What You Can Do To Help Fight Childhood Obesity

I need for you to know the shocking statistics that face children today. Not to make your jaw drop. But I do want to bring about some awareness of the issues children face and how we, as adults owe it to them to guide them through such troubling times. The mental disorder with the highest mortality rate isn't depression. Nor is it schizophrenia. It's eating disorders. Up to 20 percent of those with eating disorders cave in to their illness.

More than 90 percent of those who develop bulimia or anorexia, or some combination of the two, are young women in their teens and 20s. The sad part is that most develop the disorder in adolescence (ages 13-19). American colleges report that all three disorders are growing on campus, oppressing up to 40 percent of students at some point during the student years.

At any one time, about 2 to 3 percent of adolescents have bulimia, and 0.5 to 1 percent of adolescents have anorexia. According to child psychiatrists, 13 percent of high school girls purge.

Eating disorders have doubled in incidence since the 1960s, and increasingly they are striking in younger age groups. They also increasingly occur in diverse ethnic and sociocultural groups.

I'm starting to see weight issues arise at a younger and younger age. I'm sure you know that self-esteem issues go hand in hand with having weight related issues. Studies show that girls as young as 5 are affected by how others perceive them.

When children start to experience weight gain parents often restrict the child's food choices because they are trying to "help" them in their weight loss efforts. I understand the premise behind it. But what ends up happening to the child as a result is quite sad. They start learning to place labels on foods. They will repeat what is being taught at home. Since they have restricted nutritional choices they will start to label foods as "healthy" and "unhealthy". Sure, you would think that is a good thing, right? But what happens when that child grows up and then binges on that food choice that was labeled "unhealthy" all there life. Can't this behavior be avoided by parents being more inclusive rather than exclusive? Would it be beneficial to teach children what portion control is?

There's much information in the media about childhood obesity. Parents should spend more time finding ways for their kids to be more active, what a portion size is, how to include more nutritiously dense food and enjoy the more refined options in moderation. This behavior wold be more beneficial for children in the long term.

How Sleep Deprivation Effects The Waistline

Since when did not getting enough sleep become a bragging right? "Dude, I only sleep 4 hours a night!" Congratulations. While it may be needed to skimp out on sleep from time to time because of your lifestyle. Let's not make it a habit of choice.

Inadequate sleep doesn't make you tough, but it certainly affects your efforts in the gym. While you may be able to "function just fine" on a few hours of sleep, doing so still short changes your body composition goals.

It is easy to overlook sleep as being important for you reaching your health and fitness goals. When you have a tough work schedule, children at home, or school deadlines to meet, sleep is put on the back burner. Did you know that not getting enough sleep might affect your waistline?

Current research suggest that on average, those who are sleep deprived consume about 385 calories more than they normally would per day.

The researchers found that not only did subjects consume more calories the next day after being sleep deprived, but they also found that the majority of those calories came from foods that were proportionally higher in fat and lower in protein.

The extra calories a day is equivalent to topping off your normal daily nutrition with four and a half slices of bread. Or eating a slice and a half of pizza, two servings of ice cream, or a few candy bars. With no offset from physical activity you can guarantee that the added scale weight is coming.

Research also suggest that chronic sleep loss could be a driving force of obesity across the country.

A lack of high quality sleep appears to impact on physiological drivers of energy balance. Specifically appetite, hunger and energy expenditure. Along with this, sleep deprivation adversely affects the body’s ability to handle glucose and may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.

So what is considered sleep deprivation?

Sleep deprivation defined in most studies is getting only three and a half to five hours of sleep per night.

Seven to nine hours of sleep is the optimal amount one should get each night. If you have trouble sleeping you may need a little help by making better sleep habits and maybe taking quality supplements like melatonin every night.

4 Reasons Why Smoothies Are Amazing

When was the last time you had a smoothie? And I'm not talking about one from Smoothie King or some milkshake-like dessert from your favorite fast food joint. If the first thing that came to mind when I mentioned smoothie is ice cream then shame on you.

I'm talking about a whole food nutritiously dense smoothie!

Smoothies alone won’t fix a poor nutritional habits. But they can be an amazing addition to your diet. Smoothies offer a lot of great benefits, but one of the best things about them is that they are awesome for people who may not be consuming enough fruits and vegetables. They may be helpful in upping fruit and vegetable intake as well. That is just the tip of the iceberg. Here are 4 great facts about why you should consider adding a smoothie to your meal plan.

1. A Variety Of Fruits & Vegetables
Fewer than a quarter of Americans get enough fruits and vegetables. When was the last time you met the USDA recommendation of at least five servings per day. With a smoothie, you can incorporate a cup or two of greens and a serving or two of fruit easy. Fiber is an important part of any nutritional regimen. It prevents constipation, lowers cholesterol and makes you feel full longer. Fruit or vegetable juices can sometimes have a lower fiber content for various amounts of reasons. But the fiber in a homemade smoothie is still in tact.

2. High Amounts Of Antioxidants
Antioxidants are involved in the prevention of cellular damage. That sounds like a big fancy term but it's not. Cellular damage is a common pathway for cancer, aging, and a variety of diseases. Point being, you don't want cellular damage on a large scale. The goal is to prevent it. You can pack plenty of vegetables and fruits which are rich in antioxidants into your smoothies.

3. Fun Experiment That The Whole Family Can Enjoy
When I was younger there were certain vegetables I just didn't want to eat. Texture was a major thing for me then. But when my mother started making smoothies for me and hiding the spinach, kale, and other nutritious vegetables I had no problem chugging it down. Smoothies can be a fun way to get your family to eat whole foods and can be a fun experiment for the entire family. If you don’t normally drink green smoothies, try starting off with incorporating just a little bit of greens with a lot of fruit, and increasing the amount a little bit over time.

