Primal Blueprint, Day 2

It’s been two days now since I started on this new plan and there’s good and bad news.

Bad News

• Still struggling with a cold.  This has nothing to do with the Primal Blueprint though, I got this cold two days before I started living by Mark’s plan.  Still, it’s a bit frustrating to wake up every day with a sore throat and a headache.  I wonder if my new lifestyle is making things worse or better but I suppose there’s no way to really know that.
• Experiencing the same issues I did when I first tried out intermittent fasting.  Namely, going out with people becomes very difficult since most restaurant meals are not even close to the Primal Blueprint.  Still, with enough planning, I’m finding that I can go out and still stick to this plan.  Mexican restaurants seem good (hold the rice), seafood places are good (again, hold the high carb sides) and sushi places are great (avoid the rice and order sashimi).
• I’m going through a lot of cravings for sugar.  Good thing I started this AFTER I got rid of most of the sugars in my diet last month or else I doubt I could stick with it.  There’s an important lesson there by the way, don’t try anything drastic like this without some gradual changes, you’ll greatly increase your chance of success.
• Not sleeping well, but this could be related to the cold.  I’m trying to avoid taking any medication for this illness but that’s difficult when I’m staying up all night coughing.  What’s worse, losing sleep or taking a cough suppressant?  There’s valid reasons for coughing but my body needs sleep!
• I miss my runner’s high.

Good News

• This is forcing me to cook at home more, which is good.  I’m greatly enjoying finding out how good of a cook I am.  So far I’ve realized that I make a pretty kick ass omelet, stir fry and fish.
• My body feels great even though I’ve been working out while sick.  I’ve been doing 25 minutes of high intensity weight lifting followed by 10 to 15 minutes of low intensity elliptical with a lot of walking and biking thrown in for good measure.  My muscles and joints are experiencing no pain, probably because I haven’t been jogging in two weeks.  Of course, I’m going to see if this has any negative side effects at the end of July, when I do a physical.
• I feel like I have more energy than I did before, which is promising considering the fact that I’m sick and haven’t been sleeping well.  I’m not falling asleep in meetings or in front of the computer, even without caffeine.  we’ll see how I feel when this cold is done.
• My weight is down by several lbs.  This is essentially meaningless though since weight fluctuations over a couple of days can be attributed to the normal metabolic process rather than any changes in body composition.

Things To Try Out This Week

• Need to see if I can have a good meal at an Indian restaurant.  I LOVE Indian food and I’m going to have an issue with a diet that does not allow me to eat it.
• Need to go hiking, something I promised myself I would do regardless of the Primal Blueprint.

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Overall, I’m liking this new way of living.  Of course, it’s only been two days…

Time For A Physical

It’s getting towards the middle of the year, almost time for summer.  If you’re like me, this is the perfect time for a physical.

• No holiday plans
• No visiting family
• No vacation trips

Time for you to schedule some time with your doctor and see how your body is doing.

• How’s your weight?  Are you in a good, healthy place?  Ask your doctor for a recommendation based not just on weight and BMI but also body fat.
• Blood pressure good?  Anything you can do to raise or lower it as necessary?
• Cholesterol ok?  Should you make any changes to your eating habits?
• Other blood work good?  Anything you should know about?  Yes, I know you think you’re ok but an HIV test won’t hurt and should be done every 6 months in my opinion.
• Any big changes coming up in your life?  Training for a marathon?  Going vegetarian?  Moving to Asia?  Ask your doctor if there’s anything you should know or do to better prepare.
• All that and a variety of other exams that could save your life by detecting things like cancer early, when it’s still easily treatable.

Assuming you have health insurance, there’s no reason not to get a physical on a regular basis.  Also, don’t just wait for the doctor to tell you to go home.  Be proactive, ask questions, inquire about your health and how to improve it.  Your doctor is a valuable resource which you should use for more than just prescriptions.  So go schedule that physical already!

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While we’re talking about preventative medicine, how about that 6 month dentist’s appointment?  Time for a cleaning and a check up…

Meat, Good or Bad?

I’ve seen a number of articles floating around in the last few weeks either describing meat as the answer to all of life’s problems or calling it an unmitigated health disaster.  The Nutrition Research Center had this article about what goes into non organic meat, Mark’s Daily Apple had this article asking if red meat is unhealthy (Mark’s answer was HELL NO!), Nutrition Research Center fires back with red meat is still a deadly choice and so on and so forth.  This echoes a long time argument about the benefits of eating more or less meat along with the benefits of a vegetarian diet over a more meat inclusive one.  Let’s answer these questions one at a time.

