Fitness

You have to make your health a priority

September 18, 2017 by john Leave a Comment

Whenever I hear somebody say they don’t have time to go to the gym, I like to ask them why not. What is it that is so important that it is keeping them from working out? You won’t be surprised by the answers.

I work long hours
My kids have so many after-school activities
My wife doesn’t get home until late

These aren’t reasons. They are excuses.

Sitting Was Literally Killing Me

For ten years, I worked in an office. I spent eight or more hours each day sitting at a desk. While it didn’t happen overnight, that job helped me pack on an extra 20 pounds. I eventually quit that job in order to start my own company. I would joke with my friends that since I was the owner, I got to work half-days. And, since I was the boss, I got to choose which 12 hours I worked. While I only ran that company for about five years, it still managed to find a way to pile on an extra 20 pounds.

My business was my number one priority. I was working seven days a week and as many hours as I could possibly sit at my desk. My diet was absolute crap. It wasn’t uncommon to leave my desk at 8:00 pm to make a fast food run only to come back and put in another two or three hours.

I remember so vividly the exact moment I realized I needed to make a drastic change. I was sitting in a movie theater with my wife and kids on a Saturday afternoon. I wasn’t able to enjoy the movie because I was feeling guilty that I wasn’t at home working on a project that I knew had a deadline.

This was no way to live. For the past 15 years, I had let my job and then my business become my priority. I was unhappy, and my work was suffering. If I didn’t make a change soon, I wasn’t going to be around long enough for it to matter.

Small Changes Can Make A Big Difference

I get it. You likely can’t just decide one day to change your entire life and schedule around. Neither could I. For me, my decision to make a change kicked off a series of small events.

I started with three small changes:

I cut out soda
I stopped eating after 7:00 pm
I started going on walks

I saw almost immediate results. I lost roughly 10 pounds in the first 10 days. I’m sure that most of that was related to removing soda from my diet. Keep in mind, this is the list that worked for me based on where I was at when I started. You may not drink soda, so that’s not something for you to give up. But I’m sure there are other small changes you can make that will have a similar effect. For example, do you drink coffee with sugar and cream? Maybe cut out the sugar and switch to a sugar-free creamer.

When I first started, I would walk about 20 minutes each morning with my wife before breakfast. It was a great chance for us to spend time together without the interruptions that take our attention once the workday kicks off. As the results started coming, the length of our walks started to increase. We’d add a few extra blocks to our route and then a few more. It wasn’t long before we were going to bed and waking up earlier so that we could walk longer each morning. It wasn’t uncommon for our weekend walks to have us hitting our 10,000 steps before breakfast.

New Priorities

I was loving the results I was seeing and I knew it was time to step it up. So for probably the tenth time in my life, I joined a gym. Normally joining a gym meant I was about to pay somebody a bunch of money and then never step foot in their facility. Not this time.

I started by picking three classes each week that I was going to attend. I put them on my calendar and I didn’t let anything that wasn’t an absolute emergency get in the way of making it to the gym. While the walks were an opportunity to spend one on one time with my wife, the gym quickly became Me Time. It was an hour each day where I could shut out the entire world and focus on nothing but the workout in front of me.

This wasn’t just about seeing results on the scale. I was seeing results in all facets of my life. I was spending way less time at my desk, which had the side effect of causing me to be more focused during the time I was there and my productivity shot way up. I was eating better, sleeping better, and most importantly, I was FEELING better.

None of that would have been possible had I not made myself the priority. Believe me when I say you can do the same.

How To Get Started

To take a line from my junior high gym coach, “There’s nothing to it but to do it.” I always thought he was crazy, but it turns out, he was exactly right. There is no magic bullet and what is right for one person won’t be right for all. So this list isn’t set in stone and you should feel free to modify it to fit what works for you. I’m going to give you two simple things to do to get yourself started.

#1) Don’t worry about counting calories at the beginning. Instead, try to eliminate sugar from your diet as much as possible. Once you start seeing some results, you should make an appointment with a nutritionist so they can help you figure out a meal plan that aligns with your body type and your goals.

#2) Get a little exercise. I’m not talking about joining a gym or anything like that. Try going on a 15-20 minute walk a few days a week. Another great option is to tie movements to something that you do several times each day. For example, going to the bathroom. Each time you go to the bathroom during the day, on your way back to your desk do 25 squats, a dozen situps, or even just 10 pushups. Anything to get your body moving.