4. Unlimited Add-On Options
I love to use smoothies as a way to throw in extra nutrients that I might not be able to get in during the day. Things like honey, greek yogurt, flax seeds, hemp seeds, coconut oil, and peanut butter. Of course there are many more you can add in that list but those are just some of my favorites.

Smoothies are great drinks filled with fruits and/or vegetables and other nutrient dense ingredients.  They make wonderful options for a meal or a snack when made with natural items. When you have a good blender and quality ingredients, making a delicious, healthy smoothies is simple and easy.

Your Willpower Isn't Enough

Your capacity for self-control is similar to the muscles in your body.   Like biceps or quads, willpower can vary in its strength. Not only from person to person, but from moment to moment.  Just as well-developed muscles sometimes get tired and feel like jello after a strenuous workout, so too does your willpower "muscle."

Even everyday actions like decision making or trying to make a good impression can sap this valuable resource. The coping with the stresses of your career and family can sap you of your energy.  When you tax it too much at once, or for too long, the well of self-control strength runs dry.  It is in these moments that the doughnut  or cake wins.

So the first thing you are going to want to do, if you are serious about resisting temptation, is make peace with the fact that your willpower is limited.  It is not an endless resource. If you've spent all your self-control handling stresses at work, you will not have much left at the end of the day for sticking to your goals. 

Check out the new video on why I believe Willpower Isn't Enough.

4 Different Ways to Enjoy Eggs

I love eggs! I have had eggs in some form or fashion almost every day since I was a kid. I'm that guy that goes and buys 5 dozen eggs when I go to the grocery store.

Eggs aren't some miracle food. They do have some nutrients that provide some great health benefits. They’re an excellent source of protein. They provide 7 grams in a single egg and delivering all the essential amino acids needed to retain and maintain a lean muscle. They also deliver a rich source of vitamin B-12, vitamin D, iron and vitamin A.

Eggs are so versatile. When you think about eating eggs, it is typically for breakfast. But there are many more ways to enjoy eggs. Here are my favorite 4 ways to enjoy eggs.

#1 Boiled Eggs
Boiled eggs probably isn't the most exciting way to eat eggs. However, they are very convenient. Boiled eggs can last a long time in the refrigerator after being boiled (3-5 days), they are easy to prepare, and provide a little protein bump when you are in need. They can be consumed in a variety of ways. You can chop them and drop them on a salad, eat them on top of bread with avocado, or add them to a skillet dish.

#2 Baked
A frittata is a traditional egg-based Italian dish similar to a quiche without the crust coming from carbs! Frittatas are usually cooked in a skillet using a lot of oil. Of course there are ways to bring the calories down of one of your favorite dishes. I like to bake the eggs in a muffin pan. You could use a variety of ingredients to prepare this dish. You could chop up zucchini, onions, mushrooms, spinach, kale or even broccoli. Sautee your selected veggies and add to egg mix, using a combination of whole eggs and egg whites. You can also bump the protein content if desired, adding chopped chicken breast, ground turkey or beef, and even bacon. Take your egg mixture and place in non-stick muffin tin, place in the oven and bake. When done, you’ll have egg frittata muffins that you can portion for a few meals!

#3 Topped On Your Favorites
Top your favorites with eggs. Try a pan-fried egg on top of a burger or sandwich with your favorite toppings. Eggs can also top a healthy a rice cake, with smashed avocado and tomato.

#4 Scramble
Of course this is the go to for most people including myself. I love scrambled eggs. It reminds me of eating pancakes, eggs and bacon when I was a kid on my grandpa's ranch.

Eggs will always be a favorite of mine. The are so versatile. You may or may not like eggs the traditional way but you should at least venture out and try making them a few different ways. It might add a new flavor to your dish.

Is Fasted Cardio The Answer?

I see a ton of people on social bragging about fasted cardio. You would think that the cardio kings are passing out medals of honor for these people getting up before they eat to get on a treadmill. It has become a real popular fat loss strategy.

The thinking around fasted cardio sort of looks legit when you hear it broken down from someone. But I want to tell you the truth and the science.

Most people think an overnight fast brings about a reduction in circulating blood sugar levels, reducing the amount of carbohydrates stored in the body. Your body is supposed to be forced to used fat for fuel rather than carbs to fuel your workout.

Seems like an ideal way to help with fat loss, right? Unfortunately, logic doesn’t translate into practice. There is a lot wrong with this logic. I'm going to give you 3 reasons why fasted cardio isn't what it has been glorified to be.

#1 EPOC
Fasted cardio blunts the special part of exercise that most researchers call the "afterburn". EPOC stands for excess post exercise oxygen consumption. EPOC is the amount of oxygen required to restore your body to its normal, resting level of metabolic function (called homeostasis). It also explains how your body can continue to burn calories long after you’ve finished your workout.

Eating before exercise has been shown to increase the magnitude of EPOC. And guess where majority of calories expended in the post-exercise period come from? Your fat stores. This means that more EPOC equates to more fat being burned. This clearly shows why you should eat before you do cardio.

#2 Available Energy
Doing a cardio session after not eating for 8 - 12 hours is rough. If you have never experienced it, take my word for it that you will hit a wall pretty quickly. To perform well at high exercise intensities, your body needs a ready source of glycogen. When those stores are depleted you can't sustain training intensity. And when you hit that all you can bet that fewer calories will be burned both during and after exercise, blunting total fat loss.

