The Measure of Success

We have all stood there.  We put in a great week of work.  We watched and tracked what we ate.  And then the scale reads....no change!!!!  This is when we start with the explicatives...

Don't get discouraged.  Let's take a look at what we are truthfully measuring as success.  While most of us have a number we want to see on the scale, our goal should be more about living a healthy and fit life.  Still, you want to see the numbers move.  But when they don't, lets look at the what else we can measure to see if we are being successful.

- Body Measurements
We have all seen the picture of 1 pound of fat versus 1 pound of muscle.   So I won't re-post that viral image.  But measuring your body let's you know where the change is happening.  So when the scale doesn't move, take a look at where you are losing.

Measure these areas: chest, waist, arms, legs, hips and neck.  Compare those numbers and look to see where change is happening.  I recommend measuring every two weeks.

- Clothing Test
This is simple enough, how are those clothes fitting?  Are you noticing a difference?  In honestly, we all have those "skinny" pants hanging in the closest.  Check and see how those are fitting.

-Before and Afters
We look in the mirror everyday.  We see ourselves everyday.  There is an incredible visual evidence in comparing side by side pictures of yourself.  These are best done either every 2 weeks or every month.  Take front poses, profile poses, back poses, and one where you flex those guns!

-The "DANG" wat cho been doin' effect
 Sometimes other people take notice when we don't.  So take the compliment and share what you have done to reach those amazing results!

So when the scale is not going the right way, measure these other areas to find success!

I was made for this!

Some people call it revelation.  Some call it an epiphany.  Some call it the light bulb coming on.  Whatever you call it, there is a moment when it happens.  A moment when the stars all align, the tide is just right and the man in the moon is talking in his sleep.  It is the moment you say "I was made for this."

I believe we all have a "calling" and a "purpose" in life.  There is a specific thing that we are gifted to do that if it goes undone it won't get done, at least not in the way it meant for you to accomplish.  There is no prescription on how to discover this.  Most of it comes via trial and error, and at that mostly error.

Thomas Edison attempted to create the incandescent light bulb over 10,000 times.  When asked about it, Edison said "I have not failed.  I have just found 10,000 ways that won't work."  Your life is no different.  It is not a waste to try something and fail.  You have just found something that was not your purpose.  The failure comes when we quit searching and trying.

Once peculiar piece to this mystery of discovery is that some things come full circle.  What is incredible is that something that looks like a failed experiment at self discovery often comes back to be a piece to the puzzle of your purpose.  Experience is the grand teacher.  It teaches us often what we are not, it also teaches us what are meant to be.  Experience also bookmarks moments in life that we build on.  These moments of seeming failed trials and grand errors can lead us down the path of purpose.  That moment when you say "I was made for this."

#livewithhope

I ate my feelings and...

In our continued stream of thinking along nutrition and my continually belief that confession is good for the soul...I am an emotional eater.

When it rains, it pours highly carbohydrated snack foods in a Noah's Ark style flood.  In order for me to achieve the success of my goal weight and maintain that healthy, the one thing I have to find control over is my emotional eating.  I tend to eat when the stresses of life become overwhelming.

So here are 3 alternatives to eating my weight in snack foods:

1) Workout - pop in a DVD and sweat it out.  Pushing my physical fitness and releasing endorphin keeps me from binging.

2) Run - while similar to working out, running allows me to put my body on cruise control and engage my mind in some thinking and processing.  It gives a chance to escape to another place (both physically and mentally) and avoid the snacks.

3) Laugh - The proverb says that laughter is good medicine.  Being able to find humor in laugh is healthy.  While whatever the situation was may not have be funny at all, there is plenty in life to find laughter in.  So laugh, smile, and take your hands away from the sweets and salty.

I have not perfected being an overcomer of emotional eater.  I am working on it.  I try to use these alternatives to stuffing my face.  In an honest reflection, I really don't feel any better by eating.  While I satisfy my taste buds, I upset my belly and worse really don't emotionally feel any better.  (SAD FACE)

Are you a cheater?

