Suffer Together

Why is it so hard to stay committed to something on a daily basis? No matter what that “something” is, doing it everyday can be tough. At the beginning, it always seems like everything is going great. You are keeping up with what you’re supposed to. You’re feeling confident about the process. Then, after a while, you just lose the motivational edge. Sometimes, it’s hard to see the end goal that you wanted to achieve in the first place. For this blog, I am going to use exercise as an example from my own life.

In the last six weeks, I have been an example of everything stated above. Six weeks ago, I had a spontaneous idea to sign up for a 45 mile adventure race in New Hampshire. For those of you who know me, you know that I am nothing close to an endurance athlete. I have played many sports throughout my life, but mostly all have been short intervals of athleticism followed by long breaks (Football, Baseball, etc.). This was the main reason that I wanted to challenge myself with a long distance race, but with the event date I only had twelve weeks to train. I ran the idea by my good friend, Justin Moore, and he signed up to be my teammate. For the record, it took less than an hour to convince him. It didn’t take long before realizing that he is in much better shape than I am. The goal was to train together for twelve weeks and complete the race as a team. Unfortunately, our schedules didn’t line up the way we had hoped and we had to do the first six weeks of training alone.

Yesterday was the six weeks mark of our training, which also means that we are only six weeks out from the race. Within the first two weeks I felt very confident. My bike rides felt easy. My runs felt stronger every session. Then, the motivation started to slip. The training started to get harder and I started to wonder why I signed up for the race. Why am I torturing myself all for a race that means nothing? There were certain workouts that I skipped and days where I didn’t exercise at all. I lost sight of the end goal, but yesterday everything took a turn for the better.

For only the second time of the six weeks, Justin and I were able to train together. All of a sudden, the motivation to train started to kick back in. For some reason, the feeling of suffering through the workout together was more appealing. Although I was still not excited to workout, as soon as we got out on the open roads I felt motivated to keep up. Instead of feeling like we were competing, it felt like we were helping to build each other up. For those first six weeks, when I was too tired, I would quit. Yesterday, when I was too tired, I found a way to push harder because I knew my teammate was counting on me to get better. Training with a partner, who is on the same mission as you, will give you the accountability that you need to keep going.

Social Comparison Theory is stated as “Humans have a drive to assess how they are doing and in order to assess how they are doing, they seek standards against which to compare themselves. When objective standards are not available, people look to their social environments and engage in comparison with available others”. According to a study from Brandon Irwin, a Michigan State researcher, there is a large improvement in performance when training with a partner. Not only did the partner groups train longer, but they also trained at a higher level of performance than the individuals who trained alone. Some individuals performed almost 50% better in the group, compared to alone. It also showed that people were likely to increase their exercise performance when they were referred to as being the weakest link in a team scenario. According to a study done by the psychology department at Santa Clara University, participants training with a more fit individual had a higher pulse rate and exertion than the participants training alone. Even though the participants were told to stay inside a certain range of pulse rate and exertion, the ones who trained with a more fit individual went higher than the range due to the highly intense environment created by the partner.

These studies prove that if you want to work harder, be more consistent, and be more motivated, then you should exercise with a partner. That being said, I personally don’t believe that this only applies to exercise. If you are struggling to stay committed or motivated about something, it is always smart to look for help. For example: When I was in college, I would make less progress studying by myself than I did in a group setting. When I was in a group setting, I knew that if I didn’t participate I would be hindering the progress of the people around me.

So my advice for everyone is to find someone who has the same goals as you, keep each other accountable and most importantly, suffer together.

 

Citations

Plante, Thomas G. “Effects of Perceived Fitness Level of Exercise Partner on Intensity of Exertion.” Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 6, no. 1, 2010, pp. 50–54.,                   doi:10.3844/jssp.2010.50.54.

Source: Irwin, B. et al. (2013). You can do it: The efficacy of encouragement in motivating the weak link to exercise longer during an online exercise video game. Journal of Medical Internet Research [in press].

Now Is The Time To Lose Weight

Have you ever told yourself that you were going to start losing weight on a Monday, only to find yourself skipping the gym and eating a “cheat meal” three hours in? I’ve found that dieting is just as important (if not more important) than going to the gym.

Going on a diet means attempting to eat a salad for every meal…Right?

Wrong.

I am here to tell you there is a better, more efficient way to lose weight. You see, losing weight is a numbers game. Just like a casino, where the house always has the edge. Your body always wants you to eat more to avoid starvation, so how are we supposed to find the “counting cards” method to even the odds? The answer is simple- burn more calories than you consume.

