I have some affinity to the number 23.  Maybe it’s because I was a huge Michael Jordan fan growing up.

So when I write lists like the one below or the 23 Random Things About Me post, that’s the defence I use.  It could be that my simple mind can only think of 23 things.

Whatever it is, below you’ll find 23 Health Rules that I live by and that I think may be beneficial for you.  By no means am I saying that you should follow any or all of these rules.  These are just merely observations of experiments that I’ve done on myself and that have worked for me.  You are your own beast, so proceed with caution if you are going to apply any of these tips (how’s that for a disclaimer?)….

1. Bodyweight Training – There is no better way to get in shape if you’re on a budget. Chin-ups, pistols, push-ups, handstand push-ups, front levers, flag poles, muscle-ups. Some of the strongest, leanest and fittest people in the world only use bodyweight training.  There’s something to be said about someone who can do a 1-arm chin-up.  Most people are after a long, lean, athletic look.  Bodyweight training will get you there.

2. Drink Water 1st thing in the morning.  This is something that I’ve been doing for 10 years now.  Wake up, go to the bathroom, head down stairs, down 3 glasses of water.  Immediately, you feel clean, refreshed and ready to go…and you don’t feel like you need to eat a big plate of waffles, butter & syrup for breakfast.

3. Don’t eat breakfast if you’re not hungry. This sounds a little counter-intuitive, but if you’re not hungry 1st thing in the morning, then why force it?  Check out my buddy, Brad Pilon’s “Breakfast Diet Hack” - http://bradpilon.com/weight-loss/breakfast-diet-hack/

4. Meditation.  Life’s only stressful if you can’t handle what it dishes you.  Stuff happens, you have to deal with it.  Meditating will help you deal with what life throws you.  Sometimes just 5 minutes closing your eyes and focusing on your breathe can give you worlds of perspective and help calm an elevated heart rate due to stress.  Try it.

5. Go for walks.  I’ve been doing this and have actually gotten leaner (and smarter – although that’s debatable) since I started.  Each morning at 7am, the can headphones go on, I put on an audioprogram (right now it’s all writing workshops) and I walk to the espresso shop and back.  I get home in time to say good morning to the kids, make breakfast and have family time.  It’s awesome.

6. Sell your 2nd car and ride a bike.  I sold our VW Rabbit last January.  I invested most of the money and used a portion of it to buy a Batavus Breukelen – a bike constructed in Copenhagen meant to withstand harsh winters.  Best decision I’ve made for both my bank balance and my health.  As much as I loved my VW, I love riding past frustrated motorists stuck in traffic more.  Check out the Toronto Bike Scene HERE => http://416CycleStyle.com

7. Opt for espresso instead of drip. Drip coffee is acidic. With drip coffee, all of the antioxidants are extracted after the first cup.  After that, the dark fluid that gets drained is only acid and caffeine.  With an espresso – or any espresso-based drink like an “Americano” – you get all the great properties of coffee without any of the acid and LESS the caffeine.  Plus, espresso – when it’s “pulled” the right way – is just plain delicious.

8. Sleep 8 hours per night.  I once read in a health report that the majority of disease could be prevented if we just drank enough water and slept enough at night.  Sleep is your body’s natural medicine.  A way for your body to allow it’s cells to recreate themselves.

9. Train in the afternoon.  Obviously it’s better to train in the morning than not going to the gym at all, but if your schedule allows, I strongly suggest hitting the weights in the afternoon.  Again, just based on personal experience, I’m much better able lift heavier and go the distance after I’ve been awake for a few hours and I have some calories in me.

10. STOP doing weighted side bends.  I saw someone doing this at the gym yesterday, EXCEPT, he was holding a dumbbell in each hand, both of the same weight.  What’s the point of that?  Dr. Stuart McGill, based on his low back research, has stated that 3 direct ways to get a low back injury is lumbar spinal flexion, lumbar spinal rotation, and lumbar spinal lateral flexion (which is a side bend).  Do any of these under load (with a weight in hand) and you INCREASE your chances of a low back injury even more.   Want to work the same set of muscles but do it in the way they were meant to be worked?  Try a 1-sided farmers walk (also called a “suitcase” walk). Grab a 36kg kettlebell with one hand and walk 20 yards without bending over or favouring the weighted side by bracing your abs HARD.  Put the KB down and walk back while holding it in the other hand.

