You have to find an activity that you either love or can love doing to supply the motivation and drive to get healthy.

It’s a lot like finances. Hang with me here. If you run a deficit for a number of years – YEARS – you build up bad debt. So you’ve run up a debt on your health now. You’ve gained fat, lost muscle and created bad eating/sleeping habits (in some combination). Now in that perspective, in the past 6 weeks you have started to create some better habits to pay off that debt and right the ship, but haven’t yet paid the debt after a few weeks that you created over a number of years.

It’s frustrating to not get what you want done quickly. But that’s not how you gained the weight – you didn’t get out of shape and heavier in six weeks. It took you a number of years. That cannot be stressed enough.

Getting back to ‘zero’ (in my words, ‘balanced’ between living right and being healthy) takes time, effort and sweat. Effort is making the right choices; and without something driving that motivation… you’ll burn out after a spell and drop back into bad habits. We all do it.

Getting right…. it’s a process. You have to work at it. No one gets in shape and is ‘done’. You can’t stop working at it or it just goes away if you fall back into bad habits.

First off, just getting healthy and in shape is a noble goal. But it is not a sustaining one unless you are some sort of fitness freak. I’ve yet to meet someone – anyone – that got healthy and stayed that way for life (which is the goal, right?) just to look better. No one is *that* vain and remains ‘normal’…. (if you get what I mean…)

Find something that you love to do. Hiking, sports, biking… something physical. Something to train for. Something to get better at. Tennis, softball, soccer, volleyball, racquetball… something you either love, used to love or could grow to love and get dedicated to.

That will drive you to not only GET right, but to STAY right.

Just ‘working out’ and ‘eating right’ is freaking boring and will get stale. Trust me on this. You need something that you love to do, can get dedicated to stick with to drive the bus. Then, you just do the work, make the right choices and enjoy what you are doing. The activity – whatever it is for you – is what drives the bus. Without it, you are just spinning your wheels. IMHO. How many guys have you seen over the years (or gals) are in stellar shape and then end up falling apart for various reasons. It’s not a destination. You need something to drive you in order to not only GET there, but to STAY there. It’s a process. It takes time. It takes effort. It takes dedication. Find the love to drive it and you’ll find a way to get there and then (the key) STAY there.

Hey ****,

I learned about Tabata from different sources and trainers around where I play soccer and live – you can do searches on YouTube. Basically you can apply the Tabata protocol to virtually any exercise – it’s extremely intense. I puked the first time I tried it (which is now why I always workout on an empty stomach!)

The essence is this: Warmup 5-10 minutes doing whatever you do (running, biking, swimming, leaping… whatever). Then you start. I use an interval timer www.gymboss.com and set it for :20 (burst) and :10 (rest). You should cap it at 8 cycles (4 minutes). I then keep moving for 3-4 minutes and then try to add on and do 3-4 more cycles. The short rests kill you; even after doing this for years, by the 5th or 6th burst cycle, I am seeing spots and getting tunnel vision. LOL. I then do a 3-5 minute cool down (light jogging usually). When I come back in, no matter the temperature outside… I am absolutely drenched in sweat, just as if I played a whole game. Never fails.

It works. When I play, I can go full bore for two 25 minute halves (we’ve played short bench with no substitutes at all at times – not on purpose, just worked out that way) and I have some serious stamina deep into the game, even if I am not conserving energy. You don’t turn into superman or anything; but it’s highly effective and I have come to rely on that training and then strength/core training on off days. So I alternate my workouts between strength stuff one day/Tabata the next. I do three 2 day cycles with a day off and skipping one day of workout on my game days (I play once a week in season). Works for me. Been doing this for a while now, I am 44 and found out about this stuff at age 39. Been doing it since.

FWIW, I hate running. I like sprinting; because it is in the game. I cannot stand jogging for any number of reasons – so I run in the field behind my house (it is exactly 100 yards from end to end and is by a creek, so it is a slight depression – the ends are minor inclines). I wear my soccer cleats and use a stopwatch in one hand to time the session; the interval timer in the other hand to do the cycles.

Still playing, still competitive and can run with the younger guys… and it’s so cool.

Scott

I just want to say Thank you!!! I don’t post much but I read a lot on the forum and noticed your fitness page and book marked it. One day I just woke up and decided this is the day and totally changed my life, did a lot of research, trainer etc and started cardio cardio and more cardio. Started eating really clean almost complete Paleo except I do like my protein shacks, and reduce fat cheese but no diary. (I did see a thing in men’s health magazine about chocolate milk but scared to keep it in the house it’s my guilty pleasure and I can chug a 1/2 gallon.)

