Random Thoughts on Fitness, Nutrition and Life

I am working on projects, drinking green tea, listening to Birdsong Radio via iTunes and not minding the cloudy sky at all on this Monday. Too many blessings for that. Here are some random thoughts rolling around in my head at the moment!

• Green tea is a good thing to reach for when I know I'm not hungry and I want something different than water. My favorite is Bigelow.
• Goals are where I want to go and action items are how I'm going to get there. Stay focused on the goal.
• The foundation of every eating occasion should be lean protein and veggies, both as fresh as possible. (Toss in fruit, healthy fat and starchy carbs strategically). Fuji apples...my favorite.
• The 5th Turbulence Training Transformation Contest starts today! Can't wait to watch this one.
• To worry about something you can't change is useless. To worry about something you can change is stupid, change it! - R. Craig Strickland, Pastor, Hope Presbyterian Church
• A non-fat chai latte from Starbucks has a lot more useless carbs in it than I realized.
• I'm going to try as many (sound) programs and products as I can and write objective reviews. Only the ones I believe in will be found on my blog.
• My relationships are what really matters in my life, although my dogs are a great example of unconditional love.
• I will do an unassisted pull-up. I will do an unassisted pull-up. I will do an unassisted pull-up.
• We spend most of our lives buying things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't really like. - R. Craig Strickland (original unknown by me).
• I am blessed with one life. I must take care of it and give it all I've got.
• I'm trying out Cheat Your Way Thin by Joel Marion. Not really interested in cheating, just learning more behind the concept of starchy carb timing and experimenting with myself!
• I will wean myself from regular peanut butter.
• I have carved out time today to work on my goals for the next 100 days using The Magic Hundred. Will write about how it goes!
• Jimmy (my husband) is now 8 weeks out from his first bodybuilding competition this summer. I like sharing this adventure with him.
• I'd like to live long enough to have a great-grandchild.
• This afternoon I will do more push-ups than before.
• I'm having a hard time finishing Jillian Michaels' book Master Your Metabolism. Can't decide yet if it makes the get fit with kelley cut or not.
• I've learned so much and still have a lot more questions about true fitness and balanced nutrition.

What are you thinking about today?

This post contains affiliate links with the exception of Hope Presbyterian Church. Please see my disclosure statement.

Less Food or More Work?

It's easy to get stuck in a rut with fitness goals, especially when they revolve around weight loss, fat loss and trying to figure out the nutrition end of it. We know that to get the weight off we must create a calorie deficit. That means either eating less food or doing more work. Which should you choose? A calorie deficit could be created by doing either, but if you've been working at this a while and need a boost my vote is for more work.

Eating less and less food to lose weight is a nasty cycle. I've been on that ride before. Your body is designed to adapt and survive. It will learn to survive on less food (you can only give up so much). And guess what? In case of a famine your body decides it would rather hang on to the fat and give up the muscle. So cutting your calories dangerously low or for an extended period of time eventually backfires. I'm convinced my long ago time period of eating as little food as possible blew my metabolism. Your body needs an adequate amount of good, nutrient dense, clean fuel for general operation, and even more so to power you through your workouts. So as tempting as it is to start slashing calories right and left, it's a wild cycle I would not recommend. Start first with cleaning it up and getting compliant.

Another thing to remember is that just because you lose weight, it doesn't necessarily mean that weight was fat. Hmmm.

So, for me, looks like it's more work.

More work doesn't have to mean longer work. Ramping up intensity may do the trick, such as lifting heavier, adding more sets or reps, or even doing combinations of heavy lifting plus circuits and intervals. Interval training has been shown to be very effective for fat loss (hallelujah!) and when done right it's a lot of work in a little bit of time. The beauty of interval and other metabolic work is the bang you get for your buck in terms of continuing to burn calories after the actual workout. This helps blast fat. Newbies do not need to be intimidated by resistance training or interval training. Even beginners can do it. Some of the most effective exercises are the basic ones you've been hearing about for years, and if you are just starting out you can get results from using your bodyweight for resistance. Squats, deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, rows, presses and chin-ups can do wonders. Same is true of interval training. You don't have to do wind sprints. It's relative to your level of fitness now and can progress over time.

In addition to intensity, it may truly boil down to adding more work over the course of a week to keep your metabolism fired up. I find that while 3 days of resistance training a week is effective for me and necessary for muscle recovery, it's not enough total activity for me. I am my leanest when I keep the burn going by incorporating work on the resistance days that revs my metabolism up and then adding interval training and/or select body weight workouts on the off days to keep that fire going.

Lastly, we've just got to get up and move and spend more time on our feet than on our backsides. Now it's time for me to get off the computer and go do something.

Related Post(s):

Workout Plans and Intensity

Fitness and Nutrition Goals

I just revisted my fitness and nutrition goals.

I find this process challenging. I don't have a problem with determining action items, but without a goal my action items become scattered, inefficient and inconsistent. Developing a specific goal is much harder but a complete necessity in a fitness/nutrition program. At first, all I can think is that I want to drop weight, buy jeans or a bathing suit without post-shopping depression, or for my belly not to jiggle when I do forward lunges with dumbbells. Those, however are not effective or motivating goals. Examples of specific goals might be:

• My body fat will be X % by X date.
• Master 90% compliance with nutrition plan over next 4 weeks.
• Complete current fitness program by X date.

I find this process annoying. Why can't I just do this without having to have written goals? I might be able to start off that way, but it would be based on will-power (short-lived) and a perfect schedule (what?). So I must make them clear and measurable. I have to write them down and revisit them regularly. It removes the emotion, the ebb and flow of enthusiasm, and forces me to work around obstacles.

I find this process interesting. There is a lot to learn about human nature from this process. Why is writing down a goal, revisiting it and striving to achieve it so intimidating? Because when I write it down, it's more of a commitment. When I revisit it, I feel more convicted to make good choices for things I can control. When I put a date to it, I have to face whether or not I hit the mark and take responsibility. I have to work hard to achieve it.

Here's the great part. When achieve my goal, I get to set a new one.