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HEALTHY MIND, FIT BODY

HOW THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION CAN HELP YOU ACHIEVE YOUR PERFECT WEIGHT

Kevin Koskella &Wes Bertrand, M.A.

Healthy Mind, Fit Body

Kevin Koskella has spent a lifetime devoted to holistic health, fitness and nutrition.

As a 7-year old, he was the youngest to run across the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge. He later became a competitive swimmer and achieved All-American status at the University of California-Davis.

After college, he began training for triathlons, studying nutrition, and eventually became a Certified Per-sonal Trainer. After helping local individuals achieve their fitness goals, Kevin decided to use his success and knowledge to help a worldwide audience lose weight, get fit, and reach their personal best.

Today, Kevin coaches triathletes in swimming with his company, Tri Swim Coach, and consults in the fields of fitness and nutrition. The Healthy Burn For Beginner Athletes came about when he realized that most of the athletes he coached for triathlons had their goals set first at becoming fit and healthy and losing a few pounds, and second at finishing and progressing in races.

Wes Bertrand has focused on methods for achieving optimal physical and mental functioning sincea teenager. Maintaining optimal health and fitness has been even more of an imperative since he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1995.

Over the last couple decades, Wes has integrated a philosophical and psychological perspective that focuses on individual life and well-being—since the smallest minority in the world is the individual. Many aspects of good health derive from one’s attitude toward what one already knows. Getting more in touch with one’s authentic self is key to living with integrity in the realm of diet and fitness. The final chapter of this book, written by Wes, focuses on such things—essentially, you’ll learn how to free yourself from con-tradictory and unhelpful subconscious thoughts that generate problematic feelings and dysfunctional behavior. On the positive side, this means realizing your personal power and actualizing your potential.

After receiving his BS in psychology, he graduated from USIU (now AIU) in San Diego in counseling psy-chology, receiving the outstanding Master of Arts award. His website is happinesscounseling.com, where you’ll find more resources to supplement the content of this book’s final chapter concerning ending conflicts with your subconscious self.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

http://triswimcoachonline.com

http://happinesscounseling.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHORS.................................................................................................. 1

BEFORE YOU SET OUT….............................................................................................. 4

CHAPTER 1 Forget About Diets............................................................................. 7

INSULIN—THE CARB HORMONE.............................................................................. 8

CHAPTER 2 Eating Sensibly.................................................................................. 10

MAKE VEGETABLES YOUR MAIN EVENT............................................................... 10

LIMIT CARBOHYDRATES (BESIDES VEGGIES)...................................................... 10

A FEW WORDS ABOUT SUGAR................................................................................ 11

BUILD YOUR MEALS AROUND PROTEIN.............................................................. 13

FATS: YOU AREN’T WHAT YOU EAT......................................................................... 14

CHAPTER 3 Healthy Shopping............................................................................ 18

ORGANIC VS. NON-ORGANIC.................................................................................. 18

VEGETARIANISM........................................................................................................... 23

CAFFEINE AND ALCOHOL......................................................................................... 23

SAMPLE EATING PLAN FOR ONE WEEK................................................................ 26

A GUIDE TO EATING OUT AND TRAVELING......................................................... 27

CHAPTER 4 Dietary Supplements..................................................................... 29

OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS............................................................................................. 29

MULTIVITAMINS............................................................................................................ 31

CHAPTER 5 Body Composition and Goal Setting...................................... 35

LET’S TALK ABOUT WEIGHT—EVERYONE’S FAVORITE SUBJECT.................. 35

CHAPTER 6 Aerobic Exercise................................................................................ 38

ANAEROBIC EXERCISE................................................................................................ 38

AEROBIC EXERCISE...................................................................................................... 38

CHAPTER 7 Building Your Anaerobic System.............................................. 43

WORKOUT #1: IN HOME............................................................................................ 46

WORKOUT #2: AT THE GYM...................................................................................... 48

EXERCISE BALL FOR A HEALTHY BACK................................................................. 50

PILATES METHOD........................................................................................................ 51

CHAPTER 8 Yoga and Meditation...................................................................... 55

THE ROOTS AND EXPLANATION OF YOGA......................................................... 55

MEDITATION.................................................................................................................. 58

CHAPTER 9 Other Health Supports.................................................................. 60

SLEEPING........................................................................................................................ 60

WATER.............................................................................................................................. 61

SUNLIGHT....................................................................................................................... 61

QUITTING SMOKING................................................................................................... 62

CHAPTER 10 Putting Everything Together................................................... 63

TWO WEEKS FOR TOTAL SUCCESS......................................................................... 64

CONCLUSION................................................................................................................ 65

ADDENDUM: THE SOLUTION TO SELF-CONFLICT

—ALIGNMENT WITH TRUE-SELF........................................................................ 66

TYPICAL WAYS OF DEALING WITH EMOTIONS.................................................. 66

LET’S TALK ABOUT WEIGHT—EVERYONE’S FAVORITE SUBJECT.................. 67

ENDING CONFLICT AT THE EMOTIONAL LEVEL................................................ 70

SEVEN-DAY SENTENCE COMPLETION PROGRAM............................................ 71

THE NATURE OF PEACE—CONNECTING WITH YOUR SAGE-SELF............... 78

FALSE-SELF DISTRACTIONS...................................................................................... 78

WINNING AND KEEPING THE PEACE..................................................................... 79

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES..................................................................................... 80

RECIPES.......................................................................................................................... 81

RESOURCES.................................................................................................................. 89

BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................... 90


It may sound like common sense, but let me remind you that no one should begin an exercise or nutri-tion program without first consulting your physician. This is especially the case if you have a personal or family history of heart disease, high blood pressure or if you are over age 40, have diabetes, high choles-terol, smoke cigarettes, or are taking medication. If any of the exercises you are doing make you feel light headed, give you pain in the chest, neck, shoulder, or arm, stop exercising and seek medical attention. Overexertion can be deadly! Just make sure to contact your doctor if there are any doubts.

While the nutrition advice is excellent for most people, some people have special diets and will need to avoid certain foods. Again, make sure to get clearance if you are unsure.

Once you have the necessary clearance, your journey to achieve optimal health begins immediately!

BEFORE YO

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BEFORE YOU SET OUT…

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When I left college back in 1994, I had just finished a big segment of my life as a competitive swimmer.I competed in swimming from age 8 all the way through college. This meant countless hours spent in the pool, many sacrifices, and not much time to sit around and do nothing. This also meant that I was always in good shape, never having to think too much about what I was eating or how I structured my workouts (let alone coming up with strategies to deal with stress!).

This was all about to change.

Within a few months after college ended, without a routine or much knowledge of nutrition, I gained 10 pounds (on a slim frame like mine this is major!), added 3% body fat, was losing energy, and was not feeling good about myself or my body. I had no motivation to exercise (without the concrete goals swim-ming supplied me with) and I continued to eat the same sized portions as I had when I was training 3-4 hours a day!

I knew something had to change and I needed to take charge.

My first instinct was to start swimming again. For a few months, I was able to stick to a routine of swim-ming three times a week, and my fitness level improved. As I began to get into shape, it occurred to me that I was nowhere near my peak fitness level from a year earlier, and my motivation once again slipped away.

It was at that time I picked up a copy of The Zone by Barry Sears. This was less of a diet, and more ofa new way of eating: more protein, less carbohydrates, and more fat; also known as the 40-30-30 method (percentages in carbs-protein-fat). This was a change from everything I knew about nutrition. Previously, I had eaten low fat and high carbohydrate, thinking this was the best and only approach to eating. How wrong I was! Some of the elite athletes Sears was working with were consuming up to 60 percent of total daily calories from fat (a 20-20-60 program)!

Having been exercising and eating very little fat, I was still not feeling my best. I decided to give The Zone a try.

I cut out bread, pasta, pancakes, and soda. The results were FAST and FABULOUS! Within a month, my stomach became flat and my energy was better than ever. No more sleepiness after lunch. No more cravings for carbs, sugar, or caffeine. My weight was back to normal and my body fat dropped into the “excellent” category.

My swim, run, and bike workouts were much easier, and I had energy to start the day instead of waking up a zombie!

With my newfound success, I became a personal trainer and began teaching others how to live with more energy and look their best.

Many other diets have come out over the years, such as Atkins, South Beach, and Sugar Busters. They all have things in common. For one, they all tell you to reduce or severely restrict carbohydrates.

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This part makes sense, and it has worked for millions of people.

Dr. Atkins was a revolutionary in many ways, bringing many truths to light in the nutrition world.

However, the problem with Atkins and all of these diets is just that—they are diets. And diets do not work if they are just viewed as diets, something you have to torture yourself to adhere to! The part that works about these diets is the elimination of addiction to sugar and processed carbohydrates.

In addition, athletes have to use carbohydrates in the right way instead of eliminating them altogether.

What I have discovered since then is that the 40-30-30 plan is a nice start and may help many people lose weight, but there is more to it than that. More questions need to be asked: What specific foods should people eat? What should they avoid? What is the right combination of aerobic workouts and strength building workouts to achieve opti- vvvmum fitness and success in sports? What is the best way to relax and relieve stress? How can people look better, live longer, avoid illness, and maximize their energy levels? What are the ways I can adjust my mindset in relation to all of the above, in order to live optimally?

The purpose of this book is to answer these questions and give you a solid, easy-to-follow plan that will allow you to live life to the fullest, whether your goals are to lose weight, do better in your sport, improve your look, increase energy levels, maximize longevity, or all of the above. And the Addendum chapter will provide you with some indispensable tools to keep in top psychological shape, to ensure your ongo-ing success.

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“You are what you eat.”

Okay, now you’re wondering why you gave up your hard earned money and valuable time to see a cliché you probably heard in first grade! It is indeed a cliché (and probably doesn’t mean much to most chil-dren). However, it is true: what you put in your body is the most important part of the quest for looking younger, feeling better, and living longer.

Most diets or weight-loss programs don’t work because they are a “band-aid” or temporary fix to the problem of being overweight. They also fail because they are difficult to follow or maintain for very long. Instead of merely restricting calories, it’s much easier and more fun to eat foods that satisfy you while you lose weight and improve your health.

Starvation is also not an option in weight loss. When you starve yourself, your body holds on to as much fat as it can because it thinks it is dying. Beyond that, it is tough to go out for a run of any distance ona completely empty stomach. Eventually you will “bonk” or crash because your energy levels just give out.

Skipping meals regularly is one of the worst things you can do for your health, whether you are trying to lose weight or just get healthy. I see many people try the starvation method and fail miserably. What hap-pens is, when you skip a meal, you will get so hungry for your next meal that you will undoubtedly over-eat. It is especially important not to starve yourself if you are training—you need the energy for workouts and you will no doubt overeat and add fat, exactly what you don’t want!

Educating yourself and changing the way you think about food is a huge step toward a healthy lifestyle. I’d say it’s half the journey! Once you understand how food affects your appetite, mood, energy level and more, you are more likely to make better choices.

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CHAPTER 1 Forget About Diets


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INSULIN—THE CARB HORMONE

The rate of glucose (blood sugar) response caused by different foods has been measured. It is gauged by something called the glycemic index. Glucose itself is at the high end of the index, with a rating of 100. At the other end of the spectrum are pea-nuts, with a glycemic index rating of about 15. This means that eating pure glucose would cause your blood sugar level to rise at a faster rate than peanuts. Yet as noted in the Addendum, the amount of carbs consumed matters most, regardless of their particular glycemic index.

Why is this important?

Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas. Without getting too scientific here, there are some things you should know and keep in mind about it. Eating carbohydrates (regardless of their glycemic index), stimulates insulin release. Excess carbohydrates result in excess production of insulin. This excess insulin causes even more of the carbohydrates you eat to be stored as fat—and kept there as fat. Even though different fats and proteins can also result in insulin secretion, carbohydrates are the main culprit.

Are you always hungry? Here are some tips:

Eat four to six smaller meals. This keeps the nutrients going in ata steady rate throughout the day instead of letting your body deplete itself of available calories from a meal that may have been eaten six to eight hours earlier. Eating every 2-3 hours isa great way to burn body fat as well. I sometimes eat up to7 times in one day!

Make sure you are getting enough water. Often a hunger signal will actually be your body asking for plain water. I will usually have a glass of water or bottle of water at my desk while I work, sipping it throughout the day. If you are doing a 1-hour workout or more, have a water bottle handy to continue to hydrate your-self (you’ll need even more water than the standard 64 ounces because of what you’re losing in sweat).

Have some almonds or walnuts available for a quick snack. These are healthy fats and will satisfy your appetite and provide you with a good dose of vitamin E. I can’t live without my almonds!

GLYCEMIC INDEX (GI)

FOOD GI

Very High (100+)

Rice Cake 132French Bread 131Honey 126Corn Flakes 121Mashed potato 117Baked russed potato 116Puffed Wheat 110White Bread 100Wheat Bread 100

High (80-99)

Corn Chips 99Carrots 93Raisins 93Ice cream (fat free) 90Yogurt (fat free frozen) 90Banana 82Brown rice 81

Moderate (50-79)

Oatmeal cookie 78Yams 73Orange juice 71Ice cream (full fat) 69Pinto beans 64

Low (30-49)

Apple 49Oatmeal 49Grapes 45Milk 44Pear 44

Very Low (less than 30)

Grapefruit 26Plum 25Cherries 23Most vegetables 23Soybeans 20All nuts 15


Cut down on carbohydrates, cut out refined sugars, and raise your protein intake. This will help keep blood sugar levels even and cut down on the chance that your brain will “panic” for its food.

If you look at human history, our ancestors mostly ate green vegetables, meat and fish, fruit and nuts. Grains were introduced many tens of thousands of years later, in Neolithic times; pasta, bread, and high amounts of sugar are characteristic only of much more modern times. The least healthy cultures such as the Egyptians, who were known to have modern-day problems like tooth decay and heart disease, ate a diet high in grain. Since our genes haven’t changed appreciably for 10,000 years, we have not evolved to a point where we can consume all these carbohydrates without negative consequences.

The bottom line is that overeating carbohydrates will make you fat!

Therefore, the first step to better health is cutting down your carbohydrate intake. Does this mean to eliminate carbohydrates completely? No! What this means is to choose your foods wisely.

Cutting carbs may come as a surprise to you and seem contradictory if you are a triathlete or endurance athlete!

Carbs seem to be king in both the world of sports and mainstream dietary mantras, where they are rec-ommended as the primary energy source. While this may kind of work for us when we’re young, if your goals are fat burning or losing considerable weight and being healthy, controlling carbohydrates is one of the most important points here!

In the next chapter, I will show you how easy it is to choose from a variety of protein dishes and vegeta-bles while limiting your carbohydrate intake.

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PTER 2 Eating Sensibly

LIMIT MOST CARBOHYDRATES (BESIDES VEGGIES)

Most people eat way too many processed carbohydrates, including cereals, crackers, cookies, etc. These should be eliminated. Then there’s what I call the “extra” carbs that you can also do without: sodas, juices, sugary condiments (like most ketchup), and yogurt with sugary “fruit” added. “Low fat” foods, where the manufacturer takes out fat, also should be avoided. Many times, they sneak in a lot of sugar to replace that fat (what’s the point?).

Used sparingly, better carb choices are foods such as:

-Brown rice (MUCH tastier than white rice, trust me!)

-Sprouted wheat bread (make sure it is truly sprouted wheat and not whole wheat). My favorite kind of bread is the flourless Ezekiel Bread, found at most health food stores.

-Most types of fruit. Berries, apples, oranges, pears are great. Bananas are fine in moderation, but watch out as these are also high on the glycemic index and can keep your insulin levels too high. Ideally, give yourself a couple nutritious servings of fruit per day.

Other Beneficial Carbohydrates

Some lesser-known foods that are excellent carbohydrate choices include:

Since we know your eating choices have a direct effect on your health, let’s look at a sensible approach to food intake.

MAKE VEGETABLES YOUR MAIN EVENTFive servings of vegetables is the ideal amount. You can choose from any kind of veggies except potatoes and corn (high starch!). Broccoli, kale, celery, collards, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, squash, mushrooms, and cabbage are all excellent choices. Most veggies can be eaten raw but lightly steamed will make them a little tastier without destroying the nutrients. As far as lettuce goes, avoid ice-berg (white or light colored) lettuce and instead go for the Romaine or any of the greener varieties that contain a much higher level of nutrition.

TIP: If you say “YUCK!” when you think about eating green vegetables, try sauteing them with olive or coconut oil and shaking some sea salt on top of them. This way you get a great tasting, healthy food with heart-healthy fat and mineral-rich sea salt all in one!

CHAPTER 2 Eating Sensibly

Healthy Mind, Fit Body CH

APTER 2 Eating Sensibly

Pomegranates. It has been called the “superfruit” in recent times, but pomegranates have been around since ancient times. A recent discovery was made that pomegranates contain a high amount of antioxi-dants—3 times more even than red wine and green tea. They have been shown to have anti-carcinogenic properties that help suppress a variety of cancers, including skin, breast, and colon. Usually pomegran-ates are consumed as a juice, which yields more carbs than pre-squeezed fruit.

Acai. Another “superberry,” the acai fruit is from the Amazon and gives us 30 times the amount of anti-oxidants as red wine, and even more than my favorite, blueberries. Acai also contains essential fatty acids (similar to olive oil) and contains properties that have been shown to reduce cholesterol, protect the immune system and relieve prostate enlargement. Also in a recent University of Florida study, extracts of acai berries killed off 86 percent of leukemia cells, showing its anti-cancer qualities. The best way to eat acai berries is to add to a protein fortified low-carb smoothie or (plain) yogurt. All this and in unsweet-ened pulp form, it’s only got 90 calories per 100-gram serving!

Quinoa. A little-known, great-tasting, high-protein grain, quinoa makes a nutritious alternative to rice and appropriate for those intolerant to gluten. Quinoa is a low glycemic carbohydrate, and is also high in fiber and an assortment of essential vitamins and minerals.

Kefir. A dairy-based beverage popular in Russia, southwestern Asia, and Eastern and Northern Europe, Kefir has been shown to boost immune function and improve digestive health. Kefir is perfect for fruit smoothies and can be used as a substitute for milk in recipes.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT SUGAR

Sugar is an addictive substance. Nobody wants to hear about this, but now that I’m writing a manual on looking younger and being healthier, this fact cannot be ignored. Sugar also wreaks havoc on your im-mune system! Most people consume way too much of it.

This is also an especially serious point for athletes of any level. In order to train longer, you need to be putting as little stress on your body as possible. Sugar will take you in the opposite direction.

If you are training too hard and eating sugar, you are destined to get the flu or a cold sometime in the near future.

A big step to improving your health, whether you want to lose weight or prevent those unwanted wrin-kles from showing up on your face is to get off the sugar kick!

Most doctors and even health professionals will soften the dangers of sugar, since cutting our sugars is not a popular plan (and who doesn’t want to be popular?). However, eating sugar leads to increased insulin levels in the body, causing you to become hungry for carbohydrates to keep your energy levels up—not a good plan to stay with if you want more energy and a smaller belly and slimmer waistline!

