I’m toying with the idea of running the Buffalo Half-Marathon this year. My first child is due to be born right around this time. I’m a little unsure if I want to make the commitment to the race with this BIG event happening right around the same time.  But, I’m leaning toward doing it.

So, what the tools and tricks I’m using right now? My iphone has proved to be invaluable for the past month of working and eating right. On the food front, I’ve been using the Livestrong Calorie Counter app. Its easy to understand, fast, and the food database is always being updated. I know there are a lot of other apps out there that do this. I’ve tried them, but they just seems to clunky for me. For working out, I have found an awesome app called My Fitness Instructor by British Military Fitness. This is seriously a great app. Its like having a personal trainer talking you through your daily workout. Its got a couple slight flaws here and there, but nothing that will detract from its value. I am really surprised that I haven’t read more about it online. To supplement that app, I’ve been doing the Bas Rutten  audio workouts (from the ipod on my phone). These are fun, and will kick your ass.

What I love about the My Fitness Instructor app and the Bas Rutten workouts is that you don’t need ANY equipment other that your iphone and a set of headphones. I will likely be doing future posts on both of these tools.

Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it.

– Steve Prefontaine

I was thinking of some examples of play, and I realized that everything I thought of fell into two main categories: 1. Things people did “back in the day”, or 2. Things I did when I was a kid. Here are some examples I came up with.

• Shoveling the driveway – I understand that not everyone has to deal with snow, but being from Buffalo, snow is something that is never far from our minds. Shoveling snow can burn over 400 calories per hour . So put away the snow blower and dust off the snow shovel this winter. Just don’t lick that metal flag pole! I’d say this falls into both of the categories I mentioned above.
• Raking leaves – Before the snow flys in winter, there is the flying leaves in autumn. Why would anyone use a leaf blower/sucker/mulcher to clean up their yard on a crisp fall day? Putting away that power equipment will  get you some exercise, and you’ll have a better chance to enjoy Fall will all of your senses.
• Walk The Dog – This is beneficial in so many ways. Not only is it good exercise for Rufus,  you get a wholesome low impact workout in the process. You’re also likely to meet your neighbors, get to know the neighborhood, and have a closer bond with your dog. No dog? No problem, get out and walk anyway. Trust me, for something that seems so mundane; walking for the sake of walking has a tremendously positive effect on you psyche and your physical health.
• Wash Your Car - Why are you paying those crazy car wash fees when you can do it all yourself? You can go as simple or elaborate as you’d like with your car wash supplies. Either way, you’ll get  a sparkling car while you work up a sweat. You get bonus points if you do a hand wax afterwords!
• Get a Rotary Lawn Mower- You know those old school manual lawn mowers that your grandparents used? The ones where the blade spins when the mower is pushed? Well believe it or not, they’re making a come back. Lawn enthusiasts use them because they aren’t as tough on the grass as modern gas mowers are. They’re also a great workout. They don’t take any longer to use than a powered mower, but you’ll work up a sweat doing it. If your going to spend the time, you may as well get something out of it.

The list of possibilities goes on and on. Are these a magic bullet for weight loss, and incredible fitness? Of course not. But, adding activities like this to your everyday life and eating right will make a noticeable difference. Not to mention the potential economic benefits. Stop doing things the easy way all the time and get back to basics. Put a little sweat equity into your life, and it is bound to pay dividends.

A few weeks ago I was going through a bit of a mental slump. Nothing major, just feeling run down and mentally adrift. Erin and I were planning to go to the beach for the weekend, and I was hoping that time in the water might re-ignite my spark. Before we left I wanted to find a book to read on the beach. Scanning our bookshelf, I eyed this bright yellow book and remembered that she recommended it to me after reading it for one of her MBA classes. So, I grabbed it figuring it would be a good length for the weekend. That evening after dinner I sat down and cracked the book. Then, everything changed.

The first chapter is titled “It’s All Invented”, and it’s purpose is the break apart your beliefs about the world that influence and color your perspective. Think of it as hitting the reset button on all of your assumptions of people and world around you. This chapter is just the start of the process to renew and reshape your beliefs.

Written in an conversational voice, this book is far from “new age” psycho-babble. Typically marketed to professionals and MBA students, The Art of Possibility is a book that is taken seriously in both academia and the real world. Whether you are looking for help in life, love, work, or sport, this book will help you to get perspective on your situation.

The Art of Possibility is written by Rosamund Stone Zander, and Benjamin Zander. Rosamund is a family counselor, and Benjamin is the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. This may sound like an odd mix to be writing such a book, but there experiences and perspective create something greater than the text between the pages.

“Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction”

- William James

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Garmin Forerunner 305 Chest Strap Battery type: CR2032

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While I am  done with the negativity produced so many of those around us,  I believe the only way to respond to it is with positive assertiveness. The detractors around us are primarily motivated by fear. Fear of change, fear of abandonment, fear of failure, etc. Respond to them with a matter of fact statement, such as “I am doing thing for myself, and it is really quite important to me that I stick to my plan”. Then just stop. Don’t offer any other excuses. Don’t laugh. This is serious to you, and you need to communicate that. The ball is now in their court. Don’t expect it to be passed back.

Remember that life is really nothing more than a series of decisions having  greater or lesser importance. When you start, or started on the this journey of fitness and wellness you made a decision. That decision is the most important one you can make in your and your family’s life. While being physically fit is good for your physique, the most important thing it gives you is health and longevity. That means less money spent on health costs, less time away from work, more opportunity in life, and greater time with your loved ones. So when that friend or family member is temping you to cheat on your diet or skip that workout, remember what is important to you and why you set out on this journey.

