30 day challenges: a discussion on the Pros/cons.

Recently I was invited through Facebook to join in some friends on a ‘fun’ challenge to spend 30 days working on my abdominals. Granted I am not one to back down from a challenge lightly so I said ok and started on June 1st and just finished the challenge yesterday.

The challenges I find out are more than just abdominals though. They have any and every type of challenge that you can imagine. So I will be spending the next few months going through a few of them and discussing the pros/cons of each challenge as well as my thoughts on how this might benefit some and hinder others.

30 Day Abdominal Challenge

Pros of the challenge

This was well-thought out in some ways. 3 days and then break, 3 days and then break. I thought that the individual who came up with this challenge was considerate of the fact that you need to rest your muscles, even your abs.

The choice of the exercises was interesting as well. I would have liked something to target the oblique as well, but one could always do a sit-up with a twist if they so desired. I know that I changed up the leg raises to add a hip lift at the end making it target my lower abdominals in a different way. Planks was a nice way to end each day since it was an isometric exercise after the muscles were fatigued.

Cons of the challenge

I thought that towards the end of the challenge that I hoped that no one who was just getting into exercise was attempting to do this non-stop. 125 sit-ups followed by 200 crunches is incredibly difficult and even I took the challenge and broke it into 50 rep sections with a small rest period in between.

I also thought about fatigue being an issue here. Pushing the muscles that much could weaken the abdominal wall creating risk of hernias, etc.

Conclusion

Bottom line is that none of these ‘challenges’ should be taken as a substitution for actual exercise. When you are considering whether or not you want to take on one of these challenges, just make sure that you are aware of the limitations of them. They are akin to you betting yourself and your friends to see if you have the will power. But they can also introduce someone who might be off the exercise wagon back into the idea of pursuing health. It might just give a person that motivation to make the change permanent.

Happy Fathers Day – Dedicated to the man that has shaped my life, my dad.

This isn’t the original version but Rod Stewarts version of Cat Steven’s famous song “Father and Son”.

I think that with this coming Father’s day, this song just takes on a special meaning. As a new father, I think this song captivates exactly how I feel about what I want to tell my son as he gets older.

To my own father, I cannot express my gratitude at your choices in our lives. We didn’t grow up rich, we didn’t grow up with a lot of material things, but we were loved and cherished and that was worth more than any amount of money. I am the man that I am because you are the man that I want to be.

I hope to be that same father to my son.

Success consist…

Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall. ~ Oliver Goldsmith

It’s been almost 2 years since I last wrote in this blog. Life took an unexpected turn when my wife and I found out we were having a child. Needless to say the first year has been awesome and nuts at the same time. I have so much more to write, but this quote is a poignant reminder that success is not in our achievements but in our continued persistence in moving forward, not stopping for life’s distractions.

Maybe you are at a plateau. Maybe you have fallen off and don’t know how to get back to where you once were. Maybe you look at yourself and think “How did I get here?”

I challenge you to instead of thinking of the past, look forward. Set a new goal. Focus on the present and the future. Learn from your past, learn from those mistakes, and get up one more time. You won’t regret it.

Declaration of Independence

On today, I feel that we all should spend a second re-reading what has given us the freedom to exercise as we choose. I don’t remember reading this until college, but I hope that each of you reading this blog would spend 5 min, recognizing how vital this document is to what we experience today.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

6 steps to change – Know where you are at.

Someone once said to a friend of mine, “You can’t expect everyone to be at the same place. We’re all at different points in life.” And this has helped me immensely to realize that while I can expect rational behavior, I cannot push people to be at the point that I am at in life. Instead I have to learn to be patient while people go through the experiences that I have been through to make the changes in their life to become healthier.

Something that has helped me to understand where people are at in their change is the concept of the “Transtheoretical Model of Change.” If you haven’t heard of it, perhaps this might be the post that helps you to learn to be more patient with everyone around you as well as yourself.

The Transtheoretical Model is as follows:

1. Precontemplation
2. Contemplation
3. Preparation
4. Action
5. Maintenance
6. Termination(Adoption)

Let me expound on this.

Precontemplation

Precontemplation is the stage of change in which a person has no idea of his/her need to change, nor do they have a desire. They are happy as they are and are not considering fixing the particular problem they might have. For example a person might be overweight and happy, even though they’d like to quit smoking. The fact that they are overweight and not concerned or thinking about losing weight would be why they would be in this stage.

Contemplation

Contemplation is when a person starts to think that they are having a problem and that they might need to do something about it. The person above might notice that they are not fitting into their pants anymore and now they need to get new clothes. Perhaps they are finally thinking about that diet.

Preparation

Preparation is when a person has decided to change a behavior and works towards getting ready to change. They might research out gyms, or maybe medical doctors for a medical issue. They will talk to friends and family who have succeeded in changing and discuss how they were effective. They are getting ready to make the change.