But how can I consume less calories without being hungry?

This is the part that most people haven’t figured out yet. You need to lower your carbohydrate intake and increase your protein intake. Normally, people try to cut out carbs and feel immense cravings until they give in to that Valentine’s Day box of chocolate they have been staring at for the past two days. I don’t believe that cutting out carbs completely is the right thing to do. Your body uses carbs as fuel, which is why diets usually make you feel groggy. The goal is to lower your carb intake to the perfect amount for fuel, but not over consumption. As for protein, we are going to increase the serving size to keep your body full and your muscles properly nourished after a hard workout. When it comes to fats, we are going to eat healthy fats to keep your body fueled properly.

So what is this all leading up to? Good question.

I have spent some time designing a 30 day workout/nutrition program. The meal plan, unlike others, gives you a list of options to choose from for each meal. These meals are healthy, great tasting, and will fill you up. Instead of having a salad for every meal, you can choose from meals like Avocado Chicken Salad, Guacamole Turkey Burgers, Baked Chicken Parmesan, and many more. The workout plan is designed to define your muscles and have your body burning calories like crazy. Over the past few years, I have been helping myself and friends move toward their fitness goals.  I decided I was ready to take this to the next level and help complete strangers with the same goals as me!

So,  if you have struggled to lose weight and need some guidance, give this program a shot. The undervalued price of $10 allows you to get what you need without breaking the bank. The only thing that I ask in return is that you take your goals seriously and send me your successful “Before and After” pictures. With these pictures, I can start building a portfolio of your awesome transitions and use them to spread the word about my product.  Feel free to contact me with any questions!

Disclaimer: This program is geared more towards men because at this moment that is what I am best at. Woman can email me if they are looking for help.

Best Way To Start Your Day

Many people wake up in the morning, chug some coffee and go to work. Unless you want to crash halfway through your day, this isn’t the best method for everyday life. Im sure everyone has heard many times that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If you have, good. If you haven’t, well, now you know. But, do you actually know what this means? Why is it so important and what can you do to make your breakfast better?

Well, the main reason that breakfast is important is because it kickstarts your metabolism early in the morning. What does this mean? This means that your body is starting to burn more calories earlier in the day.

Are you telling me that eating a bagel in the morning will help me lose weight?

No. Im not telling you that since it helps burn more calories that you can eat anything you want. You should have a nicely balanced breakfast in order to give yourself the energy you need and to stay full until your next meal later in the day. Eating a big breakfast will also curb your hunger and not make you freak out and binge eat until you can’t breathe, when you were just bored eating in the first place.

Yes, we have all eaten a half gallon tub of ice cream in one sitting, while binging Netflix and not moving from your bed. Or was that just me?

Having your body satisfied from the moment you wake up is the key to a healthy system. This doesn’t mean to exclude coffee from your morning either because coffee actually gives your body a metabolism boost itself. So combined with the right breakfast, you can put your metabolism into overdrive. This will also help if you like to workout early in the morning, the same way I do. This meal will fuel your workout to help your mind and muscles last longer in the gym. You want to eat this meal 45 minutes to an hour before your workout.

Although, make sure not to eat right before an intense workout or you’ll end up covering your workout partner in oatmeal chunks in the middle of spotting him on the bench press.

First thing you want to do when you wake up is drink an ice cold glass of water. This will help you rehydrate yourself after a long sleep, help wake up your brain and flush toxins out of the body. Then, you can make your breakfast, which should be a healthy balance of carbs, fats and protein. While your breakfast is cooking, you can brew your coffee, or tea.

I have created a short list of some of my favorite breakfast meals to start my day:

1. Two Sunny Side Up Eggs, Two Slices of Whole Wheat Toast and Half of an Avocado.
2. Omelette With 2 Whole Eggs 3 Egg Whites Onions Peppers Tomatoes, Bowl of Oatmeal and Chopped Up Strawberries.
3. Smoothie With Strawberry, Banana, Peanut Butter, Vanilla Greek Yogurt, Skim Milk and a Scoop of Protein Powder.

 

Now does it have to be this exact mixture of foods? Not at all. You can input anything you want into these meals, as long as you keep a good balance of healthy foods.

Simple changes to your every day routine can help improve your quality of life.

 

Healthier Starbucks/Dunkin’ Options For Your Daily Routine

Are you the type of person that can’t function in the morning without going on your Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts run? You just don’t want to be spoken to until you glug down that piping hot coffee that always burns your tongue. You think you would learn to wait for it to cool down by now, but ain’t nobody got time for that.

