Thursday, June 28, 2012

Q: What's a good diet or fitness plan to jump start things?

Q: What's a good diet if I want to jump start my weight loss? Same for fitness - what about these 3 week, hard core programs? I hear they really work.

A: Yes, they do 'work', but I wouldn't call them 'good'.  Heck, I'm not sure I'd even really say they work without having some seriously powerful air quote action going on. I've been getting questions like these this week quite a bit.  They're really good questions, but they show how Americans are basically brain washed into looking for the quick fix rather than the sustainable, results-delivering path that will work today, tomorrow, and 5 years from now.

On the diet side, I hear people who are all set to commit to the Slow Carb approach (either 100% or pretty close to it), but they think they need a boost for the first couple of weeks to really shed some weight.  Let me just tell you right now, if you eat like most Americans, you won't need any boost or jump start.  I've seen a few folks I coach drop 5, 6 and 7 pounds in the first week.  If you choose to go with some shake diet, weird starvation thing, etc, all you're doing is stressing your body, and delaying the time when you will start to adjust to the SCD and make it your normal everyday diet.  The sooner you get on board with it, the sooner your results will follow, and, more importantly, endure.  And it's healthy, unlike these jump start fads, so you're doing right by your body on top of getting the fat off your frame.

On the exercise front, there's a popular program out there that starts with numbers and ends with an X.  There are others that list a place you would want to go if you were in great shape and then the word "Body".  You know what I'm talking about.  They do work in the sense that they seem to deliver results while you follow them.  But they don't work in the sense that they aren't typically long-term followable.  (What's that? Followable's not a word? Sure it is. Well, it is now, at least. You know what I mean.)  The key to finding a fitness rhythm that will endure is finding one that works for your life.   Long workouts on a regular basis are no more sustainable than shake or starvation (or any other fad) diets.  It goes back to the minimum effective dose (MED). It's not about working out for a long time, it's about working out smart.  No, instead, find something you can do that fits into your life, and make it part of your ongoing plan.  As you get better at it, add resistance, or cut back on it and add something else.  For me, it was the elliptical.  I have been doing it forever.  I did 45 minutes at a high resistance level before starting to follow the program I advise people on.  Now I do 30 minutes of intervals (including warm up and cool down).  I have since added some running, recumbent biking or other things in 10-20 minute blocks when I can to keep things interesting.  But I do it when I can make it fit my life, not because I have some deadline or someone on a DVD is yelling at me.

So, the message here is simple.  There's no quick fixes needed, and the quick fixes you might want to start with to get 'real results fast' are probably going to work against you.  Just get with the program - the sustainable program.  There's nothing quick or short term about it.  Remember, we're talking about changing your future, not just today.  That's what it means to enlighten.your.body.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Q: What's the deal with your logo? Is that a dude doing a crunch?

Q: So, what's the deal with your logo?  Is that the handicapped logo?  A guy doing a crunch?  The AOL Instant Messenger guy?

A: HA!  Good question. The logo for newbodi.es is a symbol I've been using for a while, and actually came up with nearly 20 years ago. It's called a Perplexion Mark, and it's based on a question mark.  If you block out the triangular part, you'll see what I mean.  See, it's like a question that keeps going - thus it's perplexing.  It's all about curiosity and challenge, and I think that makes it really appropriate for newbodi.es.

I actually have it tattooed on my left shoulder - something I got done about 10 years ago, so long before newbodi.es was a glimmer in my eye.  It ultimately sums up a big piece of what drives me.  I want to know more and understand more about how things are and how they work.  I want to question and challenge more and not simply accept what I'm told or the status quo.  If we aren't curious, we don't push ourselves or the general knowledge of those around us. If we don't challenge people get lazy, rest on their laurels, and new and better ways of doing things are developed.

For newbodi.es, it was a natural choice for the logo because a) it is a symbol that is very personal to me, and newbodi.es is my creation, and b) newbodi.es is about challenging yourself and your situation so you can do and be better.

