A mind-body approach to fitness

I've been reading a book by Jillian Michaels (of "Biggest Loser" fame) called "Making the Cut". If you're interested in losing those last few pesky pounds, or really going for that six pack, this book is written for you. I'm not following the program as laid out in the book, but it's filled with great advice that is helping to enhance my workout program. Since I've been slipping a bit over the past week, I pulled the book off the shelf to find some motivation.

I'm particularly interested in her focus on the mind-body connection and its impact on fitness results. In addition to the importance of a positive state of mind, she talks about focusing your full attention on your body during workouts - visualizing our muscles working, getting stronger and performing the actions that we demand of them. By centering your mind within yourself and focusing on performance (rather than how tired you feel!), you can fully experience the workout and achieve greater results.

I've realized that all of the workout programs I've done in recent months - especially T25 and Chalean Extreme - achieve their results by demanding that you focus on technique, maintain a full range of motion through each move, and flex the muscles through every exercise to create better resistance. When I first started working out, I was pushing hard and achieving results, but I was primarily surviving the workouts, not fully experiencing them. My technique was sloppy at best, and although I burned off plenty of fat, I did not achieve optimal muscle definition. My best results came later, during T25, when I fully concentrated on doing each move correctly, carefully, contracting my muscles through the entire move. Once I made that mind-body connection, I saw the results that I'd been hoping to achieve.

So when you work out, regardless of whether you're doing a fitness program, running or lifting weights at the gym, don't let your mind drift away. Focus on how you're moving your body, check your form, and engage that core at all times. Keep your head in the game, and the results will follow.

Staying on Track with Nutrition

I’m starting to understand how people lose a bunch of weight, and then gain it all back.

I have been working out religiously for almost seven months now, never missing a session. I even add in extra work from time to time. I admit, I’ve never been a calorie counter. Early on in this journey, I realized that I had no sense of portion control, and that I was eating way too many calories. It was a pretty easy fix – I started eating less food, limited myself to one serving at mealtime, and started making healthier choices. I bought more green leafy vegetables, lean meats and legumes. I incorporated protein shakes and recovery drinks into my diet as my workouts got more intense. And over a period of six months, I lost nearly 25 pounds and felt amazing.

A month ago, we moved to a town just outside of London. I’m still working out every day – that’s non-negotiable. But my day-to-day schedule is unpredictable, and as a result I’m eating much more than I should. I hate that stuffed, bloated feeling that I get when I overeat, but especially over the past few days I’ve been giving into every temptation. This morning, my scale put a warning shot over the bow – I’ve gained back 4 pounds over the last 10 days. After months of hard work to get the body I’ve always wanted, it’s been shocking how fast you can blow it by eating the wrong things.

This morning I woke up, determined to put things right. Over the next few days, I’m going to watch my portions, make better choices, and make sure I don’t have that bloated, overstuffed feeling any more. I want to nip this in the bud, before I have to write a blog post about having gained back everything I lost (and more). This is a lifestyle choice. Working out is at the heart of my wellness plan, but smart food choices are absolutely essential to success. I still don’t believe in diets, but I know that making the right food choices and holding fast against temptation will enable me to maintain what I’ve worked so hard to achieve.

Muscle burns more calories ... but how many more?

As I mentioned in my last posting, I'm about to start Chalean Extreme (CLX), a much more weight-intensitve program than I've been doing. After doing a bunch of high intensity interval training and a summer of T25, it's time to build up some muscle.

One of the catch phrases of this program is "Muscle Burns Fat". I have no doubt that this is true at some level, but will it be enough to make a real difference in my metabolic rate? In my case it's pretty unlikely... have a look at these articles:

LA Times article by James S. Fell - Put down that Haagen-Dazs

LiveStrong article - Is it a myth that muscle burns more calories than fat?

Back in August 2013, I wrote a post on "Counting Calories - Where to Start?" It talks about how to calculate your basal metabolic rate - the amount of calories your body needs to maintain itself, without accounting for any additional exercise. My BMR is currently around 1,400 calories. I don't plan to lose weight during this round - I'd like to swap about 3-4 pounds of muscle for an equal amount of fat, and drop my body fat percentage by a couple of points. Unfortunately, I don't think that means I'll be able to add many calories to my daily intake.

