“I’m not going to do that. I’m fine and that’s just not going to happen”.

OK.  That’s your choice, but you’re going to have to accept the reality that it will take longer to reach your goals.  My old boss used to say, “you get what you measure”.  If you don’t have a way to measure your progress, you’ll never know when or how long it will take to get where you’re going.  You’re just guessing.

I had this picture in my mind every day while training for the climb

Information gives you a realistic picture of how much weight you can expect to lose and how long it will take to accomplish the goal.  Here are four ways you can stay on track toward your goals.

1. Be clear. Before you begin tracking the progress toward your goal, you’ve got to have a good goal.  Your goal must be crystal clear. You should be able to create a picture of what your goal looks like. A goal like “lose weight” is junk. It’s meaningless.  Think differently. How will your life be different when you’ve lost 10, 20, or whatever number of pounds you want to lose? What will you do with your life that you aren’t able to do today? If you really want it, find a picture of your goal and post it on your bathroom mirror. Each day when you brush your teeth you’ll see your goal.

2. Know how much you need to eat and keep track of what you eat. Everything, no exceptions. Yes, it’s boring and a pain in the butt. But you’ll have a much better idea of what you eat, when you eat, and why you eat.  These are important things to know. Without this info, everything else is just a guess. You’ll probably be surprised at the number of calories you’re taking in, as long as you’re being truthful with yourself. You’ll also find that you eat certain foods in certain situations. If you’re a data geek like me, you can use a device like a BodyMedia FIT to take control and achieve your weight loss goals by knowing how much you burn.  If you’re a member of LifeStyles Fitness Center, you have access to a great tool called DotFIT that can help you with this part of the process.

3. Get a heart rate monitor. This little device will tell you if you’re really working or if you’re just kidding yourself.  I use mine religiously.  There are times when I might think I’m working hard and I’ll check my monitor, only to realize that I’ve got a long ways to go.  Here’s an article I wrote about how to select a heart rate monitor.

4. Have someone you’re accountable to.  That’s where a good trainer can help you.  We’ll ask questions, observe, develop plans, and push you to try things you might not do on your own.  Ultimately, our goal is to help you reach your goal.

Put these four things in place and you’ll be on your way to reaching your own goals.

Quick and simple chicken salad wrap

One of the biggest excuses people make for not eating a better lunch is that it takes too much time. Today I’m going to give you a quick idea that takes less than 5 minutes to make and cost less than $2.

Combine this wrap with a yogurt and glass of water and you’ve got a great lunch!

The ingredients list below is about what you’d find in one wrap. In the video below, I use a little more cheese and salad dressing because I’m maxing enough for 6 wraps. But, I’m not using 6 times the amount of cheese and salad dressing as is shown below so those two numbers are likley a tiny bit higher in the ingredients list and nutritional breakdown that what you’ll find in the actual wrap. That’s a good thing, but the difference in the end is small.

• Chicken (2 oz., canned-1/2 can)
• 6″ wheat tortilla
• Cheddar cheese (1 T.)
• Tomato (diced, 1 oz.)
• Light salad dressing (1 t.)

1. Mix the chicken, cheese, salad dressing, and tomato in a bowl.
2. Place on the center of the tortilla
3. Fold ends and roll the tortilla.
4. Enjoy!

• Calories: 170
• Fat: 3.5g
• Carbohydrate: 16g
• Sugar: 2g
• Cholesterol: 27mg
• Sodium: 570mg
• Protein: 18g

The Kamagon Ball looks like an oversized medicine ball, or an undersized stability ball, with ears.  What’s really different about the Kamagon Ball is that you fill it with water.

The ball has a port on one side that you pour water in to create either 15, 30, or 45 pounds of fluid resistance.  Adding water to the ball introduces a concept they refer to as Hydro Inertia.  Basically that means that the water inside the ball is constantly in motion and you’re body has to work a bit harder to stabilize that unstable source of resistance. 

That added resistance has been shown through research to recruit more muscle fibers than similar static weighted exercises.  Further, the added stabilization required to overcome the water resistance helps protect against injury by forcing you to concentrate more on form and strengthen connective tissue. 

You can use the Kamagon Ball just like you would use a medicine ball or a kettlebell and the variety of exercises is limited only by your imagination.  I’ve been incorporating the Kamagon Ball into different workouts with clients and it’s been a popular addition.  I’ve been using it quite a bit in my own workouts and I’ve come to prefer it over kettlebells and medicine balls. 