LOVE being healthy eating clean and I exercise about 6 days a week. Not much of a weight lift don’t want to hulk up…but I do want to be in excellent shape so I do pushups, TRX, P90X and yoga. More Cross Fit exercises and I do have a gym boss and started doing Tabata Protocal from research for intervals and boost my metabolism. Lost 102 lbs so far and going to Duke University sports center for a POD body fat test with my nutritionist in November. I am working on that last hard 40 and it’s hard to force myself to eat. Just wanted to give you a little background and tell you thanks for the recipes (I bought a Vita mix and it rocks) and the words of encouragement from your blogs. I am in the best shape of my life and realize when I see pictures how sad that old person was.

Just wanted to get your advice on 3 questions.

1) how was the Goaler-One sliding board help you and do you recommend it.

2)No supplements, ok!! your thought on fish oil omega 3 and glucosamine? I’m 42 worried about joints and swelling I do take 4 ibuprofen a day.

3) I love yoga and I really focus flexibility, balance and strength. Your sport is soccer. How much warming up do you do before a game to prepare your body?

I got burned out on spinning class and elliptical machines and started playing racquetball again. I play almost 2 hrs every morning, heart monitor peaks about 170-180 range and avg 150-160 for the games. That’s my cardio!! I don’t think I am warming up properly or playing to much. In June I torn my patellar tendon and was in a brace for eight weeks and went back playing light then Wednesday grade 1 calf muscle tear in the same leg. Bone head move because I knew I was feeling tight and just thought it would loosen up by the end of the warm up game. So I am taking a break and going to weight train my legs and build my squats back up and really strengthen my legs before I play again. Just wondering how much dynamic/static stretches you do before you start playing and feeling ready to rock? (I do static stretch at the end of the game)

Sorry so long just want to have an idea of where I was and where I am Thank you!

Sincerely,

S****** ****

S******,

Thanks for the PM, really made my day. Congrats on making a change for the better. Fight the good fight!

Some answers:

1) The sliding board is dry land training for hockey players. I don’t play hockey, but if you’ve done P90X, then you know the “speed skater” move from one of the workouts; I tore my groin up 2 years ago and rehabbing that took a long, long time. The Goaler-One was a perfect tool to add in, the move and the workout from it is fun and I have found that it enhances what I can do on the field beyond the rehab moving laterally with speed and power.

2) I take Krill Oil supplements because I do not eat enough fish. I find that when I take it my good cholesterol goes up nearly 15 points… that’s majorly good. My high cholesterol numbers are like 70-80 now.

I’ve tried all sorts of glucosamine from the Wal-Mart stuff to the mega expensive $80 a month stuff and it just does nothing for me except drain my wallet. Just my opinion and experience, YMMV.

3) I do a warm-up that takes me about 10-15 minutes. At our age, it’s essential to get ‘the machine primed’ for working hard. I do the typical P90X warmup to start (high knees in front, high knees to the side, then run in place high knees front, run in place high knees out, run in place heels up (kick your butt), then a minute of jumping jacks. Then I move to dynamic stretches and follow some of the time honored (and very functional) soccer team warmups. Being a soccer coach, I’ve been exposed to all sorts of warm up routines now from the pros, college and higher level amateur levels and have adapted a lot of those.

One of the teams we play have a bunch of guys that all jump rope for about 5 minutes before they get on the pitch to run their more soccer oriented warm up – that’s a fantastic way to do it.

Hopefully you can fully rehab your injuries and stay competing.

Thanks for the PM and peace!

Scott

What would you recommend for weight loss…..I know I need to start watching what I eat, but work-out wise what is the best thing? Should I look into P90X or TRX systems? I am 5’11 235lbs and need to get in shape…..where would you start?

Here is what I replied in answer:

I tend to break things down as simply as possible, plan the work and then work the plan.

To me, you need three things to be healthy, in shape and feel good. Removing the romance from living healthy, we are organic machines.

A) You have to eat right. This is the biggest factor by far… like it or not. Food = fuel for your machine. In order to offset and correct whatever you’ve done to your body over the last decade or more, you must over correct in the short term and then find a balance once you’ve ‘leveled out’. Use www.dailyplate.com (it is free) and really instead of just focusing at first on what you should be eating, really break down what you are currently eating. That’s a step most people skip and IMHO, you cannot do so.

