then, with your belly nice and full, exhale through the mouth…flushing carbon dioxide (and with it every toxic, tense thought or feeling within you) out into the world for recycling.
Bring your attention to breath:
Whenever you feel anxious, afraid, nervous, sad, or angry.
For five minutes when you wake up in the morning and before you go to sleep at night.
While stretching, exercising, eating, and walking.
Before and after exams or quizzes.
Anytime you remember.
Don’t exhaust yourself. Use breath to reduce pollution in your internal environment!
The LA Galaxy is an American Soccer Club based in Los Angeles, who signed superstar David Beckham in 2007. A lot of people may not know in Australia the LA Galaxy are sponsored by Herbalife.
Herbalife is not only about weight management but also about nutrition and meeting your goals whether has as an athlete or regular sports participant.
Herbalife products also assist sports people to attain their peak physical performance by consulting you on a personalise nutritional program depending on your requirements.
Have a chat with my boyfriend Paul Anthony 0415 359 768 or paulanthony@unitedwellbeing.com.au
Fruits
Vegetables
Whole grains, including whole-grain breads, pastas and cereals and brown rice
Colorful fruits and vegetables also supply needed antioxidants and phytonutrients.
Bad Carbs:
Sweets and sugars because they have no fiber, vitamins or minerals
Incorporate Healthy Carbs into Your Diet:
Try filling half your plate with salads and vegetables
Have fruits and veggies for snacks and use whole-grain breads for sandwiches
The cells in your body, especially muscle cells (which athletes are most concerned with), will not perform up to maximum capacity unless 1) a maximal amount of oxygen can be delivered to the cell thru the circulatory (blood) system and, 2) the cell itself is healthy enough to absorb enough oxygen. If any muscle cells are in a weakened condition because they do not get enough required nutrients, and therefore cannot grow to their full capacity, it is impossible for them to perform at their maximum potential when the athlete needs them simply because they cannot absorb enough oxygen.
We have found a way for people, in this case the athlete, to increase his or her Nutritional Intensity at the cellular level; not only to prevent disease, but to allow the muscle cell to perform at its optimum level. The key ingredients for cellular growth and performance comes from fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes and beans. All good nutritionists today recommend that we eat 9 – 13 servings of fresh-raw fruits and vegetables every day (and even more for the athlete who is training hard).
My experience during 38 years of coaching and working with athletes at all levels shows that most of them simply can’t do it.
A company called NSA (National Safety Associates) in Memphis, Tennessee grows 17 of the most nutrient dense fruits and vegetables available today. They pick them at peak ripeness, immediately juice them (removing the sodium and sugar for those with Diabetes and/or High Blood Pressure) and, thru a Proprietary Process leave the enzymes and fiber in tact, putting the rest in a capsule. Without having to take a vitamin/mineral supplement (which research says do not work because they are isolated) the athlete gets every vitamin, mineral, anti-oxidant and enzyme known and unknown to man while at the same time getting the benefit of 17 of the most nutrient dense fruits and vegetables going thru their bodies all at the same time. This in my opinion is the answer to peak cellular performance. Juice Plus+ is substantiated by peer reviewed, published research studies done throughout the world.
In addition, Juice Plus Complete is, in my opinion, the most perfectly balanced meal replacement available today. It is available to the athlete specifically for enhancing their current nutrition in terms of extra meals needed; but also as a pre-game or post game meal because it passes through the gastro-intestinal tract rapidly giving high energy prior to a game or workout and aiding in cellular recovery and energy recovery immediately afterwards.
Jack Medina was the strength and conditioning coach for the L.A. and Oakland Raiders, the Seattle Seahawks, and for the Golden State Warriors. He also trained 19 All American gymnasts, 3 of them national champions, including Cathy Rigby.
