Blog Archives
When Healthy Living Becomes Obsession
In clients I deal with two very different issues almost every day –
1. The people who can’t get started and make excuses as to why they can’t create a healthy lifestyle.
OR
2. The people who become OBSESSED with eating well and working out every day to the point that they almost can’t take a day off.
And trust me, neither is really HEALTHY.
When I say OBSESSED, I’m talking about mentally and physically overtraining. I’m talking about never giving yourself a break and doing as much as you possibly can every single day with no break.
I’m talking about training way too often for way too long because you feel like you NEED to do a certain amount each day.
I’m talking about never letting yourself indulge in a treat and/or restricting your calories as low as possible to force weight loss.
I’m talking about the MORE IS MORE ATTITUDE when as I’ve stated numerous times recently MORE IS ACTUALLY LESS.
Yes, it can be good for periods to do MORE, but those periods should all have an expiration date and be used to KICKSTART your program or break a plateau.
You simply shouldn’t workout every day.
RECOVERY IS WHEN YOU REBUILD! Days off are KEY TO GETTING RESULTS.
When you don’t take days off, you are basically hindering yourself from getting the results that you should be getting from your workouts.
And two a days?!?!
While as I said, I can see using them for a few weeks to create big changes, they shouldn’t be used in the long run!
Exercise breaks down our body. We only regrow stronger with more muscle and lean body mass if our body has the change to RECOVER.
So while going hard for a few days, a few weeks, can be a great push in the right direction, YOU CAN’T MAINTAIN IT!
Going that hard leads ultimately to you falling off your program – either due to injury or due to the fact that you’ve created something that is truly unmanageable long-term.
Same goes for obsessing over eating cleanly.
I won’t go into a whole rant here, as I already have numerous times recently, but IF YOU RESTRICT YOUR CALORIES TOO MUCH YOU WILL COMPLETELY STALL YOUR WEIGHT LOSS!
Not to mention you will PREVENT LEAN MASS GAINS! Aka…all those workouts will be for nothing because you aren’t fueling them properly.
Plus, most people can’t eat 100% clean day in and day out without it eventually leading to a complete, uncontrolled binge, which in turn leads to them giving up on their healthy eating program all together. We just don’t have that much self-control especially with all the other life stressors we have to deal with each day.
Just think about how much self-control you are expending by trying to go so intense and PERFECT your diet and exercise program. Self-control isn’t infinite. And trying to control ever last detail is STRESSFUL!
Think about how much you STRESS over not missing a workout. Over eating cleanly even when there is no healthy food around.
STRESS can negatively impact our progress. It can negatively impact our healthy. Heck if you are trying to lose weight, STRESS can prevent you from getting the results you are working so hard for!
Geez…Cut yourself some slack, people!
I know many of you don’t want to believe it, but LESS IS MORE. Working out every day and eating 100% clean really aren’t going to get you greater results.
Actually they may get you WORSE RESULTS.
So stop obsessing.
Don’t stress over miss workouts.
Don’t stress over a treat.
STOP OBSESSING and try ENJOYING.
Seriously, stop bragging about how you workout EVERY DAY. Or do two-a-days. Stop bragging about how you don’t eat ANYTHING BAD EVER.
There is no pride in being stupid and wasting your time!
Trust me…I want people to get results and if I’m saying there is such a thing as too much…THERE IS!
Nuts! – Nut Butters by Ingr-EAT-ients
Yesterday I got two delicious nut butters from Ingr-EAT-ients – Pistachio Butter and Almond Coconut Butter.
I was super excited to try them partly because a good friend and fellow trainer, Eddie Thomson, makes them and partly because I see his food pictures on Instagram all the time and they always look SO FREAKING GOOD! (Ok mostly because I seriously drool every single time I look at his food prep pictures on Instagram!)
Not only does he make healthy meals, butters, bars, fruit leathers, and shakes that look beautiful and delicious, but he doesn’t use any processed crap.
Everything is all natural and made with the highest quality ingredients…like literally….Even when his go-to stores are out of the product he wants, he doesn’t just settle for a lower quality ingredient.
Nope!
He freaking drives around to other stores and markets until he finds what he wants.
Eddie is fanatical about providing the cleanest, highest quality product. And when I say fanatical, I mean it in the best way.
Anyway, on to the nut butters that I got!
So I got Pistachio (because I’ve never even seen Pistachio butter before) and Almond Coconut (because well…I love both those flavors).
Can I just say…
I LOVE THEM BOTH!
Half of both jars might just be gone after last night because I kept sneaking back to the kitchen to eat just one more spoonful.
I love that “just one more game.”
I tell Ryan, “I’m going to have just one more…”
And then I say that about 50 more times before I actually eat “just one more.”
BUT, regardless of how much more is left, what made both of these two nut butter so special is how FRESH they tasted and how clear the flavors were.
