Biblical Wellness Coaching Contest!

If you've followed me for awhile you have seen the metamorphasis from just self-branding to the creation of my coaching platform, Biblical Wellness. 

Biblical Wellness is something that I wanted to create so that I may spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to more people and to impact their own lives through coaching in fitness & nutrition. 

I want to tell you about a promotion that you can enter to win!

Head over to my contest page and enter to win a month of free coaching ($200 value).  What you'll get:

• Accountability Coaching to keep you on track
• Fitness program customized for you
• Nutritional Program customized for you
• Unlimited text/Facebook Messenger (I have an Android, so this is preferred when interacting with iPhone's)
• Weekly video chat
• And more!

I'll be closing it down on April 8 and announcing the winner on April 9.  

This is online coaching, so what you get is entirely remote.   I provide much through Facebook Messenger and Google documents/calendar.  

Enter to win by April 8 and I'll email the winner directly.  God Bless!

How to eat for fat loss?

You wouldn't think that when you want to lose weight, specifically fat, that you'd be eating all of the time.  However this is exactly what you end up doing.  It's actually fairly simple, but nevertheless it's something that we tend to mess up when we try for it. 

The numbers add up differently for different people.  Men vs. Women.  Large frame vs. small frame.  Active vs. sedentary.  This can go on and on.  

Overlooking some of the numbers (like calories), some basics are that you should have vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, etc., at every meal.  You should be eating protein, not avoiding it.  Protein helps you feel fuller longer, plus it aids in fat loss.  Carbs, usually a villain, is also important as it provides you with energy. 

Regular measured out portions help for you to feel full, to burn fat, and to stay in top performance.  An example break-down follows: 

1.  Breakfast: Eggs w/ spinach & mushrooms

2.  Mid-morning Snack:  Protein Shake

3.  Lunch:  Sweet Potato, Chicken Breast, Broccoli

4.  Mid-afternoon Snack:  Tuna, Cauliflower florets, oats

5.  Dinner: Rice, Fish or Chicken Breast, Kale, Spinach, Cabbage

6.  Post Dinner-  Protein Shake

This is just an example, as you may not like some of the foods (as in my case with the rice & kale).  It's always good to begin with an inventory of what you like and dislike, maybe a trip to the grocery store and surveying the foods in the produce section.  

Also notice that there's not much fruit on the menu.  Fruit is good for you but naturally high in sugar, so it's best to be around a workout rather than any other time.  

I hope that this give's you an idea of how to eat and when.  

You can get more information, challenges, and accountability through Biblical Wellness

"Like" & "Share" this post if you want to help others.  

Cheat Meals, yes?

The motivation and purpose behind a cheat meal.   Also testing a new intro/outro.  Enjoy!

The Power of Supplementation, performance edition

In my previous post, I discussed how supplementation can help improve your diet & nutrition.  This post highlights more of how supplements can boost your performance.

Most athletes view supplements as a way to improve their performance.  In honesty, I thought that too when I first was driving into the field.  The first supplement that I had ever taken was a form of creatine monohydrate called Cell-tec (or Cel-tec, I don't remember exactly).  In any case, I was supplementing with it largely because my friends were and because it seems that what limited knowledge I had at the time was that it was supposed to get me ripped and huge.

Nevertheless, nothing is what it seems.  I can no longer take creatine without becoming violently ill.  It's a rare side effect associated with it's use.  The moment it hits my stomach I vomit, nearly every time.  Pretty terrible if you ask me.  So I go on, not taking it.

My friends & colleagues now can take it without any adverse effect.  Most of them take it so that they can lift more weight or to put on mass.  I envy them to some degree.  The primary effect of supplementing with creatine is an increase in performance, specifically lifting and sprint performance.  One of the major ways that this is accomplished is by increasing the water in the cells, of which is what binds to creatine at a molecular level.