Current research shows 1 pound of muscle burns 7-10 calories a day, while 1 pound of fat burns about 2-3 calories. As the LiveStrong article notes, if I gain 4 pounds of muscle, I'll only increase my BMR by around 15-20 calories. I'm sure I'll enjoy those 3 grapes immensely.

Now, if someone has a lot of weight to lose, dropping the fat and adding muscle will eventually make a huge difference in that person's metabolism. And there are plenty of reasons to incorporate strength training into a workout plan beyond an increased metabolism - it can dramatically improve physical appearance, decrease the likelihood of injury, lower the risk of osteoporosis, and improve your immune system.

But I need to remember - strength training is not a pass to start eating anything I want. And in fact, I'm concerned that my new program won't give me enough cardio work. So at the end of the day, it's up to me to make sure my fitness program is balanced and well-designed to help me achieve my goals.

Time to change up the workout plan...

Since I started working out regularly back in March, a guy names Shaun T has been an almost daily presence in my life. I don't know Shaun T, I've never met him, but you may have heard of him as the creator of Insanity. He's been with me from the start, telling me what to do each day, yelling at me (in a nice way as only he can) to "DIG DEEPER" and "FOCUS" on whatever body part I'm supposed to be working on. He's been with me as I've lost weight weight (almost 15% of my original body weight), gotten my core in shape and dropped more than two pants sizes.

But there comes a time when you need to move on, and for me that time is now. If the first six months of my fitness project were about fat burning, the second six months will be about muscle building. I'm at around 20% body fat at this point, and I'd like to drop to 17-18% - but I don't want or need to lose any more weight.  That means it's all about building up some muscle, so it's time to switch programs.

First up - Chalean Extreme, a program by Chalene Johnson which is geared toward women, and encourages us to lift heavy to build muscle. Sounds good. She and I will be getting to know each other over the next few months.

Then, after Christmas comes Beachbody's "centerpiece" program - P90X. I'm going to admit, I'm afraid of this program because I can't do a pull-up to save my life. The 90 minute yoga workout in P90X (YogaX) is known for being ridiculously long and hard. I assume that if I got through Insanity, I can get through anything. We shall see. After three months of Tony Horton and P90X, I plan to run back to Shaun T and Insanity for a couple of months, because I think I'll miss him a lot. It's funny how the trainers who do these videos almost become a part of your life.

On a side note, I joined a local no-frills gym today, just to take a couple of classes a week. It's kind of like Planet Fitness, pay as you go and cancel at any time. Tomorrow at lunchtime I'm going to try a spin class. I've never done a spin class before, so it should be interesting. Hopefully I'll be able to walk on Thursday.

After two weeks off... I'm back to my blog!

After more than two weeks off, I've finally found some time to start writing again! I've got a great excuse for my absence. Two weeks ago yesterday we started moving into our new home outside of London. Between finishing an international move, getting the kids launched at their new school, starting new activities and trying to meet people, it's been a whirlwind. Now all of our boxes are empty, and all we have left to do is hang a few pictures. We're reaching the end of the tunnel.

But even with all of that, I haven't missed a scheduled workout. Not once. I switched a couple of workouts from one day to another, but during these two weeks of craziness I've managed to carve out a little bit of time for myself each day. It's helped me keep my energy levels up and my stress levels down, which has been essential to staying on track and getting things done.

The only other time in my life I've been this committed to a fitness schedule was during my training for the NYC Marathon. That kept me on track for a while, but once I achieved my goal of completing the race, I started to burn out. My running became less consistent, and within a few years I was barely running at all.

I honestly believe that this time is different, because my goals are internal rather than external. I want a strong, lean body with plenty of energy to do what I want to do. There is no final event to shoot for. This time, fitness is a lifestyle choice, not a date on the calendar, and its something I intend to keep doing for life.