A Case for Minimal Running Shoes

In his groundbreaking book ‘Born To Run’, Christopher McDougall chronicled the ‘barefoot’ running of the now famous Tahuamara Indians in Mexico. (They actually typically wore sandals, but it was minimal footwear nonetheless.) He also included a tremendous amount of research on the possible connection of the modern day running shoe to running injuries, along with weaving in the lives of long distance ultra-marathon runners. Besides being a fascinating read, it also opened my eyes to the joy of minimal style running.

I never considered myself a ‘runner’. In truth, I found running to be a chore. I had run short distance races, a half marathon, a full marathon and was training for my second 26.2 mile challenge when a client and friend of mine lent me Born To Run on CD. It took me a couple months before I put it on my iPod and began listening to it as I ran. I had grown weary of  running to music and found the book to be a great diversion. Listening to stories of men and women run over 100 miles, some through high elevation trails, others over scorching blacktop roads in Death Valley, inspired me and helped me to appreciate that my 15 mile jaunts were painless in comparison.

Notice the midstrike landing rather than a heel first landing.

Something else happened as I listened and ran. I began to enjoy running. Enjoyment turned to love. Especially for trail running. When I got on the great network of trails above Ogden I was transported back to childhood, bounding and leaping like a deer through the forest. The amount of time spent on the Bonneville Shoreline trails probably hurt my time in the 2011 Ogden Marathon because I hadn’t disciplined myself to hold a consistent pace on the road. But it was worth it. I had developed a love for something I only tolerated before. It opened up a whole new world to me.

The final change that took place, all thanks to Mr. McDougall’s book, is my style of running. If you were to look at a pair of running shoes prior to Nike’s entrance into the shoe market in the early 1970’s you would have seen a very minimal shoe with no thick cushioning in the heel. Interestingly enough, there were very few injuries related to running in those days. The lack of a cushioned heel meant a runner was forced to run as the human body was intended to run: On the ball of the foot, rather than with a heel strike first. Why do I say ’intended to run’? Because that’s how people ran for millenniums before the 70’s!  But isn’t the cushioning in the heel good for minimizing impact therefore reducing injury?

No. In fact not Nike, nor any other running shoe maker has provided any research to prove that a prominent heel strike form of running with a cushioned heel has reduced injury. Anecdotal evidence would indicate otherwise. (For in-depth related studies, read Born To Run.)

Think about it this way: If you were to jump from an object high off the ground, how would you naturally land to minimize impact? On your heel? Or on the ball of your foot? Landing on the heel, no matter how thick the heel cushioning, would send a jarring shock through your entire body. But landing on the ball of your foot would allow your muscles and joints to flex and rebound, minimizing the direct impact on your joints and bones.

The same principle applies to running. With each step, a heel strike first type of run sends shockwaves through your joints and bones. The cushioning makes things worse because it gives a false sense of safety. So a runner is likely to land even harder than if there were minimal cushioning. Whereas a midstrike landing allows our body to absorb the shock.

Modern running shoes with prominent arch support have literally added insult to injury. ‘But I have arch pain so I need arch support’ you say. But what other tendon in the body do we permanently immobilize as a form of treatment? Instead we work through forms of movement therapy to treat connective tissue problems. Immobilizing the Plantar Fascia tendon in our foot only makes matters worse as it doesn’t allow for adaptation and strengthening. Many runners have found that switching to minimal style shoes with no arch support has actually improved their arch problems.

Here’s the caveat though. If you have been running in highly cushioned, arch supported shoes, you can’t just switch to a minimal shoe and expect an overnight reduction in knee, hip and arch problems. As with any change in a exercise routine, there will be a period of adaptation. I have spoken with more than one person that has experienced stress fractures and other injuries to their feet because they didn’t allow time to adapt. I recommend switching back and forth between your old runners and new minimal shoes for a while so your feet, Achilles and calves can strengthen over time. First time out just run a hundred yards or so and slowly build your miles. Personally speaking, it took months for my calves and Achilles to adapt.

As I logged more miles I found I needed to slightly lower my heel to reduce fatigue in my calves. But I have had clients that very quickly adapted to minimals with little trouble at all. Whether you choose to switch to this style of running is up to you. You may find that minimal running suits you as much as it did me. Maybe I’ll see you on a trail one of these days!