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I had been tracking my food consumption using the Livestrong app on my iphone. This worked well, and was easy, and I would certainly do it again. This app works by calculating your current weigh, activity level, and the amount of weight you want to lose each week to determine the amount of calories you should be eating. Weight watchers is a whole other bird.  uses your current weight and activity level to determine how many daily ‘points’ you are allotted.  You are receive weekly ‘extra’ points, and you can burn off used points with exercise. A foods point number us determine based on the number of calories, dietary fiber, and fat are included. It sounds complicated, and honestly is sort of is. But, you figure it out eventually. I’ve only been doing it for about 1 week, I HAVE lost weight but I have also been working out like a mad man. So, it is yet to be determined how effect this will be. Weight watchers doesn’t really push exercise too much as part of their whole plan, so I was a little worried that I would be very hungry due to the high intensity workout I’m doing. But, I’ve been quite satisfied. In fact, I’ve been having to eat MORE than I normally would in order to get all of my points in. So far, so good. I’ll keep you posted.

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The workouts: Did I mention this is a 2 month program? That probably sounds a little strange to you if you are used to dealing with 90 day programs, but this workout is seriously intense enough that with proper nutrition you can get in unbelievable shape. There are 14 different workouts included in the program. So far, I am just 1 week in and I have done some of the workouts twice already.Not a big deal for me. I looked forward in the schedule, and there are looks to be an entire set that I will not touch until the second month of training. I plan on uploading some before and after photos, as well as program reports. I will also touch upon my current food plan in my next post.

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Food for thought: You need to take every “diet” with a grain of salt, include the U.S governments. It’s hard to believe, but the U.S. Dietary Guidelines are HEAVILY influenced by lobbyists who are trying to get more of their product represented in the food pyramid. The Government guidelines change every few years not because there has been more “research” into what is good for us, but because some lobbyist has successfully bought our government officials. Put that in your food diary and smoke it. Also, remember that the “health” industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. With all that money being spent, don’t you think our the U.S. might loose some weight? fat chance, if those weight loss products actually worked, they’d be putting themselves out of business. Don’t be sold by this crap. Remember that you only need two things to lose weight: healthy food and exercise. That’s it.

Before I get too deep into food, we need to talk about portion size. I don’t care how healthy a food is, if you eat too much of it, you will get fat (or at least not have the calorie deficit you need to lose weight). As a child, I was always very active and “growing”, as my mom would say. I could afford to eat a ton of food because I was burning all of those calories. I kept that mentality all the way into college, unfortunately my regular diet changed significantly (beer) and I wasn’t as active as I used to be. Naturally I gained weight. I decided to start working out pretty heavily. Since I was working out so hard, I figured my diet was safe, in fact I ate MORE. After all, I was working out! I gained muscle like crazy which isn’t so bad, but my body fat didn’t budge. I looked even fatter. Moral of the story? If you want to gain big muscle, eat like a horse  and lift big. If you want to get lean and loose fat, you need to have a calorie deficit. I recommend keeping a food diary. Two very good electronic ones are FitDay and The Daily Plate.

So, Food. Here are my categories again:

• Things You Eat Regularly – I’m a creature of habit. I eat pretty much the same thing for breakfast 5 days a week, and while my lunches have a bit more variety they don’t vary widely.  So 2/3 of my meals, 5 days a week,  are fairly predictable. This is a great opportunity to make a huge difference in my diet. For both breakfast and lunch, I choose a really healthy meal (or a small handful of meals if you want some variety) and stick with them. What does that do? It takes close to 50% of what I eat, and makes it guaranteed healthy. That will make a huge difference.
• Meat – I’m not a vegetarian, in fact I love meat. That being said, if you want to lose weight and/or feel better on a regular basis you need to significantly reduce the amount of meat you eat on a regular basis. If your concerned that that you’ll loose muscle mass, I say B.S.. There are so many ways for you to get enough protein without eating meat, and we usually get far more protein that our body actually uses anyway. Don’t believe me? I recommend checking out Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food.
• Veggies – Vegetables are SO good for you. I’m talking super food. Anything that can grow on nothing but water, air, and sunlight is good in my book. Covering them in fat turns them to the evil side. Beware.
• Fish – Fish is your main protein replacement. Don’t like fish? Well, start liking it. Choosing the right fish can load you up with omega-3 fatty acids, and it just tastes great. Some fish can tend to have levels of mercury in it that you won’t want to eat on a regular basis. To avoid this, a good rule of thumb is: The lower on the food chain, the better. Shrimp, scallops, and sardines are a good place to start. Just don’t cook them in an unhealthy way.
• Milk – Dairy products fall into the same category of meat, they’re fattening and typically don’t offer as much benefit as you think. They also tend to be an inflammatory. Go easy on the dairy, you feel better. (I do like low fat cottage cheese – can be a good source of protein).
• Sweets/Soda – Look, I love sweets. So all I can say is ‘moderation’. Moderation doesn’t mean once a day. Moderation is once a week….maybe. Personally, even if I have some extra calories to eat I try to stay away. I find that sweets have a addictive effect.  Soda, go diet and you’ll be good. But, you’d be better off with water.
• Coffee – Coffee tends to get a bad rap. As long as you’re drinking it black, you’re not going to be ingesting too many calories. Also, It is a great alternative to a sugary afternoon snack when you’re needing a pick-me-up.
• Water- Drink it, and drink a lot. Don’t like drinking plain old water? throw some lime juice in it. Staying well hydrated will lower your heart rate, keep you feeling fuller longer, and make you feel better overall.

When putting together your food plan, try to think of how our ancestors ate. Meat was expensive, fish and veggies were plentiful and cheap. Food didn’t come in boxes. They ate real food. They worked hard for their daily bread. Just keep that in mind.

I will be outlining each of the bullet points above in a series of posts coming soon!

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