Is Meat Unhealthy? The answer is a definite NO.  Meat is not unhealthy and is in fact a normal part of a human diet.  Your body requires protein and meat is a very good way of getting it.

Is Red Meat Unhealthy? Not necessarily.  It’s a higher in fat than a lot of other meats but that’s not really a bad thing.  Just like protein, your body needs fat to survive and red meat is a good source for fat.

So Meat Is Healthy? Depends on the type and quantity of meat you eat.  Most people eat too much meat.  Even worse, they eat too much crappy meat of the sort you find at McDonald’s or most supermarkets.  That’s bad for your health, bad for your wallet and bad for the environment.

Bad For The Environment? Yes, factory farming of meat causes a giant mess when it comes to pollution.  It also depends on factory farming of corn which is an environmental mess all of its own.

So Which Meat Should I Eat? I would recommend finding a local provider of organic, free range beef or chicken.  You can find most of these at a supermarket, but if you really want the high quality stuff I would recommend going to the farmers market.  My local farmers market has a stall offering a variety of organic meats plus sausages made from game meats like venison and rabbit.  All of these choices are great for you and great for the environment.  You could also look on sites like Eat Wild where you can find local farms with grass fed meats.  Again, good for you, good for the environment and good for the local economy!  Or just make friends with your local hunter.

What About Sea Food? Sea food is another good choice.  Check out the the Monterey Aquarium site for the types of seafood to buy and when.  Again, you could make friends with your local fisherman or grab a pole and go fishing for your meals.  Hard to argue with fresh, healthy food that’s essentially free.  Plus, you get to spend some time in the great outdoors.

How Much Meat Is Too Much? Hard to answer that without knowing more about you.  In general though, the habit of eating meat with every single meal of the day is too much.  Try to limit yourself to just one serving of meat per day at most.  Trust me, it’s not that hard.

Is A Vegetarian Diet Healthy? It can be.  However, I can easily call myself a vegetarian by living on nothing more than Oreo cookies and coke, and that would definitely be UNhealthy.  Being vegetarian is not in and of itself a healthy thing.  However, on average, vegetarians do tend to be healthier.  Some people argue that’s because the sort of folks who tend to be vegetarian also tend to pay more attention to what they eat.  That could be.   Either way, a vegetarian lifestyle can be a very healthy one, but you still need to take note of what you’re eating.

Should Vegetarians Go Organic Too? Sure.  Just like factory processed meats are bad for you, so are factory processed veggie meals.  The closer you can get your food to the way mother nature intended it to be, the better you’ll be.

Can A Vegetarian Diet Be Unhealthy? Sure, see the above note on oreos and coke.  Also, vegetarians can end up with some nutritional deficiencies if they’re not careful just like meat eaters can end up overweight and obese if they don’t pay attention.  Again, it all comes down to paying attention to what you eat.

Which Diet Do You Follow? I am mostly (95%) vegetarian.  I eat meat once or twice a week at most, and I try to only eat quality, organic meats rather than the factory processed crap you find at most restaurants.

Do You Get Enough Protein That Way? More than enough.  Most people eat too much protein just as they eat too much carbs.  In fact, most people just eat too much of everything.  I get plenty of protein through my rare meat entrees, dairy, eggs and a variety of vegetables.  Here are my personal rules for eating healthy.

Conclusion

So to sum things up, meat is neither healthy nor unhealthy and the same applies to being a vegetarian.  As with all things, it comes down to the details.  Eat in moderation, get your food in as close to a natural state as possible and pay attention to what you eat.  Follow those rules and you’ll be fine.

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Yes, even bacon can be healthy but THIS can never be healthy…

Five Quick Ways To Save Money By Being Healthy

Money is a common reason I hear when people tell me why they’re not healthy.  They don’t have money for a gym membership and they don’t have money for healthy food.  This is especially common these days, when everyone seems to be saving money and trying not to spend too much.  Well, I’m going to let you in on a little secret; being healthy doesn’t cost a lot of money.  In fact, I would argue that it’s the exact opposite, being healthy can save you money and not just by lowering your healthcare costs.  Here are five ways in which you can start saving money by being more healthy:

Raise / Lower The Thermostat - Your body spends more calories when the temperature isn’t exactly perfect.  It spends those calories to cool you down when it’s warm or to heat you up when it’s cold.  So rather than spending money on energy for your heater or air conditioning, why not allow your body to spend those calories for you?  You lose a bit of weight and your energy bill goes down.  All you need to do is set your thermostat to two or three degrees cooler than usual in the winter or two to three degrees warmer than usual in the summer.  Better yet, don’t use heating or AC at all unless the weather is extreme.  Believe me, 60 degrees will NOT kill you. 