Action

Action is when the person actually changes. This would be the time that the person above would go to the gym, would lose weight, or would go on a diet. This is the first stage of actual change. Before the person was all working in theoretical changing, and mentally preparation but now they are actually doing something.

Maintenance

At this stage the person is continuing to work through their change. They have started to see effects and are continuing to progress through to try to achieve their goals.

Termination (Adoption)

After maintaining for enough time, the process becomes a habit. The reason I call it “Termination(Adoption)” instead of the clinical “Termination” is because in a lot of cases it is not just about a diet or something negative. Sometimes the changes are positive and in that case this stage is about making the change permanent.

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Conclusion

These 6 stages and knowledge of them helps us to recognize where we are in a behavior. It also helps us to focus on others needs to change too. Perhaps some other people might not be in the same spot that we are and therefore they might not be as willing to change with us. The fact of knowing this might help us to be more patient with people who are not as supportive of our changing or people who are annoyingly persistent in our needing to change with them. Recognizing that we are all at different points in life and in change makes for a much less stressful life.

Vegetarians – Should I go green?

Lots of opinions abound when discussing whether or not to go Vegan. Those that support the lifestyle would tell you that they feel healthier, more energized, and overall better than when they ate meat. Those opposed state that most Vegetarians have trouble keeping a balanced diet, and that if it was good enough for the cavemen, then we shouldn’t look down on the meat. I’m not here to decide for you one way or another which diet is right for you. No matter what your choice of diet, I always say 3 things.

1. Eat a balanced meal

2. Don’t avoid whole macronutrients

3. No two people are the same, so no diet is going to be right for everyone.

The first point is obvious. Balanced meals are necessary for everyone. Our body has multiple needs and consumes great quantities of all forms of food each year. They say that we eat 2.5 million pounds of pizza each year. Not to be outdone we also eat 1.5 billion pounds of peanut butter! Point is that we consume a lot of food, so we need to watch how we are balancing our diet and not just consume a single meal-type each day. Variety is the spice of life they say!

The second point is where most opponents of the Vegan or Vegetarian lifestyle enter. Most Vegetarians are very good at eating all kinds of vegetables, but because complete proteins require multiple types of beans and grains, it can be much harder for a vegetarian to get all the protein their body requires. Not that they will not be getting the amount of protein in grams, but more importantly the specific different types of amino acids.

The body has 9 essential amino acids. They are:

• Isoleucine
• Leucine
• Lysine
• Methionine
• Phenylalanine
• Threonine
• Tryptophan
• Valine
• Histidine

There are 12 ‘nonessential’ amino acids which are:

• Alanine
• Arginine
• Aspartate
• Cysteine
• Glutamate
• Glutamine
• Glycine
• Proline
• Serine
• Tyrosine
• Asparagine
• Selenocysteine.

The difference between these amino acids is simply that the body NEEDS to consume the first 9 no matter what, but the other 12 are not absolutely required in a diet. The first 9 are not synthesized by the body but are taken in from the food that we eat. The fact that these 9 are found in animal products makes people believe that this is the only way to eat a balanced diet. Proponents of the Vegan/Vegetarian lifestyle would point out that you can find these same proteins in vegetables as well, but you just have to do what is called Protein combining.

Protein combining is where we take a vegetable with several of the essential amino acids and combine it with another grain or vegetable that has the rest of those essential amino acids. This does not have to be done at the same time either. According to a study published in the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, “Consumption of complementary proteins at different meals over the course of the day should assure the achievement of an adequate state of nitrogen(protein) retention and utilization. Therefore, an undue emphasis on amino acid balance at each meal is inappropriate in the context of usual diets in healthy populations.”(http://www.ajcn.org/content/59/5/1203S.full.pdf#page=1&view=FitH pg. 8)

The third point I make is simply an extension of everything I have said on this blog so far. You are different than your parents, you are different than your siblings and you are different than your friends. No two people have the exact same needs and so if you are someone who feels like they would like to go Vegan or just doing a short vegetarian diet, make sure that you are fulfilling your body’s needs and not trying to do something that isn’t right for you.

Conclusion

Regardless of if you are Vegan or not, it is important to understand the lifestyle and how it affects your body. For those that feel that it is the right way to live, I urge you to make sure that you are watching what you are consuming and make sure that you are balancing out your diet properly. A quick google search will turn up multiple ways to balance out the grains and vegetables that you are planning to enjoy. Personally I couldn’t give up all meat myself, but during a cleanse, or just to switch things up it is always something to consider.

Protein – Legos for your body.

When I was a child LEGOs were one of my favorite toys. I’d spend hours with my brothers building massive towns and castles, cities with bridges and spaceships! We had our own language of pieces we were looking for and had entire plans to make massive superstructures a reality. Now that I’m a little older I don’t get to play with the LEGOs but when I pass by the toy aisle I always remember those times.