The pistachio butter really tasted like pistachio. And the almond coconut really tasted like almonds and coconut.
I also liked the texture of both. The pistachio was super creamy and the almond/coconut butter had that texture that coconut butter has that I really like.
The neat thing to is that Eddie uses coconut oil in all of his nut butters. Coconut oil is seriously amazing for you. Tons of good healthy fats.
However, the idea of coconut oil in my nut butters made me a bit nervous.
Pistachios and coconut? Hmmm….
But it was really good! And honestly there was only the littlest hint of coconut if you really tried to find it.
So great flavor and a little extra health bang for your buck?!? SIGN ME UP!
The nut butters were amazing and made me feel like I was treating myself to a great little dessert (especially when I put a bit of the almond coconut butter on some local, organic strawberries that Ryan had put in the freezer!)
Ingr-EAT-ientsproducts were DELICIOUS. And the best part is that they are all homemade and have no unnecessary crap in them.
If you are looking for healthy clean eats that make you ENJOY eating well, I would definitely recommend you give these products a try.
(And if you are in SoCal, you can help support a local business!)
The only downside to these products, in my opinion, is that Eddie lists them as vegan…just kidding…but seriously….
My next nut butter to try might just have to be cashew espresso…Although my clients would tell you I’m slightly scary on caffeine!
What are your favorite healthy, clean eats?
P.S. If you like drooling over food pictures and have Instagram, Eddie’s Instagram is @coach_eddie!
Cauliflower Mash
I’m a bit obsessed with cauliflower. I mean I could literally just eat a whole head of it raw.
Is that strange?
Probably.
But anyway, since it has looked so amazing at the farmers market, we’ve gotten it the last few times and the other night, Ryan created a cauliflower mash with it that was absolutely amazing.
So because I’m cauliflower obsessed and this was a super delicious meal of Wild Caught Salmon steak and Cauliflower Mash, I wanted to share the recipe! (Maybe I should call this the Un-American meat and potatoes…even though I do like grass-fed steak and mashed potatoes…)
Salmon Steak and Cauliflower Mash
I’m pretty sure I’ll never make a living as a food photographer.
Ingredients:
Salmon:
2 Salmon Steaks
1/2 tbsp Paprika
2 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
Cauliflower Mash:
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp diced garlic
1/2 tbsp dill
1 tbsp cream
3/4 head cauliflower
Salt and pepper to taste
For Salmon Steaks:
Sprinkle with spices and then sear in a skillet (with 1 tbsp olive oil) on high heat for 1-2 minute each side. Then lower temperature to medium/low and cook to medium/medium rare. About 8-10 minutes.
Cauliflower Mash:
Steam cauliflower until soft. When you transfer the cauliflower to the food processor, try to get rid of all extra water first. Put into a food processor with butter, garlic, dill, cream and salt and pepper. Blend until everything is mixed and there are no cauliflower chunks.
Then serve steak and mash together. If you are like Ryan, you may even enjoy a bit of hot sauce on your cauliflower mash!
The salmon steaks made one portion for each of us, but the cauliflower mash actually made about four servings…however, it was so good (and low-calorie) that we ended up consuming all four portions! (YUM!)
What random food do you love to consume…like raw cauliflower?
Also, since I’m into self-experimentation and have actually tried a number of the diets on Free the Animal’s list (and happen to agree with his findings), I thought it was interesting to share. What diet have you found to be most effective?
Why do people love cleanse diets?
So recently I’ve had a few of my female clients ask me about cleanse diets.
I personally would NEVER ever do one…or for that matter recommend that any of my clients do one.
This is what I think of when I think of cleanse diets (although many of them aren’t low carb).
I know they are the popular thing, but honestly, they are stupid.
Really? Drink juice for a week and your body will be cleansed?!?
Sounds like a week of feeling crappy and overloaded with sugar!
And when I tell most people that I think cleanses are stupid, they say to me, “Well then how do you rid your body of all the toxins that accumulate?”
UHM…I DON’T EAT CRAP FOOD MOST OF THE TIME!
You shouldn’t need to do a cleanse if you are eating a healthy diet 80% of the time. That healthy eating will, itself, make your body healthier and remove all of the “toxins.”
And really you think that one week on a “cleanse” is going to remove all the toxins from your body that you’ve been consuming for months and months and months eating a poor diet!?!
HA!
If you want to make your body healthy, you need to eat healthily most of the time…not for one week!
And the funniest thing is, when I say they should eat healthy 80% of the time if they really want a clean, healthy body, they tell me that only cleanses TRULY remove all of the gunk. That eating healthy doesn’t get it all out.
REALLY!?!
Some cleanse diet is going to remove some hidden gunk that eating only whole natural foods won’t remove!?!
UHM…NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!