Eat At Home - Restaurant food is bad for you and bad for your wallet.  You are paying too much money for too much food.  Eating at home will allow you to control what you eat, the quantity you eat and the ingrediants that go into your food.  It’s also much cheaper than eating out so you can afford better quality meals while still paying less overall.  I can buy enough veggies at the farmers market to make a really great salad that will last for two days.  That same amount of money at a restaurant will get me a single plate of lettuce covered in croutons, cheese and ranch sauce.

Eat Less - While we’re on the topic of eating, how about eating less?  Most Americans and Europeans eat too much.  We spend a good amount of time and money on snacks and meals that our stomachs didn’t need and our wallets couldn’t afford.  I know, 75 cents doesn’t seem like much, but it all adds up.  A candy bar here and a latte there will slowly amount to a huge amount of calories and a significant amount of money.  Try to control your spending and your eating by minimizing the unnecessary snacks and meals.  By the way, buying in bulk does not help when it comes to snacks.  Several studies have shown that people who buy snacks in bulk end up eating a lot more of them.  So you save no money and you eat too much.  Sounds like a losing deal to me.

Drink Water - That soda?  75 cents worth of empty calories and chemicals your body does not appreciate.  That latte?  It has more calories than a cheeseburger and costs about the same too.  That bottle of water?  No better than most tap water and yet you paid for it.  There is a perfect drink out there from both a money and health perspective and that drink is called tap water.  Sure, some of you live in areas where tap water might be bad, but the overwhelming majority of us are simply throwing our money away when we drink anything else.

Walk - Gas is expensive, as are repairs to the car.  Start walking or biking instead.  I try to walk everywhere these days.  To the store, to the park, to the post office.  It feels great and my car says thank you every time I pass by it.  My wallet is pretty appreciative of this as well since gas here in California is around $2.30 per gallon.  Every mile I walk is about 15 cents that stay in my wallet and 50 calories that leave my body.  How can you beat that deal?

Bonus Tips!

Cancel Your Cable Service - There is nothing more mind numbing and butt expanding in our culture than TV.  Do yourself a favor and cut the cable.  The extra time and money you’ll have can be better spent on almost anything.

Grow Your Own Food - Got a backyard?  Balconey?  Window?  Any of these can be used for a little food garden.  You’ll eat better, do some physical work and save money at the market.  As a bonus, studies have shown that houses with plants in them are conducive to lower stress levels.

Active Hobbies - Interestingly enough, most active hobbies are actually cheap.  Playing soccer with friends costs almost nothing, going hiking is usually free and tossing a frizbee around is relatively inexpensive.  Compare that to going to the movies and you’ll quickly see how being active and having fun can be quite cheap.

Help A Friend Move - This is just one example of the types of activities we usually pay other people to do for us.  Why?  Do it yourself, enjoy the labor and save your money.  Paying someone else to lift things for you and then arguing that you have no money for a gym membership is a bit odd, don’t you think?

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Got any tips of your own?  Feel free to add them to the comments.

30 Day Experiment - Voluntary Simplicity

A week or two ago I wrote a post about sinful indulgence and how good it feels to indulge only rarely instead of every day.  Writing that post got me thinking about my lifestyle and what would it be like to not indulge at all, EVER.  I’ve always believed that a healthy life does not necessarily mean giving up the occasional unhealthy pleasure, but is this true?  Do I hold on to these unhealthy indulgences as a way of rewarding myself with true pleasure or are there better things in life that I could be rewarding myself with?  Would I miss these occasional pleasures or would I eventually get used to their absence and move on with my life?  That is, does even an occasional indulgence count as a habit?  Would I really miss chocolate if it was gone from my life or can I simply not conceive of that possibility right now because I’m so used to it?

So for my 30 day experiment for this month I have decided to cut out my two occasional indulgences.

No More Soda - I occasionally indulge myself with a diet coke as opposed to the water I usually drink.  That’s not going to happen this month.  No more diet coke, coke zero or whatever vehicle it is that I use to get caffeine into my body.

No More Candy - Chocolate or otherwise.  No candy at all for a month.

