What Motivates you?

      Fitness is a very fickle thing.  I say thing because most dont see it as a profession or a business or an industry.  They dont look at it as anything other than what they dredge through to just eat what they want and rationalize it.  That is not motivation, that is an excuse.  Being in fitness and athletics since i was young, it takes time to understand what health and fitness is. 

    Health is, by definition, is the state of being free from illness or injury.  This being as broad as it comes, needs to be refined when it comes to fitness.  Just being disease and injury free can be deceiving.  What health is to me is being able to do everyday tasks, performed efficiently, with little or no strain.  Picking up a box, changing a tire, standing from a seated position.  These are all functional movements that you will come across on a daily basis.  Your workouts should consist of multi joint movements with good form such as squats, push press, deadlifts, etc.  Weight doesn't matter as much as form does!  If you can do the every day movements more efficiently then you can consider yourself on the road to health.

     When it comes to motivation, it doesn't matter what it is as long as you have it.  If you want to eat better to perform better or just to lose weight and feel better, it always works better if the motivation is there.  My motivation may or may not be different than yours but it is there.  I was a chubby kid my whole life.  I grew up playing sports but was always made fun of for being overweight, or husky as my mom called it.  Like that made me feel better.  I had two choices in life.  Either continue on the eating path and continue to gain weight or make a change and eat better.  Now, my goal is to be an example of overcoming deficiency to be fit AND healthy.  You do not have to settle or compromise either.  What you have to do is know where you want to go and settle on a good plan to get there. 

      I have clients who are motivated to learn a lifestyle of eating because they want to be around for their kids when they get married.  Nothing chokes me up more than hearing stories of parents who have died way too young and left their kids in this world without their own guidance systems aka parents, due to health issues.  I know there are genetic defects out there but our society has put themselves into a bad place based on their eating.  Fast food, soda, processed foods......these things will add up and place such a demand on the heart, kidneys, and liver to process it, the saturated fats and high glycemic carbs, end up causing heart disease, liver and kidney failure, and all these things may be able to be prevented with healthy eating.

     I do not have kids and I am not married but my motivation to be an example spreads now to the future.  My biggest fear is leaving my future wife and kids without a father and husband to help guide them in this world.  Ive seen changes in my friends who have had children and I know i will be the same way.  No other more important reason than to do it for you and your family.  People rely on you whether you know it or not.  So, whats your motivation?

This one is for the LADIES.....

I know, guys have it easy.  All that testosterone to burn fat.  We just have it easier.  We don't have to have kids, our restroom situation is even easier depending on aim of course.  But the main complaint i come across with working with women on weight loss isn't testosterone.  It isn't hormones, it isn't working out.  It is the fundamental lack of protein in female diets.  You may think you are getting enough protein but when you add it up, 50g of protein a day is not going to be enough to have proper muscle function, metabolism, weight loss, or even proper brain function.

    How do you know how much is enough?
First, there are so many thought processes on this and while i go with a different method based on trial and error, here is a good base line brought to us by about.com.

Sedentary - multiply lbs of lean body mass by .5

Light activity (e.g. walking) - multiply by .6

Moderate (30 minutes of vigorous activity 3 days per week) - .7

Active (1 hour per day 5 days per week) - .8

Very Active (10 hours of vigorous activity per week - .9

Athlete - multiply by 1.0

Obviously, you need to calculate your lean body mass which can be done by any experienced trainer through calipers or you can go to a facility for hydrostatic testing.  This will allow you to be more precise with the amount.  Always go for a 7 spot test for better accuracy.

Once you get that number, lets say 120g, you need to break it out over your day.  I am a firm believer that you cannot absorb more than 30g protein at a time on average.  So, no need to do 100g protein at a meal.  That would not be fun for you later on anyway.  I would go meals at 30g protein, Snacks at 15g protein, and there is your 120.  The timing of food is as important as getting it in. 

Thoughts???
No, protein will not make you bulky.  It will allow you to build lean muscle.  That lean muscle burns more calories and in turn, you will be LEANER.  Women do not have the proper testosterone levels to get bulky.  Bulky comes from food and its not bulk; it is a layer of fat over the muscle you are building.  Do not be afraid of protein.  Trust me, the processed foods and sugars you are taking in currently have no nutritional value and will make you much more "bulky" than protein ever will.  Devise a plan and rise above.  Be knowledgeable on food and that will help you take care of 85% of your health goals!!! 85%!!!!

Excuses

You've heard them.  I have heard all of them.  They come, like locusts, to devour our will to teach, to grow, to be the best of who we can be.  Yes, I'm talking about excuses.  There are as many excuses in this world as their are trees, as much rationalization as there is air.  Someone can tell you why they cant do something before they even know what they are doing and TRULY believe it.  Why??  Because for some, it is better to have never tried. It is better to have never failed than grow from failure.  Fear of failure shouldn't stop you from ever trying.  You lose 100% of the time when you don't try, don't give effort, don't extend yourself outside of the comfort zone.