When you receive your Kamagon Ball, it includes a brief instruction manual and DVD showing various exercises.  If I have one criticism, I’d say that these two can use some work.  They’re a decent starting point and your challenge from there is to think outside the box and find creative ways to use the Kamagon Ball.

In addition to individual use, the folks at Kamagon Ball have created a series of group fitness programs called Kamagon Kore and Kamagon Sculpt to extend it’s use to group fitness settings. 

Watch the video review below to see a few examples and then watch for a series of videos in the near future highlighting different combinations with the Kamagon Ball.

If you’re on a weight loss journey, it’s probably your most feared enemy, next to chocolate cake. It’s probably the first thing you consult when you wake up, even before brushing your teeth.  It’s probably driving you crazy.

You’ve probably heard someone say that muscle is heavier than fat too. So, which is heaver, 5 lbs. of muscle or 5 lbs. of fat?  Which would you rather have.

I can hear your argument.

“John, muscle is more dense, so given the same volume, muscle will weigh more”.

You got me. You’re right. But if you’re trying to get smaller, don’t you want to occupy less space?  Swap 5 lbs. of fat for 5 lbs. of muscle and that muscle will take up less space.

That’s a good thing.  Not only will you be a smaller you, but you’ll be a healthier you, a more functional you, your body will burn more calories at work and at rest, and you’ll look better.  Clothes will fit better too.

Are you more concerned with the number on the scale or are you really trying to change how you look in the mirror and how you feel?

Isn’t that the true measure of health and fitness?

Throw out your scale.

Move more.

Eat better.

If you’d like more ideas to help eliminate those holiday pounds and get yourself back on the right track, I’ll be presenting ” Three Things You Must Do To Lose That Extra Weight ” at the Fountaindale Library on Tuesday, January 10, at 7pm.  I hope you’ll be able to join me.

How many times have you seen and heard the phrase “no pain no gain”? How about “Pain is weakness leaving the body”?  I saw a tag line on a friend’s e-mail that said ”You can be sore tomorrow or sorry tomorrow”.

Each one of these indicates torture to the non-exerciser.  If you’d rather avoid torture, here’s the best advice I can provide.

Do something that you enjoy.

That’s right, it’s that easy. Exercise doesn’t have to be limited to plodding endless miles on a treadmill (yuck!). Find something that makes you feel alive.  Something that gives you a goal to work toward and offers a sense of accomplishment. Something that you can immerse yourself in and make part of your life.

Here’s a list of the things I can think of off the top of my head that I’ve done this year that I would consider exercise:

• Paddled a kayak through the Dells of the Fox
• Ran multiple 5k’s outdoors
• Went geocaching with my kids
• Rode my mountain bike in the Iceman Cometh Challenge with my family cheering at the finish line
• Rode 100 miles (twice) on my road bike…before lunch
• Paddled a canoe on the Du Page River in the middle of winter
• Summitted 14,255′ Longs Peak with my daughters
• Spent 8 hours adventure racing through the Michigan woods
• Ran the Warrior Dash on Father’s Day with friends and family
• Rowed 1.3 million meters on the Concept 2 rowing machine
• Played golf with Sara
• Set multiple personal records in the deadlift
• Swam whitewater rapids (on purpose) to practice swiftwater rescue
• Completed the TRX 40/40 Challenge
• A couple of times, for a little variety, I even ran on the treadmill. 

Sunrise over Twin Sisters Peaks

Aside from the actual exercise part of each of these activites, I experienced moments I’ll never forget. 

I stood 6 feet from a herd of deer while riding my mountain bike, neither of us wanting to give up the trail. I watched the sunrise from 11,000 feet above sea level. I got caught in wicked thunderstorms and sleet storms. I witnessed the absolute silence of the winter woods after a big snowfall.  I watched coyotes, eagles, and hawks when they didn’t realize anyone was watching.  I waded through waist deep water fully clothed at one time and waist deep snow at another. I listened to the laughter of children and the look of amazement as they accomplished goals they never imagined.  I felt the pride of accomplishment in reaching my own goals.     

Each one of these experiences helped me be a better person, a better father, added years to my life, put a smile on my face and the faces of others around me, and yes, each was a form of exercise. 

None of these required any special skills that anyone else couldn’t obtain.  Just a level of commitment and creativity that many aren’t willing to pursue.  I’m just an ordinary guy who doesn’t want to live an ordinary life.