Friday nights at Casa Pitts are blocked off as a family night (at least as best as our schedules allow).  After a long week, prepping a sit down meal at close to 7 PM (after finishing our other Friday responsibilities) is just not feasible.  So our Friday night is our "cheat night".  It is the one night a week that nutritionally we let our guard down a little bit and make frozen pizza or sandwich bar or something easy and pop in a movie and just chillax as a family.

So I wanted to pass on some tidbits of wisdom from a cheater like me.

1.  Take caution in what you cheat with -

Just because you allow yourself a cheat meal does not mean that meal has to lack complete nutritional value. If  you get a pizza make sure has some veggies on it.  If you are going to eat sandwiches use a lighter cheese, skip the mayo and use mustard or even avocado as a replacement.  You want chips with that sandwich, even here you make a better choice about the chips you eat.  Cheat with wisdom, if you eat out you can still enjoy a yummy meal, but do it responsibly.  Just because you are eating a cheat meal don't make a wasted meal full of empty calories because...

2. Your body knows what it wants -

Here is the reason you need to make sure even when you cheat, you cheat right.  Your body is smarter than you are.  It's true.  When your body has a need for protein you will crave meat or eggs. When you body has a need for calcium, you might want cheese or milk. Your body knows what it needs and signals your brain "hey get us that." One of the dangers of a cheat meal is not fulfilling the need of your body.  When that happens your body tells your brain "hey we need something else and more of it."  If that something else is not what your body needs it will keep sending that signal to your brain.  Your brain sends the signal to the rest of you and you find yourself with your hand back in the bag of chips even though you are not hungry.  Which leads to...

3.  Overeating

A cheat meal does not mean 5 trips to the all you can eat buffet.  While you will more than likely blow your typical calorie count for a meal out of the water (my meals range from 350-425 a meal), this is not an excuse to eat like you are in the 4th of July Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest.  You need to still have some portion management.  So you may go back for a bite of seconds, but thirds, really, fourths.  At the bottom of the bag of whatever you are eating is regret.  So take caution!  Manage the amount of what you are going to eat.  Just because it is a cheat meal does not mean that you throw out the discipline you have the rest of the week.  Consider this a controlled indulgence.

You don't bust your backside to not enjoy life.  We fight for our health through diet and exercise in hopes a living a happier and healthier life.  Give yourself some grace on occasion to cheat.  Just cheat with caution.  It is still cheating and cheating can always lead us down a slippery slope and leave us caught elbow deep in a tub of ice cream.  So enjoy your pizza, your occasional scoop of Rocky Road, even juicy steak, but make this the exception to your life and not the rule.  If you let poor habits rule what you eat you will be right back to the point you were before your journey toward a fitter you!

Day #11 A Plan

Do you know you are going to eat tomorrow?  Most of us do not know what our next meal is.  Having a food plan keeps you on track and less likely to get your hand into something that you are going to regret.  Part B of that whole concept is to stick to that plan.

I had my food planned out today for lunch.  And then it happened.  I thought what a great partner to my vegetable shop but some tortilla chips from Qdoba that were in our break room.  Halfway through my lunch I punch my foods into MyFitnessPal app only to find out my expected amount of calories on my lunch had just doubled...that's right doubled.  My serving of chips that I assumed were about 120 calories were 250. YIKES!

Now 130 extra calories is not the end of the world.  Yet it was a failure to stick to my plan that cost me the extra.  Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me...What I and you need to make sure is that we don't get fooled into extra calories by not A. failing to plan out meals in advance and B. fail to stick to the food plan you set out.

Knowledge is POWER, but only when that knowledge dictates and determines your behavior.  PLAN, PLAN, PLAN!  Stick to that PLAN!

EXERCISE:
Insanity - Pure Cardio

Day #9 What do you believe?