And don’t fall for the sales pitches of the sports drink companies. Most of these drinks are just sugar water, and contain the high-gylcemic ingredient high fructose corn syrup, which has been shown

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to cause the same problems as sugar. If you are training a lot for an endurance race, you will need to replace your electrolytes. Smart Water is a good option, which is sold in most stores. It is just pure wa-ter with electrolytes added. If you must do the sports drinks (particularly during a race), there are some good ones out there that typically come in the powder form, like Cytomax. The sugar in this drink gets absorbed in the blood more slowly, giving your body sustained energy. Sports drinks can also be helpful on long rides or runs, because the sweet taste makes you drink more fluids. Of course, a totally natural choice would be coconut water, which has electrolytes and minimal carbs!

Eating sugar is likely the fastest way to increase the aging process. Sugar in your body strips the body’s absorption of Vitamin C, an essential antioxidant. Vitamin C is used in repair and restora-tion of cells damaged by daily stress or even anaerobic exercise (a physical form of stress I will talk about later). Sugar has also been known to cross-link proteins, which causes increased skin fold wrinkles and overall speeding up of the aging of our largest organ—our skin!

Sugar makes you fat. I can’t sugar coat this one (pun intended)! When sugar enters your body, the excess is converted into stored body fat. This fat increases your bad cholesterol and triglyceride levels and tends to remain as fat deposits. These deposits are stubborn and tough to burn away! Glucose, fruc-tose, sucrose, galactose, maltose, and lactose are all forms of sugar that will be converted to fat. Honey is another sugar that, if it is darker like buckwheat or wildflower, raw and unheated, actually contains nutri-ents and is not as unhealthy as the rest of the sugars are. However, it is hard to find the darker unheated kind, and honey is also pure carbs. So if you choose to use honey, make sure to use only small amounts.

Avoid most artificial sweeteners. There is controversy out there as to the side effects of fake sugars like Nutrasweet and Sucralose. Many tests and doctors have confirmed that there are side effects to Nutrasweet, such as headaches and depression. Even without the chemical side effects, when the body is given an artificial sweetener it thinks it’s getting the real thing. So drinking a diet soda, for example, will likely result in carbohydrate cravings (the body is trying to make up for the sugar that it thought it got from the diet drink). So, most of the time you will end up eating the sugar or other carbohydrates you missed anyway! Just read labels on everything, because with the Atkins diet and the advent of low carb desserts, sports drinks, energy bars, etc., sucralose is popping up in many grocery store items you wouldn’t even expect.

As you can see, diet drinks and “sugar-free” products are not a great way to cut out calories or improve health. So what can you do if you love that sweet taste on your tongue? First, after changing your eating habits, your taste bud proclivities will change. Usually in as little as two weeks!

I can give you a first-hand example. As I began my switch from high carbohydrate and sugar intake into eating more fruits, vegetables, nuts and protein, I found myself not just putting up with, but also enjoy-ing many of my newfound foods. Broccoli was something I would never touch as a child. Now I have it almost every day and feel like I’m missing something if I haven’t eaten it in a while! It does a body good.

I went from drinking two cans of soda a day to straight water. The first few days were tough to break out of the soda habit, but soon I couldn’t even imagine drinking that syrupy sweet concoction of high-fruc-tose corn syrup and bubbles!

Ideally, we’d all substitute the chocolate cookie for kale, broccoli, or some other healthy and not-so-excit-



ing carbohydrate. In case that doesn’t always work for you, here are some tips on dessert substitutes:

Think of fruit as your dessert. Put a little peanut butter or almond butter on a banana or an apple. YUM!

Use stevia powder. Stevia is thousands of times sweeter than sugar-but without the calories! Use justa tiny bit in many items and you will not even know that it’s not sugar you taste!

Do you “need” chocolate? Instead of grabbing empty-calorie candy bars and letting your insulin levels shoot through the roof, try a cup of healthy cocoa. No, not the Nestle Quik that your mom always bought you as a kid (that’s loaded with sugar!). Get the real thing. Cocoa is packed with antioxidants. In fact, it has even more antioxi-dants than blueberries or red wine! It also has healthy fiber and is low in carbs. Adda little honey (or even better, stevia powder) for a real treat!

Try some of the dessert recipes in the back of this book. They seem to “do the trick”—and if you are cook-ing for others, oftentimes no one can tell the difference between the “healthy” desserts, and the ones that will sink you!

BUILD YOUR MEALS AROUND PROTEIN

Small amounts (around 4 oz) of protein ought to be eaten at each of your major meals. Natural protein foods are the best choice, including fish, chicken, beef, eggs, lamb, and cheese. Ideally, you will want to consume organic meats (I will discuss organic vs. non-organic in a later chapter). Soy protein, consumed in small amounts, might not be unhealthy, yet the jury may still be out regarding “soy protein isolate” found in many energy bars.

Protein is especially important for athletes. This is what helps repair your tired and broken down muscles after a tough workout.

Quality protein is the key. Here are some tips:

1. Look for cage-free eggs. These are more nutritious than standard eggs, and they are less likely to give you nasty food poisoning like salmonella. Eggs with higher levels of omega-3s are probably worth the extra expense.

2. Stick with salmon. Fish nowadays—especially the larger varieties—can be loaded with poisonous mercury, but Wild Alaskan Salmon has the least amount of mercury on the market.

3. Use quality protein powder like whey or egg protein to make smoothies or add to oatmeal to balance out the carbs. Many brands of whey taste great and come in an assortment of flavors. Just make sure you watch the carb content in some of the whey mixes.

A big question that often comes up, for example, in the triathlon world is, “What should I eat before and after a workout?”

The answer will vary, but generally, a balanced snack or meal should do the trick an hour before and im-

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mediately after a workout. Balanced means it should contain some carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Some examples include cottage cheese/fruit/nuts, plain yogurt/nuts, a scoop of protein powder mixed witha glass of milk (cow or goat’s milk), or ½ of an Organic Food Bar.

FATS: YOU AREN’T WHAT YOU EAT

Okay, so that quote at the beginning of Chapter 1 doesn’t apply every time! Fat has been thought of as an evil food in our society, one that should be avoided as much as possible.

Avoid margarine, or partially hydrogenated fat at all costs. Did you know that there might be poison in many of your favorite foods found on grocery store shelves everywhere? Breads, crackers, cookies, energy bars, tortillas, frozen pizza are just a few examples of these dangerous foods. Margarine is another example. The poison in these items is called partially hydrogenated fat, often referred to as trans fatty acids.

A trans fatty acid is usually made from a vegetable oil—corn, cottonseed, or soybean, for example—that has been treated by a process called hydrogenation to make it a solid at room temperature.

Originally, when margarine first appeared in supermarkets, consumers were led to believe they could lower their risk of heart disease and cancer by replacing butter with this product. What became evi-dent later is that the chemical process that made vegetable oil “look” like a saturated fat by solidifying it caused it to be a health risk. As a rule, you should avoid all foods containing trans fatty oils. Most of these include foods that have to sit on a shelf, such as baked goods, snack chips, some national brands of peanut butter, candy bars, cookies, etc. Even though many of these foods now claim to be “trans fat free,” they still have drawbacks due to their processed nature and lack of nutritional content.

Make sure you read those labels! Small amounts of trans fats are much more harmful than larger amounts of saturated fats. If you eat a traditionally unhealthy American diet (not low-carb), a small in-crease in saturated fats results in a 17 percent increase in coronary artery disease. A similar increase in

Up until recently, it was thought that fat was the culprit in overweight people. There is much more to it than that! Types of fat and amounts consumed are crucial. Your body needsa certain amount of fat and will actually store fat if it is not getting the right amount of the proper kind!

Eating fats is a good way to increase your sense of satisfac-tion, protecting you from overeating. The Fats equation is simple: rather than worrying about whether you’re overin-dulging in fat—as you recall, insulin is the storage hormone for excess carbs, not excess fat—focus on the types of fat you’re consuming. Since fats are the key to your mission of looking better and living longer, the following sections detail exactly what “the right kind” means.

HARMFUL EFFECTS OFTRANS FATTY ACIDS

Cause you to store fat andburn sugar

Increase levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), or “bad” cholesterol

Decrease levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL), or “good” cholesterol

May increase your percep-tion of pain



trans fats leads to a 93 percent increase. However, if you eat a mod-erate-protein, low-carb diet, saturated fat has no unhealthy effects.

Cook with coconut oil. Coconut oil was maligned in the 1970’s, fueled by a campaign by the Canola (rapeseed) oil industry to get people to switch to their product.

However, coconut oil should be a part of everyone’s diet and has many benefits including: It’s packed with antioxidants It helps prevent heart disease, obesity, senility, cancer and

It has antiviral properties. Coconut oil contains lauric acid (as does palm kernel oil), which is present in breast milk and converts to a fatty acid that protects babies (and adults) against infections of many types. Most of us don’t get enough of this essential fatty acid. Interestingly, in areas studied in the Philippines where coconuts and coconut oils are staple foods, their rates of heart disease, cancer, and even common colds are much lower than in America.

The suggestion of adding coconut oil to your diet to lose weight and become more fit is prob-ably the most shocking part of the plan to most people. However, it is also one of the most im-portant!

I began cooking with and eating coconut oil in my 30s. I usually eat about 2 tablespoons per day, and I have more trouble keeping weight on than losing it! This is partly because coconut oil speeds up your metabolism. I’m also amazed at the energy I have, and being able to get through a winter without catching any of the flu bugs going around (and this is without a flu shot).

Given the typical dietary guidelines, you might be wondering why I would recommend a fat that is mostly saturated. Although saturated fats have never been linked to heart disease in a legiti-mate, honest study, most commercial foods today avoid saturated fats. They may be “low cho-lesterol” foods, but still bad for your health. What is missing in nutrition discussions today is that there are GOOD saturated fats, and saturated fats are not the demon that’s making people fat after all!

One other note on coconut oil: you might be scared of it by the way it looks. It is white in color and appears more like lard than olive oil. Don’t be fooled. Even after one year of being left at room temperature, coconut oil shows no evidence of rancidity. Unsaturated oils, on the other hand, spoil quickly if left at room temperature and exposed to air.

their animals in the 1940’s, but instead found out that it makes them lean and active and increased their appetite.

It promotes weight loss! Farmers tried coconut oil to fatten

other premature aging diseases.

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My favorite coconut oil is from Omega Nutrition. You’ll notice that most stores offer both natural (with coconut scent) and flavorless coconut oils. Purchase whichever suits your taste according to what you are cooking with it. Palm oil is just as or even more nutritious than coconut oil, by the way, so it’s a great cooking choice too!

Omega-3 Oils. The body can make most of the fatty acids it needs from the carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms provided by food. There are polyunsaturated fatty acids that the body cannot manufacture, though, and these are called the essential fatty acids. They are necessary for good health but we can only get them from food.

There are two main groups of essential fatty acids: the omega-3 oils and the omega-6 oils. Most people get plenty of omega-6 oils from the modern diet, including most vegetable oils. However, omega-6 oils alone cannot do the work that is done by essential fatty acids in the diet. Omega-3 oils are also needed and are severely lacking in most diets today.

Since all cells need essential fatty acids, eating diets deficient in these important nutrients can result in a wide variety of disorders, including:

- Skin problems, such as itching, flaking, peeling, and hair loss - Headache, fatigue, restlessness, confusion and general weakness - Easy bruising, pain, inflammation, and swelling of joints - Infertility, spontaneous abortion, and kidney problems

As most people no longer eat enough foods high in omega-3 fats, such as cold-water fish, sar-dines, flaxseed, walnuts and others, it is important to supplement the diet with these anti-inflam-matory oils. This can be taken as fish oil (EPA and DHA) capsules.

Getting enough omega-3 oils is also essential for any athlete in any sport.

I will discuss specifics further in the chapter on supplements.

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Avoid white four products. Breads, rolls, pasta, bagels, muffins, doughnuts, most crackers, and cereals are included in this group. Flour in general, should be avoided, but particularly white four, as all of its nutrients and fber have been stripped in the processing it goes through.

Avoid fast food. Burgers, whether fried or grilled, can be loaded with free radicals and carcinogens. French fries are cooked in deadly trans fats. These fast food restaurants hook you in by adding extra salt and sugar to their meals, making what you eat at McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, etc. nutri-tionally void for the most part. It is addictive. Trust me – I ate many a meal at Taco Bell in college! I paid the price with sluggishness, many colds and flus, and weight gain. Thankfully, due to all the nutritional information coming out and movies like Supersize Me, many of these restaurants are starting to provide healthy alternatives. However, it is best to steer clear of the fast food industrial complex.

Balance your meals. If you are going to eat a carbohydrate, particularly one on the top range of the glycemic scale, balance it with some protein and/or fat. Doing this will slow down the absorption rate of the carbohydrate entering your blood. This keeps your insulin levels in check, and keeps you satisfed for a longer period.

Use sea salt in cooking and salting foods (if you like and can tolerate salt). Sea salt has a better balance of minerals because it is less processed than table salt. Celtic sea salt is thought to be the best salt.

Check for hidden sugars. Ketchup, (honey) mustard, relish and other condiments can include high amounts of sugar (or high fructose corn syrup, which is also bad!)

Cut out sodas! There is no nutritional value to soda and you are packing on extra unnecessary calories by drinking them. Once you stop drinking them for a while, you won’t miss them (trust me, I went from 2 a day to now never drinking them. Now if I have a sip of someone else’s soda it tastes syrupy sweet and disgusting!) Remember to minimize your consumption of diet sodas also.

Chew your food well. Relax. Take it slow and savor each bite. Chewing is the beginning of the dige-stive process and hurrying through meals can cause digestive problems.

Eat two servings of fruit per day. The less sweet fruits are the best choice: berries, melons, plums, and grapefruit all have lots of fber and antioxidants.

Drink plenty of water. I usually just drink water all the time. Ideally, you want about 64 ounces of water per day, and more if you exercise. Become a “water-a-holic” and you need to eat less, your skin will be hydrated and look smoother, and your energy levels will increase!

GENERAL SENSIBLE EATING SUGGESTIONS


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Trying to find healthy food in a grocery store can be overwhelming—unless you go to a health food store (and even that can be challenging sometimes)! Most items available in typical grocery stores are highly pro-cessed packaged foods. Not very helpful if you are trying to get in shape or lose weight!

The first thing to remember is to look for real, whole foods. Staying out of the aisles as much as you can is something I’ve learned that will keep you away from a lot of the bad stuff. If you absolutely need something in a package, buy the item with the least amount of ingredients (ideally, the best foods are the ones with one ingredient—like broccoli, salmon, eggs, etc.) Be scared if the package you are looking at has a long list of ingredients, many of which you can’t pronounce!

ORGANIC VS. NON-ORGANIC

In a discussion about grocery shopping, it is important that I cover one of the common wonders of the nutrition world: should you eat organic foods? Is organic food really better? If so, how much better?

Organic food is definitely on the rise in popularity. In 2002, global sales of organic products were up 10% to reach $23 billion in 2002 and by 2007 they had risen to nearly $50 billion.

I used to think buying organic was a scam and a waste of money. I’m not sure I even knew what the word ‘organic’ meant, but seeing apples that were 40 cents a pound more than regular ones was enough for me to reject the whole concept! I have since done my research and a few years ago switched to buying mostly organic fruits, vegetables, and meat.

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Organic and conventional methods of farming differ in methods used to grow crops. While traditional farmers use chemicals to grow their crops and insecticides to keep bugs away, or-ganic farming involves using natural fertilizers and insect predators and barriers. Traditional farmers control weed growth with synthetic herbicides, while organic farmers use the more time-consuming methods of crop rotation and hand weeding to control weeds. There are pros and cons to each method, of course.

Here are some of the potential dangers/draw-backs of eating non-organic foods:

Conventionally grown food is often tainted

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Pesticides can have many negative influ-

with chemical residues, which can be harmful to humans too (in higher concen-trations).

considers 60% of herbicides, 90% of fungi-cides and 30% of insecticides to be carcino-genic.

ences on health, including neurotoxicity, disruption of the endocrine system, carcino-genicity and immune system suppression.


Conventional produce lacks some of the vitamins and minerals that organic produce contains (conventional produce has about 83% of the nutrients of organic produce).

Organic foods tend to taste better!

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LEVELS OF PESTICIDESIN PRODUCE

(from Foodnews.org)

HIGH LEVELS

FRUIT VEGETABLESPeaches SpinachApples Bell pepperStrawberries CeleryNectarines PotatoesPears Hot pepperCherriesRed raspberriesImported grapes

LOWER LEVELS

FRUIT VEGETABLESPineapples CauliflowerPlantains Brussels sproutsMangoes AsparagusBananas RadishWatermelon BroccoliPlums OnionKiwi fruit OkraBlueberries CabbagePapayas EggplantGrapefruitAvocado

A WORD ABOUT BEEF

Many people avoid beef because they think its higher fat content poses a higher threat to their health. However, grass-fed beef is very healthy. Feedlot cattle in contrast are typically fattened with grains such as corn.

Grass fed beef is also:

A natural source of omega-3 fatsHigh in CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid, a beneficial fat for the cardiovascular system, also helps with weight loss)Full of beta caroteneLoaded with over 400% more of vita-mins A and EVirtually devoid of risk of mad cow disease

On top of that, it tastes great! I usually have beef for dinner 2-3 days a week. I buy the New Zealand beef from my local health food store. If you have been resisting beef for many years due to low-fat craze starting in the 80’s, it’s okay to come back now!


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Buy organic when you can. You can even make it a goal to buy half or more of your produce organ-ic. However, if organic is not available to you or it is strictly out of your budget, don’t avoid fruits and vegetables! Conventional produce is FAR better than no produce! Most health food stores sell a fruit and vegetable wash to clean your non-organic produce. I use Environne Fruit and Veg-etable Wash. You can also use straight apple cider vinegar to clean your produce. Just make sure to rinse well!

For many, organic foods are just not available in their area, or are prohibitively expensive. If you are living in a rural area, there is a solution! It’s called Community Sustained Agriculture (CSA), where a group of people each pay a set amount of money per year, or even every 6 months if the grower prefers and then those people get fresh grown produce and herbs throughout the year. You can get cheap, good organic food delivered to you every week!

For more on this, and to find a CSA farm near you (in the U.S.), go to http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa/

STAY AROUND THE PERIMETER

Your main stop in the store is the produce sec-tion, your most important area! Load up on fruits and vegetables, organic if you can. You might find good nuts here too; they can be an essential part

of your diet. Almonds, cashews, and walnuts are all extremely healthy and make great energy snacks.

Head over to the fish and meat area. Make sure when you are buying fish that you get wild-caught and not farm-raised fish. Wild-caught fish contain a higher level of healthy omega-3 fatty acids (discussed in Chapter 4 on supplements).

Mercury Warning: Lately, there has been a lot of discussion about mercury levels in fish. While you do want to avoid mercury, rather than skip fish altogether, go for wild Pacific Salmon, red snapper, cod, and halibut, as they are known to be relatively low in mercury. Canned tuna is known to have higher levels of mercury, so it was recommended to eat no more than a can a week. However, recent studies have indi-cated that nearly all fish have higher levels of selenium than mercury, which effectively deals with the mercury, so that there are no toxic effects. This is good news, yet let’s still keep abreast of the research.

