fitness – My God, My Music, My Life

I wanted to post something on fitness. It has been awhile since I did so. There are a lot of people who get frustrated with their journey because of the scale. “I worked out hard last week and only lost two pounds” or “I watched what I ate but I gained weight.”

Here is my life in 24 hours. I didn’t log my bathroom visits, didn’t want to give too much information. I did drink about 150 ounces of water and 16 ounces of milk so let’s say I lost in the bathroom what I drank during the day.

Here is what I would like everyone to take from this. Do not pay attention to the numbers on the scale. As you will see they vary greatly through out the day. Yes, you can weigh yourself each morning at the same time but more like once a week is enough. Listen to your body. How do you feel? Are your clothes looser or tighter? Muscle weighs more than fat so you can be healthier and your clothes looser and you feel better even though the scale doesn’t show you lost any weight.

I did find it interesting that eating, or drinking, a healthy shake, a decent lunch and good dinner verse eating cookies and milk that the weight gains were comparable. I don’t know about you but I would rather eat a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs and gain 1.2 lbs verse eating three cookies and a glass of milk for the same weight gain of 1.2 lbs.

Drank 8 oz of water, do this every morning to get your body re-hydrated. Weigh in at 0715.

Ran 4.5 miles at 0800. Notice the immediate weight loss. I did not sweat 2.6 pounds off in 4.5 miles. Benefits of exercise.

After shower at 0840. Notice I either lost another .4 pounds in dirt I had on me -not, or the benefits of exercise are still showing. After you exercise, your metabolism and all that is still going, hours after you are done.

0850 -After morning shake. Arbonne vanilla protein with added chia seeds, Arbonne Greens Balance, and Arbonne Fiber Boost and Digestion Plus, 1 tablespoon peanut butter, 2 ounces of oatmeal, a squirt of honey

1000, after meeting at church for Temple Fit. Exciting news for the children.

1200, before lunch. Keep in mind I have been drinking water all morning.

After lunch at 1215. 1.2 lbs of spaghetti and meatballs with water to drink.

1245 before going Putt-Putting.

1500 (3 pm) after playing putt-putt. Just walking around for almost two hours and lost 1.6 lbs. Also drank 16 oz of water during this time. Benefits of exercise and just moving around instead of sitting on couch.

1700 ( 5 Pm) after mowing the yard. Drinking water also. Lost more weight from being active.

1840 ( 640 Pm) Before dinner. Drank lots of water.

1900 (7 Pm) After dinner and 8 ounces of milk

2115 ( 915 Pm) Before 3 cookies and 8 ounce cup of milk. Notice still lost weight from previous weigh in. Body still burning calories from being active.

2120 ( 920 Pm) after cookies and milk. Notice after just 3 cookies and a glass of milk I gained 1.2 lbs. With dinner of a half plate of salad and 1/2 plate of cheesy chicken bake and the same 8 oz glass of milk I gained 1.8 lbs. Now, what would you rather eat ?

2200 ( 10 Pm) Did a quick circuit, 20 push ups, 20 sit ups, 20 jumping jacks, 20 mountain climbers, 20 lunges to get rid of the cookies I just ate. Lost .6 lbs . Exercise, movement. It changes the body.

The next morning after 8 hours sleep. 1.6 lbs lighter than yesterday morning. I was active all day yesterday and ate well, minus the cookies – which I did to prove a point- and decent proportions. Benefits show up.

Now if you are constantly weighing yourself you can see how you can go crazy. Your weight will vary throughout the day, or even from day to day depending on what you eat and drink and how active you are. A good goal is to lose 2-3 lbs per week and stay consistent.

Be active and watch what you eat and quit stressing over the number on the scale.

Rob Nevins, The Scale Lies, Trust Your Size –

I haven’t posted in awhile about Temple Fit. I don’t know why. Maybe I was feeling who am I? I am not an expert. I do know how things work, the things I wrote about earlier like getting enough sleep, what you are putting in your bodies- food and medicine-, drinking enough water, portion sizes, etc..

Four weeks into the new year, how are you holding up on your resolutions to be active, lose weight? By this point in time, most people have given up on their resolutions. It’s easier to fall back into old habits instead of establishing new habits. I personally think if your resolution is to be active and lose weight you should start in March when you have better weather. Then once 12 weeks are up and you have new habits, it will be easier to keep them through the summer. If you start in January and are doing awesome then a big snowstorm hits or you get sick and you miss a couple days, boom, you are back into old habits. Remember, you didn’t get this way overnight. You won’t get back to being healthy overnight. It takes time, it is a process, you have to stick with it everyday.

My tip for this week is to just show up everyday. Make small changes to show up everyday. There are days you won’t feel like being active or eating healthy but you have to defeat that voice in your head. This week has been rough for me and my wife and some of our runner friends. We don’t know if it is the full moon or what but when all of us can run half marathons and marathons and we struggle to do a seven mile run something is up. I stopped after two miles. However, I did do push ups, pull ups and sit ups. I just couldn’t get into it and I didn’t want to risk another injury. My wife stopped three times on her seven mile run. Just wasn’t feeling it. However, she did finish it. My point: Even if it wasn’t the best day, we showed up. We did something and we didn’t dwell on it. The next day we went out and ran again and had a better day.

You can’t get anywhere if you don’t start. You won’t get any results if you don’t show up and do something.

We had a weight loss challenge at work and I would like to share with you what the winner said. He lost 30 lbs. in 12 weeks.

You probably know that during our Arctic “Biggest Loser” contest, I lost 30 pounds in 12 weeks. This is how I did it: I decided to. Simple, I decided to. Simple, not to be confused with Easy. But the irrefutable truth is you will not lose excess weight until you decide to.

Everyone has to decide on their own when they are going to get healthier. My circumstances are not your circumstances, but maybe you will see some common ground.

I did not decide to lose weight when I needed to lose 10 pounds. Or 20. Or 25. Around the beginning of July, I weighed the most I had ever weighed. My blood work numbers, while not alarming, were going in the wrong direction. Considering my Family History, this did not bode well. For these chronic conditions, most Doctors want to give you pills. Doctors are busy, and know a couple of simple truths: pills do not make you healthier, they merely slow the decline of your health. But most people will take a pill, while very few people will change their lifestyle. So Doctors give you pills, and move on to their next patient.

Instead, I finally decided to lose weight and make other lifestyle changes. Simple, not easy.

I am NOT telling you to ignore your doctor. I managed to convince mine that I was serious about lifestyle changes. He told me to look into the research of Doctor Dean Ornish. Along the way I also looked into some of the diet ideas of Dr. Joel Fuhrman. Last week I was looking for some recipes, and came across a new book, VB6, by my favorite food author, Mark Bittman. Low and behold, the forward was written by Dr. Ornish, and it nicely encapsulates and expands upon the conversation I had with my doctor. This is the biggest reason I wanted to share this with you; finding that convergence seems very Serendipitous, and I have attached that forward and strongly encourage you to read it.

I am not pretending to be a doctor or know what is best for you. But I know this: You have to decide. My motivations are my own, but everybody has a reason. Do you want to feel better? Have more energy, or less pain? Do you want to be healthier; for your spouse, your kids, your grand-kids? Do you dread the idea of waking up in the hospital and wondering if you waited too long, if it is too late to change?

I’ve lost weight before only to gain it back, so my journey continues. But it didn’t even begin until I decided it was time to start.