I mentioned in my previous post BCAAs, or Branched Chain Amino Acids, these are amino acids that are primary metabolized in the muscles rather than going through a chain of events to get there.  My primary reason for use is to preserve as much muscle tissue as I can in a caloric deprived state.  I find that in hyper-dosing (a lot of BCAAs), that I don't experience the same degree of soreness as I would otherwise.

Regardless, some supplements are designed to boost performance.  The ones that I had talked about are some of the best out there.  In my next post, I want to discuss the superpower, Omega 3.  

The power of supplementation, dietary edition

Supplements are a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States.  Every day various supplements are taken by Americans looking to improve their health, vitality, and performance.  For this post, I want to discuss with you how supplements can impact your overall health, from a dietary standpoint. 

Dietary supplements are food-based products that are intended to supplement the diet, not replace it.  The way I look at it, supplements either help you regarding your nutrition or regarding your performance.  In my next post, I'll be talking about the performance aspect of supplements. 

Look at your own nutrition.  Let's take a start by wandering off to your fridge and peering inside.  What do you see in your own refrigerator?  Is it mostly styrofoam containers leftover from takeout restaurants?  Is it mostly fresh fruit and vegetables?  Are there matching containers filled with matching foods?  Which is it? Any of those or none of those? 

Regardless of how you answered, odds are your nutrition sucks.  If it's fruits & vegetables & lean proteins (which it should be), you are probably struggling to get all of your calories in.  I know for me, I'm aiming for around 1600 Kcal per day and that's only for weight loss.  To get a healthy 1600 kcal in, it's pretty challenging without supplementation. 

The majority of my own supplementation comes in the form of protein, of which I get around 60g per day from supplements.  Largely because of speed, convenience, and prep time protein supplementation is my go-to so that I may hit my goal of 200g/day of protein.  Plus, imagine how many eggs and chicken you need to eat pretty frequently to get there. 

Additionally, I do two 24 hour fasts per week.  That's dinner to dinner fasting.  Now, it's not ultra strict fasting, because I consume Arbonne Greens Balance and BCAA's with the intent on maintaining as much muscle mass ad I can with losing as much fat mass as I can.  Plus, I'm heavily caffeinated on those days that I fast.  The greens provide fiber, vitamins & minerals, and keep me balanced, while the BCAA's provide the amino acids for my muscles to stay intact without compromise. 

So supplementation is built to improve and add-to your diet.  It's not a replacement, but a boost.  If you exercise regularly, you'll need to have more calories, more protein, and likely more carbs and fats in your diet.  Post what you do supplement in the comments! And, for more information check out my supplement consulting site, http://MartinHubner.arbonne.com/

I heart food

Food, it's what unites us.  It's what we all share and enjoy in company.  It's what keeps us alive.  And it's what we don't understand. 

Nutritionally, food is made up of a combination of protein (pro), fat, and carbohydrate (carb).  However we don't eat nutrition, we eat food.  Food is made up of all nutrients, from vitamins & minerals to macro-nutrients like pro, fat, & carbs. When we eat, we absorb all of these things to put to work in our bodies. 

Eating foods is pretty simple, and finding nutritious foods is also simple.  For example, I'm writing this on Sunday night and what we had for dinner is one of my favorites...grilled turkey breast (over charcoal), sweet potato, broccoli, and we tried these broccoli & cheese tots.  From all of this we get our pro (turkey), fats (butter if added, or from the tots), and carbs from sweet potato and broccoli.  Overall the meal, if you count out the tots, was around 300-500 cal if you account for portion size. 

I love eating like that.  It's healthy, it's tasty, and you don't make yourself feel guilty over any of it.  Plus my kids love it, which is challenging by itself.  They don't care about vitamins and minerals or macros, they care about how it tastes. 

Taste is more important than virtually anything else when it comes to nutrition.  Just because something is healthy, doesn't mean it tastes good.  Just because something tastes good doesn't mean it's healthy.  You need taste and satiety to enjoy the food, without it it's just food. 