You got this!

Finding success through accountability

April 29, 2017 by john Leave a Comment

Have you ever heard the phrase “Vegas wasn’t built on winners?” The same can be said for the fitness industry.

Each year, people spend billions of dollars on weight loss products and gimmicky fitness equipment they see on late night infomercials because they are looking for the quick solution. If you’ve ever watched one of those infomercials with the amazingly fit guys and gals with their already rock-hard abs bending, twisting and lifting, have you also read the disclaimer they put right there along the bottom of the screen? It reads, “Results Not Typical.”

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I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I don’t care what the infomercial tells you, but, losing weight and getting in shape isn’t easy. There isn’t a miracle drug or random piece of equipment that, all by itself, is going to fix shed the weight and build the muscles. It’s going to take work. It’s going to take time. And not all of it is done with a huge smile on your face like those folks in the infomercial.

Getting in shape doesn’t have to be miserable

Over the past 15 years or so, my weight has fluctuated up and down like a yo-yo. But over time, the weight wasn’t going as far each time, and it was taking longer and longer to see results.

About 3 years ago, my wife and I decided to go for a walk each morning. We started out with short 20-minute walks that grew into the 45-60 minute range during the week. Our weekend walks were even longer. I absolutely loved these walks. First off, it was a great way to spend some time with my wife where we could just chat without the interruptions of phones, emails, or work. Second, we were both seeing results! So here we were doing something that we both enjoyed, and as a totally secondary thing, we were both losing weight.

We started cutting back on our walks once we both joined a CrossFit gym and started working out 3-5 times per week. Even though at CrossFit we weren’t able to stroll and chat like we did on our walks, we both enjoyed being able to go to the same class and do the same workout but scaled to our individual fitness and skill level. On the ride home, we would chat about the workouts — Which parts we liked, which parts sucked, and which parts kicked our ass the most. There was a sense of accomplishment in doing the work, but even more gratifying was the value we took from the shared experience.

Getting my eating under control

Even though I have been in pretty decent shape the past couple years, there has always been one piece of my fitness that I’ve never been really good at; Eating right.

After a few months of walking and then a few months at CrossFit, I was seeing some pretty decent weight loss results. I would go and workout super hard and then get home and eat the entire refrigerator. Portion control? Haha, yeah right! My weight wasn’t going back up, so I figured everything was great. I could eat whatever I wanted and not gain wait. Isn’t that everybody’s dream? Well, unfortunately, that only lasts so long and it eventually caught up with me.

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Earlier this year, I took part in a nutrition challenge. This isn’t one of those things where you’re on your own to go about losing weight over the course of a month or two and then as soon as it’s done, you go right back to eating whatever you want. No, this was more of a class where we were taught the fundamentals of eating properly.

During the week leading up to the start of the challenge, our instructor had us fill in a spreadsheet every day with everything we ate or drank (other than water) each day. He wanted to get a sense of what our current eating habits were like so that he knew which areas to focus on for each competitor. He asked that we don’t clean up our eating, but of course, I did. I expect others did as well. I lost 4 pounds that first week, and we hadn’t even started the challenge yet!

Over the next 5 weeks, we learned about whole foods, nutrients, timing our meals, the wonders of veggies, and meal prep. I was petrified of meal prep, but I was in it to win it, so I was going to listen and stick to the plan. And, throughout the entire competition, we had to track all our eating in that spreadsheet. By the end of the challenge, I had dropped around 15 pounds and several body fat percentage points.

It has been several weeks since the challenge ended and I’m happy to report that I’ve been sticking to the meal prep and generally following along with the same plan I was on during the challenge.

It takes a villiage

Losing weight and getting in shape is hard work. Doing it by yourself is even worse.

Even though I had tried several times in the past, nothing worked quite as well as when I was walking and working out with my wife and friends. I knew that if I didn’t show up each day, the next time I walked in, somebody was going to ask me why I missed class. I know that when I asked somebody why they missed a class, I’m not asking to shame or guilt them. It’s about wanting that person to make it to class for those shared experiences and to make sure they’re staying true to their fitness journey.

I was successful in the nutrition challenge because there was somebody on the other side watching. Each week when we’d meet, he’d look at the spreadsheet and we’d talk about what I had eaten. He’d never try to make me feel bad about it, but he’d instead try to help each of us make better choices. just knowing that somebody else was paying attention made it that much easier to choose a banana over a Snicker’s bar as a snack.

