WOD

"Get off the couch and off the carbs"

I was reading some old fitness articles and this line popped out to me. The fitness industry has grown immensely since I got involved almost 30 years ago. There have been huge breakthroughs and improvements. Unfortunately, like most quickly growing industries, there has been tons of people trying to take advantage of people and make their quick buck of the unsuspecting.

People try to complicate things and generally that involves either selling you a product, pill, device, or some special training program or diet plan that will make all your dreams come true. This just doesn't work. There is no magical solution, but there is a simple one. If your current lifestyle got you to a point where you are unhealthy or unhappy with your body, you need to change that lifestyle.

It doesn't have to be complicated. Get off the couch and get a little more active. That means try walking more or using your bike to commute. This could be how you get to work or school, or this could be a dedicated form of exercise, like going for a nice walk after supper. Add some basic strength training 2-3 days a week. Muscles are incredible important for our metabolic health and longevity, the majority of us loose muscle mass as we age because we don't stress our bodies enough with physical activity. Muscles also help give the body shape and structure and when most people think of the body they find "ideal" it usually involves adding a couple pounds of muscle.

Now the part people don't want to hear, getting off the carbs. This is the hardest part for most of us. Doing something extra like exercise can feel rewarding, removing or avoiding food feels restrictive and like punishment for most people. The average American Diet is about 55% carbs. While this is bad enough, usually the quality of the carbs is poor overly processed foods. Carbs are not necesary to live, but they do make live more pleasant. There are many restrictive diets that eliminate all carbs. These tend to be very effective, but have a very low adherance as it is very hard to stick to for most people.

Carbs play a crucial role for creating energy in the body, it is shuttled into storage by hormones such as insulin. While this is an important metabolic process, most of us eat enough carbs in a day to give us the energy to run a marathon. So all of that energy that we don't use ends up with chronically high insuline levels and adding stores of bodyfat.

So nothing drastic, cut the carbs down a little. Try to eat quality carbs, such as vegetables and fruits. Avoid the processed stuff like pastas and bread. Now you will need to fill that hole of food with something better. This is where you try to add a little more protein, which most people are barely eating enough to support muscle growth. Generally you will not have to add any fat as by adding that protein it will also contain some fat.

Carnivore Update: Its been 3 weeks. It has actually gotten to the point where it requires absolutely no thought. If I am hungry I grab a meat snack, I eat my regualr meals, unscheduled, whenever I am hungry. Somedays I eat lots, some I eat very little. Its quite liberating. I used to be pretty scheduled with my eating, now its more of an afterthought. Hunger is definitely much lower, and I find I eat much less that I would like at a sitting.

Weight is down a little over 10 pounds in the 3 weeks. Body feels very good, the only performance issues I have noticed is that it is a little harder to push on the longer workouts. In the end of this experiment I am going to try to add some natural sugars such as honey, during the longer workouts to see how that changes things.

An interesting side effect of this little test was my wife, who is a hard core foodie, has actually decided to try it with me. For those who know her, that is a very big step. She has found it very easy and has stuck to it with no complaints or mistakes. Which means if she can do it, anyone can do it.

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Just a reminder but you can sit down for a FREE goal setting session with me to help go over a plan to help you reach your goals. If you don’t have any goals, we can also work on that to help give you some motivation and better directions. http://goals.bytown.fit