Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Running from Death
So last week I actually caught a bug. I'm fairly certain it happened while I spent a day at an amusement park with my daughter. I listen to my body and it was screaming, "No more 5am sprints" so while I tracked good nutrition all week long, I didn't exercise.
Jumping back into it proved a little more difficult than I imagined. I was going to start this weekend ... but then, wasn't it better just to have a nice swim at the pool? Then Monday morning came ... and wouldn't just a little more sleep be nice?
So last night I made The Decision. I was actually laying in bed, watching T.V., when I thought, "Do I REALLY want to be in bed, watching T.V.?" NO! I wanted to be focused on falling asleep, gettling plenty of rest, and waking up early to start my routine again.
The remote went "click." The box turned off. The room grew dark and quiet. Then, I simply visualized my next morning: having a nice, full night of sleep then waking up promptly to go down and get fit.
It worked! I'm up this morning, having my pre-workout cup of coffee and ready to jump back into my routine of exercising. Sometimes it's only as tough as we make it: it's HARD to get back in the routine if we make that choice, but with the right decision, we can choose to make it easy, which is just what I did!
Better Fat and Fit than Skinny and Unfit
I've covered this before: that it is actually better to be overweight and in shape (i.e. consuming proper nutrition and exercising on a regular basis) than to be thin and unfit (eating bad foods and/or not exercising). It's one of the reasons I don't lose sleep over not maintaining low body fat year round: once the novelty of looking good on the beach wears off, the bottom line is that I still maintain a healthy lifestyle and reap the many benefits. The New York Times just published a great article that can be summed up with this sentence: "Despite concerns about an obesity epidemic, there is growing evidence that our obsession about weight as a primary measure of health may be misguided."
You're a Peach ... No, A Pear
Then ABC News followed up with this little gem that points out while the scale may not be as large a factor as we thought, our body shape IS important to consider, especially the waist-to-hip ratio.
Nutrition? Exercise? How About ... Both!
Another research study confirmed what we've been saying for years now. You can't JUST DIET ... first, diets always fail because you always end up OFF of the diet, right? And second, most people who only diet tend to lose muscle along with fat. But exercising alone isn't necessarily best, either, especially when it's tough to get into a regular routine or when you're starting out and are not sure what to do. According to this article about losing weight, diet and exercise together prove the best combination. The study found people who only diet DO lose muscle mass ... while ones who only go to the gym have a high drop out rate and don't stick with the plan. While studies like this are interesting, I think they miss a main, fundamental point ... regardless of nutrition or exercise or even BOTH, nothing will work until you've made the right choice and committed yourself to transforming your lifestyle.
Gastrict Bypass Surgery: 40% failure rate?
Eileen Wells was excited ... at 38, she was about to get "a new lease on life." She was 290 pounds, and about to have weight loss surgery. The surgery worked: she lost weight. She went down to 130 pounds. How did she feel? Besides the agonizing ulcer that required a second surgery, an intestinal hernia, and a fourth procedure to easy the pain of abdominal scarring, just fine. Some studies suggest 4 out of 10 people who undergo weight loss surgery have complications. You can read the rest here. My question is: is 290 pounds really heavy enough to justify surgery? We've heard success stories from people who have LOST 300 pounds without surgery. One thing that concerns me is people tend to focus on the fact that the risk of surgery is higher, and forget something more important: the benefits of NON-surgical weight loss are so much higher. That's right, I'm not focused here on how risky the surgery is, but on how doing what it takes to lose it naturally is so much MORE beneficial due to the positive habits and and positive impact on health it creates.
Eggs Over Bagels
I knew I was on to something. No, I mean eggs "win" over bagels, not SERVED over bagels! If you've followed my program for any length of time, you know I eat a lot of eggs. Now I just found out that overweight people who ate two eggs for breakfast lose more weight (and had more energy) than those who ate the same calories but had a bagel instead. Oh, and still worried about cholesterol? The 152 obese people in this study didn't see any change in their cholesterol levels despite the daily dose of eggs.
Running from Death
Looking for the fountain of youth? Researchers say to find it, you gotta keep running. After tracking more than 500 runners for 20 years, Standford University found elderly runners have fewer disabilities and are half as likely as agining non-runners to die early death. If that's not motivation to lace up your shoes, I'm not sure what is!
More Fatal Side Effects
The drug may help with diabetes, but the side effect is pancreatis and possible death. The $200 a month drug manufactured that mimics lizard saliva is being monitored by Australian health authorities.
Until next time,
Jumping back into it proved a little more difficult than I imagined. I was going to start this weekend ... but then, wasn't it better just to have a nice swim at the pool? Then Monday morning came ... and wouldn't just a little more sleep be nice?
So last night I made The Decision. I was actually laying in bed, watching T.V., when I thought, "Do I REALLY want to be in bed, watching T.V.?" NO! I wanted to be focused on falling asleep, gettling plenty of rest, and waking up early to start my routine again.
