Posted by Sean on May 27, 2009
Start exercising and you’ll become a round-the-clock, fat-burning machine, right?
diet doesn’t matter so much as long as one exercises?!!
Unfortunately this has been the public consensus for many years. A new study at the University of Colorado would like to tell you enlighten you:
Exercise not likely to rev up your metabolism – Smart Fitness- msnbc.com.
“You can’t out-train a bad diet”
Carpe Diem
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Posted by Sean on May 6, 2009
Shout out to findyourperfectfit for pointing this one out.
So, what if all diets had a 24hr cheat day?
Hmm.. does YOUR diet have a cheat day?
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Posted by Sean on May 1, 2009
Image Source: fitnessgoblin
So the past couple days have been, let’s just say BAD when referring to my eating. Whew. Really bad.
I think I have my snacking issue under control now. I’m much better with my lunch when at work. I still have my sandwich, and now I snack on fruit (lately strawberries and grapes) and then if I’m still hungry I snack on the plethora of Trail Mix concoctions that we have created and/or purchased.
I still run into the ‘since it’s there let’s eat it’ phenomena. Even after I eat my sandwich and all my fruit that I’ve packed, I still seem to reach for something else. It’s a work in progress.
It’s always what I eat at work. My eating habits at home are pretty secure. The only time I really ‘snack’ at home is when I’m watching my weekly TV shows with my beautiful wife. But even then I only either have dinner in front of the TV, or I am snacking on the Trail Mix.
At work, when there is down time, I’m eating, I’m snacking, I’m drinking (diet pepsi max that is). I HAVE to figure out a better way of handling my down time. I’m thinking of reverting to gum-chewing and seeing how that pans out for me. Grr.
I tell ya, when I’m busy it’s not an issue. In fact when things get busy I’m only eating simply because I have hunger pangs. I mean I’m still eating a snack at least every 2hrs regardless of the pulse of the day. That will probably never change due to me and my metabolism. I’m a firm believer in eating more frequently to healthfully maintain a steady leveled blood glucose/insulin/basal metabolic rate.
So here’s the BAD part of this week. The REALLY bad part. This week we had dinner with my father-in-law at one of the local ‘Italian-style’ restaurants. Now, I know better. I know I should have ordered something light. I should have been a lil’ more health-conscious with my food choices, but I had quite the brain-fart.
I had bread for an appetizer (heavy Italian bread and buttered). Then there was the salad with Ranch dressing (probably the most healthy portion of my meal). The main course was a Tortellini dish with gobs of mozzarella cheese and of course chicken pieces spliced amongst the mound of cheese-pasta.
It was a large serving, and I ate 3/4 of it.
Talk about heavy. I knew as I was eating the darn thing, I was going to regret the after math.
It was so heavy on my stomach that it lasted 2 days! The strange part is that I used to be able to eat that whole plate, and not think twice about it. Now my body kindly likes to yell at me for eating something so calorie-heavy.
But, it doesn’t stop there.
At the beginning of the week I was craving some Dairy Queen blizzard. Thankfully my wife was not interested. Well, last night she wanted to cash in her chips from earlier. She suggested the DQ, and I think I resisted…uuhh.. For maybe 10 minutes.
So last night I slept like total crap. I tossed and turned. I couldn’t get comfortable, I surely couldn’t lay on my stomach (it was too damn full!), so I flip-flopped all night.
When I went to bed I promised myself I would do the guilt-run burn for my workout the next day.
Sure enough this afternoon I ran my tail off. And it felt great. I think I actually missed running.
Side note: I don’t actually run outside, or on a treadmill. I ‘run’ on the ARC Trainer-elliptical machine due to the damaged knees and ankles. This way I can still reap the benefits of running with cardiovascular exercise and Interval training without being in pain and causing any additional damage to my joints.
I did 30 minutes of intervals. Intervals of various times. Everything from 30 sec sprints with 30 sec rest, to 45 sec sprints with a 15 sec rest, and of course some sustained max sprints. 30 minutes later my legs were like spaghetti, and I loved it.
I’ve been staying away from intervals and ‘cardio’ due to the boredom factor lately. I’ve been substituting total-bodyweight exercises and run-of-the-mill callisthenic work. The reality is I don’t feel the same benefits. I don’t feel the same gratitude and fulfillment I feel after a good ‘run’.