Now, I don't see the AOL IM guy, but I do sort of see the crunch, and that isn't so bad in this context.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Don't Ignore the Core

For those who don't know, I'm at home recovering from open bilateral inguinal hernia surgery.  Basically, I got cut open on both sides of my abdomen (below the waste band), my guts where put back where they belong, some mesh was sewn in to help reinforce my newly stitched up muscle wall, and then I was glued shut with crazy glue.  I'm sure I got some of that wrong, but the point is, my ab area is in a ton of pain right now and super sensitive.

Of course, there's a silver lining to this pain cloud.  I'm learning just how much our abs and core are called into work in every day life.  Walking, turning while walking, carrying a light object, opening a door or drawer, plugging things in, getting into bed, getting out of bed (so painful!), getting into and out of a chair.  Going to the bathroom.  Showering.  The list goes on nearly endlessly.  When you have a very sharp pain in an area, you get much more aware of how you use that area.

I always knew the core was important to keep strong, but it's even clearer to me now. Balance and applying force seem to be the key things that call your core into action - even at times when you wouldn't think you need it (like using your arm to plug something in).  So, this is a somewhat short blog post, but the point should be clear - focusing some attention on your core is really crucial.  You depend so heavily on this area every day - more than you realize.  Keeping it strong will make life easier but also help protect so many other parts of your body by keeping you in balance and aligned.

So, it sounds cheesy and it rhymes, but don't ignore your core.

Monday, June 18, 2012

The Twitter 1K Challenge

So we're really kicking things off.  I sent out a blast email (check it out here) to really launch newbodi.es publicly.  I have our iOS apps out (trackbodi.es and trackbodi.es free).  I created our coaching offering and made it available for people to sign up.

In that email blast, I called out a challenge - I want @newbodi to have 1,000 followers on Twitter. But I'm not just asking for people to sign up - I'm putting some money on it.  Once I hit 1,000 followers, I'll select 15 winners to give out the following.
This isn't small potatoes stuff.  The first price is valued at over $1,000.  No joke.

So, go to Twitter, and follow @newbodi.  Head to Facebook and like newbodi.es (http://www.facebook.com/newbodies). Visit http://www.newbodi.es and learn more about how you can change your body and change your life.  In the end, as I say, I want you to enlighten.your.body.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Q: Why do you weigh yourself daily? Isn't it 'bad' to weigh every day?

Q:  Every program I've seen always talks about weekly weigh ins rather than the daily ones you seem to do.  Are daily weigh ins ok?  Better?  Worse?  Why do you do them?


A: You know, it really doesn't matter, actually. It's just about measuring something you can put a goal around and be mindful of. newbodi.es Principle #1 is to track something. It's really crucial. Tim Ferriss, whose teachings I based much of newbodi.es on, doesn't like weighings and calorie counting, but he likes them better than nothing. He's more a fan of body fat percentage, inches lost, etc. But, again, it just doesn't matter. The calories thing is probably the least helpful, though, since it can lead to poor choices in diet that work against your progress. For example, I eat more fat than I've ever eaten, and am also leaner than I've ever been. Calorie counting wouldn't allow for this because fat grams are so dense in calories.


Tim shares the story of a guy who does nothing more than weigh himself and track it.  He doesn't try to change his life to hit any particular numbers.  Yet, almost miraculously, he loses weight.  Why?  He's now conscious of it, and he subconsciously makes different choices in such a subtle way as to not notice it impacting his life.  The same goes for 'tracking' what you eat by taking a pic of it on your phone.  As Tim puts it, you are a lot less likely to eat a one pound bag of M&Ms if you stop for a minute and focus in on what you're about to do.  In both cases, the tracking isn't the important part so much as the responsibility it imparts in you by making you aware of your choices and their consequences - be it consciously or subconsciously.

For me, tracking weight and body fat in the morning and night works. Something else might work for you, but just have something to track. And then create a long and short term goal around it (Principle #4). You want to be sure to stay mindful of the line between obsessing and tracking or being mindful. I don't actually care what my weight is because I'm well within where I wanted to be (actually, I'm nearly 10 lbs under what I was aiming for, and am starting to care that it's too low as I've been losing weight lately without much logic as to why), so if I go up to 178 or something, I really don't get phased, and I don't overreact. I wouldn't even mind if I hit 180 again, or went slightly over since I know how to bring it right back to where I want it.  t just live my life and see what the numbers say to be sure I'm doing the right thing.



