Tagged: exercise

What Goes in My Grocery Cart?

Nutrition is obviously a hot topic these days, with everyone touting gluten free this and sugar free that.  Basically if you read enough on the internet, everything is going to kill you.  Here’s a bit of a hint – everything IS going to kill you eventually.  Really what you want to focus on is staving off the effects for as long as you possibly can and not letting yourself develop a chronic degenerative disease that might make it happen sooner.  My grandmother recently turned 100 years old, and still puts salt on things, eats butter and has two sugar cubes in her instant decaf coffee every day plus a hit of sherry once in a while.  I also share a Coke with her once a year.  She also lives an incredibly stress free lifestyle, which I think is one of the major contributors to degenerative disease today – but I digress.

While at the store this morning I thought I might post about exactly what I shop for and why, and hope that it might give you some insight into what a “fitness person” eats.  So here’s what was in my grocery cart this morning, which is pretty typical of 90% of our food intake:

Apples                  Tomatoes            Bananas               Cheese

Grapes                 Cucumber           Green Beans      Whole Wheat Wraps

Broccoli                                Strawberries      Kale                       Lactose Free Milk

Greek Yogurt     Brussels Sprouts               Oranges               Brown Rice

Peppers               Sweet Potatoes                Peppermint Tea

Tofu (we feed this to our daughter for fat and protein – and she loves it – yes, I know about soy)

Cheerios (my daughter also loves these as a treat but I eat them too for breakfast sometimes)

Total Cost:  $53 (at our local FreshCo) for enough to cover us for about four to five days.  We typically spend about $80 per week on groceries.

We get our meat from a local butcher because it is better quality – I rarely buy meat from the grocery store unless they are having a big sale on something in bulk.  Most of our meat is fish and chicken, but I also buy ground beef and sometimes a roast for convenience.  Once a week we do a slow cooker meal which covers us for 3-4 meals so it is easy for my wife to simply reheat if I am working late.

You might notice that there’s nothing from a box or that’s frozen.  This isn’t always the case – we buy frozen fish because it is cheaper and my butcher doesn’t carry it and we buy frozen peas because they are convenient and cheaper as well.  We don’t drink pop, or any juice.  I drink coffee that I sometimes make at home but I typically buy one from Tim Horton’s 5 days a week when I’m on my way to work.  I put cream and sugar in it because it tastes better that way.  If I want a snack I’ll eat fruit, yogurt or banana chips from Bulk Barn since I’m allergic to nuts and can’t eat those.  My post long run recovery drink is chocolate milk and sometimes my wife puts it in her coffee at home.

Here’s another shocker – I don’t take supplements.  No protein shakes, no BCAA’s, nothing beyond a simple Vitamin C to help reduce the risk of illness.  I found through trial and error that protein powders don’t make my system happy and the added juice and sugar add up to a ton as well.  Not that this is necessary, but I made a decision a while ago to basically cut back on anything artificial or that has chemicals in it, which any protein powder does.  And you can tell me until you’re blue in the face how yours comes from 100% natural ingredients, but the truth is, your powder still got made in a factory with 20 others that are simply boxed and shipped to other companies and there are still fillers and additives in it.  So basically I get 80% of my nutrition from real food, and the other 20% is the occasional 1-2 times a week I grab something when I’m out.  About once every other week my wife and I order in Thai food like normal people.  I follow the 80/20 rule – if you do the right thing 80% of the time it likely makes up for the 20% that you don’t.

I also have a ten month old at home – we feed her pretty much the same stuff that we eat at this point because she loves to feed herself and imitate Mom and Dad.  She loves beans, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, tofu, brown rice pasta, and especially strawberries.  For breakfast we often make her toast with almond butter and she loves it.  She has been exposed to pretty much everything (all fish, nuts, major allergens except for honey) and has no food allergies.  She doesn’t like too much animal protein because of the texture at this stage, but she will eat fish and chicken if we hide it or if she’s hungry enough.

So there you have it – the grocery and eating habits of a not perfect personal trainer and a regular human being.  I know that nutrition is a personal choice for many people so if you want to comment, that’s fine – I just might not listen.  I’ve spoken about nutrition before, and lots of people either over complicate it or simply don’t manage their time well.  They hit the snooze button 3 times and skip breakfast.  They don’t bother making lunch at home and spend hundreds a month eating out – which also leads to unhealthy choices.  Instead of whipping something up that’s healthy and easy at home (which you can easily do in 15 minutes) they stop and pick up something packaged or fast food.  Always remember – this is a choice.  If you choose to do that, then fine, but don’t complain about it.  It is really easy to make a simple change and manage your life and time better so you can live longer and feel better.  If you’re going to make a change, don’t make it for 6 weeks or a “90 day challenge” – make it for the rest of your life and commit already.