So I think I’ll go back to the HIIT work on the ARC Trainer. If for anything else, for my mental health.
‘Feeling’ fat really messes with your mind. It’s amazing how you look and feel different just by convincing yourself of how fat food has made you. When in reality I didn’t gain a frackin’ pound (I weighed myself) over that span of days.
I was able to ‘run’ the guilt out of my mind.
Stay strong, train strong.
Carpe Diem
Posted in fitness | Tagged: diet | 4 Comments »
Posted by Sean on April 28, 2009
Me planning and preparing my lunch for work tomorrow
Failing to plan is planning to fail
Yes, we’ve all heard it before. And yes, we all are a lil’ tired of hearing it. But sometimes some things are true even if you don’t want to believe them.
There are an infinite Graham’s Number of excuses as to why you can’t seem to lose those extra pounds. Everyone fails at ‘dieting’ for one reason or another. Everyone fails at improving their lifestyle for just about the same reasons. I don’t think I need to remind you – "You can’t out-train a bad diet". So it’s about you and eating.
It all boils down to one reason in my humble opinion. Failing to Plan.
Planning eliminates possibilities. Planning minimizes exposure. Planning can and does make the effort and work much easier to do. The long journey that seems to have no end in sight will seem shorter and much more fulfilling with planning.
And it’s not just planning. It has to be a solid, genuinely given effort. Planning cannot be taken lightly, nor can it be hit-or-miss. Planning must become part of you.
Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance
Not only must you plan, but plan properly, and plan prior to any and everything that you can.
In order to eliminate the possibility of binge eating, or succumbing to those tempting cravings, or surrendering to any exposure to ‘work-time sweets’ you need to plan. And you need to plan ahead.
You KNOW that someone will bring in cookies (sweets) to work. You KNOW someone will want to order take-out for lunch. You KNOW someone will bring some extra ‘sweet-snacks’ from the local ‘suga-shack’ (a.k.a. Dunkin’ Donuts, Bakery Pastries, Ice Cream, Candy, etc.)
You also KNOW how you react (Piss Poor Performance). You also KNOW if you’ll give in to the ‘suga’. You also KNOW if you have it in you to eat ‘only one’.
No one knows your life better than you. No one knows your habits better than you. So plan ahead for what’s in store, and plan ahead for how you’ll react.
Prepare your meals the day before. Hell, prepare your meals as far ahead of schedule as you can, and as far ahead as the food will allow (nobody wants to eat spoiled food). Some individuals will plan a week at a time. Only you can decide what is best for you.
Prepare for your reactions as well. If you are a snacker, and are weak-willed when it comes to that ‘suga’ then bring your own snacks. It’s amazing how you can satisfy a sweet tooth urge with some fruit or other low-calorie food choices.
Before you know it, you’ll no longer have ‘weak moments’. A weak moment only happens if you don’t prepare ahead of time.
The more you prepare, the less frequently those moments will happen.
This particular habit of planning has a way of repeatedly rewarding you. Rewarding you immediately and long term. The more you plan, the more you make planning a part of your psyche, the easier it will become. Soon it will be come an automatic thing like brushing your teeth.
After a while the automatic planning will turn and transform into control. Your efforts to plan will empower you to gain control over you. You will no longer be the passenger, reacting to a given situation. You will become the driver, choosing your path and simply taking it.
Piss Poor Performance is not who you are, only something you do.
Carpe Diem
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Posted by Sean on April 25, 2009
Yes, once again I said lifestyle, not DIET. I simply refuse to address the term.
We all know by now that the path to improved overall health and increasing your fitness level lies harshly on you and you’re DIET eating habits. Once again – "You can’t out-train a bad diet".
Let’s break it down into simple terms.
Now, for all of us most of us, we rarely ever follow the ‘perfect’ plan. We all have bad days. We all have moments of ‘weakness’. We all have to ‘indulge’ every once in a great while. We all are human (at least the last time I checked). Let’s make something perfectly clear, these ‘moments’ are neither good or bad. They just are. They become what you want them to become. These moments can either make you human or these moments can be the end-all-to-be-all.