 

 

 

Breaking Through Those Darn Plateaus

If you’ve ever dieted before you know exactly what a plateau is. It’s that frustrating stage where you’re certain nothing has changed in your diet and exercise strategy, yet the consistent weight loss you were experiencing the past few weeks has suddenly come to a screeching halt! What happened? How can it be fixed? And how can you prevent it from happening this time around?

No doubt this is a very discouraging event and has caused many a dieter to just give up and say to themselves ‘if doing everything right doesn’t even work, then what’s the point of it all?’

Let me assure you that plateaus are actually a very natural response to calorie restricted diets. I’m sure that doesn’t make you feel absolutely better about it, but know that your body is reacting the way it was made to react. ‘But didn’t I just get done reading that I need to reduce my calories in order to lose weight? Now you’re telling me restricting my calories causes weight loss plateaus? I can’t win!’ may be your reaction. Let me explain what’s happening in your body. Then we’ll discuss how to ‘break’ the plateau and get you losing weight again.

Imagine your body is a car and your metabolism is the engine. When you’re driving your car and have a full tank of gas you may not be so concerned with gas mileage and how far you can travel on that tank of gas. But if you had 20 miles to go until you got to the next gas station and your car’s computer shows you only have 18 miles of gas left, what changes would you make in the way you drove the car? It’s been shown that cars are much more efficient going around 40 miles per hour than they are traveling at 80 miles per hour. Knowing that, you would conservatively slow down to your most efficient speed (40 mph) even if took longer to get to the gas station.

Our body reacts in a similar way. When we’re providing it with adequate calories (fuel) it chugs along not concerned with when it’s going to get its next meal. But when we restrict calories over a period of time, our metabolism senses it is starving and starts worrying about when it will be ‘refueled’. Therefore it slows down, attempting to operate as efficiently as possible. A slowing metabolism requires less calories to keep running. Whereas you may have needed 1800 calories a day to keep running before you began dieting, your metabolism has slowed to a point that it only needs, say, 1500 calories. Now your 500 calorie daily deficit is only a 200 calorie deficit, bringing your weekly weight loss to a halt.

What’s the solution? Well, what would you do to get your car down the road again? Refuel!

‘Wait a minute. Are you telling me to eat more? That seems counterproductive’ you may argue. I agree, it does seem a bit backwards. We are trying to lose weight, right? And a calories in, calories out approach is still the only way to accomplish this. But there is a strategy to this madness. The complexities of the metabolism need to be understood, acknowledged and manipulated for the best results.

So here’s your strategy: You trick your body. Just when it thinks it’s starting to starve from lack of adequate calories you provide a little more than necessary. Everyone is going to be different in how their body reacts to calorie restrictions. Therefore I can’t be dogmatic as to how often and how much to increase our caloric intake. But I have found that once a week works well for many clients.

This isn’t an excuse to throw all caution to the wind and completely disregard the ultimate goal of attaining better health and smaller waistline. Rather, it is a strategically planned meal or day that allows about 250-500 calories over your BMR. This means that if your BMR is 1800 calories and you have been consuming 1300 calories (or better yet 1500 and getting the rest of your deficit from exercise), for this one day you will eat 2050 to 2300 calories, more if you had a great workout that day. This doesn’t only trick your metabolism into speeding up again, but provides a needed mental respite from dieting. And being that I’m all about moderation and enjoying life, enjoy this day and extra calories by having a little treat.

But don’t overdo it! There’s one thing worse than a plateau. Sabotaging an entire week’s of healthy eating with one day of gross over-consumption.

 

 

 

 

 

Care To Be Healthy. Hate To Be Fat.

The title of this blog can be understood two ways. We should all want to or care to be healthy. And most people hate being overweight and unhealthy. But the other way I want this read is that to be healthy we must care for ourselves. Care for our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual well being. And that being obese isn’t just about over-consumption or lack of activity. It’s more about the reason we over eat and fail to exercise. And that reason is that we, to put it bluntly, hate ourselves.

I’m not talking about the need to lose 10 or even 20 pounds. Modest weight gain like that can often be from simple changes in our lifestyle or health. Maybe we’ve changed jobs and now we’re more sedentary. We got an extended illness that changed our eating or exercise habits. Our metabolism has slowed from age and we have failed to make necessary adjustments to our eating and activity in order to control our weight.

