Real Life Fitness – Getting Fit With Brent

I’m going to write something that may be a bit controversial.  In fact, it may seem contradictory to my association with Beachbody, considering they sell supplements.  But it’s the truth, and everyone knows it whether they want to admit it or not (and most times, they will not admit it due to the financial gain they lose…more on that later).

So here it is:

It is NOT the supplement you are taking, drinking, whatever that is causing you to lose weight!

No, it’s not.

Supplements are named “supplements” for that very reason:  They are there to supplement some other change you are making in order to reach the desired effect.

To make my point:  If you started taking a supplement that promises weight loss, but you continue to eat like a pig, you may lose a couple of pounds (depending on what the supplement does), but you will not have any real long term success.

However, if you “supplement” a good diet, healthy habits like exercise, rest, etc, then the supplement MAY help.

No supplement is a miracle, though.  You will not magically lose weight unless you have already made drastic changes away from the standard American diet (SAD) and are eating how your body needs to be fed for the results you are wanting to do.

Yes, Shakeology is a supplement.  It is also usable as a meal replacement.  It is a GREAT product, but it is not a miracle product.  If you want long term results, use it to supplement a otherwise healthy diet.  You cannot drink a shake each day and then eat tons of other calories, sugars, bad fats, junk food, etc, and expect to look like Tony Horton or Shaun T.  It’s not happening.

So what brings this rant on?

There are so many companies out there in the direct sales industry that believe their supplements are miracles.  They truly believe that by just adding that supplement to their life that they have magically lost all of this weight.  And for a majority of them, that is simply NOT true.

The real truth is this:  They were approached by a product that could help them lose weight (so they were told), and they were given a plan to take the product, change how they eat to a cleaner, more wholesome diet, do some exercise, and they lost weight.  They made a lifestyle change that was supplemented with a supplement.

Who knew that eating healthy foods and exercise would help you lose weight?  (no sarcasm at all, I know)

But these people will never, ever admit that is the case.  Doing so would hurt their paycheck.  It would hurt their credibility.

When I first started P90X in 2009, I took no supplements.  I ate according to the guide.  I did my workouts every day.  I lost a LOT of fat.  Eating well, exercising, getting results…a novel concept, I know!

I did not add Shakeology until sometime in 2010 after my second round of P90X.  At that point I was taking the P90X multivitamin.  But again, it was there to support my lifestyle change I had already made.

You’re probably asking yourself, just as I have asked myself:  Why do you still use Shakeology then, Brent?

Because Shakeology to me has nothing to do with weight loss and everything to do with solid nutrition.  I’m not taking it as a miracle drink to help me shed pounds.  I am taking it, though, to make good nutrition convenient.  I credit the shake with helping me eat healthy, not lose weight (although by adding it in as a lower calorie meal option, with all natural products, toxin flushing ingredients, etc, it may aide in weight loss).

So please…quit trying to convince me that your product made you lose weight.  No….making the decision to change your life by eating better, exercising, and then supplementing your lifestyle with your supplement is what caused you to lose weight, plain and simple.

Brent Nutrition And Diet, Shakeology diet, exercise, nutrition, Shakeology, supplements

“If the upper is broken, work the lower.”

“If the lower is broken, work the upper.”

“If both are broken, work the middle.”

These words from Tony Horton ring out in my head everyday right now.  I remember being in Dallas in September of 2010 with him at a Beachbody event and hearing him state this.

And yet I SUCK at this.

To be honest, not being able to do what I want to do bums me out.  Not quite a clinical depression, but close enough to cause me to lose motivation.  All I want to do is push-ups and pull-ups, darn it!  But, with one surgery in the books (and in the middle of Physical Therapy to get it back up and going) and another one to come soon, I realize that upper body work is not going to be my friend.  For a while.  Possibly a LONG while….

I’ve had to remind myself of Tony’s words.

“Work the lower, Brent….work the lower!”  So I have been this week.  I have a pretty good routine setup, and now I just have to follow it.

Sundays is cardio.  Monday is legs.  Tuesday is cardio.  Wednesday will be a rest/stretch day.  Thursday will be tabatas on the bike.  Friday is is cardio.  Lot of cardio in there, but with the limited nature of how I can do resistance with the legs, I’m on machine weights only.  Don’t want to overdo it on the legs.

And I’ve been reintroduced to my old friend DOMS.  DOMS delayed his visit longer than normal on legs workouts, showing up more than 24 hours after I completed.  I have not done leg curls in years.  My muscles are reminding me of that right now.