You can have a ‘moment’ and simply chalk it up to being human with human tendencies, or you can have a moment that wrecks your psychological mind set and destroys your confidence and drive.
So depending on how many of these moments you have, your perceived goal will be extended from a short time frame of (let’s say) 3 months to more like 6 or 8 months (and maybe longer).
Your goal and your lifestyle follow a very simple checks and balances system that is rooted in mathematics (AGAIN). It’s all about the payback.
In order to move forward you must have more ‘acts’ in the positive column than the negative column. If you have more negatives than positives you will of course fall down the hill instead of climbing forward. And if you have an equal number of positives and negatives you will simply stay in the current ‘state’ of health and fitness you are in. SO in order to move forward on your journey, you must ‘payback’ yourself at least one more positive act then every negative act you perform. Once again weight loss is truly a simple math equation
Here’s the most difficult part of the payback.
You’re positives ‘acts’ will never be equivalent to your negative acts. (What the hell does that mean?)
It all comes back to – "You can’t out-train a bad diet". No matter how hard you train, no matter how many hours you sacrifice exercising, ‘busting your ass’, and sweating, your eating habits severely outweigh your movements.
It’s all about the calories folks. Calories you consume and calories burned. It really is that simple. It’s the calories consumed that ALWAYS trumps the calories burned.
Just because you ‘ran your ass off’ at the gym for 20 min 30 min 60 min 90 min does not mean you ‘burned off’ the calories you consumed the night before day before week before.
There is no better way to explain this than to watch one of the many videos that Craig created. After watching ANY of these videos it’s painfully obvious why what you eat grossly outweighs what you do.
It’s all about the payback.
So does this mean you won’t achieve your ultimate goal? Does this mean that if you slip up and eat the wrong foods, or re-visit a bad eating habit that you are bound for failure.
NO.
It only tells you that your goal is now farther to reach. It means your goal will take longer to achieve. And unfortunately there is no way of quantifying the difference. Basically the journey’s time frame has been extended.
It’s up to you how long you want the journey to be. Everything you eat has a destination (fuel or fat).
It’s up to you where it lands.
Carpe Diem
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Posted by Sean on April 21, 2009
THIS REALLY WORKS
A friend of ours, a nurse, who has done a lot of research about dieting, had given us information about the various popular diets including Atkins, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, and the South Beach Diet.
She then mentioned a diet about which we haven’t heard previously, but which she insists works for almost everyone:
The Dawn Keye Diet
(Oh c’mon, you know you laughed)
Carpe Diem
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Posted by Sean on April 17, 2009
Posted in fitness | Tagged: diet, exercise, weight loss | 1 Comment »
Posted by Sean on December 1, 2008
So today makes it 30 days till the new year. What are your plans for the month?
It’s safe to say everyone will be hustling and bustling with their end of year holiday plans. Christmas shopping and of course planning your end of year exit.
I would encourage everyone to start planning for the new year. What are your goals for the coming year?
This time of the year is tough on everyone’s health. It’s the ‘subtraction attraction’ time of year. We all start to eat and move like we’re in hibernation, yet we all want to make those infamous ‘resolutions’ to be a healthier you.
We drink a lil more, eat a lil more, and we exercise a lot less.
Some will blame the horrible winter weather.
Some will claim they have no time during the holiday ‘busyness’.
In reality, THIS IS the time of the year to start making your efforts towards that summer beach body you have always wanted.
It’s not hard if you take it slow.
Time and temperance are your best friends.
While it’s an expected tradition to eat and be merry during this festive atmosphere, it’s not a requirement to over indulge, or for Pete’s sake binge eat.
Have some control over what you eat when you’re in the midst of your celebrating. It’s a simple math equations and a matter of action – reaction.
You don’t have to be a fitness professional to know what is good for you, and what is bad for you. You don’t need formal education in metabolic tendencies and diet nutrition.
All you need is control.
You say you can’t control your urges? Or you cravings?
How about pre-planning those moments?
When you know you’ll be at work and there will be goodies to snack on. Pack something a lil’ more healthy for yourself instead. So when that craving shows up.. You have a more healthy answer.
I’m not saying forgo all your cravings, starve yourself and make yourself miserable. Just be sure to maintain some balance between what you consume, when you consume it, and what your doing to ‘use’ or ‘burn’ those extra empty calories you gave your body.