Honestly, and the most important part I need to make note of, is that often you need to eat much more than you think you do.  Like what I ate for dinner, I was full pretty quick and only tapped into a small percentage of my total calorie estimation.  Often to fill the void, we supplement. 

Next week, my view on supplementation.  

What the "experts" say?

Fitness & nutrition are some of the most misunderstood topics.  I can be considered an expert at fitness and nutrition due to my experience and education, and in many ways I am.  In other ways, I would consider myself to be a novice.  This would definitely be based off of my experience in training. 

There are many who may be considered experts in fitness & nutrition, and like myself they are in many ways.  However you don't know what you don't know.  And there are many things that these experts get right, and many others that they don't.  One thing to consider is that each person is different, and in many ways we can focus on training and nutrition in the same way. 

Now, we have many people who enter the gym and do their own thing.  You have many who truly know what they're doing, and this is evident based upon the technique, exercise selection, and distribution of exercises, not to mention physique.  You have others who kind of know what they're doing, and fall into a lot of what I had said in the previous sentence, but their routine is identical day-to-day and week-to-week.  There's nothing exceptionally wrong with this approach, it's the comfort routine, but progress will stall after awhile. 

Finally, we have many who for whatever their own reasons choose to attempt to exercise and follow nutrition plans piece-mealed.  Now, some of these are sound, but unless you have a descent understanding of physiology and mechanics, it's not always the best approach.  Often, its wise to pursue some degree of expertise prior to beginning an exercise program and nutrition plan.  And to note, most physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician-assistants (all providers) are likely to have a limited understanding of nutrition and exercise....maybe an undergraduate course or two.  Some of them do, but you'll need to check their credentials and history. 

Overall, it's best that you consult an expert...especially in matters pertaining to fitness & nutrition.  For the overall "plan" you can easily look online (like me!) and get plans built custom for you to achieve your goals.  For the technical parts, it's more challenging.  If you do it remotely, you can always put your phone to good use and film yourself performing something or live-stream it.  Though with much of the technical (form) work, it's best to get private lessons, even if it's only a few. 

Exercise to live, not live to exercise!

Why do you exercise?  Is it something that helps for you to function throughout a day?  Is it something to relieve stress?  What about just feeling good?  Does it do that?

Do you exercise to function in life or does your life function to exercise?  These are basically opposite of each other.  On the one hand you have the sole purpose of being able to do the things that you love better, on the other hand your purpose is entirely to be better at exercise.  Both of them are valid and both of them are real in many people. 

The majority of us exercise to live.  We enjoy things that aren't related to exercise, at least directly.  I enjoy spending time with my family, reading & writing, and many other things unrelated to exercise.  Exercise, to me, is to make my life easier.  Walking up the stairs in the middle of the night to get one of the kids, or doing work around the house, or even teaching my oldest daughter how to box, are why I exercise.  It makes these tasks easier and more enjoyable.  Though the exercise itself may be very unpleasant. 

A minority lives to exercise.  This is a radically different state of mind.  Probably the best example I can give, and it's not really the best, are the case of many CrossFitters...who spend much of the time discussing workouts, doing workouts, and thinking about the next workout.  There's nothing wrong with this state of mind either, but in my opinion, there's more to life than workouts. 

Now, an even smaller minority is paid to exercise.  These individuals can be seen in many forms, even when they're not being directly paid (in the case of collegiate athletes).  Many receive sponsorships of some kind and these individuals can serve as inspiration to those who do not live to exercise. 

So which do you do?  Exercise to live?  Or live to exercise?  Take some time to think about your answer and why you choose to do what you do.  

The music that moves you!

When you workout, what's the music that moves you?  What pushes you harder than you could without it?  Each of us gravitate towards a different genre, tempo, or mood. 

What I tend to listen to

My music choice is dependent on my mood.  It's not that I don't like a variety of genres, but I do have some I prefer over others.  It also depends on what I'm doing, such as driving, lifting, running, or relaxing. 

