I’m 25, but feel 40
I was stunned when I read this on a perspective client’s exercise questionnaire. 25 but feels 40!?!
Aren’t we the society that is trying everything to be 40 and look and feel 25?
When I asked her about the statement she said, “I don’t know how I let it get to this point.”
But so many people do let it get to that point.
It is actually easy to let your physical fitness spiral out of control. You’re too busy, too tired, too injured, too stressed….too anything! The “toos” are so numerous it’s any wonder anyone ever works out!
But the “toos” are just excuses – excuses that will later come back to bite you in the ass. I’m sorry, but they will.
At some point you are going to have to take responsibility for your health. And if you don’t spend the time working out now to prevent diseases, you are probably going to be spending a butt-load of money later to correct all of the injuries and illnesses that have accumulated over the years…and that’s if you are lucky enough to catch everything before things have gone too far…
So start working out people! Not for weight loss or to look good, but for your health!
You want the key to being 40 and looking 25? It isn’t in some bottle of lotion or syringe.
It’s exercise. Exercise is the fountain of youth.
So if you are thinking to yourself now, “Wow that woman who says she is 25, but feels 40 sounds like me” now is the time to stop using the “toos” and get your butt into the gym!!!
Ok…that is my rant.
Seepage – Vegetable Oil Isn’t Good for You!
There has been seepage!!! Seepage of Primal into conventional wisdom realms!
YESSSSSSS!
I’m super pumped to see an article on Yahoo! by SELF magazine called “Could this popular supplement be making you fat?” . While the title kind of sucks, the article is wonderful because it says we are consuming too much omega-6 fat!!
Which, guess what…WE ARE!
And guess what is to blame for our excessive consumption of omega-6s? Processed foods AND specifically those vegetable oils that so many people love!!! Yea…and all of you are so afraid of butter and lard! (Which by the way has a great ratio of omega-3 (GOOD!) to omega-6 (BAD!).
Just look at the amounts of omega-6s (n-6) and omega-3s (n-3) in vegetable oils:
Corn Oil
57g LA (n-6)
0.8g ALA (n-3)Cottonseed Oil
48g LA (n-6)
0.4g ALA (n-3)Canola Oil
22g LA (n-6)
11g ALA (n-3)Soybean Oil
53g LA (n-6)
7g ALA (n-3)
Oh and now let’s compare these vegetable oils to those awful animal and full-fat dairy products that so many people shun:
Beef Tallow (grain-fed beef source)
4g LA (n-6)
0.7g ALA (n-3)Chicken Fat
17g LA (n-6)
1.1g ALA (n-3)Lard
10g LA (n-6)
1.4g ALA (n-3)Mutton Fat
5g LA (n-6)
2.9g ALA (n-3)Heavy Cream, conventional, grain-fed cows
0.9g LA (n-6)
0.6g ALA (n-3)
Wow, the ration of omega-6 to omega-3 is way better! AND not only is the ratio better, but these fatty animal products have way fewer omega-6s!
Looks like maybe we Primal and Paleo followers are on to something, huh? I mean even the public health doctor admits that our Stone Age ancestors ate a great ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 so why shouldn’t we eat like them!
What is it about the modern diet that’s leading you to eat too much omega-6? Like omega-3, omega-6 fats occur naturally in small amounts in plants and in the meat of animals that eat plants, while nuts and seeds tend to have more omega-3*. “In the diet of our Stone Age ancestors, there was probably more omega-3 than omega-6,” says Lassek. “The problem for us today is that there is more than 20 times as much omega-6 as omega-3 in the American diet.”
The culprit? Industrially processed vegetable oils, like corn and soybean oils, which according to Lassek, are added to most prepared foods.
(There is a typo in the quote above. *Omega-3 should actually be omega-6.)
Of course the article isn’t perfect… I mean it still is in the conventional wisdom realm. It has a stupid line advertising “Lose two pounds in one week!” and well it does have a line about canola oil being ok (which it isn’t!).