   Blogging is about feeling and getting good information out to others.  Well, there is no one i know better than i know myself.  I am not perfect by any stretch.  I have many many faults and have made more than my fair share of mistakes but through those mistakes, i have learned and grown and stayed positive.  Heck yes i am afraid of failure.  I am a business owner, i am an athlete(loose term), i am a significant other.  I am like you all.  I am scared daily that my business's will fail, that a workout or a competition will beat me, or that i am not enough for my significant other.  This is a daily fear and I know others feel the same.  But, what i can tell you is that that fear doesn't consume me.  It doesn't stop me from taking a leap, doing some different marketing, or trying the most difficult workouts out there, or try every day to be the best boyfriend i can be.

The fear pushes me.  I don't make the excuses because the more you say you cant, the more you believe it.  In college, i was worried every day that i would lose my starting job.  Every day for 3 years.  It didn't mean i wouldn't try, it meant i would try harder, be smarter.  After college, i entered the workforce and started an outside sales division for a minor league baseball team.  I had no idea what i was doing but my fear of not doing the best drove me to learn and excel.  This is a pattern that goes through today.

No, this isn't about me.  This isn't a hug fest to tell me how good i am which if you ask the person closest to me, she will say i dont think that much of myself.  This is about you.  This is about putting aside the excuses and the cants.  Its not about no fear but it IS about utilizing that fear to exceed your own expectations.  Let it drive you, let it push you, let is be your fire, your fuel.  Let yourself be afraid of what you dont know and then smash through that fear.  There is nothing that cannot be accomplished in this world.  We have the power of choice at our disposal.  CHOICE!  We can choose the outcome.  Nothing is set in stone, nothing is dictated for us. 

What about destiny?  Fate?  I respect your opinion on this, i really do.  But, i do not believe in anything that takes away my free will of choice.  Respect that.  It is a given right of the human race and it is not to be taken lightly.  We can do, be,want who ever we want to be!  do not waste that on excuses.  Do not waste the best you and never leave square one because failure scares you.  Have fear but let it be your FIRE!!  Step out of your bubble and RISE ABOVE.

Whats making us fat

Since this is a new blog, i want you to understand who i am.  I am a certified nutrition coach, certified personal trainer, and newly minted Level 1 CF instructor.  Health and fitness isn't just a passing fad.  This is not a stage of life i am ever going to grow out of.  It was inspired by sports as a youth and continued through my college football years and into owning my own health and nutrition store called Max Muscle Cool Springs.  I didn't get hear because of amazing genetics.  Both my parents are 5'6" and most of my family has battled weight and eating issues for their entire lives, me included.  That is my background.  I tend to learn from mistakes i have made and the mistakes of those who i care about.  What i have seen for the recent past is people blaming what makes our society overweight on fast food, diet soda, processed food, etc.  While those are factors that play in, there is a much more important aspect of our being over weight that people don't account for.  I have two words that some people might stop reading after i write them.  They are uneducated and lazy.  These two factors play in more than all the diet soda in the world.

    Lets start with the harder one.  Being uneducated is more of a rationalization than anything else.  Its turning a blind eye to something that is as easy as reading a book.  There are so many books and websites that it can be overwhelming.  So, lets start with the value of food.  When i first started my nutrition journey, i didn't know how many calories were in anything.  I relied on www.thedailyplate.com and I WROTE EVERYTHING DOWN.  If you can see it, you can understand it.  Know that an egg white is 16 calories and a whole egg is 70 - 80 calories.  The information is out there or you can come in to Max Muscle and talk about food with a certified nutrition coach.  There are people who want to help you reach your goals out there.

     This feeds into the second word.  I have seen and heard every excuse out there.  They range from I'm big boned to I didn't have anything else, to all i have is fast food as an option.  Look, i understand that healthy food isn't always as desirable as a big mac (i shutter) but i like the fact that i am giving myself the best chance possible to live a long and healthy life.  What more can I ask for?  No, i don't want people to eat chicken and vegetables every meal.  No, you don't have to eat foods you hate.  No, you don't have to give up Italian, Mexican, etc but you do have to understand that you cannot live off that and get everything your body normally gets from whole food.  Normally, since i own a nutrition store, id be elated people eat horribly because you would need calcium, multi-vitamin, fish oils, vitamin d, etc, etc but the key isn't making a dollar on you for one visit and never making a change.  The key is to make sure you aren't lazy and understand that going the path of taking medication to control your HDL/LDL and triglycerides as well as high blood pressure, and insulin for your diabetes can be avoided!  It can be and what is horrible is that we can tell people, if you don't stop eating white bread/flour/sugar/ processed foods, you may loose a leg to diabetes, people still wont change. 

    This is your call to action.  If you are in the group above take a long look at your life.  I am not telling you you need to eat like a professional athlete or an Olympian but eating healthy is 75% to 85% of health.  Try small steps and make changes.  The rest of your life is waiting for you to enjoy.