I was challenged by a video I watched today on something that had already been stirring in me.  If you are anything like me, you are gifted, skilled, talented and even capable.  The one thing that keeps me from reaching my dreams more than anything else is a big fat ME.  I am the stumbling block, I am the hindrance.

Here is the things I believe in when it comes to health and fitness: one exercise and diet are the keys.  As a Beachbody coach, I honestly believe in Beachbody fitness programs and in Shakeology. They are not the problem.  Where my struggles comes in is believing in me.  I know I touched on this earlier, but this is such a truism.  If you put the work in, the work works.  Yet, somehow, when I quit believing in myself, when I quit caring enough about the person inside, I quit caring for the person on the outside. And then I quit putting the work in.

Health and Fitness are more than physical things.  They are very much emotional.  Let me put it into perspective...you never reach for a bag of carrots after a big breakup. No, of course not, it's a tub of ice cream.  Our emotions are indicators and at times dictators of our physical well being. Our emotional well being is intertwined with our physical well being.  The two are inter-locked.

My problem many days is that I let my emotions and the way I view and believe about myself dictate my physical well-being.  I don't quit exercising because I believe it doesn't work.  I don't shove greasy food in my mouth because I think it makes me healthy.  No, I resort to laziness and bags of goo when I quit feeling worth the work.

So let me pass on the tips shared with me today.  When negative thoughts fill your space and try to push out the positive you believe about yourself, do this.  Write down the negative thought.  Draw a line through it.  Write the opposite, something positive.

My struggle has been with this (honest confession moment, prepare yourself):  No one cares about you or really likes you, so why should you care about yourself. 

Truth is:  People care greatly for me and I am worth caring about and worth caring for myself.

The question is what do you believe about you?

EXERCISE: 
Les Mills Combat HIIT Power + plus some free weight work

Day #8 - My 5 Struggles

Weigh in day!  It is a day of hope that teeters on being a great celebration or a possible deflation.  Today was somewhere in between.  I was down to 181.2 and a BMI of 25.98, a total weight loss of 3.6 lbs.  Pretty good for a weeks work, but honestly was hoping for better.  I know, maybe that sounds like I was looking for a miracle.  This got me thinking about the struggles we face.  So here are the 5 struggles I face and how I do my best to overcome them.

1) FOOD -
Inside of me is an 11 year old chubby kids who still buys his jeans in the "HUSKY" section.  That kids loves sweet tea, pizza, and especially Chex Mix.  While the grown up healthier Jeff has grown to enjoy eggplant, cabbage, zucchini and other veggies.  There is a part of me that still has the urge to tear open a bag of party mix and eat it 'til it is gone.

How I deal: For starters, try not to keep it in the house.  Secondly, to make a better choice if I do get the urge.  And at times, I do treat myself to some Bold Party Blend Chex Mix, but I pour an amount in a bowl and try, try, try to not go back to the bag.

2) TIME -
Probably the second biggest hiccup we have to our health and fitness is squeezing out the time to do it.  I have a wife, three kids and a whole heap of responsibilities.  I feel ya on this one...So I schedule my workouts in my to do list.  I tell my family that this is when I am working out and try to manage other activities around it.  Try to establish a set time to do it - early morning, after the kids go to bed, just after work.  If it becomes part of the daily routine, then you and everyone else will work around it.

3) EXERCISE
Simply put, if you don't love it, you won't want to do it.  Find a program that you really enjoy doing.  Don't have one, then I would love to recommend a few.  I tried to doing TurboFire, similar to TurboKick classes.  I felt like a dancing bear and hated it.  I found myself not wanting to do it.  If you hate it, you won't do it.  Find one you LOVE! It makes it easy to do.

