Healthy Living and the 38 Things I've Learned In 38 Years

Today I completed my 38th trip around the sun. Here are the 38 random things I have learned during these revolutions:

1. Being lazy feels good now, but regretful later.
2. People that love you don’t care what you look like or what you do.
3. Just because you’ve lived 38 years it doesn’t mean you have to have a 38” waist.
4. Learning doesn’t stop when you are out of school.
5. Doing something for someone else is more gratifying than doing what you want.
6. Winning isn’t everything, but striving to be your best is.
7. The woman is ALWAYS right
8. Mom’s should be the ones getting the birthday present. They did all the work on that day.
9. A man’s home isn’t HIS castle....at least as long as there is a big fat mortgage.
10. Having to work hard for a goal makes achieving it more satisfying.
11. Genetics are never an excuse for bad behavior.
12. Pain is not an excuse for lack of movement.
13. Having children is a greater achievement than all other things I have ever done, combined.
14. Having money doesn’t change you, it just magnifies who you already are.
15. Home is not where you are, it is who you are with.
16. The dishwasher may have been the world’s greatest invention.
17. To make exercise a habit, do something you enjoy. To make it worthwhile, do it HARD!
18. Having hope makes any circumstance tolerable.
19. Giving your money is great. Giving your time is priceless.
20. The traditions you create with your kids will be their most treasured memories.
21. Don’t wish your life away, enjoy the present.
22. Time really does go by fast.
23. Doctors make the worst patients.
24. Doing something you are passionate about always beats doing what makes the most money.
25. Nothing tastes as good as it feels to be healthy.
26. Mothers-in-law sometimes are the best. Just know you are entrusted with her greatest treasure.
27. A happy wife makes a happy life.
28. I can endure just about anything for 1 minute or less. 
29. A healthcare worker is more respected if they look like they take their own advice.
30. The Bible has the best answer for any question.
31. Seeing isn’t always believing.
32. Indulge sparingly, enjoy always.
33. Friends can be short-lived but family is for life.
34. “No man is a failure who has friends.” (Angel from Its a Wonderful Life)
35. Food is not an aphrodisiac, an antiseptic, or an anti-depressant. It is fuel. That is all.
36. Once you have children, your hobbies can wait. You have more important things to do.
37. Your future is too high a price to pay for short-lived pleasure.
38. Whenever I feel out of control, remember God is in it.

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How to Enjoy Halloween Without Being Frightened By Your Scale

October 31^st has come around again. It is really the beginning of a two month season of indulgence, right? I have people ask for advice because they are in fear of the approaching coldness of the weather and fatness of the winter comfort food. However, the extra candy around the house doesn’t have to be a poltergeist to your wellness plan. Here are some tips on how to get through it.

1. With extra candy around the house, keep some extra healthy options around as well. Sometimes, I just need a snack. The candy is so easy to grab, and is ok once in a while. However, make a bowl of trail mix with healthy ingredients. Personally, I like a mixture of Kashi “Heart to Heart” Honey roasted oat cereal, raisins, and plain almonds. It is just the right combination of sweet and crunchy and fills that “candy craving” quite nicely.

2. If you can’t resist the candy temptation, go for a handful of gummy bears or sour candy instead of a chocolate bar. One snack size snickers has about 3 times the calories of a snack size package of Sour Gummies. It may not be the healthiest option, but definitely the lesser of two Freddy’s to keep you from having a November waistline nightmare.

3. Play “Hide the Pumpkin”. Studies show that people eat more cookies if they have a see-through glass cookie jar verses an opaque one. The point is, put the Halloween candy in the pantry. Limit the kids to just  2-3 pieces per day and that only after a healthy meal. Then make yourself live by the same rule. 

4. Walk with the kids around the neighborhood. I know, the “trick or treating” has passed until next year. But remember, while it may be tempting next year to send your spouse out with the kids to walk the neighborhood while you stay at home to hand out the candy: volunteer to be the chaperone next time around. After all, who do you think consumes the fewer number of calories?

Just because it is Halloween, you don’t have to turn into your own self-destructive Chuckie. With a little discipline and forethought, it is possible to enjoy the holidays without waking with regret the next day……if the spirits let you wake up at all!!!! (insert evil laugh here!)

Insanity Workout Chronicle: Week 1

With fear and trepidation, my wife Susan and I started the “Insanity” workout this past week. Insanity is a 2 month program led by trainer and former pro athlete, Shaun T. For the next 2 months I will be journaling through the program and give my thoughts on this popular home workout.

Insanity is quite a bit different from P90X* in that it is VERY heavy on the cardio and sport drills training. In fact, there is very little upper body resistance exercise, in my opinion, though my legs were definitely given a good workout. The set did come with a separate upper body weights workout, but it is not a part of the official “plan”.

