Health and Nutrition That Is AboveNBeyond

Summer comes and goes ever so quickly.  Some of my summer is always planned for I’m almost always on the road.  Running that is, pounding the pavement mile after beautiful mile.  Wouldn’t it be neat if you could have your summer all lined up now instead of ending up in August looking back and thinking, “Where did the summer go?”  See what happens when you get active?  You already know part of where your summer will be going.  So, for you couch bound potato heads, perhaps this is the time to get peeled into a new lifestyle!  Hey, just to let you know, I was one once too!  All the TV is, is a brain-rotter.  You’ll get a better view outside then from the couch. There is so  much to choose from when it comes to being outside.  There have been times that I’ve considered something called cross-training.  For me that would be combining running and biking.  Some days, I’d run and some days I’d ride bike.   As I’m writing here, that sounds good, perhaps I may just do that this year?  For me the problem is I just love running and I tend to forget my bike.  It doesn’t have to be running or biking.  It can be anything like walking, fishing, boating, swimming you name it.  Anything that gets you out the door and to being active.  Oh, yes, you work every day, and you are tired when you get home right?   If this sounds like you, you’ll get no sympathy from me for I do that too!

At the very least, find a local gym and get involved!  I was a member for 9 years until we moved.  This is how I got involved with running and I never even planned on becoming a runner when I joined the gym.  Isn’t it time to put the WOW back into your life?  For those who have, the  WOW has begun, for those who haven’t yet, the WOW is waiting.

For those who are acute workaholics that see more office than sun itself, get a group of co-workers together and do something construct-active   After all,with an after work activity, you may be prone to getting the job done sooner to get out there.  Not to say that this has to be everyday.  Being a part of a group, may motivate you to increasing your fitness level then if by yourself.

See also:

Find Your Focus and Do It  – Part #1 and Part #2

With budget crunches effecting everyone, our waists can be effected too!  We can’t let money get in the way of  our efforts.  Granted, with portion control, and exercise, our efforts will work.  However, our bottom line is effected by many factors.  Fortunately, one can get coupons online to help curb the costs of weight loss.  Check out this website to see if you can find a coupon that helps your budget.  Let’s face it, lots of people are having a tough time and something  has to be done to make way to achieving the goals that are needed.  Money can’t be allowed to get in the way of ones efforts.  Alternatives need to be considered to get one to reach their goals.  So, with exercise, portion control, finding healthy alternatives, you can add coupons to your arsenal to combat weight loss.  My wife has turned into a coupon head hunter and thus have cut a huge chunk out of our weekly food bill.  Talk about adding an extra pay check each month.  You need to  consider this.  There are other coupon sites available.  Here is one to consider:  Couponmon.com

With an ever growing arsenal to combat weight loss, loosing weight is the only thing you have to loose.  Coupons only make it worth your effort.

In addition to using Weight Watchers and Herbalife, my wife and I also make use of Lean Cuisine.  The coolest thing about Lean Cuisine in our opinion is that they have the weight watchers points right on the box.  Talk about another great option to use when using the Weight Watchers point system.  I just became a member of the Lean Cuisine website and it has a lot of neat features such as Meal planning, fitness planning and wellness planning.  Just more reasons to get on track to getting fit and lean.  When it comes to loosing weight, it’s not about starving yourself or doing with out eating lots of great food.  It’s about eating to  loose weight.  You have to learn to substitute what you eat with great alternatives or find ways to change recipes to bring about a healthier meal plan.  Don’t think of it as a diet, think of it as a change of lifestyle.  Diet is a bad 4 letter word that is sometimes misconstrued.  Try thinking of a diet in terms of a meal plan instead.  Lean Cuisine is a great way to adjust your meal plan to work on loosing those pounds.   My most favorite Lean Cuisine is the Chicken Club Panini.  Oh, by the way, Lean Cuisine makes for a good lunch to take to work, which is what I do.

See video #8 in our Video Vault on Lean Cuisine for a past commercial.

