The pyramid of great health is built on a foundation of natural nutrition.  As
one of my clients says, “Nutrition is half the battle, the other 50% is what you don’t eat.”  It’s a fact, you can’t out-exercise what you put into the machine.  If you eat like an athlete, you’ll perform, feel, [...]]]>

The pyramid of great health is built on a foundation of natural nutrition.  As
one of my clients says, “Nutrition is half the battle, the other 50% is what you don’t eat.”  It’s a fact, you can’t out-exercise what you put into the machine.  If you eat like an athlete, you’ll perform, feel, and look like an athlete.  If you eat like a pig, well…

And don’t kid yourself that you’re not an athlete.  Everyone is an athlete at some level.  When you realize that fact, when you refer to yourself as an athlete, things will change – your confidence grows, your willpower grows, you increase your ability to say “yes” to things that take you to your goals and “no” to things that don’t, you become a new person in and outside of the gym.

So what are the basics for putting premium fuel into your athletic machine?

1.  Lean Protein – each and every meal should be based around this muscle-building food group.  Lean red meat, fish (salmon or tuna), chicken, turkey, eggs, or greek yogurt should make up 1/3 of your plate during each meal.

2.  Green Vegetables and Colorful Fruits - spinach, broccoli, oranges, berries.  These ought to make up a minimum of 1/3 of your plate.

3.  Healthy Carbohydrates – beans (even canned and rinsed are fine), whole oats, quinoa.  ”Healthy” and “whole grain” are not synonyms, even though the deep-pockets of the food producers in the U.S. would lead you to believe otherwise in the hopes of selling more product.  These ought to make up no more than 1/3 of your plate.

4.  Healthy Fats – avocados, olive oil or other monounsaturated oils, almonds, walnuts, pecans.  Get over the fat-phobia that the popular media has been selling and enjoy some healthy fats with each and every meal.  Use it for cooking, flavoring, or texture and watch your health improve.

5.  Beverages and Supplements – drink water often, preferably in between meals rather than with them so as not to dilute digestive enzymes.  Coffee and tea are fair game as well in moderation.  Save juices for the 30 minute window after a workout.  Save alcohol for your free day.  Supplement with a multivitamin, a joint complex (if you have any joint issues; it works for 50% of the population), fish oil (if fish isn’t eaten on a regular basis), and whey protein (in that 30 minute window after your workout mixed with juice).

Finally, enjoy a free day.  Whether it’s the Sabbath or another day of your choice, enjoy a day free from any of the above.  Eat everything you’ve been craving.  Bear claws, pizza and beer?  Sounds like a great free day.  This is like hitting the psychological and metabolic “reset” button.

Want meal ideas that follow the guidelines above?  Check back next week or follow us on facebook for the next update.  Until then, choose wisely…

And too there were questions: What did he eat? Did he believe in isometrics? Isotonics? Ice and heat? How about aerobics, est, ESP, STP? What did he have to say about yoga, yogurt, Yogi Berra? What was his pulse rate, his blood pressure, his time for 100-yard dash? What was [...]]]>

And too there were questions: What did he eat? Did he believe in isometrics? Isotonics? Ice and heat? How about aerobics, est, ESP, STP? What did he have to say about yoga, yogurt, Yogi Berra? What was his pulse rate, his blood pressure, his time for 100-yard dash? What was the secret, they wanted to know; in a thousand different ways they wanted to know The Secret. And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as with that most unprofound and sometimes heart-rending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprised the bottoms of his training shoes. The Trial of Miles, Miles of Trials. How could they be expected to understand that?” – Once a Runner by John L. Parker, Jr

If you want to reach your goals, consistency is key.  Until you have set up the lifestyle and capacity to “do” on a daily basis, what you do matters very little.

One of my clients has put in a substantial amount of work over the last six weeks.  He’s watched his diet, he’s exercised more, he even ran a 10k on a cold Sunday night.  While his body fat and weight haven’t dropped dramatically over the last month and a half (yes, he’s down some), I’m much more proud of the consistent training that he has put in.  He’s literally teaching his body to work and work hard.

It’s his consistency that will allow him to reach his goals by Summer 2012 and it’s the same consistency that he has used to be successful as a businessman, as a father, and now as an athlete.

So are you looking for the Secret?  How’s the bottoms of your training shoes?

A simple way to get started:

30 runs in 30 days (ask Luke Arita, CPT about his experience with this)

1.  Stop eating dairy. If you limit your food intake to things without dairy, it’s really going to cut down on [...]]]> So you want to lose 5 pounds for next month’s wedding, business meeting, or fall vacation, but don’t want to change your life to make it happen – here’s the path of least resistance -

1.  Stop eating dairy. If you limit your food intake to things without dairy, it’s really going to cut down on your options.  That’s not saying that dairy is inherently unhealthy, simply that if you want to drop 5 pounds in 30 days, cutting it out is the way to go.