I’m a realist and know that this work will pay off, but I must follow good dietary measures first.  Paleo has been good to me, minus the intense headaches so far.  5 days of VLC, and now transitioning into a period of slightly larger carb intakes.  I will still take a cheat meal once a week as long as I’ve held to 80/20 or better on my nutrition.  So far this week I’m hitting around 90/10 or better.

Today I reintroduced Shakeology.  I needed that stuff.  Over the next 2 weeks I’ll keep using it to see how it detoxifies the system while maintaining a relatively clean diet.

In the meantime, I’m going to keep working the lower and looking forward to getting surgery #2 scheduled, over with, and begin rehab on it.

Brent Fitness Tips, Nutrition And Diet, Primal/Paleo Eating, Shakeology, Shoulder Surgery exercise, exercise after surgery, fitness, fitness when injured, shoulder surgery, slap tear repair

Let’s face it:  We all need to exercise.  My dad and I were talking the other day about a new “study” that came out that linked NOT exercising to an increase risk of cancer.  While I never really buy into these studies, it does bring up a great question:

What can I expect from eating clean and regular exercise?

Let’s take weight loss/fat loss out of the equation.  We all know these are the biggest reasons why people start a diet and begin to exercise.  I don’t want to discount weight/fat loss (everyone who reads this blog knows my story or can read more about it), but there are more benefits to it than just getting skinny.

I’m going to outline benefits I’ve noticed as well as others I’ve read about:

1.  More Energy

This one is the most obvious to me.  I work an office job.  I sit in front of a computer every day.  It is easy to want to eat junk, but when I did, I felt tired, lethargic, not as sharp, etc.  But when I’m really focused on nutrition and regular exercise (like my Insanity + Shakeology routine I’m on now), I feel steady energy all day.  I never feel like I’m crashing.  I can focus better.

Outside of work, I have more energy to play with my kids and do things with them.  I can exercise more than once a day a few extra times a week, burn some more calories, and not feel out of it.

2.  Better Sleep

True story:  During the fall, I get on a sugar kick.  Usually the sugar kick starts around 8:30-9pm at night and last until I go to bed.  When I do this, my stomach does not feel as good and I do not sleep as well.  During this past fall, due to the shoulder issue being a bit of a bummer, I quit exercising outside of physical therapy.  And I didn’t rest as well, had a hard time wanting to wake up each morning, etc.

Just a few days into what I’m doing now and I’m resting better than ever before.  I’m going to sleep faster, waking up refreshed, even if I only get 6-7 hours of sleep.  And getting better sleep leads back to my first point:  More energy!

3.  Improved Self-Confidence and Image

I’m proving to myself that I CAN do something with I eat clean and exercise daily.  I show myself that I can focus, be consistent, and accomplish goals.  Combining that with the fat loss (that yes, after one week, I can notice a bit of), makes me feel better about myself.

4.  Less Irritable

I’m a lot nicer person to be around after an Insanity workout.  Just ask my wife.

5.  Increased Libido

I’m neither going to confirm/deny this (I don’t “kiss and tell”), but I get emails from Men’s Health magazine and have read some various diet books that boast this.  And it make sense.  For a male, eating certain foods and exercising seems to give a boost in natural testosterone.  And it produces sweat, which they say is a pheromone.  And pheromones seems to turn women on.  Or something like that…

For women, there’s actually been ladies reporting climaxing while exercising!  If that isn’t libido increasing I do not know what is!  Along with that, though, having better self image (#3) and a less irritable husband (#4) seem to help this happen a lot…umm…..easier (that’s a good word for it).

Don’t believe me?  Google it.

6.  Stronger Bones

I’ll admit I don’t know the science behind this, but it has been reported that strength and resistance works actually helps with bone density.  My mom is living proof of this:  Combined with some calcium treatments, she has moved her bone density away from a dangerously low level by lifting weights.

7.  Better Health/Quality of Life

This is probably the most important, although many people simply overlook it.

Sure, do all of the above, but the best thing is what happens on the inside.  The better you eat, and the more you keep toxic foods and fat off and out of your body, the better your health is.  Eating foods that prevent chronic inflammation and producing mild exercise-induced inflammation is good for you.  People can move away from being diabetic by doing these things.  They can reduce their chances of stroke and heart attack.  They can reduce their cancer risks and other things simply by eating clean and working out.

So from these reasons, which ones do you want to have happen to you?  To your spouse?  Let’s discuss this in the comments section!