4) THE MIRROR
I may struggle the most with the man looking back at me.  I have some convincing of myself to do that I deserve to look and feel better.  Obesity is mentally and emotionally crippling disease.  When you see change it fuels the fire.  When you bust your can and don't see change, you start to question why you are doing it.  You look in the mirror and say "why?"  I have worked hard on my Jack Handy and telling myself that I deserve it.

5) WHY
Losing sight of your WHY is the quickest way to lose motivation.  About 3 years ago, I checked in around 220 lbs, ate whatever I wanted and to use a country song reference treated my body like an old honky tonk - minus the booze, smokes and loose women.  Our youngest was an infant, we had one in school and one about to start school and they needed and deserved a dad who could go play catch in the yard, chase after bicycles, and have the energy to be active with them.  My wife deserved a husband who had energy at the end of the day.  I deserved to be healthy and have a long life..see my kids become adults and live out their lives.  They are my WHY.

MEALS: updated later

EXERCISE: 
Les Mills Combat Kick Start 30 -- my eleven year old son was my workout partner

Day #5 Just Ask

"I can do it myself..."  at least that is what I always seem to try to convince myself.  In reality it is not a confidence in my own abilities to act like that, but more my fear of asking for help.  Maybe you are like me and would rather suffer through, struggle, and face defeat rather than suck it up and ask someone for help. It is not even that I don't want help or that I believe that I don't need it...the struggle comes in asking.

Sometimes fear sets in.  What will they think if I ask?  How will they respond?  Will they see me as weak?  These question flood us (or just me) and handicap me from getting the help I need, whether in weight loss or business or finances or just life.  Our character traits spill over into every area of our life.  So if you struggle with asking for help in general, what I know is that you are not going to go to someone and say "help me lose the weight."  How do I know this?  Because I am that guy, who struggled and struggle and refused to ask anyone for help.   I wrote earlier this week about how support creates success.  But you will never get the support you need if you don't ask.  I finally asked.  I went to a friend who had reached out to me about Beachbody and I said I need to help to get to the goals I have.

While I am less than perfect at asking, as matter of fact, still learning to ask for the things I want and need.  I am getting better.  Our first step to reaching the goals we set might be as simple as asking someone to help.  If you have health and weight loss goals, here is an open hand extended.  Just ask for help...

MEALS:
Breakfast: Egg with 2% pepperjack cheese on 10 grain Brownberry toast, medium Red Delicious apple - total cal - 275
Snack #1: Chocolate Shakeology, frozen strawberries, 1/2 cup skim milk w/ ice and water - 270
Lunch: 5oz of tuna with spicy brown mustard and sweet relish, baby carrots, banana, 10 grain Brownberry bread - 378
Snack #2: 6 sourdough pretzel nuggets, Brownberry toast with Wholly Guacamole, baby carrots - 290
Dinner: Lean Turkey sausage link, potato, onion and green pepper pan fried - 335
Total Calories: 1548

EXERCISE: 
Les Mills Combat HIIT Plyo Shock - or in other words 30 minutes of pain and agony!!!

Day 3 - The lonliest place

Three years ago, I was OBESE, out of shape and fat.  I wanted to change, I even tried changing.  But failed time and time again.  Truth is getting healthy, losing weight and changing your habits can be a lonely place.  Going to a gym or class by yourself is not much fun.  Choosing to eat your brown bag healthy lunch over eating out with co-workers can be troublesome and lonely.

What I have found is that I succeed in my health and fitness when I don't do it alone.  My wife and I started this journey together three years ago and both have been most successful when we are in FULL SUPPORT of one another.  Full support is not "hey great for you."  Full support is I am going to sweat while you sweat. I am going to eat better and be accountable to bring better food into our house.  Full support is pushing one another off the couch to get a workout in.

Not everyone has a partner in life that gives that support, but that does not mean you are alone.  I would love to be a part of support system for you, if you would do the same for me.  Statistics show you have a great chance of losing weight, getting healthy and staying that way with proper support.  If interested comment below and we will connect.

I need you and whether you want to admit it you might just need me too.