But for those that have had a lifetime of weight battles, or over the course of a few years have steadily increased in weight to the point of obesity, there are underlying reasons. Simply put, we do not care enough about ourselves to be healthy. And if we don’t care for ourselves, it means we hate ourselves. I know, that sounds harsh. And it should. Because the way we treat our bodies that leads to obesity is also harsh. In fact, it is so harsh it is as if we are punishing ourselves. Think about it. The food that is supposed to be a reward (and that we have deluded ourselves into believing is a reward) is actually killing us. Obesity is causing daily pain and discomfort. It is increasing our chance of cancer and heart disease. It keeps loved ones from being close to us, both physically and emotionally. We are unable to enjoy things in life that others with full mobility and stamina can enjoy. What reason would we put our bodies through this other than we don’t really care for ourselves?

Here’s some questions you should ask yourself to see if you fall into this category: Look at your day and your eating habits. How often do you eat because you are physically hungry? When you eat, is it more than 500-700 calories in a sitting? Do you graze and snack multiple times between larger meals? Do you eat more when you are depressed? Do you justify having ‘just one more’ serving? Do you feel happy while eating then depressed when you’re done?

Taking time to enjoy a book

What about other aspects of your daily routine? Do you take time to daily do things you enjoy that are healthy? For instance, is there time set aside each day to find a quiet place to read or meditate. Do you take 10-15 minutes a day to take a bath without distraction, or enjoy a small project like scrapbooking or some other project? Do you think you deserve to have alone time just to be with your own thoughts? Do you feel selfish and guilty when you do something nice for yourself? Evaluating these questions can help you realize whether you truly care for yourself or not. And if you do not really care for yourself, you will never become permanently healthy.

So here’s a couple simple exercises to perform if you want to change these hateful, negative patterns: First, write down 5 positive personality attributes you possess. This exercise will be revealing. Because your level of difficulty in choosing just 5 attributes will reveal how you really feel about yourself. I’m certain you have many, many more than just 5. But if you are challenged to come up with just these few, it indicates how little you really care for yourself. But work through it. Take your time but commit to following through. Secondly, commit to providing yourself 10-15 minutes of self-care everyday! It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but it should be healthy. This means no TV, computer or facebook time. Sorry. These are not inherently healthy. Do something that will bring peace and tranquility for those few minutes you have set aside for yourself. If you feel guilty, acknowledge it but don’t give up. Remember, you will better serve your friends and family if you are happy and healthy.

This is not a quick-fix method to health. You will not lose 5 pounds a week by introducing more self-care into your life. But if you continue hating yourself fat, you will just go further and further down the road away from health, contentment and fulfillment. But once you make this positive change in your life, the other changes necessary to losing weight will not only be easier to make, but will even come naturally. And they will be permanent.

So instead of hating yourself fat, care for yourself enough to be healthy. It only takes 10 minutes a day to start down this positive path. Start today.

 

Losing Weight the ‘Organic’ Way

Organic foods are all the rage. And for good reason. Our society is inundated with growth hormones, pesticides and genetically engineered foods. The consequences of which we are just starting to understand. But, I am not writing this to promote a weight-loss plan derived from eating only organic foods. That can certainly play a roll, but is not a fundamental part of this blog’s conversation.

Rather, I want to talk about organic in the ‘simple, healthful, and close to nature’ definition of the word.

If you’ve read any of my other blogs or ‘Like’ my facebook page you’ve seen my focus is on losing weight through sustainable, permanent lifestyle changes. I don’t promote quick weight-loss solutions. In fact I typically discourage that form of dieting. If it happens too quickly it probably won’t last. This is where my idea of ‘organic’ weight-loss is derived.  Simple, healthful, and close to nature.

Think about the causes of obesity. The most simple, fundamental conversation on obesity will always include a calories in, calories out discussion. As a society we eat more and move less than ever before. We are surrounded by calorie dense, nutritionally bankrupt foods. Highly refined foods that send mixed signals to our brain and mess with our hormones. We think we’re still hungry even though we’ve consumed enough in one sitting to last us more than 24 hours. And then we do it again for another 2 to 3 meals. We sit at work for 8 to 10 hours, followed by sitting in front of the TV for another 2-3 hours to unwind from a high stress day.  Even if we don’t have a sedentary job, our daily activity, without specified times for exercise, isn’t enough to compensate for our consumption. It’s no wonder we’re getting fatter and fatter.