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http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa/

http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa/


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EGGS: THEY’RE WHAT’S FOR BREAKFAST

Over in the dairy department you will find eggs and milk. Guess what? When it comes to eggs, organic is probably the best way to go here too! Free-range is what you want to look for. Eggs are a versatile meal and snack, so stock up. They contain a high-quality protein with the full spectrum of essential amino acids.

You may have heard that eating eggs will raise your cholesterol. As it turns out, this is unfounded in medical literature! It’s a popular mis-conception not supported by the evidence, according to Dr. Donald J. McNamara, Ph.D., of the Egg Nutrition Center, in Washington, DC, who made a presentation entitled The Impact of Egg Limitations on Coro-nary Heart Disease Risk: Do the Numbers Add Up?

According to Dr. McNamara:

»For over 25 years eggs have been the icon for the fat, cholesterol and caloric excesses in the Ameri-can diet, and the message to limit eggs to lower heart disease risk has been widely circulated. The “dietary cholesterol equals blood cholesterol” view is a standard of dietary recommendations, yet few consider whether the evidence justifies such restrictions.«

He notes that studies demonstrate that dietary cholesterol increases both LDL (bad) and HDL (good) choles-terol with essentially no change in the important LDL: HDL cholesterol ratio. This means that per 100 mg/day of cholesterol, the ratio of LDL/HDL changes from 2.60 to 2.61, statistically insignificant! “This helps to explain the epidemiological studies showing that dietary cholesterol is not related to coronary heart disease incidence or mortality,” concludes Dr. McNamara.

MILK: FRIEND OR FOE?

According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, “milk and refined sugar make two of the largest contributions to food induced ill health in our country” (from his website, www.mercola.com).

Jordan S. Rubin calls cow’s milk a “dangerous food” in his book, Pa-tient Heal Thyself.

In addition to the fact that today’s cows are injected with all kinds of antibiotics that may or may not get passed on to the milk on your grocery shelves, the pasteurization process does many bad things to your milk:

It kills beneficial as well as harmful bacteria.

For beef, pork, chicken, and lamb, your best choice will be naturally raised or organic rather than the feedlot variety. The healthier the animals, the healthier their meat, so you might want to avoid meat from animals that have been subjected to excess hormones, antibiotics, or pesticides.

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It kills the enzymes in milk, making it hard for humans to digest. It lowers the potency of some vitamins and makes calcium, magnesium and phosphorous less available.

If you choose to drink milk, a better choice would be goat’s milk. Raw milk is also acceptable, but it is hardly an option in the U.S. today. Goat’s milk is everything that cow’s milk is not—it is easily digestible, promotes better utilization of minerals, and high in quality protein and healthy fats.

Other healthy products to look for in the milk section:

Goat’s Milk Yogurt Goat’s Milk cheeses Raw Milk cheeses Lacto-fermented products—yogurt, kefir, hard cheeses, cultured cream cheese, cottage cheese (preferably organic). The fermentation of these products makes them easily digestible and increases the vitamin content of the milk.

SHOP THE AISLES AT YOUR OWN RISK

Now you’ve circled the store and you still have room in your shopping cart. Depending on the store where you do your shopping, you may find a few things in the aisles that have some nutritional value.

Here are a few:

Non-hydrogenated peanut and almond butter. You can use these in many ways—on an apple for a snack, ina smoothie or with fresh or frozen berries (pb&j without the bread!). Skip the Skippy and look for all-natural brands if you are buying peanut butter.

Canned beans and soups. For the soups, look for ones without a lot of pasta (noodles) and more nutritious foods like celery, onions, garlic, and tomatoes.

Canned tuna. Good source of protein and inexpensive.

Coconut milk. Use it in recipes and in smoothies! Great source of fat, e.g., medium chain triglycerides.

Plain cocoa (not the sugary type, such as Quik). There are more antioxidants in cocoa than in red wine or blueberries! Dark chocolate bars with at least 70% cacao are another fine choice.

Olive oil. Good for sprinkling on steamed veggies or mixing into a salad dressing.

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Raw, unheated honey. Honey is nature’s only predigested food. It contains antioxidants, amino acids and enzymes. Used in small amounts, it does not contribute to blood sugar imbalances.

Oh, another word about food in the aisles. You probably wonder about the vast sea of “energy” bars out there. Notice I put the word energy in quotes. This is because most of these bars aren’t designed to be healthy or energizing, but rather just tasty. There are a few bars in health food stores that have natural in-gredients and a good balance of carbohydrate, protein, and fat, but typically you will find most bars to be loaded with chemicals you can’t pronounce, synthetic vitamins which are harder for your body to absorb and many even contain partially hydrogenated fat!

There’s a veritable onslaught of these “energy bars” at sporting events like triathlons. Unfortunately, most of these are just fake, chemical-laden food. I do not recommend eating these often, but if you must (on occasion, we all need a quick snack and can’t always have fruits, veggies, protein and nuts available!), go for the bars with the best balance of protein, carb and fat, and that have the most pronounceable words on the ingredients. The most natural brands I have found are Organic Food Bar, Phils Bar, and Greens+ Energy Bars. Low-carb whey protein bars with simpler ingredients can be combined with nuts for energy.

VEGETARIANISM

Vegetarianism may not be as healthy as many think it is. While I am a HUGE fan of eating lots of veg-etables, there are nutrients that you are missing out on if you are a vegetarian. Vitamin B12 is needed for building proteins in the body, red blood cells, and normal function of nervous tissue. The best and most efficient source for this is from animals in the forms of eggs and meats.

Omega-3 fatty acids are also lacking in a vegetarian diet without fish; however, they can be supplemented as discussed in the supplements section of this book.

I have nothing against the choice to be vegetarian, but make sure you know all the facts if you are on your way to getting healthier.

CAFFEINE AND ALCOHOL

Our favorite sins! I’m afraid what you are suspecting is true—limiting caffeine and alcohol is the only way to go when it comes to looking and feeling young and getting slim. It’s also essential to training and preparing for an event. However, moderation is the key. Let’s start with caffeine in its most popular forms.

Caffeine. The average American adult consumes over 10 pounds of cof-fee per year, which amounts to a total of 2.4 billion pounds a year in the United States alone. Still there is much controversy (and endless debates at workplaces!) as to what the dangers are, or how bad it really is. If you are a coffee drinker, the good news is that quitting coffee should be low on your priority list if you are currently going through other dietary changes. Some of the dangers are that coffee may inhibit the action of the vitamins folate, B12 or B6, which can interfere with your body’s ability to

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keep cholesterol levels in check. Also the amount of caffeine in coffee causes us to get dehydrated. Preg-nant women should never drink coffee, as the caffeine may be passed on to the developing fetus.

There is good news about caffeine! For 25 years, studies have been done on caffeine’s affect on endurance athletes. The results are that small doses taken one-half hour to three hours before an ath-letic competition can help to increase speed, keep the mind alert, sustain endurance, and increase the metabolism by burning more fat than carbohydrates. However, its diuretic properties can increase fluid loss; it can raise both diastolic and systolic blood pressure when at rest, and most seriously, stopping its use abruptly can cause withdrawal symptoms that can seriously affect athletic performance and general health.

So is it worth it? Caffeine is considered a drug by the International Olympic Committee, and is banned from major competitions. For you amateur athletes, a little caffeine before and during can definitely give you an edge—but unfortunately it won’t help if you are already addicted to caffeine, or consume too much resulting in the side effects mentioned above.

If you are a heavy coffee drinker (3 cups per day or more on average), and you are trying to quit, con-sider switching to green tea. Green tea has a much lower caffeine level, with many health benefits that coffee does not have. It’s loaded with antioxidants, and studies have proven its benefits to the heart and cardiovascular system. Black tea also contains antioxidants, and there are a number of flavors out there, like vanilla, peach, or raspberry, that you are likely to enjoy. Oolong tea is also beneficial. It also contains antioxidants, and has some properties known for keeping your teeth healthy. My favorite green tea is Yogi’s Super Anti-Oxidant. It tastes yummy and it’s organic. Drink up!

More on Coffee: The Starbucks craze has given way to the Grande and Venti size cups of coffee. If you have fallen prey to these absolutely enormous cups of java, and you are fond of the latte or Frappuccino variety, pay close attention to all those calories taking the form of carbs (only a small percentage are from fat)!

For example:

A Grande Mocha with whipped cream has 410 calories A Venti Mocha has a whopping 530 calories! A Grande Café Latte with nonfat milk has 260 calories A Venti Café Latte with whole milk has 340 calories

However:

A Grande plain coffee has 10 calories A Tazo Awake Black Tea has 0 calories!

Just some thoughts to keep in mind if you are a coffee drinker: many of these drinks are not exactly the best way to start your day. Also, watch for the “light” versions of these drinks. They do contain less sugar but may maintain those sugar cravings with the artificial sweetener Sucralose.

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ALSO: If you are addicted to caffeine and need a cup before you work out in the morning, consider quit-ting all caffeine 2 weeks before an athletic event. That way you will lose your addiction and will havea lower chance of dealing with dehydration issues during your race.

Alcohol. I can’t soften this one. Despite the ads you may see on TV promoting alcoholic beverages, drinking alcohol is not going to help with your energy levels, improve your looks, improve your race times, make you live longer, or make you feel better (in the long run). Moderate consumption (1 drink per day) may be okay for some people.

Now, let’s talk about the popular “healthy” spirit, red wine. Red wine does have properties that are heart-healthy, including polyphenolic compounds that have been shown to decrease the hardening of the walls of your arteries. Unfortunately, the alcohol is not necessary to gain these health benefits. So limit-ing alcohol is important, but red wine in moderation can be helpful.

Even though you may already know some of these, let’s review some of the damaging effects of alcohol on the body:

Despite the current deceiving ads for “low-carb beer,” alcohol is a high in calories in any form—actually, it has 7 calories per gram while carbohydrates have only 4 calories per gram!

Alcohol damages the ability to handle stress.

Alcohol increases allergic reactions.

Alcohol causes dehydration, which deprives our complexions of precious moisture that is necessary to keep it soft, smooth and youthful! Also vital to training (ever try to work out with a hangover?)

Having said all that, if cutting out alcohol completely freaks you out, just stay in moderation! Stick with the lower-sugar drinks like red wine and light beer; margaritas and daiquiris sometimes contain enough carb calories for an entire meal! However, while you are starting this transformation into the new you, drop alcohol completely for at least 2 weeks as part of the process of detoxifying and losing carb addic-tions.

A nice alternative to beer (and soda) that is much healthier is sparkling water. This way you get the bub-bles but not the empty calories!

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Breakfast (7 am) Lunch (12 noon) Afternoon Snack (4 pm) Dinner (7 pm)

3 whole eggs scrambled with small amt of shredded mozzarella or goat cheese. 1 slice of sprouted wheat toast with almond butter.

Stir-fry vegetables with chicken cooked in coconut oil. 1 apple with macadamia nuts.

1⁄3 cottage cheese with ½ banana cut up + almonds sprinlked on top.

Grass-fed ground beef cooked in coconut oil mi-xed with spaghetti sauce. Steamed kale on the side with olive oil and sea salt.


Steel cut Oatmeal with protein powder and 1 tbsp coconut oil.

Tuna salad sandwich (no soy-bean oil in dressing), 1 slice of sprouted wheat toast with goat cheese. 1 pear with almond or cashew butter.

1⁄2 Organics Bar or other natu-ral energy bar.

Chicken cooked in coco-nut oil with steamed aspa-ragus and tomato. Sprinkle some olive oil and sea salt on the asparagus.


Smoothie—1⁄2 cup goat’s milk, 1⁄2 cup goat’s milk yogurt, 1⁄2 banana, ¼ cup blu-eberries, 1 tbsp coconut oil, 1 scoop or about 18 grams vanilla flavored protein powder.

Unprocessed ham sandwich with cheese, 1 slice sprouted wheat bread or just romaine lettuce leaves. Side of sauer-kraut. For dessert, apple with peanut butter.

Cottage cheese with your choice of fruit cut up and walnuts mixed in.

Broiled salmon with olive oil, buttered brussel spro-uts, and lightly steamed zucchini.


3 eggs fried in coconut oil. 1 slice toast with ½ pear and small amount of almond or peanut butter.

Turkey Avocado on 1 slice of Rye or just romaine lettuce leaves. Bowl of soup with broc-coli or another green veggie.

½ Organics Bar or other natu-ral energy bar.

Pork chops (see recipes) with steamed kale. Half cup of unsweetened ap-plesauce with cinnamon.


1 cup 4% fat Cottage Cheese with 1 banana cut up and sprinkled with sliced pecans or walnuts.

Leftover pork from Thursday night mixed with buttered peas and carrots. ½ apple with almond butter. For a little treat have a cup of hot cocoa!

1 cup plain cow or goat’s milk yogurt with pecans and small amount of honey.

Chicken enchilada (corn tortilla and chicken cut up, cooked in 1 tbsp coconut oil, sauce, green chiles and onions) shredded cheese and avocado on top.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

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SAMPLE EATING PLAN FOR ONE WEEK

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Smoothie with ½ cup water, ½ cup coconut milk, ½ cup blueberries, 1 tsp flax seed oil, 1 tsp almond butter, 1 scoop protein powder.

Chicken salad (see recipes). Again, avoid dressings with soybean (or vegetable) oil.

Turkey jerky or low fat grass-fed beef jerky. Mixed nuts.

EAT OUT: Order some fish, chicken, or steak and make sure to get buttered veggies on the side and/or a green salad with olive oil and vinegar. Helpful to order dressing on the side!


Breakfast burrito (see reci-pes). I good Mexican burrito is machaca, which has eggs, shredded beef, and onions and peppers. Open it up and pour on the salsa; don’t eat the high-carb tortilla.

Tuna Salad sandwich with goat cheese. 1 apple. Handful of almonds or macademias.

Stri-fried veggies cooked in coconut oil mixed with tofu or your choice of meat (left over from dinner?)

Buffalo burger with onions 1 slice Monterey Jack cheese. Broccoli with olive oil and sea salt for seaso-ning. For dessert: sliced apple with cinnamon and peanut butter.

Saturady

Sunday


Don’t forget to drink lots of water throughout the day!

Again, this is a guideline on a typical week of meals. There are all kinds of ways to do this. Notice I threw in a couple of desserts and allowed for a night eating out. The idea is to not be too strict and let it be-come “a diet.” It’s just changing how you eat and changing how you think about different foods. Make sure not to let yourself get too hungry, especially when you are going through a heavy training period. Feel free to add in a mid-morning snack, and even an evening snack, especially if you are eating dinner at 6 and go to bed after 10. Have some almonds or other nuts around for some quick energy.

Once you shift your thinking, pounds melt off, energy returns, and you regain that sparkle in your eye! (Okay, I’m kidding about that last one, but people will notice the difference in you in only about a month of this!)

A GUIDE TO EATING OUT AND TRAVELING

Traveling can often mean eating out a lot, eating too much, and eating the wrong things. Just keep these things in mind to “stay on track.” You will be amazed at how much more energy you feel and pleased that you won’t gain that “holiday weight.”

When you’re out to dinner, skip the inevitable bread. It will shoot your insulin levels up before your

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meal, and your body will grab onto your dinner and store much of it as fat.


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Drink more water. Keep hydrated and you won’t eat as much.

Walk as much as you can! You’ll see more of your chosen destination and burn off some calories.

Don’t overindulge in alcohol. Your body doesn’t know you’re on vacation!

Stay in your exercise routine. It may not be feasible to be as religious about your workouts when you’re on vacation, but even some pushups and crunches in your hotel room each day goa long way.

Get enough sleep. The worst thing is when you come back from a vacation exhausted and feel the need for another vacation! Get your 7-8 hours.

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Eat fruit instead of drink fruit juice. This will keep you satisfied (and regular!)

Order fresh fruit or vegetables in place of that side of fries.


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ietary Supplements

Although you should be able to get most of your nutritional needs through food, there is oftentimes a need to take supplements as well. However, it’s not overwhelming! For general health, I recommend just taking a multivitamin and the omega-3 fish oils I talked about earlier. Simple!

OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS

As I mentioned, most people no longer eat enough foods high in Omega-3 fats. The best forms of ome-ga-3 fatty acids are:

Including a substantial amount of these foods is an excellent way to decrease inflammation in your body and overall increase your health. However, just adding more of these foods is not enough in most cases.

First, most people have inflammation and don’t know it. Inflammation can be what it is traditionally thought of, like swelling, pain, or discomfort in joints or intestines. These are the obvious forms. However,there are many who have chronic inflammation without any symptoms—and this may be the cause of other health problems.

Chronic inflammation can result in fatigue, a weakened immune system, or worse: heart disease and cancer. This chronic inflammation is one of the major risks for coronary heart disease.

Here are some of the causes of chronic inflammation: -Increased body fat—can produce inflammation throughout the body -Imbalance of dietary fats -Continued physical (heavy exercise) or chemical (smoking, alcohol abuse) stress -Birth-control pills

Chronic inflammation can lead to problems: fatigue, hormone imbalance, and weakened immune sys-tem just to name a few. Down the road, the inflammation may lead to even more serious conditions such as ulcers, colitis, heart disease, and stroke.

Sardines

Buffalo meat

Ostrich

Flax seed

Walnuts

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CHAPTER 4Dietary Supplements


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ietary Supplements

I mentioned some of the foods that can help with unwanted inflammation in the body. The problem is we can’t get all we need in terms of anti-inflammation with just food.

The diets of many of our human ancestors tended to include a lot more fish than what we eat today; therefore, they were getting adequate omega-3’s in their diet. Today, people eat way too many omega-6 fats (the kind found in such lovely foods as French fries when deep fried in soybean oil), and not nearly enough omega-3’s. I would say just eat a lot more fish, but that often isn’t practical (again, your best omega 3 choice is coldwater fish such as salmon).

This is where supplementation comes in.

The best form of supplementing omega-3 fats is with fish oil (EPA) capsules. It was thought for some time that flax seed and flax seed oil, being high in omega-3’s, was an alternative to fish oils. However, more recently it has been proven that the human body has a difficult time converting the alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) into the necessary anti-inflammatory component in fish oil, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Don’t worry about all the big names; just trust me that you want fish oils and not flaxseed oil.

What you should look for when buying fish oil capsules:

Gelatin capsules

Make sure the product is toxic-free, and does not contain mercury or cholesterol

Other anti-inflammatory foods that help control inflammation include:

Ginger

Turmeric (a spice)

Onions (including garlic)

Foods to avoid that can lead to reduced anti-inflammatory chemicals:

-High glycemic carbohydrates, especially sugar and sweets

-White rice

-Foods with hidden sugars like ketchup and BBQ sauce

-Trans fats, aka partially hydrogenated oils. Margarine and shortening are examples. Read your labels and

avoid these fats at all costs!

-Excess alcohol (especially the sweet drinks!)

-Stress of any kind (emotional, physical, or chemical)

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APTER 4 D

ietary Supplements

When supplementing, stick with capsules. Look for brands that guarantee they contain no PCBs or mer-cury. Your local health food store should have a variety of brands from which to choose. Start out with taking one per meal, and increase to 9-12 per day if you already have inflammation (Maffetone, The ABC’s of Inflammation, 2000). Otherwise, just take 1-2 capsules with a meal to maintain healthy skin and to keep potential inflammation in check.