I hope it helped – feel free to comment, subscribe and share!

5 Tips for Beginner (and Experienced) Runners to Succeed.

Every spring brings with it clear roads, nice lush trails and always an explosion of new or reborn runners outside.  The year seems bright and shiny and new goals get set, sometimes held over from the year previous.  That ½ marathon that didn’t get done last year – this is the one!  I’m going to finish my first 10k race in under an hour!  I’m going to set a new personal best in May!  After coaching endurance athletes for over a decade I’ve pretty much heard all of them before.  This applies to those of you who ran regularly last year and haven’t consistently since November (when you finished your last race) too.  So I thought I might list off some of the biggest mistakes that I see new or renewed runners make early in season and hopefully it will make sure that a lot of those injuries I end up fixing in the fall don’t happen – at least to you.

1)      Start as easy as you need to.

Many beginners start out with a walk/run protocol until they can run continuously for 20 minutes – and you should too.  One mistake many beginners make is thinking that they can instantly hop out of their door and run forever without walking.  They get 1 kilometer down the road, are gasping for air and their muscles are screaming, limp home and never go out again.  I wonder why?  This applies to reborn runners as well – sometimes those first few runs are hard on the body and it needs time to adjust and get used to the movement again.  Try walk 1 minute, then JOG (not run) 1 minute and repeat for about 10 cycles – this is 20 minutes total, 10 minutes of jogging.  This is a good starting point.  Start with 3 times a week on non-consecutive days.  You will know you are improving when things get easier and then you can progress to 2/1, up to 10/1 and then try for a long continuous run.

Also, it has been proven that aerobic conditioning is incredibly important.  The majority of running at the starting stages should be at aerobic pace (meaning at least conversational).  This can be very difficult for beginners, so watch your perceived exertion levels!

2)      Warm up and Cool Down properly

Just putting your shoes on and going full speed right away is something even experienced runners shouldn’t do.  My athletes all start out with mobility movements and drills before starting, then slowly ramp up to their workouts.  High level athletes sometimes warm up for over an hour before their main workout starts!  This is important for blood flow, getting your brain into movement and making sure all is okay before you start pounding on your joints.  At the end of a workout, take some time to walk, evaluate how you feel and don’t just plop yourself down and stop moving right away.  Don’t necessarily just stretch, either – often your muscles are too taxed and you are potentially doing yourself more harm than good by stretching immediately afterwards anyway.  Treat every workout seriously, because if you want to perform well over time this is an essential habit to have right away.

Historically my athletes all tell me that if they had a crappy run it was because they didn’t warm up or do any movement before they went into their workout.  It also significantly increases injury risk.

3)      Progress yourself slower than you think you need to. 

I can’t stress enough that the majority of overuse injuries I see are caused by their name – overuse.  Some days are going to be a lot better than others for running, so ramping up mileage needs to be done weekly with a deload week once in a while (meaning just drop your total mileage by about 20%).  There are lots of good plans out there and if the plan calls for 3 miles, don’t suddenly do 5 just because you are feeling great that day.  My marathon runners spend months increasing weekly mileage from 50km per week to 70 and many more to 100 – you have to give the body time to adapt to stress under load.  I often explain it to people that if you walked into the gym after hardly bench pressing 100 pounds and suddenly tried for 150, likely it wouldn’t go very well and you could easily hurt yourself, right?  Running (and any other form of muscular stress) is the same thing.  Start with alternating days, then add in a day once you feel capable.  4 days a week is generally plenty for most runners unless you are trying for a very fast time, especially when you add in other components, like…

4)      Strength train.  Both with resistance and while running. 

Huh?  How can you strength train while running, you ask?  Well, the funny thing is that the body adapts to stress under load.  Especially for beginners, getting into the weight room and lifting weights (properly) has been proven to be better for your running efficiency, allow you to recover from workouts faster and severely reduce your risk of injury.  Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean bench presses – the strength movements should be tailored to the muscles that you need to be better at running.  A good strength coach (and I happen to know an excellent one!) can be your guide here.  Strength training while running can be done with things like hill workouts, hard track workouts and even simple drills you can do at the end of a good run.  Again, like anything else care has to be taken to do things properly at the start.  There are lots of good beginner strength programs out there for endurance athletes.