The mess this lifestyle is wreaking on our brains and hormones is often left out of the conversation. But guaranteed, the emotionally rooted aspects of obesity are affected, if not in some part caused, by our lifestyles. We are not taking care ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. So we compensate with self-destructive choices and patterns that just reinforce our belief that we don’t deserve to be taken care of. And the cycle continues.

So, back to organic weight-loss. What am I promoting?

Our bodies, including our brain and complicated hormonal and chemical systems are remarkably resilient. Given the proper care, they can repair most of the damage we have caused. What is the proper care? Simple, healthful, and close to nature. If we start providing our body and mind with what they need to function at their prime, we will be rewarded with a body that has set a naturally sustainable, healthy weight. Simple, healthful, and close to nature. In practical terms what does simple, healthful, and close to nature really mean?

Our bodies were made to be on the move.  And not just leisure movement. When scientists look at our muscles, our connective tissue, our bone structure, there is no arguing anything other than we were built for high levels of activity. A sedentary lifestyle is against our design. But because most don’t have the luxury of having highly active jobs it means we need to get out and exercise. 5-6 hours a week. That doesn’t mean you have to start that heavily. Just getting out and taking brisk 20 minute walks 5 to 6 times a week is a great start. Not only will this help with weight-loss, but your overall health, including your mental and emotional health, will improve dramatically. Over time, start introducing higher levels of activity. Lift weights. Take gym classes. Keep challenging yourself.

What about our food? First of all, just eat less. The truth of the matter is most people can’t even metabolize much more than 500 calories in a sitting. The rest just gets stored as fat. It also works our pancreas overtime in order to metabolize all the sugar and simple carbs we are eating, leading to insulin resistance and Type-II Diabetes.  So why are we eating so much? It’s pointless and destructive. Start changing the types of food you eat too. Simple, healthful, and close to nature. Sound familiar? The bag of Doritos, Hot Pockets, Cokes and Big Macs are neither simple, healthful nor close to nature. Slowly weaning ourselves off these foods will go a long way in telling your body you once again care for it. Remember this simple principle: The more ingredients in the food, the less healthy it probably is. Simple, healthful, and close to nature.

This doesn’t mean you should deprive yourself of everything you love. I still  enjoy an indulgence now and then. Our body’s filtration and cleansing system can handle the occasional ‘cheat’ food or meal. But the non-stop barrage of chemically laden foods puts such a burden on liver and kidneys that many people are living in a chronic disease state. So make your treats just that. A treat. In fact many have found the more healthy, whole, and natural foods they eat, the less they crave highly processed and unnatural foods.

It’s time to start taking care of ourselves. The life the majority of people are living is not the way we were meant to live. Being obese, chronically ill, overly medicated, depressed and highly stressed doesn’t have to be just a ‘fact of life’. These issues are largely caused by choices we have made knowingly or unknowingly. But now we do know. We know we can make better choices. We can change the path we are on. We can set a better example for our children. It will take time and effort. But it doesn’t have to be complicated. When making future decisions for your health just repeat these words: Simple, healthful, and close to nature.

 

“I Just Don’t Have the Motivation…”

Have you ever uttered these words to yourself? Most of us have for various reasons. Maybe we have a home project we have been procrastinating to start or finish. We have a test coming up we haven’t had the motivation for which to study. The pile on our desk is growing daily and we just haven’t had the energy to attack it. These are all areas in which a little motivation is useful. Without it we may allow things to stack up, get worse, or never get done.

But what about when we lack motivation to address or take care of much larger, potentially long-term issues? Like our health.

No Motivation

Well, you don’t need it. In fact, motivation may be the reason so many quickly lose weight only to regain it again. How so?

I compare motivation to adrenaline. Adrenaline is very useful for short bursts of energy. It’s used in ‘fight or flight’ scenarios. If you need to quickly get away from danger or put up a fight to protect yourself then adrenaline is what you need. It may also work well in running a very short distance. But it does little good in a marathon.