It is always best to check with a doctor before adding a supplement to your diet.

MULTIVITAMINS

We can obtain many nutrients from the foods we eat, but recent studies have shown that food alone is not enough to get all the vitamins and minerals we need. I have tried many different vitamins, and re-searched many brands to see what makes one multivitamin different from another.

One thing is for sure—I want a vitamin that gives me everything I need, so I don’t have to take several dif-ferent pills every day!

After taking the simple synthetic vitamins (offered at most grocery and drug stores) for years, I finallyfound a multivitamin/mineral supplement that has everything, and is more easily absorbed by the body than your typical grocery store vitamins. It’s called The Perfect Multi, and is made by Purity Products. These must be mail ordered and are a little more costly than typical vitamins. However, with all the research that has gone into these vitamins, I have no doubt that I am getting a quality product that does not just become “expensive urine” as I hear many skeptics saying. Life Extension Mix and Super Body Toddy are also higher-end mixes that you might consider, or at least use to compare and contrast with other vitamin supplements.

For example, from my reading about these vitamins, I learned that calcium and magnesium should be balanced around 50/50. Most vitamins give you far more calcium than you need. The trend for over the last several years in the U.S. has been to consume as much calcium as possible to avoid osteoporosis. However, what is not emphasized by the Food & Drug Administration is that having too much calcium can produce side effects like cataracts or kidney stones.* Magnesium is also very important as a mineral (even more so than calcium), and along with calcium strengthens bones!

I typically don’t buy into hype when it comes to supplements and my health. There are some things you should look for when buying a vitamin.

Is the vitamin made from synthetic or natural sources? Many vitamins on the market are of the syn-

Favor vitamins in capsule form instead of a hard tablet, making them easier to digest.

Your vitamin should provide around 400 I.U. of Vitamin E. Vitamin E helps reduce the chance of heart

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thetic kind, and not as effective as the real thing.

disease.


APTER 4 D

ietary Supplements

Get plenty of Vitamin C. You can’t really overdose, and it helps prevent many diseases such as cata-

Vitamin B12 is very important and helps with energy levels. The Purity vitamin has 300 mcg, so some

Folic Acid is another B vitamin that you can get in vegetables like kale and spinach.

A WORD ABOUT VITAMIN D

The best way to get the vitamin D your body needs is to get some sun every week! Moderation is the key here. Of course, you don’t want to fry yourself and end up with skin cancer. However, 30 minutes per week of peak sunlight on most of your body should provide you with what you need from the sun. Vita-min D can help prevent osteoporosis and cancer, so don’t avoid sunshine altogether—and always supple-ment with at least 2,000IU D3/day if you don’t have enough access to sunlight (most in the north don’t)!

SUMMARY OF SECTION 1

Eating is the cornerstone to your success! If you follow the information I have given you in the first sec-tion of this book, you are well on your way to looking better, having more energy to train and race, and living longer.

For a quick review:

Don’t diet. Instead, build meals around protein and vegetables, burn fat for energy, and minimize

Avoid sugar. It causes wrinkles and can make you sick!

Drink lots of water.

Get enough of the “good fats” like coconut oil, palm oil, and omega-3’s.

Shop mostly around the perimeter of the grocery store.

Eat grass-fed beef.

Switch from regular cows milk to raw milk or goats milk, if you consume liquid dairy.

Cut down on or quit both caffeine and alcohol.

Take fish oils and a potent multivitamin every day (and make sure your D levels are normal).

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racts. Look for 500 mg or more in your vitamin.

thing in that range would be ideal.

However, you would have to eat those every day to get enough! Make sure there is some in your vitamin.

your carbohydrate consumption.


SECTION 2 EXERCISE AND WORKOUTS

Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness. ~ Edward Stanley

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As you begin to eat healthier and gain more energy, it’s time to get into an exercise routine that will be your second most important way of slowing down that aging process. If nutrition is 50% of the equation, exercise is 35% of what you do to achieve longevity and your best appearance. You may already be train-ing, and that’s great! However, the way you are training could be the reason you can’t lose that extra 5-15 pounds. We’ll talk about that in this chapter.

Keep in mind that lifestyle has more impact on aging than genetics. Only about 30% of physical aging can be blamed on genes. The rest depends on your lifestyle. In other words, get moving! The first thing you want to do before you read this next section is get rid of your excuses. Excuses are typically based on fears!

If you are already training for an event or a sport, you may not have a motivation problem. However, many people have a tough time just getting out of the house to train or work out! And even if you have a goal, like a triathlon or 10k race on your schedule, there will be many days where you just can’t summon the motivation to get out there.

Here are some typical excuses that people give when it comes to starting a fitness program, and why they aren’t true:

EXCUSE: I work 8-10 hours a day and I don’t have any time to work out or train. Or, I have kids and need to take them to school, practice, etc. AND put dinner on the table.

THE TRUTH: No matter how busy you are, there is always a way to fit in a workout: Many gyms have day care, making it easy for those with children to exercise at the gym. Studies have shown that three 10-minute bouts of exercise produce virtually the same health benefits as a straight 30-minute session. Walking your dog and doing a workout at home can be a great way to get in your 30 minutes!

EXCUSE: I’m not fat, so I don’t need to work out.

THE TRUTH: Poor fitness and a sedentary lifestyle might be as bad for you as smoking!

EXCUSE: I hate running. Walking isn’t enough of a workout.

THE TRUTH: Walking burns almost the same calories as running the same distance. Or you could go for a swim or bike ride! If you are training for a triathlon, start small—do what you like at first, and eventually you will be able to do the harder activities with ease!

Remember—everything we do is a choice, and you can choose to make time for something this important!

In the next few chapters, I will explain the importance of body composition and goal setting. Then I will discuss why aerobic workouts will give you results for fat burning as well as training for endurance races. The final piece of the puzzle will be strength training, including sample workouts you can do at home!

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APTER 5 Body Com

position and Goal Setting

Begin with the end in mind. ~Steven R. Covey

Goal setting is the key to a successful exercise program.

This is an important point, and I don’t mean general goals like “I want to lose weight” or “I’d like to feel more energized.”

You need to be specific!

Specific goals are different for everyone. For some it may be to complete a 5K or 10K run. Maybe that’s not enough, and you want to do a marathon or a triathlon. Perhaps you already race and your goal is to beat your best time by 5 minutes! Many others may have the objective of losing lots of weight, like a hundred pounds of fat or more; and for some, it’s just “losing 10 pounds.”

It doesn’t matter what your fitness goal or goals are. As long as you are shooting for something that will keep you motivated and on track, you can be ultimately physically fit!

LET’S TALK ABOUT WEIGHT—EVERYONE’S FAVORITE SUBJECT

No matter what you weigh, the number on the scale only tells part of the story. Your body composition is actually a better measurement tool as to your fitness level than body weight. Body composition refers to the quality or makeup of total body mass, which can be divided into fat-free mass and fat mass (ACE Per-sonal Trainer Manual, 1997 pg 183). Fat-free mass, or lean-body mass, is your muscles, bones, and organs. Body composition tests determine the approximate percentages of fat vs. fat-free mass.

Why is this important?

Because as your fitness level increases, you may be working out 4 days a week and not see your weight drop much. If this happens, don’t be discouraged! You could be losing unwanted body fat and replac-ing it with healthy muscle mass!

If you know your body fat percentage, you can easily determine improvement in your fitness levels by getting an assessment from a trainer or health professional. Instead of worrying about the scale and “working off the pounds,” you’re much better off focusing on the type of pounds you are trying to get rid of!

There are several ways to measure body composition:

1. Getting dunked in a tank (probably the most accurate)

2. Measuring your weight versus your height (not very helpful—as you gain muscle, your ratio may show

that you are “overweight” even though you may be at your peak fitness level.)

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CHAPTER 5Body Composition and Goal Setting

MALE

AGE RISKY EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR VERY POOR

19-24 <6% 10.8 14.9 19.0 23.3 >23.3

25-29 12.8 16.5 20.3 24.4

30-34 14.5 18.0 21.5 25.2

35-39 16.1 19.4 22.6 26.1

40-44 17.5 20.5 23.6 26.9

45-49 18.6 21.5 24.5 27.6

50-54 19.8 22.7 25.6 28.7

55-59 20.2 23.2 26.2 29.3

60+ 20.3 23.5 26.7 29.8

FEMALE

AGE RISKY EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR VERY POOR

19-24 <9% 18.9 22.1 25.0 29.6 >29.6

25-29 18.9 22.0 25.4 29.8

30-34 19.7 22.7 26.4 30.5

35-39 21.0 24.0 27.7 31.5

40-44 22.6 25.6 29.3 32.8

45-49 24.3 27.3 30.9 34.1

50-54 26.6 29.7 33.1 36.2

55-59 27.4 30.7 34.0 37.3

60+ 27.6 31.0 34.4 38.0


APTER 5 Body Com

position and Goal Setting

3. Bioelectrical Impedance. Can be very accurate but also expensive.

4. Skin fold measurements (using calipers). Inexpensive, easy and relatively accurate.

5. Waist-to-Hip Ratio. A tape measure is all you need, and you can learn a lot.

I will only be talking about the last two, more practical measurements.

Skin fold measurement is based on the belief that 50 percent of total body fat lies under the skin, and involves measuring the thickness of the skin folds at standardized sites. Your body fat can be calcu-lated very quickly and easily, giving you a solid number to work with. The charts below give you average and desirable body fat percentages, divided by male and female.

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Body fat percentages may become too low for women and lead to amenorrhea or more serious compli-cations (Risky). Any scores in the “Very Poor” category indicate obesity and a health risk.

Waist-to-hip ratio can tell you more about your body fat. It can give you clues as to how much your body fat is influenced by diet. The ratio is determined by dividing waist circumference by hip circumfer-ence. The tape measure should go across your belly button to get your waist measurement, and around the widest part of your hips. Therefore, the ratio is Waist/Hips. A ratio above 0.9 in men and 0.8 in women may indicate that you are eating too many carbohydrates (see chapter 1 on the types of carbs you want to eat). The ratio is also useful in evaluating the development of your aerobic system (see chapter 6). Zone Diet guru Barry Sears has an excellent body fat calculator on his website (sign-in required, though):www.zonediet.com/tools/body-fat-calculator

Measure yourself only every couple weeks; any more than that and you probably won’t see significant changes (just as you would not see significant changes on a scale from day to day—as a mat-ter of fact, if you have a scale, don’t use it, or even better, throw it in the trash! It won’t give you a good indication of your fitness level). However, as you start eating healthier, and working out the right way, you will see this ratio come down! More on this in the next chapter.

More Goals. Often body fat percentages or waist/hip ratios aren’t enough of a motivator for you. You may need something more—an event to train for, clothes to fit into, etc. Just make sure to have patience. It takes about 6 weeks to develop a new pattern of behavior—as you are also developing a new level of fitness!

More goal ideas:

Enter a 5K run or charity walk, or a 10K, Half Marathon, Marathon, or Triathlon. Anything that will stretch your current level of fitness will work. When you do this, it helps you to put in the training, setting a measurable goal to train for. Moreover, the payoff at the finish line will be much better than the taste of your favorite dessert! If you have hit a plateau in your chosen sport or event, try something else for a while. You can always come back to what you feel you’re best at.

Shoot for one size smaller in your favorite clothes.

Plan a trip to Hawaii where you will wear a bathing suit!

Learn a new sport. Make sure to include a deadline.

Take 4-6 months to build up your workout to 30, 45, or 60 minutes.

Work out with your mate or a group. This isn’t measurable, but it will be much more motivating and will help you stick with your program if others are holding you accountable. Now that you have some solid, achievable goals in place, let’s move on to the best types of exercise.

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PTER 5 Body Composition and G

oal Setting

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http://www.zonediet.com/tools/body-fat-calculator


You don’t need to work hard to be fit.

Yes, you read that right! It’s more about working smart than working hard when it comes to exercise and training for a race.

ANAEROBIC EXERCISE

Anaerobic exercise involves sprints and strength activities such as weights. This system burns mostly carbohydrates, or glycogen, for energy. This is also the system that is taxed when you are under stress. Too much anaerobic activity, for instance from exercise or stress, can impair your aerobic capacity.

It may seem like “the harder, the better” when it comes to working out, especially if your goal is to burn body fat. This falsehood may have started in with the “no pain, no gain” philosophy many athletes and coaches have had over the years.

This is why that strategy does not work and is actually BAD for your health: you’ve heard about the primitive “fight-or-flight” response. Your body’s adrenal glands are stimulated when you are scared and need to get away from danger. The same applies for the type of stress you put on your body when you do excessive sprints or lift too many weights. Some adrenal stimulation is healthy from an ancestral per-spective, but constantly putting your body in this state can also put your adrenals (and cortisol levels) into overdrive, leading to sickness, injury, or even a heart attack.

On top of all this, whereas most beginner athletes spend most of their time cranking out anaerobic workouts, thinking they are making fast progress, this is the surest way to injury, burnout, sickness—and with all that, not even being as well-prepared for their race than if they had trained aerobically!

There is definitely a time and place for anaerobic workouts (more on this in Chapter 7), but they will be in manageable doses, so that they are an excellent compliment to a strong aerobically-trained system. For health and fitness purposes, lifting heavy things two or three times a week, walking a lot, mixing up your workouts, and sprinting once in a while is a great formula for success that won’t lead to boredom or burnout (like hopping on the deadmill 3 times a week for 30 minutes!).

AEROBIC EXERCISE

Aerobic means with oxygen, and refers to activities where your heart rate is on the low side for an ex-tended period. With aerobic workouts, you are working your heart and burning some fat. Besides walk-ing, there’s hiking, swimming, biking, playing ultimate frisbee, or any other exercise that is fun, first and foremost. If it’s not fun for you, you won’t likely stick with it.

I first heard about focusing on aerobic workouts (as opposed to anaerobic) from Mark Allen, winner of

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PTER 6 Aerobic Exercise

CHAPTER 6Aerobic Exercise


six Ironman triathlons. He was a triathlete in his 30s and seemingly in amazing shape, but he started to lose energy and break down. His coach had him do his workouts with a heart rate monitor and keep his heart rate in a certain range—only in the aerobic, fat-burning range. At first, he felt like he had to slow down way too much and didn’t believe he was even training hard enough to make any gains. Initially, he was walking to keep his heart rate down, but over time, as he trained in this lower heart rate, he was able to go faster at the same lower heart rate!

The same thing that applies to an Ironman athlete can be applied to a non-athlete trying to lose 50 pounds, and everyone in between.

Some of the benefits of making your exercise mostly aerobic include: Your muscles will be more resistant to injury It is easier to stay hydrated As you build your aerobic muscles, you will be burning more fat for longer durations. Aerobic

Improving circulation Enjoying your activity and not getting burned out

Exercise and training doesn’t always have to be reserved for a certain time of the day, a certain place or even done all at once. Exercise used to be more natural, but has evolved into a more “artificial” activity—in the form of separating it from other parts of your day.

Physical activity in the past meant finding food and providing shelter for and protecting ourselves. Of course, we won’t be going back to those days any time soon (unless gas prices REALLY get out of con-trol!), but here are many ways to fit in aerobic exercise during the day (remember, we are shooting for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week or more) without treating it as a separate routine.

Here are some changes you can make to bring back some of that “natural” activity. Keep these in mind in addition to your scheduled workouts:

1. When going to the grocery store (or to the gym), purposely park far away from the entrance. This will give you a little walking time to and from the building.

2. Take the stairs. This will not only give you some aerobic exercise, it will probably get you to where you are going faster and help you avoid the annoying (and sometimes stressful) wait for the elevator.

3. If you are waiting for an airplane, walk around inside the airport instead of just sitting and waiting.

4. Spend part of your lunch time walking (or running, as long as you have shower-access!), or at least take the long way to the cafeteria. Getting a workout of any kind during lunch can not only boost your energy in the afternoon, but also can reduce stress levels and free up more time in the evening.

Adding little bits of activity to your workday can really help with your energy levels and ultimately produc-tivity levels at work! You will also find that you will begin to enjoy these benefits, and want more of them.

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workouts allow your body to continually burn fat for hours after you are finished, as you rest.


HEART RATE MONITORS

As your exercise and training increase, a heart rate monitor will be just the thing you need to keep you in the aerobic zone and always in fat-burning mode. It’s simple to figure out your personal maximum aero-bic heart rate. I use the Dr. Phil Maffetone approach:

THE 180 FORMULA

Start with 180 and subtract your age. Take this number and add or subtract using the following guide-lines:

1) Subtract another 10 beats for being sedentary, or couch potato-like. 2) Subtract another 5 beats for being a recreational weekend athlete.3) Leave the number alone if you work out around 3-4 times a week consistently for several years. 4) Add 5 beats if you have been training at a high level for several years. 5) Now add 5 beats if you are over sixty or under twenty.

The number you end up with will be your maximum aerobic heart rate (MAHR). If you exercise below this heart rate, you will burn mostly fat for energy. If you exercise above it, you will burn mostly glycogen.

Once you have determined your MAHR, use a range from that number to 10 beats below that number when you are training or exercising. In other words, if your MAHR is 160, then your aerobic training zone is 150-160 beats per minute.

This may be a little slower pace than you are used to. When I started with this formula, I went from run-ning fast (treadmill up to 8.0 mph!) every time out, to a slow jog to stay in the aerobic zone. As your aero-bic system improves, you will have to go faster to stay in this zone.

For example, if you currently jog a mile in 12 minutes at a rate of 150 beats per minute, your pace may speed up to 10 minutes per mile. Even though you’ll be moving along at a faster clip, you will feel about the same as you did at the 12 minute per mile pace. It’s fun to see the positive changes you are making to your heart and overall health! It’s also a great way to train for a race, whether it’s a triathlon or 5k run.

Trust me on this. I didn’t believe it at first but I’ve been doing this for years now, and going slower to burn more fat really does work!

You may have seen the 220 formula, the more mainstream version. The 220 formula isa little more complicated, and I have not seen the phenomenal results in terms of fat burn-ing that I have from the 180 formula.

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ACTIVITY

Rowing Machine

Bicycling

Swimming

Stationary bike

Jogging slowly

Walking briskly

Walking slowly

AVERAGE MALE

24

26

26

30

30

35

69

AVERAGE FEMALE

32

35

35

40

40

47

94


You can do aerobic workouts most days of the week. I say most, meaning shoot for doing something aerobically every day. With this goal, you will find that it becomes an enjoyable habit, and you won’t want to miss your workout or exercise session. Of course, there will be days that for whatever reason, it just doesn’t happen. However, no worries, because missing a day occasionally isn’t a big deal if you are con-sistent in moving your body every day!

TIP: If you are interested in training for an event, like a 5k or a triathlon, running groups and other training groups stress the importance of track workouts to gain speed. While these can be healthy and beneficial, my warning is to try not to get caught up in the “no pain no gain” group mentality here!

Here is a chart containing various activities and the minutes of time required to burn 300 calories:

Note that men burn more calories than women do, even though they are doing the same activity. This is because of their greater weight and there-fore greater muscle mass.