11. Get a foam roller and/or a lacrosse ball.  Probably something that has saved me many a trip to the chiropractor.  I use a foam roller prior to EVERY training session and roll out my hamstrings, IT bands, quads & groin and then I use the lacrosse ball on my piriformis and glutes.  Then, after all my muscles have been “kneaded” out, I stretch them to try to gain some flexibility.

12. O.D. on Vitamin C. A few weeks ago my family and I watched the documentary “Food Matters”.  A naturopathic doctor was interviewed and showed how he saw amazing results with his patients by mega-dosing on Vitamin C.  Based on what I’ve read, there are no adverse effects and tremendous upside to taking large amounts of vitamin C on a regular basis – especially if you feel a cold coming on.  My hair hasn’t started falling out yet.  I’ll keep you posted.

13. FOCUS on getting strong.  Strength is a lost practice.  Too many exercisers and gym-goers are so concerned with getting that “burning” feeling so that they feel like they worked out.  Nobody wants to lift heavy any more.  Last week I read this quote by  Mark Rippetoe that sums this point up -

“Physical strength is the most important thing in life. This is true whether we want it to be or not. As humanity has developed throughout history, physical strength has become less critical to our daily existence, but no less important to our lives. Our strength, more than any other thing we possess, still determinesthe quality and the quantity of our time here in these bodies. Whereas previously our physical strength determined how much food we ate and how warm and dry we stayed, it now merely determines how well we function in these new surroundings we have crafted for ourselves as our culture has accumulated. But we are still animals – our physical existence is, in the final analysis, the only one that actually matters. A weak man is not as happy as that same man would be if he were strong. This reality is offensive to some people who would like the intellectual or spiritual to take precedence. It is instructive to see what happens to these very people as their squat strength goes up.”
- Mark Rippetoe

14. Take a nap.  I’m not talking about a 4 hour siesta from after lunch to 5pm with your tie in your mouth to soak up the drool.  You can feel refreshed and rejuvinated without any of the grogginess by just closing your eyes and “napping” for just 20 minutes.

15. Don’t neglect your fat intake.  After a few years of self-experimentation, I’ve found that if I increase my dietary fat intake, I actually get leaner.  When I’m in a phase where I want my abs to be more visible, I will train heavy (and try to get stronger) and just focus on eating lots of healthy fats and protein.  I recently interviewed my friend, Master RKC Geoff Neupert, and he gave me the recipe for a GREAT ANABOLIC SHAKE -

Master RKC Geoff Neupert’s Anabolic Shake
1/2 Can Coconut Milk
2 Scoops Protein Powder (I use SunWarrior)
Superfoods to taste (I usually add in some cocoa nibs, maca powder and/or chia seeds)

Wash down 6 fish oil caps and your body will be primed to burn fat and build muscle at the same time.

Check out Geoff’s blog at http://ChasingStrength.com

16. Don’t carry your cellphone in your pocket.  Men’s Health Magazine (August 2011) cited a Japanese study that found lower hip bone mass in men that carried a cell phone clipped to their belt. If you don’t think that your phone is doing a number on your boys, then think again.  I’m not that important that I need to walk around and be notified every time someone wants to get a hold of me.  The phone stays in the bag.

17. Jump rope.  I miss playing sports and the days when I used to practice in the early AM, go to class and then come back in the afternoon to practice again (yes, I was actually one of those weirdos who actually enjoyed practice). These days my athletic endeavours are limited to snatching a kettlebell, pushing a Prowler, running up a hill or JUMPING ROPE.  Jumping rope allows you to maintain some type of coordination, is a great foundational exercise to help establish footwork and will keep your cardiovascular system healthy without the pounding on your joints that running or step class creates (do they still do “Step Class”?)

