One of the most common New Year's resolutions is to lose weight, but year after year, these resolutions are not met and are often forgotten within the first few weeks in January. In fact, my most successful New Year's resolution was to never make a resolution. I couldn't tell you how many years ago that was, but I have been very successful as I have not come up with another one since.
But seriously, if your goal this year is to lose weight, it doesn't have to be complicated... you just probably shouldn't start until tomorrow-- just saying, I don't want you to go to a New Year's party to find yourself in a situation where you've set yourself up for failure.
In order to lose weight and live a healthier life, a personal trainer once told me, you need to control three things: diet, exercise, and rest. We'll start small and build from there over time, but please find below something useful to help you on your journey, share with others, and enjoy.
Before I begin, though, a disclaimer: I am not a professional dietitian, doctor, or personal trainer. These people go to school for many years and know a whole lot more than me. I'm just a normal guy who once lost a lot of weight and started to love running- I love helping people, normal people, get into a healthier lifestyle. So please, take my tips and adapt them to your life, but here's the other part... never be afraid to comment or make alternate suggestions about what works for you.
Diet
1. Do not "go on a diet" CHANGE your lifestyle
You know the way it goes, you feel a little rotund around the middle, so you limit your calories. Maybe you see those commercials for diet plans and can't believe that very heavy woman or man with all that flab can possibly be sporting 6-pack abs. That can be me! you think... (yeah, that, and a whole lot of plastic surgery)... trust me, dear reader, when you lose a significant amount of weight, you don't come through with rock hard abs and a 6-pack- trust me on this one, no one wants to see me with my shirt off!
Diets are short-term changes in eating, they mess with your metabolism, and don't work. Usually, the person hits their goal, then just goes back to the way they used to be. Surprise, surprise, the weight comes back sometimes even worse, so when they go back on their "diet", it's harder and harder to lose the weight.
Diets are also pretty complicated... seriously complicated. Saving "points" or calories for dessert tonight... 6 small meals a day... grazing... no carbs, low carbs (I just can't eat that much meat!)... hit your calorie goal, but you're still hungry, what now? This type of living often leads to binge eating and failure.
Your best bet is to make small changes and build from there. Make small changes that become habit, then go from there, so here's my suggestion about where to start.
2. Start with portion control
We had someone in our house once while I was preparing the evening meal. I pulled out one (1) chicken breast, and began by cutting off a smaller portion for my son, and then I split the rest into two pieces for my wife and myself. The visitor was shocked, "That's all you're eating?" I said yes, she said that in her house that whole piece would be for one person... that is the American diet, but not what we actually need in protein consumption to be healthy.
My meals usually consist of a lean protein (chicken, fish, beef, beans), a starch or grain (brown rice, Quinoa, whole wheat pasta, sweet potatoes, red skinned potatoes).
Portion size of meat is no larger than a deck of cards, rice is 1/4 cup, then load up the veggies. Use a smaller plate if that helps. Michael Pollan in his book, "Food Rules" actually explains the portion control as not eating any more than can fit into your hands when cupped together. Another good rule is to eat until you are not hungry anymore (not until your full) and don't eat until you're hungry.
Once a week: CHEAT! and Enjoy!
We'll start with these simple rules and look at the actual food choices another time.
Exercise
Start small and build from there- if you are a couch potato, you are not going to run a marathon next week. Start with low impact exercises at minimum 30 minutes a day for 3 days a week. If you want to run look below for a simple 6 week plan.
Week 1- Mon, Wed, Fri- Walk 5 minutes, run slow 1 minute, repeat this 5 times
Week 2- Mon, Wed, Fri- Walk 4 minutes, run slow 2 minutes, repeat this 5 times
Week 3- Mon, Wed, Fri- Walk 3 minutes, run slow 3 minutes, repeat this 5 times
Week 4- Mon, Wed, Fri- Walk 2 minutes, run slow 4 minutes, repeat this 5 times
Week 5- Mon, Wed, Fri- Walk 1 minute, run slow 5 minutes, repeat this 5 times
Week 6- Mon, Wed, Fri- run slow 30 minutes
Tues, and Thurs- try to do something like bike, yoga, or strength training.
Rest
1. Listen to your body- sore is ok, hurt is bad. When your body needs rest, then rest; but don't let being tired be an excuse to not exercise.
2. Do nothing at least one day a week- NOTHING, put your feet up, and rest- you've earned it!
My goodness that is a lot. I hope this is clear and that it helps. More tomorrow!
ADDENDUM
for breakfast this morning- pancakes and bacon :-)
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp baking powder
4-6 tsp evaporated cane juice (aka organic, unprocessed sugar)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 beaten eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil OR apple sauce
Mix all together and ladle small portions on a "greased" (aka canola oil spray) skillet heated to 375 degrees. Flip when bubbles are well formed on top.
Run today: 14 miles- fighting a cold :-(
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
My Simple Start
About 10 or so years ago, I sat in a doctor's office in Silver Spring, MD. The doctor looked at my numbers and said, "Guess what one thing I am most concerned about?" I said, "My weight." I was right.