I have a serious muffin top. I am not so much of an expert at hiding it, I have just found 1 good way to cover it and stuck with that. I wear hoodies over everything! I am tired of it. I want to dress like a woman again, not a 15 year old kid. But, in order to get past my muffin top humiliation, I have to lose it. I have tried to start exercise programs, and I get bored. This is not a New Year’s Resolution, the New Year just happens to coincide with my job lay off and the free time to fit in exercise, meal planning and blogging. Of course, I also have more free time to party, which I like to do. I have vices, and I’m taking them head on. I’m hoping that this blog may keep me focused, or at least accountable.
So, here’s my deal. I’m gonna post tips and tricks that I’m trying, and I’d like to hear what everyone else is trying in the comments (or if you’ve tried something I am trying and it doesn’t work!!). On the 15th of every month, I weigh myself and take my measurements. No more often than that. I’ll post my progress, so we can all see if something I tried works. I may try to offer insight into my own psyche that may help myself (and maybe you?) break bad habits (all kinds, one I’m working is on is compulsive spending). I’m putting it all on the table for everyone to learn from, but I’m keeping it anonymous…for now.
PS. I don’t want any hating in the comments. Please keep this blog a supportive and judgement free zone. Respect is important, and any disrespect will be deleted. Thanks.
Susan Sarandon, who has just split with Tim Robbins, keeps her amazing body toned by pole dancing with her daughter Eva Amurri, 24. Amurri, who is a strong likeness of her mother, is also an actress. Daughter taught mother after taking erotic dancing lessons to prepare for a role on the TV show Californication. Sarandon, 63, said she jumped at the chance to learn pole dancing which she credited with keeping her feeling young. She said: ‘My kids are so funny, they bring me into the present. I go to concerts and I went and I learned how to pole dance with my daughter when she was doing Californication. It’s very difficult and you have to be in very good shape. It’s hard.’
Today I know the scales are lying. I most certainly have not lost 1.2kgs overnight. What has in fact happened is my body is seriously dehydrated after too many glasses of champagne and whisky and gingers last night.
So not only are the scales being misguided in their kindness to me, but I am in such a world of pain I really couldn’t care less how I look. I just want the banging headache and tiredness to go away.
I managed to drag myself out of bed to support my housemate in her first ocean swim which was really good. Not only did she do very well, but it was really interesting to see all the different shapes and sizes taking part. Swimming is a struggle for me. I’ve only recently overcome a deep water phobia which has meant I’ve never spent much time in water, so the idea of swimming 1.5kms in the ocean is something that is very foreign to me, but an ability I deeply respect and admire.
To see all the different shapes and types of people today really brought home that your body is to be used and challenged, not just for looking pretty. None of the women seemed at all fussed about how they looked, they were more concerned about the task at hand, which is pretty obvious, but makes me wonder, maybe I’m so worried about how I look because I have too much time on my hands. Um, it’s not like I’m not a busy and social person, but maybe I should find a new focus that will distract me more from my body focus.
Imagine stepping out your door, the sun is shining, big billowy clouds are casting playful shadows, a slight breeze blows and the temperature is a perfect 72. On a day like this it’s not hard to get motivated to go outside and walk. Once outside in the perfect sunshine your walk is effortless and enjoyable and you walk longer than you planned.
Back to reality….like last week’s record breaking cold snap which submersed half of the country into bitter cold. At my house last weekend the high temperature averaged 23 degrees. Since the average high in January is a bearable 45 degrees, a high of 23 degrees is COLD! Despite the cold and despite my threats to the contrary I managed to forego the shuttle and walk 8 minutes uphill from the parking lot to the office and, of course, I walked the dog – she even got an extra long walk on Sunday when it warmed up to a balmy 27 degrees.
Even though it is easier and certainly warmer to take a shuttle or to stay inside on a cold winter’s day, the next time you are tempted to avoid winter’s cold, grab your walking shoes instead and you will be rewarded. Believe it or not, winter is one of the best times to walk outdoors.
Winter Walking
Why is winter one of the best times to walk outdoors?