Wow!  What a great day for a run!  It was cool and you could feel the warmth from the sun.  With temperatures in the 60’s and sunny skies, who could pass this up!  Oh, and while I haven’t yet brought this up, a run like the one I just had is worth 6 points on the Weight Watchers Point system.  And, I don’t mean the points you take off, but, the ones you earn.  That’s right, the ones you earn so you can eat that extra food you love so much!  This was an awesome day and I took full advantage of it.  I ran a distance of 3.1 miles equal to that of a 5k race.  There was some walking involved since my running did take a dive for a while.   But for the most part, the legs are in full working order.  I did two sprints which went really well.  While running is what I love to do, the moral of the story is get out, get active doing what you love to do!  Here is the post I wrote in my fitness blog.  So, I ask you, which is better, the couch or the pavement?  I know my answer, do you?

Back when I used to drink alcohol, one could say that I was that occasional weekend drinker.  There is research that indicates that alcohol does not contribute to weight gain.  There is also those who say that alcohol and weight loss are enemies.  So, let’s assume that alcohol doesn’t contribute to weight gain for argument sake.  Back at this time I was probably up around 200 pounds.  I drank and ate all the foods that one would eat when going to the bars.  So, one could say that your weight gain comes from the package that you consume over the weekend.  Now, granted, this is just my view.  If you take this package out of the picture, the you also take all those calories out too.  One time when I was a local bar one Saturday evening eating, someone there offered to buy me a drink and I just had finished my “limit”.  I declined and she said something like life is short, you gotta have fun or something like that.  I replied back something like But I am having a good time, I’m having great food, talking with people, I don’t need alcohol to have a good time. It was at that point the seed was planted to move me in the direction of cutting alcohol out of my life.

After taking alcohol out of the picture, my weight stopped rising.  It was at this point that I was a member of a local gym and I was starting to get involved with fitness and nutrition.  Also around this time, I started going to church and then stopped going to the bars.  A very good trade off if you ask me.  Lots of good people, and great food too!  A few months later, I found my future wife to be or should I say she found me and the rest is history.  Oh, I should point out that she would have never went with me if I drank.  It’s interesting how things can work out at times.

Should you eat today, but, of course, yes you should.  Never, and I mean never starve yourself.  Continuing from Part 1 and Part 2 on this subject, I should point out that I don’t like the word DIET.  A short term, temporary effort is implied by this word.  In other words, once one would achieve a desired goal, the diet would be over.  Replace the word DIET with the word LIFESTYLE and you got a whole different picture.  Do you like the idea of being a human yo yo?  That is what a diet is all about, the ups and downs of weight.  You’d reach a point where your weight is good and then you’d quit.  Later, you’d be up again and start the process all over again.  How crazy is that?  Wouldn’t a change in lifestyle seem better?  There are parts of this way of thinking that could seem as doing the same thing, but, actually it’s not.

Diets are only good if you like the idea of flying blindly through life eating what ever you want when you want and am willing to hit the brakes to cut off some pounds until you are happy again.  But, who wants to spend life like a yo yo when as you get older, it can get harder to get the weight off.  The best solution is a lifestyle change.  You can still eat all the foods and drinks you like, it’s just that you won’t be like a human vacuum cleaner thus inhaling everything in sight.  You’d be eating in moderation.  Granted, it would be a learning process, but, a process that is worth it.

So, in concluding if you would apply the following, you would create a whole new lifestyle that would rock your world:

Portion Control +  Getting Active + Good Nutrition = NEW YOU!

This formula really does work, but, it takes time and patients.  If I can do it, you can do it.  It’ s that simple.  So, now the question could be asked, if this formula works, then is it really necessary to purchase weight loss products?  The answer is that it depends upon how fast you want to get the weight off.