18. Wake up at the same time everyday – no matter what.  A great tip that I learned from my business coach and mentor, Craig Ballantyne, getting up at the same time everyday is great for your energy levels and keeps you productive.  So whether I get to bed at 9pm or 2am, I try to get up at 5am every morning.  This does 2 things: 1) it keeps me on track with my schedule and 2) it forces me to rethink my decisions when I do decide to get to bed too late.

19. Cut cable.  After we sold the car last year, we immediately cut cable as well. After that, our expenses plummeted like the stock market in 2008. We found that we had more time for each other and that we didn’t miss the world passing us by like we thought we would.  Now, instead of sitting in front of the TV for family time, we have a weekly “card” night where we play a family game of Crazy 8′s.  Or we just go to bed at 9pm!!!

20. Check email ONLY twice per day.  This is a Tim Ferriss hack that I learned in the 4-Hour Work Week.  After being reactive every time my old Blackberry would go off, I now just check email twice per day.  The main reason is the stress factor.  When you run an online “personality-based” business, there will always be individuals out there who don’t jive with your personality and what you say and will not hesitate to let you know about it.  We fondly know these people as “haters”.  As much as we try to ignore the haters, they do get in our heads, and so checking email infrequently allows us to limit the access that haters have to us.

21. Disconnect for a day every week.  I don’t touch the internet on Saturday.  I don’t look at my iPhone, I don’t check email and I definitely don’t do any business related tasks on Saturday.  Saturday, for me, is sacred family time that nobody can touch.  Disconnecting allows me to have uninterrupted family time where I can focus on my wife and kids ONLY and nobody else.

22. Fast.  Want to get leaner, increase your production of growth hormone, learn a little about yourself and how many decisions throughout the day you make because of food?  Try fasting for a 24 hour period.  Do this periodically (I suggest once or twice per week) and you’ll feel great.  You have to overcome the “I’m going to feel groggy”, low blood sugar, “I have to eat 6 times per day in order to stay lean” syndrome and you’ll thank me for it.  For more information, click HERE => http://tinyurl.com/FitAndBusyDIET

23. Train with Kettlebells.  So you know I was going to throw this in here somewhere, but outside of bodyweight training, I can’t think of anything more effective or economical for your body and your wallet than training with kettlebells.  With just 10 basic and foundational exercises you can gain muscle, lose fat and move better (and therefore be healthier) just by using a kettlebell.  My wife, for example, used just 1 kettlebell and bodyweight training to lose 40lbs of “baby” fat in 4 months.

Checkout my Kettlebell Workouts HERE => The TT Kettlebell Revolution

In Part 1, I summed up what my Food Rules are and my eating “schedule” (if you even want to call it that).

Today, I want to talk about the diet that I use to be able to stay lean year round.

Intermittent Fasting

Before 2007, I was obsessed (as were a lot people who could be classified as “fitness freaks”) about what I ate.  I read book after book on how to properly eat, the best times to eat, how much protein I should be eating, what to eat and what not to eat, what supplements to buy, which fruit caused the greatest increase in blood sugar, etc, etc.

Because of my obsession, I suffered from paralysis through analysis and, for the most part of 5 years, my body looked the same day in and day out – great with clothes on but a little too mushy for my liking when the shirt came off.  This was despite all the so-called “latest findings” that I would read about in every book, magazine and journal that I could get my hands on and tried to implement on a regular basis.

It wasn’t until November 2007 when I met my now good friend Brad Pilon.

Brad, a fellow Canuck, had recently wrote a book called Eat-Stop-Eat.  It was an eBook on Intermittent Fasting – a nutrition concept that I had heard of, but had never given much consideration, mainly because of the bodybuilder and fitness dogma that I was a believer in that said that you would go into a mythical “starvation mode” and would become a fat slob if you didn’t eat every 2 to 3 hours.