Walking outside in winter is peaceful. There are so fewer people on the trails, sidewalks and public spaces that you often feel like you have the space all to yourself. It is quiet. You will notice the quiet in the park, in your neighborhood, on the sidewalks, almost everywhere…so many people avoid going outside that it offers the ones who do a tranquility that is missing during the rest of the year.
Walking outside in winter gives you a different perspective on nature. You will see a very different view of the landscape now that the trees are free from leaves and the ground is free from brush and sometimes covered with snow. You will notice that on a sunny day the sunshine is brilliant and the sky is a deeper shade of blue. If you are lucky enough to walk at dawn or dusk you will see the most spectacular sunrises and sunsets showcasing beautiful shades of pinks, purples, oranges and reds. Amazing.
Walking outside in winter gives you a breath of fresh air. We stay cooped up during the winter with our windows shut tight. Oftentimes the only fresh air we get is walking from the parking lot to a store or office. Walking in winter will give you a big dose of fresh air and this winter air is healthier for you than the stagnant, ozone-laced air of summer. Take in a deep breath and breathe.
Walking outside during winter keeps you away from the crowded track at the gym or community center. Many of us start or renew our fitness goals with the New Year – we shouldn’t let weather be a barrier to reaching our goals. A lot of daily walkers will tell you that walking outside on a cold winter’s day can be done almost every day.
Walking outside during winter will expose you to sunlight and that can help if you are prone to seasonal affective disorder (SAD). SAD is a type of depression that occurs at the same time every year – most frequently in the fall and winter months when we are exposed to less sunlight. Experts recommend treatments such as going outside and exercising as much as possible during fall and winter if your symptoms are not severe.
Keep a Routine
It’s not always easy to motivate yourself to go outside in the cold, and sometimes dark, to walk. One way to tackle this is to keep a routine from which you rarely deviate. For instance, walk before work with a neighborhood friend, walk outside during your lunch break or walk as soon as you get home from work before you do anything else. On those days when your motivation is low just tell yourself you will walk for at least 10 minutes and then you can stop whenever you want. Most of the time you will continue to walk through your normal routine even though you have given yourself permission to stop early.
Another idea is to establish a shorter outside walking routine during the dead of winter…maybe 15- 30 minutes depending on the temperature….sometimes the most important thing is to just keep up the routine and get out there even if it is for a shorter amount of time. Be sure to take advantage of warmer days, especially during the weekend, when you can schedule a longer walk to help make up for your shorter daily routine.
Be Careful
You should be especially careful walking outside during the cold months of the year.
Cold is relative. Don’t try to walk outside if it is dangerously cold for you.
Wear a hat, gloves, scarf, wool socks and extra layers designed for cold weather. You can always take items off if you warm up.
Wear appropriate footwear for snow and ice.
If you walk in the dark or low light, walk in lighted areas, wear a reflective piece and keep a small flashlight in your pocket.
Walk in familiar and safe areas. Stay aware of your surroundings. Bring your cell phone.
Always drink water to stay hydrated.
Give it a Try
If you are tempted to let the cold keep you inside, bundle up instead and give winter walking a try. Discover how enjoyable winter walking can be. If you start an outside walking routine now, you will feel a remarkable sense of accomplishment and personal triumph every day that you conquer winter’s cold. And just think how easy it will be to walk outside in a few short months when the weather is perfect.
“People with disabilities shouldn’t be in the gym.”
That’s what I learned this morning and I’m still furious! Here’s the story…
I started working with a client a couple of weeks ago. He was involved in an incident a few years ago that left him with chronic injures and disabilities. Because of this, his mobility, strength and state of mind have been effected and it is only very recently that he has started to feel that he has “control” over his future.
One of the things that has helped a great deal over the last couple of weeks, is the very simple fact that he has come back to the gym with me.
Nothing magic in that. No mystic voodoo from the far east or anything. It is just that he is now in a positive atmosphere and he can picture himself improving over time, and being able to do some of the things that he has not been able to physically do recently.