Most of the time when I'm driving I listen to podcasts over music, unless my day has been sort of stressful.  This allows for me to learn new things doing something I do anyway.  If any of the family is in the car, I tend to put on music, generally a radio station rather than my own playlists.  Usually it's the country station (for my wife) or the Christian station (for me) when they're in the car. 

Running is different.  Sometimes I zone out to some Marine Corps cadences (on Spotify) and other times I need a fast paced style like Metallica.  The running cadences are for that exact purpose, and if you've ever been in the military you know that it's sometimes helpful to allow you to keep up the pace.  With Metallica (and others like them) it's partially the speed of the music and the length of the songs.  An example would be Master of Puppets, which clocks in at around 8:48, that's about a mile for me.  You get a lot of these cheesy pop songs that clock in about 3 min and that's not enough to get you through anything. 

Screenshot of some of what I like

Lifting is dependent on what I'm doing.  Most of the time it's some high-speed power metal or Christian rock (or a mix of those).  More-often than not, it's background noise and I'm not particularly focused on anything other than what I'm doing.  With lifting, I kind of like the more epic storytelling approach, such as Ayreon (I know, you're probably like ?????).  If I'm lifting with a partner, then I do tend to go with whatever they want, since it's usually more mainstream than what I like. 

As you can see, I adjust my music for what I'm doing and who I'm with.  I made an attempt one day to put on what I like in one of my classes and that ended up with a lot of nope. 

So what music moves you?  Why does it?  Just something to think about as you do your thing in the world. 

Sabotage!

Goal setting at the new year is common.  And if you looked at my posts last week I referenced new years resolutions and how to either succeed or fail at them.  Today is more of a reference to how to fail, but mostly how to sabotage your goals.

Your goals are easy to sabotage.  If they weren't, would the goals you made last year be successful? 
Wouldn't the goals you made this year be different than last? 

It's not because you lack the motivation, but the accountability to achieve your goals.  Everyone's motivated to lose weight, to save money, and whatever else may be their goal.  Who holds you accountable
for these goals?  Do you have a coach, a training partner, a stockbroker, a spouse, even your dog to tell and keep you accountable for these goals?

Motivation is easy, accountability is hard.  You can be motivated to lose weight, but without being held accountable for your actions, it's a sabotage of your goal.  Accountability is the opposite of self-sabotage. 

Who do you trust with your goal? 
Why do you trust them?

My accountability is being held by my wife and my friends who undergo the same torture that I go through (lifting & fat loss).  We use the "team" approach, which allows for more than 1 person to hold accountable. 

Finally, to achieve the strength and determination to accomplish my goals, I pray.  Laugh if you will, but prayer is powerful and necessary to live a wonderful life.  So, not only are my wife and my friends my accountability partners, but Jesus is too.  I pray for success, for accomplishment, and to be granted with the ability to carry out God's will, not my own.  This is the ultimate way to block sabotage, as no one can sabotage the Lord. 

So who do you trust? I trust the Lord.  Why do you trust?  I trust Him because he can do all things. 

My success is His, and my failures are mine.  Trust in the Lord, as your friend, accountability partner, and guardian and all things will be done.

How to fail at your New Years Resolution.

In my previous post, I talked about how to succeed in keeping your New Years Resolutions.  This time, however, I want to talk about how to fail at your resolutions.  I find this to be important because more often than not we do fail, but don't understand why we fail.  This is actually simpler than succeeding at them. 

To fail at your New Years Resolutions:

1.  Make them last second, like December 26th-31st.
2.  Don't have someone hold you accountable.
3.  Don't actually make a note of what you want to accomplish, just talking about it doesn't work.
4.  Don't keep records of what you're doing. 
5.  Make them overly complicated and unattainable.
6.  Be impatient.

Most of the time, if you can stick to the basics such as simplicity, record keeping, and accountability you'll succeed.  You may not succeed quickly, but you'll succeed.  Failure is much simpler and we often get wrapped up in the complexity of what we'd like to do rather than being patient and riding out the storm.

