Real Life Fitness – Getting Fit With Brent

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’ve had the “motivation” conversation with quite a few people recently and thought I’d make a quick blog post about it.

Several people have commented on my motivation and determination to stay the course with P90X and my nutritional regiment.  Some have said they simply lack the motivation while others have made remarks about how I have motivated them to do something (and believe me, I’m humbled, honored, and flattered by this).  I’ve seen both sides of the spectrum myself and have lived both sides.

Here is what I tell people:

Engage that little voice in your head that says “do it.”

We all know that exercise and healthy eating will add value and time back to our lives.  We know that doing these things consistently will improve our quality of life.  As talked about in The Slight Edge, doing things consistently to improve ourselves will eventually cause changes for the good.

But life gets in the way.  Work gets you stressed.  You get injured.  You miss a day, or eat bad a day, and start beating yourself up.  I’m a realist; I know all of these things happen.  I’m amazed at how easy it is to simply stop, to quit exercising, quit eating right, and return to bad habits.  I did it for the last 40 days of 2010.  I’m not perfect, and I embrace that.  You should to!

But what kept me focused was that little voice, always beckoning in the back of my head:  “Do it.”

Do the things that make you healthy.  Do the things that improve you.  Move that little voice from being a whisper to yelling at you.  I’ve told people the voice is just there, but when I look in the mirror, it gets louder.  And it does:  I look in the mirror and I do not see what I want to see.  So I train.  I eat right.  I make as many good decisions as I can.

So now, let’s talk about how to engage that voice:

1.  What is it that is going to motivate you to make a change?

For me, it became many things.  Diabetes runs in my family, as does obesity.  I’ve seen what a lot of extra weight can do to your body.  I decided I did not want those things in my life.  I decided that I was young enough to make a difference (made this decision when I was 28, and I’m only 30 now).  I knew I could break that generational curse.  If I could make a difference in my life, my example would shine through to my kids.

And, I was embarrased by how I looked.  Clothes did not fit well.  Extra large shirts were beginning to get tight.  I hated going to the pool.  It started affecting how I saw myself.

Yes, I’m a bit image conscious, and maybe more than you.  But it was being aware of my image and what I thought of myself that helped give me the push.

And that’s when the voice started.  “Do it.”

So what is going to motivate you to get that voice?  Do you have kids?  Get that voice.  Do you have family struggling with health?  Get that voice.  Do you want better self-esteem?  Get that voice.  Do you want your clothes to fit better, or to have more clothes that fit you well?  Get that voice.

Take some time now to write down what you want to change.  Keep it in front of you.

2.  Now picture your body the way you want it

Women sometimes get a bad rap for being to image-conscious.  Well, sometimes that can be a great thing.  What we have to learn is how to take that image that we see of ourselves and be realistic with it as well as know what it is going to take to get there.

So go look in a full length mirror.  I suggest getting as undressed as you can and still feel comfortable.  Take an honest look at you now, and then picture your body the way you want it.  Picture your body, not someone elses.  Do you want a flatter stomach?  Toned, defined arms?  Slimming hips and legs?  More shape?  Less shape?

Keep this image of what you want to see in your head.  Know what it is you want to accomplish.  Hear that voice saying “do it” a bit louder every time you look in the mirror.

3.  Put a plan into action

I love blind enthusiasm.  I love people just jumping into things (as a friend of mine says, instead of “Ready, Aim, Fire!” it is just “Ready, Fire!”).   This promotes action.  But, at the same time, it can also promote failure by not having a plan in place to achieve your goals.

First and foremost, find something that is going to work for  you.  Find what you can do for exercise, and do it.  And if you need help with that, contact me.  Find what you need to eat to achieve your goals.  Make a plan for your meals, and always plan ahead.

The plan is key here.  When I started exercising to lose weight in early 2009, I went to the gym at work and simply hopped on a bike, an elliptical, or a treadmill, thinking only cardio would accomplish the goal.  Guess what happened:  I got burned out.  Quickly.  I slowly cut down the days I was going, and then I just quit.

Don’t do what I did.  Make a plan.  Find something that makes a plan for you.  The one thing that I think Beachbody does better than anyone else is they lay it all out for you.  They nearly dummy-proof the entire concept of eating right, exercising, and getting healthier.

But if that’s not for you, make your own plan.

4.  Action time

Planning does not need to take days or weeks.  The longer you plan, the less likely you are to start.  A solid plan can be made in 1-2 days without any direct help.  Jump into action as soon as the plan is made.

Then, write this down as your main goal:  “I will not quit until I succeed, and then I will not quit to maintain my health.”

Quitting is easy.  Society makes quitting easy.  But don’t quit.  No matter what, do something.  Hear that voice all the time saying, “do it.”  Remember that image of your body you have in your head?  “Do it.”  Remember the mirror?  “Do it.”

Keep that voice in your head, and have it continually talking to you.  Engage that voice, engage your reasons, and engage your vision.  Remember, that voice is the one thing that may separate you from a healthy life and the life you could be living (or continue to live).

“Do it.”

Brent Fitness Tips health, motivation, motivation to exercise, weight loss