This is a reason I like the Nike+ Fuel Band so much.  Nike Fuel does has a basis in science and energy expenditure, but it's totally abstract to the user.  Yet you end up really focusing on it - hitting your goals, raising your goals, etc.  This may be more than enough for most people and can keep them from developing eating disorders or something unhealthy that people fear comes about from frequent weighings.


In the end, pick something that's meaningful, trackable, and that you can set goals around.  And then track it religiously.  This is exactly why I developed trackbodi.es, my new iOS app. Unlike other fitness apps, it isn't overly structured around any particular exercise, metric, etc.  It is a template that allows you to customize whatever it is you really want to track.  No, it doesn't have a ton of features like connecting to a WiThings scale or blood pressure monitor, reading your heart rate on a Polar heart rate monitor, GPS tracking of your runs, etc.  But it allows you to see that thing you feel is important, set a goal for it (Principle #4 again), and watch how you do over time (plus share that performance with your social network for support and peer pressure - Principle #2).


If you haven't downloaded it yet, check out trackbodi.es.  We have a free (ad supported) and paid (ad free) version available now for the iPhone.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

If you're not fit, you mustn't quit

Ok, that's a bad twist on the "If they don't fit, you must acquit" line from the OJ Simpson murder trial, but the point is still valid. Results can take time, so you can't walk away too quickly if you aren't seeing what you ultimately want yet after a week or two.

We, as a society are dangerously indoctrinated with and trained to expect instant gratification. Countless diet pill and shake commercials and gym membership ads imply that you'll fit into that little red dress or have rock hard abs in no time. It doesn't work that way. That might sound bad to most, but the truth is that it shouldn't. I've posted a lot on how you need your mind to be there with your body for this to stick and really change your life. How could that happen if it only took like 4 days to hit your physical goal? It couldn't.

No, you need to put in some work and need to get used to the changes little by little. That's another reason those pill and shake ads imply super speed - would you really go for them if you thought it would take swallowing that stuff for months? If you're not a gym person yet, would you jump at their offer if you thought you'd have to stick it out for a while? No, you wouldn't because your mind isn't there yet. But I would suggest that you are smarter than that - don't let these ploys insult your intelligence and lead you away from real, lasting results and health.

The truth is, the problem isn't that it can take weeks or months to get where you want to ultimately go - after all, you have the rest of your life to be healthy, so what's the rush? The solution is that you need some interim goals to keep you going through the more realistic timing that should be involved here. I talk about this in Principle #4 - set goals, both near and far. You have to have way markers to let you know it's working and to motivate you onto the next goal. This is how marathons, walkathons, etc work. There are check points, mile markers, etc to keep you going. This is a key feature of lots of running apps for your phone. I love how Nike+ GPS checks in with me to give me my progress and cheer me on. It's hugely helpful.

And the good news is that you keep feeling like a champ for genuine reasons that you delivered for yourself. Setting meaningful short term goals means hitting them is a genuine accomplishment worth feeling proud of yourself for. It's not some "everyone is a winner" entitlement generation stuff. Nor is it the 'magic' of living on a calorie restricting shake diet. It's very real. I wanted to go from 222 pounds on July 1 2011 to 185 by year end last year. I set a couple of interim goals, including 200 by my 33rd birthday, which coincided with a annual physical exam in October. Guess what - I was 185 - my ultimate goal - at that visit. Two and a half months early. I felt damn proud, and I deserved to. It sparked a whole new fire in me that lead to newbodi.es. So I got to set a new goal of 10% body fat or less by year end. And another longer term one of maintaining that through to the 1 year mark for the whole thing (July 1 2012). I have fewer than 4 weeks to go, and should do just fine. Why? Because it is real, measurable and manageable. I get to be challenged but also know I can do it if I work at it and then be proud when I do. And it's something I am doing myself, not some drink, pill, surgeon, etc. I put the work in to better myself, and got success myself. My determination. My sweat. My results.

You can, too. It's all part of enlightening your body.