An example would be weight loss.  Go into any gym in the United States in January and you'll see what we call New Years Resolutioners.  These individuals pay for a gym membership (great for cash flow!) and use it for about a week or two and then quit.  If you think about how long it took to gain that weight, think of at least 50% of that time to lose it.  Same with smoking or some other type of addiction, it takes time and patience to break these habits and they cannot be done overnight.  This is where accountability comes in. 

To fail at your resolutions, keep them complicated and be impatient.  Rome wasn't built in a day and neither are your goals.  Think of reaching these goals like sailing through the ocean, sometimes it's rough, sometimes it's calm, but you'll eventually get to your destination.  

How to keep your New Years Resolution.

You want to lose weight.
You want to quit smoking.
You want to start a new degree (or finish an old one). 


Whatever it is, your New Years Resolution, is yours.  We all make them, whether we realiz
e it or not.  We strive to begin each and every new year with the intent to accomplish something that we either were unable to accomplish in the previous, or something that we've never tried before.  Many of our resolutions are health related, but they don't have to be.  Mine are fairly simple and straightforward:

1.  Take each kid (and wife) on their own "date."
2.  Begin membership site. 
3.  Expand my neuro-rehab program to another cohort. 
4.  Ditch the dad-bod. 

There are a few ways that you can stick with your resolution.  The first is one that I just demonstrated to you.  I proclaimed it to the world.  This holds me accountable to you, who read this blog.  You don't have to start a blog to hold it accountable.  Maybe updating a Facebook Status each day that you want to proclaim your resolution.  An even more effective way (backed by science!) is to physically write it down.  You're in the 60+% range of being more likely in keeping your goal if you write it down and refer to it regularly. 

Another method in keeping your resolution would be to find/hire a coach.  This can be an accountability coach (i.e. someone who contacts you on a regular basis to see if you're meeting your goals and expectations), a therapist, a physical fitness coach (I'm reluctant to say "personal trainer" here), even your barber/stylist!  In paying $$$ to someone, you are more than likely going to stick with your path to the goal that you've set for yourself.  This doesn't have to be an exorbitant amount of $, but there is research to suggest that you're more than likely going to achieve success than if you don't. 

Finally, keep it simple.  I showed you 4 of my goals, and they expand upon different aspects of my life.  The first is family,  the second is personal development/entrepreneurship, the third is career-minded, and the fourth is physical.  Most of these are in for the long-haul and won't show their progress in a few short months, and I'm completely at ease with this.  Many of these will take the better part of 2018 and probably even into 2019 before I see a return on my time investment.  Don't over-elaborate your goals and you'll have an easier time seeing the success you crave.

To keep your New Years Resolution proclaim it, get mentored, and keep it simple.  If you accomplish these, success will be in your hands.  

Merry Christmas

Keeping it short today, but I hope you have a Merry Christmas!

Remember that this day isn't about presents, it's about celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

It's about the fellowship we share with each other. 

Enjoy the time with your families. 

PR Appeal

As we approach the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, I wanted to discuss with you the lure of the Personal Record (PR).  This past year, I have only set a single PR, and that was in an unbelted deadlift.  Something that I used to do, however, was chase the PR and that would get me into trouble. 

I bring this up because once you hit a PR, and especially if you do it fairly
regularly (which is common for novice exercisers), you're apt to keep chasing it.  It's kind of like a heroin addict chasing the high.  Once you reach the first PR, it's onto the next one and to the next one.  While this can be a very positive thing, it also comes with a risk, and that risk may be overtraining, excessive overreaching, burnout, or injury. 

While we are exiting 2017, think about the PR's you've set, if you've set any.  Looking to the future, think about the PR's you'd like to set for 2018.  Dedicating your training to reaching the PR's is more effective at facilitating a positive change for your entire well-being rather than attempting to dedicate your exercise with the sole intent to change your image. 