In addition, which of these exercises is most convenient? I would say walking briskly, which looks like a good deal when you can burn 300 calories in 35 minutes, without equipment, a gym, or even breaking into a run!

WARM UP & COOL DOWN

Warm ups or cool downs are important because they minimize injury.

Warm up should consist of starting out your activity very slow, and gradu-ally increasing your heart rate to the point you want to be in (if aerobic, that would be about 10 beats per minute below your max). For example, if I am planning to run for 30 minutes, I take the first 10 minutes to warm up! Same thing with the cool down—gradually decrease the effort until you are finished.

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A WORD ONSTRETCHING

It’s better to stretch after a workout than before —that’s when your muscles are warm.

Stretching cold muscules is asking for an injury. This is contrary to the mainstream view on stretching, but it may save you from some serious pain!

For more on stretching, see Chapter 8 on Yoga.


APTER 6 A

erobic Exercise

In the next chapter, I will talk about anaerobic workout benefits. With the right combination of these two types of exercise, you are well on your way to a great life! And even though we’ve just covered what it takes to burn 300 calories, your main focus for fat-loss needs to be on the types of foods you eat.

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PTER 7 Building Your Anaerobic System

Most injuries happen during anaerobic training or workouts. This is why it is important to build up your aerobic system before you start to enter the world of anaerobic work. Anaerobic can be running, swim-ming, or biking at a fast pace, or strength training with weights or resistance. If this is your first time ex-ercising or training for something in sports, or you haven’t worked out consistently for a while, ease into the anaerobic work.; ignore people that feed you the misperception of “no pain, no gain.”

Also, instead of going hard all the time, create a balance in your workouts. Varying your workouts and getting OUT of the gym will be important to your success too. Get out there and enjoy yourself! Add variety. Act like a kid again, doing relatively short bursts of activity! Natural movement equals what humans were meant to do in nature. Some days I will just go to a park and do push-ups, pull-ups, and rows, or other exercises with whatever playground equipment is avail-able. Other days I will sprint on the beach and do some pull-ups on the pier. I also incorporate a yoga class and a swim into most of my weeks, and I play volleyball most Saturdays. Basically, anything that works your muscles and moves your body will be contributing to your overall health. And getting in great shape while your eating healthy foods does the most for you!

STRENGTH TRAINING

Unless you are training for a specific event, such as a 10K, half marathon, or a triathlon, I recommend that you stick with strength training as your primary anaerobic workout. Although more intense exercises like strength training have not been shown to increase your lifespan (and no exercise can increase the max human lifespan of about 120yrs), it can help greatly with functionality later in life and more energy to-day. It also can indirectly improve your longevity, by allowing you to keep unwanted fat away more easily.

As noted, strength training does not have to mean going to the gym and using the machines and free weights there. (From my days as a personal trainer, I can tell you that many of these machines are worth-less, and even when they do have some benefits, proper form is a huge issue for many people. This is why I say to use caution when using weight machines.) Many exercises can be done in the privacy of your home, with little or no equipment!

First, let’s look at the health benefits associated with strength training:

Fat loss, weight control, weight maintenance.

Increased metabolism.

Increased calorie burning after exercise. Building more muscle equals turning your body

into a fat-burning machine!

More strength for your chosen sport, resulting in better performance.

Decreased risk for adult-onset diabetes.

CHAPTER 7Building Your Anaerobic System


APTER 7 Building Your A

naerobic System

Decreased risk for osteoporosis.

Improved posture.

Improved physical image.

As you can see, strength training is a must when it comes to your health (or athletic performance)! This

doesn’t mean you need to become a fanatic (especially if you’ve already got a training schedule to ad-

here to). Just two days a week on a weight or strength program can produce great results!

NOTE FOR WOMEN

There is a myth that strength training will cause you to “bulk up.” This is not true, unless you are spending several hours per week in the gym, like a female bodybuiler. Another myth women (and men) tend to believe is that you can “spot reduce” fat. This is impossible! You can do exercises such as the hip extender machine or the “butt blaster” all day long, but it will just create solid muscle underneath the fat, not reduce the fat by itself.

I’m not a gym rat by any stretch. In fact, I don’t spend much time in the gym. I alternate between gym workouts and home bodyweight workouts. However, the time I do spend on strength training is quality time.

Hiring a trainer is an ideal way to get started on a program and stick with it. However, if that is not in your budget, keep these tips in mind:

List Your Goals and Plan to Achieve Them Over Time. A typical way to plan your program is to set goals for one year and goals to achieve approximately every three months. As discussed in the sec-tion on goals, fitness assessment tests (a trainer can assist you here) can help you determine these goals. If you have a variety of goals, you and your trainer will need to decide which to prioritize. You can also surf the web for lots of strength training and conditioning routines, and pick one that suits your goals.

Don’t Try Too Much Too Soon. Before you begin a program, complete 3 to 4 weeks of basic aerobic training. Use this training to develop general conditioning before you hit the weights. This will help you avoid injury and improve your results.

Change your Exercises. Many fitness experts believe you should change your program at least every four to six weeks for maximum effectiveness. The muscle groups to be trained (based on your goals) should determine the type of exercises you perform.

Change the Exercise Order. Plan the order in which you do your exercises as seriously as you plan the exercises themselves. Try alternating between muscle groups—i.e. doing elbow curls (arms) followed by knee extensions (legs)—or “stacking” all the exercises for one muscle group (i.e. performing them consecutively). A third possibility is to start with the exercises of greatest priority to you and follow them with exercises of lesser importance.

Change the Number of Sets. Not all exercises require the same number of sets. Prioritizing your

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naerobic System

goals will help you determine which muscle groups or exercises need the most attention, and which need simply to be maintained.

Change the length of repetitions (reps). Super slow reps (10-20 seconds for each rep) are a use-ful way to fatigue muscles to the point of failure. Because each rep takes much longer to complete, you’ll have to use less weight (up to 50% less), which means much less risk of injury. Because your muscles will be so fatigued, you just need to do one set of 5-10 reps for each muscle group (as opposed to the typi-cal multi-set, multi-exercise routines). Though these workouts can be significantly more painful (due to glycogen depletion and more lactic acid buildup), they don’t take as long to complete. Maybe give them a try to break through a plateau, or better yet, to nurse an injury (such as a sore tendon) back to health.

Vary the Recovery Time. Your greatest physical gains are made during recovery, when your body makes the adaptations needed to support further physical development. Short rest periods (less thana minute) are normally used when the goal is to build local muscular endurance (and keep your heart rate up); long rest periods (more than three minutes) are used when the primary goal is to increase strength and power.

Change the Resistance Load. There is no consensus on what combination of reps and weights will yield the best training results. In fact, as I mentioned, a lot of the strength exercises I do require minimal or no equipment. However, popular combinations include pyramid training (decreasing the number of reps per set as the weight increases, and then increasing the number of reps per set as the weight de-creases); half-ascending pyramid training (just the first half of pyramid training); and half-descending pyr-amid training (just the second half of pyramid training). Note that your genetic makeup may play a large part in determining your ability to lift heavy weights, but you’ll still make substantial gains over time.

Evaluate your Progress Every Six to Eight Weeks. It may help greatly to keep a detailed record of your workouts, noting exercises performed, number of reps and sets, amount of resistance, and length of rest periods. Monitor your results.

Be Flexible With Your Training. Remember, be prepared to change your workouts to accommodate personal circumstances such as illness, mood, soreness, etc. Some days, a shortened routine may be just the thing you need to keep enthused about your workout and your day!

Give Purpose to Every Workout. The more carefully you plan your weight-training program, the more meaningful, exciting and effective each session will be. The following are two sample workout routines that you may choose to follow. These are by no meansa “one size fits all” approach. Instead, they are examples from which you can build, modify, or just pull an exercise or two from that might fit into your program. The general goal is not to just strengthen individu-al muscles, but to work on your core (stomach and back muscles) with each exercise.

Again, this is an approach that will help you improve any sport, as well as get all the health and fitness benefits out of it.

Since not everyone is a member of a gym, I developed the first routine to be done at home, with just two pieces of equipment: an exercise ball and elastic tubing with handles.

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You can get these at www.fwonline.com. Look for Dynabands and PRO Elastic tubing. A pair of dumbbells would also help as you get more ad-vanced. Make sure to do at least a 5-10 minute cardio warm-up (walking, jogging, stationary bike, etc.) each time before you begin. ALWAYS consult a physician before you begin an exercise program!

WORKOUT #1: IN HOME

Warm Up: Walk briskly for 5 minutes or more to warm up your body (or do this immediately following an aerobic workout such as a swim, bike, or run). We start with the biggest muscle groups and work down to the smallest. Some interchanging of the ex-ercises is fine, but generally work your abdominal muscles last, as you will need those to be fresh for the other exercises.

1. Squat—Stand with legs shoulder distance apart, feet facing for-ward. Place the exercise ball between the small of your back and a wall. Slowly sit back (as if you were sitting in a chair), making sure your knees never extend past your toes. As you come up, press from the heels, and tighten the quads slowly—you want to feel the muscle shaking. Do not lock your knees, or arch the lower back. Do 15-20 reps. Muscles target-ed: Quads, Hamstrings, Abdominals

2. Leg Curl—Lying on the floor with your feet placed on top of the ball, pull your feet and roll the ball towards your hips. Then roll the ball away from you as the legs straighten and the hips lower back to the floor. Lift the hips for a more challenging position. Try to keep your feet relaxed. Muscles targeted: Hamstrings, Abs

3. Lat Pull—Stand with legs shoulder distance apart, knees slightly bent, and hips tilted forward. Place your hands through the tied band; your palms are facing towards the floor, and the arms up about 6” from the shoulder at an angle. When you pull the band, use the outside of the hands, and lead with the lats. Pretend you are squeezing a pencil between your shoulder blades; hold for a few seconds, and you should feel the muscle shake. Keep the neck relaxed when the hands are up. Muscles targeted: Lats (shoulder blades), biceps, rhomboids (mid-back)

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4. Seated Row—Sit on the floor with legs extended out in front, with the knees together and slightly bent. Place the tied band around the arches of your tennis shoes with a hand towel wrapped over the middle of the band, and hold the ends of the towel in each hand. Your palms are

facing down, and the lower back remains straight throughout the exercise. Round your shoulders slightly, pull back with the towel. Palms will turn up at this point, keep your elbows in close to your side, bring the elbows as far back as you can, and “squeeze the pencil.” Make sure you extended the chest out to the front; hold for a few seconds, and feel the shake. Keep the neck relaxed when the hands come back to the front, and the palms turn back down. Muscles targeted: Lats, rhomboids

5. Push-up—From a kneeling position behind the ball, lower your trunk over the ball and walk your hands forward until the ball is resting under your legs. With your hands rotated in slightly, lower towards the floor as you bend your elbows out towards the sides. Straighten the elbows to return to the start position. For an easier position, place the ball under the thighs or knee area. Muscles targeted: Pectorals (chest), Deltoids (Shoulders), Triceps, Abs

6. Bicep pull—Stand with the legs shoulder distance apart. Tie a knot at the end of the band. Holding the band with one hand above the knot, slip the opposite hand though the top of the band with the palm facing up. Pull the band up toward the bicep, bending at the elbow. Your other hand will be positioned by the pubic bone, and pushing the knot toward the floor. Squeeze the bicep at the top; hold for a few seconds, and feel the muscle shake. Relax the neck when you bring the hand back down. Make sure the band stays resisted during this exercise. Do 15-20 reps, repeat on the oppo-site side. This can also be done as a bicep curl, using PRO elastic tubing with handles, or dumbbells. Muscles targeted: Biceps

7. Tricep push back, with band—Stand with legs together, knees slightly bent, and hips tilted forward. Place one arm across the body, just below the ribcage, bent at the elbow (it should look like the letter L). Holding the tied band with the bent arm, grasp the band below the knot (the knot will be facing up). With your other hand, grasp the band about 3 inches below your other hand. Push the arm back, do not lock the elbow; hold, and squeeze the tricep. Make sure the other arm stays close to the body. Do 15-20 reps, repeat on opposite side. This exercise can also be done with dumbbells or PRO elas-tic tubing. Muscles targeted: Triceps

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The Bridge—With your head and shoulders resting on the ball and your knees stacked over the ankles, lift your hips as high as possible, then lower the hips slowly to the starting position. Muscles targeted: Abs

Abdominal Crunch—With your lower back firmly pressed into the ball, curl your trunk forward as you think of pulling your ribs towards your hips. Then lower slowly to the starting position. To make this exercise more dif-ficult, position the body more parallel to the floor. You can also place the arms at the head. Muscles targeted: Abs This gives you a start to a home workout! As you progress, add in multiple sets of each exercise and more reps to each set. You can then move to heavier weights or thicker tubing. In addition, you will find that you can

vary exercises to your liking, or find things that work a little better for you. However, the bottom line is a routine like this can be done in your home, two times per week, for only about 30 minutes per session. Not a difficult way to start feeling the benefits of strength training in your life! Music adds to the fun too!

WORKOUT #2: AT THE GYM

At the gym, you usually will have a lot to choose from in terms of your exercises. When I work out at the gym, I put to use not just the free weights, but also some of the more obscure items like medicine balls and the BOSU trainer. If your gym does not yet have these, make a request!

Along the same lines as the home workout program, I try to keep it simple, short, and focused on working your core muscles with every exercise. I stay away from most of the machines, as they are usually done in a sitting position and force you to lift a certain way or at a certain angle. A good goal is to do 50% or more of your exercises in the standing position. This way you are forced to use those abs often!

1. Squat with medicine ball—Stand with legs shoulder distance apart, feet facing forward. Grab a small medicine ball and hold with two hands out in front of you. Place the exercise ball between the small of your back and a wall. Slowly sit back (as if you were sitting in a chair), make sure the knees never extend past your toes. Raise the medicine ball over your head as you lower. As you come up, press from the heels, and tighten the quads slowly, as you lower the medicine ball. Do not lock your knees, or arch the lower back. Do 15-20 reps. Advanced version: Stand on a BOSU trainer instead of using the exercise ball as you do this. Start with 10-15 reps if using the BOSU.

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2. Pull-up—Many gyms have a pull-up machine that allows you to stand ona lever that assists you in pulling yourself up. This is perfect if you are unable to pull your entire body weight up over the bar. You can start with the setting on heavier weights (more assist and easier) and work your way down until you can do the pull-ups on your own. Start with one set of 10-15 reps and add in a second set as you get stronger.

3. Chest Flys with Cables—Most gyms have the crossover cables. You stand between them, lean over a bit, and pull them together, working your chest muscles and shoulders. I like this exercise as it makes you use your abs to stabilize as well. Start with one set of 10-15 reps and add a second set as you get stronger. Then increase weight.

4. Shoulder Press on Ball—Sometimes this exercise is called the Military Press. Find an exercise ball where you can sit on it and have your quads aligned parallel to the ground at the same time. Grab two dumbbells (make sure to start with very light weights), and lift the dumbbells over your head at the same time (you may touch them together at the top). Lower the dumbbells to the starting position slowly, and repeat. Start with one set of 10-15 reps and add a second set as you get stronger. Then increase weight.

5. Tricep Extension—Most fitness facilities will have machines that can be interchanged—where you can do bicep curls, tricep extensions, and cable crosses all in the same place—usually near or at the cable cross area. Find the attachment that looks like a rope with a hook and a black ball at each end. Connect this to the upper pulley. Set your weight and face away from the machine, with the rope held in each hand over your head. Extend your arms until they are straight. Slowly lower the weight and repeat. This exercise requires some balance and use of abs as well as triceps. Start with 8-10 reps and add a second set as you get stronger. Then increase weight.

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6. Bicep Curl—Your gym should have an area where there are several bars with different weights attached. Find the ones where the bar appears to be crooked, and grab onto the bar where the bend is. Start with 10-15 reps, and increase as you get stronger. Be sure to always do your curls standing, as this will also activate your core muscles (and we want to do everything possible to create a fat-burning machine, right?)

7. Push-up on Core Board—Some gyms have a Core Board, which isa board that is unstable. You can use this for your pushups. This is a little more challenging than just doing them on the ground, so ease into it! Do about 5-10 pushups and add on as you get used to the instability. You can also graduate to an exercise ball by placing your hands on the ball and do-ing push-ups this way. It is VERY hard, but also an amazing exercise.

8. Crunches on the BOSU Trainer—The BOSU trainer is that thing that looks like a dome with a rubber surface. Lie down on it, with the crest somewhere around the small of your back. Without putting your hands behind your head (you can keep them at your chest or wherever is comfort-able), curl up using your abs only. Lower your back down over the BOSU and repeat. Start with 5-10 reps and add more as you get stronger.

As you can see, there are many exercises you can choose from, whether you work out at home or you be-long to a gym. The beauty is that the exercises I have given you are “economical”—they each work more than one area or muscle group. Since nobody has a lot of time to waste to go through and work each muscle group one at a time, this is an ideal way to get it all in without having to become a gym rat.

Be Careful! If you start to feel chronic pain in a muscle or joint, do not work through the pain! Get it checked out as soon as you can. In the meantime, rest and do not do any strenuous exercises involving that muscle. When you ease into working it, use super slow repetitions (mentioned on page 45).

EXERCISE BALL FOR A HEALTHY BACK

Statistics show that 80% of people in modernized countries will have back pain in their lifetimes. Ac-cording to experts, most back pain is caused by tension and muscular tightness, which come from poor posture, being overweight, inactivity, and lack of abdominal strength. There are many solutions available for curing back pain, but how do we prevent it?

Gentle exercise has been shown to be a great preventative measure in back care. “Active sitting” on an exercise ball can lead to more movement while sitting, because your body must make small adjustments to keep you balanced on the ball. These small adjustments help circulation to the disks in your spine and can strengthen your back muscles. In addition, gentle bouncing on the ball will encourage you to sit with the correct posture and help strengthen your postural muscles.

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PILATES METHOD

The Pilates Method is a type of conditioning that combines improvement of muscle control, flexibility, coordination, and strength. I thought about talking about this in the next section on Yoga and medita-tion, but it is much more of a strength workout so therefore has to be considered anaerobic. Although Hollywood celebrities popularized Pilates, it was actually invented by Joseph H. Pilates, a German who was born in 1880.

During World War I, Pilates was an intern at an English hospital. He observed that the injured soldiers, who were confined to their beds, could not exercise, so he created a machine (out of old hospital beds and springs) and designed a method of exercise that would assist the soldiers in rehabilitation to get stronger. In 1926, he moved to New York and brought along this method of exercise, which he termed ‘Pilates’. Since Pilates was introduced, it has appeared everywhere from ballet schools to the local gym.

Some of the benefits to this exercise include:

Help with weight loss Improvement of body alignment and posture Faster recovery from injuries Great workout for abs, lower back, hips, and butt! Helps with overall flexibility Increased energy levels

Pilates can be done with a machine or without, in a class or with a video tape. Many people swear by this exercise and it has helped many pregnant women get back in shape within weeks after having a baby!

However, who has time for yet another exercise?

Good question! This is a personal decision. I recommend you try a couple of classes and see if you like it. If so, you can easily work it into your routine. Triathletes have raved about the benefits of Pilates mixed in with their training, and the importance of working the core.