The great thing about Insanity is that Shaun makes you dig deep to find another level of intensity and with each set he pushes you harder and harder. If you thought you could sit on a recumbent bike and casually read a book and lose weight, Shaun tries to coach you past that natural passive attitude and show you it is necessary to push yourself to succeed.

Prior to beginning Insanity, we did know that there was going to be a lot of jumping involved, so Susan and I purchased a couple of jump mats on Amazon, and I am pretty glad we did. This workout can be very hard on your joints and if actually done on a gym floor as shown on the video, month 3 would be the “Insanity Joint Replacement Recovery Series”.

If you are trying to use Insanity to lose weight, definitely utilize the meal plan as well. Since the workouts are a bit short, you will need to keep a strong focus on nutrition and perhaps add a few resistance workouts as well.

 *see previous post rating experience with P90x

P90x: The Fitness Road Less Traveled

There are many roads to fitness. There are roads that, unfortunately, are circles and lead right back to where we started. There are roads that are possible but require a level of knowledge that some people just do not have. There are others that lead to success, but require a lot of money and/or time that are not possible at this stage of our lives.  There are other roads that are risky because they require a level of self-discipline and commitment that are difficult to come by but, nonetheless, attainable. I would place P90X in the latter category.

In case you are one of the 12 people in America who haven’t seen the infomercial, P90X stands for Power 90 (for 90 days) X (Extreme). It is a diverse series of fitness videos including resistance training, plyometrics, core strengthening and flexibility training designed to keep challenging your body in different ways to encourage positive change.

 Susan and I decided to do P90X about 6 months ago for a lot of reasons. I was a bit resistant at first because I was comfortable doing what I was doing. But, the chance to do something different and to get to workout with my life partner was enough to give it a try.

After a short period of time I was impressed. Tony Horton (the host trainer) pushed us to a level of intensity that we had not ever been able to do on our own. He also pushed me to try “new” things, such as yoga and jump training, and things I have never been good at, such as pull ups and 1-arm pushups.

The other positive was that every time Tony would change things up, I would end up being sore and exhausted…in a good way. I knew my body was going to make progress, and it has. Another important part of the plan is to track your progress by writing down the weight and number of reps. This is something people rarely do on their own, but is helpful in seeing real meaningful progress.

There are, however, some things that concern me about P90X. One is that the workouts are probably a bit long for some. They vary from a little over an hour to 1 ½ hours. This may discourage some to stick with it.

 It also is, after all, just a video. The trainer is not watching you perform the exercises. Therefore, due to the intensity and speed at which the exercises are performed, there could be risk for injury if not careful. Another inherent weakness with a video series is that it is a cookie-cutter approach and doesn’t take into account each individual weakness.

So, the verdict is P90X is a good, affordable option to help jump start or push you through your plateau in your fitness plan. Finishing the P90X program feels gratifying because the road we chose was the road least traveled: good old-fashioned hard work, intensity, and commitment.

Below are my "before and after" photos. Pic #1 was in around February of 2011 (note the pale shade of winter :) ) and the after was in September 2011 after 6 months of P90x.

Top Physical Therapy Advice To Fuel Your Exercise Program

Every day I find myself handing out advice. It also tends to be the same advice over and over. So, for the next few blogs I am going to share the “tips” I find myself giving out most often that could help with your workouts, keep you from getting injured, and help maintain your focus for hitting your goals.

Part 1: Lifting and body mechanics

1. Knees behind toes- No, I am not suggesting you play Twister…although that sounds like fun. Instead, when doing squats or lunges, look down. If your knees are jutting out over your toes, there is likely undo strain being placed on your knees. Step out a little farther so when you squat your knees are behind your toes.
2. Chest and head up when squatting- if you look down when lifting an object, the tendency is to flatten out the lumbar spine and place increased strain on the back. So, think “head and chest up” when lifting to keep the lumbar spine in its naturally curved position.
3. Lift with your legs- everyone knows this one but so few do it! Perhaps it is because of lack of flexibility combined with lack of energy that people allow gravity to pull the trunk forward instead of lowering their trunk with their legs. You won’t lift with your legs if you don’t use them to get into position. You can start strengthening your legs by leaning against a wall and sliding down to do mini-squats. This can also help control dust around your house!
4. Use a wide base of support- unless you are trying to balance on one leg in the yoga “tree” pose, spread your legs apart when exercising, especially when lifting weights from the floor. It will increase your stability and help you be able to lift more weight safely.

So, there you go. Don’t worry, I’m not going to bill you for a 15 minute therapy unit. This one is on me. But now, it’s on you. As you exercise to achieve your goal, remember to use good body mechanics so you stay healthy and injury-free in the process.