The PR can identify how you train, how you think, and how you feel.  You'll train harder, smarter, and with greater purpose.  You'll think clearer, with focus, and purpose.  You'll feel stronger, leaner, and tighter.  PR's are made with hard work.  They're made with a sound strategy. And they're only made by those ready to make them. 

As we enter 2018, what PR's are important to you?  How will you go about achieving those PR's?  And what will you do to reach them? 

The chase is on!

Conquer.

In 2017, is there anything that stood out as a triumph in your life?  Can you look back upon the year and know that you've given it all?  What is it that you could've done differently (that is, if you wanted to do it differently.)?

What about 2018?  What goals have you set aside for yourself to accomplish?  What more do you feel that you need to do?  Set aside the framework now, before 2018, to realize that your goals are accomplishable.  Here are some of mine, which may give you a launch pad for your own goals:

1.  Positively impact at least 1 new person per month.
2.  Become proficient at speaking and understanding Russian.
3.  Become 4/5 complete with my MBA requirements. 
4.  Exercise at least 3x per week, vigorously.
5.  Watch a movie, go to the park, anything my kids want at least 1x per week. 
6.  Have a date with my wife at least 1x per month. 

As you can see, these are pretty general, but nevertheless they can open up to more specific goals.  They each reflect something about my personality and life that I can accomplish with just a slight change in my behavior.  As I announce this to the world (via this post), I hope that you as my readers hold me accountable for my actions.

I look now and realize that it's never a bad thing to always try to be a good person.  Thus, many of my goals are about become a better person, citizen, disciple, husband, and father.  Each day that I do good for someone, the better place I leave this world. 

Think about what you'll conquer in 2018.  Think about the goals that you've set aside and announce them to the world, or at least write them down and place them in front of you to see each and every day. 

Go and conquer your goals and let the world know!

What does health mean to you?

What does health mean to you?  This is a question I pose to my students as part of their final exam.  I ask this question rather than bring up several multiple choice questions because this one is personal to each and every one of us. 

So what does health mean to you?  Can you answer this question in multiple domains such as physical health, mental or emotional health, and spiritual health? 

My own viewpoint is multifaceted.  I've had varying degrees of influenc
e upon my life which has ultimately changed me, for the better I think.  I'd like to go into my own journey through health and what it means to me. 

Beginning with spiritual health, because in all honesty it's the most important element, I'd like to acknowledge my wife's influence here.  The Lord had influenced her to influence me.  Without her, I am unsure of how my path with Him would be, but what I know is that it wouldn't be where it is and where I believe it to be going.  Growing up Catholic, I don't believe I had a relationship with the Lord in the sense that I should've.  I imagine that I am not the only one, hence the various denominations that are in existence.  Now, I would consider myself Presbyterian, especially since we do belong to the local Presbyterian Church.  One thing that I would like to do to help fill a spiritual void is to undergo mission work at some point in my life.  Until then, the Lord has granted and privileged me with a different mission. 

Next, I'd like to touch on a sensitive subject, which is mental and emotional health.  Much of my life, I would consider myself to be a normal person.  Most of the time I'm even keeled, without any inkling of a disorder underneath.  However, with the knowledge, or should I say wisdom, that I've gained over my life thus far, I realize that I've battled some degree of mental health disorders throughout my life.  When I was young, we moved from New York to Pennsylvania, and when this occurred I spiraled into a depression.  Looking back, it was very strictly depression.  I'd isolate myself into my room and basically avoid any kind of social construct that would've inevitably removed the depression. 

Later, while in the Marine Corps, I had what I would look at now as acute Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  Part of it was the combat experience, and part of it wasn't.  The reason I say acute, rather than your more "traditional" chronic would be that I don't battle this norm
ally.  There are occasions to where I'm more triggered than normal, but in recent times, this is becoming increasingly rare.  Truth be told, without the physical component, I'm not sure if the battle would've been "won."