It also doesn’t require a gym membership.  I can outfit a decent home gym for less than $100, so if you need any guidance there or even if you don’t have a lot of space it can definitely be done.  In fact, you can get a lot of strength from bodyweight movements alone.

5)      Be realistic.

If a person comes to me having never run consistently and tells me they want to run a marathon, I tell them it will take 2 years to do properly and injury free.  They usually walk out at that point.  So many of us want that big goal without giving our body the time to adapt and get stronger while doing it.  If you want to do a ½ marathon (without walking) be prepared to be running up to 50-60km per week.  For a 10k it should be at least 30-40 – which requires time, commitment and preparation.  Don’t be afraid to downgrade your goal if you find you haven’t put in the training time, you are better off to do that then do the race you set and possibly set yourself back for the future as a result.  There are races pretty much every weekend during the summer – they will always be there.  Would you rather have a bad experience or a good one?  The road is long and if you take your time and do things right the first time, you can enjoy running for years without any issues.

All of this being said, a good coach is invaluable and will give you some perspective.  Just please make sure you don’t come to them with a list of goals – pick a top one and have a secondary one, but don’t expect that you will lose 30 pounds while also running a ½ marathon.  They are separate things and should be treated as such.  If you are interested in exploring either your first race or your twenty-first and are going for a personal best feel free to contact me.   I have helped dozens of runners get to that target goal they have been waiting for, whether you are just getting off of the couch or heading towards the Boston Marathon.  Feel free to comment, subscribe and follow me on Facebook!   runners-high-300x221

Can I Have 3.5% of your Time?

Often when I’m dealing with people trying to get into a workout regime and a regular routine the #1 answer is “I’m soooooo busy!”  Yes, the word is elongated because people seem to think that they are the only ones with a job, family and responsibilities that obviously mean that they can’t devote any time to their physical well-being.  Of course, these are the same people who hit the snooze button three times, watch two hours of television before bed and have no time to even go grocery shopping because they spend all of their time at work not accomplishing things in the time they could easily get them done because they procrastinate and waste time (smoke breaks, anyone?).

So here’s where I hit you with a reality check.  If you devote 6 hours of your time weekly to working out then that’s literally only 3.5% of your time each week.

I know, the first thing I’ll hear is “OMG I can’t possibly work out 6 times a week!”  Don’t worry, devoted reader.  To see improvement within a fitness capacity you can get away with only exercising 4 hours a week – so I’ve added in 2 hours of travel time (or 15 minutes each way).  That negates the excuse that it takes too long to get to the gym, because if you live more than 15 minutes drive from your facility either from home or work then you’re doing it wrong and you need to work out at home.  By the way, if your commute is an hour each way you’re also doing it wrong but that’s a whole different article topic.

So what do you do with the other 96.5% of your week?  An interesting exercise in time management (I did this in university) is to actually write down and analyze what you do all day for two weeks.  Sleeping, texting, working (actual work, not “meetings” over a muffin – but count those up too), talking with friends and co-workers, even feeding yourself all takes time.  Write it ALL down, every second and then analyze it The results if you are honest might really surprise you in terms of how much time you completely waste daily.  Here’s some averages of stuff you probably need to do:

30% of your time you sleep (7 hours a night).  This is good – it should be more.

30% of your time you’re at work (notice how I didn’t say actually working).  This is even based on a 50 hour work week – I don’t know a lot of people that actually do this.  Shave time away from work and there’s an easy 3.5% right there.  Work will survive.

9.5% of your time you eat (30 minutes a meal plus one longer one each weekend day – and most people skip breakfast or eat it in their car or at work)

7% of your time you’re going to and from work (1 hour a day – any more than this and you should move)

However, 12% of your time you’re watching tv and/or internet surfing (some people this is much more).  This includes Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Netflix etc. – again, this can be much higher.

If you have a family then you probably have time taken up by kids.  This can also usually be shared with your partner or find a gym that has child care facilities.

If you want another perspective, then if I took 3.5% and extrapolated it into your 8 hour work day it would take up 17 minutes.  You probably spend more time than that walking to get coffee.

So if I told you that I had a magic pill that would make you look better, feel better, sleep better, reduce chronic illness, give you more energy, let you do everyday tasks easier –and it would just take you 1/30th of your daily routine, do you think you would take it?  Oh, and you can take it for free and you can take it pretty much anywhere.  In sales speak they call this “reduce to the ridiculous”, but it is ridiculous because there is really no reason why you can’t do it.

So, can I have 3.5% of your time?  Please?  Let me know if you can set it aside for me.  You know that you can – now just go do it.