#3 The Big Picture
Your metabolism doesn't operate in a vacuum. It would be nice for our body to burn fat like a machine but it doesn't happen that way. This is actually the most important point of all. A huge mistake made during exercise is worrying about the number of fat calories burned during an exercise session. Because you can't assume that lost body fat as a result. The body continually adjusts its use of fat and carbohydrate for fuel depending on a variety of factors.

As a general rule, if you burn more carbohydrates during an exercise session, you’ll ultimately burn more fat in the post-workout period and vice versa.

Who cares whether you burn a few extra fat calories in the course of a workout if an hour later the ratio shifts to a greater carbohydrate oxidation? In the end, the only thing that matters is total fat loss. From a practical standpoint, fat burning should be evaluated over the course of days and weeks. Not on an hour to hour basis.

There is little reason to perform cardio on an empty stomach if your goal is to maximize fat loss. At best, the effects on body composition won’t be any better than had you trained in a fed state. The worst scenario is you’ll lose muscle and perhaps even reduce total fat loss.

So eat something before you go to the gym, go for a walk, or a jog. You will reap the benefits.

What Is High-Intensity Interval Training?

There is always a battle in the fitness community between high intensity exercise an steady state aerobic exercise. I don't know why some experts like to operate on one side of the fence or the other but it is common to hear that one form of cardio is better than the other. But the truth is you need both of them. There is room for both of them in your training programs.

High intensity interval training (HIIT) is when you alternate between high and low intensity exercises or between high intensity exercise and a short period of rest. For example, a short sprint up a flight of stairs followed by a walk back down is interval training. Or a sprint on a treadmill followed by stepping to the side and resting for a short period.

High-intensity aerobic interval training (HIIT) is a popular strategy for improving cardiorespiratory fitness and health, as well as reducing body fat levels. High-intensity intervals are typically performed above the lactate threshold. You know that crazy burn feeling you get when you are gasping for air after running up a big flight of stairs? The science of that feeling is called lactate threshold. This high-intensity bout is then followed by a low-intensity recovery period that allows the body to buffer and clear lactic acid from the blood, thereby allowing the individual enough time to recover and perform another high-intensity interval.

Most every high intensity physical activity is a state of “crisis” in the body. It endangers oxygen supply to tissues, increases body temperature, reduces body fluids and fuel stores, and causes tissue damage.

HIIT has been shown to improve cardiovascular function and stimulate greater weight loss compared with traditional steady state aerobic training. I believe there should be a great amount of caution exercised when using it if you are a beginner. It is very important that you should establish some type of aerobic foundation before you attempt to try HIIT protocols.

I will cover what an aerobic base is in detail on a later post but I want to give you some context now as well. The more work you perform aerobically, the more efficient you are. Aerobic training produces muscular adaptations that improve oxygen transport to the muscles, reduces the rate of lactate formation, and improves the rate of lactate removal and increases energy production and utilization. These adaptations occur slowly over time.

As a result of that adaptation, you will become more efficient at HIIT training programs. HIIT can be a time efficient means to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and reduce body fat levels over and above what is possible through steady-state aerobic training. But if HIIT is done to much it can be associated with an increased potential for overtraining, especially when combined with regimented resistance training.

It is essential to understand that balance is important. It is great to integrate HIIT training in your program but do it in spurts and not as your training program as a whole.

Should You Be Doing Cardio?

The popularity of cardio goes up and down. It really just depends on what the latest fitness trend is. During the 80s and 90s and the era of Jane Fonda workouts and Tae Bo, aerobics were in and weightlifting was out. The tables have turned now. Now it’s all about being strong, not skinny. Having bigger arms, better legs, more definition, and a great set of abs is definitely “in.”

We know resistance training is an essential tool for building muscle and improving metabolism. Plus, who wouldn’t mind looking great for summer vacation?

So, is cardio a complete waste of time? Couldn’t you just invest that time into doing more lunges, bench presses, squats, and crunches?

Cardio is not the enemy. Fitness trends will always change and vary in popularity. But it’s important to remember that all types of exercises have their benefits. Just like your nutritional regimen, variety will always be best.

You should have some cardio in your workout regimen. Everyone needs some light, moderate and high intensity cardio during the week. In fact, cardio itself offers quite a few benefits for your body that exceed that which weight training can provide alone.

Like every other muscle in your body, the more you work your heart, the stronger it becomes. Endurance increases with exercises that improve the body’s ability to deliver oxygen to muscles. The more you engage in this type of exercise, the more blood your heart is able to pump per beat and in turn, your heart rate (even at resting) will decrease. This will make both exercise as well as everyday activities much easier.

Studies have shown that the parts of the brain that control thinking and memory have greater volume in people who do regular exercise when compared to those who don’t.

Numerous studies have suggested that increasing physical activity can reduce the risk of multiple chronic diseases and health conditions including obesity, cardiovascular disease, and neurological diseases.

Aerobic exercise or cardio is still king when it comes to driving weight loss. The more we move, the more calories we burn, hence the more potential body fat we can lose.

Remember, the best exercise routine is one that you can adhere to. One of the keys to adherence is to make sure you are having fun and enjoying the exercise you are partaking in. So make sure that your routine is constantly changing and challenging you to improve your fitness level. If you’re someone who only likes weightlifting, try working in some bike riding, brisk walking, or a quick jog a couple of times a week. If you’re someone who runs the same track every day, try hitting some circuit training at the gym or even trying a few body weight exercises in your living room.

Variety is key in exercise selection, and nutrition. With a good amount of variety you might find yourself much more excited about your workouts. The possibilities are endless, so mix it up.

Hunger Is Important pt. 2

IT'S OKAY TO FEEL HUNGRY.