Instead of chastising or lecturing me, he asked me a simple question, "Why do you think the grandparents of our grandparents rarely had to worry about cholesterol, heart disease and all these other problems we have to worry about today." I thought about it for a moment. "Well, I suppose they only ate fresh, whole foods that they cooked at home."
"Why do you think we have to worry about all these problems now?" He asked
"Processed junk." I replied.
I gave up fast food after that meeting. I used to eat out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner regularly; not every day, but way too often. The important part is that the only change in my lifestyle that I changed was the fast food. I ate breakfast at home, I brought lunch to work, and ate most dinners at home. I still went out, but more like once, maybe twice a week. One month later, I went back to the doctor with a sinus infection.
Minus 16 pounds. One month prior I was 286 pounds, now 270. The ONLY thing I did differently was gave up fast food. 16 pounds in one month.
I struggled with weight for years after that, even attempted and failed at two marathons- I had even been down in the 215 pound range before ballooning back to 276 pounds. Then my son was born in 2007.
My wife, wanting to shed the baby weight asked if we could do Hip Hop Abs together after seeing the infomercial on TV the night prior. I reluctantly agreed, saying that I would never admit to doing the program unless it really worked. We made it our Lenten discipline and started in February 2008. We stuck to the suggested foods and with the exercise program. The weight just melted off. We went to level 2, then level 3 and I was back down to the 215 pound range by May 2008.
That's when I started running again. I told myself that if I could run nonstop for 20 minutes, then I would be happy. 30 minutes later, I was still running and ecstatic. Even when I attempted the prior two marathons, I was run/walking... I had never run longer than 20 minutes without walking up to that point.
My weight continued to drop until finally, I broke 200 pounds. I hadn't been below 200 pounds since high school, and now I was running regularly. I decided to try a marathon again, so I signed up for the Harrisburg marathon in November 2009; I also signed up for the Harrisburg Half marathon in September 2009 as a tune up. I finished the half in 2h 4m and the full marathon in 5h 8m. At mile 22, I decided I never wanted to attempt another marathon.
Never make decisions about future races after mile 20.
Now with the marathon monkey off my back, I looked forward to my new life, new wardrobe, etc... then that dadburn marathon bug hit again... the 10th anniversary of the Baltimore marathon was approaching... that was my first failed marathon (the inaugural Baltimore marathon).
I finished the Harrisburg Half in 2010 in 1h 46m and Baltimore 2010 in 4h 6m.
I then finished the Bird in Hand Half Marathon in 2011 in 1h 52m and the Columbus, OH marathon in 2011 in 4h 1m and am now in training for the Shamrock Marathon in March, 2012 in VA Beach.
I have kept the weight off for 3 years; I cook practically every meal with whole foods, lean proteins, and mostly organic/all natural ingredients. I love chocolate and have a bit of a sweet tooth. I have real butter in the house, make my own bread with only 4 ingredients, and eat out about once or twice a week. The only fast food I eat is Chipotle, Subway, and on rare occasions Chic-fil-a. The one big thing that I've been able to practically cut completely is corn in the form of corn syrup, and by products that most people don't realize are corn derivatives.
I am not better than any person on this planet. I used to walk the mile in gym class and couldn't cook TV dinners. I have overheard in the last two weeks a number of people say that this lifestyle is hard and that cutting these foods out is almost impossible.
That is just not true... it takes just a little work learning what to look for and learning some very basic cooking techniques, then everything just falls into place. I don't live anywhere near some boutique grocery store packed with all natural/organic ingredients, and I don't have an unlimited supply of money, but I know that with a little extra searching and some sacrifice, it's no where near as hard as some believe it is.
I decided to write this blog, because I thought it would help those who want help living better. You don't have to be a runner to appreciate this, you just need to have a desire to live a healthier life. I hope this helps!
Instead of chastising or lecturing me, he asked me a simple question, "Why do you think the grandparents of our grandparents rarely had to worry about cholesterol, heart disease and all these other problems we have to worry about today." I thought about it for a moment. "Well, I suppose they only ate fresh, whole foods that they cooked at home."
"Why do you think we have to worry about all these problems now?" He asked
"Processed junk." I replied.
I gave up fast food after that meeting. I used to eat out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner regularly; not every day, but way too often. The important part is that the only change in my lifestyle that I changed was the fast food. I ate breakfast at home, I brought lunch to work, and ate most dinners at home. I still went out, but more like once, maybe twice a week. One month later, I went back to the doctor with a sinus infection.
Minus 16 pounds. One month prior I was 286 pounds, now 270. The ONLY thing I did differently was gave up fast food. 16 pounds in one month.
I struggled with weight for years after that, even attempted and failed at two marathons- I had even been down in the 215 pound range before ballooning back to 276 pounds. Then my son was born in 2007.