But…he found out today that he should not go to the gym anymore, because this will provide evidence that he does not have any disability and his compensation claim will suffer!
The logic being…
“You are in a gym, therefore you must not have any disabilities, therefore you should not get any help/benefits/compensation”
WHAT??
Are they seriously saying that people with disabilities should not be in the gym?
These people are in a gym...that means they can't have any form of disability, doesn't it??
Everyone I know goes to the gym to improve their body in some way. In other words, to make their body better than it is right now.
It says nothing about what our bodies are like at the moment…but how we want our bodies to be in the future!
Exercise is both a curative and preventative form of medicine. And this stupid law firm is preventing this guy from taking his medicine!
It is as if they are saying:
“You are taking medicine…medicine makes you healthy…therefore you must be healthy…therefore you shouldn’t be taking medicine”.
Can you see the flaw in that reasoning?
Bloody idiots! They have really pissed me off! Can you tell?
Anyway, maybe I’m not understanding it properly in my rage. Am I missing something here? If so, leave a comment below and let me know.
Runner’s Q:Best cross training for weight loss?
Runner’s A: Read this:
All of the contents of The 16 Minute Body Sculpting Kit are being posted here: Attain Your Dream Body. You will learn how to apply a 60%- “What you eat”- (no calorie counting-color coded food card system. 30%- “Strength Training”-
(watch instructional Strength Training video here) I happen to be a runner myself, so add that on top of the above and
wow! …amazing results!
Hi all- I just wanted to let all the co-op families know that we will be offering a short 6 week session of Stretch-n-Grow late this winter @ H’burg parks and Rec. We are in the P&R catalog, although rather hidden under gymnastics (we’re working on that!!). I’ve coached several co-op kids in previous years, but for those of who who aren’t familiar w/Stretch-n-Grow, here is a brief synopsis: we have a 30 minute class 1 time @ week. The emphasis is on learning good health habits, getting our hearts pumping and have FUN!! We cover a health topic and specific muscle each week in a very short discussion time and then we roll right into a full blown kid-specific fitness class set to music and a theme (might be sport related like a pretending to be football, basketball or ice hockey players training for the big game), a trip to Africa or Australia, A trip to the grocery store, etc. We use a variety of equipment to go along with each adventure too! The class that is being offered is on Tuesdays from 9:45-10:15 am for 3-5 year olds. If there are enough older kids interested – I’b be happy to discuss adding a 6-10 year old class on the same day from 9:10-9:40. The older classes don’t follow a story/theme as much as the younger, but they are rockin’ non-the-less!! It would be great to see some of the older kids that I coached when younger! Just let me know asap and I’ll see if its cool w/ Parks and rec! I will most likely be the instructor, but there is a chance that I’ll have another coach teaching. Regardless, we are all Youth Fitness Certified, fully insured, and CPR trained. If anyone has any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!! Thanks a bunch! Dia Russell
Apart from successfully abstaining from pork since New Year (11 days and counting!), I’ve been standing by my resolution to take up running. The past three days (well, every other day) has seen me up at the ungodly hour of five in the morning, all energized and ready to run my ass off.
The past two runs have been with my self-appointed personal trainer K, but today I ran alone. I have no idea why he didn’t show—called and texted him a couple of times but no answer—but I didn’t mind. I went ahead and ran a part of Macapagal anyway. I even ran all the way home.
I guess I’m off to a good start here. I’ve committed to myself that I will join at least three fun runs this year, but I think I can do more than that. Might shoot for five to seven. We’ll see where this takes me.
I really hope I don’t go back to my lazy ways. I think I’m off to a good start. Now all I have to do is to keep my focus. First milestone is 21 days of running. Why 21? Well I read somewhere (the gym) that it takes 21 days to make something a habit, so I will just ride with that. 3 down, 18 more days to go!