Physical health, the thing that we most often associate with health above all things.  Generally speaking, our physical health ties into our mental health, and our spiritual health is the glue that holds the whole thing together.  The Marine Corps began my love/hate relationship with exercise.  Without that experience, I doubt I'd be anywhere I am right now.  My physical fitness is tied into my mental/emotional health and my relationship with Jesus ties it all together.  I attest that physical fitness helped for me to be where I am, and that place is much better than I'm sure the alternative would be. 

I consciously acknowledge that my genetics play a role in my decision to exercise and eat generally healthy.  My dad has had heart disease and is a Type II Diabetic, as was my grandfather.  With this knowledge, I don't want to undergo any of those.  So I lift, and I fight.  This helps for me to avoid these potential futures, and it helps my mental health as well. 

So what does health mean to you?  Does this help to guide you to answer this question for yourself?  Try to figure out how these elements of health fit into your life and you'll be all the better for it.  Just remember, your health is yours and yours alone. 

Injuries happen, and when they do.

Right now, I'm dealing with a wrist sprain.  It's on my non-dominant arm, but nevertheless it made me realize how much I use this arm in my day-to-day activities.  I also realized how stubborn I was in that it took about 3-5 people to basically convince me to get it checked out.  In the end, after some x-rays, it's sprained and not broken.

Seeing how stubborn I am regarding being injured leads me to my next point, what happens when we're injured.  If you're like I am, and injure your arm/hand/wrist, and you use it in your daily life as part of it, you need to rehab and heal quickly.  Another trainer at the gym is dealing with a similar injury, except that his is a rib injury; and, like myself, he's stubborn in resting it. 

Rest, rehab, and recovery are all important.  To some extent we can train through
or around some of it, but we don't fully recover from our injuries this way.  Sometimes we need to recover in order to rise from it better than we were before.  I am fortunately not stubborn in this area. 

I am at the point now to where my lifting is non-existent, because it hurts the wrist, and my sparring is limited.  Fortunately there, I can develop my kicks and use my dominant arm in a much greater capacity than I do, so there is a positive.  However, it still is a buzzkill because I'm limited in my choices. 

So, when you're injured, don't be stubborn like I am and wait to get it checked out.  Go ahead and take care of it as soon as you can so that you're not in a position to wait longer to get back to doing what you do.  Rest the injury, rehab (if necessary), and recover from the injury so that you may rise from it better than you were before.  

Laying the foundation. An approach to life.

In the coming weeks, I promise you that you'll begin to see "experts" on how to improve your health, fitness, nutrition, and whatever else your New Years Resolution is concerned.  However, the issue with these "experts" is that they often don't live the lives we live.  They may not have 2+ kids, work one or two jobs, own a house, etc.,  They often don't live anywhere remotely to the life that you live. 

Often on Good Morning America, Live, etc., they highlight these trainers, instructors, nutritionists, and any other health or fitness related "guru" and their "methods" in getting people back in shape after indulging themselves for a month (or the year).  Often, these exercises are complex, ballistic, or something that shouldn't be done except by the very trained.  You wouldn't think that simply jumping could be detrimental, but it often is for many people, especially if you have a few extra pounds to lose. 

Supporting your weight management, health, fitness, nutrition, etc., comes from understanding the foundatinot complicated stuff wins out in the end.  Take exercise for example, the squat is one of the simplest to perform but can move to nearly unlimited potential.  Sets of 5 feel radically different than sets of 25, and racking the bar across the front is radically different than in the back.  Nevertheless most good, if not great, training programs include this exercise. 
on and basics of each.  Simply put, the simple,

Nutritionally we talk a big game like superfoods, non-GMO, etc., but do we know what that truly means?  More often than not, the superfoods that you're not eating are plain ol' vegetables.  And the non-GMO, depending on how original it is, it's hard to define whether it legitimately is or isn't.  Take watermelon for example, we've modified it genetically by cross-breeding it over and over again with variations of it so that we get the moder
n incarnation of watermelon.  Thus, it's been genetically modified.  Did you know that?  I doubt it, because it's not common knowledge.  Take a look at the picture and see what I mean. 

