Eat Well. Be Good.

Below is a correspondence from my email. I responded and thought it would make a good blog. Many of you have extremely hectic schedules and need help! Hopefully these are some good suggestions, and please feel free to comment and/or email or call me with any specific questions you may have, and I'm happy to help!

Thank you Mike. I appreciate the email. I am just getting going with insanity, and I am very impressed. I played D1 soccer, and have always been very active. I really like the intensity of insanity, and think working hard and smart gets the best results. However, eating right can play a very important role, and with my travel schedule, it can be a challenge to stay on track. Any pointers you have are much appreciated. Thank you. 

XXXXX,

Sorry I haven’t gotten back to you sooner. Anyway, you’re exactly right and in fact, nutrition is essential not only to supplement and fuel your fitness but for overall health and longevity as well. Here are some “on the go” tips I can give you:

1.       Plan and Schedule – Just like you plan consultations with clients, you should plan and schedule your meals and snacks appropriately for a balanced diet and to keep your metabolism and mental focus up during your busy day. A great thing to do is to use outlook (or whatever scheduling system you use) to not only schedule your travel and client times, but also pencil in your meals. This will help you greatly.

2.       Tracking – …that said about scheduling, it’s not a bad idea to use an online resource to track your eating so that you can be better informed about your calories, set goals, and even see your macronutrient breakdown. Check out www.dailyburn.com and set up a free profile. I use others as well such as livestrong.com/myplate but I like Daily Burn. There’s also a free iphone app for on-the-go tracking and it has many features. You can use the online in conjunction with the app.

3.       Make Time – One comment that is common is people say, “I didn’t leave my desk for 10 hours,” or “I didn’t eat all day—I had no time.” May sound familiar? Here’s my rebuttal: do what you have to do and you’ll perform and feel better in whatever you are doing. Think about this – you don’t pee in your pants, do you? Keep healthy, portable, and non-perishable snacks such as protein bars, nuts, dried fruit, natural jerky, etc. so when you need a bathroom break you can slam a quick, healthy 2-300 calories. Try to eat something every 3 hours or so, balancing out your fat, carbs, and protein. (You will learn more when you track)

4.       Be Good - When eating out during your business week, avoid alcohol and just make better choices. Think about your profession – you work hard to make solid, optimal decisions, don’t you? Treat your nutrition the same way and be about your business. Tell them to hold the bread and make substitutions like a garden salad for French fries or opt for the chicken breast or salmon filet over steak or a burger. Lean and clean.

Those are just a few, and if there is anything in particular you are having trouble with, please let me know, and I’m happy to help if I can. Best of luck…Dig Deep!

Mike

Hang In There!

So first I won't waste time mentioning my long drought of blogs. No excuses...anyway, today I'd like to discuss a recurring theme, especially as we move into summer once again. A few of my female clients who are looking to lose weight have consulted with me regarding their progress. "I feel my clothes fitting better, but I'm not seeing any difference on the scale," is pretty close to what I am hearing from a few people. I've personally witnessed this among my clients--endurance improvements, strength gains, more athletic ability, etc. What is definitely happening is a change in body composition. The percentage of body fat goes down but the weight stays the same meaning only one thing--thermogenic homeostasis remains due to addition of calories, but muscle is replacing fat, essentially. In order to truly lose weight (or mass), you need to burn more calories than you are taking in. Simple thermogenics. What happens is with the added exercise, people tend to be hungrier and eat more and/or treat themselves more. The result is a wash in calories burned/consumed although the performance results may keep coming. "But I eat really well..." Unless you are tracking, you don't really know the story. Here's what I challenge you to do - visit http://www.dailyburn.com/ and set up a free profile. Then join my group - "Team 900" and begin taking advantage of the tools available, namely the nutrition tracking. There is a huge database of foods and you can even create recipes and favorites to make your life easier. Download and iphone app for real-time tracking if you want. I also use other sites for this, but for daily burn I am able to assist you in tracking. Once we know and can analyze your current activities as accurately as possible, we will be able to tweak and make some dietary adjustments that will no doubt be helpful. Also, check out http://www.shakeologylife.com/ for info on a whole-food meal replacement that I use every day for optimum nutrition and weight management. Whatever you do, don't stop striving to be healthier--hang in there, and great things will happen! Please contact me if you feel you need additional support, and I will help you personally! Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

That Feelin'

I have to admit, I've not been consistent on the blogs lately, but today marks the anniversary run that kicked it off for me last year--the Ravenswood 5k. It's a neighborhood run, but it was my first event, and this morning as we've prepped (my wife Jasmine is running her first event today), I am excited as I realize how far I've come. Last year at this time I had a newly established fitness level and was supporting others and giving advice on home fitness. Now I have over 7 events under my belt including two half-marathons and a modest but decent 4:10:00 Chicago Marathon time. Add to that that I have almost worked a year as a personal trainer and am 15 days from my first promotion. I've learned so much, but I have so much to learn. And though my hectic schedule discourages a regular workout program, I am helping others achieve their goals by designing relevant programs and providing nutritional and lifestyle coaching for them. I am excited by my clients' excitement, and have truly found myself. So this morning as I cross the finish, I will be thinking of all of them as well as those who love and support me. What a great day to be healthy! Thanks for reading everyone, and have a lovely day