(On a semi-related note, I am so in need of a shower. I kinda stink while writing this. TMI. IKR?)
Metabolism is the chemical reaction in the body that uses the fuel of the food we eat and convert it to energy needed for us to think, to move,to grow.
It is measured according to :
The basil metabolic rate: BMR which is the resting metabolic rate, that means how quickely you body works when you are resting.
The total energy expenditure: TEE which is the sum of BMR and the physical activity you are doing throughtout the day.
FOODS THAT BOOST YOUR METABOLISM:
. Milk, whole grain cereal, and aotmeal:
secret ingredients: calcium, complexe carbohydrates, and fiber.
.spices, yellow mustard and peppers: speed up you heart rate
. green tea, coffee: speed up the brain and nervous system
salmon, tuna, sardines: omega 3 FA lowers a hormone called leptin, this hormone is responsable for fat storage.
lean meat, chicken turkey: you need more time to digest the proteins comparing to crabohydrates, so more energy is needed
5 tips to increase your metabolism:
1. Always eat breakfast in the morning, don’t skip it. If you wait until mid or afternoon to eat, your metabolism will go down.
2. divide your food throughout the day, eat 3 to 4 small meals and 3 to 4 hours apart.
3. park ypur car further and walk, use the stairs instead of the elevator, do more activities in the house to burn more calories.
4. don’t stave yourself if you want to lose weight, this will slow down your metabolism, but on the opposite side you have to plan your meals, prepare it and take it with you , skip the 6 hrs gaps between your meals.
5. don’t depend on herbal products to boost your metabolism ike green tea and coffee, this will be minimum, but take instead energy foods, like whole grains, fruits and vegetables..
So many people made fitness resolutions for 2010…but why are they so hard to keep? I can offer many practical reasons (unrealistic goals, inadequate planning, etc.) but instead let me give you an analogy for what’s going on inside your head…
Let’s say you want to implement an exercise program, starting Monday. Assuming you’re very sedentary and want to start slowly, your resolution is to start walking for 20 minutes a day after work. But you already have another behavior that you engage in when you come home: grabbing a bag of chips and plopping in front of the TV. That second behavior is not healthy or beneficial, but you’ve nurtured it for a long time and it’s become a well-established pattern.
Think of that pattern as hardened ruts on a dirt road. When you get home, you put your brain on autopilot and it slips into those ruts. The body does its own thing, you don’t even have to think about it. As a matter of fact, as you’re unlocking the door to your house, your brain is being bombarded with all sorts of familiar cues. As a result, it knows that the chips and Wheel of Fortune are coming, and it starts preparing for them mentally and physiologically.
Now, you decided that you’d go walking instead, right? Changing that usual pattern of behavior is going to require some conscious, deliberate action on your part, because your body is expecting something less effortful. With steely resolve, you strap on your shoes — a completely novel behavior in this context — grab your iPod and head out the door. Once you’re outside, you’re in a different environment, listening to music, moving. It feels….good! In fact, it feels GREAT! You get home, tired and sweaty, but feeling like you accomplished something big. You have a healthy dinner prepared and you hydrate sufficiently. That was EASY.
There’s only one problem: Tomorrow.
Tuesday you miss lunch so by the time you’re on the way home, you’re starving, not to mention, stressed by the day and traffic. You walk through the front door, get hit by those familiar cues and WHAM! Your brain goes on autopilot…yeah, you should get your shoes, but faced with all this discomfort, you turn to that old well-established pattern.
Whaaa happened? You’re trying to fight a habit. That can be hard to do. Note, I said hard, not impossible, but you’ve already got a pattern wired in your head that responds to all sorts of sensory and psychological cues. Engaging in that old pattern feels goooooood. Not as good as endorphins from exercise would feel, but that pattern isn’t established yet so it takes too much conscious effort. When push comes to shove, you prefer the path of least resistance.