Your body has an incredible ability to store fat. From a physiology stand point your body needs to store fat to survive. The issue we run into when it comes to health and fitness is storing unwanted body fat. Would you agree?

Why do you even need body fat?

Fat cells are formed in the developing fetus during the third trimester of pregnancy, and later at the onset of puberty, when the sex hormones kick in. It is during puberty that the differences in fat distribution between men and women begin to take form. Fat cells generally do not generate after puberty. Your body can store more fat but the number of actual fat cells generally stay the same. Each fat cell simply gets bigger!

Fat is a tissue that is needed by the body for a wide variety of functions such as temperature regulation, proper reproductive capabilities (particularly in women), shock absorption, the regulation of other nutrients and to maintain healthy skin, hair and nails.

Why is hunger a necessary evil to lose fat?

Hunger strikes big in moments where you are going through a calorie deficit to lose body fat. The body doesn't know you are only temporarily going through a few months of cutting your calories back to lose fat or starving to death. It sends the alarm of starvation which is why that hunger signal is so loud and can be overwhelming to you.

You are purposely trying to lose tissue that your body is consciously programmed to hold on to. So if you want that fat to go, you must feel hunger. Simple as that. 

A sound way of losing body fat includes a nutrition structure that will allow you to optimally maintain muscle and strength while losing fat. If you are training with weights and include a good amount of protein in your nutrition then being a little hungry during a fat loss phase is okay. Hunger in this case means you are losing fat and keeping muscle.

So don't give into that feeling of stopping at the fast food restaurant on your way home because chicken nuggets sound good. Don't eat the rest of your kids food just because. Leave that candy bowl alone at work and don't eat the cupcakes that Jane brought for everyone because it is her birthday at the office. You are on your way to being leaner if you are experiencing little bouts of hunger.

That all being said, sometimes hunger gets a bit out of hand and you have some desperate moments. Here are some tips to combat hunger without ruining everything:

1. Sugar Free Jell-O: You would have never thought it, right? But it is barely any calories. And it takes up some of that empty space in your belly. At the end of the day when you are starving it could save you from raiding the pantry.
2. Caffeine: Research shows caffeine in small doses (under 400 mg a day) can have some positive benefits for suppressing appetite. Caffeine can also help you burn an extra 50-100 calories a day and fuel tough workouts when energy levels might be low. Grabbing a diet soda or having a couple cups of coffee are just fine. 
3. Sugar Free Gum: Yes, chewing something that is like almost 10 calories can help you get through the day when your stomach is growling but it may not be time to eat. I chew a couple pieces a day and it helps me when my calories are low from a calorie cutting phase.
4. Dill Pickles: I'm giving away all my secrets. My wife can attest to the fact that I always keep a jar of pickles around. They help me in moments where those bag of chips look so tasty and when I really want to satisfy that salty craving. Don't lose it and eat the whole jar, but a couple will help and serve as a low calorie treat.
5. Flavored Water: I can save the debate of whether artificial sweeteners are good or bad for a later blog post. But let’s just say that there are no bad foods or ingredients, but there are portion sizes that can be detrimental to anyone. Drinking plenty of water keeps your belly full, and flavored water can give you the feeling that you are getting a treat. Not to mention that you need a good amount of daily water consumption to keep things moving properly through your body.

IT'S OKAY TO FEEL HUNGRY. THE KEY IS TO MANAGE IT DURING A WEIGHT LOSS PHASE. 

Why Hunger Is Important pt. 1

I had a great conversation with a friend of mine about the lost art of hard work when it comes to losing body fat. For some reason the social media era has made it seem like losing body fat is easy.

Most people understand the necessity of sacrifice for gain in other arenas of life. We understand that you have to make sacrifices and work hard to move up in your career of choice. To earn your college degree will take lots of money and a ton of late nights studying in the library. If you want to improve the way you play an instrument or perfect a craft you will have to put in countless hours of what could seem like boring practice. But that is what it takes. 

There is information floating around that makes it seem like losing weight should be a comfortable experience. If you take away anything from this post let it be this: your diet is temporary you are trying to lose body fat. Cutting your calories back to lose weight is not sustainable and it is not supposed to be. It is a state of deprivation. Expect it to be uncomfortable. Expect it to be hard work. In order for you to reach your goal it must be done. Your nutrition becomes comfortable and sustainable after you reach your goal. When you reach your goal of weight loss then you make a shift into maintenance. That is when your nutrition becomes a lifestyle and should be comfortable.

When weight loss is your goal you have to be on top of your day to day. If you plan on being away for the weekend then you have to plan out how you will stay on plan. For example, maybe you plan on having a few drinks with friends, or a date night with your significant other. How will you make the necessary accommodations to not lose track of the goal at hand?

These things can be a part of your lifestyle during the periods you are trying to lose weight but you need to have a plan of attack prior to them coming up. You can't go overboard and lose control because when Monday rolls around you will be practically starting over. And that is not a very healthy cycle to be in. Sometimes you will have to tell your friends you are only going to have one drink. And it might not be your favorite drink because your favorite might be too many calories for you. But staying the course and not throwing your results down the drain for temporary satisfaction is important during a calorie cutting phase.

The people who are most successful at losing weight and sustaining those losses are those that maintain control in different situations. They strictly stay the course of the plan, lose the intended weight and begin a maintenance phase, at which point they develop a healthy lifestyle and can relax some.

Those that try to include little cheats over there allotted calories here and there throughout the calorie cutting phase tend to lose much less. You can have your cake and eat it too. But that slice of cake has to be factored into your day. And that one slice can't turn into two, three and four slices.