What in the world does this have to do with protein? Simply put, protein is the LEGOs of your body. Fat provides long-term energy sources, Carbohydrates provides instant-energy and initial burn of fats, and proteins are the recovery part of your body. Protein is responsible for repairing damaged cells and providing the building blocks to repair any tearing of the muscles.

You might have heard of them in a different format called “Amino Acids” or perhaps as DNA/RNA. There are many other purposes for protein as well such as hormones and enzymes but since this series is on nutrition, I’m going to stick to the idea of consumption of protein as a macronutrient.

Many different people will tell you different things about protein. Some bodybuilders will tell you to take a particular supplement or to eat 6 eggs every morning, etc. While this might have worked for that particular individual, it is not always the best for the average individual. Protein is not something that we can consume in large quantities at a single sitting. Rather the optimum amount of protein for the average individual is around 1.2-1.4g per kg of body weight.  Any more than this and you’re risking taxing the body causing issues with your kidneys and hydration. This ratio is increased for those who are athletes or involved in weight training where the body can process upwards of 1.8g per kg of body weight. Some body builders will even take 2.2g or even higher without major issues, but I would not recommend this for anyone reading this blog.

The important thing to take away from this is that most of your protein supplement needs can be taken care of through proper diet vs extra supplements. Personally, the only time I take protein supplements is when I am on a strength-gaining phase of my workouts. If I’m trying to cut weight, instead I drop my protein intake to around 1.4g per kg. I cut off all my protein supplements and just get my protein through my diet.

Conclusion

Many times people who are cutting out carbohydrates, will substitute protein intake for those carbs and this could be extremely harmful in large amounts. High-protein diets increase risk of dehydration, kidney issues, constipation, fiber issues, and even increase your risk for heart problems. This is not something I would wish on anyone. So check your diet at the door, ignore the idea that you or I could become instantly muscular and dedicate yourself to an entire lifestyle of being healthy and balanced. Daily activity, balanced diet and a healthy outlook are the goals here! You can do it!

Carbohydrates – Our bodies energy spark.

Lately instead of fats being the evil part of our diets, the craze has been to demonize carbohydrates. What the common person doesn’t understand is that carbohydrates are the main source of energy for our daily life. Cutting out carbohydrates severely hinders our ability to lead an active healthy life. Let’s get scientific for a second.

In every action that we take, whether it is picking up the remote control or sitting down to dinner we contract muscle tissue. Even standing in place requires effort and static tension in muscles! Well behind each of those contractions is a chemical in our body called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP for short. It is this ATP that is so important and what creates the energy for the action in our bodies. This is where the importance of carbohydrates enters into our body.

When we talk about fat consumption the important thing to think about is long-term energy. Fat has more energy potential long-term, when we think carbohydrates we think instant energy. As we initially work out, in the first minute or so it is all ATP stores in our body. This ATP depletion combined with increase in lactic acid is what we know as fatigue. Carbohydrates are important in recovering from this muscle fatigue.

Interestingly enough, the majority of people already understand this concept, just explained a different way. When you’re tired what do people tell you to do? Eat a Snickers? Get a soda? Have an orange? All of these are examples of ‘quick energy’ boosts or carbs! Snickers and soda are full of sucrose or sugar and an orange is full of fructose or fruit sugar. We all are aware of the energy boost that carbohydrates provide.

The other aspect of carbohydrates is the fact that carbs are important for initializing the consumption of fat. There is a rather cumbersome chemical reaction called a “Krebs cycle” where glucose is required to initialize the start of this cycle. Well, notice the suffix? Yep, it’s a sugar, or in other words, carbohydrates!

This is why when the Atkins diet first came out, I laughed at the public’s feverish belief in the latest ‘diet’ craze. The initial weight loss due to water loss and muscle tissue was not effective long-term and even Atkins had to change their promotion of the diet as it was causing a lot of issues with fatigue and muscle loss. Now Atkins has a new diet that includes ‘good’ carbohydrates and states that some carbs are ‘bad’ carbohydrates. In this way they are correct in that some carbohydrates are more effective than others, but the demonizing of carbs as a whole is ridiculous.

So next time you see a diet that is void of carbohydrates, recognize that it is void of any energy and while you will initially be able to keep up with your daily activities, you will become more and more tired as you continue that diet. It’s just better to have a balance of carbs, fats and proteins.

Conclusion

The ONLY diet that will truly work on everyone is a diet that is well-balanced and full of all three macronutrients. Eliminating one of the major three components as a whole is not only wrong but it is highly irresponsible. If you are someone who believes that you should avoid fat or avoid carbohydrates and tries to limit yourself to eating 2 of the 3 macronutrients, I would strongly encourage you to reconsider. Your body is not designed to live like that. Even if you are diabetic or have other medical issues, it is even more important that you are aware of what you are putting into your mouth and how each of the three macronutrients interacts with you.