Back to the ruts in the road analogy: on Monday, you drove over them and started creating a new path. On Tuesday, you slipped back into them because the new path was too bumpy and hard to manage. The old way was much smoother and less stressful for you.
Take home message: breaking an old pattern requires effort, awareness and planning. Don’t expect it to happen easily. It’s not a one day deal. It’s not even a one week deal. Popular wisdom tells us that it takes 21 days to establish a new behavior, but even that fails to address the fact that the behavior pattern you’re replacing may have a lot of history with you. Each time you follow the new pattern, you strengthen it. However, each time you go back to the old one, you make that one even stronger. Focus on both aspects of the process: being consistent with the new behavior, and avoiding falling back to the old one. If you keep cutting yourself slack on the old behavior, you’re going to make the change a lot harder.
Using the outside in an elegant way has become a passion with their families today, and what better way to do that with patio furniture. It is a combination of several components, which are integrated to make the use of space, not only attractive but also functional.There are never so many kinds of furniture for the outside of which, of course, the patio chairs are the most important. A whole room can be created outdoor life that starts with the type of chairs that are available. There are chairs that are large, usually deep, well-cushioned, that some manufacturers offer as rockers.
Full-sized sofas and couches are popular with sets of garden furniture. Unlike previous small couches, sitting you see today are actually extremely comfortable and you can enjoy an afternoon nap on them. Adirondack chairs are available in many varieties and style as reclining chairs, armchairs and foot stools. They are made of teak or cedar and are resistant bugs.For the producer more conservative house there is the logical choice for plastic chairs, which is a favorite today. They add a touch of color to the decor and both are accessible. Are a very attractive option considering the astronomical costs of traditional chairs. Their use value first saw them become the most sought after patio chairs with folding variety also immensely helps the user space and easy storage.
Heyooo, everyone! How is your week going? I can’t believe it’s already Thursday. The week flew by for us.
Yesterday we didn’t get a chance to post because we were super busy cleaning the apartment from top to bottom. It’s amazing how much stuff we always find despite our efforts to minimize clutter. Bah! But what are you gonna do?
Anyways, we kind of used cleaning as our exercise. It was a lot of work, and we definitely burned some calories.
Here are some of our eats from the day. Let’s just say it was a cheese-a-licious day! I realize cheese is not the healthiest food, but it’s awesome! And we still got greens.
The day started with egg and cheese on whole wheat English muffins with mustard:
Somewhere mid-morning, the green smoothie craving kicked in: Mmmm. Love. Love. Love!
A snack of orange and apple slices:
Grilled cheese English muffins (hmm our breakfast minus the egg…guess we weren’t feeling the creativity yesterday) with Deep River Kettle Cooked Chips and salad mix from Costco:
And tomato soup (I couldn’t get an appetizing picture, but it tasted amazing):
Later that night, we had some Annie’s “peace sign” mac and cheese:
Loved the concept, but overall, I wasn’t that impressed with this particular flavor. I do like their other flavors. Dustin, on the other hand, really liked it and said he would easily go buy some more to eat right now.
We also attempted to make some hummus:
It looked sooo good, but we hated it! Maybe we are too addicted to Sabra. Probably. Dustin tried fixing it by adding in all kinds of random ingredients, but it just got worse. C’est la vie! If anyone has any amazing hummus recipes, we’d love to know! We’ve attempted many times and it’s never right.
OK, now flash forward to today. Well I guess if it’s today, then you wouldn’t need to flash forward because you are already here.
It was day 2 of Couch to 5K. It was also our second day of waking up at 5AM for a morning workout. I’m not going to lie. It was extremely hard to get up this morning. Not sure if it’s been the unusually cold weather or getting to bed a little later, but we ALMOST decided to snooze.
Dustin deserves all the credit for getting us up. It really helps to have a supportive partner. I kept saying, “Do you want to sleep for another hour?” I think I asked so many times that he was finally just like, “Let’s just get up!”. We felt so incredible once we got to the gym and really just have to remember that feeling every time we struggle to get ourselves up. The hardest part truly is getting started.