Win one day at a time. A temporary state of hunger is necessary and some sacrifices will have to be made. But when you get to your goal and enter a maintenance phase you will be able to relax some and enjoy some of the treats or experiences you have been putting off.

Stay the course.

Legacy {Video}

Using Fitspiration As Motivation

Fitspiration is a term used to describe the inspiration behind someone getting up and working toward their physique goals.

Most of these supposedly motivational memes and pictures portray men and women working out or posing to show off their physiques. They are traditionally in spandex or cut off shirts. They are typically drenched in sweat and sport an amazing six pack or a great pair of legs and butt. They will have some slogan that encourages pushing through pain, exhaustion, and hunger. Some of them sound like this. 

"Suck it up now so you don’t have to suck it in later."
"The only bad workout is the workout that didn't happen."
"No Pain, No Gain."

Is this a good form of motivation?

My answer: NO!

There is no research confirming fitspiration’s role in helping people maintain a healthy, sustainable level of physical activity.

A desire to workout because you want to emulate the toned, muscular individual on a fitspiration meme can be a source of short term motivation. The issue with this type of motivation is that is has a short life span. You may enter the 'grind harder' mentality but lose your stamina after learning how much exercise and time it takes to acquire that physique. It sounds good in theory but what's wrong with staying in your own lane?

A huge component of your success in improving your fitness is for you to develop a good relationship with exercise. If you don’t actually enjoy the gym or exercise in general, your interest in engaging in exercise to lose weight or gain muscle will peter out pretty quickly. 

I see a lot of disordered thinking from people looking at fitspiration as a vehicle to to get to there goals. In most cases it actually fosters the motivation to exercise less because it makes most feel worse about themselves. That ultra-fit ideal may seem so far away from where you are now that it is just easier to stay in the same place and resist change.

Fitspiration could alienate people from engaging in exercise, since they’re led to believe that the only way to do so is some over the top program. Most of those memes portray some high intensity boot-camp program, a workout dvd that looks impossible to complete, or a body builder’s weight training routine from his hay day. These memes make a leisurely stroll, bike ride, or a easy swim look like a waste of time. But they aren't because they can help you improve your health and fitness too.

Let me explain something real plain and simple to you.
Real fitness isn’t about having a ridiculously low body-fat percentage.
Real fitness isn't about being able to run a mile in under six minutes.
Real fitness isn't about being the biggest or the most buff person around.

Fitness involves being active enough to get your blood flowing at least once a day.
Fitness is about maintaining your heart, lung, brain, bone health, and emotional well being.
Fitness is about taking pleasure in the ability your body has to move rather than sitting in front of a computer screen or television.

Small Progress Is Still Progress {Video}

Writing feels like my own personal library of information I've learned through the years. I love to share the lessons, thoughts, research, and experiences I've been through. I hope you find it useful for whatever place you're in on your own healthy lifestyle journey. I have begun to dive into recording videos so I can document some of these same principles also. There is a lot of people telling you how to get in shape in 7 days. Tons of content pointing you to a 21- day or 30-day challenges. If that is what you are looking for then it is definitely out there. A healthy lifestyle is one made up of very small daily decisions that add up over time.

You are supposed to fail sometimes.

You should be frustrated at times. 

But as long as you continue to make good decisions then small progress is still progress. 

Why You Need A Coach

The word “coach” is an old French word meaning, a vehicle to transport people from one place to another. In some cultures the word is even used to describe a type of carriage that conveys a valued person from where he or she was to where he or she wanted to be.

Imagine trying to get someplace you have never been without the help of a map, GPS or someone to show you the way. You would be driving around aimlessly and likely never reach your destination.

When it comes getting healthy or more physically fit most people have no clue where to turn. They have little, if any, knowledge of how to program their training or plan their meals to reach their goals.

When I first began working out I didn’t know how to use the equipment or perform the exercises properly. I often eavesdropped in on other people’s training sessions and watched their trainer demonstrate exercises, asked questions, watched YouTube videos, and joined every class I could to get a wide range of experiences.

Even today, as I am make a living training people I am continuously asking questions, learning more, and surrounding myself with people who have valuable knowledge to share. There is so much information out there it’s impossible to be an expert on it all.

The best athletes in the world, CEO’s of fortune 500 companies, lawyers, doctors, ect. All hire other people to help them improve their skills. Often times we’re too close to the situation to see objectively what the issue is and how we can fix it. Don’t be too proud to ask for help. I ask other people for guidance and help all the time. I know I don’t have all the answers.

If you are ready to get your health back by improving both your physical fitness and nutrition I highly recommend you hire someone to pick you up from where you are and take you to your destination. The likelihood of you reaching your goals will increase tenfold.

If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re not alone.

Know that there will still be a lot of hard work and dedication to earn that better body or healthier state of being. But with having a coach your setbacks will be few and far between, you will have a friend and a confidant to lead the way, and the sense of direction will get you to your destination much more efficiently.

If you’re someone searching for answers to get a better body, improve your health, or optimize your results we would love to be the person who picks you up and takes you there.

5 Tips For Improving Sleep Quality

We can all agree that sleep is important. Well I hope we can at least. The benefits of sleep are unquestionable. But an increasing amount of research indicates that when we don’t focus on sleep we lose out on other parts of our life. When we routinely get enough quality sleep good things happen. We’re much more likely to make healthy food choices, we eat more vegetables, and we experience far fewer cravings. When we don't get enough sleep our appetites are out of control, cravings run wild, our inflammation increases, and our will power tank decreases. 

In short, when we get enough sleep, everything else has a tendency to fall into place.  And getting enough good sleep may be the single best thing we can do to help ourselves keep up with nutrition, fitness, and weight goals.

