Generation X Life Support

As I skimmed though some of the highlighted articles on a popular search engine this morning, I came across a headline regarding skinny French women. I know there is a line of books on the subject, however, this article focused mainly on the Author’s observation of American women ‘torturing’ themselves in the gym; needlessly. It goes on to discuss how French women are capable of maintaining weight without ever donning spandex and trying feverishly to undo the eating binges from the previous day. Instead, French women place significant importance on incorporating more walking and general movement throughout the day.

Here is where I get a little twisted – The article goes on to mention the usual nonsense about taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking a little further from the mall, etc. While I would never advise against it, I’m fearful that these small tricks are sending false hope to our American sisters. What is failed to be hightlighted in this article is that the French eat much differently than we do. Mainly, but certainly not exclusively, they eat much smaller portions than we do. America is the land of super size, we over eat at virtually every meal. Heck, even our snacks are outrageously large. It’s part of culture, plain and simple. We are a culture of affluence and when the food source is so abundant and our jobs force us to be so sedentary, it really does take significant effort to beat obesity.

So how do we combat this: Well, in part, follow the French. Eat much smaller portions. But also, it takes a complete overhaul on your diet as well as a regimented exercise plan. There is no need for expensive gym memberships or fancy equipment, it’s very easy to do a complete and effective workout right in your own home.

With a little bit of education on exercise and diet and absolute consistency, you too can be a skinny French woman (if that’s really what you’re aspiring to be).

Now that we’re easing into the second month of the new year, I’m sure a lot of the ‘resolutioners’ are starting to run out of steam on their weight loss programs. Motivation can come in many forms, but it honestly seems hard to come by. Aside from adopting a sensible and unintrusive program, the best way to stick to it is to regularly visit forums.

Fitness forums are a great place to share ideas, to ask questions, and to learn from others. Most sites have their own moderators that post responses and offer advice. Whether you have 10 minutes or 2 hours, you can always find motivation. My personal favorite is training.fitness.com. It’s an active site with an excellent set of ‘regulars’ that are eager to share their successes and opinions.

I know it can be a daunting task to make changes to your diet and implement a consistent exercise routine, finding motivation is key. Make it a point to visit a forum daily and you’ll be counting the minutes until your next workout.

From the title of this post, I guess you can tell I’m in a silly mood, and feel like writing something.  So I’m gonna write something.

Something.

OK who didn’t see that coming.

Anyway, I know we’re only 7 days into the new year (8 if you live in Australia), but I thought I’d share some observations and goofiness from the past 7 days… or whatever.

Namaste, Bitches!

I just finished doing yoga 30 minutes before I started writing this post.  This is my 3rd session in the past 7 days.  This is not necessarily a new year resolution – I started doing Yoga in 2008.

I Love Yoga. I really do.  Now, if you know me, grew up with me, ever hung out with me or just saw me, you’d say, “There’s no way this bearded Ogre does Yoga.”  Well, F  you.  I do.  And I like it.  However, my biggest challenge getting in Yoga workouts these days is this “lifestyle imbalance” I have.

Due to my huge daily work commute, I have to get up at 5:10 AM every morning.  But by nature, I’m a night owl.  I love the night!  I like the dark, I like late night TV (Adult Swim!), I like to watch stars, planets and the moon, and I like the serenity of the world at night.  It’s nice.  But the downside is staying up late means waking up late, which I can’t do.  But, I can’t get to bed early.   Therefore, every day of my life, I never get enough sleep.  I know, you’re thinking, “well what about the weekends?”  Well, unfortunately, getting up at 5:10  and getting the dog fed and taken out by 6:30 4 or 5 work days a week means that my buddy has to wake my ass up no later than 7AM on the weekends.  Ugh!

But who can get mad at this face:

But seriously, guys, it is a great way to lose weight, feel youthful,  increase flexibility, reduce chronic body aches, and reduce stress.  And it’s very low impact on joints.  Take it from a guy who has had 3 knee surgeries on 1 knee, and is going to probably need a fourth this year.  Yoga actually helps reduce my arthritis pain. 

Ben Stiller.  Please go Away….

I saw Tropic Thunder 2 nights ago, and I can’t describe, from a comedic perspective, how weird this movie was.  Parts of it were hilarious.  Parts of it were awful.  Tom Cruise was funny, only because this was the last friggin character anyone would ever envision him playing.  Robert Downey, Jr was friggin hilarious in this movie, which goes to show how versatile he is.  Jack Black was funny, but there really wasn’t much to him in this movie, other than some funny fart scenes and a humorous portrayal of a coke head.  Thumbs in the middle for him.