Motivation is the same way. Need to finish a short term project with a definite ending? Need to study for an upcoming test? Motivation is your friend. Need to make long-term changes in your habits in order to improve your health? Then it’s a different story all together. You see, motivation may get you started, but what will you do when it wears off? How many diets have you tried that have initially been successful but fail to offer lasting results because your motivation disappeared?

What then is the answer? Commitment. Let’s compare commitment to motivation using relationships as the model. In a relationship between two friends, family members or a spouse, how long will motivation keep the relationship alive? When things get rocky and the motivation is gone to stick it out, so is the relationship. That’s because motivation is a short-term feeling based largely on emotion. But what about commitment? Commitment is based on solid, logical, typically healthy reasons. It’s commitment that keeps a marriage or friendship alive even when the motivation to do so is lacking. And it’s commitment that keeps us working towards better health.

I think the reason so many rely on motivation to propel them forward towards goals like weight-loss is that they look at it as a short-term goal with a definite end. But it’s not! Good health and weight management has no end. It’s a lifelong pursuit that is forever changing based on our circumstances. And permanent weight-loss has more to do with small, steady changes than any single decision we make or action we take.

Healthy person on beach

What if our focus were learning, and then applying, how to live a well rounded, healthy life? The problem with this approach is that it is not exciting, sexy, marketable, or a quick way to lose weight. But if our sole approach was just being healthy, how much motivation would be needed to sustain that? Very little, I believe. We shouldn’t be looking to make drastic, overnight changes. They never stick! So my approach, while not exciting, sexy, or rapid, is to promote healthy, gradual changes. Moving a little more each day. Eating a few more fruits and vegetables and slowly weaning ourselves off of highly refined, nutritionally absent food. Eating smaller portions because we recognize we don’t need American size meals. Enjoying the small but tangible improvements to our health over months and years instead of just days and weeks.

This is not an event. This is journey. A journey that requires more commitment than motivation. Can you commit to feeling a little better than you did the day before? Then commit to making one small change a week. No motivation required.

 

Play To Your Strength

You wouldn’t know it by looking at me now, but I tried to be a bodybuilder. I had a few buddies that seemed to bulk up doing little more than milling around a gym and drinking protein shakes. And I was always a bit more of the scrawny kid that occasionally became chubby, then scrawny again. And I hated it. So I got a subscription to Muscle and Fitness, bought some home gym equipment and started a bodybuilding plan. Easy as that. Right? I wish. After more than 5 years of constantly battling to gain muscle, specifically in my upper body, and failing miserably, I reluctantly gave up. Not on exercise of course. Just on the hope of having the chiseled chest and 20 inch biceps.

The problem wasn’t my workout or my diet. It wasn’t lack of dedication or determination or focus. I put in the time. I played the game. But I was fighting a battle that genetically could not be won. So was it all for not? Was it all a waste of time? Not at all. I learned to love the gym, develop a consistent workout schedule, and eventually parlay this into a fitness career. But it was a frustrating process that could have been avoided.

But enough about me. How does any of this help you?

In the battle for weight-loss our approach tends to lean towards the negative. Find our weakness and attack. If we don’t exercise, then we join a gym and workout 5 days a week. If we overeat then we choose an extreme, low calorie diet or some crazy lemon juice cleanse. If we love sweets we swear off sugar. And it all works for a week or maybe a few months. But our weaknesses are our weaknesses for a reason. It’s because they usually stronger than we are. No one starts a boxing career with their first bout against Mike Tyson. Strong beats weak 99% of the time.

Losing the battle to our weaknesses

It’s almost as if our weakness has a mind of its own. It ‘spars’ with us for a few rounds, letting us think we are winning, then delivers that single knockout blow that hurts so bad we give up completely.

But what if you turn the tables on your weakness? What if you dare to change the rules? After all, this is your fight, so it should be your rules. Instead of challenging Mike Tyson to a head-to-head boxing match, you challenge him to play a game you’re good at. One you know you can win. Everyone, everything, has a weakness that can be exploited. And guaranteed, you have a strength he does not possess.

So what strength do you have that can outdo your weakness? What battle can you choose that you are sure to win?

I have clients that enjoy exercise but keep losing the battle to food. It’s not that they have terrible diets. But they have just enough of a struggle that they feel like giving up the fight. They only see the losses when they give in to the occasional overindulgence. Imagine letting go of this fight. Step out of the ring. Then challenge your weakness to a battle in the gym. Or on a bike. Or for a run. 20 minutes of a home workout video. A hike up the hillside. Beat the weakness at a game you choose.