Brad’s idea of Intermittent Fasting involved not eating anything at all for a full 24 hour period.

I thought he was insane – at the time.

Brad has done extensive years of research on Intermittent Fasting and is one of my most trusted advisors or both training and nutrition.  If you’re at all curious if Intermittent Fasting will work for you, I strongly suggest you take a look at Eat-Stop-Eat.  It will open your eyes to something incredible…

=>Eat-Stop-Eat by Brad Pilon

Carb Cycling

Carb Cycling was a pretty new concept to me as well.  Simply put, you “cycle” the amount of carbs you eat based on your activity level for that particular day.

So, if I’m training hard on one particular day, I will focus on eating a good/high amount of carbohydrates mainly coming from sources like potatoes, sweet potatoes & rice (and some pasta if my stomach can tolerate it).  On high carb days I’ll also indulge in some dessert.  This day, for lack of a better term, is considered a FREE EATING or REWARD Day.  Some people would call it a “cheat day”, but I don’t like the word “cheat”.

If I am really focusing on getting lean, I will only have ONE high carb day per week and as I said above, it will be on the day of my HARDEST WORKOUT.

Over the past few days, I’ve gotten quite a few questions on My Facebook Page about what I eat and the “diet” that I follow.

I always boast to friends that I can eat whatever I want  whenever I want.

The only issue with that statement is that “whatever” I want to eat isn’t necessarily what YOU would want to eat, or what “Joe” the overweight couch potato would want to eat.

Over the years, I’ve noticed my palate develop and really respond well to specific tastes, textures and foods.

For example, okra – yes, okra – is one of my favourite foods.  When I was growing up, my mom used to make a vegetable stew and one of the staple vegetables in it was okra.  I hated it back then – as did every other kid first exposed to the slimy green vegetable.  But now, I could eat that stuff everyday and TWICE on Sunday.

I think it’s one of my favourites because it reminds me of my childhood and whenever I go up to visit my parents, she’s got some waiting for me.

Vegetables, to me, taste like candy.  So many different flavours with their own unique version of sweet, I can eat vegetables all day.

These days, traditional junk food just either tastes sweet or salty to me – nothing more or nothing less.

If you really think about it, french fries are just salty.  They don’t taste like anything else other than salty.

Crappy chocolate that you can get at the corner store just tastes sweet – it doesn’t taste like anything at all other than sweet.

And so as hoakey as it sounds, the key to really eating “whatever you want” is to really be conscious about what food you’re eating and more importantly WHY you are eating it.

EVERYONE emotionally eats.  Man or woman. Fat or skinny.

The important thing is to recognize the specific situations and emotions related to why we eat what we do and change our behaviour accordingly.

…AND to forgive ourselves if we mess up.

So I think one of the major steps in eating “whatever you want”, is to really change your mindset on what it is you want to eat.

This is easier said than done obviously.

So before we get into the actual list of what I eat, I have to let you know what my “rules” are.  They’re very simple…

I’ve been battling the stomach flu since I contracted it from my son on Saturday night at AJ’s Ontario Volleyball Championships Tournament.  As a result, the 4 week program that I wanted to start on Monday had to be delayed until my diet consisted of more than Pepto Bismol, Gravol and water.

Today was my first day of training in about a week, so I made sure to keep the volume and intensity low to “re-familiarize” myself with some of the exercises.

For this program, I’m combining one day of Barbell Training with 2 days of Kettlebell/Bodyweight Training to create a bit of a hybrid program.

So, since I haven’t done trap bar deadlifts in a while, I decided to make today the “Barbell Day”…

I just got interviewed at AllSwagga.com (ridiculously great name, huh!).

AllSwagga.com is a site that focuses on men becoming better men and fathers by being clever, confident and sure of themselves – you know, that thing they call “Swagger” or “Swagga”.

