So true, so true

Dos Equis - Most Interesting Man in the World: The Gym

Passed this thought to someone today

Any workout program that does not include strength training is an incomplete program. Do not believe anyone that tells you differently.

Simple, but true.

Lack of sleep

adversely affects your performance.

That is all.

Food

Let's start with number one. Food.

It is really easy to overcomplicate things when it comes to food. Everyone will have an opinion, including you. What to do? Break this down into a few easy steps.

1. Estimate your daily caloric requirement.
There are an awful lot of internet based calculators that can help you here. Make a realistic assumption about your activity level. If you're trying to lose weight, assume your activity level to be one notch lower than you think it will be. Now, you have a daily caloric target.

2. Estimate your daily nutrient breakout between carbs, protein and fats.
Personally, I run about 40% protein, 30% carbs, and 30% fat. At times, I'm probably a little lighter on the carbs and a bit higher on the protein. Years ago, I followed the Body for Life program, which was a 40/40/20 split. That could be a good starting point, but I think it's a bit low in fat. When considering this, think about what kind of exercise you'll be doing, and how much/often. Endurance athletes may consider going higher on carbs and a bit lower on fats. Those looking to add strength and muscle mass will want to go high on protein.

3. Figure out how many meals and snacks you'd like to eat each day.
Some people recommend eating five to six times per day, some say it makes no difference. Whatever you decide, make sure it makes sense for your schedule and lifestyle. The last thing you need is to be stressed out because you're missing a meal.

4. Divide up your daily calories among your meals and snacks.
This will give you an approximate number of calories for each meal and snack. If you try to keep the carb/protein/fat ratio pretty much the same for each meal, you make the process much easier.

5. Think about the foods you will eat. Do some homework and figure out what a serving size is for each of those foods. Calculate the calories and nutrient breakdowns of those servings.

6. Plot out a menu for a few days or a week.
Shop accordingly. It may make sense to cook only once or twice per week and reheat as needed. Make sure your daily caloric intake an nutrient breakouts are in line. It's okay to go a little high one day and a little low another. You don't want to be counting peanuts in an effort to make an inexact science exact.

7. Keep a log of what you're eating, and compare it to your plan.

8. Monitor results.

9. Adjust behavior as needed.
Try to wait at least a month before tinkering, unless you are having tremendous difficulty. You need to give your body time to adjust before changing things. Tinker a bit if you need to. Remember that all of this was based upon estimates. You may need to change it a bit as you monitor your results. If you hit a plateau, change something up. Change your nutrient breakdown a bit. Raise calories a bit. Lower them a bit.

10. Think about this as a lifestyle change, not a temporary change.
The objective is to remake your habits and the way you live. Proper nutrition is something you should just do, not do until some event occurs. The only event that should end proper nutrition is the big D...death!

At some point, you'll be able to go onto autopilot here. Getting started is the hard part. Once you gain knowledge and awareness, you really shouldn't have to constantly monitor and measure every single thing. One of my thoughts on health and fitness relates to sustainability, along with the desire to sustain something. If eating right is a big pain in the neck project, you will be much more inclined to drift away from it and back into your old habits. In all honesty, I no longer count calories or nutrient breakouts or anything. I've got a very good feel for how to assemble meals properly, so it takes little effort for me to just pull them together.

That being said, It may not be a bad idea to track your food for a couple weeks twice a year. It becomes quite easy to underestimate serving sizes as time goes on.

Next post I'll write a bit more about what I do, and ramble on about food in general.

Things I've Learned Part 2

I think I'm going to just add stuff a little at a time as I get a chance.

While I understand that what I do isn't for everyone, I do think that most people can get a great deal of benefit out of what they find here. I believe that there is a common thread at the foundation of most effective health and fitness programs, and that common thread is the basis for the majority of the results you will achieve. Everyone will have to build upon that foundation to tailor their program to their own goals, activities, and desires.

My own program is based on the theories of primal or evolutionary fitness. What I eat, how I eat, how I exercise and live are all based upon trying to emulate how our distant ancestors lived as they evolved into humans. I also believe that what we do affects how our genes express themselves. Gene expression theory is interesting stuff. I'll get into more specifics of my own program at a later time. For anyone that wants to read more on the concept of Primal living and gene expression, I'd recommend spending some time on Mark's Daily Apple. There is far more information there than I could ever get across in this forum, or anywhere near as well as Mark does.