Everything you consume has a destination. Whether it be fuel for our activity, or padding for you rear, everything you consume has a destination.
The great part about it..
You get to choose what that destination is.
Have a Happy, and Hopefully more Healthy Holiday season.
Take care of yourself and yours.
Carpe Diem
Posted in fitness | Tagged: diet, healthy | 4 Comments »
Posted by Sean on November 3, 2008
Weight loss is not about the numbers. Granted, the act of losing weight is ALL about math, weight loss is not about the numbers.
Most people measure their weight loss success by how many pounds they have lost (or gained). Success= weighing less.
This is why most stories of weight loss are stories of failure. They feel if they did not lose weight, or god forbid, if they gained weight, then they have failed.
Weight loss is a mindset, and it’s a lifestyle.
Losing weight is never a short term goal or obstacle. Any accomplishment will be measure over a length of time. If you decide it’s time to lose weight, then start thinking long term.
Most individuals think that the weight that they lose initially (and for some it’s a generous amount of weight) is the standard amount of weight they should lose constantly and consistently.
A person may lose anywhere from 5-30 pounds in the first month alone. It’s not the norm, nor is it the standard.
It’s just like the practices of medicine. There is no recipe for success. Each person’s rise and fall does not reflect another’s.
Yes, you can and will lose more weight in the beginning. Your body is simply squeezing out the sponge. Once you have squeezed the sponge, your body needs to regain balance, on a micro-metabolic level. And during this stage, you will plateau. In fact you may even gain weight.
We somehow have been programmed into thinking that weighing less means you have accomplished your goal?
It all depends on how you are going about losing your weight. Are you simply watching your diet? Or are you increasing your exercising?
If you are more active in any way shape or form, no matter how small or large it may be. Your body has to adjust, adapt, and balance itself.
If you are imposing more physical demands on you body, you body need to adapt to meet those demands. This adapting comes in the form of increased metabolism, increased cellular oxygenation, increase VO2 max, and muscular hypertrophy, to name a few.
Yes, that’s correct.
If you exercise, you will (gain muscle) increase the size of your muscle(s). You may not see it. Heck, you may not even feel it, but you will gain muscular strength and endurance. The amount you gain is solely dependent on what you do, how often you do it, and at what rate your doing it at. And once again everyone will adapt differently.
Measure your weight loss by inches. Measure your weight loss by attitude. Measure your weight loss by function. Measure your weight loss by energy. But don’t measure your weight loss by the numbers.
Do your clothes fit differently? Do you seem to be more positive lately? Is there some activity that you can do now, that you couldn’t do before? Are you able to do more before becoming tired (or out of breath)
The next time you step on the scale. Look at your life, look at your body, look at your weight holistically.
Not just at the numbers.
“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard… is what makes it great.”
Carpe Diem
Posted in fitness | Tagged: diet, exercise, weight loss | 9 Comments »
Posted by Sean on October 25, 2008
It seems that nurses are doomed. We are all doomed to have triple the risk for becoming overweight according to this article. 
It seems that if you either eat too fast, or eat until your full, you’ve increased your risk for being overweight.
The last time I checked we nurses have a tendency to do BOTH. In fact we may do both numerous times during a single day.
When was the last time you actually stepped off your unit and had a full-fledged lunch? Had the time to walk down to the cafeteria or to a break room-type area. Eat your meal at your leisure (without being interrupted).
I don’t know about you. But most of us, heck the majority of us eat our lunch first and taste it later. If we get a 5 min ‘pause’, we inhale our food. And sometimes it’s not even what you would call a lunch. It could be a snack. Heck, it could be what came out of the vending machine.
So according to this study, we should not eat fast, nor should we eat till we are full. Otherwise we are looking at an overweight future.
Who the heck pays these people.
Grr.
On another note.
WE! ARE! —— PENN STATE!
It’s PSU vs. their Big Ten neighboring nemesis Ohio State. Penn State is favored to win, which could be good and bad at this point in the season.
I’ll be glued in front of the TV later tonight.
Best of luck to JoePa and the boys.
Carpe Diem
Posted in health | Tagged: diet | Leave a Comment »