I’m curious to see if this will cause me to feel deprived or if, after a month, I will simply forget about these things and adjust to doing without them.  By the way, please note that I am NOT a believer in a life lived without pleasure.  That is, I am not trying to deprive myself of everything that is good about life.  I wholeheartedly believe in a life lived to the fullest.  I want to live a life filled with happiness, joy and pleasure.  I just want to know if these two habits are truly pleasurable or if they are simply things I have become accustomed to.  In other words, are they a worthwhile indulgence or are they a distracting habit keeping me from better enjoyment of life’s other pleasures.

What about you?  What’s one unhealthy habit you’ve told yourself you simply cannot do without?  Are you sure about that?  Have you tried?  Why not give it a whirl for just 30 days and see how you do?  That’s what I’m planning to do and I’ll give you all updates as the month goes along.

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Thank you to Body and Fitness blog for including a 60 in 3 article in their latest carnival of all things weight loss. And thank you to Fitbuff for doing the same in the latest Total Mind and Body carnival.

Stop Using The Escalator!!!

The picture you see here is a relatively well known one but it never fails to amaze me. People avoiding the stairs and riding an escalator up to the gym. The first thing that went through my head is “wow, those people are pretty dumb” but the next thing I thought of is “Why is that escalator there in the first place?”

We all know that we have an obesity epidemic and we all know that the leading cause is the crap we eat and the amounts of it that we consume. However, the second leading cause of our ever expanding rear ends is our unwillingness to get off those rear ends and move around a bit, and that’s not just true at the gym parking lot.

Our Bodies

First of all, let me be the first to admit that I sometimes fall prey to this too.  That is, I sometimes avoid instances where I can be physically active because I don’t notice them.  I’ve become so accustomed to this culture of ours where physical activity has become something to avoid that I forget how much I enjoy and appreciate it.  I say this because I don’t want you to feel as though I’m yelling at you.  I’m trying to encourage you to change your behavior by making you see it for what it is.  I’m not better or smarter than you and I’m wrestling with the same issues you are, but I hope that I can help you a bit by teaching you what I’ve learned through my own struggles with weight and health.

Part of the problem is our culture.  We have been taught to think that a life of luxury is a life of comfort.  A life where other people do things for us and where we need to do very little for ourselves.  We tend to think of an active lifestyle as a “blue collar” life fit only for those who are poor or uneducated.  If you’re educated then a healthy lifestyle is one in which you work out once a day for about an hour at a time.  Now this is a generality.  There are many people for whom an active lifestyle is filled with many activities, only some of which are performed at the gym.  However, those people are probably not reading this blog.  They’re out there somewhere hiking or camping. 

You and I unfortunately, are not those people, at least not yet.  You and I haven’t quite accepted physical activity into our lives, which is why we’re still struggling with our weight and our health.  So what I want you to do is think back for a second. Imagine our ancestors in whatever forest, prairie or mountain they lived on. Look around them. You probably see them hunting for food, gathering materials for clothing and tools and performing the other day to day tasks of life in the stone age.

Now look closely. Do you see that stone age guy in the back on this bowflex machine doing knee curls? What about that woman in the furs doing bicep curls using a mammoth bone and two rocks? OF COURSE NOT! That’s because people back then didn’t work out. They didn’t jog for fun nor did they go to the gym. The only sprints they did was when a saber toothed tiger was chasing them!  Our daily workouts are a substitute for their active lifestyle and a pretty poor substitute at that.

Rather than being active all day, we sit at our desks most of the time, go to the gym for one hour and call ourselves active.  Unfortunately, that just doesn’t cut it. Being physically active means taking every opportunity to move rather than taking every opportunity to avoid moving.

Examples

• Those people on the moving sidewalk at the airport? They’re avoiding being active.  I know how tempting it is to ride those things.  I’ve been there too.  You’re carrying the bags, you want to get to your gate and sit down already.  However, your body needs that walk.  It needs to carry things.
• Called up your neighbor recently? Why not walk over and talk to them instead?  I know it’s convenient to pull out the cell phone and just call, I’ve done it myself on many occasions.  However, we need to teach ourselves a new way.  We need to start telling ourselves to stop avoiding activity and start seeking it out.  That question for the neighbor is an opportunity to walk.  It’s good, not something to be avoided.
• Got a ride-on lawnmower?  Why?  How about enjoying the day and the chance to walk around your lawn for a while.  I’m not asking you to use one of those push mowers, just to walk behind a motorized one.  Trust me, you’re not going to pass out and you may even find yourself enjoying the experience.  I know I do.
• Touring a new city? Don’t take that Segway tour, or the tour bus.  Walk around those streets, talk to the locals, see the sights close up.  You’ll feel tired but you’ll also have a much better experience.

