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Something came to me today while I was swimming. Yep, not the first time a blog has come out of my laps in the pool. And in all honesty, I do my best thinking when I’m exercising. It’s one of the main reasons I prefer to workout/exercise alone… well except for spin class.
Anyways, it evolved from a convo I had with my dad a little while back. We were talking about how odd it is that we have to pay to go to these crowded gyms and schedule it in to our lives, when in reality, shouldnt what we’re doing daily take care of both of those things?

Let me elaborate. 100 years ago, had you opened a dictionary (did they have those back then?) you would have been hard pressed to find the word ‘obese’. Wanna know why? People worked. And not at a computer. They were digging trenches, bailing hay, building fences and barns, climbing up and down the hayloft carrying stuff. They was burnin energy! Right now, I’m not. Pressing these keys and pushing around my pen come fairly easy to me.

So what’s up with the title of this post? Well, what if I told you that you could get in some of the best shape of your life, lower your cholesterol, improve your lipid panel, decrease your risk for developing heart disease and cancer, and… get this…. wait for it…. get PAID TO DO IT!!!!????

“Psh, c’mon Alec, that’s everyones dream. What, are you conducting some experiment and need test subjects?” — You —

“Nope.” — Me —

All you have to do is decide that you’ve had it. Enough of this sitting at a desk in an enclosed office building in slacks and a tie. Time for some Vitamin D and fresh air. How? Well, there’s construction workers, ditch diggers, the forestry department, parks department, farming, etc. The list goes on and on. By the way, I’ve worked 3 of those 5 jobs before. They were great.

Ok, so I didnt give you the answer you were looking for… sorry. This post was really more to get you thinking. Although most of you are probably thinking “Alec’s lost it.” Maybe I have. This has been a long, crazy day. Peace, I’m out.

The multivitamin, or MVI for my medical chart reading friends, is a hot issue as of late. Are they necessary or can we really get all the nutrients we need from food? Do they really increase the risk of developing certain cancers or do they decrease our risk? Do they actually shorten the life span or do they increase it by preserving the telomeres on our DNA? Do they give us a sense of invincibility (I had my multivitamin today, so I don’t really need to exercise).

All of the questions above are legitimate and quite frankly, SHOULD be asked. Obtaining the answers to each of them, however, is a whole different story altogether. Here’s a snap shot of how it all plays out. And just for reference, I’ll use eggs as an example.

“We real smart science people here think eggs are good, wait, no they aren’t… or are they? Yes, they’re definately good…. we think…. ok yes, they are good…. for now anyways.” And that sequence of events took DECADES to occur. Still think humans are the smartest creatures on the planet?

Ok, that was maybe a bit harsh, but the truth is that until we test these things over and over and over again with steady results, it’s difficult to be definitive. And then you have a push from both the makers of Egg Beaters and their counterpart, farmers, who are trying to make a buck. And on top of that, the consumers want ANSWERS. It ain’t easy.

So getting back to the multivitamins. Dietitians differ in their view on it. And really, that’s a good thing. Keeps us on our toes. Keeps us learning. Moving forward.

Raise your hand if right about now you’re thinking, “So Al, what’s your take on multivitamins?”

Glad you asked! I’ve posted before that I take a multivitamin daily. And yes, I typically recommend it to my clients. Why? Insurance. I’m a realist. I know those reading this and those who sit on the other side of my desk are probably not getting in all of the fruits and veggies they need on a consistent, daily basis. That’s not to say some people don’t. Because to answer a question from paragraph I: “Yes, I think you can get all the nutrients you need from food alone. We just don’t, that’s all.”

Take Home Message: Eat more fruits and veggies…. BOOM!

Such a simple, yet difficult to implement concept, isn’t it? Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning have perfected it… although not so much lately with Tiger, but that’s another story. And Peyton has an excuse. Again, another story. But I feel that it’s an often overlooked part of success. Be it for obtaining a healthier lifestyle or fixing your slice. Now I don’t typically like to talk about myself on these posts, but it’s applicable here. I went on my last golf outing of the year about a week or so ago with my buddy. Beautiful course. Perfect weather. I couldn’t hit an iron to save my life. If you know me, irons are where I’m solid. My “can’t fail” clubs. And yet I was shanking every one of them, sans my wedges. It got so bad that I quit keeping score so that I could just enjoy the day (extremely atypical). I asked my buddy what I was doing wrong. He simply said, “your not following through, dude.” And he was right.
I had taken the afternoon off, driven to the course, spent the money, and was putting some muscle and thought behind each and every shot. I was focused. Determined.
And yet I forgot such a simple and extremely important part of it. All I had to do was let my momentum carry my arms and body through impact and I would have been golden (ok, not golden because I’m not that good, but I’d have been a LOT better).