MEALS:
Breakfast - 100% Whole wheat, sugar free toast, 1 egg, 1 pc turkey bacon, 2% sharp cheddar cheese and a banana - 340

Snack #1 - Chocolate Shakeology, frozen strawberries, 1/2 cup of skim milk, ice and water - Total Cals - 270

Lunch - Tuna with spicy brown mustard and sweet relish (my little indulgence), 100% whole wheat sugar free bread, red delicious apple, quaker chocolate chunk granola bar - Total cal - 400

Snack #2 - Red delicious apple, 2 tbsps natural peanut butter - Total Cal - 275

Dinner - 2 eggs, zuchini & squash topped with Ragu Heart Healthy spaghetti sauce - Total Cal 245

Total Cal - 1530 (there may be another snack yet coming)

EXERCISE: 
Les Mills Combat Kata 45 - 45 minutes of boxing, karate, a little muay thai and fat calories burned!!

Day 2 - Don't Call It a Come Back

LL Cool J has the hit lyric "don't call it a come back, I have been here for years" from the track Mama Said Knock You Out.  LL was proclaiming his inner belief in himself despite lacking radio success he had never really gone anywhere.

Even when no one else believes you are making progress, you have to believe.  I know I am not alone when I say for some of us out there the person we aim to please the least is the person in the mirror.  So finding inner strength and belief to drive us to success is possibly the most difficult strength to find.

Inside us lies a 16 year old kid who believed he could do about anything still lies inside of me.  I am just trying to tap into him a little in order to push past the current visual of who I am to reach the me I am trying to become.  Don't call it a comeback...

MEALS:
Breakfast - 100% whole wheat english muffin, 1 egg, 1 pc turkey bacon, 1 pc pepperjack cheese and 1 banana - Total Cal 335

Meal #2 - Chocolate Shakeology, 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1/2 cup skim milk, ice and water - Total Cal 275

Lunch - 5oz can of tuna with mustard, 1 pc 100% whole wheat, sugar free bread, baby carrots, apple Total Cal - 335(ish)

Dinner - Tilapia with worcheshire and lemon pepper, green beans, banana, 1 pc whole wheat bread Total Cal - 365

Snack #2 - Red delicious apple, 2 tbsp natural peanut butter  - Total Cal 270
Daily - 1580 Total Calories

Exercise:
Les Mills Combat HIIT Power - Consider this a Insanity/P90x hybrid style workout.  Lots of legs, lots of upper body, lots of calories!

Personal Challenge(s)

8 months ago I took on the toughest fitness challenge of my life and surpassed even my wildest dreams on Insanity.  I dropped to a weight I had not been since high school and was as physically fit as I had been possibly ever.

But like most of you, I am not immune to life and busyness and distractions that  we all face.  My fitness became inconsistent, my nutrition was good but not great and during the holidays I found my hand inside the cookie jar more often than not.

One of my goals this year is to be more transparent and open.  A lot of times we are open about our success and more reserved about our failures.  For me  being vulnerable is scary.  While  I have shouted from the rooftops where I have won in my fitness health, I have often times tried to save face when I have hit a stretch of inconsistency.  I am human like you.  I have ups and downs.

So here is to 2013 and being open.  Over the next 60 days I am putting myself through a personal challenge - part fitness, part emotional exercise.  My fitness plan is to start and complete Les Mills Combat - a 60 day MMA style workout program.  The second half of this challenge is to be blog daily (or most days) posting my food, all of it, good or bad, my struggles with exercise, with emotions tied to exercise and nutrition, and posting pictures of my journey.

Goals of this whole thing:  1) Goal weight of 170 lbs  2) Learn to be more vulnerable and open.