Each was exercise. None of them were boring or torturous. Every time I went to the fitness center I was there with a purpose in mind.  I knew that every squat was going to help me on the mountain bike or make it easier to haul a 55 lb. backpack up a mountain. Every rep had a purpose.

Exercise doesn’t have to be boring. Think outside the box and find what you enjoy.  And do it, often!

 Here’s how it works:

It’s a little different from the song.  For this workout you’ll be going in reverse order from the song.  Normally, you’d start at the first day, the small number, and go to the last day, the big number.  For this workout, you’ll start with the twelfth day and go down from there.

For example, you’ll start with twelve repetitions of the first exercise.  Then, you’ll go for twelve of the first exercise again, eleven of the second.  Start over with 12 reps of the first exercise, 11 of the second, and 10 of the third.  Keep repeating just like that until you’ve done all twelve exercises.

As if the Twelve Days of Christmas Workout isn’t challenging enough, you’ll be doing this workout with as little rest as possible and time yourself.  When you’re done you will have completed 520 total reps. 

Now it’s your turn.   You’ll find a list of the exercises below along with a video demonstration.  I completed the series in 50 minutes.  Let me know your time.

Have fun and Merry Christmas!

12 Prisoner squats

11 Stability ball rollouts

10 Mountain climbers (per side)

9 Stability ball exchanges

8 Medicine ball goalies (each leg)

7 Inverted rows

6 Stability ball hamstring curls

5 Dumbbell snatches (each arm)

4 Renegade rows (each arm)

3 Burpees

2 L-sit raises

1 Minute stability ball plank

I’m not going to try to get into all the details of how each additive in these drinks and potions you find at the checkout line of every grocery store, convenience store, gas station, etc. affects your body in negative ways.  I’ll let the professional researchers tell you about the safety issues associated with consumption of commercially available energy drinks.    We’ve all heard the news stories of high school and college students mixing this stuff with alcohol and dying.  In this case, they didn’t even need the alcohol.  Here’s a study supporting the pattern of energy drink consumption explaining the enhanced risk of both caffeine and alcohol toxicity in youths.  If you’ve ever read the label on a can of this stuff, you’ll find that you can’t pronounce half of the ingredients.  Do you really want all those chemicals inside you?  Are you still waiting for the reasons we SHOULD be drinking this stuff?  Yea, me too.

How else can we get the energy we need to keep going?

You guessed it. 

Proper nutrition, with real food. 

Food is fuel and provides energy.  Many people lack energy because they’re eating crap.  Rolling through the drive-through for a greasy burger and fries doesn’t count as quality food.  Grabbing lunch from a vending machine will kill you over time.  I was in a drug store the other day and noticed that the bag of licorice has “A Fat Free Food” printed on the package.  Wow, really! That must mean it’s good for you right? Wrong.

A fire requires wood and oxygen to burn, right?  There’s the fuel.  Stop adding fuel and the fire dies out.  Add wet fuel or choke off the oxygen and the fire can’t get going.  Your body and your metabolism work the same way.  Add quality food and your metabolism burns hot. 

Get lean.

Notice that I didn’t say get thin.  There’s a difference.  Thin simply means weigh less.  Do supermodels look healthy? That’s thin. A diet might make you thin, but it won’t make you healthy and won’t give you energy.  Most diets result in less food, which means less fuel, which means less energy.  

I’m talking about adding more lean muscle to your frame.  You don’t have to have the freaky huge muscle that makes you look like 200 pounds of marbles in a 100 pound bag.  Think Olympic sprinter or gymnast lean and muscular instead.  Muscle is active and helps you move more efficiently.  A stronger body with less “baggage” will move better and require less energy to perform basic efforts. 

Stop spending $2 per can and you’ll have more than enough for a fitness membership at LifeStyles Fitness Center and still have almost $40 at the end of the month!

It’s really simple.  I don’t know how to make it more complicated, so here’s the answer to getting more energy, and not from a can:

1. Eat smart
2. Move more
3. Develop a stronger and more efficient you

Need help?  Here’s a way to get a great start on Your Fitness Journey!

I read the food label on everything. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m far from perfect in what I eat, but I like to know what I’m eating.  I use that label to make my choice.  Eat this or that. Which will help me get closer to my goal?  What should I stay away from at all costs?  Which items am I eating that don’t help me get closer, but satisfy a craving, and how can I factor that into my overall intake? 