Brent Fitness Tips, Nutrition And Diet diet, exercise, health, insanity, libido, nutrition, Shakeology, sleep

I’m just three days into my Insanity + Paleo + Shakeology 8 week plan.  Man, I feel AMAZING!  Who knew that eating 100% clean and paleo, drinking my shake, and exercising would provide this much energy.

First, my routine:  I wake up, take some Beachbody Energy and Endurance, and wait 15-20 minutes, and then get my butt kicked by Insanity.

Then after I shower (and continue to sweat for a while), fix my breakfast (2-3 eggs scrambled in coconut oil, Shakeology with coconut milk and almond butter), put together my lunch, go to work, eat lunch, eat an afternoon snack, come home (or to PT then home), and then eat supper.

My proteins have been over 100g (tonight was close to 130g), my carbs have been around 100g, and fats have been around 100g.  All of these are within the ranges I’m aiming for.

Here’s what I’ve noticed:

1.  No crashes.  I have sustained energy throughout the day.

2.  Cravings are decreasing.

3.  I wake up energized.

Over the next few days, I’m expecting to have better sleep.  Some things take some time to adjust, especially coming off of a sinus infection.  I’m aiming for 7-8 hours a night and have been successful in hitting that.  I just feel incredible!

Who knew that eating well and exercising could do this?

Brent Fitness Tips, Nutrition And Diet energy, exercise, nutrition, paleo

I have not written much recently, and with good reason:  I cannot seem to completely shake a sickness!

A week ago I woke up running a high fever (well, high for me) and went almost a full day without eating anything.  Once the fever was gone, I was fine, but eating for the next couple of days was limited.  As soon as I finally start getting my energy back, I hit a sinus/allergy issue that is zapping me again!

Ugg!

So today, a plyometrics session did not happen.

Which made me start to think:  Hey, this would be a great blog topic to revisit.  What do you do when you are sick?

Here are my thoughts and opinions.

First, no, you should not exercise.  Two things cure sickness naturally:  Rest and fluids.  If you are taxing your body through exercise, it spends its resources recovering from the workout and not treating whatever ails you.  It is okay if you miss a few days of exercise.  You’re not going to gain back massive weight, get completely out of shape, etc, if you do not press play, hit the gym, hit the road, or whatever it is you choose to do.  Take enough time to get over it completely.

Once you think you’re over it, assess your energy.  Usually, when I get sick, for a day or two after (or longer, depending on how long I was sick) you’ll still be sluggish.  There’s no shame in scaling back a workout at this point.  You’re body is still recovering.

If you have not eating much when you were sick, this is not a free pass to eat whatever to “gain energy back.”  At least, that is the excuse I often use.  Sometimes when I’m weak, I don’t care what I eat, as long as I eat.  But this can be counter productive to recovery.  And yes, I’m pointing all my fingers at myself right now!

Eat nutritious foods.  More fruits and veggies are good.  Shakeology is better.  Eat something that will give your body the nutrients, not just a lot of calories.  Yes, calories ARE important here, but eat foods that will give you the most bang for your buck.

I’m sure others have great tips too.  What do you do to recover from sickness?

Brent Fitness Tips, Nutrition And Diet exercise, illness, recovery, sickess

Let’s face it:  It is way too easy to let life get in the way of our health and fitness.  Exercise requires extra time, extra energy, and better foods to keep your body fueled the way it needs to.  But life creeps up, things get stressful, and then exercise is the last thing you think about.

And then you get down on yourself for not exercising, which creates more stress.  Which, in turns, makes you want to exercise less because your mind is literally draining your body of energy.

See the vicious cycle here?

I’ve had it happen to me.  Heck, it’s happened to me more than once when I started my weight loss journey with P90X and other Beachbody products.  Things get in the way, I’d quit exercising, then I’d stress, I would eat worse, which made me want to exercise less, which made me get soft, lazy, and gain weight.  It’s life, and it can happen.  It is how you correct it that determines whether you reach your goals (or maintain them).

So when things start happening in life, here is what I suggest:

1.  Get to bed – Stress can exhaust you fairly quickly.  It can be very mentally taxing.  Make it a point to get to bed earlier and rest it out instead of reaching for other sources of comfort (i.e. food, alcohol, etc).  You’ll find yourself with more energy and be able to start exercising more.

2.  Get into the routine again – There is no easier way to get back into exercise than to just jump into it head first.  You can’t do this “planning” game when you get off track.  You have to get moving again.  The longer you wait, the harder it is to get going again.