So how does this apply to nutrition and health? Look, if you’re reading this, you are probably trying to obtain a healthier lifestyle. Who doesn’t want that? So you get lined up with a meal plan… or at least a guideline of how to implement that healthier lifestyle, right? We’ve “driven” to the course. We’ve paid the money. We’ve put the thought and effort into it. But when it comes to weight maintenance and lifestyle, its the follow through that makes the real difference in the long run.

Take Home Message: Stay The Course. You’ll hit rough patches, but they aren’t cliffs. Think about the little things that may be keeping you from reaching your goals. Was it that extra couple of tablespoons of peanut butter, or maybe the handfuls of Halloween candy you had? It’s amazing how fast the little things in life can add up and impact the big picture. Details count, so keep a close eye out.

My roomate came home the other night with several bags of mixed candy. You know, the individually wrapped miniature Snickers, Kit Kats, Crunch bars, etc. Oh, and Reese Cups of course too. As the bags of candy were unloaded into dishes found in nearly every room of the house I thought to myself “And so it begins…”. By this I mean the holiday season (which I consider mid-October through January 1).

A huge part of what I do is to help people lose weight and keep it off. Dietitians dread this time of year. The weather is turning cooler and fresh salads and fruits from the garden and farmer’s markets that taste soooo good on that hot and humid summer day, mysteriously evolve into creamy soups and casseroles. Not that soups and casseroles cant be healthy, but I’m a realist. You know you dont make them that way.

And then comes Thanksgiving. And if for one meal you want to go hog wild then by all means, go for it. But the problem is that the odds are good that you won’t be attending just ONE Thanksgiving feast. And of course there are NEVER any leftovers.

Now starts the Holiday parties. Maybe its the office party where everyone brings in their “signature” dish. By signature I mean loaded with butter, sugar, refined grains, and cheese…. maybe all of the above. Pile this on top of the never-ending birthday celebrations, anniversaries, etc and it adds up faster than you can imagine. Never mind now that it’s cold outside, we are much less active. It’s no wonder the airline industry actually calculates the average weight of a person to increase by 10 POUNDS over the holiday season. True story. Weights and balances are extrememly important to airlines and they really do this.

So Take Home Message: Set your goals for this time of year to be moderate at best. If you are trying to lose weight over these next couple of months, dont expect great results. AND THAT’S OK! This is the time of year to focus of WEIGHT MANINTENCE. If you are able to maintain weight until January 1st (when you will surely kill it), you have absolutely succeeded.

I was shooting the breeze with my trainer a couple of weeks ago between sets and we got on the topic of the importance of “rest days”. And yes, I have a personal trainer… he’s able to see what I suck at and get me better, whereas I tend to design programs for myself around the exercises I like and am good at. In other words, I work on what he refers to as “mirror muscles” and he helps me train the ones you can’t see but are just as, if not more, important. Either way… rest days. We were both in agreement that they were necessary. Why are they necessary you ask?

The body does not grow during workouts. Workouts create the stimulus for which the body can grow. This is done with adequate sleep (deep, REM sleep creates a state in which growth hormone is highest) and proper NUTRITION.

After about a 90 second rest, I was back to front squats and the subject wasnt really discussed much after that. But after I got home, I got to thinking about it more. What exactly specifies a “rest day”? When should they be taken? How often? What about people who are two-a-dayers? What intensity and duration justifies resting?

I think we all to often overlook these questions. And I’m afraid that some people use it as an “out”. For example, “Well, I ran 3 miles on Monday and did pilates yesterday so I’m pretty good for this week. I NEED REST.” And the truth is, for many people just starting out, that may be the case. But for most of us, I don’t think so. I’ve mentioned before that I like the “break a sweat everyday” theory that has been made famous by Matthew McConaughey because it gets you moving everyday to at least some extent.

The Take Home Message here is: Resting is important for gains and health, but not exercising enough will make resting useless. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. If you are truly exhausted, irritable, overly sore, or in pain… by all means, REST. But ask yourself this first: Do I really need the rest or am I just being lazy?

*thanks for getting me back on track Joey

I’m going to preface this post by saying it’s geared more towards my RD followers. I was training at my gym the other day and through friendly conversation with an intern there, mentioned that I wasn’t too hot on the idea that coconut oil is being touted as “healthy”. He said that he did not agree with me and that he felt it was quite the opposite. And he’s entitled to his opinion. Hell, he might be right. Look, I’m all for continued research and moving forward… think eggs (good or bad?) or butter versus margarine. Some debates go on for ages. And I’m not saying that we may find that coconut oil is indeed not harmful and may actually be good for us.
BUT, here is my peeve. As a society, we are SO quick to jump on the bandwagon. We want that instant, quick change. I’m sorry. It just doesnt work that way, whether it be getting six pack abs or a million bucks. So I said that there isnt yet enough research to make the “healthy” claim and that there IS plenty of research showing a direct correlation between saturated fats and atherosclerosis and the subsequent heart disease that can follow. After seeing this guy’s face though, I could tell this debate was going nowhere and he was quite a bit bigger than me, so I let it go.