But hey…there is seepage!!
Some Snowy Day Fun!
So today Ryan and I spent the whole day having some fun making Man Bicep shirts….ok toward the end I got worn out and grumpy about the tedium of working with Photoshop, but all in all it was fun.
PLUS, I think the shirts are pretty amusing. Check them out and let me know what you think! Also, more to come shortly!!! 🙂
Things I hate…
- I hate stupid conventional wisdom articles that tell people to eat lots of meals and lots of carbs.
- I like FITBOMB’s post, but I hate people like Paula Deen. I mean come on…your food didn’t cause your problems!?!
- I hate when people come to you and say “I want to be in shape” because what does “in shape” really mean? For some people, it means being able to function in everyday life or lose weight. While for other people, it means running 3 bazillion miles a day or being able to lift 1,000 pounds! “In shape” is too general a term, which I think is why so many women’s magazines and diet ads use it – the term can literally mean anything so they use it to sell you something that does literally nothing! So if you really want to be successful at getting “in shape,” I would suggest that first you define what “in shape” means to you. Once you define “in shape,” you can set goals and create a plan that will get you there. Trust me, you will be way more successful at reaching your goals once they are CLEARLY defined.
- I hate the fact that celebrities are out there promoting bogus diet and workout plans. I thought this article by Charlotte Andersen about bad celebrity fitness/diet tips was pretty amusing.
- Talk about bad advice….There is a month dedicated to Oatmeal? Who in their right mind would have decided that? And I’m sorry…YOU DON’T NEED WHOLE GRAINS! So BOOOO to this article!
- The DASH Diet? Really people!?! How is this the diet to follow in 2012?
- I’ve seen too many articles about how on Paleo and Primal you miss out on key vitamins and minerals. People say you miss out because you are eating a high protein, low carb diet. But you can eat low carb and get plenty of vitamins and minerals! I mean I’ve found that I eat WAY more vegetables on Paleo and Primal than I ever did on a high carb diet!
And somethings that amused me…(mostly because the baby is cute!).
Working Out – Stressful or Stress Relief?
Most of my clients tell me they are too stressed to find time to workout. While I understand the feeling, I also believe that working out can be a great way to relieve stress.
Yes sometimes you feel like you have too much work to step away. Yes sometimes you have like a bazillion things that you could put before doing something for yourself like working out. Yes sometimes you would prefer to just go straight home after such a long day of work.
But sometimes working out can be just what you need to relieve all the stress!
For one, working out boosts your production of endorphins, which are the brain’s “feel-good neurotransmitters.” While most people are familiar with a “runner’s high,” you can get the same feeling from doing any physical activity that you enjoy!
For two, you can get lost in the workout and forget about all of the stresses of the day. I find that when I do a hard workout all I can think about is the task at hand. Working out is a time for me to just focus on me. It relaxes me and gives me the energy to take on the rest of the day and the rest of the week!
For three (and maybe the most important one!!), working out improves your mood and helps you sleep better, which makes you feel better all around!!! Regular exercise can help you build self-confidence and lower symptoms caused by depression and anxiety, which in turn will help you sleep better. All of this combined will ease your stress levels and make you feel in control of your body and life!
So personally I think all three of these reasons are enough to put up with the “stress” of starting a workout routine! What do you think? Is working out more stressful or more stress relief for you?
A Taboo Subject – You’re Overweight Cont.
I found this comment on the blog of one of the participants in our discussion on my last post (Fatty Lane). I thought it was very relevant to the discussion:
DF
Although I understand that this is meant to be humorous there is a very serious side to this. The fact is many obese people go undiagnosed for many illnesses because of this exact reason. This can lead to their unnecessary deaths, family hardships and life altering despair. The fact that many hospitals cannot diagnose a significant portion of the population because of a lack of accommodation is really unacceptable at this point in time. The embarrassment that many obese people feel when going to the doctor or submitting to any form of medical testing is understandable and it also unnecessary as it is entirely due to a lack of understanding and compassion within the medical community in general.