Which now brings me to Ben Stiller.  Why doesn’t he just go away?  I can’t stand this guy playing the same whiny, bitch of a character in every fucking movie he does, while he uses the same 3 facial expressions in all his scenes.  I just don’t think he’s funny.

To Blu-ray, or not Blu-ray?

So, I’m thinking about updating my entertainment system later on this year, and I’m wondering if should I just get a new DVD player or should I finally jump on that realllllllly slow moving Blu-ray train?  Any thoughts?…..Any one?……..Bueller?  I know that if I decide a BR player is essential, then I will get a Sony PS3.  I don’t really need it for gaming, since I already xBox 360, but considering the price of a good BR player vs the Sony PS3, the PS3 is a greater value.  At least it was a year ago.

Obama worse President-Elect EVER!

I keep seeing people on the internets making these anti-Obama comments, like his administration (which isn’t even in power yet) will be one that creates American Socialism and that Obama is going to redistribute wealth.

Well, what about  the “Wealth” of our nation being stolen from US tax payers in the form of trillions of dollars in bail outs to banks and car companies under GW’s administration?  Instead of “Obama’s Redistribution of Wealth” plan, I think it would be more appropriate to call it a “Return on a Forced Investment in Corporate America” plan.

But I can see why you’d be pissed if you make more than $150K a year.  Your tax rate will return to the same levels under Clinton’s Administration, which also happened to yield 8 years of prosperity and a government surplus.  Man that sounds rough after 8 years of all those dividend tax brakes from Bush.  Sucks to be that guy, huh?

Well, I’m done here.

Thank you.  Please drive through.

A lot of us tend to view diet and exercise as a temporary routine, a way to achieve a short term goal.  Whether it’s for an upcoming wedding or a summer beach house, we seem to program ourselves that this is a momentary sacrifice.  With this approach, a lot of the pre-packaged diet plans that focus on quick weight loss seem to be the most effective.  It will get your to the short term goal and allow you feel good about your success for awhile.  However, these programs will never transfer to a long term weight management solution, which is why most of us tend to yo-yo.

The question is, why live your life finding one reason after another to chase down the same 20 pounds when you can more easily find a way to change your habits and lose them forever.  Not only is it easier on your mind, it’s better for your body.  Weight gain isn’t just something that our bodies produce just to annoy us.  It’s a barometer for how well we’re treating ourselves.  Those extra 15 pounds are telling you that you’re not fueling your body properly.  While this might be most concerning for your self esteem, the real problem here is your long term health.

It’s not easy to blame ourselves for our malnutrition either.  Unless you have an advanced degree in nutrition, you won’t be able to see through the haze of advertising to see what’s actually good for you body.  In fact, those that do know the basic principles of eating right avoid 95% of what’s on the shelves at the supermarkets.

The food industry is a business.  The business, obviously, is making money.  What better way to make profits than to produce food cheaply and have customer’s buy it repeatedly?  How do you do that? Well, you cut corners in mass production, you make your foods as delicious as possible (which almost always means adding fat or sugar) and you make sure it can survive on the shelves long enough.  These myriad of ways to make food more profitable are linked heavily to the most common western civilization diseases.

Ever wonder why Cancer, Heart Disease, and Diabetes are so prevalent in our culture by not necessarily by others in the world or even our own ancestors?  Whether we are willing to admit it or not, our eating habits in this country are literally killing us.  You can reduce so many of these risks simply by returning to basic dietary principles.  Raw and wet foods that are delivered to your fridge the way they came from the earth are your best bet.  Severely limiting processed foods will not only shorten your waistline, but will lengthen your life line.

There is a ton of information available on the links of eating to the three major illnesses I mentioned.  Do your research and take care of your body so that, in the long run, it will take care of you!

With a new year on the horizon, most folks are beginning to map out their resolutions in hopes of making 2009 one of the best and most rewarding years yet.  Establishing a weight management program is normally a staple in the list, especially since we’ve all learned that life as a Thirty something can severely impact your free time and your metabolism.

Don’t give up though, with a few changes in your diet and exercise routine, we can all make some great steps in the right direction this year.  

1) Learn more about HIIT training.  High Intensity Interval training can blast through calories in a shorter time.  It’s been said to be the most efficient form of cardio exercise.  Of course, everyone has their opinion, but a lot of folks have found tremendous success.

2) Understand the difference between good carbs and bad ones.  Overly processed grains like white bread, pasta, white rice, etc have been stripped of fiber.  Once eaten, they quickly spike your blood sugar triggering a chain of events that quickly have you storing it as fat.  To slow the spike in glucose, choose grains that are high in fiber.  These are the whole grain counterparts like brown rice, 100% stone ground wheat breads (be careful not to be fooled by wheat breads that are still bad for you), whole grain pasta, etc.