Sometimes I want to ask people obsessed with cleanse diets what this supposed hidden gunk is? I mean really what is so supposedly stuck in us that only a cleanse diet can rid of us?
Also, I would just like to point out that most of these cleanse diets really AREN’T THAT HEALTHY OR GOOD FOR YOU!
You really thinking drinking juice for a week is that great for you? All you are consuming is a ton of carbs in the form of SUGAR!
That isn’t healthy!
But when I tell people that cleanse diets AREN’T healthy, I usually get a response like, “Well I saw a cleanse diet by Dr. Oz!”
Dr. Oz….Usually I would have a rant against him, but in this case…Well I actually kind of like him.
When they say that to me, I usually say, “Have you looked at the difference between your FAD cleanse and Dr. Oz’s?”
The Dr. Oz cleanse is basically like eating just a super clean all natural diet!
It isn’t juice with cayenne pepper! It is chicken and veggies. It is just SUPER CLEAN NATURAL FOODS!
If you want a TRUE cleanse, you don’t need to do some crazy diet that cuts out all but one food group! Just eat whole natural foods that aren’t processed at all!
Or you know what…maybe even add in some intermittent fasting…Now fasting a bit…that IS truly good for your body!
Oh but wait….you aren’t doing a cleanse to be healthy? No…you are doing the cleanse because your friend supposedly lost 10lbs in one week?!?
Oh well then of course do the cleanse! It must be the magic pill for weight loss!
NOT!
Cleanse diets might help you lose a bit of weight, but the second you stop the cleanse, do you really think you are going to maintain the weight loss?
You haven’t changed your normal daily eating habits so how do you think you are going to keep that lost weight off?
YOU AREN’T GOING TO!
So why waste a week of your life on a completely miserable diet only to lose weight that you will probably gain back in less than two days when you return to your old eating habits?
DON’T!
There is no quick weight loss solution. If you want to lose weight, eat clean whole, natural foods. Eat a well-balanced diet of fruits, vegetables and meat. (Shoot I would even say a well-balanced diet of vegetables and meat, which is completely the opposite of some of those fruit and sugar-laden cleanses!)
If you want to truly lose weight, you need to start a diet you can maintain for more than a week.
And if you are completely and utterly set on doing some sort of “cleanse” go super strict the first couple of weeks on your diet. Eat only vegetables and meat.
Then maybe after those two weeks of super clean eating, add back in a few healthy treats…like fruits or maybe a glass of wine or some dark chocolate or a little full-fat dairy here and there.
The point is that these fad cleanses aren’t healthy AND they don’t truly help you lose weight. If you want to be “clean” and lose weight, your only solution is to eat whole natural foods.
Even Dr. Oz says so!
“Models and Mortals”
So I love watching repeats of Sex and the City on TV. I don’t have to focus on them because I’ve now seen them all, but they are also ALWAYS entertaining. The episode I caught last night really grabbed my attention. It was called “Models and Mortals.” It discussed women having to measure up to the beauty of models, a beauty that didn’t seem attainable (which after my post about body image was really fascinating to me).
At one point Miranda, Charlotte, Carrie and Samantha were all sitting around eating and discussing what they hated about their bodies. Of course Samantha said she liked everything about her body (GO SAM! I’d love to be able to include a comment right now about how she lifts weights in the show…but….at least they show her at the gym in a few episodes…).
Carrie’s monologue then says something along the lines of “How can three otherwise rational women be made so self-conscious and insecure just because they looked at a model?”
My question is why does this happen?
What is it about models that makes us feel so insecure about ourselves and seek out the latest and quickest fad diet? Is there a way to stop it?
I think there is….it’s called living a healthy lifestyle 80% of the time – eating well, sleeping enough, exercising and PLAYING! Of course I included sleeping enough in there when I definitely haven’t been BUT it is a huge part of healthy living! If you live a healthy life (with cheat days of course!) you will feel better about yourself in general…at least I’ve found this helps.
When I know I’m eating well and lifting heavy, I’m more confident in how I look because my body feels good. It feels like everything is working in harmony. Of course, sleep also helps…partly because if you get enough sleep, you have less of the stress hormone, cortisol (which can hinder you from losing weight) and partly because if you get enough sleep, you have the energy to get a truly good lift in. As Fitbomb repeated says in his blog…if you don’t get enough sleep there may not even be any point in working out at all!
And now you may be wondering about why I said PLAY. Because play is active and another form of exercise? Yes! But also because you relieve stress when you play. This summer get out in the sun! Go run some sprints. Go swing on a swing. Go paddle boarding! Find something active and outside that you love to do and get those endorphins going! While I love weight training and think it is probably one of the best thing you can do for your body, playing is right up there! So don’t skip your lift but maybe play instead of doing cardio today! 🙂
As my sister loves to quote from Legally Blonde, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands, they just don’t.”
Man Bicep 