Get 8 hours of sleep every night. Brush 3 times a day and floss at least once a day. Avoid getting too much sun. Eliminate sugar from your diet. Exercise most days of the week for at least 30 minutes each session. Incorporate resistance training into your routine 2-3x each week. Limit coffee to a 2-3 cups a day and alcohol to 1-2 drinks per day. Don’t sit in one position for too long. Go to bed early and rise early. Limit “screen time” to 2 hours a day….

Follow all of these pieces of sound advice and you, yes YOU, can live to be oldest person to never have lived.

Look, the thing is that I agree with the above statements (sans the sugar because all foods can fit) and for the most part, follow them diligently. But you know what…. not always. I’m afraid that part of our problem with lifestyle change is that we are inundated with demands on what to do and what not to do. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to be told what to do. The caveat here is if you are seeking out that particular information and are interested in making the change, but don’t know how. THAT’s different.

All I’m trying to say is that if we listened to every piece of advice out there, we’d never have an ounce of fun. I know this must sound funny coming from a guy who’s job is to give out that advice. And I’m not trying to take away from the importance of it.

My point is this: It’s a lot like having a perfect diet. If we never again ate a food with trans fats, sugar, and ingredients we can’t pronounce, we would at some point, Snap. Binge. Fall off the wagon (or is it on the wagon?). I think the same thing applies to life as a whole. If we always went to bed early, think of all the fun times you might miss out on with your friends and family. If we always stayed out of the sun, then we wouldnt have “that story” about the time at the beach when _______ happend and it was so funny. Maybe a memory you’ll never forget. So yes, these pieces of advice are crucial to living a long, healthy life. But occasionally throwing them out the window is also crucial to living a long, healthy life. Whatcha think?

Trucks, tailgates, and tossing the football. Just three staples of the football season. But something’s missing. FOOD! This part of the season always baffled me. Be it a Monday night

… Or more specifically, nutrition and fitness myths. I’m going to start with one that has been circulating gyms and locker rooms since Jack Lalanne was in diapers:

1. The bigger the shoe, the bigger the… oh, wait. Wrong post. (I’m a size 12 by the way)

Ok, but seriously here they are:

1. “I want to turn my fat into muscle” — While this would be cool, there is no actual CONVERSION. Maybe in the future they’ll find a way to inject stem cells into our butts to send them from flab to fab. As for now though, we can only add muscle with a resistance program and proper nutrition. And fat is lost by consuming fewer calories than we expend. There are thousands of additional side notes for those last 2 statements, but maybe we’ll save that for another time.

2. “It takes 3500 calories to lose a pound of fat.” — Other health professionals are probably scratching their heads right now. But notice the wording. I didnt say to simply lose a pound. I said lose a pound of FAT. You see, when we lose weight it doesnt come solely from fat. So when you lose a pound of weight, it’s more like 80% fat and 20% muscle. So to lose a pound of fat, you actually need to cut out 4200 calories. Yeah, I know… it sucks. To prevent further muscle loss, a higher protein diet should be consumed during weight loss periods.

3. “Eating 46 chicken breasts will make me jacked!” — Yes, protein and the amino acids that make it up are responsible for building and maintaining your “gun show”. But excessive amounts isn’t going to do you any good. Eating more CALORIES is what will help you put on more muscle, not boatloads of protein powders (although they sure are convenient). Any more than 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or roughly 1 gram per pound of body weight, is overkill. Save those calories for more fruits and vegetables.

4. “A super low calorie/low fat diet is the best way to lose weight.” — Will you drop weight on that regimen. You betcha. But again, check out the wording. It’s a way to lose weight sure, but it’s not the best. As said earlier, you need to burn off more calories than you consume to lose weight. That rule still stands. But how much you cut back is just as important, as is the content of the diet. The problem is that if you follow a very low calorie diet (VLCD), you are telling your body that you arent willing to give it what it needs just to live. The calories that we burn in a day come mostly from our bodies doing what they do… heart pumping, liver metabolizing, lungs contracting/expanding, etc. More specifically, that makes up 60-70% of our metabolism. Since our bodies are smarter than we are, it senses that it doesnt have enough to survive and subsequently slows down to preserve what it has. This is bad. A good goal is to cut back on about 500 calories each day to yield 1 lb of weight loss each week. Or you can eat the same and exercise off 500 calories each day. I don’t really care. Ok, yes I do. You guys rock.

5. “I know I said I’d dispell 5 myths but I’m tired of typing.” –Have any myths you want the REAL answers to? Post a comment and I’ll make sure to hook you up.