Not a day goes by where we aren’t bombarded with a new study that shows how being fat promotes this disease or another. But the bare ass truth is that the obese are treated like second class citizens by the medical community and thus causing the obese to shy away from medical help when it is needed most. Most obese people will ignore a medical problem until they absolutely have no choice but to seek help. This adds to the idea that the obese are more likely to get sick as compared to their thinner counterparts. This issue with imaging equipment is a prime example of how the obese are ignored and yet demonized by a world that still doesn’t understand the issue.
A Taboo Subject – You’re Overweight
Why is it easier to prescribe a procedure than it is to tell a patient to lose weight naturally?
Why are we so afraid to discuss someone being unhealthily overweight? Why are we more afraid of offending the person than looking out for their health? Why are people more afraid of admitting they are overweight and doing something about it than they are of dying from it?
Are we really benefiting anyone by not discussing obesity?
NOPE!
Some people blame doctors for not discussing the subject with their patients, but will their patients really listen to them? An NPR article called “Why Doctors and Patients Talk Around Our Growing Waistlines” blames both the patient and the doctors.
And I agree. Both parties are to blame.
Doctors NEED…I repeat…NEED to discuss diet and exercise with their overweight patients…heck I even think they should discuss it with their normal weight patients! Doctors are respected figures who can influence our decisions concerning our health. They can’t worry about whether or not they offend their patients when they tell them they are overweight. I’m sorry, but sometimes the truth hurts.
Maybe if there were some incentive for doctors to discuss diet and exercise with their patients, they would. I mean we give them incentives to prescribe drugs…
Anyway, I do realize how touchy a subject it is to bring up with a patient.
It can be a very upsetting discussion. No one wants to hear that what they are doing is bad for them. And let’s face it, mainstream media has made us associate pretty negative images and words with being overweight.
And you don’t always know how the discussion will be received. You want it to encourage people to take charge of their health, but instead it can sometimes make people want to give up.
As the NPR article states one woman started cancelling her doctor’s appointments because she hadn’t lost enough weight. She felt ashamed.
Why would a doctor then want to discuss obesity with his/her patients if it is just going to scare them off?
So what then is the answer?
Maybe we all just need to grow a pair and stop being babies. Sometimes the truth hurts. Sometimes the truth is uncomfortable to talk about.
BUT YOU NEED TO DO IT! I mean 74.1% of the US population is overweight and 30% of those overweight people are obese.
Obesity and it’s health risks aren’t just going to disappear! Start talking people!
Are you happy with your body?
The results of a survey published by FITNESS Magazine and Yahoo! revealed that “57% of women polled think they look fat naked and 81% of adults have a body part they hate.”
These results don’t surprise me – we all know that most people aren’t content with their bodies.
I mean come on…don’t people in the diet and fitness industry sort of bank on the fact that we all want to improve some part of our body? (Uhm we most definitely do! Of course I wish that most people just wanted to get stronger or feel fitter rather than change their bodies but that is a conversation for another time.)
But anyway, I find it sort of sad that 81% of adults have a body part they hate. And what I find even more upsetting is that women, in general, are less happy with their bodies than men.
What is wrong with us women?
Is it the media? Is it men? Is it other women? Why are we so insecure?
Why do we focus on the one body part we hate instead of focusing on the other 99% of our bodies that we love?
Boy do I wish I had an answer…
All I can say is when I eat well and lift heavy weights, I’m pretty darn happy with my body even if it isn’t perfect in someone else’s eyes.
Maybe that’s it…maybe we women focus too much on everyone else and not enough on ourselves.
I mean do you really think you look fat or do you just “think” that you do because you are worried some other woman/man/thing thinks you look fat?
Are you addicted to food?
