What’s In Your Fitness Toolkit?

Last week I came back to fitness blogging with a note about goals. I asked you all to write down your fitness goals, regardless of if they’re “fit back into my bikini” or “lower my cholesterol”. These goals needed to be:

• Specific – A vague goal like “be healthier”, “run more” or “eat less” is meaningless.
• Measurable – A goal you can’t measure is a goal you can’t work towards. For example “lose weight” is meaningless but “lose 20lbs by Xmas” is good
• Realistic – If you have a bad back, you probably won’t be doing deadlifts next month. Similarly, if you are severely overweight, you’re not going to be slim by next week. Goals need to be realistic or you’re just setting yourself up for failure.

I emphasize these things because these goals are not just things to dream about.  These goals are actually tools for us to use.  We will fine tune these goals, create plans based on them and use them as our motivation.  As such, they are the first tool in our fitness tool kit.

Common Goals

Now, most health related goals usually fall into the following categories:

• Lose weight – This could be stated as a simple weight goal or it could be something like “lose 3 inches from my waist”. Either way, you want to get rid of some extra fat. This is actually not the best of goals since weight loss isn’t always the healthiest of ideals but hey, it’s better than nothing.
• Improve health – This one is usually stated as “lower cholesterol”, “lower blood pressure” or “ability to go up the stairs in my house without being out of breath”. All of these are good goals since better health is a great thing to strive for.
• Performance goals – “run a mile in under 10 minutes”, “bench press 200lbs” or “run a marathon”. These are all standard ways of setting some kind of achievement based goal.

The goals for improving health are usually the best since they’re all encompassing but the other ones aren’t bad either. Actually, the best way to go about getting fit is to have multiple goals, preferably some from each category.  So if you have time, go back and try to come up with a goal or two from each of these categories.

Now let’s look at the tools we’ll be using.

• Move more – This doesn’t necessarily mean exercise. It just means getting a more active lifestyle. We’ll examine this in more detail in follow up posts but for the moment, think of this as walking up the stairs instead of taking the elevator.
• Resistance exercise – This one usually means things like pushups, lifting weights and so on. Basically, this is a workout for your muscles and bones.
• Cardio exercise – If resistance exercise is for your muscles and bones then cardio exercise is for your heart. This one includes things like running, swimming and biking.
• Eating healthier – This means both eating less and eating better. Yes, you will need to give up some of those cheeseburgers and replace a few of those lattes with water.

This is 90% of our basic tool kit.  From each one of these categories we will draw specific items that will help us achieve our goals.

The Last 10%

One last thing, I am not in the business of selling magic solutions that will make you thin and healthy in 3 weeks and allow you to go back to your old ways afterwards.  If you want to get fit with me then you will need to commit to making lifelong changes. You must be willing to commit to exercising, being active and eating healthier FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. Think about that one for a second because it’s a big one. I will suggest a variety of ideas to you in the next few weeks and you need to decide if you want to adopt them as a part of your life. I urge you to try them out before ruling them out, but I also urge you to take this seriously. If you want a healthier life you need a healthier way of living life. No temporary diets, short term exercise plans and month long eating programs. If you’re not willing to commit to a life long change, you may as well stop reading now because you’ll be wasting your time.  That’s the last 10% of our tool kit, a resolve to change our lives in permanent ways.  Sounds so simple but without this 10% you’re pretty much doomed to fail in the long run.

Now, if you’re ready to make some changes, tune in next week when we start talking about some ways of adding activity to your life.

By the way, here’s my own list of goals:

• Run the Maui Marathon in September in under 6 hours.
• Get to 180lbs by February of 2011
• Do a set of 10 bench presses with 300lbs by January of 2011
• Try out (at least 10 classes) a martial art of some kind by June of next year
• Completely eliminate soft drinks from my diet by October of 2010 (for long time readers of 60 in 3, you know how I’ve struggled with getting rid of my diet coke habit).
• Have my doctor tell me she’s amazed with how healthy I am when I take my next physical in February of 2011.  (Ok, so this one isn’t very specific but it’s good for the ego and that’s not a bad thing)

60 in 3 Reboot - Step 1, What Does Being Healthy Mean To You?

I haven’t updated this site in almost a year because I’ve been busy with quite a few other things. I tried out a fashion blog but decided I knew nothing about fashion (something my girlfriend would heartily agree with). I’m currently writing a self improvement blog and we’ll see how that goes. Still, every few weeks I think about 60 in 3 and I miss it. I miss talking to all of you about my workouts, eating plans and exercises. I miss hearing from you about your questions, your triumphs and challenges. A few weeks ago one 60 in 3 reader wrote me an email about how inspired this site had made him and the success he had in losing weight and getting in shape. That clinched it for me, I knew I had to get back to this place and to all of you.

So here’s the plan. I’m going to start posting on 60 in 3 on a regular basis. New posts will be up every Monday just in time to distract you from coming back to work. Topics will be the usual, exercise, workouts, eating, weight loss and all the rest. If you have questions or suggestions for articles, please feel free to send them my way. In the meantime, I thought I would start this reboot with a quick series of articles on how to get started. Which brings us to today’s post, getting started…

Step 1 – What Do You Want?

