ELIMINATING EXCUSES | fitness

I’ve got a new favorite site to tell you about: http://thedailydietribe.blogspot.com/

The Daily Dietribe focuses on healthy, gluten-feel meal options and provides excellent weight loss tips. You don’t have to be on a gluten-free diet to benefit from this site. The recipes are simple and healthy. Iris, the creator and chief blogging officer, is an experienced weight loss counselor and has helped many clients achieve their goals.

Lastly, I must give you this warning. Please have a protective cover on your computer screen and a few towels before you go to her site. The pictures of the food on her blog are delicious! You will droll on your keyboard and might just be tempted to lick your screen. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

So, check out The Daily Dietribe to find some excellent recommendations on gluten-free meal recipes and weight loss. Below is just a sample of the high quality content of Iris’ blog:

http://thedailydietribe.blogspot.com/2009/08/eating-out-without-gaining-weight.html

http://thedailydietribe.blogspot.com/2009/06/set-yourself-up-for-success.html

http://thedailydietribe.blogspot.com/2009/04/14-things-to-do-before-you-binge.html

DO SOMETHIN’!

At least once per week, I say to myself, “There aren’t enough hours in the day.” Between work, school and my social life, it’s a challenge to find time to exercise. So, what am I going to do about this? Let’s think outside of the box . . .

Everyday at the office, I see smokers take breaks to get their “puff on.” Why is that? Well, we all need breaks and nicotine is addictive. Hmmm … ok, got it. Well, why don’t I take exercise breaks at work? I need breaks and I am “addicted” to exercise. I should bring my dumbells, pull-up bar or some other fitness equipment to the office and take short breaks through out the day to exercise. Will these fit-breaks take the place of a traditional workout? Probably not. Can they be beneficial? Of course! Esepcially if I take multiple breaks throughout the day. I only need to figure out the logistics of bringing and storing my equipment and securing an area for my fit-break . . . ain’t nothing but a peanut! YEAH BUDDY!

DO SOMETHIN’!

This past Sunday evening I was on a flight back to Cincinnati after visiting family for the weekend. There was a lot of turbulence for most of the flight. I’ve encountered turbulence of that severity and worse before; yet for some reason, I was feeling very uncomfortable. Typically, my prayers before and during the flight reassure me that everything will go as planned. However, I still felt uneasy and began to ask myself, “what if this were the end?” I thought about my family and the people that I love. I didn’t go much further in thought because I knew that it couldn’t be the end. I kept saying to myself, “Lord please, I have too much left to do.”

By God’s grace, I made it safely. As I reflect back on the flight and the time that I spent thinking about life, I am reminded of how important it is for me to do that which I feel led to do each and every day. My time here is finite and probably will never seem long enough. For me to fulfill my purpose, I must be at my best. What can I do to be my best? What can you do to be your best?

Both questions have multiple answers and will not be the same for everyone. For me, my best is partially dependent on my physical health. Eating enough and well (quality food) combined with exercise and sufficient sleep are imperative to achieving my best physical health. Whenever I fall short of where I need to be for diet, exercise or sleep, I feel it and it shows. Whenever I do hit my mark in these areas, it feels so good and I am ready for the challenges of the day.

So what’s the point of this rambling? Our time here is finite and we each have an important purpose to fulfill. Let’s prepare ourselves for success by enabling our bodies (and minds) to be at their best.

DO SOMETHIN’!

Lately, I’ve seen billboards in Cincinnati advertising Michelob Ultra Beer now with reduced carbohydrates as “the smart choice.” One of the advertisements included a man and woman jogging. So is this beer with reduced carbs supposed to be good for you or supposed to help you stay fit like those joggers on the billboard? We know the truth about carbs (see posts from May 8-10, 2007 and October 10, 2007), so we aren’t going to automatically link fewer carbs with improved nutrition or health. Secondly, what does beer have to do with exercise? I do not know of any one who consumes beer for the sake of achieving any fitness or health goal. Personally, I find the advertisements misleading and ineffective. If you talk with any health professional, she/he will tell you that the smart choice is to not drink at all or to drink in moderation if you choose to drink. Alcohol is not considered a nutrient since it does not contribute to the growth, maintenance or repair of body tissue. Furthermore, alcohol can be converted to fat when total caloric intake exceeds caloric output. So in other words, there is nothing smart about reduced carb beer since alcohol has no nutritional value.