Join My 30 Day Challenge!

After reading about the latest company promoting a 24 day challenge that guarantees amazing results and can totally change your life, I realized that I have been really missing the boat.  Obviously if you can create a program that causes people to feel better, lose weight and inches quickly and also make money at the same time it’s going to be a huge success.  Therefore I decided to put together my own 30 Day challenge to provide people with an amazing new revolutionary way to do all of these things.  I don’t know if I should just release this to the general public, but since I am typically a generous soul I decided to share my amazing new secrets with the public and give them the help that they need in order to be fitter, healthier and happier.  Are you ready for this?  It only takes 30 days and you will be a totally new person!

Okay, Step One:

Go into your cupboards and fridge and throw out everything that is packaged, didn’t at one point have eyes or wasn’t grown or made from something from the ground.  You may find that your cupboards and fridge have suddenly gotten really empty.  This is a tough challenge, but you don’t have to spend two hundred dollars a month or sign up for auto ship – just throw it out once, which is basically the same thing.  So that leads us to Step Two:

Go to the grocery store.  See those different coloured things called vegetables to your right as you walk in?  Buy lots of them.  So many that you can’t even see the bottom of your cart.  And lots of different colours too.  Then go to the butcher section and buy a bunch of that stuff too.  Watch the butcher actually cut it up in front of you.  Buy some white stuff, some pink stuff and some more white stuff.  If it had a beak or gills at one point it’s a bonus.  Then, go to the checkout aisle without going anywhere else.  Can you do it?  Can you make your cart turn left before the cookie aisle?  I know it’s tough, but you wouldn’t have signed up unless you were totally committed and amazing, right?

Oh, and you have to do this more than once a week.  So if you don’t have time then watch less TV or don’t post on Instagram for an hour and go back to the grocery store.  You might actually have to go twice or three times in a single week.  That’s why I said this was a challenge.

Step Three:  Cook stuff.  Don’t cook it in a microwave; don’t pull it out of a box and plastic wrap.  Put it in an oven.  Or slow cooker.  Or barbeque.  Or steamer.  Leave it there for a bit of time.  Or don’t cook it and eat it raw (not the butcher stuff though).  Oh, you don’t have to do this every day  – if you are smart about it and cook three days’ worth at once.  I promise it won’t kill you.  Put it in that cold thing in the kitchen that is designed to store things and keep them fresh.

Step Four:  Eat the food.  Eat a bit of animal stuff and a lot of vegetable stuff.  For every meal, even breakfast.  I know – your body might explode if you don’t have cereal or toast for breakfast, but I want you to take that risk because you’re hardcore and fully committed.  Oh, and if you don’t eat breakfast now, eat it anyway.  I know it makes you feel sick to actually eat before noon, but push yourself!  You’re awesome!  Oh, and you have to take stuff to work too.  It might make your bag really, really heavy but that’s all part of the challenge!

Step Four:  Don’t drink anything that isn’t water or coffee or tea coloured.  And no, that doesn’t mean water coloured paints or Coke or whiskey because it’s brown.  There are rules here.  Drink until you have to pee.  And it’s not a dark colour.  Keep drinking until you’re peeing a lot.  See, even your bladder is getting into the challenge!

Step Five:  Exercise.  Put on those things with soles that sit by your front door and go outside.  If it’s -25, go to the mall.  Walk there.  Hell, walk up and down your stairs.  Set a timer for 30 minutes and just keep doing stuff that involves movement until it beeps.  I know, I know, it’s another 30 minutes you could be pretending to do work at your desk.  But this challenge is meant to separate the committed from the uncommitted.  I know you’re committed!  I know you can do it!

If you have a gym membership, actually walk into the door.  Once you’re there, pick some stuff up and put it down.  Then do it again until you’re tired.  You can use the black things, the long skinny things and even the really complicated looking big pieces of stuff.

Okay, so we’re at the end of Day 1.  Having fun yet?  Okay, now your challenge is to do this.  Every.  Single.  Day.  For 30 days.  I know it sounds totally incredible that regular people like you can actually do this.  At the end of it, you won’t believe your eyes!  Then you can help me sign up more people for this amazing program.

Does it sound simple?  Does it sound ridiculous?  Does it sound like anybody can do it?  Not just anyone can do this, it takes a special breed of person, but I know that you are definitely that person.  That’s why I’m sharing this amazing new program with you, and only you.  Feel free to PayPal me $50 to paradigmfitnessottawa@gmail.com if you want to sign up and learn more about this amazing offer!

#yesthisissarcasm