Fat – Not as dangerous as people would have you believe!

As the title suggests, fat gets a lot of flack that it shouldn’t. Due to fat being stored in the body in excess, the medical community used to think that this was caused by a simple connection of fat intake producing fatter people. So society declared a giant war on fat. No fat in anything! Companies were scrambling to create the newest form of substitute fat. Remember Olestra? Just a little while ago, ABC came out with an article showing how some of these substitute fats actually caused the body to gain MORE fat and weight than actual real fat. For more about the story check out the link below!

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diet/eating-fake-fat-makes-real-fat-olestra-study/story?id=13893613

So how do we find a nice balance between zero fat diets and just not caring? The truth is that the body requires a certain amount of fat just to survive. If anyone tries to tell you that they are less than 5% body fat, be concerned! Most males are around 18-23% body fat and women are 24-30% body fat. This is NORMAL. A fit individual will be around 10-15% body fat and elite athletes will be even lower at 8-10%. But this is not always a good thing. Fat provides insulation from the cold letting the body not spend as much energy trying to stay warm, it provides storage for several vitamins that are used in the body, fat provides padding for the bones and organs as well. So it’s good to have ‘some’ fat, but just like everything else, moderation.

Something else to consider when thinking about fats is the caloric consumption. Oftentimes we think about fat as a bad thing because of the density of calories within fatty foods. Each gram of fat has 9 calories in it compared to carbohydrates or proteins which have 4. So yes, fat has more calories, but consider this, fat also has a higher satiety value. So you need a smaller amount of good fats to feel full. In 2004, a study was done on almonds which are high in fat vs regular complex carbohydrates. The study found that instead of consuming the carbs, if you replaced it with 84g of almonds a day, the individuals lost more weight, lowered their water weight, waist ratio, lowered their blood pressure, etc. Basically they reduced everything! For the more scientific minded, here’s a link to the actual study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14574348

This is not to say that we should start chowing down on bacon all day. Or to start eating only almonds! I know that some people will cry sacrilege at my saying that bacon is not the best food, but what this means is don’t feel guilty if you are consuming a small amount in the morning. My belief? Eat a breakfast with some fat and lower the amount you consume throughout the day till the evening. This will keep you more satisfied during the morning and early afternoon allowing you the energy to make it through the day without having to consume as much sugar to produce the same energy.

Conclusion

Just because society says something is horrible for you may not always be the case. There are different types of fat so don’t look at just fat content. Look for unsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, and stay away from the saturated fats. Omega-3’s which is a buzz word right now is also a good fat to look for! Just be aware of what you are consuming when you go shopping. Read the labels! It’ll make you a more educated shopper which in turn will help you to achieve your goals.

Nutrition – Will they ever get it right?

No matter where we turn we’re inundated with the latest and greatest dietary craze. Do I eat like cavemen as the Paleo diet suggests? Or maybe I reduce drastically the amount of carbohydrates in my diet as the Atkins would tell us to do? Maybe it’s not a matter of a specific macronutrient that I am consuming but perhaps it’s the time of day? Or maybe it’s my blood type? When will I ever know what is the right things to eat and drink????!!!!!

Here’s a secret. No one truly knows.

This sounds rather crazy but it’s the truth. There isn’t a right diet for the entire world. There is a right diet for YOU. Remember when we were talking about exercise principles and we discussed individuality? The same applies to the idea of nutrition. Think of it as a lifelong challenge to know your body better than anything else. You might benefit from eating vegetarian or maybe a red-meat diet might be better for you, but there are a few things that you need to be aware of when deciding how to eat and what to eat.

The main thing to remember in nutrition is the concept called the ‘energy equation’. As we consume calories and process these foods/drinks into our body, we store the energy and this energy stored in our bodies is what produces weight. So if we limit our consumption of calories OR increase the amount of calories we use in a day, we will have a net loss and therefore lose weight. It’s literallly that simple. Reduce calorie intake or increase calorie output.

The argument begins when we try to determine what way we lower our calories. This debate will continue for eternity as no two people have the same caloric needs and activity levels or metabolisms for that matter.

In the next few articles I will discuss the three different macronutrients and what they do for us inside our body. These three nutrients have distinct roles in the body and how we utilize the energy that each provides.

Conclusion

Don’t get caught up in the latest diet. Diets are meant to be broken. Instead get caught up in a lifestyle. If you’re wanting to gain weight, you have to consume more. If you want to lose weight you need to consume less OR burn more calories. If you aren’t sure how to start burning more calories, try getting outside and going for a brisk walk. You won’t regret it!