DO SOMETHIN’! (except for drinking reduced carb Michelob Ultra)

**source for information on alcohol: ACE Personal Trainer Manual 3rd edition, edited by Cedric X. Bryant, Ph. D and Daniel J. Green, page 116 - 117

Canned tuna, particularly StarKist Solid White Albacore Tuna in water, is one of my primary sources of tuna. One can contains about 26 grams of protein and only 4 grams of fat which include some omega-3 fatty acids. It is common to see me eating a can or two at home or at work. Recently, a colleague asked me if I knew how much sodium was in my can of tuna. I am ashamed to say that I couldn’t recall the amount. When she told me about 400 milligrams (mg), I was shocked. So immediately, I went to my lunch bag and grabbed one of my 3 cans. She was right! One can of Starkist Solid White Albacore Tuna in water has about 400 mg of sodium (approximately 16% of the recommended daily value)! Clearly, I need to pay more attention to the nutrition facts of the foods that I eat. In my opinion, 400 mg is high for a can that is only 142 grams. Fortunately, I do have a low sodium diet; but I prefer to not consume that much sodium in one snack. My guess is that the sodium serves as a preservative, but we all know the risks associated with high sodium diets. From this point forward, I’ll begin buying tuna with a lower sodium content.

I just wanted to share this story with you as a reminder to read the nutrition labels on your food. You’ll be glad that you did.

DO SOMETHIN’!

Ever fall short of a goal or a promise that you made to yourself? I have too many times. In these situations, it’s easy for me to berate myself for a few days or longer. Please, don’t be like me! At these moments when I fall short of the mark, I’ve learned that the best I can do is to review what happened to find the root cause. Once I understand the root cause, I have to move on better equipped due to my new knowledge and leave the past in the past. When I don’t follow this path and I spend time beating myself up (figuratively), I only end up feeling worse and have not increased my chances of doing any better. Basically, I end up working against myself!

So, if you find yourself falling short of a fitness goal (or any personal goal), be on your own team and take the steps that are likely to lead to success! Seek to understand what caused you to fall short (did you set an unrealistic goal? did you overtrain? need to improve your discipline? etc.). Once you do, feel good about yourself for taking the time to self-evaluate. Use this lesson to keep you from repeating the issue. If you chose to dwell on the past, you’ll only be holding yourself back from doing any better.

DO SOMETHIN’!

Now is a time when many people across the world desire change in their country and lives. Today, the world watched as President Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States and the first president with African ancestry. As he looks to bring much needed change to the US, he reminded Americans to remember the challenges that the country defeated in the past in order to increase confidence as the country looks at what lies ahead.

As you face some health and fitness goals and challenges, I encourage you to look back to your past as well. Remember the challenges that you faced and conquered. At that time, they may have seemed insurmountable or even infinite; yet today, there are a distant memory. In this same manner, you will meet your current health and fitness challenges and goals; and you will be victorious. Pull yourself up and dust yourself off. Stay focused and confident. Change will come! Yes, you will!

DO SOMETHIN’!

When are the best years of one’s life? 18-22? 21-25? 30-40? The retirement years?

I’ll let you answer for yourself.

As for me, each year is the best year of my life! I am wiser than the year before and blessed to have lived another year. I have noticed some minor differences in my physical abilities when I compare myself at 18, 21 and now. BUT, I have the benefit of all my training experiences, good, bad and in between, to benefit from now; so I hope to not repeat the same mistakes in my training. Net, 2009 is going to be better than 2008! Sure, I don’t run sub 2 minute half miles any more, but that’s more by choice. I am training hard and smart and have abilities that I didn’t have at 18 or 21.

My point is that this year can be your best in terms of fitness (to set up next year to be even better, and so on . . .). Want it! Expect it! Believe it! Pursue it! By the end of this year, you’ll be able to say: I came! I saw! I conquered! Take advantage of what you are working with; it is more than you think. Stay disciplined and stay discilplined (had to say that one twice). As you DO SOMETHIN’, I bet that you will see improvements in other areas of you life.

This past summer, I went out to lunch with one of my managers from work and he said something that I found very interesting:

“… So many people work hard to make money in order to be happy. Then they get older and they work hard to get healthy in order to be happy.”

Many of us know some one who falls into this category. Money has a place in our lives, no doubt. However, my recommendation is to always make time to take care of your health. I understand that life requires sacrifice, but we have to keep things is perspective and be choiceful about how we spend our time and how we treat our bodies.

That’s it for today. DO SOMETHIN’!

Happy New Year to All! I wish you all the best for 2009: health, joy, blessings, peace and prosperity.

These are tough times for may of you and for many of our brothers and sisters across the world. Nevertheless, let’s expect good news! Let’s maintain hope! Change may not come as fast as we want it to come; but that is alright. Often, we learn valuable lessons through our struggles; so know that your hardship will yield some “fruit.”

In times like these, stress mitigation and stress alleviation are crucial. Let’s continue to take care of our bodies. Eat well, exercise often, sleep plenty and laugh every chance you get.

So, what’s the overall game plan for 2009? I don’t know about you, but my plan is to DO SOMETHIN’!