]]> http://fitandbusydad.com/lifestyle/the-allswagga-com-interview/feed 0 http://fitandbusydad.com/lifestyle/the-allswagga-com-interview http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/fitandbusydad1/~3/mQFjBLJOUpA/23-random-things-about-me http://fitandbusydad.com/lifestyle/23-random-things-about-me#comments Mon, 31 May 2010 20:22:38 +0000 Chris Lopez http://fitandbusydadblog.com/?p=522 This is one of those posts that was fun for me to write.  Sometimes I get emails from readers and subscribers asking me how I “do it” or how I manage running a business, 2 websites, coaching and running a club volleyball team, being a husband and being a father to 5. I’m sorry to [...]]]>

This is one of those posts that was fun for me to write.  Sometimes I get emails from readers and subscribers asking me how I “do it” or how I manage running a business, 2 websites, coaching and running a club volleyball team, being a husband and being a father to 5.

I’m sorry to disappoint, but I really don’t have any secret.  It just happens and my wife and I just do it (maybe that’s what got us in trouble in the first place ).

That said, I can give a little introspective into my life.  I hope you find this list as fun as it was for me to look inside myself and write it out!

-Chris

23 Random Things about ME

I spent this past weekend at another volleyball tournament coaching AJ (my 11 year old) and her club team.

During the breaks between games, I had several parents (some from other teams, in fact) ask me over the weekend what their child should do over the summer to help make them a better volleyball player.

Regardless of what sport or activity your child does, I think it’s a mistake to have them do that one single thing on a year round basis.

Sometimes I feel that parents end up subconsciously living vicariously through their kids because of their own athletic shortcomings.

I wrote the following email to those parents…

Dear Parents,

For those that aren’t aware, in addition to being a volleyball coach, I spend my days running a personal training and strength & conditioning company where I consult with both young and professional athletes and “regular people” like you and me.

In my humble opinion, if you want your daughter to develop into a better player, then the best thing that you can do for her is to NOT HAVE HER TOUCH A VOLLEYBALL FOR THE ENTIRE SUMMER.

]]> http://fitandbusydad.com/family/raisingathleticchildren/feed 8 http://fitandbusydad.com/family/raisingathleticchildren http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/fitandbusydad1/~3/xbnxGk5L4qY/perfect-post-workout-nutrition http://fitandbusydad.com/nutrition/perfect-post-workout-nutrition#comments Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:31:15 +0000 Chris Lopez http://fitandbusydadblog.com/?p=509

I hate protein shakes.

When I was young and was caught up in the whole “supplement thing”, thinking that if I didn’t consume 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight that I was going to shrivel up and turn into a skinny, non-muscular piece of nothing, I drank protein shakes until the cows came home.

And as a result, my family hated me for it. Not because I would go through “protein shake rage” or anything like that, but because I STUNK!!!

During my protein shake phase, I used to fart so much (I can say “fart”, right?) that my wife and daughter would leave the room as soon as I walked in because they knew the inevitable was about to happen.

NOT ANY MORE.

First, I don’t do whey protein anymore – I found out that I was intolerant to dairy which was probably causing my massive rear explosions (sorry for the horrible mental picture).

And second, I believe in consuming REAL FOOD. Unlike the powders, potions and bars that I used to eat thinking that it was “muscle building foods”, I now eat fruits & veggies and if I do consume any supplement, I make sure it’s from a reputable company that uses only plant-based foods in their products.

So, check out this video of me and my son Joaquin (pron: “wah-keen”) making my latest, non-dairy, smoothie. You’ve got to try the recipe, IT’S DELICIOUS!

Have a great weekend! I’m off to Barrie, Ontario for AJ’s volleyball tournament.

-Chris

It’s been a long time since my last post and for good reason…

ON October 22nd at 2am, Rozanne, my wife, gave birth to our son … Joaquin Gabriel Lopez.

Needless to say, I’m on cloud 9 right now and our friends and families seem to think that I’ve got a certain “glow” because …

1) The “Lopez” name will get carried on (my brother and I were the last in our line of “Lopez’s”) and

2) I now have a male ally in this estrogen dominant family.