The remote went "click." The box turned off. The room grew dark and quiet. Then, I simply visualized my next morning: having a nice, full night of sleep then waking up promptly to go down and get fit.
It worked! I'm up this morning, having my pre-workout cup of coffee and ready to jump back into my routine of exercising. Sometimes it's only as tough as we make it: it's HARD to get back in the routine if we make that choice, but with the right decision, we can choose to make it easy, which is just what I did!
Better Fat and Fit than Skinny and Unfit
I've covered this before: that it is actually better to be overweight and in shape (i.e. consuming proper nutrition and exercising on a regular basis) than to be thin and unfit (eating bad foods and/or not exercising). It's one of the reasons I don't lose sleep over not maintaining low body fat year round: once the novelty of looking good on the beach wears off, the bottom line is that I still maintain a healthy lifestyle and reap the many benefits. The New York Times just published a great article that can be summed up with this sentence: "Despite concerns about an obesity epidemic, there is growing evidence that our obsession about weight as a primary measure of health may be misguided."
You're a Peach ... No, A Pear
Then ABC News followed up with this little gem that points out while the scale may not be as large a factor as we thought, our body shape IS important to consider, especially the waist-to-hip ratio.
Nutrition? Exercise? How About ... Both!
Another research study confirmed what we've been saying for years now. You can't JUST DIET ... first, diets always fail because you always end up OFF of the diet, right? And second, most people who only diet tend to lose muscle along with fat. But exercising alone isn't necessarily best, either, especially when it's tough to get into a regular routine or when you're starting out and are not sure what to do. According to this article about losing weight, diet and exercise together prove the best combination. The study found people who only diet DO lose muscle mass ... while ones who only go to the gym have a high drop out rate and don't stick with the plan. While studies like this are interesting, I think they miss a main, fundamental point ... regardless of nutrition or exercise or even BOTH, nothing will work until you've made the right choice and committed yourself to transforming your lifestyle.
Gastrict Bypass Surgery: 40% failure rate?
Eileen Wells was excited ... at 38, she was about to get "a new lease on life." She was 290 pounds, and about to have weight loss surgery. The surgery worked: she lost weight. She went down to 130 pounds. How did she feel? Besides the agonizing ulcer that required a second surgery, an intestinal hernia, and a fourth procedure to easy the pain of abdominal scarring, just fine. Some studies suggest 4 out of 10 people who undergo weight loss surgery have complications. You can read the rest here. My question is: is 290 pounds really heavy enough to justify surgery? We've heard success stories from people who have LOST 300 pounds without surgery. One thing that concerns me is people tend to focus on the fact that the risk of surgery is higher, and forget something more important: the benefits of NON-surgical weight loss are so much higher. That's right, I'm not focused here on how risky the surgery is, but on how doing what it takes to lose it naturally is so much MORE beneficial due to the positive habits and and positive impact on health it creates.
Eggs Over Bagels
I knew I was on to something. No, I mean eggs "win" over bagels, not SERVED over bagels! If you've followed my program for any length of time, you know I eat a lot of eggs. Now I just found out that overweight people who ate two eggs for breakfast lose more weight (and had more energy) than those who ate the same calories but had a bagel instead. Oh, and still worried about cholesterol? The 152 obese people in this study didn't see any change in their cholesterol levels despite the daily dose of eggs.
Running from Death
Looking for the fountain of youth? Researchers say to find it, you gotta keep running. After tracking more than 500 runners for 20 years, Standford University found elderly runners have fewer disabilities and are half as likely as agining non-runners to die early death. If that's not motivation to lace up your shoes, I'm not sure what is!
More Fatal Side Effects
The drug may help with diabetes, but the side effect is pancreatis and possible death. The $200 a month drug manufactured that mimics lizard saliva is being monitored by Australian health authorities.
Until next time,
Labels: body shape, fit versus fat, gastric bypass surgery, healthy eggs, nutrition or exercise, running
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
To the Wire, To the Limit
This morning, I woke up at 4am to perform a major software upgrade for the wireless software company that I am a partner in. Fueled by nothing more than a few cups of coffee and water, I finished the upgrade at 5:30am and then stuck around for awhile to ensure nothing was amiss.
After that, I tied on my shoes and descended into the basement.
The workout is simple, based on the Body-for-LIFE principles of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Instead of the 20 minutes, however, I extend by 4 minutes early in the week, then another 4 minutes later in the week, so the main workout is 24 and 28 minutes respectively. I then increase 0.1 mph the next week and repeat (on the weekend I do a long run in the neighborhood for a third cardio session). I also put the treadmill at a 3.0 incline, although that is more to save it from the friction of my 200-pound plus foot falls than to add any extra challenge.
I was coming into minute 20. I had covered 2.25 miles and was running at 6.6 mph. It was time to increase the clip to 7.6. I was feeling tired (after all, I had been up two hours with no food prior) and little excuses started popping up in my mind. "Take it easy," and "You didn't get a full night's rest last night," and "You're starving, so just wind it down now."