Through personal experience and reading through tons of research I've rounded up 5 small tips that will help you improve your sleep quality.  

1. Make A Bedtime
I feel like captain obvious by saying this. But it needs to be number one despite how easy it seems. Adults need a bedtime just like children do. That might mean committing to an hour less of television, coming home earlier from a social gathering or simply telling our partner that you are calling it a night! Aim for 6 to 8 hours a sleep. The formula to do that is pretty simple. Set a bed time 6 to 8 hours before you need to wake up. That may wind up being an early bed time. But your rest should be a priority. 

2. Turn Off The Gadgets
The rise of electronic screens means that it’s almost impossible to imagine an evening without a phone, television, iPad, e-reader, etc. Screens emit too much blue light, which harms our dim-light melatonin production. Either turn off screens to protect this sleep promoting hormone or switch your gadgets to night mode. Most new devices have this feature. 

3. Don't Forget To Exercise
Inactivity causes poor sleep. By exercising, we unleash a hormone-regulating effect throughout our bodies. Regulated hormones equal better sleep. This does not mean you should go outside and run miles on end. Neither should you try to punish your body in the gym with hard workouts. In fact, there’s evidence to support the idea that less-strenuous exercise is actually more beneficial for hormones. 30 minutes of walking each day can improve your sleep!

4. Keep Your Home Cool
Sleeping in a cool environment is an easy way to improve sleep. Ever notice that you wake up sweating during the night? Our bodies are designed to sleep best in an ideally cool environment. Try turning the temperature down to about 65-68°F and see how your sleep improves! If you are too cold then add blankets.

5. Wind Down
Taking 30 minutes each evening to wind down by reading, stretching or taking a relaxing bath can help your body transition from the hustle and bustle to sleep-sleep-sleep. This might mean cutting out 30 minutes of television every evening, or pushing your bedtime back by just a bit. But the peace of your evening routine will pay off!

Commit to one of these today and watch how your sleep improves.

Train Smarter And Harder

You know what I think is crazy. The "more is better" phenomenon. I had a conversation with some clients of mine that thought if one workout a day is good, then two workouts a day is even better. It just makes sense right? Absolutely not!

This is one of the most common things I see in the gym every day. Most people are overwhelmed with the concept that “more is better” when it comes to exercise.

The thinking tends to go somewhat like this: If strength training is getting me results then if I combine it with cardio then I will double my results.

As a result, many people end up spending hours in the gym several days a week. And if that doesn’t work, they do even more in an effort to get their body to respond.

And do you know what usually happens? They get so burned out after a while that they disappear all together. They wonder why all that work hasn’t paid off. I mean, they have been working out for hours a week!

Then all the doubts set in.

"I have bad genetics."

"My body likes to hold weight."

"I'm stuck at this weight forever."

The correct answer is you are doing too much. The focus should be on working out harder and smarter.

I have trained people who used to strength train five or more days every week, and they did hours worth of cardio on top of that. When they come to train with me, they only strength train three days per week with some slight twist to their workouts. We greatly reduced the amount of cardio they performed and used different methods to elevate heart rate.

They end up doing half the work they used to do but are much more productive.

At first, they are incredibly skeptical and worried they are going to gain weight or not get results. However, the exact opposite happens.

They start losing weight. Their body responds to the workouts. They have more energy throughout the day. They have a lot more free time to invest in other activities.

It’s not about how long you workout, but the quality and intensity of your workouts.

If you work hard doing basic compound exercises for 30-45 minutes three times per week, you are going to get great results.

Transforming your body is not complicated, and it doesn’t take near the amount of time that people think.

You have to train hard, and train smart.

Soreness Does Not Equal Results

If you are reading this then you have experienced soreness at some point and time after a hard workout. Do you remember those times when your legs were so sore that you made a stink face getting out of the car? Or when it was hard to sit in a chair? What about the time your arms hurt so bad that doing anything to your hair was just pure agony? 

This soreness is called delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). If you’ve been exercising long enough, you’ve probably felt it. Some lifters relish this pain as an indicator of success, but is that really true?

What is DOMS?

DOMS happens to me after a hard leg day. It can also occur in experienced lifters when they are getting back in the groove after taking a few weeks off. Research shows that it’s not restricted to any particular muscle group, but some people tend to experience it more in certain muscles.

Technically speaking, DOMS is pretty much a muscle strain. It's nothing too serious but it happens as a result of movements you perform that your body is unaccustomed to. As you may have experienced, DOMS can range from slight muscle discomfort to severe pain that limits range of motion. Generally, muscle soreness becomes noticeable ~8 hours post-workout and peaks 48-72 hours later, although the exact time course can vary.

One thing that I do want to make clear is that muscle soreness is not directly correlated to exercise-induced muscle damage. It is possible for severe DOMS to develop with little or no indication of muscle damage, and for severe damage to occur without DOMS. You need exercise-induced muscle damage to occur for your muscle fibers to hypertrophy or grow. 

Some studies show the presence of DOMS after long-distance running, which indicates it doesn’t just occur during resistance training. This should be an indicator that DOMS isn’t a good gauge of muscle growth since running causes minimal hypertrophy in your muscles.

People who are new to working out often have the most pronounced DOMS. This is due to the new stimulus that exercise provides. Again, they get sore because they aren’t accustomed to exercising, not because they are growing like monsters. 

I don't like being sore. It hinders my performance and can negatively affect my lifestyle. When you are sore you want to move less in general. Because you know that every time you have to move will suck. There is some scientific evidence to show DOMS may negatively affect workouts by altering motor patterns in later workouts. This could cause reduced activation of the desired muscle. Hence, DOMS could actually hinder your next workout. 