Well, at least being from New York, this is the definition of most people that I know.

I think this stems from our parents generation, who would wake up at crazy early hours of the morning with the only thing on their mind being the coffee they were going to stop for on their way to work in the city. They would work all day and come home in time to take care of cooking their kids dinner. How could they get through the day without their caffeine high? What a lot of people don’t know is that caffeine is actually considered a drug. Why? Simply because it stimulates your central nervous system.

Does that mean caffeine is bad for you? No, not necessarily. For the most part, studies show that caffeine is safe unless taken in extremely high doses.

That is good for us, right? This means we can enjoy our morning coffee without debilitating our body. Yes, but not with the drinks that these coffee places are famous for.  For example, one of the most popular drinks at Starbucks, the Caramel Frappuccino. Before I knew any better, this was my go to order. Now, having looked into it, I have parted ways with this tasty drink.

A medium Caramel Frappuccino, or so called “grande”, will run up about 420 calories. It will cover just under 25% of your recommended daily fat and carbohydrates, along with 66 grams of sugar. That is more than DOUBLE the amount of sugar you should consume in one day. Talk about diabetes…

Oh, so we are supposed to drink plain coffee with nothing in it? That is too bland I can’t give up my Nutella Frappuccino. No, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this blog. To save everyone from obesity, I have created a list of great tasting healthier options for the caffeine lovers:

Starbucks

1. Iced Skinny Vanilla Latte – Grande – 80 Calories

2. Iced Skinny Caramel Macchiato – Grande – 140 Calories

3. Caffe Americano – Grande – 15 Calories

4. Non-Fat Green Tea Latte – Grande – 190 Calories

5. Non-Fat Caffe Mocha(Hold the Whip) – Grande – 250 Calories

6. Iced Coffee with Skim Milk – Grande – 100 Calories

7. Caramel Frappuccino Light – Grande – 150 Calories

8. Iced Passion Tango Tea – Grande – 45 Calories

 

*Numbers 1 through 6 can all be replicated at other places like Dunkin’ Donuts, but make sure they give you skim milk instead of whole milk and leave out the “skinny”. Unless you just want to confuse the workers and have them look at you in shock.

Like I have said in my last post and will stick to in all of my posts, a healthy lifestyle is created by simple, healthier changes that you can make in your everyday life.

 

 

 

The Difference Between A Diet & A Healthy Lifestyle

How many times have you told yourself that you will start a diet on Monday? How many of you gave up on that diet before the weekend? Or maybe, you lasted two weeks. Or even a month, but it all came crashing down when you couldn’t handle not eating any “bad foods”.

There is a reason that this crash is inevitable when going on one of these diets.

Did you ever notice that the people who are in good shape all year round never mention anything about a diet? No, I’m not talking about those skinny people with superior metabolism’s who eat like crap and don’t gain a pound because I know that is what you are thinking. I am talking about the type of person that you would think of if I said “healthy lifestyle”.

Oh no, there is that healthy lifestyle junk again.

Yes, there it is because these types of people have a different, much better, outlook on life. To them, there is no such thing as a diet. All they do to stay in great shape is make healthier decisions with their nutrition, while participating in some sort of simple exercise. This isn’t me telling you to have a salad for every meal because that would just be bland and inconvenient. This could be as simple as choosing a home cooked meal over fast food, diet soda over regular, a grilled chicken wrap over fried, or vodka over beer (Vodka is the lowest calorie containing alcohol).

It is simple changes that you can do every day that can make you never have to go on one of these dreadful new fad diets again. People need to stop labeling foods as good and bad because that is what is going to force you to be miserable when cutting calories. Losing weight is easy if you have the right attitude.

Oh, but now I’m telling you that we need to go to the gym everyday to be healthy.

No. Flat out no. If you like working out like I do, then of course the gym is a great option. Find something you enjoy doing that includes exercise and stick to it. Do you like to play basketball? Go to your nearest park and play pickup a few times per week. Do you like to go bike riding? Great, get a few friends and go for a ride once in a while. There has to be something you enjoy that doesn’t involve sitting on your couch and watching Netflix.

It is that simple to create a healthier lifestyle. If you end up eating pizza for lunch, don’t panic and binge eat because you cheated once and think you need to make it worth it. Just have a salad for dinner and even out your caloric intake. This is much easier if you are tracking your macronutrients (A method that a lot fitness athletes and weightlifters use), but that I will save for another blog post.

If you start to make these changes in your every day life, you will see results overtime. Not only will the results make you happier, but you will have a better outlook on life.