3.  Eliminate the stress – Sometimes, this is easier said than done.  However, there are certain things that cause stress that we can choose to eliminate.  Friends are a great example.  If someone you are friends with are causing you grief or stress, then take a step back from the friendship for a while.  Focus on the great things in life, such as being alive.  If the stress is financial, find a way to redo your budget, take a second job, or even become a Beachbody Coach for more money.  Again, sometimes easier said than done, but sometimes you just have to find away to remove these things and get on with your life.

4.  Prayer/Meditation/Reflection – Whatever your spiritual/religious beliefs are, it is hard to deny the power of taking some time to be quiet, clear the mind, and either pray, meditate, or just reflect positively on life.  This will help calm the mind and get you thinking positive again.

5.  Healthy eats – Finally, eat well.  It’s all to easy to focus on junk when you’re stressed or when life gets in the way.  The fast food line is definitely more convenient than cooking the healthy meal at home.  When you eat unhealthy (or at least when I do), you will feel worse.  You’ll feel less like exercising.  You won’t have the energy that you could have if you were eating well rounded and correctly.

Brent Fitness Tips exercise, stress, working out

You’re 20 pounds, 30 pounds, 50 pounds, or more overweight.  You know you need to make a change.  You know you need to eat better, exercise, and do all the things that doctors have been harping on you for years.

And you sit there and think to yourself, “Do I really want to put in that much effort?”

That may not be your EXACT question, but you have that in the back of your mind.  You know it is not going to be easy.  Had it been easy, you would not have reached this point to begin with!  But you do question yourself.  Do you want to?  Do you have the will power to stick through it?  Do you really want to change that much about your life and lifestyle?

I’m here to give you a short personal testimony on why this is important, why you SHOULD do it, and why changing your lifestyle is not as bad or hard as it seems.

I’m 30 years old.  I have 3 kids.  My oldest one just started softball this year, and I volunteered to help coach.

Tonight was our first practice.  We have 12 kids 6 and under on our team.  I was asked to lead throwing drills.  If you’ve ever seen kids this age throw, you know you’re not watching an MLB All-Star.  In fact, balls were going all over the place.  Some to me.  Some to the ground.  Some WAY off.  Very few required me to just stick up my glove and catch the ball.

In my 20′s, I would have been exhausted.  For most of that decade, I was carrying at least 50 pounds more than what I am now.

But here I am, 30 years old, keeping up with all these little sluggers are doing, and not really feeling anything other than a light sweat breaking out from the humidity.  50 pounds lighter, not nearly exhausted from running after balls all practice.  That proved to me one thing:  I have finally gotten to a place where physical activity is natural, not tiring.  It is something my body is used to and more equipped to handle.

Over 50 pounds lighter than my 20′s and I’m having a lot more fun with the extra energy!

Let’s leave out all of the health statistics:  We all know what all carrying a lot of extra weight can do to you.  Let’s talk practical.  Could you handle a practice like this?  Could you find yourself moving near constantly for 60 minutes and not be tired?  Can you keep up with kids this young (on an energy level) and not want to fall over dead after it?

Losing weight is as much aesthetically pleasing for me as it is mentally/emotionally pleasing.  I’m thrilled that I have the energy to get out with my daughters and their friends and do things like help coach a softball team.

I’m working on building to a level of fitness I’ve never had before; a combination of strong, fast, and agile with a trim body to go with it.  Sure, I have some room to go, but I’m starting to see the speed and the agility that I have not had since I was in 9th-10th grade.

So is it worth it?  Heck yes it is!  To be an active parent to my kids is the greatest gift I can give them.  And being committed to losing that extra weight has been worth every morning of 5:15am alarms, hours of sweating, passing on high sugar/high fat foods, and being committed to my goals.

Brent Fitness Tips exercise, extreme weight loss, weight loss

I’m a father of 3 young girls.  I have a demanding full time job, I run my Team Beachbody business, and I have my family.  So working out is really tough, right?

No.

You can be busy and still find time to be in shape.  My wife and I are examples.  It all comes down to one very simple yet painful principle:  Discipline.

Too many of us in America lack true discipline, especially with exercise.  We’re too lazy to wake up early.  We’re too caught up with our junk reality TV shows to get to bed earlier so we can wake up early.  We are too lazy to do anything after work; after all, it was a “long hard day at the office.”

We’re horrible at discipline, but we’re masters of excuses.

Before I started working out, I was undisciplined.  Sure, I had stretches where I would wake up the morning and go for a walk.  But at 34%+ body fat, my body needed more than just 30 minutes.  And it needed it for longer than the 3-4 weeks I did it.  I needed to be more disciplined.