Even though it’s been a little over 2 years since we last had a newborn in this house, I (read: my body) seems to forget how inconsistent and unexpected the scheduling is.

Some nights I get 7 hours of sleep, some nights I get 5, but most often lately, I’ve been getting 2 or 3 hours.

I have, however, been able to maintain a certain amount of energy and haven’t really “hit the wall” just yet … and I don’t expect to.

Sleepless nights, inconsistent scheduling, never having things go as planned come part and parcel with being a busy parent.

Managing your energy and having enough of it to function throughout the day will give you the ability to interact with some competence with your peers at work and your family at home.

Here are 7 things that I’ve been doing since the birth of “Q” (that’s what we’re calling him) to help me maintain my energy levels…

1) Stay on Schedule (even though every ounce of your being is telling you not to) – Regardless of how much sleep I get, I’m still up at 5am. Some days I feel like a truck hit me, but most days it seems that my body recognizes that everything is as it should be. I try to go through the exact same schedule/routine everyday – training, studying, working, eating & meditating at the same time.

If something comes up, like last week when I had to pick one of the girls up from school because she was feeling sick, then I accept it, let everything else go, and once order is restored, I get back on schedule.

This alone has been the biggest difference in me maintaining my sanity over the past 3 weeks.

2) Drink lots of water – I can’t stress this enough. Staying hydrated will keep you alert and will keep your brain functioning efficiently. Water (and sleep) as far as I’m concerned, are nature’s medicine.

If/When I get sick, it’s usually because I’m not getting enough sleep or I’m dehydrated. Making sure you’re drinking enough water is even more important if you drink coffee or tea or anything caffeinated because caffeine is a diuretic.

3) The 20-minute nap – This is the one thing that I do “unscheduled”, but I feel refreshed and rejuvinated immediately after. Dozing off for 20-minutes is like hitting the reset button in the middle of the day.

Sometimes I play my meditation CD while I’m napping and other times I just lay down and doze off while “the boy” is asleep on top of me. Either way, when I wake up, I’m almost as good as new.

4) Avoid sugary foods – I’m not a big junk food eater to begin with, but sometimes when time isn’t on your side and you just feel lazy, it’s so easy to just order a pizza or sneak some of the kids’ Trick or Treat candy.

I’ve had my slips and believe me, I’ve paid for it. The sugar highs are great while they last, but the crashes are brutal. In addition to that, excess sugar increases cortisol levels and inhibits immune response … not a good thing if you’re dealing with not getting a lot of sleep.

5) Caffeine management – You may already know this, but I’m an espresso junkie. I love the stuff. I’ve talked about the benefits of drinking espresso instead of the slow drip sludge that you can get from the local “Dunkin’Bucks” HERE.

What I mean by caffeine management, is strategically planning when to drink your coffee (or green tea) at specific times in the day to help you stay alert, prevent the jitters and still allow you to fall asleep at night.

If you wake up at 6am, then your first dose of caffeine can be taken as late as 9am. That’s about enough time for any caffeine addicted body (like mine) to NOT get any headaches. The main thing to note is that caffeine has a 1/2 life of about 6 hours – that’s the time it takes your body to eliminate 1/2 the amount of caffeine you injested. So if you set a 10pm bedtime for yourself, then you should ideally have your last dose of caffeine by 4pm (I have my last espresso at 3pm for safe measure).

7) Get outside – It’s November here in Toronto, and despite it being a little chilly, the sun is out and the skies are clear.

I dropped the kids off at school this morning, quickly returned home, parked the car and got on my bike to head over to the coffee shop and then to my first client.

Nothing beats riding a bike in this city. No traffic, fresh air and a feeling of freedom. If you want to wake up and get some activity in your life, commute to work using a bike – you’ll save money on gas and parking and will be reducing your carbon footprint at the same time.

So those are the strategies that work for me to keep my energy up while I battle 2hr nights of sleep, 3am diaper changes and going to work with spit-up on my shirt.

What are some of your favorite Energy Management strategies? Please leave a comment and let everyone know.

-Chris