Miserable While Eating

Maybe the reason why you can't change to a healthy diet is because food has become this profound visceral experience every time you sit down to a meal. Flavor and texture are the king and queen in your mouth, palate, taste buds and especially your brain. You can't go from a diet loaded with yummy fat, sugar, salt and chemicals to bland old steamed vegetables and quinoa because the eating experience will no longer provide the kind of pleasure you expect from eating.

Starting a diet is easy. Desire to change and the intentions that go with it are strong at first. The trigger could be the image in the mirror you despise. Maybe it's the impact of how walking up a simple flight of stairs feels like a triathlon. You say enough is enough and begin the process (again) of choosing a diet. When you do, you have to give up something. Something you love. Portions or flavor or both. Some folks never get past the first day while others can hang in there for years. Both fail in the the end because eating feels like that job you hate. How long do you want to suffer? How long do you want to feel deprived? How much longer can you tolerate being miserable while eating?

Changing your eating habits is no different than starting a workout regime. Both are hard at first, get easier with time and become enjoyable if your purpose is clear. Fitness is fun and effective when you combine variety, intensity, consistency with purpose, a plan and accountability. It's hard if you only focus on how you want to look in front of other people. You can stick with a healthy eating plan when you find ways to make fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats taste good! A weight loss only diet plan fails every time because being miserable while eating now with the hope that you look better later will make you sad, depressed and crazy!

You also need a plan for when you travel and you need to find restaurants that provide healthy whole meals that you look forward to eating. If you love to cook - start throwing out old recipes that make you and your family fat and start preparing yummy ones that make everyone happy and healthy. If you don't cook then learn. Learn how to cook 10 fast healthy meals. You can do that. After that, figure out who delivers the good stuff on days you don't feel like cooking. Learn how to navigate a grocery store. Cut way back on all processed foods that come in a bag, box, bottle or can and buy more foods with just one ingredient. Blueberries, carrots, spinach, kale, onions, watermelon. You get the idea.

The only way you're going to live the life you deserve is through fitness and a healthy diet. Everything else is smoke and mirrors. You want to find the fountain of youth? Here it is…healthy food and fitness first before everything else. Exercise is Fitness and Food is Health. You can stay miserable or you can join the revolution, it's up to you!

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Thought of the day

Most people these days don't seem to respond to gentle prodding. Our problems stem from too much coddling and our delusional sense of entitlement. You have to earn respect, success and health - and that comes from hard work, thinking outside of the box and finding mentors you trust who will push you outside of your comfort zone.

P90X on Parade

If I've leaned anything in my 52 years it's that most of these stories about P90X have a shelf life of 20 minutes. This is TV fodder for entertainment, not a solution for tackling big picture issues. When they say "don't sweat the small stuff" this is what they're talking about. We might be better off spending less time on Opinion TV and more time on how to make our lives better. Everybody has an opinion but does their purpose on Earth have long term value for people other than themselves? This is where the rubber hits the road in my opinion. You, me, congressmen, our military - who cares how we learn about getting healthy, as long as we figure out ways to rely less on pharmaceutical companies to solve our problems, so that all of us will be less of a burden on our health care system.

Food Wars

Recently I posted a news story about a professional tennis player who started winning shortly after he switched to a gluten free diet. The article was asking if the wins were connected to the diet. What a shock that all ends of the dietary spectrum came out in force to defend their way to eat. The lesson here in my opinion is that no single food philosophy can possibly apply to everyone. How can anyone think that the 22 year old Kenyan marathon runner and the 38 year mother of 4 should have the same diet? It's ridiculous. I've been to Japan, Italy and France - all three nations eat massive amounts of "good" carbohydrates at every meal yet it's very hard to find fat Italian, French and Japanese people - unless they live here.

I'm a gluten "lite" - tons of veggies, free range chicken and wild salmon eatin' dude these days. I'm discovering the less gluten the better for my body chemistry. I was vegan for years and recently I added free range chicken and wild salmon. Universal black and white mandates for all is short-sighted. I lost some weight eating just veggies, fruit and beans so I've upped the protein and calories. Making adjusts based on ever changing needs (especially as I get older) is perfectly normal. The diet guide in P90X and the one in my book are different. So what? Both ask you to eat HEALTHY FOOD! Some people can be vegan for a lifetime while others fluctuate from one healthy diet to another. The key word here is healthy. My weight will go up and down 10 pounds but as long as the food I'm eating is healthy and whole I'll probably be okay.

Being Perfect

Perfectionism is not an attribute in my opinion so don't beat yourself up when you miss a few workouts or eat some Easter candy. The goal is to have far more good days than bad. Exercise for the joy of feeling good and getting better. Eat right with the intention of fueling your body with the things it needs to perform.

Variety

Hey Boys & Girls,

More and more people are discovering that Variety truly is the Spice of Fitness!

Multiple types of physical activity can be very humbling for people because it exposes our weaknesses - and most people don't like being/looking bad at anything. The commitment to exercise is hard enough and now I'm asking you to do pull-ups, jump-knee-tucks, throw punches and hold Warrior 3. "That's too hard!" This is why most people never leave the yoga studio, spinning class, get off the elliptical machine or attempt something other than their 3 mile run. As a "skills" based program P90X is designed to emphasize your weaknesses as well as your strengths. This is the sole reason why it works. Never before did you see Yoga and weightlifting in the same program because even trainers gravitate toward only one or two specialties.

Boredom, plateaus and injury are the enemy and the only way to combat them is through Variety. If you're struggling it's working. Swallow some humble pie and get busy.

TH-