My wife, wanting to shed the baby weight asked if we could do Hip Hop Abs together after seeing the infomercial on TV the night prior. I reluctantly agreed, saying that I would never admit to doing the program unless it really worked. We made it our Lenten discipline and started in February 2008. We stuck to the suggested foods and with the exercise program. The weight just melted off. We went to level 2, then level 3 and I was back down to the 215 pound range by May 2008.
That's when I started running again. I told myself that if I could run nonstop for 20 minutes, then I would be happy. 30 minutes later, I was still running and ecstatic. Even when I attempted the prior two marathons, I was run/walking... I had never run longer than 20 minutes without walking up to that point.
My weight continued to drop until finally, I broke 200 pounds. I hadn't been below 200 pounds since high school, and now I was running regularly. I decided to try a marathon again, so I signed up for the Harrisburg marathon in November 2009; I also signed up for the Harrisburg Half marathon in September 2009 as a tune up. I finished the half in 2h 4m and the full marathon in 5h 8m. At mile 22, I decided I never wanted to attempt another marathon.
Never make decisions about future races after mile 20.
Now with the marathon monkey off my back, I looked forward to my new life, new wardrobe, etc... then that dadburn marathon bug hit again... the 10th anniversary of the Baltimore marathon was approaching... that was my first failed marathon (the inaugural Baltimore marathon).
I finished the Harrisburg Half in 2010 in 1h 46m and Baltimore 2010 in 4h 6m.
I then finished the Bird in Hand Half Marathon in 2011 in 1h 52m and the Columbus, OH marathon in 2011 in 4h 1m and am now in training for the Shamrock Marathon in March, 2012 in VA Beach.
I have kept the weight off for 3 years; I cook practically every meal with whole foods, lean proteins, and mostly organic/all natural ingredients. I love chocolate and have a bit of a sweet tooth. I have real butter in the house, make my own bread with only 4 ingredients, and eat out about once or twice a week. The only fast food I eat is Chipotle, Subway, and on rare occasions Chic-fil-a. The one big thing that I've been able to practically cut completely is corn in the form of corn syrup, and by products that most people don't realize are corn derivatives.
I am not better than any person on this planet. I used to walk the mile in gym class and couldn't cook TV dinners. I have overheard in the last two weeks a number of people say that this lifestyle is hard and that cutting these foods out is almost impossible.
That is just not true... it takes just a little work learning what to look for and learning some very basic cooking techniques, then everything just falls into place. I don't live anywhere near some boutique grocery store packed with all natural/organic ingredients, and I don't have an unlimited supply of money, but I know that with a little extra searching and some sacrifice, it's no where near as hard as some believe it is.
I decided to write this blog, because I thought it would help those who want help living better. You don't have to be a runner to appreciate this, you just need to have a desire to live a healthier life. I hope this helps!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Doctor
I went to the doctor on Wednesday for a check up. I don't go to the doctor unless I'm sick or injured, but because I don't want to be one of those guys who drop dead 20 feet from the finish line of my next marathon, I decided that I would take the advice of health care professionals get an annual check up.
Guess what... I'm healthy.
What struck me was the doctor... no he didn't hit me, which kind of surprised me... he didn't check my reflexes.
The nurse checked my blood pressure, pulse and weight and recorded the vitals; he checked my blood pressure and pulse again. I had to insist on blood work, which I had to schedule for next week.
The interesting part was the other 40 minutes of the appointment.
Before he checked my blood pressure, he started a discussion about what he had heard on talk radio, namely conservative talk radio. (Note- not a good topic of discussion when having your blood pressure checked). The topics ranged from politics to politics, especially health care and medical insurance.
Now this is the important part.
I made a point about healthy eating, specifically that the government officials who are in charge of making policies regarding the american diet are actually former officials in that industry. So, the people who make the recommendations and decisions on what is healthy for Americans (i.e. food safety, pesticide use, and corn content) are the people who benefit the most from favorable decisions.
I read the book The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Interesting book and worth a read, but beware, it will change the way you think about eating. Much of the information presented in that book is shocking, but what struck me the most was what he presents about corn.
I told the doctor about all the corn byproducts that are in processed foods and that learning how to cut unwanted corn from my diet has really made a huge impact on my health. He said, "yeah, that's really hard to do. We don't have much of a choice, though."
Huh? Doctor? I didn't quite get that, can you repeat yourself?
We have such a problem with obesity in this country. Is it at least possible that the "invisible corn" byproducts in processed food is largely to blame?
Think about it, in order to make cows fatter, quicker, the beef industry feeds cows corn... which in turn produces the need to prevent e coli with antibiotics and chemical washes (cancer? well the FDA doesn't think so, and we know they do not have any conflicting interests).
Back to my point. The beef industry is feeding cows corn to fatten them up... the "food" industry uses corn to preserve, process, and flavor its products. Do the math... WE ARE CATTLE!
I'm here to tell you, whoever reads this, that cutting corn from your diet is easier than it seems. It takes a little upfront work and a slight change in lifestyle. But stick with me... it's simple.
Wednesday's run- 5 miles easy in Vibrams
Today's run- 8 mile tempo at a 8:30 pace in Kinvara 2s
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