Some Pilates classes actually use weights and you can use this to replace one or both of your strength training sessions. If you are doing your workouts from home, you can still accomplish everything ina little over an hour on your anaerobic days. For example, you can do a 20-minute Pilates tape, 20 min-utes of strength training, and a 30-minute walk, run, bike, etc.

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Here are a few examples of Pilates exercises that you can try out:

Breathing

Start: Lying on back, knees bent, feet flat on mat, arms at sides. Inhale and expand posterior lateral rib-cage without letting abdomen rise. Keep neck and shoulders relaxed. Exhale and contract ribcage, pulling abdominals down towards the spine.Goals: To stretch and contract external and internal intercostals and create more mobility in the ribcage with inspiration. When the abdominals stay contracted on inspiration, the diaphragm does not lower. Us-ing the central tendon as a fixed point, the contractions of the fibers cause the ribs to elevate. Complete expiration will help develop a sense of working these muscles.

Imprinting

Start: On back, knees bent, feet flat on mat, arms at sides, deep, posterior, lateral breath-ing.

Movement: Bring arms up to ceiling, curl head off mat and roll up through the spine, roll back down to mat to start position.

Cues: Reach out through heels, peel spine up one vertebra at a time, bring torso up

Starting with the low back, let each vertebra drop to the mat. Feel low back and ribcage widen with each breath. Try to feel width between shoulder blades. Let all the muscles along your spine soften and relax, but maintain activation. Let your spine make an imprint into the surface beneath you. Goals: Relax the paraspinal muscles and the muscles or respiration. Focus attention inward to the core. Bring awareness to the center. Calm the nervous system.

Roll Up

Start: On back, arms overhead, legs extended, feet flexed.

and over legs, roll back down one vertebra at a time.

Goals: Stabilize pelvis. Mobilize spine from cervical end.

Modifications: Decrease range of motion or use bent knees

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Rolling (like a ball)

Start: Sitting up, pull knees into chest, round back, clasp arms around shins or ankles, lift feet off mat and balance with head in cervical nod (slight chin tilt down).

Movement: Activate abdominals and as you inhale, initiate body roll backward into shoulders, exhale to roll back to start.

Cues: Come back to balance point each time, use abdominals not momentum Goals: Stabilize pelvis and scapula. Trunk in motion. Full spinal flexion.

Modifications: Wrap arms around back of thighs to increase rounding of spine.

Many fit people swear by Pilates and even do a class or video twice per week. I have talked to others who have seen dramatic results in a short time—even amateur and pro triathletes. I am also considering incor-porating it in my routine—as I get older, the core training I feel is much more beneficial than for example trying to get big biceps or pectorals!

Pilates can be an “extra” exercise that you may not find time for, or it could be just the thing you need to turn that corner on your way to super health and fitness!

SUMMARY OF SECTION 2

In this section, we have looked at different forms of exercise and how it can benefit your body. We have seen how building your aerobic base is the foundation for slowing down the aging process. Anaerobic workouts are essential too, so that you look great and won’t feel much older as you age. With all the op-tions you have, you will never be bored with whatever exercise(s) you choose!

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SECTION 3 THE FINAL PIECE OF THE PUZZLE The mind controls the key to what makes up a healthy person.

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The last beneficial thing to incorporate into your daily routine is meditation. I promise! I can tell you that you will find working on your mind to be very rewarding. I’m not saying that you have to join a Buddhist group (although that wouldn’t hurt!), or just to sit there and think good thoughts.

Meditation is any form of relaxing the mind, and is useful to do most days of the week for at least 20 min-utes per day.

I find yoga to be meditative and highly recommend it. I discovered yoga a few years ago when I was training for a triathlon. With all the wear on my muscles, including the lactic acid buildup due to all the workouts I was doing, I was constantly feeling stiff throughout the day. I was also getting stressed out trying to squeeze in enough workouts every week. I knew I needed some flexibility and signed up for the Yoga class offered at my gym.

What I found was that not only did my flexibility improve, but also my muscle tightness went away, my levels of concentration and balance dramatically improved, and my stress was finally under control! As you can imagine, each of these areas was extremely beneficial to my race.

Of course, you don’t need to be training for a triathlon to obtain the benefits of yoga. For many people, the stress of day-to-day life gets in the way of feeling good and having a positive outlook. While I can’t teach you yoga in this book, I will give you a look at its history and describe the benefits to you as it re-lates to your health.

THE ROOTS AND EXPLANATION OF YOGA

Contrary to what you might think, the roots of yoga are not in the fitness industry. It originated around 5,000 years ago in India. The word ‘yoga’ has come to describe a means of uniting, or a method of disci-pline.

Hatha yoga, the physical aspect, was originally developed as a vehicle for meditation. Its purpose was to prepare the body (mainly the nervous system) for stillness—creating the required strength and stamina for the mind to remain calm. Hatha yoga is now the most practical and recommended form.

YOGA IN THE 70’s

Yoga first became popular in America around the 1970’s. It started as a nice addition to workouts. How-ever, it didn’t become mainstream immediately. The fitness craze at the time was shedding unwanted pounds as fast as possible. Most turned to aerobic exercise to achieve this. After years of heavy aerobic workouts, injuries were everywhere! The fitness industry began to change, and embraced not only aerobic workouts, but also the need for strength training, flexibility, and stress management as components of a complete fitness package. Enter yoga in our gyms and fitness facilities.

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“No Pain, No Gain” has now taken a back seat.

Mind-body exercise has become the new category in fitness. These exercises typically:

-Are slower paced -Are noncompetitive -Emphasize “listening to your body”

STYLES OF YOGA

Yoga is more than just stretching. It incorporates posture, movement, and breath. It was originally known for preparing the body for meditation. In yoga, the idea is that posture, movement, and breath affect the emotions and the mind. As I mentioned earlier, Hatha Yoga is the most common and recommended form today. However, there are several categories of Hatha from which you can choose.

Here is a list of the most popular styles of yoga, with a brief description of each:

Ashtanga. This is also known as Power Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, or Flow Yoga. It is the most athletic style of Hatha Yoga. Strength is emphasized and movement from one posture to the next is done quickly. With the right instructor, this can offer some immediate as well as long-term benefits to strength, stamina, concentration, and energy levels.

Iyengar. The most widely recognized approach to Hatha. This style is known for precise movements, and many yoga props such as cushions, blocks, straps and sand bags.

Bikram. Done in hot, steamy rooms ranging between usually 100-120 degrees Fahrenheit, Bikram yoga is fairly vigorous and requires a certain fitness level to participate. I haven’t tried Bikram yet, but I know people who swear by it. Get ready to sweat like you’ve never sweated before, but feel relaxed, energized, and purified of toxins afterwards!

Let’s look at some of the benefits of yoga as it pertains to your health and life:

Yoga may be the best stress-buster there is. Stress leads to wrinkles, ulcers, back problems, lowered immune system, and even worse, heart disease.

Yoga gives you energy. It relaxes your body and mind, thereby mobilizing your energy. It’s alsoa great exercise that helps with overall strength and fitness levels, flexibility, and stamina.

Yoga calms your mind. The mind affects your physical body, and yoga gives you the ability to make this a positive thing.

Yoga improves awareness. It allows you to deal with crises more easily and makes it easier to “listen to your body.”

Yoga enhances other activities or sports. I talked about my experiences with yoga and triath-

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lons. I’m convinced that yoga can help improve performance in any sport, including the more mentally challenging sports like chess, and hand-eye coordination sports like golf and baseball.

Yoga is convenient. You can take a yoga class in most gyms, go to a private studio, or pop in a video. For videos, I recommend the Gaiam series and own three of their tapes (each between 20-25 minutes!) In addition, except for Bikram-style, you don’t sweat. Perfect thing for those of us too busy to shower after working out.

Yoga can double as a meditation session. I will talk about meditation in a bit. Part of yoga is meditative and can provide you the benefits of meditation as well.

YOGA AND TRIATHLON

I mentioned that I discovered yoga when training for my first triathlon. Here are some benefits you will find by incorporating even a little bit of yoga into your training:

Flexibility: Yoga does involve stretching the muscles. But there is more to it than that. People often ask me, “Is stretching good”? Usually, the answer is that just stretching itself may not be good for you, as stretching too much or stretching cold muscles may actually cause injuries. Yoga incorporates breath-ing into stretches, and working with the whole body, not just specific muscles. This is a much healthier approach when it comes to improving flexibility. And the more flexible your hips, legs, ankles, arms and shoulders are, the easier it will be to kick, recover the arms, rotate the hips, and properly slice the hands into the water with full extension (in the case of swimming).

Concentration: This is another great benefit to an athlete undertaking such things as the 3-sport chal-lenge. Improved concentration levels allow you to focus, and we all know how focused you must be just to complete the swim! Blocking out distractions is something you need to be able to do—whether it’s concentrating on a technique or drill during practice, or dealing with the frenzied start of a race. And the improved ability to stay relaxed, calm and centered will definitely work to your advantage during a triath-lon, where many unpredictable situations may arise.

Balance: Practicing yoga will improve your balance, both on land and in the water. In my swim clinics, we work on “balancing on your back” and “balancing on your side” in the water. Yoga not only helps with these drills, but allows you to streamline easier, and get more out of each stroke. This of course means saving even more energy for the rest of your race.

Here are some basic yoga poses with descriptions and benefits included:

Figure 1 Downward Dog

Knees should be slightly bent Press into hands while trying to come onto balls of your feet Stretch for back, shoulders, legs, and ankles

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Figure 2 Cat Stretch

Exhale and tuck the tailbone under Press the tailbone towards the sky Loosens back and pelvis Stretches and relaxes shoulders

Figure 3 Dangle or Rag Doll

Let your head and hands hang loosely Keep knees flexed Relaxes and stretches neck, spine and legs Improves circulation and concentration

Figure 4

Nice stretch for your back Firms and strengthens thighs & butt Improves circulation

This gives you a few examples of poses that have multiple benefits to your overall health. Practice them, get a video, take a class, and just make yoga a part of your life!

Whatever sport you choose to practice, yoga can enhance and complement your ability. Most sports build muscular strength and stamina, often in specific areas of the body. Yoga can help to check any imbalance in muscular development and will enable both your body and your mind to function more efficiently. If your body is flexible and supple you will be less prone to sports injuries, as your joints will be kept lubricated.

MEDITATION

In yoga, it’s called mindfulness. Focused and calm awareness are both parts of mindfulness or medita-tion.

There are two forms of meditation:

1. Meditation with a specific focus 2. Objectless meditation

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The first version is easier for beginners. Here are some examples to focus on:

BreathingAction (walking, cleaning, writing)A sound or chantA physical object (such as a Buddha)

The second method, objectless meditation, is the advanced level of the practice. If you are interested in this, some of the Zen and Zen Buddhist books have some great teachings. The one I have read, whichI recommend, is called Zen Mind, Beginners Mind and will introduce you to the practice.

Meditation is something you can do every day. It has been proven to not only help your mind become sharper and more peaceful, but it also improves your physiological function. With 20 minutes a day of practice, meditation can act as a drug (without side effects) that gives you benefits like reduction of blood pressure and heart rate, and improved immune function.

Here is an example of a meditation you can do:

1) Find a quiet place and a comfortable place to sit.

2) Make sure your spine is straight and you are not slouching.

3) Close your eyes and repeat the word one or another phrase repeatedly.

4) Simultaneously, focus on your breathing.

5) Use “diaphragm breathing” and expand your stomach when you inhale.

If you start to drift off and daydream (which you will!) refocus your attention on that word or phrase, as well as your breathing, until your thoughts pass by.

This type of practical meditation takes practice (just like everything else in this book!), but major gains in overall health can be obtained, and specific health problems may be cured just by regular practice. If nothing else, meditation will help increase blood flow to your muscles and help you deal with stressa lot better!

In summary, by regular practice of these “mindful” exercises, you will slow down the aging process and improve your life immediately.

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ther Health Supports

When I woke up this morning, my girlfriend asked me, ‘Did you sleep good?’ I said ‘No, I made a few mistakes.’

~Steven Wright

SLEEPING

While nutrition is the most important part of my plan to slow down the aging clock, it is important to learn other essential factors that will have a direct affect on your energy level, health, and longevity.

Since we spend 1/3 of our lives sleeping, let’s talk about why it’s important!

Sleep is a time for the body and mind to rejuvenate. Don’t take it for granted! Getting restful sleep is key if you plan to get the most out of changes to your diet and exercise routine (or making any changes in your life).

In today’s busy, rushed lifestyles, many people try to get away with less sleep than they need, giving themselves more time in the day. When you add in training for an event and trying to squeeze in morn-ing workouts, it becomes even more challenging. If you are one of these people that tries to cheat sleep, this will backfire on you in terms of your health and athletic performance.

You need 6.5 hours of sleep or more per night (ideally you need 8 hours). Any less than that will increase your risk for obesity, not to mention severely handicap your energy levels!

To get the most out of your sleep, have more energy for your workouts, and avoid speeding up the aging process, follow these tips:

In addition to getting 6.5 or more hours of sleep per night, the best time to get this sleep is between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The body does a good part of its recovery in the sleep process before midnight.

Sleep in complete darkness. Light disrupts your sleep rhythms. Keep any lights at night dim or off. Avoid TV before bed. Your mind can’t distinguish the difference between TV and real life and will be stimulated with TV watching.

Read! Unless it is an over-stimulating book like a horror or mystery, I’ve found that reading a few pages before bed puts me right to sleep.

Keep a journal. Writing can help calm your mind and keep you from thinking about everything you need to do. Avoid caffeine, especially after 4 p.m. Afternoon coffee may keep you from falling asleep. Avoid alcohol. It not only dehydrates and makes you get up to use the bathroom more

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frequently, but it can also affect normal sleep. Avoid drinking liquids one hour before bedtime. One of the worst things for a restful night of sleep is having to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night!

If you are training for a race, the quality of sleep you get in the weeks leading up to the race is actually more important than the sleep you get the night before your competition.

WATER

I have emphasized drinking lots of water so far. However, it is now time to talk about what kind of water to drink.

Stay away from tap water! It has too much chlorine, chemicals, and metal traces to be optimally healthy. Though most tests of tap water seem to indicate that it’s safe to drink, the cumulative effect over time may not be so safe. Filtered water is your best bet.

A Culligan or PUR water filter works well. Brita filters (what I use) also work well. These are the ones you can fill up and keep in the refrigerator. Bottled (spring) water also works well. Most bottled water will have little or no impurities (though puri-fied doesn’t have any useful minerals).

Again, 6-8 glasses of water per day is ideal. If you are doing a morning workout, make sure to drinka full glass of water at minimum upon awakening and before you set out. Your body is in a state of mild dehydration after a night of sleep, and you will need to re-hydrate immediately!

Think about the water you swim in as well. I love swimming! However, too much chlorine will bog down your system (you can absorb it through your skin). If you swim a lot, try to balance your pool sessions with ocean or lake swims. If this isn’t feasible, there is a great line of anti chlorine products from a com-pany called Tri Swim. You can get the shampoo, body wash, and lotion at swimoutlet.com.

SUNLIGHT

I’ve talked about getting your vitamin D from the sun, the best possible source. A few minutes of peak sunshine is adequate for most people (of course, the less melanin in your skin, the less sunlight exposure you’ll need). It will help you sleep better and maybe even lose weight easier. And, recent studies have shown this form of natural vitamin D can help prevent cancer!

Make sure you don’t get sunburned. Sunburn is what causes skin cancer, not mere sun exposure! Stay out of the sun in the midday in the summers, and wear 100% UV protected sunglasses most of the time when you are out in the sun. Cancer and cataracts aren’t cool.

Watch the sunscreen. Better to use sunscreen (SPF 30+ “broad spectrum” against UVA/UVB rays should do the trick) than to get burned and suffer the deeper tissue damage that turns your skin into shoe leather over time. However, don’t rely on sunscreen too much. Spending several hours exposing

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your skin out in the sun daily isn’t recommended, with or without the protection in a bottle.

QUITTING SMOKING

Smoking, of course, is one of the top killers and one of the worst things you can do for your health (and it doesn’t work well with training for an endurance race!). I’m not going to get into all the risks, but an important one here is that it causes wrinkles!

If you are competing or planning to compete in sports of course quitting should be a top priority! However, if you are trying to quit smoking and get in overall good health, I recommend making your dietary changes first, and giving it about a month for your body to adjust to the reduction in carbs and sugar before quitting. Trying to lose your sugar addiction and your tobacco addiction all at once is just too much to ask!

Beyond that, if you have the nutrition down and are starting to get into a routine, you won’t have to worry about gaining weight when you quit smoking!

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APTER 10 Putting Everything Together

By now, you should be excited and ready to set things in motion! I hope you’re not overwhelmed. If you are, this should make it easier.

I am giving you a concrete plan you can use to follow. A plan that you must stick with in order to get the results you want. The key is to start small.

I have provided two flexible plans: one for the beginner, planning to start training or working out; the other for the athlete already training and looking for better ways to improve overall fitness.

For true beginners, just do 10-minute walks, 5 minutes of yoga and 5 minutes of strength training. That’s only 20 minutes per day! Everyone has 20 minutes, so this is totally doable. You can add time to your workouts gradually as your energy levels and endurance improve (they will!).

Use the chart on the following page as a guideline, and modify it as you need to. You also may need to build up to this. Quick sprints (up to 100yrds) are a tremendous substitute for longer running or walking.

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CHAPTER 10Putting Everything Together

SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT

MorningWalk orhike 20-40minutes

30 minutewalk orrun

30minutesstrengthtraining

30 minutewalk or run

30-60minutesyoga


30 mins walk or run, or 4 sprints

Afternoon orEvening

20minutesmeditation

20minutesmeditation

20minutesmeditation

30minuteswalk orrun

Beginner Plan:

Advanced Plan:

SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT

Morning Hike 60minutes

30 minuterun, bikeor swim


45 minuterun, or 7 sprints

30-60minutesyoga


30minutesrun, or 5 sprints

Afternoon orEvening

20minutesmeditation

20minutesmeditation

20minutesmeditation

30 minuterun, bike,or swim

30minuteswalk orrun


In both schedules, you’re doing something every day. This may seem like a lot at first, but I guarantee that once you get through a couple of weeks you will enjoy your workouts and meditation so much that you will rarely miss sessions! Doing something every day also allows you the ability to occasionally miss a workout and not feel guilty about it, since you will be right back at it again the next day. Remember, you’re always just one meal or workout or practice away from getting back on track.

For those who would prefer to workout less often, no worries. A couple hours of strength training and ten to fifteen sprints per week will still provide for fat loss and be greatly beneficial to your overall health.

TWO WEEKS FOR TOTAL SUCCESS

Hopefully, you have already begun to make the changes to your diet. Make sure to stay very focused on

these changes for two straight weeks:

Cut out most of your carbohydrates

Eat lots of vegetables, and smaller amounts of fruit

Stay with protein such as chicken, turkey, fish, and grass-fed beef

Consume fat for energy, adding more as you increase your energy expenditure

After the two weeks of very low-carb eating (say, less than 40 grams per day) are over, add in small amounts of carbs and notice how they affect your energy levels.