Okay. There is one really important thing to know about improving your health, fitness and wellness. This is especially important for those of you that are just starting out. You'd think this was the most well kept secret in the world, but it really isn't. It's there for anyone to see if they would open their eyes and look. (This is starting to sound like a bad internet advertisement, isn't it?)

Improving your health fitness and wellness is simple. As in, not complex. That's right. Not at all complex. You're not going to do it with a thighmaster, or by drinking all of your meals out of a can, or by buying any of those idiotic things you see on infomercials. You're not going to do it by buying a special pair of sneakers, or wrapping a vibrating belt around your abdomen while you watch television. We get bombarded with so much stuff that is supposedly going to make all of the difference in the world for us, that we lose sight of how simple this all is.

I didn't say this was easy, I just said it was simple. Actually, once you change your habits, it does become easy, or at least easier. The first steps are the hardest to take.

I'll write some more about each of these in the future, but here's what you really need to know:

1. Eat the right kinds of foods, and eat the right amount of food.
2. Get enough exercise.
3. Get enough sleep.
4. Live an active lifestyle, in mind and body.
5. Don't put stuff in your body that doesn't belong there.

Following these five rules is simple. There will be a little effort getting started along with some trial and error, but once you get on track, it is so much simpler than most of us realize. I think one of the reasons people fail on a health and fitness program is because it all becomes too much to manage. Too much counting and measuring and nonsense that gets old and boring and starts feeling like a ball and chain. It doesn't have to.

Okay. Enough for today. I promise I'll actually write something useful next time out!

Things I've learned

I’m coming up on the fourth anniversary of the day I decided I was going to take back my health from the brink of disaster, and I’m doing a bit of reflecting on what I’ve learned. It’s been twenty five years since I first started playing with barbells in earnest, and I’ve been through a lot of programs and more ups and downs than I’d care to admit.

I like to think that I’ve gained some knowledge along the way, either through trial and error or by spending a significant amount of time reading and evaluating information I’ve searched for or come across. By sharing this, I hope some of you will pick up a thing or two that helps you on your own journey.

These apply to everyone, now matter what you’re trying to do:

1. You need to decide what you want. Even though I said these are in no order, you really should do this one first. What are you trying to accomplish? Is it realistic? Is it sustainable? Do you really WANT to sustain it long term? Can you measure it? Get to the bottom of what you’re really looking for. For example, I want to gain weight or I want to lose weight are substandard goals. Why? Because lean body mass is important. You want to add muscle. You want to lose fat. Goals like that will shape what you do, and they will keep you focused.
2. Align what you like to do with your goals. If you really enjoy going for very long runs, it would be silly to have a goal to add thirty pounds of muscle and enter a bodybuilding competition. You will be working against yourself, and will get nowhere, or you will be giving up something you really enjoy doing.
3. Whatever your fitness goals, diet will be at least 85% of the equation. Health and fitness begin at the grocery store. The types of foods you bring home will set you up for success or failure. If your goal is fat loss, you just cannot outwork a bad diet. A pound of fat equates to 3,500 calories. That could take more than 5 hours of exercise to burn off. If you frequently splurge, it will be very difficult to drop fat from your body. If your goal is to gain muscle, providing your body with substandard or inadequate amounts of nutrients will not optimize your ability to build muscle. It is absolutely critical to understand this point.
4. Train to your goals. If you want to build a lot of muscle, you need to train to that, and, more importantly, eat to that as I’ve noted above. It is very, very difficult to add significant muscle mass while you’re trying to lose a significant amount of weight. If you want to be a power lifter, you will train very differently that someone training for a triathlon. There will always be some crossover, but you need to train with your goals in mind.
5. Exercise is a catalyst for change. Food is a major factor, but exercise is critical for achieving your goals and improving your health and well being. It cannot be ignored.
6. Everyone benefits from some form of strength training. What and how much will depend upon what your goals are, but this should be a part of everyone’s program.

My next post will be a bit more specific to what I do and my own thoughts on health, fitness, nutrition and wellness.

Made you look!

Seems all my wisdom never makes it to my fingertips anymore.