3) Eat more raw foods – We’re starting to lose touch with foods as they appear in nature.  Everything we eat has been overprepared and stripped of vital nutrients.  Get back to basics in your eating habits.  Eat more vegetables and salads and go easy on the dressings. Stick to low fat or fat free oil based dressings. 

4) Adopt a strength training regimen.  Building lean muscle will help you burn more calories at rest, help prevent Osteoperosis, slow down muscle decay, and, not too mention, make you look better.

5) Give sugar and its substitutes the boot.  A lot of us are still under the impression that sugar doesn’t really harm our bodies (except our teeth).  This couldn’t be farther from the truth, sugar will actually make you fatter that eating fat.  Since it’s purely a taste thing, just give it up.  I guarantee that over time you won’t miss it from your coffee or soft drinks.  In fact, after a while you’ll find sugar to be rather objectionable.

The best thing you can do for yourself is get edcuated.  Once you properly understand how to eat and exersice you’ll find it easy to make the necessary changes in your life that will allow you to live longer, happier, and healthier.

Lastly, be sure to set some specific and measurable goals, both in the very short term and the long term.

With New Year’s day is right around the corner, I’m sure most of us are going through a mental list of things we want to resolve to do for 2009.  Normally, weight management is near the top for most people, but staying motivated and doing the right things can be tough for most people.  This is the reason most gyms are cleared out by mid February.

With this in mind, here’s my motivational assistance for your plans.

5 reasons you should adopt a weight management program

1) Exercising is enormously important to your overall heatlh and weight management goals.  Regular exercise will strengthen your heart, strenghten your bones, improve your balance and coordination, strengthen your spirit and increase your overall quality of life.

2) Eating clean also has tremendous benefits.  Imagine getting sick MUCH less, imagine lowering your risk of America’s top deadly diseases, potentially extending your life expectancy, having more energy, have less body fat.  These two alone should be enough motivation to adopt a real lifestyle change.

3) Having less body fat will make it easier to do everyday tasks, make you look and feel better, and help you avoid injury. 

4) As we get older, our metabolism slow and our bone density weakens.  These effects can be greatly reduced with proper diet and exercise.

5) Improve your mood – Exercise releases endorphins which are known to produce feelings of euphoria and general well-being.  I personally start each day with exercise, you’d be surprised how much better you feel all day when you start off like that.

I’m plagiarizing my own work on this one – I posted this response on a fitness forum earlier, I thought other folks might have the same question.  Basically, the original poster was having trouble bringing out his six pack no matter what he did as far as training or dieting: 

I’ve read some really good advice [from other members of the forum] - I just want to make sure you’re digesting it correctly. The term ’starve myself’ is scaring me a little, if you’re trying to lose body fat to show off the abs, starvation mode is the last thing you want. Your metabolism will slow to a crawl.

What you need is to turn your body into a fat burning machine. As mentioned, eat frequently – this will keep your energy levels and blood sugar levels even and keep your metabolism running all day.
Also, and obviously, what you eat is extremely important. But i think you have that covered.

This is an exact science, you need to really grab a hold on what your target calorie intake should be and nail that daily. The deficit mentioned simply means you’re expending x amount of calories more than your taking in. It shouldn’t be an abstract notion as in ‘i’ll just eat less’, it should be an exact mathematical formula. For example, when I’m in fat burning mode, I target 2200 calories per day – If I stay that course I’ll normally lose 1.5 to 2 lbs a week. I eat 5 meals a day, each about 440 calories. I try to get a protein and complex carb in each of those, I don’t ever fear carbs (assuming you’re eating the right ones) but everyone responds to them differently.

You would be a rare case if you couldn’t absolutely drop down to single digit body fat with the right education and focus.

Habits (whether good or bad) get stronger as you reinforce them.  For example, the more we make the right choices at meal time, the more likely it will become a strong habit.  Just be careful how often you let yourself indulge, though, as you might be unwittingly making that a strong habit instead.   
If you’re like me, you’re probably thinking that this is an obvious concept, but one that’s rarely observed.  So, let’s put a plan in motion.   Plan for the next 9 meals (that’s only 3 days for most of us) to be well thought out and balanced meals.  After you have a few good days under your belt, chances are you’ll want to keep the streak alive, making the habit stronger.

When asked ‘what’s in a hot dog?’, many of us Gen Xer’s might jokingly answer with ‘Lips and Assholes’. I’m, of course, referring to the line from the John Candy/Dan Ackroyd cult classic ‘The Great Outdoors’.  Surprisingly, though, most of us don’t have a clue what goes into the summer BBQ staple.  I’m pretty sure we know it’s not the best part of the pig, but we’re willing to turn the other cheek – Which might end up being a relative term.

Click here to learn more about the composition and the latest commercial that links it to cancer.