Maybe you are asking why or even who cares.  Quite possibly nobody tunes in and follows my journey and that is okay.  It is more about me pushing myself to healthy both physically and emotionally.  I am challenging myself to be accountable and this is platform I am using

Gaining Confidence

Let's play word association.  I say workout, you might say sweat, fitness, exercise, lifting, smelly gym socks.  The word that may not come to mind is CONFIDENCE.  The origin of the word comes from the Latin word confidere which means to trust, to have faith in.  This definitely does not bring to mind images of bulking up, trimming down or getting fit. Yet, there is an interesting correlation between personal confidence and your level of fitness and health.  Self-image and self confidence are linked!

As you push the limits of your body and achieve new levels, you start create a belief in yourself of accomplishing new limits.  As your body begins to take shape from that of a pear to that of healthy and strong, you start to see yourself differently.  Every time you achieve one goal there is a drive ignited in you to push to achieve a new goal.  This attitude bleeds over into other areas of your life. In turn that affects how you present yourself to others, resulting in a greater level of confidence.

When you feel good about you, others take notice!  When you believe in you, you show it!  Run the next mile, do the next set of push ups, push play on Insanity or P90X.  Not only will you be rewarded by building a stronger, faster, learner physique, you will be rewarded with a greater sense of self-worth.  The changes you find will be more than just physical...they may just change your life!

When in doubt...try!

All my life I have heard the expression "When in doubt..." then followed by some sort of lame advice.  Doubt is one of the things that creeps into our minds that can prevent our bodies from achieving maximum success.  Doubt is the thoughts that keep us from putting in the work.  Doubt is the thing that keeps us from making wise choices with our food.  Doubt can single handily set you back on progress.

If the workout looks hard, you "doubt" you can do it.  Not big on veggies, you "doubt" you can eat healthy.  Here is your homework...replace doubt with try.  If the workout looks hard give it a TRY!  Don't like broccoli, give peppers or asparagus a TRY.  Doubt will keep you from trying things.  Let me help you out, you will fail.  You may fail to complete every sit up, push up, burpee.  You will fail and munch on some high fat food.  Fail TRYING, then you are not failing at all.  You are attempting to make progress.  The greatest failure is to fail without ever trying.  So try, try, try!  And when you fail pick yourself back up and try, try, try again.

The Fat Kid Inside...

While I was active and athletic as a kid, I was also quite a "chubbs".  Losing and gaining weight is a matter of math - burn more calories than you take in.  I had no issue burning calories as a kid, but had a greater love for taking them in.  End result: a chubby, athlete.

Inside me is still that "fat kid".  The internal battle I face is the same as it was at 12 years old, now with the metabolism of a 35 year old man.  Like a magnetic force I am drawn to Chinese buffets, sweet tea, pizza parties and holiday feasts.  Like a drunk with his bottle, I never know when to put down the plate.  It is always just one more piece of chicken, one more serving of potato salad, one more...won't kill me.  True enough one more won't, but a life of one mores will.

I have spent the past three years is essence overcoming the inner fat kid.  My journey to a healthier and fitter lifestyle faced many challenges, but the greatest one was controlling my food intake and my desire for food.  Inside still lies that 12 year old kid who longs to shove his face full of whatever is in front of him.  The desire still lies deep inside me so as to win the war on weight comes by beating that "inner fat kid".

A couple of tips to beat the inner fat kid:

1)  Control what you can control:  Bring your lunch to work instead of ordering out; put proper servings on you plate; serve from the stove and not from the table, this prevents from picking more. The more you can control the food, the better your chance of not over indulging.

2) Eliminate piece by piece:  starting changing things out little by little, change from sweet tea to unsweet tea or soda to water.  Little changes start to add up.  Begin cutting back on sodiums, butters and little things that add calories to vegetables or proteins that naturally full of flavor.

3) Say NO:  it takes will power but walk past the doughnuts, the cookies, the sweets that open the abyss of endless snacking.

4) Don't buy it:  because the kids like it is not an excuse ti keep it in the house.  If it is not available, you won't eat it.

Win the war on the inner fat kid and win the war on weight!