Everyone is different, so there is no perfect one-size-fits-all diet. Read labels and be aware of everything you put in your mouth, and the potential it has to help or harm your health. Limiting carbohydrates drastically for two weeks will make it easy for you to stick with a healthy eating plan for life. Eating for health, weight loss, more energy, or younger appearance is mainly about losing your addictions to sugar and processed carbs. Once you do this, you will be on the path to success!

Finally, use that 5, 10, or 20 minutes a day to work on your mind. It is very difficult to be in top physical shape if you are holding on to negative thoughts and emotions. Believe me, I’ve seen this and experi-enced it first hand. Your body will go in the direction of your mind. Wes’s Addendum chapter explores this in much greater detail, providing invaluable exercises to dramatically improve self-understanding and the relationship with yourself.

As Marshall Sylver says in his book, Passion, Profit and Power:

“Every thought creates a physical response in the body.”

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CONCLUSIONI hope by reading this book you begin to not just absorb the information, but really make changes in your life that put you on the path to looking better, feeling better, living better, and living longer. People read books and listen to tapes all the time, and most of those people either never finish the books and tapes, or they never apply what they have learned! However, I’m sure you are different!

Hey, you made it all the way to the conclusion so you must be different!

Commit to the new plan. Read part of this book every day to remind yourself to keep on track. Don’t get distracted or influenced by others who are not looking out for what’s best for you.

Here are some motivational quotes to keep you on the path to success:

A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided. ~Anthony Robbins

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Your attitude determines how far you go. Whether you want unbounded energy in your everyday life, or you want to run your best marathon ever, you must believe it is possible. ~Stu Mittleman

All personal breakthroughs begin with a change in beliefs. So how do we change? The most effective way is to get your brain to associate massive pain to the old belief. You must feel deep in your gut that not only has this belief cost you pain in the past, but it’s costing you in the present and, ultimately, can only bring you pain in the future. Then you must associate tremendous pleasure to the idea of adopting a new, empowering belief. ~Anthony Robbins

Start by doing one thing at a time. Do not try to do everything at once. However, if you start with setting goals, then implementing some of the dietary changes I have covered, then incorporating your workout plan, and finally working on your mind, you’re well on your way to success!

If you have any questions, need advice, motivation, or want to send me your success story, please don’t hesitate to email us at [email protected]

Good luck and live well!

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ADDENDUM: THE SOLUTION TO SELF-CONFLICT —ALIGNMENT WITH YOUR TRUE-SELF

This book has covered all the basics and even more complex aspects of health and fitness. What you’ve learned in the preceding pages, and how you respond to it, will have a major bearing on determining the optimal you.

You now have a good roadmap for success in these areas. But there’s something that can turn your good roadmap to a great roadmap, and keep it great over an entire lifetime! This requires you to focus on the most challenging aspect of optimal functioning—the realm of the psychological. This chapter will delve quite a bit deeper into this realm than the Conclusion chapter.

TYPICAL WAYS OF DEALING WITH EMOTIONS

All of us have felt the tug of inclinations, cravings, and urges that we know aren’t in our long-term self-interest. We may put off a workout “till tomorrow” or eat “just one more” of whatever goodie available. Essentially, we can slip into a comfortable and undemanding pattern of behavior. Such patterns obviously confound our personal goals for optimal health and fitness. And they can trigger feelings of guilt, shame, and resentment, which can lead to more self-defeating behavior.

Costly habits of mind and body may be triggered by such emotions as boredom, loneliness, anxiety, de-pression, even worthlessness. After all, no matter who we are and how much we have achieved psycho-logically and physically, sometimes these feelings present themselves in our conscious and subconscious awareness, for however brief a time.

Fortunately, a highly effective method exists for dealing effectively with such experiences. Learning how to overcome problematic facets of self will take you to a new level in your life, the optimal level!

Developing self-healing skills enables you to efficiently resolve any problem that arises in your future too. This means more than just coping. This means overcoming obstacles and actualizing your full potential.

Many people try to counter their negative emotions and behaviors by doing the various familiar routines, some of which have been the focus of previous chapters. To alter your problematic mental state or get out of a costly habit, you might start exercising, interacting with friends, listening to music, engaging in a hobby, doing yoga, meditating, or trying to relax in a way that just takes you back to your “happy place.”

There’s nothing like warm sunshine to lift the spirits either!

Oftentimes such activities can be quite effective. After all, it’s what most of motivated humanity does every day to stay in decent shape, both physically and psychologically.

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Yet as noted, there is an even better (though not necessarily easier) way to deal with problematic emo-tions that tend to lead to problematic behaviors. Various techniques of distraction can only take us so far. But before we delve into that method, allow me to briefly tell you about my own story of diet and will power.

THE PROCESS OF MENTAL AND NUTRITIONAL ADJUSTMENT

I had to face the prospect of changing my eating lifestyle and workout routines when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1995.

At the time, I was eating the “recommended” high-carb/low-fat diet. I was consuming around 450 grams of carbs per day, which is somewhat difficult when one eats mostly complex carbs instead of sweets.

Brown rice, wheat bread, and pasta were my staples. Incidentally, these resided at the foundation of the Government’s former Food Pyramid (now “My Pyramid”) as well as the Diabetes Food Pyramid of the American Diabetes Association. (The Healthy Eating Pyramid devised by Harvard’s Nutrition Dept. is slightly better, but still not without traditional biases.)

Mostly on account of what nutritional “experts” were advising me to eat, I figured this was what my body needed in order to keep up with my weight-training in the gym and well as keep me healthy overall (judged by blood readings such as HDL and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, triglyceride/HDL ratio, etc.). And, really, could’ve Muscle & Fitness magazine been all that misguided!?

When I got diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes, I was told by health care practitioners that my diet was already healthy (of course!), that I didn’t really need to change much, except for now having to eat on a more regimented schedule, to coincide with my 3-4 insulin injections per day. This meant practi-cally no snacking!

As you’ve read in previous sections of this book, it can be useful to eat many small meals at more fre-quent intervals than to eat three big squares a day. Well, with injection therapy, I really had no choice in this matter. I needed to eat a meal every 5 or so hours, which is the amount of time it takes for regular insulin to go through its main absorption and metabolization phases.

So now I was eating about 800 calories three times a day, instead 500 or 600 calories four or five timesa day. And let me tell you, eating 150 grams of complex carbs at each meal is a workout in itself! But this is what I believed was healthy. Then, those beliefs were tested by evidence and logic.

An acquaintance of mine on the track team at my university told me that carbs such as bananas were to be avoided, according to a new diet called The Zone devised by nutritional researcher Barry Sears, which you probably recall Kevin mentioning in this book’s introduction.

The reason given for ditching bananas was that they have a relatively high glycemic index, something also touched on in an earlier chapter. Sears was pretty adamant about staying away from foods that would cause a rapid rise in blood glucose levels, which would lead to more insulin being secreted, which would lead to more carbs being eaten, which would lead to putting on more fat.

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But I was curious, so I decided to do some experimenting with the nature of glycemic index. In my obser-vations of eating various types of carbs and checking my blood sugar levels repeatedly throughout the day, month after month, I soon concluded that glycemic index is not nearly as important as glycemic load. And the scientific evidence reflects this.

Basically, no matter whether you eat a simple carb or a complex carb, the total grams of particular carbs you eat—the “load”— correlate closely with how much insulin your body secretes to clear all that resulting glucose out of your bloodstream and into your cells. Glucose from the carbohydrates you consume is stored as glycogen in predominately your liver and muscles, as well as converted into fat in your adipose tissue.

Moreover, I learned that glycemic index is pretty much nullified whenever you eat carbs along with fat and protein; turns out, the “index” numbers are gleaned in the lab from consumption of those par-ticular carbs by themselves, without other foods.

But even if you were to eat no fat or protein along with your carbs, it doesn’t matter much how quickly those carbs are absorbed. You still must secrete a specific amount of insulin to maintain stable blood glu-cose levels—hence, the necessity of paying attention to the load, or amount, of carbs you consume.

In other words, the rate of insulin secretion (in response to the rate of glucose entering your bloodstream on account of the glycemic index number, as well as other, more complex and less-well-understood factors) matters much less than the total amount of insulin necessary to deal with the total amount of glucose (carbs). This is what glycemic load entails. It takes into account the amount of carbs you are con-suming.

Of course, about the only thing that was healthy about my diabetic diet, which was just like my old “healthy” diet, was that it didn’t kill me outright! Death by nutritional ignorance or misinformation is typi-cally a long and drawn-out process.

I had to take large doses of insulin (which a normal person’s pancreas secretes) to deal with the rise in blood glucose levels that follow naturally from carbohydrate consumption (though protein can cause slight rises in blood sugar too).

Also, my immune system, which proved its incompetence by bestowing an auto-immune disease on me, was being further suppressed by my elevated blood insulin levels, stemming from all those carbs in my diet.

It’s important that both normals and diabetics avoid higher blood insulin levels, which have both short-term and long-term harmful effects. For instance, cardiovascular disease risk increases substan-tially with higher blood insulin levels.

Thus, insulin is a hormone that should be used sparingly! Those who advocate a high-carb/low-fat diet are essentially asking people to produce much more insulin in the process of burning carbs for en-ergy (and storing excess carbs as fat). Based on my study of the evidence, this made about as much sense as telling most people that it’s better to be overweight and sick than lean and healthy.

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After reading The Zone in 1997, I quickly switched my body from burning carbs for energy to burning fat for energy. This made perfect sense, given the evidence and my own (admittedly anecdotal) observations from administering insulin at each meal. I’ve been consuming a modified Atkins/Zone diet for many years now (less than 100 grams of carbs per day), and my blood readings are better than they ever were when on a supposedly “healthy” high-carb/low-fat diet.

By the way, a comprehensive book on various low-carb/moderate-protein/higher-fat diets is Living The Low-Carb Life by Jonny Bowden. He initially approached the subject with skepticism too, on account of all the high-carb propaganda he had been bombarded with. After studying the empirical side of things, he quickly came to his senses and penned this important book, which explores and rates the various lower carb diets. A still more scientifically detailed book on this nutritional subject is Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.

So, fat is your friend, my friends. And it takes fat to burn fat.

Insulin works to keep fat stored on you for the next famine. It really doesn’t care about the optimal you, and neither does the government, the nutrition industry, and big agriculture, all of which have donea major disservice to human health and well-being for many decades.

So, how did I adjust mentally to the change in my diet? Well, as I mentioned at the beginning of this story, it did require an exercise in will power.

If I wanted to keep my blood sugar level under control (thus decreasing the risk of long-term complica-tions), I could no longer eat whenever I wanted to eat. My eating was now on a regimented schedule. This was perhaps the hardest part. No snacks, except a few nuts, jerky or cheese, and of course water.

Fortunately, I was a major fan of nuts, and nuts are a healthy source of fat, as noted previously. Thus the switch from burning carbs for energy to burning fat for energy required eating different foods, but ones that were just as or more tasty!

Fat is satiating and contains 9 calories per gram, rather than 4 calories per gram, like carbohydrates and protein. So, that means you can get your energy much more easily by eating foods composed pri-marily of fat.

As an example, instead of spending the better part of an hour eating a giant bowl of brown rice, I could now eat something even tastier in less than half the time!

Just think more curry sauce (with fat-rich coconut milk) and much less rice...

Or ditch that huge flour tortilla that envelops your burrito—and instead go for the contents and load up on the anti-oxidant and micronutrient-rich salsa...

Or, on the fast food front (if you’re really pressed for time), get a double double “protein style” at In-n-Out Burger (which is wrapped in lettuce, instead of a relatively non-nutritious and insulin-demanding bun); if you want a bit of carbs, you can always split a side order of fries with a friend. Just remember that leafy green vegetables and higher quality sources of protein and fat are your preferred choices!

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ENDING CONFLICT AT THE EMOTIONAL LEVEL

A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.

~Christopher Reeve

Some people have told me that if they had to prick their fingers 5-7 times a day and stick themselves with a needle multiple times daily also, they would rather die. Of course, if they actually faced this prospect, then they likely would simply adjust to their new way of life too, like me and many millions of other type 1 diabetics.

Here’s the interesting thing: Most people who face a dramatic change in their lifestyle tend to adjust mentally to their new conditions, no matter how problematic.

This even applies to conditions as grave as paralysis. You’d think that being paralyzed would result in insufferable depression, wouldn’t you? Well, it turns out that human beings are amazingly psychologi-cally resilient. Whatever level of happiness and coping skills they had before their life-altering event will usually remain with them as they adjust to their new way of living!

But this book focuses on health and fitness—implementing and adjusting to positive, not negative, changes to your life and well-being. Fortunately, you likely won’t have to wrap your lifestyle around insulin-dependent diabetes or paralysis!

Nonetheless, even making positive changes can seem threatening. We tend to become quite accustomed to the status quo, so any dramatic shift in perspective and behavior can disrupt our emotional comfort zone. Herein lies the inner conflict, the one between our familiar functioning and unfamiliar functioning.

In fact, no conflict has as many profound effects on your life as the one that occurs within your own head. After all, no war between people would be possible if the actors on each side were at peace with themselves. The conflict of war requires self-conflict.

Yet self-conflict is something that no person enjoys or ever becomes comfortable with, no matter what they tell themselves or tell other people. War, either individually or collectively, is indeed hell.

But of course hell on earth can be prevented! Being at war with yourself can, or rather will, becomea thing of the distant past. Just like all the previous adjustments you’ve made in your life in which the unfamiliar became the familiar, settling into a healthier routine reflects a certain mind set.

Naturally, the solution to self-conflict, from the most mild to the most severe, entails making and main-taining peace. Lasting peace can indeed be attained, and let’s not forget love and harmony.

Lasting peace leads naturally to the experiences of guiltless joy, self-actualization and achievement, and authentic relationships with others. Your concentration on healthful living and fitness, which has been the main focus of this book, won’t be nearly as challenging when you’re equipped with the right psycho-logical tools!

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Dealing with self-conflict requires you to summon both the philosopher and the psychologist within yourself. If that sounds daunting, it need not be. After all, you are both a philosopher and a psycholo-gist! Every human being is, regardless of all the contrary opinions from those ensconced in ivory aca-demic towers.

This is because you constantly make assessments (identifications and evaluations), either conscious (phil-osophical) or subconscious (psychological) of your environment, of yourself, and of other people. You have done so since you were a child crawling on the carpet looking for something to put in your mouth (however inedible).

Your eating habits, exercise regimen, relaxation techniques, sleep cycle, and general lifestyle obviously concern your life and well-being. And your life and well-being are what really matters in your quest for the optimal you! This is the stuff of philosophy and psychology.

By gaining the following insights and skills you need to remedy a conflicted inner state, the healthy thoughts and behaviors that first seemed so foreign and difficult will become mostly au-tomatized by your subconscious mind.

Just as you no longer have to think about how to move your body while doing various exercises and rou-tines, so it will be with your mind, when your differing conscious ideas and subconscious thoughts and patterns are honored and reconciled.

Ultimately, all the diet and fitness advice in the world won’t help you much if you engage in war with yourself. Again, though self-conflict may seem to arise naturally, you aren’t doomed to engage in it. A certain mental technology offers a way out. So, let’s proceed to reveal and understand this silent inner battle so that we can achieve the victory of lasting peace.

SEVEN-DAY SENTENCE COMPLETION PROGRAM

Choosing to do any psychotherapeutic process means that you deeply appreciate who you are—and who you’ll become. That’s something to be quite grateful of. Most people on the planet are sleepwalkers through their own existence, and they typically choose to remain so.

Self-concept is destiny. How you see yourself and what you view as possible to you mainly determine who you are and who you’ll become.

The sentence completion exercises below are the main tools that will help you discover the process by which you sometimes act contrary to your own best interests and feel badly about it. After actively en-gaging in these exercises, you’ll be well on your way to achieving the state of enlightenment that is the hallmark of a healthy self-concept.

The key to successfully completing the following sentence stems is to surrender yourself to the process. Really, wave the white flag here. Since you seek to end any and all internal wars, you must wave the white flag with yourself. Your conscious mind may be hesitant or even resistant, but this is simply part of the process of recognizing that self-healing needs to occur. Objectively speaking, you are more

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than your feelings in these matters. You are that which explores, grows, and achieves.

How do you accomplish this?

In a quiet place, without distractions, get in a semi-meditative state (not so meditative that you can’t do the stems, of course). The key is to let your endings flow without any conscious deliberation or censor-ship. To achieve this, you can even act as if something else or someone else is writing the endings. Even embrace the contrary, or pen the “untrue,” which means allowing yourself to write things that you nor-mally wouldn’t say or admit to. Here’s an example:

At the thought of exploring my emotions...I wonder what it will yieldThis can be scaryI’m fearfulI see I’m going to learn some thingsIt seems dauntingI don’t know where to startIt’s not easyI feel relievedI see that it will be helpfulI start to feel better

This is not a test of your character. This is not an indictment of the implications of all your “deep, dark se-crets.” Rather, this is an exploration into your subconscious mind, which you allow to take over and tell you what it thinks and feels. Let’s try another one:

Eating healthy to me means...DrudgeryTrying to keep on trackNot giving in to temptationsUnderstanding what’s good for meNot lying to myselfBuying the right thingsBeing creative about what to eatGiving up some thingsA daunting proposition sometimesSeeing the results in how I look and feelDoing what is sensible

You’ll discover that sentence completion exercises enable you to see past your ordinary defenses and conscious, or explicit, points of view. They allow you to understand the nature of your self-conflict in

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a way that you’ve only been vaguely aware of until now. They rely on the fact that you need self-es-teem—self-confidence and self-respect—in order to function as a thinking and feeling person.

Developing a deep and lasting friendship with your subconscious means befriending the parts of yourself that yearn to be heard, understood, and accepted by you.

So, breathe deeply and grasp the wisdom that your deepest part of self knows and feels.

During a part of the day when you have a free hour or so (depending on how much you write in the “re-flections” section), write down and read the specific stems for the day and provide endings without “thinking too much”—in other words, write endings off the top of your head. Keep in mind that the more you delay in writing an ending, the less benefit you’ll derive from the whole integrative process. Your subconscious is best accessed when it’s voice is honored and given free reign.

Provide about 8 to 10 endings for each stem, reading the stem itself over each time you write another ending. When you finish a set of stems, read over what you wrote and write a few paragraphs about the experience and about what you’ve learned (“Reflections”).

DAY 1GETTING STARTED

Right now I’m feeling...

Sometimes, the difficult thing about understanding my feelings is...

When I was young, I was taught (and shown) that emotions are...

If I brought 10 percent more awareness to my emotions...

If I brought 10 percent more awareness to my deepest needs and wants...

One of the things I’ve been trying to avoid acknowledging about myself is...

If I were to develop more of an accepting attitude toward my past difficulties...

The hard thing about self-acceptance is...

The beauty of self-acceptance is...

In order to make peace with my past, it’s important to...

I am becoming aware...

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Reflections...(essentially, read over the endings you’ve just provided and write a paragraph or two about your understanding of them and your new insights.)

DAY 2SELF-IMAGE

When I look into a full-length mirror at my naked self, I sometimes tell myself...

If I am more accepting of my body...

If I deny and disown my body...