If you’re a member of a gym, see if they offer any sort of nutrition training. Workouts alone will not get you in shape. And a crash-course diet isn’t a solution and may cause more harm than good. If not through your gym, ask around for a referral to a nutritionist.

Now, go find yourself a walking partner or a gym buddy. Better yet, find a group of them. You’ll find that working out together is a lot more fun than going it alone.

Start small. Just move.

January 2, 2017 by john Leave a Comment

The new year has arrived, so it’s time to get started on those resolutions we made in December. For many of us, that means it’s time to start working out and getting in shape. If you’ve previously been a gym rat and you just packed on a few pounds over the holidays and need to work them off, chances are you already know what you need to do. Sign back up at your gym and dive back into your old routine. If this applies to you, stop reading and get back to the gym. Now.

This post is for the rest of you. The ones who are intimidated by the idea of working out at a gym. The ones who think you need a gym membership to workout. The ones who think a private trainer is the only way to get started.

As somebody who goes to the gym several times a week, it would be really easy for me to say “Suck it up and sign up for a gym!” But that’s just not realistic for many of you. Hell, it wasn’t realistic for me when I decided I wanted to get in shape. A friend suggested I try CrossFit, but I was intimidated. (I have plenty to write on that subject, but that’s for another post.) I needed something to ease myself into it. And I suspect you’re in a similar situation, yes? Then, yes, this post is definitely for you!

Getting Started

If you’ve never driven a car before, you wouldn’t rush to the track to drive a Ferrari at top speed, right? Well working out is the same. You shouldn’t run a marathon your first day. Or back squat 350 pounds or do 100 pushups on your first day, either. All of those would be an extremely bad idea and would likely lead to injury.

It would be wrong of me not to mention that if you are new to working out, it would be a really good idea to talk with your physician first before starting any sort of workout regimen.

OK, with that out of the way, let’s get started!

Let’s Walk

When I first decided to get in shape, I started by walking. I set an alarm to wake up a little early each morning and I would go out for a 20-minute walk. Over the course of a couple months, they turned into a 30-minute, 45-minute and even 90-minute walks (on the weekends).

Start small. If you have a park near your house, take a walk each day around the park. If it’s a small park, build up to doing a few laps per day. If you live in a cold climate, find a shopping mall to walk around. Need a couple items from the store? Walk there and back. Carrying a gallon of milk home would be a great way to add a little extra challenge to your walk.

Do you travel for work? Before your trip, use Google maps to check the are near your hotel to see if they have a park, beach or some other landmark within walking distance. It’s a great way to explore a new city and to get more out of your trip than simply sitting in a conference room.

Walking doesn’t have to be just about the physical act itself. For me, I used that time to clear my head or to think about a particular task I wanted to get done that day. Many times I would go on walks with my wife which gave us a great opportunity to chat without the distractions that come with being at home. We also used those walks to explore different parts of our neighborhood that we’d never new existed.

Building a Habit

Getting in shape is going to take more than a daily walk, and that’s OK. What we want to do first is build a habit of putting yourself at the top of priority list. You absolutely will not get in shape until you make it a priority. You HAVE to carve out time to focus on your health.We’re all guilty of complaining about how little time we have. But then we’ll sit on the couch and binge watch an entire season of the Gilmore Girls. If TV isn’t your time-suck of choice, maybe it’s video games or Facebook. The point is, we all spend time

We’re all guilty of complaining about how little time we have. But then we’ll sit on the couch and binge watch an entire season of the Gilmore Girls. If TV isn’t your time-suck of choice, maybe it’s video games or Facebook. The point is, we all spend time on things that could instead be spent working on ourselves.

I have a little challenge for you. Pick a time of day, morning or evening, and mark off 30 minutes on your calendar every day for the entire month of January. Set an alarm on your phone if you have to, but each day at your chosen time, stop what you are doing and go for a 20-minute walk. That’s it. Simple stuff. Make it a habit that you just don’t break.

More to Come

There’s obviously more to getting in shape than just going out for a walk. We’ve got a lot more content planned to help you on your path to fitness. To receive the new posts via email, signup using the form on the right-hand sidebar.

Happy New Year from the team at WODables!

Photo Credit: tpsdave @ Pixabay