Are there certain foods that you can truly get addicted to? Dr. Oz says there are – Brain Hijackers: The 4 Most Addictive Foods.
The question now is…do I agree?
No. I don’t. I don’t think you can truly get addicted to a certain food.
Yes, I do think there are foods that we have a harder time avoiding/giving up on a diet. There are certain foods we are definitely more attached to.
But I don’t really think a true addiction is created.
I mean certain foods just taste freaking good so of course we want them all the time. Certain foods also comfort us or just remind us of happy times.
You could say I’m addicted to ice cream. I mean it has the sugar and fat that Dr. Oz says is addictive and I have the hardest time not wanting it when I’m in a bad mood, stressed or well…anything. I pretty much could eat ice cream all the time.
But I don’t think I can truly say I’m addicted to ice cream.
I just like the taste of it AND I associate it with good times and happy feelings.
So maybe it isn’t actually the ice cream or the chocolate or meat itself that is addictive, but the feelings and memories associated with the food that make us crave it.
I mean now I’ve started craving dried fruit more than anything….even maybe ice cream. Why this sudden addiction to dried fruit…specifically apricots?
Because I associate dried fruit with relaxed weekends on the couch with Ryan. I’ve been stressed free on those days and have totally gotten to relax each and every time I’ve eaten dried fruit recently.
So am I addicted to the dried fruit or the fact that my brain associates dried fruit with relaxing?
Hmmm…this could be an interesting experiment. I should try eating one certain type of veggie…like brussel sprouts…on any relaxing day/fun event and see if I start to crave them….
Cardio Queens
Ladies – Step away from the cardio machines. PLEASE!!!!!
I taught an hour of spin today, which in my opinion is way more than enough cardio….for like the week haha.
But to my amazement there were females that decided to do MORE cardio after my class.
WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU LADIES!?!
I couldn’t believe it. I was stunned. I would understand if they decided to do weights after, which is what I did. But more cardio?
I almost wanted to walk up to them and tell them that they should have just worked harder in class, but I didn’t.
I just couldn’t believe it. These women spend hours doing cardio.
And guess what?
Their bodies never change. They never look any more toned. They never stop looking soft.
They just stay skinny-fat (or anorexic looking).
Don’t they realize that they don’t need to slave away for hours doing chronic cardio if they want to look amazing?
Don’t they realize that weight lifting and diet are way more important if you want a toned, lean body?
Apparently not.
But I guess it isn’t totally their fault. Even trainers prescribe too much chronic cardio for clients that want to lose weight.
Not me though. For one, I don’t like to make my clients do anything I wouldn’t do…and I definitely avoid long cardio sessions like they are the plague.
For two, I honestly don’t think you need to do ANY cardio to lose weight. Yes it can help make the process a bit easier, but you really don’t need cardio to lose weight.
The first key to losing weight – DIET. The first thing I ask my clients about is their diet. While technically I can’t prescribe a diet plan, I do make recommendations…aka I tell them how well Primal works! Diet is 80%…maybe even 90% of the weight loss battle.
The second key is a good weight lifting routine. By lifting weights, you will add muscle, which will not only make you look more toned and fit but will also help you burn off the unwanted fat!
And if you do a fast weight training circuit, your heart rate is going to go up and you are going to burn a TON of calories.
There is no need for long, steady-state cardio sessions.
I mean if you really want to go do cardio, do some interval training or some sprints. But PLEASE lay off all that chronic cardio. It really isn’t going to help you look the way you want to…I guess of course unless you WANT to be skinny fat or anorexic looking…
P.S. For those of you diehard Cardio Queens who aren’t convinced here are some more articles to look at. Not only is chronic cardio not the key to weight loss but it truly isn’t that good for you!
I think she looks way better as the muscle machine, but hey....
Burn Body Fat – 8 Reasons why you should lift heavier weights
Here is an article about how important diet is to weight loss.
Man Bicep 