B) You have to ‘rev’ your machine back up. If you have gotten older, you’ve noticed your machine isn’t running like it used to – your metabolism slows down. What’s your metabolism anyway? It’s how efficiently you break down food – both in speed and in function. If you are getting back into trying to live a more healthy lifestyle, then you need to talk to a doctor first. You need to look at where you are at, and what you enjoy (or used to enjoy) doing. Hiking? Running? Sports? Working out just to work out is grinding, boring work. Don’t force that on yourself. Use something like performing at a sport you enjoy(ed) to motivate and focus your workouts on. I approach workouts as a tripod – you need a) strength training; b) cardio training; and c) flexibility/balance training. A personal trainer or looking at professional athlete’s training regimes in disciplines you enjoy(ed) can give clues on approaches.

C) Rest and recovery. We are not factory machines that run at 100% all the time (and even factory machines that do run 100% all the time break down). We need proper rest and recovery. Get enough sleep consistently. Drink enough water – plain old water – consistently. Vary the intensity of your workouts methodically. Do not expect to push at 110% every workout for the rest of your natural born life. Have two medium weeks at 80-95% intensity, then ROCK it at 110% one week a month, and then take a week to cross train at 60-75% doing different activities. That’s a rough template, if you want to crush it for 2-3 weeks and then take a week to rest and recover… do it. The key is to vary both the activities and the intensity.

That might not directly answer your question, but it should give you a template in order to find your own balance point and get you on the road to finding a lifestyle that you both enjoy and have fun doing.

Workouts

Here’s my workout on weeks I have games (which is most weeks):

Monday: full warmup, play game.
Tuesday: TRX based full body circuit training workout (:30 minutes)
Wednesday: TRX based core workout (based off Drew Brees Core Workout) :15 minutes; run Windsprints* (in field behind my house) :15 minutes . *Details below
Thursday: TRX based full body circuit training workout (:30 minutes)
Friday: TRX based core workout (based off Drew Brees Core Workout) :15 minutes; run Windsprints (or do interval work on sliding board)*
Saturday: TRX based full body circuit training workout (:30 minutes)
Sunday: Rest

* For my windsprints, I put on my soccer cleats with a stop watch in one hand and my interval trainer timer in the other. http://www.gymboss.com/ (I LOVE LOVE LOVE this little thing). I warm up by jogging for 5 minutes at a moderate pace. I then shoot for 8 total intervals of 100% effort sprinting for 20 seconds; then rest or jog in place for 10 seconds. I then jog at a moderate pace until I hit the 15 minute mark. The field behind my house is shaped like a bowl, so there is a slight incline at both ends; one full 20 second sprint gets me from one side to the other about perfectly. It’s conveniently almost the length of a soccer field.

For a change, or if the weather is bad, I also use a recumbent exercise bike in my basement (rarely); or do intervals on my sliding board: http://www.goaler1.com/G1_10__Slideboard.html

It’s something hockey players use; I discovered it rehabbing a torn groin and it’s a ton of fun. I go for 2 sets of 8 intervals: 50 seconds full bore go and 10 seconds of rest.

I also do interval training doing burpees with and without the TRX.

- Now ‘inside all this’ I change everything up. So the TRX workouts are constantly changing; I bring in different moves, I mix up the way I do them. Sometimes I just do straight up P90X or weight workouts. I mix up the interval work as noted above. I’m not a big fan of the bike anymore; but I’ve spent many hours over the years on that damn thing whilst rehabbing injuries… so I tend to associate working out on it with injuries. Mental thing.

I tend to do 3 weeks ‘go for it’ and then take a week ‘easy’ where I just lower the intensity much. Also if I just am dragging, didn’t get proper rest or just am not feeling it… I take a day off. I am not as fanatical as it might appear.

Diet

I got this sent to me today, so asked if I could post it (anonymously) and then reply in the thread; he said go for it:

Hey there Scott: I enjoyed reading this thread, and wanted to ask what information you followed in creating your meal plans. I’m real interested in trying out your meal plan, but have some of my own “trials” to tend too…What do you substitute for protein? It appears you have most other parts of the food groups covered. Have you shopped around for your Vibrams? Is there a “best” place to purchase them? Drop me a line, and thanks!

I have always believed in doing a balanced diet. I used www.thedailyplate.com or www.sparkpeople.com to plan my eating, though I just free form it now (though I STILL plan it out).

The key to eating is simple – plan it out. Do NOT eat on impulse when hungry, you will make bad decisions and you will eat too much. That’s it.