Exercising while having DOMS does not seem to make muscle damage worse, but it may interfere with the recovery process. 

The “No pain, No gain” theory is wrong! At least when it comes to muscle growth. 

Soreness can provide some insight, but don’t use it as a marker for a good workout. High levels of soreness show that you have exceeded the capacity for the muscle to undergo repair. Soreness can alter the ability to train safely, and it may decrease motivation. DOMS is the main cause of reduced exercise performance. This includes decreased muscle strength and range of motion for both athletes and non-athletes. 

So be careful next time you think it is a good idea to push it to your maximum potential just because you think being sore is a great notion. 

Your P.E. teacher lied to you. 

Why Does Your Weight Fluctuate

I enjoy weighing myself everyday. I am also probably an exception to the rule because weighing yourself can lead to a lot of negative emotions as well.

I like to see how the previous days food, water, stress, and digestion effects my weight from day to day. It gives me a snapshot of what is going on. The more data points I get the more information I can piece together. I don't place my value on the scale or let whatever the number is affect my self confidence in any way. But I know there is a long road for others to get to that point. It is key for you to understand what causes your weight to fluctuate. I'm not asking you to weigh yourself everyday like I do. But if weight loss is something you are trying to accomplish then you have to learn how to separate your feelings from the number on the scale.

If your goal is weight loss, it can be easy to celebrate when you see the number on the scale fall by a few pounds one day, then worry when the scale jumps by a pound or two the next day. But what do these fluctuations in weight tell you?

Short-term fluctuations in weight are normal and generally reflect changes in your body’s level of water. It’s not possible under typical circumstances for your body to gain or lose several pounds of fat over the course of just a few days. Components like diet, exercise, weather, and your bathroom habits are all factors that can change the level of water in your body and cause the number on the scale to change, too. So you freaking out is the last thing you should be doing.

For example, eating salty food causes your body to hold on to extra water. Until your body clears out the excess salt and the water that comes with it, your weight will increase by a few pounds. An intense, sweaty workout can cause your weight to decrease by several pounds from the fluids you lose as sweat. Once you are fully hydrated and your level of body water is back to normal your weight will increase again.

Your metabolism can also influence your body’s water balance and cause fluctuations in weight.

How your body handles carbohydrates gives us the best example of this. As part of normal metabolism, your body stores a small amount of carbohydrate that is used to maintain steady blood sugar levels between meals and to power muscles during exercise. This reserve of stored carbohydrate, called glycogen, attracts and holds extra water. When your body’s glycogen reserves are full, your level of body water will be much higher than when your reserves are depleted. This is why your nutrition and exercise habits are so important. They both can lead to changes in the body's level of stored glycogen. Because normal variations in your body’s glycogen stores affect your level of body water, weight fluctuations are part of normal metabolism.

It is normal for your body weight to fluctuate by several pounds over the course of a day and even in a week. This doesn't mean that weighing yourself isn't helpful. You just need to keep things in perspective when doing so. Tracking body weight is still a good tool as long as your mindset is in a place to take it the right way. If stepping on a scale makes you feel frustrated, hopeless, or sparks other negative emotions then staying off the scale might be the best action to take for now.

If you want to teach yourself how to approach weighing yourself the right way then you should have a few things in order first.
1. Be discipline in preparing your meals or have some consistency in your nutritional regimen.
2. Have consistent exercise habits. It doesn't matter if it is one day or a week or seven. It could be 30 minutes per session or 60. You need to have some solidity in your program.
3. Don't place your self worth into a number on the scale. You are amazing already.

Start by checking your weight less often. Once a week or once a month for example. That way you will have a good idea of your progress while limiting the distracting influence of short-term fluctuations in weight and less mind games.

Some things you should consider if you are going to weigh yourself is:
Weighing yourself on the same scale all the time.
Weigh on same day of the week.
Weigh at the same time of day.

The goal is to get the most consistent measurement as best as you can.

Watching the scale drop by a few pounds only to see it rise again by the end of the week can feel discouraging. But when you know what your scale is really telling you, it’s easy to avoid being distracted by short-term weight fluctuations and stay focused on your long-term goals.

The scale is a tool. That's it. Stay away from it until you can view it that way.

Don't Skip Your Warm-Up Routine

How do you feel about warming up prior to exercise? Most people see it as a waste of time. You will see people stretch there legs out before a run or stretch out there chest before they do a chest press. But rarely do you see people go through a full warm up routine before they start there weight training routine for the day.

How important is warming up before a workout?

Warming up and stretching correctly are fundamental, yet often overlooked parts of any training program. While these components to training are very basic, many people tend to skip over a proper warm-up, stretch and cool down program and wonder why they do not feel ready to work out. I call these aspects of training the forgotten elements of training. They are techniques that you never see much of in gyms.

Warming up has many benefits. The main benefit to warming up is injury prevention because the blood will be pumping to an area, lowering the chance of a muscle pull or joint injury. Warming up also has positive effects because afterward strength and focus should be peaked. Warming up has many physical and mental benefits.

A younger lifter rarely thinks about joint health when getting started with lifting. A large percentage of lifters are forced to stop performing certain exercises, work around pain, or quit training altogether because they never paid attention to joint health from the beginning. If they had stopped and focused on taking care of there body before they began a workout they could have trained pain free for life and gotten much more results.

Joints require mobility, stability, and motor control. In other words, joints need flexible muscles and soft tissue to surround them. Joints stay healthier when you have a strong and stabilizing musculature to prevent wasted movement. Joints require coordination to move properly. Joints also need balanced levels of strength in the surrounding musculature in order to track properly.