Those are the little dream-killers that keep us from achieving greatness. I believe our measure is in part how well we listen to, or laugh at, those little voices that want to keep us mediocre.
I reflected upon WHY I was doing the workouts the way I had them scheduled. It is simple: in September 2006, I set a mission to run an ultramarathon, a race of 50 miles or more. It seemed impossible, which is why it was the perfect goal, because it is the Big Hairy Goals that test our limits and teach us who we really are. I started with a local 5K to benefit a girl suffering from a rare disease. I ran it in 28 minutes flat. In September 2007, I ran the race again and finished in 26:10. This year, I have a goal to run it better than 24 minutes and continue shaving time.
There is a local man in the neighborhood that I don't know personally, but who runs a lot and won the race last year. I like to think of him as my "competitor" because I know if I keep up with him, I'll be well on my way to my record as he is quite fast.
So, at 20 minutes, I shifted to 7.6 mph and imagined the last leg of the race. I'm running around the loop, and slowly gaining on him. This is how I push hard and reach my goal.
The image is strong and as 21 minutes approach, he notices me and picks up his pace. So I kick up to 8.6 miles per hour. Now we're running neck to neck, and pushing forward but conserving that last little bit we know we need to break out for the finish line.
Before I know it, the end is in sight. At 22 minutes, I kick into 9.6 miles per hour and go all out. We are pushing to the finish line and finally all of my energy is directed to just moving my body, breathing, and staying upright on the treadmill.
I hit my goal.
I modify the cool down a bit: Body-for-LIFE suggests going to a minute at a "level 5" but I kick it down to a level 6 and jog a bit to cool down. I find this is easier on my body and helps me increase my fitness level faster as well. My rule is simple: drop 1 mph every minute while you are still jogging. Once you are walking, drop 1 mph ever 30 seconds. When you hit 2.0 mph, walk another 30 seconds and you're done. For me, that meant 5.6, then 4.6, then 3.6, then 2.6, then 2.0.
Isn't it amazing how visualization can help us achieve our goals? Remember the future and wait for it to come.
After that, I tied on my shoes and descended into the basement.
The workout is simple, based on the Body-for-LIFE principles of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Instead of the 20 minutes, however, I extend by 4 minutes early in the week, then another 4 minutes later in the week, so the main workout is 24 and 28 minutes respectively. I then increase 0.1 mph the next week and repeat (on the weekend I do a long run in the neighborhood for a third cardio session). I also put the treadmill at a 3.0 incline, although that is more to save it from the friction of my 200-pound plus foot falls than to add any extra challenge.
I was coming into minute 20. I had covered 2.25 miles and was running at 6.6 mph. It was time to increase the clip to 7.6. I was feeling tired (after all, I had been up two hours with no food prior) and little excuses started popping up in my mind. "Take it easy," and "You didn't get a full night's rest last night," and "You're starving, so just wind it down now."
Those are the little dream-killers that keep us from achieving greatness. I believe our measure is in part how well we listen to, or laugh at, those little voices that want to keep us mediocre.
I reflected upon WHY I was doing the workouts the way I had them scheduled. It is simple: in September 2006, I set a mission to run an ultramarathon, a race of 50 miles or more. It seemed impossible, which is why it was the perfect goal, because it is the Big Hairy Goals that test our limits and teach us who we really are. I started with a local 5K to benefit a girl suffering from a rare disease. I ran it in 28 minutes flat. In September 2007, I ran the race again and finished in 26:10. This year, I have a goal to run it better than 24 minutes and continue shaving time.
There is a local man in the neighborhood that I don't know personally, but who runs a lot and won the race last year. I like to think of him as my "competitor" because I know if I keep up with him, I'll be well on my way to my record as he is quite fast.
So, at 20 minutes, I shifted to 7.6 mph and imagined the last leg of the race. I'm running around the loop, and slowly gaining on him. This is how I push hard and reach my goal.
The image is strong and as 21 minutes approach, he notices me and picks up his pace. So I kick up to 8.6 miles per hour. Now we're running neck to neck, and pushing forward but conserving that last little bit we know we need to break out for the finish line.
Before I know it, the end is in sight. At 22 minutes, I kick into 9.6 miles per hour and go all out. We are pushing to the finish line and finally all of my energy is directed to just moving my body, breathing, and staying upright on the treadmill.
I hit my goal.
I modify the cool down a bit: Body-for-LIFE suggests going to a minute at a "level 5" but I kick it down to a level 6 and jog a bit to cool down. I find this is easier on my body and helps me increase my fitness level faster as well. My rule is simple: drop 1 mph every minute while you are still jogging. Once you are walking, drop 1 mph ever 30 seconds. When you hit 2.0 mph, walk another 30 seconds and you're done. For me, that meant 5.6, then 4.6, then 3.6, then 2.6, then 2.0.
Isn't it amazing how visualization can help us achieve our goals? Remember the future and wait for it to come.
Labels: body-for-life, hiit, race, running, visualization
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