One of the ways I tend to deal with my own discomfort is...

Sometimes when I feel others judging me...

One of the deficient ways I deal with the judgment of others is...

A better way to deal with my frustration might be to...

As I breathe deeply and fully accept my self-image...

If I were to maintain a positive view of myself, regardless of my present circumstances...

If I were to see eating and exercising healthily as aligned with my self-image...

As I learn to treat my body as my temple...

Reflections...

DAY 3

SETTING AND ACHIEVING GOALS

In the past my difficulty in setting goals and sticking to them has been...

When I fail to live up to my goals, I tell myself...

In order to live up to my goals, it would be wise to...

If it turns out that I’m always just one meal or workout away from getting back on track...

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If I avoid responsibility for the attainment of my goals...

One of the ways I’ve dealt with stress is by...

If I didn’t have to fight against reality anymore...

A better way to deal with stress and frustration might be to...

As I learn to put aside things that distract me from achieving what I want...

As I honor my commitments to myself, my life, and my well-being...

If any of what I’ve written here is true, it might be helpful if I...

Reflections...

DAY 4EARLY SELF

Ever since I was a child, I’ve tended to feel...

An important thing about my early life that relates to my present functioning is...

One of the bad things about my childhood was...

Mother gave me a view of myself as...

Mother speaks through my voice when I tell myself...

Father gave me a view of myself as...

Father speaks through my voice when I tell myself...

At the thought of being free of Mother and Father, psychologically...

As I breathe deeply into what I’m feeling right now...

If I were to develop more of an accepting attitude toward my child-self...

If I were to fully realize the best within me...

Reflections...

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DAY 5MORE EARLY SELF

If, when I was young, someone had told me my wants really mattered...

If the child-self within me could speak, he/she might say...

In order to heal the hurt part of my child-self...

As I reflect on most adults’ view of themselves...

If I were to see my parents and other adults realistically...

If I were to make peace with my past...

One of the good things about my childhood was...

As I embrace more of the child-self within me...

If I were to admit how much I secretly like myself...

As I energize myself for new possibilities of living and being...

Reflections...

DAY 6AWARENESS AND RESPONSIBILITY

Self-awareness to me means...

One of the things I pretend to be unaware of is...

One of the things I do to protect myself from self-awareness is...

It’s not easy for me to admit that...

If I practiced 10 percent more self-awareness today...

If I practiced 20 percent more self-awareness this month...

As I learn to accept my occasional lapses in judgment...

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The scary thing about fully embracing self-responsibility is...

The good thing about fully embracing self-responsibility is...

If I were to admit how much personal control I really have...

As I embrace my inner wisdom...

Reflections...

DAY 7SELF-INSPIRATION

One of the things I really enjoy about my life is...

If it turns out that I really can change things for the better...

As I release myself from feeling burdened...

If I refuse to live by values I do not respect...

If I treat self-respect as a high priority...

As I view my past as a great big learning experience...

One of the things about myself that I’m grateful for is...

Sometimes, the hard thing about feeling grateful is...

At the thought of achieving great things...

At the thought of joy being my natural state...

I am becoming aware...

Reflections...

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THE NATURE OF PEACE—CONNECTING WITH YOUR SAGE-SELF

As you’ve now experienced, sentence completion exercises reveal your subconscious feelings and beliefs, enabling you to become more psychologically integrated. This integration process will continue as time passes. By doing the exercises, you’re able to see and reflect on many things that likely have been only in the periphery of your awareness.

Things brought from the periphery of your awareness to the center of your awareness can result in much needed changes.

Now, it will be much more difficult to be at war with yourself, because the self you’ve been in conflict with has been given a definite voice—and this voice has been heard, understood, and honored by you! Of course, even deeper understanding and more thorough integration can occur by doing the 7-day pro-gram again (and even again), leaving no subconscious stone unturned.

Psychologist Nathaniel Branden is known as the father of the self-esteem movement (though not the pseudo-self-esteem and praise taught to kids in governmental schools and popularized in our culture). He has devised and utilized sentence completion exercises in his psychotherapy practice for decades, and he’s noted that all of us have a “sage-self,” which is the deepest, most authentic part of who we are.

Your own sage-self has become strengthened immensely by doing these exercises, and your mind has been opened to more layers of understanding and insight. As Branden has observed in his explanations of this process, each of us knows all the things we think we don’t know and can do all the things we think we can’t do (within the wide confines of reason and reality, of course).

Becoming aligned with your sage-self takes you to a place where self-conflict becomes the excep-tion rather than the rule in your life. And when you do encounter self-conflict, you’ll be able to deal with it effectively. In other words, being much more aware of your inner contradictions and your emo-tions makes it next to impossible to continue on a deficient path.

Your goals of optimal fitness and health will be easier to set and to achieve, because you’ll be much more in touch with the parts of yourself that were in conflict. By living through your sage-self and seeing such conflicts objectively, you can accept, honor, and finally integrate the subconscious parts that tended to leave you feeling confused, ashamed, frustrated, guilty, resentful, or depressed. Now, there’s no reason to be stranded somewhere on the path to your goal of optimal health and fitness!

FALSE-SELF DISTRACTIONS

Of course, we can’t escape our nature as human beings. As much as we might like to be a superhero or demigod, we face challenges in our lives that test our coping skills. Essentially these are challenges to our self-esteem, which is accurately defined as the conviction that one is able to properly think, judge, and deal with life’s challenges, coupled with the feeling that one is worthy of happiness—in short, a combina-tion of self-confidence and self-respect.

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Our cultural context can have a major bearing on our coping skills, if we allow it. Others in our midst may not have done the hard internal work that we have done, or are striving to do, so they (along with ordi-nary issues of life) may test our coping skills a whole lot more.

Doing sentence completions enables you to check in with your sage-self in these trying times—to in a real sense connect with the objective part of yourself that knows that it’s going to be okay and that you are “good enough.” All of us need emotional tune-ups at times, so we can keep running in top psychological condition.

Fortunately, your feelings are excellent indicators of how smoothly your mental engine is running. By just listening to your inner voice (or voices, as in the case of mixed emotions and feelings stemming from non-integrated subselves), you can readily grasp how you’re dealing with things.

Unfortunately, most people seldom spend time listening to their innermost voice, their sage-self. So, they run roughshod over their (and others) feelings, via such protective mechanisms as denial, evasion, pro-jection, defensiveness, repression, rationalization, all of which spell continued self-dishonesty. Of course, these mental events have an impact on their behavior patterns. Making excuses, blaming others, and perpetuating mistakes become tragically commonplace.

Though people realize this isn’t living consciously, they might push that realization aside and prevent life-enriching change. Again, self-conflict thrives on avoiding full awareness and thus repeating defi-cient patterns of thought and action.

Throughout all your trials and tribulations, it’s vital to remember that you are always just a few moments away from connecting authentically with your sage-self and realigning with your stated values.

Integrity and self-honesty are always possible and always beckon us. Gaining and keeping such vir-tues may be the most profound choice.

WINNING AND KEEPING THE PEACE

Ultimately, curiosity and self-respect may be the most important components to maintaining your opti-mal level of health and fitness and living the good life in general.

Curiosity means asking questions and discovering answers, even when others shrug or remain stuck in their ways. After all, there’s not much to gain mentally by joining a big crowd of incurious people.

Being open to new ideas, new evidence, and new ways of looking at things definitely fosters (and reflects) an attitude of self-respect too. Seeing yourself as worthy of all the great things that life has to offer means that truth and goodness matter to you, rather than what is expedient or easy to do (or not do) in the mo-ment.

As human beings seeking to flourish on this wonderful planet, we can also impart our attitude of curiosity and self-respect to others who initially might not be as motivated. Nothing persuades and convinces like

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a person who shines with the radiance of optimal health and fitness! Such is your birthright.

May your path of health and fitness be filled with happiness!

All the best,Wes Bertrand, MA

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

If you want more information about the psychological material in the Addendum, please visit my website www.happinesscounseling.comAnd if you’re having a hard time doing sentence completion exercises and want some coaching, or desire to explore them further with assistance, please email me at [email protected] to schedule an audio/video counseling session.

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Addendum

http://happinesscounseling.com

mailto:wes%40happinesscounseling.com?subject=


RECIPES

These recipes range from very simple to complex. Try not get caught up in counting calories! Be assured that these are healthy recipes, pulled from healthy cookbooks or from my own. They are broken down into breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and desserts.

Bon Appetit!

BREAKFAST

Power Smoothie Makes: 1 Serving

Ingredients: 8 ounces goat’s milk or 5 ounces full fat coconut milk and 5 ounces goat’s milk 1 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil 1 scoop egg-white protein powder (Jay Robb is my favorite!) 1 tablespoon cold-pressed flax seed oil 1 teaspoon of unheated honey ½-1 cup fresh or frozen fruit (blueberries, banana, etc.)

Directions: Combine ingredients in a high-speed blender. • You can also substitute the coconut milk with low-fat plain yogurt or goat’s milk yogurt. This drink usu-ally keeps me satisfied and energized for 4 hours or more!

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Vegetable Quiche

Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients:

1¾ cups cooked rice (white or brown) 2 tablespoons fat-free egg substitute or 2 egg whites 1 cup broccoli, chopped ¾ cup butternut squash ½ cup carrots, chopped 3 whole mushrooms, sliced 1⁄3 cup onion, chopped 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese 1 cup nonfat evaporated milk 1 cup egg substitute or 4 eggs 2 tablespoons grated non/low fat Parmesan cheese

Directions: To make the crust, combine rice and egg whites, and stir well. Coat pie pan with nonstick cooking spray (nonfat), and pat the crust mixture over bottom and sides of pan. Combine the remain-ing ingredients, stir well, and pour into crust. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45-50 minutes. Remove dish from oven, and let sit for 5-10 minutes

Breakfast Burrito

Makes: 1 Serving

Ingredients:

1 sprouted wheat tortilla (feel free to ditch this carb and just make a scramble) 3 scrambled eggs (do not overcook) 1 piece turkey bacon 1 ounce shredded mozzarella cheese Salsa to taste

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LUNCH Turkey Avocado Wrap Makes: 1 serving

Ingredients:

1 8-inch sprouted wheat tortilla Sprinkle small amount of shredded mozzarella cheese ½ whole avocado 3 slices tomato 2 to 3 leaves of romaine lettuce 3 oz sliced turkey breast (about 3 slices)

Directions: Heat tortilla and cheese, until cheese is slightly melted. Remove from oven, or toaster oven, and slice avocado onto melted cheese. Place one slice turkey, tomatoes, lettuce, turkey, lettuce and last slice turkey. Wrap together, and enjoy with half a cup of blueberries or peaches.

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Directions: Scramble egg until cooked (not over cooked). Cook turkey bacon in a separate pan. Place cooked bacon on wheat tortilla, top with cheese, eggs and salsa. Wrap all up in tortilla and microwave for 20 seconds. Add avocado for some extra healthy fat!

Salmon and Vegetable Medley Makes: 1 Serving

Ingredients:

6 oz. salmon 2 ½ cups zucchini chopped 2 ½ cups summer squash ¾ cups carrots, diced

Directions: Poach salmon in 1 cup orange juice. Remove and sprinkle with dill. Sauté vegetables in2 tsp. butter on a medium heat. Add 1½ tablespoons caraway seeds and mix thoroughly.

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Sweet and Sour Pork and Cabbage (from Mastering The Zone, Barry Sears) Makes: 2 Servings

Ingredients:

8 ounces pork loin, in half-inch cubes 6 cups cabbage, shredded 1 cup cooked chickpeas, chopped 6 cups mushrooms, sliced2 2⁄3 teaspoons olive oil 10 tablespoons cider vinegar ½ cup water Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper, then place in a nonstick sauté pan with ½ tablespoon coconut oil. Cook until pork is browned. When the pork is cooked, remove it from pan and set aside. Add cabbage, chickpeas, mushrooms, vinegar, and 2 teaspoons oil to sauté pan and cook vegetable mixture for about 10-15 minutes, until vegetables are almost tender. Add water and cooked pork to vegetables in sauté pan. Cover sauté pan and braise mixture for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Divide between two lunch plates and serve.

DINNER Asian Chicken Salad (from The NO-Grain Diet, Joseph Mercola) Makes: 4-5 Servings

Ingredients:

2 pounds chicken, cut into chunks (you can use turkey, salmon, tilapia, or duck) 2 tablespoons olive or walnut oil 1 cucumber, sliced ½ red onion, sliced ½ cup fresh mint, lightly chopped ½ cup bean sprouts (for garnish) Salad greens for 4-5 servings

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Dressing: ½ cup lime juice 4 tablespoons fish sauce ¼ cup olive or walnut oil 1 stalk lemongrass, finely chopped 2-inch piece of ginger, finely chopped 1 clove garlic, crushed 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped ½ teaspoon chili flakes 4 tablespoons chopped almonds

Directions: Baste chicken with oil. Place on grill or in preheated 400-degree oven. Grill or broil until tender and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Cool. Assemble dressing ingredients. Toss salad greens in a small amount of dressing and arrange on top of lettuce. Garnish with sprouts. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons chopped almonds over salad.

Greek BurgersMakes: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

2 garlic cloves, minced 3 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped 1½ cups low fat yogurt 1½ pounds ground turkey, buffalo, or beef 2 tablespoons feta cheese, crumbled 1½ tomatoes, sliced 1½ red onions, sliced

Directions: Combine garlic and mint in a small bowl and mash. Add yogurt, mix and set aside. Combine turkey and feta cheese in a mixing bowl. Form into 8 patties and sprinkle with pepper.

Broil 5-10 minutes per side or until meat is cooked through. Serve patties with tomatoes, onions and yogurt sauce. Add olive oil, or some avocado to add some healthy fat. Have some mixed berries or straw-berries for “dessert.”

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Halibut with Avocado Sauce (from Canyon Ranch Cooks, Correia, Uehlein) Makes: 4 Servings

Ingredients: Avocado Sauce: 1 medium avocado, peeled and sliced ¼ cup nonfat sour cream 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice ¼ teaspoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 tablespoon white wine

For the Halibut:

4 4oz halibut fillets 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon black pepper ½ cup diced red onion ½ cup peeled, seeded and diced tomatoes ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions: Combine avocado, sour cream, lime juice, hot sauce, cumin and white wine in a blender and puree. Preheat grill or broiler. Season halibut with salt and pepper. Grill or broil for 3-5 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily. Serve 1 fish fillet with 2 tablespoons avocado sauce, 2 tablespoons each red onion and diced tomato and 1 tablespoon cilantro. Make it a meal and add some lightly steamed zucchini!

Pea & Squash Soup Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 quart plus 2 cups vegetable stock 6 summer squash, chopped 1½ cups frozen peas, thawed 2 cloves garlic, minced ¼ teaspoon white pepper 2 cups cottage cheese (4% milkfat)

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SNACKS Deviled Eggs with Hummus 2 hard-boiled eggs ¼ cup hummus Slice eggs (save yolks for a breakfast scramble) and fill with 1 tablespoon hummus Paprika to taste

Cottage Cheese and Fruit 1⁄3 cup of full-fat cottage cheese ½ banana sliced Slivered almonds or chopped walnuts

Low-Fat Yogurt and Nuts ½ cup plain full-fat plain yogurt OR goat milk yogurt 1 teaspoon slivered almonds Drop of honey

Stir-Fry Vegetables and Tofu½ cup stir-fry mixed vegetables cooked in water and olive oil 4 oz tofu cut upSmall amount of teriyaki sauce

Alternatively, make it simple: ½ pear with almond butterSmall smoothie with frozen berries, yogurt, and peanut butter

Directions: Combine all ingredients, except cottage cheese, in a saucepan over high heat. Bring mix-ture to a boil. Once mixture is boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer 15-20 minutes. Transfer soup to a food processor or blender and puree. Transfer to serving bowls and let cool. Serve chilled or at room temperature along with cottage cheese.

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DESSERT Baked Apples (from The No Grain Diet, Mercola)

Ingredients:

6 Granny Smith apples 2 tablespoons butter, softened 2 tablespoons maple syrup 2 tablespoons cinnamon 6 tablespoons walnuts, chopped 2 tablespoons oats (optional) ½ cup water 1 cup whipped cream or plain yogurt (optional)

Directions: Using a melon-baller or small spoon and starting from the bottom of the apple, core ¾ of the way up to the stem. Place apples in baking dish. In a bowl, combine butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, walnuts, and oats, if desired. Put a few teaspoons of the mixture in holes in cored apples. Pour water around apples. Bake at 350 degrees, covered, for 40-50 minutes or until tender. Serve hot or cold, plain, with fresh whipped cream or plain yogurt. Don’t forget to balance it out with protein, such as chicken or whey powder.

Yogurt-Sauced Peaches (from Mastering the Zone, Sears) Makes: 4 servings

½ cup full-fat cottage cheese 1 cup plain full-fat yogurt 1½ cups peaches, chunks 4 teaspoons almonds, chopped 1/8 teaspoon cardamom

Directions: Using a blender, combine cottage cheese and cardamom. Blend until mixture is smooth. Fold yogurt into blended cottage cheese to make a spiced yogurt sauce. Divide peaches into four servingdishes. Spoon sauce over peaches and sprinkle with almonds. Chill and serve.

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TIP: For a tasty store bought cookie that contains no trans-fats, try Jennie’s Coco-nut Macaroons, sweetenedwith honey! Just watch your carb count here!


BREADS (if you must)

Food for Life (found at health food stores) www.food-for-life.com

CHAIN HEALTH FOOD STORES Whole Foods Market www.wholefoods.com Trader Joe’s www.traderjoes.com Wild Oats www.wildoats.com

COCONUT OIL Omega Nutrition Organic Coconut Oil www.omeganutrition.com

OMEGA-3 RICH OILS (NOT FOR COOKING) Purity Products www.purityproducts.com Barlean’s Organic Oils www.barleans.com

ONLINE FITNESS Global Health and Fitness www.global-fitness.com VITAMINS Purity Products www.purityproducts.com

YOGA VIDEOS AND PRODUCTS Gaiam www.gaiam.com

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Resources

Resources


Fit Body

Workouts for Working People, Mark Allen and Julie Moss

Living the Low Carb Life, Jonny Bowden Program Design for Personal Trainers: Bridging Theory into Application, Douglas Brooks

Yoga Journal’s Yoga Basics, Mara Carnico

Canyon Ranch Cooks, Barry Correia

Yoga for Dummies, G. Feuerstein, L. Payne, L. Folan The Maffetone Method, Phil Maffetone

The No-Grain Diet, Joseph Mercola

Slow Burn: Burn Fat Faster by Exercising Slower, Stu Mittleman

Patient Heal Thyself, Rubin Jordan The Zone, Barry Sears

Mastering The Zone, Barry Sears

Calming Yoga, DG Stanisiewski

Good Calories, Bad Calories, Gary Taubes

Healthy Mind

The Six Pillars of Self Esteem, Nathaniel Branden

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey

Think and Grow Rich, Napolean Hill

Passion, Profit & Power, Marshall Sylver

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Resources

healthy mind, fit bodyhealthymindfitbody.com/docs/hmfb_ebook.pdf · healthy mind, fit body kevin...

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