What's in a label?

The information on the food label can help you understand and make better choices.  Here are a few key things I look at when reading a label:

• Serving size: Many people mistakenly believe that they’re eating one serving when in reality they’re eating more. Take the label below. It’s from a bagel. If you’re eating a bagel, you would expect that the serving size is a bagel. In this case, the nutritional profile is for a serving size of 1/2 bagel. If you’re eating the whole bagel, double everything.
• Total Fat: Limit the saturated fat and trans fat. These are the bad fats that clog your arteries.  Unsaturated fat is the better fat that helps lower cholesterol, reduces triglyceride levels, and lessens inflammation in the body.
• Cholesterol: Limit this to less than 200 milligrams per day.
• Sodium: Limit this as well.  Common recommendation is less than 2300 mg per day for adults and less for kids.  
• Total carbohydrate: This one’s often mistaken as the enemy. It’s an easy scapegoat.  Carbohydrate is your body’s primary source of energy and is needed for proper brain function. It’s also required for fat metabolism.  Here’s what to look for in this area.
• Dietary fiber is good. Fiber fills you up and aids in intestinal health. The current recommendation is 38g daily for males and 25g daily for females.
• Sugars should be limited to no more than 10% of total calories in most cases. The exception is when you’re taking in carbs for quick energy, in which case you’ll be fine with a higher percentage.  Keep in mind though that as part of a balanced diet, sugars aren’t really adding much benefit.
• Other carbohydrate includes the number of complex carbs, excluding fiber. A higher number here generally infers a more nutritious carb profile.
• Note: The wider the difference between total carbs and sugars the better. If there are 28 total carbs and 14 are sugar, 50% of the total carbs are added sweeteners and therefore aren’t going to do much for you.
• Protein: Protein is comprised of amino acids which are the building blocks of muscle.  This macro nutrient is also the more difficult for the body to digest, meaning that it has to work harder and you use more calories in the digestion process.  Recommendations vary on the percentage of protein needed.  A commonly used figure is to shoot for 0.4 to 0.8 grams per pound of body weight per day.  That may or may not work for you though depending on your dietary requirements and restrictions.
• Vitamins: This section will tell you the percentage of key vitamins and minerals contained in the food.
• Ingredients: The list of ingredients will be listed in order of the content. For example, of water is listed first, there is more water than any other ingredient.  Look for ingredients that you can pronounce. The fewer things that you can’t pronounce the better.

That’s the back of the package.

There are a few things you should consider on the front of the package as well.  Food producers are marketing masters and they’ll take every opportunity to capitalize on the latest public fad. 

I was in a store the other day and noticed the words “A Fat Free Food” on the front of a package of licorice. Someone might be tempted to think it’s better for you than another licorice not using that same label.  Take a look at the back of that package though and you’ll find that it’s almost all sugar. 

Here are a few guidelines, some might even consider them loopholes, related to marketing claims on the front of the package:

• Calorie free: Less than 5 calories per serving.
• Cholesterol free: Less than 2 mg cholesterol and 2 g or less saturated fat per serving.
• Enriched or fortified: Nutritionally altered so that one serving provides at least 10% more of the Daily Value of a nutrient than the comparison food.
• Extra lean:Less than 5 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, and 95 mg of cholesterol per serving and per 100 g.
• Fat free: Less than 0.5 g of fat per serving.
• Good source (as in “a good source of”): One serving provides 10-19% of the Daily Value for a particular nutrient.
• High (as in “high in vitamin C”): One serving provides at least 20% or more of the Daily Value for a particular nutrient.
• Lean: Less than 10 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, and 95 mg cholesterol per serving and per 100 g. 
• Low calorie: 40 calories or less per serving.
• Low cholesterol: 20 mg or less cholesterol and 2 g or less saturated fat per serving.
• Low fat: 3 g or less per serving.
• Low saturated fat: 1 g or less saturated fat per serving and 15% or less calories from fat.
• Low sodium: 140 mg or less per serving.
• More: One serving contains at least 10% more of the Daily Value of a nutrient than the comparison food.
• Reduced: A nutritionally altered product which must contain 25% less of a nutrient or of calories than the regular or reference product.
• Salt or sodium free: Less than 5 mg per serving.
• Sugar free: Less than 0.5 g of sugars per serving.
• Unsalted: Has no salt added during processing. (This does not mean it is “sodium free” unless it is naturally sodium free.)
• Very low sodium: Less than 35 mg or less sodium per serving.