I no longer believe in supplements or pills or vitamins. Eat food. Depending on your beliefs – not going there – human beings were created or evolved to eat food, not take pills, powders and potions. Skip it all. Just cut it out.

I need protein? I drink a glass of skim milk. Or I have a sweet tooth? I get protein, essential fats and fiber by making a toasted peanut butter (organic, no sugar added) on whole wheat bread (no HFCS). For fruits and veggies I make up smoothies, detailed on my blog and in here on the Pub. I eat a lot of plain old oatmeal – I found an organic one that is great; or plain old oats will do (I have a cup of it for breakfast and then a cup later in the afternoon as a snack… with some fruit/veggie smoothie to go with it). I drink (lots of) water, (lots of) green tea and… that’s pretty much it other than a glass of organic skim milk every day. It’s a lot easier than it all sounds. For protein I eat a lot of chicken or lean beef. I’m not a big seafood guy, though I wish I was.

I can cook from recipes – I am good following directions, though I really can’t cook. No instincts or talent for it; but there are thousands of recipes out there. I plan out what I want to eat (well, what my family eats) with my wife on Sunday and then I grocery shop for it all. It’s not hard to eat well if you PLAN it. You cannot get to 6pm and be dying of hunger and then think… hmmm, what should we eat?

Now all that said, I have two kids and a wife. They are not all on this fitness bandwagon with me – though they are not trying to sabotage it either. We just eat better because we do. We get pizza on Fridays – I just eat some oatmeal before it comes and stick to eating two pieces of pizza. Then, I’m good. I LOVE hot wings; but try to stick to getting them only once a month. I have serious control issues with chocolate, so I buy dark chocolate and have two pieces of it a day as my ‘treat’ if I don’t go off the rails with my workouts or eating; so all I’m doing is planning it and practicing portion control.

In social circles, I practice portion control and eat everything every one else does. It’s easy to gorge on stuff in those situations; so I just pay attention and make up my mind beforehand what I will be having and stick to it. I don’t pound beers anymore, I have a drink or two or the equivalent beer or two. Then I just stop. And I try to keep that to once a month or so, I don’t miss it really. I can hang out, have a great time and not drink even if everyone else is.

————————————————————————–

On the Vibram Five Fingers – I have the KSO’s and love them. As time has gone on, I find I hate having to take them off; because I love wearing them. They just feel ‘right’. I feel that working out in them has increased my balance and strength in my ankles and feet. It’s amazing how you use your toes for balance, though in shoes you would never realize that. Doing Yoga barefoot opened my eyes to that; doing that sort of thing now (and all this working out) in them REALLY makes a difference. I don’t run in them, and there’s a WHOLE movement of folks into that; but that’s not my deal. I toss them in the washer once every 2 weeks and they are just fantastic for traction. I bought them direct from Vibram; cost me the same as REI or anywhere else, and I know they are not counterfeit that way. Total thumbs up on these ninja booties.

Click here!

Great guys – and hopefully I’ll be rejoining them for another edition of their show before too long!

My part of the discussion was adding commentary to their thoughts on their “article of the day” segment and then talking about my approach to fitness, how I arrived here to do this site, my take on P90X and the TRX. We also got into diet and motivation to exercise. I look forward to sharing it with you here too!

Smoothie Recipe

Here’s a newer one that I happened into and it’s a good smoothie! It’s pretty simple and follows my ‘easy’ formula… 1 part greens/2 parts fruit; cover with water…. hit blend.

The green here is 2 cups of baby spinach. The fruits are the frozen ‘Mixed Fruit’ from the frozen section of the local Kroger Grocery store. Peaches, Mangos, Grapes, Strawberries and Blueberries. I also add a banana. Dash of Stevia for just the right sweetness. Cover with filtered cold water. Hit blend. I have big cups of it with lunch, then as a snack and then one after/during dinner.

Before:

After:

And man… it’s good stuff!!

- 2 cups baby spinach
- 2 cups blueberries (frozen)
- 1 cup pineapples (frozen)
- 1 banana
- 3 cups water

You don’t even taste the spinach; you’d not even know it’s in there. If you need more ‘sweet’ adding some stevia or pineapple juice.

The ‘key’ to them, I have found, is to double the fruits to the veggies and add enough water to cover the frozen stuff (or else it gets too thick).

Other veggies the ‘raw’ or ‘green smoothie’ folks recommend is Kale and Celery. Use any fruits you want too. I like the frozen ones because then it is like a shake and I dig that.