Our culture is based around avoiding effort. Dirty house? Get a cleaning service! Yard needs work? Hire a gardener! Hungry? Order food delivery from the internet! Everything can be done for you so that you never have to get up off that couch. Which leaves you plenty of time to complain about never being able to lose weight (or save money). We spend our lives paying for ways in which we can avoid activity and then wonder why we’re fat and out of money.  And again, I’ve been there myself.  I still find myself there sometimes.  Just the other day I found myself at the local hardware store looking at my lawn and thinking “boy, it sure would be easier if I hired a gardener”.  Then I remembered that I wanted to be healthy.  I wanted to be active.  I also remembered how much I liked the smell of freshly mowed grass and the feeling of looking at my lawn and knowing that I did a great job making it look pretty.  So I put my wallet back in my pocket, got out the lawnmower and got to work.

How about you join me?  How about we all start doing this together?  Let’s stop avoiding physical activity and start welcoming it into our lives.  Let’s seek out physical activity in all parts of our lives, from the office to our hobbies, from the lawn to our family time.

So how about we change this?

• Take one item in your life which is currently powered and make it unpowered. For example, I am going to stop trimming my hedges with a power trimmer and start using normal muscle powered sheers.
• Stop using escalators and elevators.  Ok, those of you who work on the 40th floor may still want to use an elevator, but if you’re at the mall and need to get to the pretzel shop on the 2nd floor food court, how about climbing the stairs? If that sounds like too much effort, you probably shouldn’t have the pretzel…  :)  As for me, I’m going to stop using the car for any trip less than a mile and start using my legs and bike again.  It’s summer time here in California and I love walking.
• Stop using the phone and internet for everything. Got a coworker or neighbor you need to talk to? Stand up, walk over, say hello and talk.  I’m talking to you Pete!  You’re going to see me knocking on your door more often

Whatever it is, stop avoiding physical activity and start welcoming it into your life. It will keep you healthy and put a few extra dollars into your wallet in the process.

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EDIT - The first version of this post was much more negative than I intended.  Thank you to those of you who sent in feedback about this.  I know I sometimes get preachy, but I had no such intention here.  I hope you forgive me for my lapses and keep working with me as we journey together towards a better life.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Personal Fitness

Forgive me for the dramatic title, I rewatched Se7en last night.  A very dark and depressing movie, but also a very good one.

However, here they are in no specific order, the seven worst things you can do to yourself when you’re trying to be healthy.

Gluttony

Gluttony is an obvious one, you eat too much.  However, as obvious as it is, it’s still the number 1 problem for most people struggling with their health.  How can this possibly be?  It’s not rocket science after all.  You can figure out how many calories you need to eat per day and you can find out how many calories you’re eating.  If the second number is higher than the first, you’re eating too much.  It’s that simple.

Little tricks to avoid gluttony:

• Drink water - Sodas, coffee and juices are a big source of uncounted calories.  That is, calories you are consuming but forget to include in your calculations.
• Eat vegetables - Your body is concerned with volume.  That is, it wants a certain amount of food per day and it measures this amount in terms of the space it fills, not the calories it has.  Vegetables fill a lot of space with very little calories.  So eat more of them and you’ll feel full without packing in the calories.
• Avoid restaurants - Make or buy your own food so that you know what’s in it.  That’s a good way to avoid all the hidden fat that restaurants will sometimes pack into their food to make it taste better.

Greed

Ahh yes, greed.  I want it all and I want it now.  Guess what, there are no quick solutions to health and fitness, no matter how much money you have to spend.  Liposuction won’t make you healthy and buying that new $2000 home gym won’t either.  Being healthy can be done with no money but it does require a lot of time.  In fact, it requires a life long commitment to living a healthy life.

Tips to avoid greed:

• Reasonable time frame for losing weight is 1 to 2lbs per week.  Any program that promises you more is either unhealthy or lying to you.
• The best gym equipment you can get is a pair of comfortable running / walking shoes and those shouldn’t cost you more than $50 or $60.  If you’re paying more for gear, you’re wasting money.

Sloth

Another obvious one.  If you spend your days sitting on the couch doing nothing, you’re not leading a healthy lifestyle.  Again, this is a no brainer and yet it’s the number 2 problem for most people, right behind gluttony.  Again, it’s fairly simple folks.  Our bodies evolved in a lifestyle that demanded movement.  We walked, hunted and sometimes ran for our lives.  You don’t need to go out and hunt any mammoths but you should get off your ever expanding butt once in a while.

