STRENGTH TRAINING

I admit it, I bought into the 80/20 rule on nutrition and exercise. I believed that being healthy and fit was 80% nutrition and 20% exercise, maybe more like 50/50, but I love what Tom Venuto and Shawn Phillips say in the Kryptonite Report and that is it's 100% nutrition and 100% exercise. Not just any exercise either, but strength training. They both say that strength training is the only way to sculpt your body. That makes sense too, which makes me ask myself why I have put such a low priority on strength training?

I have never been a fan of grunting it out in the weight room. I used to work at the YMCA when the weight lifting room was right across from the customer counter, so I heard grunts and moans all day long. It sounded painful to me and I don't like pain! My idea of a workout was to do step aerobics or go for a swim.

There was a time when I liked using the Nautilus equipment. In fact, I purchased that equipment when the old Y closed. It has sentimental value to me. I still use it from time-to-time, but I don't think I ever really understood how important those clanking weights are to my vitality as I age. I really enjoyed the story that Tom Venuto, author of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle, shares about the 90 year old man who trains with him - how much strength training helps him stay mobile and enables him to travel and continue enjoying his life. It even helped him prevent falling when he tripped and stumbled.

I am 51 and can see the writing on the wall. Either you strength train and keep your body strong so you can get around and enjoy life or you atrophy and pay the price with a ho-hum existence. So, off to the gym I go to listen to Tom's book as I strength train!

Stay strong, live long.

 Kathy

Falling Off and Getting Back on The Health Wagon

How do you define falling off the wagon? I used to think it was a long period of time where you ate or indulged in whatever your vice is whenever you wanted. My definition has changed because I no longer go off the healthy eating and exercise plan for days at a time, but even indulging in a little junk food here and there can slow down progress as I am seeing this week. I now think of falling off the wagon as eating past the point of feeling full, deviating from my healthy eating plan, and/or skipping my daily exercise. How often do I do this? At least once or twice a week. It used to be daily, so I am making progress. I have learned that it is a journey and the hardest part is not beating myself up along the way.

If there was a degree in falling off the healthy eating and exercise wagon, I would have a PhD! I probably hold the world's record. I would say I have fallen off the wagon every week (for many years it was every day) for 50 years! I fell off the wagon when I didn't even know I was supposed to be on the wagon. I have always been interested in riding the health wagon, but I kept falling off. Stress would throw me off like a bucking bronco, still does sometimes.

I may be voted off of an episode of the Biggest Loser for not dropping weight fast enough, but I would probably win Survivor because my body is very efficient at storing energy! I have to remember that the only person I'm competing with is myself. My health matters most to me. Good health is what will keep me around for my family. It is what enables me to pursue my dreams and help my community. I will just keep getting back up and getting back on the wagon as many times as it takes. Wellness is a journey.

I used to have a food concession business called, “Health Wagon Concessions.” It was in the early 90's. I set up at fairs and tried to sell healthy foods such as raw veggies and fruit kabobs. You can imagine how well this business did going up against elephant ears and deep fried corn dogs. I suppose the literal health wagon concept was before its time. Now, as baby boomers are aging and more concerned about health, maybe we are more willing to consider healthier alternatives, even when we eat out.

How do we get back on the health wagon? You know the answer as well as I do and that is to get back up, dust yourself off, and saddle up again and again and again until you reach your destination. Once we arrive to our healthiest place, we should be a pro at knowing what it takes to stay there!

Some things that help me get back on the wagon are to have plenty of healthy foods around and keep the junk food away, especially when I'm away from home or traveling. If I get too hungry and there is junk food around, forget about it, the temptation becomes overwhelming to eat the chemically addictive sweet and salty treats. As far as exercise, it helps me to schedule it in like an appointment or do it first thing in the morning. Otherwise, the day gets away from me and the excuses come rolling in.

Getting on the wagon is a metaphor for living your healthiest, happiest life. What makes you want to get on the wagon in the first place? What is your why? Why bother? Why keep getting back up again? Once you find a strong enough why it makes the how possible. For me, I want to feel comfortable in my skin again. I want to live a quality life full of activity and adventure. I don't want to have to limp around and look for the nearest bench when I go for a walk. I want to walk normally and have abundant energy. I want to see my grandchildren grow up and take them to do things without wearing out. My reasons for continuing to get back on the wagon are strong. I may continue to fall off, but I will NEVER GIVE UP.

Kathy

“What can I do today that will make me healthier than I was yesterday?” ~ Kevin Gianni 

What's Your Kyrptonite?

What's Your Kyrptonite? I remember Shawn Phillips asking that question. I have followed Shawn since he was featured in Success Magazine where he was working with Darren Hardy and his team at Success Magazine to host a 90-Day Fit for Success weight loss Challenge. I lost 30 pounds during that challenge! I was obsessed about being in Success Magazine because it is my all-time favorite magazine. I read Shawn's book, Strength for Life, and became meticulous with my food choices and daily exercise routine. But, I felt "deprived" the whole time, like I didn't want to die without ever again eating a Hershey Pie! I was glad when the contest was over so I could get a few "cheat meals" in. 