Simply put, you want to change your life?  You need to change your thinking.  It doesn't have to be complex, it only has to work.  Set aside some time to do some exercise, not enough to practically kill you, but enough to start working.  Go ahead and add a vegetable to each meal, and eat it first rather than last; this will save you from eating the more calorie dense foods later.  Lastly, eat slower than you already do.  So what you can do in this case is time how long it takes for you from start to finish.  When you try to eat slower, begin with 25% slower, and work from there. 

It's the little, foundational changes, that matter.  Not any of those complex, flashy changes that last a week and you're back in your old habits.  Take the time to plan the best way for you to modify your existing habits, nothing crazy, but enough to start to make the change.  Focus on the foundation and you're in for a life of change!

Challenge Accepted: A public declaration of fitness

A week or so ago I posted about the challenge that is December.  With all of the Christmas parties, unhealthy meals, alcohol, and only God knows what, we tend to fall off the wagon and gain a pound or two.  I won't lie to you and say that I'm off the hook.  I love the deserts and foods that are associated with the holidays.

I battle my weight just like many other people.  I go through those periods to where I don't want to work out or eat well, and I basically let myself go.  Now, the one thing that I do which is unlike many, is to plan my eating and my workouts several weeks in advance.

Now with this being said, I want to publicly acknowledge of a few things I'll be doing in the forthcoming months.  With this admission, I expect you to hold me accountable as well and if I fall off the wagon, hold me to it.

First, I plan on doing some sort of bodyweight or barbell exercise every single day.

Second, I plan on improving mine and my family's eating by focusing more on vegetables and less on starchy carbohydrates (I'm pretty sure my wife's on board with this).

Finally, I plan on sharing with you at least every other week either what I've done dietary-wise or fitness-wise.

All of this helps to hold onto accountability.  By publicly declaring my intention, I now have you to help me stick to it.

I won't lie to you, this won't be easy.  There are days that we come home from work late and Chick Fil A is the easiest choice.

This was my declaration to you and the challenge to myself.  What is it that you'll be declaring to the world as a challenge to you.

The power of being nice.

The other day I was in a store getting a Christmas gift for someone special in my life and I had the opportunity to witness some really piss poor customer service.  There seemed to be only two working in the store and one of them proceeded to step in front of me without so much of an "excuse me," and then proceeded to vent to her colleague about whatever the insurmountable stress she was undergoing at that particular point.

After her vent, which I'm sure was heard by many in the store, she proceeded into the back of the store (like the back, where they store everything they need to stock; you retail people would understand that better than I can explain it).  Then the line grew.  The one woman who was particularly apologetic to those of us in line, and in the meantime she made an attempt to get the other wo
man (girl) to come out and help.  Fortunately, there were a few of us who in line with a very small amount of items.  In any case, this girl didn't know how much she showed her ass.

I bring up this story because I had witnessed some piss-poor customer service and some good customer-service.  The girl who essentially abandoned her colleague during a time when her support was vitally needed.  The woman who was helping the customers was extremely apologetic and making a wholehearted attempt to satisfy the needs of the customers. 

This story serves to give you my perspective on how the customer service industry runs.  Working in the customer service industry, this is something that we have to do all of the time.  A good rule of thumb is that we don't air our dirty laundry in the middle of the workplace.  Yes, we all have our bad times, but to allow for those whom we need to interact with for our livelihood is definitely unprofessional.

Being nice isn't all that hard.  As much as I tend to come across as an asshole (initially), I believe that I'm genuinely nice (most of the time).  I believe in going out of my way to make the members and clientele feel welcome and genuinely cared for.  Niceness can go a long way in changing a person's life. 

Even if you're having a bad day, fake it until you make it.  At some point you'll be from having a bad day to a good one, once nice thing at a time.