Tips for avoiding sloth:

• Walk often.  Walking is amazing exercise and you should do it as often as you can.  Walk to the store, walk to work, walk for fun.  Walk for 30 minutes or more EVERY DAY.
• Watching TV is probably the worst possible use for your time.  It dulls your brain and ruins your body.  Unless you’re watching PBS while doing jumping jacks and push ups, you should think about turning that idiot tube off and finding something better to do with your time.
• Workout.  Your muscles need a challenge.  They were designed for hunting, you’re using them for typing.  Go find something heavy and lift it multiple times.
• Have fun.  The best workouts are the ones you don’t consider a workout.  Find a hobby that includes a lot of movement and do it often.  That new hobby could be dancing, hiking, biking or horse back riding.  Whatever it is, enjoy it.

Lust

Ooooh, my favorite.   Actually, lust isn’t really a sin when it comes to fitness.  Sex can be a great exercise, especially if you get a bit energetic about it.  For those of you who can achieve this “workout routine”, 20 minutes of wild sex, three times a day is a great way to get your daily exercise!

Tips for lust:

• err… I’m going to stay quiet on this one.  If you really need sex tips, I’m pretty sure you can find them on the internet somewhere…

Vanity

Vanity is both good and bad when it comes to fitness.  Yes, it feels good to look good and being fit can certainly help in the looks department.  In that respect, a little vanity is a good thing because it’s great motivation.  However, vanity can also be a bad thing when we focus too much on our looks and stop thinking about our health.  That’s because modern culture has given us an image of what is beautiful that is not very healthy.  Stick thin models are considered the ideal, which is doing horrible things to our body image and self confidence.

Tips for avoiding the pitfalls of vanity:

• Avoid the magazines.  The pictures they show are unhealthy, not to mention frequently photoshopped.  Want to see a healthy ideal?  Go see dancers perform or go to an amateur sporting event.  Those folks are healthy and they look great.
• If you start adopting unhealthy habits in the name of your looks, please see a professional.  If you’re starving yourself, purging after meal or any other kind of destructive behavior, please seek help.  I am not an expert but as someone who has struggled with some body image issues, I hope you get better and I wish you the very best.
• Keep in mind that low weight does NOT equal good health.  If you’re focusing on weight alone, you’re not focusing on being healthy.

Envy

Ahh envy, my old friend.  We always want what we don’t have and that can be a good thing sometimes, if it’s used as motivation.  For example, when I first started out reshaping my life, I was very envious of those who were in great shape.  Then I realized that being fit was something I could accomplish on my own.  That’s the interesting thing about fitness and health.  Sure, you may not be an Olympic athlete, but you can be really healthy if you try.  You don’t need to be envious of those who are fit, you just need to use them as an example.

Tips for the envy crowd:

• If you’re curious about how someone got so fit, ask them.  Believe me, most gym goers would be flattered if you ask them for advice.
• Remember, fitness isn’t something you buy with money.  That’s a good thing because it means that, with enough time, you can be fit too.   No need to be jealous
• Find a partner to workout with.  Misery may love company but so does success.

Wrath

And finally wrath, my best friend.  Wrath in fitness is less about anger and more about frustration.  You get on the scale and somehow you’ve gained weight instead of lost it.  You walk in the gym and you’re out of breath within seconds.  You work hard but your blood pressure is still too high.  It’s all so frustrating and you’re tempted to just give up and stop trying.  I know, I’ve been there.

Relax, don’t get frustrated and remember the following things:

• Your body didn’t get the way it did in a week nor can you fix it in a day.  It took years to get where you are and it might take years to get better.  Relax and enjoy the journey.  As long as you’re making good progress, you’re ok.
• Again, find a partner.  It’s a great way of reducing the frustration level.
• Try a boxing workout.  Nothing better to get out some anger out than punching a bag for an hour.
• Find something you enjoy.  The best workout isn’t the one designed for maximum muscle gain, it’s the one you like and will keep doing.  Sure, a workout needs to physically challenge you but it should also be enjoyable or else you’re not going to do it.

Summary

Well, it took some doing but I think I’ve taken a bit of biblical trivia, combined it with an excellent movie and twisted it into a fitness article.  What can I say, I’m an artist!

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On Friday, I’ll do the seven cardinal virtues!

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