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Apr

2016

Get 80% Healthier, Right Now!

It’s really nice to share with you whenever I have something I feel might be useful to help you get healthier.

I respect your time and want to give you valuable content that is simple to use and understand. (Feel free to request something you need by commenting below)

I know some of my posts can be long, as I want to give as much as I can, but today’s is about keeping it simple and doing more, with less.

Another way to look at it is the 80/20 rule (Pareto’s Principle), which states that 80% of the results come from 20% of the actions. (i.e. 80% of the income comes from 20% of the clients)

So, today we’re going to focus on that 20% that gives us 80% of the results you’ve been looking for to get healthier now!

The Breathing 20%

Every morning before you get out of bed, take 30-50 deep, slow, full belly breaths and exhale fully
Do the same on your way to work
At Lunch
Before Dinner
Before Bed

The Nutritional 20%

Eat 1-2 palm sized portions of Protein every meal (up to 100 grams a day or more)
Eat a lot of Veggies (at every meal, and as snacks)
Eat GOOD Fats (1-2 thumbnails at every meal except post workout)
Carbohydrate Dense Veggies (eat less than 100 grams a day)
If you weigh 200lbs drink at least 100oz of water a day (adjust to your weight)
If you have ravenous belly hunger eat more protein
If your cognitive functions are slow, eat some fat and drink a glass of water
If you still have slow cognitive functions 10 minutes later, eat some good carbs

The Physical 20%

7 days a week – MOVE
2-4 days a week – Strength Train
1 day week – Go Hard
If you’re injured, you can still do something
If you’re hurt (sore, tired), modify accordingly but do not do nothing

The Mental 20%

‘Show Up’ for every commitment you have made (appointment, outing, session with your trainer)
Stay open when opportunity knocks
Knowledge is nothing without application – go DO it!
Get a Coach who has helped people get the results you want, so they can help you do the same

The Recovery 20%

Sleep at least 7-8 hours a night
Take Magnesium (Glycinate or Threonate) at least on days you Strength Train
Epsom salt baths combat soreness
For every 10 hours of training, get a massage (Or spend some time on a foam roller, though not nearly as effective as deep breathing)
‘Off’ days’ need to be OFF, do not overwork on those days, rest instead

There is more, but if you focus on only the things above, I GUARANTEE your health will sky rocket, without going down a rabbit hole to get there.

Pick one thing on the list (The thing that stuck out the most to you and do it better, start now!) and when it’s a habit, do another and then another!

Please share with me what you’re working on and letting me know what content you find helpful and useful by commenting 🙂

Enjoy your Spring weather!!

Mar

2016

Fasting: eat less and feel better!

Fasting is a confusing topic these days and so, I would like to un-confuse it.

Fasting is simply not eating for awhile.

The length of the fast is up to you and the specific purpose you are fasting for, i.e. weight loss, optimal health, religious reasons and the like are determined by your goals.

I didn’t think I would like it and I certainly did not think it was going to help me and man, I was wrong. I was able to train fasted, burn fat, and build muscle all while taking my body fat to it’s lowest percentage at roughly 10%. I was able to sleep just fine and I kind of grew to like it.

I don’t always fast, just at certain times of the year, mostly spring through fall and some winter, but when I’m training harder, I don’t fast quite as much. Not to imply that I don’t train hard, just different goals at different times of the year.

Fasting is not for every one, but if you’ve never tried, you won’t know for sure because fasting has many health benefits as you can see below.

1. A physiological phenomenon occurs in the fasted state where more human growth hormone is produced naturally and Lipolysis or natural fat burning occurs more readily. There is a slight adrenal improvement, along with improving insulin sensitivity which potentiates muscle building.

2. When you add exercise, there is also increased muscle recycling or detoxification, suppressing mTOR, which controls cell growth and metabolism in response to nutrients, and then unleashes it like a spring.

3. There is also an increase in Neurogenesis which is the development of new pathways in the brain. There is an increased cellular stress response, enhanced recovery and best of all, fasting decelerates the aging process!!!

There are 3 main ways to fast

Method #1: Intermittent Fasting – This is once a week where you don’t eat for 24-32 hours. Note – Do this on a non-training day. The rest of the week, you eat to ensure your goals. For a 24hr fast, eat dinner at 7pm Saturday Night, and not again until 7pm Sunday.

Advantage – You only do it once a week and sleep for 8 hours of it.

Disadvantage – It’s a longer fast, which will test you mentally.

Method #2: Micro Fasting – A Daily, 16 hour fast. Essentially, you skip breakfast and resume eating around 12 -1pm up until 7pm. Afternoon; you have 2-3 meals with your caloric requirements fulfilled in those meals. You can workout on an empty stomach as well.

Advantage – The hormonal and physiological responses of the training to the body in a fasted state.

Disadvantage – You have to do it more frequently. I will tell you that personally, I enjoy micro fasting the most.

Method #3: Controlled Fasting – Daily, but, this isn’t really ‘fasting’ because you are allowed to eat throughout the day, however, you only intake minimal sustenance or very ‘light’ eating for 20 hours a day, with a 4 hour period to ‘overeat.’ For example, between 4-8pm, you can ‘overeat’ to get your daily caloric intake but the rest of the next 20 hours you are eating very little or nothing at all.
Advantage – The ‘pig fest’ mentality. Something primal about working hard all day and enjoying a large meal at night.

Disadvantage – This isn’t a true fast, so some fasting benefits are nullified.

To wrap this up, fasting needn’t be complicated. Just skip a meal here and there, or a day of meals, or most of the day and resume eating when you’re truly hungry, not bored.

This will test your mettle and you might even feel a little deprived, however, deprivation will increase your capacity for all things. Deprive yourself of food and you will respect it more than you ever have before.

As that saying goes: You are what you eat, or…don’t…

Who knows, you may just end up feeling better and getting better results than you ever have before.

If you liked this post and want more material to satisfy your knowledge appetite (don’t fast on knowledge) then Click Here to get my 2 Best Health Reports, FREE!

And if you want to do some fasting, comment below and let me know how I can help!