GOOD NEWS:
Both treadmills were working at the gym today. This meant we knocked it out in much less time. Score!
Dustin discovered XM radio built into the walls of our apartment’s gym. Needless to say, he was pumped because his headphones went out and one of the XM fitness channels plays the exact type of music he would normally play. Double score!
Super attractive red face…sweet!
FUN PROJECT:
Today I decided that after every workout (starting tomorrow), we are going to take a picture of ourselves holding up a sign that says how many days we’ve been hitting the gym. Then, after 365 days, we are going to each create a slideshow that goes through every picture from start to “end”(fast forward style) in order to see how our bodies have transformed. It will be fun just to check every couple weeks or so too. If anyone else is interested in taking part in this, let me know! Maybe we can have everyone’s compiled on one website and it can be motivation for people just getting started.
After the gym, we did our first session of yoga at home. We put candles around the living room to set a tranquil mood. It made me so happy.
After some yoga, we made breakfast. We have a slight pancake addiction right now. At least they are healthy ones, and I added chia seeds for an extra health boost. I made the pancakes while Dustin whipped up a big southwestern omelette for us to share. It had salsa, green/yellow/orange/red peppers, and a sprinkle of cheese.
Then, we headed out to RunTex and Costco. We needed to go to RunTex to swap out Dustin’s shoes. He had blistered abnormally fast and called Donnie, the man who we met the first time, in order to find out if it was the shoes or if he was running improperly. Donnie was SO nice. Such genuine service. He had us come by in order to re-do Dustin’s sizes and watch him run some more. Dustin tried on some more pairs and was able to swap his out for a pair that fit him much better. Donnie and his wife also gave us more great running tips, as well as advice on eating a diet with no meat. Thanks, Donny and RunTex!
While we were there, our curiosity (and hunger) caused us to try these:
Freeze-dried fruit made locally. We tried the strawberry and decided we prefer our fruit juicy. We have yet to try the pineapple.
For lunch we wanted something quick so we swung by the grocery store to pick up these goods:
And this:
This is what we created:
We’re not usually fans of“imitation” products and prefer cooking from scratch on most occasions, but I have to say, these were awesome! I honestly felt guilty at points because it felt like I was eating an actually hamburger. Which is also the part that weirds me out. We gave it two thumbs up!
Some apple slices to snack on the way to Costco:
And we haven’t been forgetting to bring our water bottles with us:
Now it’s time to go prepare some dinner! We’re making Quinoa Vegetable Pilaf from Savvy Vegetarian’s website tonight. Exciting! We’ve been needing some more protein.
Hope you’re all having a fabulous day and feeling great!
Susan Sarandon, who has just split with Tim Robbins, keeps her amazing body toned by pole dancing with her daughter Eva Amurri, 24. Amurri, who is a strong likeness of her mother, is also an actress. Daughter taught mother after taking erotic dancing lessons to prepare for a role on the TV show Californication. Sarandon, 63, said she jumped at the chance to learn pole dancing which she credited with keeping her feeling young. She said: ‘My kids are so funny, they bring me into the present. I go to concerts and I went and I learned how to pole dance with my daughter when she was doing Californication. It’s very difficult and you have to be in very good shape. It’s hard.’
Runner’s Q:Best cross training for weight loss?
Mmmm. Love. Love. Love!
After some yoga, we made breakfast. We have a slight pancake addiction right now. At least they are healthy ones, and I added chia seeds for an extra health boost. I made the pancakes while Dustin whipped up a big southwestern omelette for us to share. It had salsa, green/yellow/orange/red peppers, and a sprinkle of cheese.
We’re not usually fans of“imitation” products and prefer cooking from scratch on most occasions, but I have to say, these were awesome! I honestly felt guilty at points because it felt like I was eating an actually hamburger. Which is also the part that weirds me out. We gave it two thumbs up!