Exercise may not be your strength. But I know for a fact that if you are ready to win the weight-loss battle, we can find a strength to play to. One that is stronger than your weakness. A strength that will allow you to feel daily victories instead of losses. That will motivate you to do more instead of compel you to give up.

Step out of the ring where a loss is a guaranteed and create a game where success is assured. Play to your strength and be empowered by winning.

 

It’s all about Comfort

As I work with more and more people as their personal trainer and others as their weight-loss/health coach I keep looking for keys to permanent solutions. While it’s easy enough to preach the ‘eat less exercise more’ dogma, that doesn’t speak to the underlying causes of obesity.

I’ve realized obesity is rarely just about consumption and laziness. Yes, the only way to gain weight is to eat more than our body needs to function on a daily basis. But why are people eating too much? Why are people inactive?

I’ve had some clients describe themselves as lazy. But upon further examination we see these people are anything but lazy. They hold down jobs and work very hard at them. They are supportive friends and family members. They go out of their way to help those in need. None of these attributes describes a lazy person.

Others say they love food. That’s why they overeat. But who doesn’t love food? Most people, obese or not, will claim to love food. Look at the French. They pride themselves on culinary perfection. Their lives seem to revolve around fine foods. Multiple courses. High fat content. Wine. Lots and lots of wine. And yet as a society they are much less susceptible to obesity than Americans. Do they love food less than we do? Not likely.

So what’s really going on?

Comfort. I think it’s all about comfort.

For those that have always been thin, healthy and active this may not make any sense. After all being overweight or obese doesn’t appear to be comfortable. Clothes that don’t fit right. Struggling to make it up a few stairs or in and out of a car. Obesity related illnesses and medication. What could be comfortable about that?

Is this your comfort zone?

But don’t all of us have things we do, vices we have that we know aren’t good for us? Maybe our vice doesn’t reveal itself publicly or it’s not viewed in the same negative light that obesity is. But we have them. Too much TV. Excess time on Facebook. The hidden bag of chocolate chips we indulge in after everyone’s gone to sleep.

Or we justify our vice by saying it’s for the benefit of others or ourselves. Like being a workaholic. Excessive exercise. Time consuming hobbies. Time spent helping others but at the expense of our family.

If we are doing things that upon honest evaluation are not truly benefiting ourselves or are hurting those around us, we are no different than the obese person we scorn for not getting off their butt and exercising more or for failing to control what they consume.

And we come back to comfort. If we feel we belong in a certain place or set of circumstances, that will be our place of comfort. It doesn’t have to feel good. In fact we probably feel guilty being there. But it’s so scary to move outside of this home we’ve created for ourselves that we continue doing what feels comfortable. To the harm of us and those around us.

The only solution is to find and accept a little hand holding. Someone we can trust to tug on us a bit on a regular basis. Someone we know we will feel accountable to that will not be afraid to question our motives and challenge us to take small steps outside the safe world we have created. It won’t be comfortable. Leaving home rarely is. But it’s always worth it. Especially when you go with someone else.

 

Positive Addiction

“Make friends with pain and you’ll never be alone.”
-Ken Chlouber creator of the Leadville Trail 100 Ultra Marathon

I must admit something.
I am an addict.
But I’m not willing to admit it’s a problem. Therefore I have no hope of a full recovery. And truth be told I’m not at all interested in breaking this addiction. I suppose this is not unusual. Many addicts have no desire to change. They like their life the way it is and prefer to keep it that way. And every addict has a justification for their addiction. As do I.

My justification is that it keeps me healthy. Healthy physically. Healthy mentally. Healthy emotionally. I may even be able to make a case for healthy spiritually. And like most other addicts, I feel the need to surround myself with other people with the same issue. Not only surround myself with them, but find new converts. I want the world to experience the liberation that comes with releasing themselves to this dependence, this obsession, this deep craving.

My compulsion? Exercise.

I have not always been this way. I’ve always been active, yes. But habitually, even sadistically exercising? No. This development has been years in the making. I did not wake up one morning with the uncontrollable desire to hit the pavement in my Asics, the road on my two wheeled transportation or the gym to push my limits in an anaerobic induced euphoria.