What does being healthy mean to you? Does it mean losing weight? Does it mean being able to run a mile in under 15 minutes? (you laugh but that was one of my original goals). Does it mean looking good in a bikini? Does it mean dropping your cholesterol levels or your blood pressure? These are all very different things and in many cases they might actually require different techniques, eating plans, training methods and life changes. So which of these matter to you?

Write Them Down

Take a moment to write down what being healthy means to you. These phrases will not just determine what sort of changes you need to make in your life, they will also serve as motivations and goals, so make them realistic, specific and measurable. For example:

• I will take two inches of my waist by May of next year
• I will lose 50lbs by next April
• I will fit into my old pants by next Easter
• I will be able to run a mile in under 10 minutes by next spring
• I will get a clean bill of health from my doctor when it comes to my blood pressure by my next physical in June of 2011

Check For Conflicts

A lot of times we write things down without really thinking about what they mean. We put down things like “I want to bench press 300lbs by next summer” right next to “I want my back to be healthy by next June”. Well, those two are probably mutually exclusive. Not necessarily so, that’s true, but most people who have back injuries should focus on those before they move on to lifting weights. Another common mistake is to make things unrealistic. For example, it’s simply not realistic to lose more than 1 to 2lbs of weight per week. Sure, you can do it, but it’s not healthy.  Still, don’t worry about this too much right now, we’ll focus these goals a bit more as we go along.

Last But Not Least

Keep your goals with you. This isn’t meant to be a one time exercise for you to get rid off as soon as you’re done. These goals will guide you for the rest of your life in some cases. So keep them with you, frame them, put them on your computer background, print them out and hang them by your bed, do whatever it takes to keep them in mind.
Next Monday we start getting our butt in shape

Well….

Some of you already know this, but 2008 / 2009 were a rough time for me on a personal level. I thank all of you who helped me and those of you who sent well wishes.

After a long pause and a brief attempt at a fashion website (it was fun!), it seems like I am back to blogging. I thought about restarting 60 in 3 but the truth is that I want to talk about more than just fitness. Just as I learned a lot about myself and getting in shape through my experiences in fitness, I feel like I’ve learned a lot over the past few years about coping with stress, dealing with loss and leading a happy life. So I’ve opened a new blog called Equally Happy which you can find at www.equallyhappy.com. If you’re interested, come on over.

Thank you all for allowing me to be a part of your lives.

An End But Also A Beginning

Two years ago I started 60 in 3 as a way for me to help people who were struggling with the same health and fitness issues that I was.  It was a way for me to share what I had learned and also to learn from others.  In that time I have greatly enjoyed both the writing and the reading that were part of maintaining this blog.  However, in the past few months, as I’ve gone through a few life changes and as I’ve learned more about myself, writing 60 in 3 has become more of a job and less of a passion.  I began dreading the days on which I was to write posts and I started seeing this blog more as a way to make money and less as a way to help people.  That’s wrong, and it’s not what I want to do.

So, in the past month I started looking for a new passion, a new way in which I can help people and still feel motivated.  I had quite a few ideas but the one that finally stuck was one which popped into my head at random while strolling through New York.  As some of you know, I’ve always disliked the fashion industry for fostering an unrealistic and unhealthy body image for men and women.  The various magazines and websites out there show you pictures of people who are impossibly thin, have a dozen people to do their hair and makeup, wear outfits that are professionally assembled and use an army of photoshop artists.  Then they tell you to do the impossible and imitate the way they look.  At the same time, I do enjoy dressing well and I like seeing other people looking good.  So it occurred to me, why not show the world that it’s possible to look fashionable without going to the extremes that the fashion industry tells us to go to?

And thus, Look A Day was born.  Look A Day is my way of telling people “you can look great even if you’re not a fashion model”.  I know, it’s a very different idea than 60 in 3, but for me, it’s all part of the same idea, a way to show people that being healthy is not out of their reach.  Looking beautiful is not impossible.  So if you like the idea, join me over there.  I will be posting a new “look” every day, and yes, while the site currently has only women, I am planning to add men too.  If really like the idea, feel free to share it with friends, Digg it, stumbleupon it or any other way in which you can help spread the word.  And if you don’t like the idea, stay tuned.  60 in 3 is going on a short hiatus, but it will be back in a somewhat different form in a month or two.

Thank you all for being with me through this journey and I hope you stick with me as I take my next step.

Weekend Roundup - New PC Edition

Finally got a new PC, which should make this whole blog management business a bit easier

So let’s see how fast I can create this article with a few interesting posts from around the web.