Sources:

• HealthierGeneration.org
• Colorado State University, Understanding the Food Label, J. Anderson, L. Young and S. Perryman
• American Heart Association, Reading Food Nutrition Labels
• Cleveland Clinic, Heart and Vascular Health & Prevention

Which do you want to be? It's your choice.

“I can’t lose weight because I have a slow metabolism”.

You know what…you may be right. The sad truth is you’ve likely caused it to become slow.  Now do something about it.

First, what does that term mean?

Metabolism: the sum of the physical and chemical processes in an organism by which its material substance is produced, maintained, and destroyed, and by which energy is made available. (source: dictionary.com)

In simpler terms, metabolism is the process your body has to go through to power itself throughout the day, maintain your current energy levels, weight, and body composition. It’s how hot and efficient your engine runs.

Your metabolism is directly influenced by the amount of food you take in and the amount of movement you perform.  If you have a slow metabolism, it’s probably because you’ve made it slow.  Fortunately, that’s an easy problem to fix.  Here are three things you can do:

1. Increase your activity.  If you’re sitting down right now, stand up. There, you’ve just significantly increased your metabolism. Anything you can do sitting, try to do it standing. 

Talking on the phone? Stand up and walk around.

Holding a meeting at work? Remove the chairs from the room. Not only will everyone’s metabolism wake up, but the meeting will be shorter. Awesome!

2. Increase lean muscle. Your body has to work harder to maintain lean muscle than it does to maintain body fat.  Add more lean muscle to your frame through resistance training and you’ll increase your metabolism.  I know a great fitness center in Bolingbrook and a personal trainer in Bolingbrook too!

3. Eating increases your metabolism. When your body has to digest food, it uses calories. When you deprive yourself of food, your body slows down to conserve energy.

Slashing calories too low isn’t the answer.  The key here is to strike the balance between eating too much, which most people do, and not eating enough to support your goals. You also need to be eating the right amounts of the right foods. 

Your body uses energy (calories) to digest food.  You use more calories to break down and digest protein than carbohydrate and fat. As long as you don’t have a condition that limits your protein intake, consider upping those levels.  The Mayo Clinic suggests getting 10 to 35% of total calories from protein (assuming you do not have any dietary restrictions).

The truth is that everything except calorie balance is an excuse.  We’re not gaining weight because we’re not eating enough.  Show me one person who died of starvation and was also overweight.

Although your metabolism influences your body’s basic energy needs, it is ultimately your food and beverage intake and increasing your physical activity that determines how much weigh you lose.  Stop blaming your metabolism and recognize that you need to create an energy deficit by eating fewer calories and increasing the number of calories you burn through physical activity.

Happy Turkey Day!

I read recently that the average Thanksgiving dinner contains an estimated 4500 calories.  And that’s just the meal proper.  That doesn’t include all the junk you eat before everyone gathers at the table or the turkey sandwich you eat after the family has packed up and headed home. 

That’s enough calories for two to three days! 

With that in mind, I’d like to describe what I believe to be the best exercise anyone can do to prevent holiday weight gain.  It’s a really simple exercise, but one that many have trouble performing.  There’s very little equipment required.  In fact, you’ll put down any equipment that you’re holding on to immediately prior to performing the exercise. 

Here are the steps:

1. Begin seated in a chair. 
2. Position yourself approximately 8 inches from the edge of a table.
3. Place your hands, palms facing away from you, at the edge of the table.
4. Forcefully push against the table to slide your chair away from the table.
5. Stand up.
6. Walk away from the table.

 I call that exercise “The Pushback”.

It’s that simple.  Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not advising that you skip your traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  Enjoy your family and a nice meal, but do so in moderation.  Here are a few ideas to help you manage your holiday calories.

• Drink water with your dinner. In fact, drink a big glass of water before dinner and you’ll eat less.
• Eat more turkey and less of the other stuff.  Your body has to work harder to digest the protein and it makes you feel fuller faster.
• Go for the salad first.  The fiber will fill you up faster, leaving you less likely to eat the calorie-dense foods.
• Go light on the gravy. Many of the calories and fat are found in the gravy and sauces.
• Chew your food. The longer you take to eat one helping, the less likely you are to go back for a second (or third).

Happy Thanksgiving!