Someone from Success Magazine contacted me and said they wanted to run my story along with before & after pics that I submitted during the Challenge. I was so excited. My dream of being in the magazine was coming true. I remember when the magazine arrived in the mail. It had Joel Osteen and his wife on the cover. I'm a big fan of Joel and was elated to be mentioned in the same magazine as him. I was beaming as I flipped through the magazine to find my article, but my smile quickly turned to a frown when I saw someone else's picture by my name and story! Disappointment is an understatement of how I felt. I internalized it immediately. My self-confidence took a nose dive right then - maybe they didn't want to use my picture because my after picture didn't show that much of a change. When you weigh 300 lbs, losing 30 lbs doesn't look that dramatic, at least it didn't for me. 

The negative voice in my head was chattering away and I used that as an excuse to eat junk food. I went and bought a dozen rolls with cinnamon butter from Texas Roadhouse! I think I went through half of the rolls before I got the voice to calm down, mostly because my brain was starting to focus on my aching stomach. It didn't take long to gain the 30 lbs back plus a few more pounds on top of that. Every time I have ever went on a "diet" when I went back to my regular eating routine, I gained even more weight than I started with. 

This Great Weight Off Challenge has been having the same dejected effect on me lately. When I weighed in this week, I had gained back three of the four pounds I lost the week before. It hit me like a ton of bricks. That negative voice came creeping back, "What's the use, you're yoyoing all over the place, same as you've done for 50 years." I just wanted to drown out the pain of feeling like a failure at this "diet" thing, so I decided I would have sweet tea with my lunch. Sounds innocent enough, but it set off a three-day sugar binge like I haven't done in over a year. It left me feeling so exhausted, like a weight has been put on my shoulders. This totally exhausted feeling reminds me of kryptonite. Sugar is my kryptonite! 

Most people associate the word kryptonite with Superman. I associate it with Shawn Phillips because of his question, "What's Your Kryptonite?" and his podcast, The Kryptonite Report! I haven't listened to his podcast in a while, so I was curious to see what's new. I went to his website where I saw a blog post that I really needed to read, "When You Stop Chasing Fit, Fit Will Chase You," which is about accepting yourself unconditionally. Do you believe in divine intervention? I do. I believe when we set our intention the Universe conspires on our behalf and sends us the resources we need to succeed. It doesn't mean we won't have obstacles, but there is a path around, over, or through those obstacles and it often comes in the form of wisdom from someone who has blazed the trail before us. 

So many things Shawn wrote in his blog post resonated with me. My fitness journey has been such a struggle. I'm so tired of the fight. I just want to be. I don't want to associate eating sugar and junk food with "being bad" or "unacceptable" even though I certainly feel that way at times. My weight has affected my life in SO many ways that are very painful both literally and emotionally. I wish I could go into detail, maybe I'll do it in a book someday, but I'm not ready to talk about the pain and suffering, I really just want to let it go. I don't want it to define me or plague me, I just want to be free, to feel complete, and love myself unconditionally. 

I am grateful for people like Shawn Phillips who know how to get to the heart of the real issue behind obesity. Yes, it's about eating healthy food and consistent exercise, but I can tell you from personal experience it's about the soul and mind too!

So while my kryptonite appears to be sugar because it certainly makes me feel sick and weak, I believe my true kryptonite is self-acceptance, that's what brings me to my knees. I believe that once I love and accept myself unconditionally, my struggle will be over and the fitness I have been chasing for a lifetime will come to me because as Shawn said, "Fitness is actually the authentic, organic expression of who you are." 

I really needed to read what Shawn wrote to help me get past this self-defeating obstacle that I did not not understand on the level that he so eloquently expressed it. I am going to work on finding my center, self-acceptance, and just being. I hope one day my journey and words will help inspire someone like Shawn has inspired me. 

What's YOUR kryptonite? 

Kathy

"What if getting fitter is a choice made from a place of love and compassion? What if you get to stop the “running from” and “running to” and see what being is like. And from being, you freely choose a different level of being, physically. Imagine the energy that might come back to you. The fuel you will have access to when you no longer have to cycle the story of pain and suffering." ~ Shawn Phillips

Big vs Small Meals

I am taking a nutrition course at Vanderbuilt University through Coursera.org and found the topic of balanced nutrition from Dr. Benardot fascinating. He used the picture above as an example of our cellular capacity being the small cup and the pitcher being what we consume when we eat large meals. His theory is to eat and drink smaller amounts throughout the day so you keep your nutrient levels balanced. I know this is a controversial topic. I have even heard some doctors refer to it as grazing and not letting your digestive system get a break. Dr. Bernardot says that we should not let ourselves get hungry or thirsty, that we should consume water in timed intervals because by the time we feel thirsty, dehydration has already taken place. He says that if you consume too much food at once you risk toxicity, wasted energy, increased fat storage and can develop insensitivity to nutrients. If you take in too little it can lead to malfunction, poor metabolism, inadequate protective systems, and reduced cell life. Smaller meals at regular intervals makes sense to me. I know if I go too long without eating or drinking water, I'm in trouble. The cravings kick in and are so hard to overcome. The solution seems simple, but it actually takes planning and effort. It's easy to get busy and distracted and forget to eat until several hours have passed and you feel famished. I'm going to give this smaller, more frequent meals and timed intervals of water a try. I know I need to bring my water intake UP! I'm going to set the timer on my iPhone and drink a smaller amount of water rather than trying to drink 32 oz in a short period of time.

Kathy