From Science News we have this article which discusses how calorie restriction seems to extend the lives of monkeys.  Makes sense to me if you think about how we evolved.  I doubt our ancient ancestors managed to get enough to eat every day, so it seems logical that our bodies are meant to thrive on a diet of limited calories.
@Science News

Here’s a good one from Forbes for you parents out there.  It discusses the ability or inability of parents to influence the diets and healthy habits of their children.  Looks like parents have less influence than we think, although certainly not zero.
@Forbes

Is cane sugar better than high fructose corn syrup?  Is maple sugar better than either? You’ll hear many folks making the argument that one type of sugar is better than the other or is more “natural”.  This article from the Chicago Tribune sheds some light on this topic.  My take?  They’re all bad for you.  Focus on foods with less processed sugar of all kinds and you’ll be better off.
@The Chicago Tribune

And let’s finish this up with an interview with my favorite author, Michael Pollan.  Professor Pollan discusses the recent movie Food, Inc and the impact of our modern meat production industry.  If you haven’t seen the movie or read Pollan’s books, I recommend you do so.  You’ll never look at a hamburger the same way again.
@Newsweek

I’ve been trying to cook more lately since it’s healthier, cheaper and better for the environment.  However, I’m having issues finding recipes that fit the Primal Blueprint experiment I’m on.  So I was quite happy when someone sent this recipe my way.  It sounds delicious and I like the fact that it’s also environmentally aware and healthy.  It’s a bit complicated, but hey, I like a challenge!

The thought of mercury in your seafood is enough to ruin anyone’s appetite.

That’s why Damon Stainbrook, former sous chef of French Laundry, is leading the charge in a new “conscientious cooking” movement. He’s working with mercury certification program, Safe Harbor, to ensure the fish used in his delicious recipes meets strict standards for mercury content and is caught using only sustainable methods – verified through its traceability program.

He’d like to share the following recipe and let people know that there is a way to create delicious, healthy and sustainable dinners.

Anyone wishing to create this recipe with Safe Harbor-certified fish can do so at any local Andronico’s, DeLano’s, Woodlands Market, and The Fish Market. If these retailers aren’t nearby, those wishing to prepare the recipe should be careful if purchasing Bluefin tuna, Canned white/Albacore and imported bigeye/yellowfin tuna caught by longline as they tend to have higher mercury levels.

Recipe: grilled tuna zucchini pasta and artichoke sauce

Ingredients:

• 4 tuna steaks, 6 ounces each
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• oil

Zucchini pasta:

• 4 cups Julienne green and gold Zucchini
• 2 tsp kosher salt

Artichoke Sauce:

• 16 oz peel, seeded and diced tomatoes
• 1 medium yellow onion diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup diced marinated baby artichokes
• 1 to 2 teaspoons finely minced hot or mild chile pepper, or to taste
• ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
• Black pepper to taste

Black Olive Tapenade:

• 1 cups pitted Kalamata olives chopped (or olives of your liking)
• 1 big garlic clove minced
• 1 Tbls capers
• ¼ cup fresh Basil leaves chopped
• ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped
• Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon red or white wine vinegar
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation:

Combine all Tapenade ingredients, tasting and adding salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let stand at room temperature before serving. Makes 1 ½ cups

Julienne the Zucchini into long thin pasta like shape. Toss with salt and let sit in colander for 15 minutes. Zucchini will soften to an al dente consistency.

To make the sauce cook onion and garlic with salt over low heat in a heavy bottom pot until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and simmer for thirty minutes. Add artichokes, chile pepper and basil and simmer another ten minutes. Add black pepper to taste and set sauce aside to cool.

Right before grilling tuna toss the sauce and zucchini together in large bowl.

Pull tuna steaks out of fridge fifteen minutes before cooking which will help to keep the tuna from sticking to the grill (If using). Season Tuna steaks with Salt and Pepper, then brush lightly with oil.

Lightly brush a grill rack, or broiler pan with a little oil. Grill tuna over coals medium high heat. Turn after about 2-3 minutes for rare tuna, 4 to 6 minutes for more medium to well done. Tuna should maintain a pink center, but will flake easily around edges.

To finish twist equal portions of pasta onto four plates, top with grilled tuna and tablespoon of tapenade.

Serves four.

The Least Healthy Drinks In America

Found this gem on MSN this morning.  It’s a list of the unhealthiest drinks in America.  Here’s a quick sampling:

9. WORST ENERGY DRINK

Rockstar Original (16-ounce can)

• 280 calories
• 0 g fat
• 62 g sugars

And this one:

7. WORST HOT CHOCOLATE

Starbucks Venti 2% Salted Caramel Signature Hot Chocolate (20 ounces)

• 760 calories
• 37 g fat (22 g saturated)
• 85 g sugars
• 380 mg sodium

That’s right folks, start your day off right with 760 calories of fat and sugar!  That’s about three McDonald’s cheeseburgers by the way.  Or how about Rockstar energy drink?  280 calories of sugar in that one.  Sure, it will perk you up for a few minutes but is that really worth it?

The article goes on to suggest some alternative drinks in each of these categories but I still stand by my usual assertion which is, drink water!  There’s nothing better than water.

Full article can be found here.

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