Joint health is highly correlated with good habits in terms of warming up and good form while lifting. Performing some sort of a dynamic warm-up before you start lifting can pay of big time. Things such as foam rolling, mobility drills, and activation drills can get your joints and muscles ready to perform to there highest capability. Once you are done with that you should conduct a more specific warm-up consisting of several progressively heavier sets prior to your first compound lift of the day. Use a full range of motion when you lift weights, and make sure you use sound form. These things are vital for you to have healthier joints 5, 10 and 15 plus years from now.

An injury is the last thing any person that has a weight training routine wants. You can miss a meal here and there if you absolutely must and still reach your goals over time. You can skip the last 5 minutes of your cardio session if you need to be somewhere and your body won't hate you. But if you skip your warm-up and end up with a muscle pull, you're not gaining optimally for the next month or even longer in some cases.

Warming up is injury preventative in many ways. It increases flexibility and blood flow which limits the chance of a muscle pull and joint pain. A proper warm-up also gets the you in a groove for a good lifting session.

Don't skip out on this very basic principal. Your body will thank you later.

8 Tips For Eating Out

Should you avoid eating out?

Most trainers would take a stance on this and tell you whether or not eating out is detrimental or beneficial to you reaching your goal.

There is nothing wrong with eating out. There is no bad food. There are portion sizes that are too big you and foods with little micronutrient value.

This doesn't mean you need to avoid going to all restaurants, disown your family and miss celebrations just to meet your health and fitness goal.

There are a few great things you can implement to keep you headed down the right path though.

I call it the going out to eat checklist.

1. Don't skip meals just so you can binge when you go out to eat.

Poor decisions stem from the fact that you are starving and foods you typically would avoid become foods you give into. If you arrive hungry, most likely you will be tempted to fall off track. Not to mention, by the time you get to your destination, get seated, order and eat, it can take hours. That is a set up for failure.

Have some nutritiously dense food prior to you going out to eat. If you have dinner plans then don't skip lunch and that mid day snack so you can load up on chips and salsa because chances are you will over do it once you start.

2. Take a look at the menu prior to you getting to the restaurant.

You can find pretty much any menu of any restaurant online now. This serves you because now you can plan before hand. Check the menu online so you can plan your meal using healthier options. It is smart to show up at the restaurant well prepared and knowing what it is you are going to order. You can make a healthy choice almost anywhere. But the major key is you must know what to ask for and how to manipulate the menu options.

3. Don't be afraid to ask for food substitutions.

You need to be aware of your eating. There is a reason why the foods that you eat at a restaurant taste so good. They may tell you what comes with a meal but you aren't aware how it is prepared. For example, often an entree will not list “butter” or “cheese” in the description, but you can bet that most meals are doused with butter or dusted with cheese. Butter and cheese can easily add an additional few hundred calories to a meal! The oils that are another culprit. Peanut oil, soybean oil, vegetable oil and various others are used in your meals so they have a superb flavor and leave you begging for more.

Know what you are eating. Ask the server how the food is prepared and don’t be afraid to ask as many questions as you need to ensure you are ordering your meal as you want it. Don’t assume the meal you order will be prepared exactly as the description states. Menus tend to give an overview of the meal but not offer the specifics that can easily prevent a meal from being healthy. It is okay for you to ask the server for your meal not to be dipped in butter prior to being prepared.

4. Make sure you get your veggies.

You can't go wrong with vegetables. Well unless they are drowned in butter. Vegetables at a restaurant tastes ten times better than those steamed vegetables you made at home last week. That is because restaurants drench their veggies in butter. So be careful when you are under the assumption that you are making a healthy choice. Salads are tricky as well. Some healthy salads can have more calories from fat than a cheeseburger! Ask for your cheese on the side, dressing on the side and be cautious of the amount of nuts that are on your salad. It is okay for you to modify your meals. Little things like dressing can defeat your purpose of making a good choice and double your calorie intake for that meal. Some great additions to salads that don't bring the unwanted fat calories include honey mustard, salsa, light italian, and various balsamic dressings.

5. When in doubt, choose grilled options.

Grilled options are a safer bet than fried. Anything that has the word “crunchy,” “fried” or “breaded” you want to cautious of. You would be surprised how many meals can be made “grilled with no butter or sauce.” But if you want the sauce then ask for it on the side for dipping. That way you can be in control of the consumption.

6. Order water.

It is fine if you want an adult beverage. That is your personal choice. But make sure to order a water as well. Water will help you stay hydrated and also help you keep full so you don't overeat. Restaurant meals typically have more sodium in them than a meal you will make at home because they want to boost that great flavor. If you stay hydrated you can combat the extra sodium in restaurant meals.

7. Get a to go box immediately..

The plates at restaurants are humongous. The food that comes out on them can feed a small village. You get full half way through and force yourself to eat the rest because you don't want to 'waste food'. That is a bad mindset to be in. Rather than setting yourself up for that, ask for a to go box and put half away as soon as the meal comes out. Out of sight, out of mind. You can eat the left overs for lunch the next day.

8. Share a dessert.

I know you want one and so does your partner. But that is cruising down weight gain island. I know it will taste so good going down but you will be kicking yourself tomorrow. Just air on the side of caution and choose one dessert that both of you can enjoy.

The more you are aware of how to navigate a menu, the easier eating out will be. Eating out doesn’t have to be so daunting. The more you eat out and learn to ask for what you want, you will see how accommodating most places can be. There is no reason why you can’t go out to eat with friends and family, while continuing to stay on track with your goals. I hope these tips help and prove how realistic it really can be.