2.  Quit drinking sodas. Leaded, unleaded (diet) whatever, just cut them out.  New research says drinking diet sodas may be just as unhealthy as regular sodas and if you want to lose 5 and save $1+ per day, let them go.

3.  Leave the alcohol in the can or bottle. If you can’t cut it out completely, limiting alcohol intake to 1 glass of red wine (for women) and 2 for men per day will greatly reduce the number of calories you consume.  The 12 beer binge is particularly harmful to the waistline – a little self control here goes a long way.

4.  Drink a tall glass of water before every meal – breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner (or breakfast, mid-morning snack, first lunch, second lunch, mid-afternoon snack, late afternoon snack, first dinner, second dinner, after dinner snack, and late night snack, depending on your eating habits).  And, yes this also means you actually need to be eating 3-6 times a day, too.  Downing a bottle before a plate will allow the satiety of the water to kick in and you’re appetite will be subdued before going for seconds.

5.  Make it a 30-for-30 challenge. Exercise every day for the next 30 days.  20 minutes or more counts, but it has to be actual exercise, not active lifestyle activities like gardening and cleaning the house.  One note here – exercising more does not give you a license to eat more.  You have to eat the same to make this one work.

6.  Replace all sugary foods with whole fruit. For example, instead of a donut, cinnamon roll, or muffin (yes, muffins have tons of sugar), have a banana, peach, or pear.  Instead of a Twinkie or cookies at lunch, enjoy a juicy apple.  Rather than a piece of cake or pie  after dinner, choke down a small bowl of unsweetened blueberries and raspberries.

7.  BONUS: When you’re ready to drop big pounds quickly…if you’re looking to lose a large amount of weight in a short time and in a safe manner, cut out anything processed.  Make a commitment to eat only that which is in its almost natural form – lean meat, fish, chicken, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds.  That’s pretty much it.  You get extra points on this one if you actually hunt it down or gather it up.

Who knows, you might just want to make a habit out of some of these and melt off more than you bargained for.  The choice is always yours.

Disclaimer: Please recognize the fact that it is your responsibility to work directly with your physician before, during, and after seeking fitness consultation.  As such, any information provided is not to be followed without the prior approval of your physician.  If you choose to use this information without the prior consent of your physician, you are agreeing to accept full responsibility for your decision.

Seemingly every day, we hear more and more news about the poor state of our economy and the dire straits that are most certainly ahead.  We hear of lost jobs, lost homes, and lost hope for the future.  In this time of uncertainty, [...]]]> If you have your health, you have everything.  ~Proverb

Seemingly every day, we hear more and more news about the poor state of our economy and the dire straits that are most certainly ahead.  We hear of lost jobs, lost homes, and lost hope for the future.  In this time of uncertainty, there is certainly a call for the all-too-human response of stress, anxiousness, and a general slide away from what is important to what may seem urgent.

As you are looking to cut back on products and services in the near future, remember:

• The Downtown Athletic Club can help you reduce the risk of dying from heart disease and cancer by more than 50%.
• The DAC can play an integral role in the prevention and cure of diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, insomnia, obesity, and hypertension.
• The DAC can make you leaner, lighter, firmer, shapelier, stronger, and more flexible, agile, mobile, alert, energetic, confident and optimistic, and, last but not least, more sexually attractive.
• The product the DAC provides is associated with eating better and eating less, consuming less alcohol, smoking less tobacco, and, in general, having more control over your life.
• C. Everett Koop and David Satcher, both former surgeon generals of the United States, went on record to say that not using the product the DAC provides is physiologically equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes every day.
• As a result of regularly using the DAC’s product, business and professional men and women have more stamina and staying power, are ill less frequently and less seriously, and possess more energy, creativity, and optimism than their sedentary colleagues
• It is becoming better known every year that the value of the DAC’s product – while important at every age – becomes even more important as men and women advance from their 30s into their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond.
• The DAC’s product helps create a bond between husbands and wives, parents and children, rich and poor, black and white, and Democrats and Republicans, so that a commitment to the DAC’s product often becomes a factor that unites people in love, friendship, business, and community.
• And these claims for the DAC’s product don’t come from advertising agencies or public relations firms, but rather from scientific journals, university laboratories, and independent research that have no vested interest in the DAC.

The DAC’s product?  Your health.  Invest in it often.

Modified from an essay by John McCarthy (2002).