Another good mix:

- Kale (2-3 leaves)
- 2 oranges (peeled)
- 2 cups strawberries
- 1 banana
- 3 cups water

Another favorite is using a ‘Berry Medley” found in the frozen section of my local Kroger (where I buy all this stuff, no need to go to any specialty stores) that has:

- 2 cups baby spinach
- 2 cups blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries (frozen)
- 1 cup pineapples (frozen)
- 1 banana
- 3 cups water

I also do your standard issue frozen yogurt, strawberries and banana smoothies as a dessert – my kids and I LOVE these.

- 2 cups frozen vanilla yogurt
- 2 cups frozen strawberries
- 2 bananas
- 3 cups skim milk (organic)

I’m also working on how to do a chocolate shake, but haven’t got that ‘down’ yet. Basically I am working from the strawberry/banana recipe and adding straight cocoa (dark chocolate) with some stevia for sweetness… but have not yet nailed a killer recipe/balance/proportion. Yet…

It’s fun!

This summer, my workouts have progressed with the TRX Suspension Trainer. I am doing circuit training on it now (for the last 2 weeks as I type this) and am back to running sprints (Tabata Protocal – 8 cycles of 20 seconds full 100% intensity sprint, 10 seconds rest) since my toe has healed (soccer injury… what else?). I am also doing Interval training (modified Tabata Protocal, 10-14 cycles of 50 seconds 100% intensity, 10 seconds rest) with my Goaler-One sliding board (dryland hockey training).

I’ve also gotten myself some Vibram Fivefingers KSO shoes, my ‘Ninja Booties’ I call them, and have found that they are absolutely ideal for working out. I still run in my soccer shoes – which seems logical to me given my goals – but these goofy shoes from Vibram are indeed REALLY cool. You get serious work using your foot as it was designed (or evolved depending on your beliefs!) and I’ve found that my balance, form and spatial awareness is improving in MUCH the same way barefoot Yoga taught me the same thing. These shoes have incredible grip, something that is often overlooked in the reviews and videos the barefoot runners all ignore. In my opinion – these are the best thing to happen to working out. They are recommended by almost all the Kettlebell and Crossfit guys you can talk to. I am loving them. I’ll post more about them after a few more weeks of using them.

The biggest change though past all that has been to finally – for the first time in my entire life – eat right. 100% no excuses right. My Achilles heel has always been a lack of vegetables and fruits in my daily diet. Forever. Now, I found my solution – I stepped up last month and bought a Blendtec blender. This thing is a rocket ship of a blender – something on the order of almost 1600watts. I am making green smoothies daily, laying off the carbs and having almost 8-10 cups daily of fruits and veggies. Add that to sensible, sane eating – yes I still have pizza once a week and such – but the vast majority of the time, I am eating really quality lean meats and smaller portions of it. Lots of plain oatmeal – which I’ve come to love; lots of water, these green smoothies, ice tea and lean proteins. No sugar, no white flour, no corn, no corn based products, no high fructose corn syrup. And if any ‘slips in’ then it’s in moderate levels. No binging.

I have also been – since June/July – totally off all supplements. All of them. No protein powders, no pre-workout, post-workout, ‘recovery’ or ‘sports’ drinks. No pills.

My goal? I want to get my bodyfat down to single digits. I started this summer at 13-14% body fat based on my Accu-Measure caliper. That is here (from June 2010):

Now up to getting past vacations and dialing in the diet more, just before starting circuit training, at about 11-12% (middle September 2010):

And finally today – 2 weeks really clean eating, circuit training hard, feeling really good and strong at about 11% (end September 2010):

So… getting there.

Soccer starts again for me at the end of October and by then I want to be in the single digits. Now that this is on the web… I gotta get it done!

My daily mantra: Earn it!

I got tipped to this today, and felt compelled to post it here. It’s 1 hour and 30 minutes long; and has some deep bio-chemistry – but it’s necessary to understand what he’s saying. How does it boil down? Fructose is evil. All sugar needs to be looked at; and how much of it is in everything we eat and drink needs to be looked at. Sugar minus fiber is what lies at fault; removing fiber from sugar causes all sorts of evil mayhem in our bodies.

There’s a LOT here to digest (groan worthy pun) but it’s worth anyone’s time and effort to watch this. I was mesmerized.

I’m not a doctor, not a scientist – but this is much too important to not learn from and start thinking/talking about.