I’m getting exited just talking about this. While writing this blog I’m thinking about my next workout. Today is supposed to be my day off. My legs are aching from an hour of plyometric exercise yesterday morning followed my a 10 mile run in the afternoon. But I’m craving more.

Years in development. Step by step. Mile by mile. Spinning class by spinning class. Weight by weight. Exercise started as a forced routine. Became a habit. Grew to an obsession. I’m not quitting. You can’t stop me. Because you can’t catch me.

 

Getting Started or Starting Over

For each 10 dieters that lose weight, 8 will gain the weight back. A well-known statistic for sure but a bit depressing nonetheless. If you are one of those who have lost weight only to regain it, or are working up the courage to begin the process for the first time, knowing these facts can be intimidating and overwhelming. So what assures your success this time around? Two people. You and I.

The role you play is obvious. You choose to change. You cut your calories. You exercise more. You surround yourself with supportive people. You make better choices. The majority of the equation clearly comes down to you. But it is also clear that finding success in this endeavor is not easily done alone. Why?

Take some time to think about why you are in the situation you are in. A lifetime of habits created and supported by those who surround you. We learn how and what to eat from our parents, our friends and our schools.  And unless we are challenged to question these habits we go through life suffering the consequences of these habits.

I’m certainly not advocating passing blame. Taking accountability is crucial to making any worthwhile changes. But acknowledging the source of our habits and recognizing their effect on our life is an important step in creating an environment for change. Here’s why: If we try to make changes but surround ourselves with the same people or situations that helped create the problem in the first place, we are virtually assuring our failure. We will succumb to the easier, more comfortable choices.

This is one reason so few succeed in the weight loss battle. ‘We are who we roll with’ could easily be changed to ‘We are who we eat with’, ‘work with’ or ‘live with’. How many of us could easily resist the chocolate cake, the second or third serving of lasagna, the fifth breadstick, if presented with these temptations every day? Not many.

So do we just leave behind our family and friends? Obviously not. But can we make changes to some of our environment? Can we choose more healthy and fit associates? This is one clear benefit of joining a gym. Being surrounded by individuals with similar goals and challenges will add necessary support to our battle.

I mentioned at the beginning that this all takes two people. You and I. So where do I come in? Here’s my shameless plug for the services I offer: I want to be your coach. I want to help you create a clear vision of what a healthy and fit you looks and feels like. I will be there to define your goals and hold you accountable. Support you and provide needed education, so that you can experience a final, life changing, permanently healthy you.

Whether you are getting started or starting over, you and I can do this. Starting now!

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Battle the Winter Bulge

We’ve likely all heard (or used) excuses for winter weight gain: ‘I think my body is going into hibernation’.  ‘I need the extra fat to protect me from the cold’.  ‘I need more comfort food when it’s cold’.  ‘I can’t exercise because the weather is bad’. (You can add any other excuses here.)

While there may be some legitimacy to our body’s adjustments to seasonal changes, the fact is most that gain those 5-10 winter pounds never lose them come summer. And it’s not as if we actually need any extra fat storage. We all live in climate controlled homes, travel in climate controlled vehicles, and even if we have an outdoor job, we have the capability of staying warm with state-of-the-art outerwear.

Therefore, the excuses become just another reason to justify our own lack of consumption control and the inability to kick our own butt to exercise 5 days a week. But we all know people that don’t allow colder temps and seasonal changes to affect their weight. What do they do that the winter weight gainers don’t?

They stick to their routine. It is that simple.

Think of all the things we do, day in and day out, without variation. Regardless of season. Regardless of temperature.

We go to work. We clean the house. We get the kids to school. We make dinner. We follow bedtime rituals. If you observe your daily routine you’ll see areas of your life that rarely deviate from a set pattern. And as I spend time at the gym with clients or for my own workouts, I observe the exact same people at the gym, at the same times, on the same days, without variation.

Do they have some super-human determination, the perfect set of circumstances, the ideal life that the rest of the world is missing? Unlikely. Rather, they have decided to make a healthy lifestyle part of their daily routine.

A routine that doesn’t change just because the weather has.

So dump the excuses. They are admittedly quite lame. Find a routine. And avoid those extra 5-10 winter pounds. Because you know you weren’t really going to lose them next spring anyway.