Running is the  easiest and accessible sport for everyone to take advantage of today.  Unfortunately, there are many who don’t take advantage of it.  In fact, many don’t get active at all with any kind of sport.  This is a shame too.  Chronic inactivity and obesity are known to yield many diseases, which could be avoided simply by getting active.  Getting away from being inactive can lead one into a fun and exciting new reality.  If you excuse the saying, “Just because you grow up, doesn’t mean you can’t have fun anymore”.

Let the little kid in you escape.

Having a healthy diversion is good for everyone.  Getting active yields many benefits, such as, mental clarity, weight management, & muscle tone.

What’s a matter?  Are you afraid someone will see you out on the road running when you could be on the couch all comfy?  When I started running, it was right smack in the middle of when I was depressed.  Talk about being very hard to get out there, but, I did! Got sneakers? Can Run!

Now, if weight is not an issue for you, sure, you’re lucky, but, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be active.  You don’t want to fall under the realm of chronic inactivity.  Ironically, there is some truth to the saying “All work and no play, makes {you} a dull person”.

There are some videos in the video vault regarding running.

If you are not sure what you want to do, you can check out NEWU or refer to other posts on running.

Wow, this week we hit the ground running with 2 great posts on How To Start Running.  I’ve been running since April 1997 and haven’t considered quitting anytime soon.  With this being February, I thought this would be a great time to devote some articles on the sport of running.  Especially since, if one would get started now, by the time Summer would get here, the newbie runner would have some time invested in the sport and would be able to start  having a summer filled with running.

I know when I haven’t been running in a while.  My attitude changes, as well as my outlook.  Running changes everything for me and I  end up paying for it if I am not running.  Running is my outlet and there are those times where tuns of frustrations get dealt with during a good run.  I run any distances ranging from 2 miles up through and including 8 to 10 miles depending upon my motivation.  My favorite distance has to be 4 miles.  It’s just that I am the most satisfied after returning from a run after doing this distance.  If I do any distance shorter than 4 miles, than it’s like I missed something or was short changed.  Though, there are times I have no choice and don’t have the time to run longer runs.

For those who are a bit aggressive, be warned, there have been times that my focus changed to the point where running wasn’t fun, that I was only training to do races and it became like a job after a while.  So drops the motivation when this happens.  But, it’s what you want out of running that matters.

I finished a good run today, roughly 2 miles, and just wanted to share that running can be a good head clearer. It’s like pressing the reset button.

Ok, you completed your check list to get ready to start running.  You are or should be starting out slow for now.  We’ll now look at another list of things to be working on.  Remember, you are a beginner and not an elite marathoner.

1. A really good resource to make use of:
Check out Newrunner.com, a really good resource for new runners starting out.  Newrunner.com is a Runners World website for beginners.  It’s good to have the right resources at your finger tips to get the information you need as a beginner.  And remember again, you are a new runner, so, take it slow and work on building yourself up.

2.  What do you want out of running?
Do you just want to run for the fun or fitness of it?  Or, do you want something more out of the sport?  It’s all up to you.  You don’t have to decide right now.  You may discover something about it later.  For those who want to be more aggressive, why not a 5k race.  But, do this after you’ve been running for a short while.  This is something you want to prepare for.  Check out this article about preparing for your first 5k race training tips.

3.  Don’t copy, be happy
Don’t worry about what others are wearing and doing.  Rely on reliable resources for the information you need.  Do what works for you based on what you read and learn about.  Someone maybe doing something that may look good, but, it may be something that you are not quite yet ready for.

4. Find your way.
Just like starting out slow, find your way.  This is about you and not someone else.  If racing isn’t for you, then so be it!  Everyone gets something different from the sport.  It’s what you want that matters.  Once you discover your way, you’ll begin to rock! I found my way, you can find yours!

5.  Age is a number and nothing more.
As long as you are healthy enough and your doctor doesn’t mind, age is only a number and if you want to lace up your sneakers and hit the road, go for it!  Don’t let the thief in your mind rob you of something you want and can do.  If you can and want to, the road awaits.

Remember, Runners World is a very good resource for runners and anything about running can be found there.  Good luck with your efforts and enjoy the sport!