The gym didn’t do it for me.  It never kept me disciplined.  It was easy to make up excuses for not going there.

The BowFlex I borrowed from my parents?  Yep…I made excuses on why not to do it too.

I was really good at excuses.  I was horrible on discipline.

And as my family grew, my job responsibilities grew, and the other things I had going on in my life, it was really easy to make excuses not to focus on my health and fitness.  So, I could have continued to make excuses, or I could have done exactly what I’ve chosen to do:  Discipline my life, make healhty choices, and change myself physically.

And that’s what I did.  So, here are some practical tips to help you find time to exercise, no matter what it is you choose:

1. “Early to bed, early to rise” – This saying is very old school, but it’s the #1 thing you can do to start making time.  Get to bed early, give yourself 6.5-8 hours of sleep each night.  Then you’ll feel more energized to squeeze in a workout.  On top of that, considering working out in the mornings.  It’s a great way to start your day.  If you cannot do it first thing in the morning, find another time.  The key is to just do something.




2. Turn Off The Television – That’s right, I said it.  Religiously watching a show live at 9:00pm each night, or during a prime workout time (say, 7pm) is not helping you reach your goal.  Choose to DVR it and watch it at another time, or just catch it online at the network’s website.




3. Get The Family Involved – Support can be critical to creating a lasting discipline.  So, get everyone involved.  Discipline your entire family around bed times, supper times, and even exercise.  Granted young kids should not be pumping iron, but do something like go for a walk.  Get everyone in the house on a similar schedule and on the same page about fitness and see how easy it is to keep disciplined with your workouts.




4. Set Goals – Should be an easy one, rigth?  But all too often, many do not.  Set goals and work for them.  What do you want your body to look like?  What do you want your body fat to be?  What do you want your waistline to be?  And yes, even though the scale is misleading, what do you want your weight to be?  Put all of this in writing, and keep it in front of you.




5. Be Accountable -  I’m the first to admit that it is hard sometimes to want to exercise.  Doing Insanity, most times I just want to give my legs a break!  But, I know that no one else is holding me accountable for my goals.  It’s up to me and me alone.  So, be accountable to yourself on your goals.  Realize that you will always feel better after exercising than what your mind tells you.

Brent Fitness Tips busy parents, exercise, family fitness, working out

You had a rough night sleep…

You had a long day at work…

The boss riding you hard, the kids screaming for attention, you’re tired, and so you come to the conclusion:  “I don’t feel like exercising.”  Hey, it happens.  Life gets in the way, and I understand this as well as anyone.  With 3 kids, a demanding job, a business, wanting to spend time with my wife, and anything else that comes up, there are times I simply do not want to work out.

It’s natural.

But, before you decide not to exercise, let’s discuss the pros and cons of skipping the workout.

If you skip the workout:

-  You don’t burn as many calories that day
-  You don’t increase the feel good chemicals from exercising
-  You don’t make a positive impact on your health and fitness that day
-  You don’t improve your strength or stamina
-  You don’t set an example for others

If you do the workout, you do the opposite of all of this.

So what, if any, are the pros of skipping a workout if you don’t feel like it?

-  You have more time to do whatever

That’s about it in my mind.  Taking that extra 10 minutes, 30 minutes, or hour that you would take to do the exercise and devoting it other things just means you are redirecting your time to something else, and nothing else.

I’ve thought about this a lot since having 2 days in the last 7 where I simply just did not feel like working out.  My Kenpo workout last week was hard after little sleep, and my Legs and Back workout yesterday was lackluster.  But, I did something both days.  Sure, neither were my best performance, but that’s okay.

The important thing is, I did something. I  stayed disciplined even through dealing with being tired, being mentally exhuasted, and just not feeling like doing much of anything.

And I felt better after working out than what I did before I did it.

So before you decide to skip that workout, ask yourself:

Do I want to feel better?
Do I want to be healthier?
Do I want to use my time to improve myself?
Do I really need to sit and veg on the couch?

By the way, there are two times I do advocate skipping a workout:  When you are sick, and when you are injured.  And even with an injury you can work around it (if the upper is hurt, work the lower.  If the lower is hurt, work the upper.  If both are hurt, work the middle.  Thanks Tony Horton for that one!).

So, get up off the couch, don’t make and excuse, and do something.  This is my new philosophy, and I hope you adhere to it as well.

Brent Fitness Tips exercise