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Healthy Lifestyle vs. Busy Lifestyle

October 28, 2015 By Garrett

Well hello everyone! It has been awhile. It has been crazy busy around here lately! Like many of you, I have had to make some choices on how to manage time to get through the busyness. I wanted to share some tips that have helped me get through it all:

Prioritize– As much as we don’t like to admit it….we can’t do it all. There simply is not enough time in the day to do everything. We have to learn how to prioritize what is essential to our professional and personal existence. For me my family, friends, clients and fitness took priority. Things like social media, marketing, outreach and some other administrative things went to the back burner. A big reason why it has been so long since my last blog! I picked the things that were necessary for my business, my health and my family first
Control the things you can control- When we get busy we tend to feel like we lose control because there are so many moving parts. Sometimes, there are things that we can’t control. 14 hour work days, busy weekend schedules, family obligations, etc. are things we can’t control. However, a big thing I could control was my nutrition. I would prepare foods for the week on Sunday, I would only buy healthy foods when I grocery shopped, I made smart choices at restaurants. When people get busy they tend to eat poorly and thus gain weight. When there is no time to workout or the workouts aren’t as long or as intense because of our schedule we can combat this with the quantity and quality of the food we consume. Also, making choices through the day to move….. get up from the desk and walk around, parking farther away, taking the dog for a walk, setting aside time (no matter how little) to do purposeful exercise, and making active activities a part of your social gatherings all help.
Sleep– Getting the proper amount of sleep is huge in recovery, rejuvenation, and stress management. This is the time that our body repairs itself. This is the time that the body replenishes itself. Without it, alertness/cognitive function will suffer, energy will be low, fitness progress will be stalled and the risk of getting sick increases drastically. Everybody requires a different amount of sleep. A couple of ways that you can tell if you are not getting enough sleep is if you require an alarm to wake up, you have a hard time getting out of bed when you do wake up, you are sleepy through the day or if you fall right to sleep when you do go to bed. A majority of people do not get enough sleep at night and that is one of the most important aspects of your life where you literally make yourself better without doing anything!
Take your moments- When we get busy we tend not to take time to “smell the roses”. We move from one task to the next, rarely enjoying the process because we have so much to conquer. From a mental, physical and spiritual standpoint it is necessary to take a moment and appreciate the people and things around us. Whether it is in the morning sipping on some coffee or as you lay in bed ready to fall asleep, take time to reflect and appreciate what you are doing. It makes those hectic times worth it!

These tips have helped me in the past and will continue to help me. I hope they do the same for you. Now that I have resumed a more “normal” schedule I look forward to sharing more blogs with you!

Having fun on vacation and not letting it derail your goals

March 4, 2015 By Garrett

I don’t know about you, but the winter season has just plain worn me down! Fortunately, my wife and I were invited to our amazing friend’s destination wedding in Mexico this past week. We would have gone to their wedding even if it was in the Antarctica, but we certainly weren’t going to pass up a chance to sit in beautiful weather there at the peak of the cold here (if it makes you feel better we came back just in time for the big snow storm).

A vacation, much like a holiday, can certainly derail our lifestyle. Be it the travel itself, being out of routine, having less healthy options available, and not to mention all of the fun that can and should be had while on vacation. There is fine line between enjoying a vacation and completely going overboard. As I have said before, life is to be enjoyed, just not to the point where it is damaging to our health, function or attitude. Here’s how we had fun, but did not completely derail (and trust me…..we had some fun!)

Move- Every morning we got up and walked. We were dead set on getting the almighty 10,000 steps in. Walking is great on vacation because you get to explore the local culture, wildlife, terrain and scenery. We also brought along some suspension straps and threw them in the door frame in the room and did a good bodyweight workout. I tend to periodize my programs to peak before I go on vacation so that I can take a break, but doing a light workout and walking always helps me stay on track
Eat- On vacation it’s very easy to eat….and eat…and eat! We went to an all-inclusive resort, so there were buffets abound! IT is very easy to over eat and not eat well. What we did was we looked at breakfast as our healthy start to the day. The omelet bar, fresh fruit, water and coffee were the prevalent choices. Lunch was a little looser, but we still made an effort to fill up on fresh fruit, veggies, and salads. Snacks were sold at the gift shop but were healthy options like yogurt and hummus. This allowed dinner to be the meal where we could eat whatever we wanted. Surprisingly enough we stuck with good protein and veggies for the majority of the time.
Sleep- Sleep is so important, even on vacation. It is very easy to get carried away at night with all of the festivities and then wake up early to stake your claim on a beach chair. It could have been a combination of us being flat out tired, used to earlier bedtimes, or just being “fuddie-duddies” but we chose to not stay out late and party it up (don’t worry, we partied it up plenty….just didn’t stay out too late). The three nights we were there we were the first to leave the group and go back to our room. This allowed us to be able to get up the next day and feel refreshed.
Hydration- Being out in the sun, sweating all day and the occasional (or frequent) alcoholic beverage is a recipe for dehydration. We drank a ton of water to help keep the balance. We took water bottles to the beach, drank water at our meals, and made sure we chugged water before we went to bed and right when we awoke.
Breaks from the sun- It’s very easy to forget that your body is not used to being in the sun. It’s also very easy to not feel your skin burning the first day. We made sure that we were lathered up with the good old SPF, but we also took several breaks from the sun. We would go out for our walk in the morning and then grab breakfast and head back to the room for a break. We then go out to the beach for a bit, go grab lunch and then head back to the room. Then we would go out to a pool for a little while and then head back to the room to get washed for dinner and the evening festivities. This routine kept us both from burning!
Enjoy the view and relax- Hey, its vacation. It’s a time to relax and reset. It’s a time to enjoy and explore. We definitely made sure that we made time to relax. We both needed a bit of resetting from our daily lives and work schedule. The weather was great, the company was great, and it was a great escape!

Some things we saw on our walks — Some things we saw on our walk

Nutrition- The Magic Pill

January 30, 2015 By Garrett

Since I am not an expert on nutrition my well is starting to run dry. This will be my last blog on nutrition, at least for a little while. My last blog focused on being realistic. That concept flows nicely into this blog. Today I would like to talk about “magic pill” nutrition.

We live in a world that is filled with “the answer” to your weight loss or performance goals. These “magic pills” or magic nutrition programs boasts results unlike any other…..life changing weight loss, increased strength and stamina, getting ripped! And what’s more, you apparently have to do little effort for these results to be obtained (at least that’s what is advertised). Just buy this supplement or pay for this diet program and start your path to a better you!

Not too long after you start down that path you quickly realize that you either bought some snake oil or you actually have to put some effort into it. You see, there is no such thing as a magic pill. If something sounds too good to be true, it generally is. In my time in this industry the only magic pill that I have found comes from within: discipline.

Now, I must commend people on taking that first step down that path. After all, that is the hardest step they will ever take…..to make the decision to make a change for the better. And I will never take anything away from that!

But here is the thing……..I have never found a supplement or diet plan that worked without a certain level of effort and discipline involved. In most of the “magic pill” scenarios that I know about you have to follow a certain nutrition plan that either reduces calories, controls portions, cuts out processed foods or any combination of these. Some accompany this approach with shakes, pills, meal replacement bars, or full out delivered meals. And guess what….it works! People who stay disciplined to the rules of the “magic pill” product will have positive results.

Imagine that! Someone who is disciplined in controlling their calories, portions, and content of their food having positive results…………. Oh, and taking the “magic pill” too. Who knew? Well, I hate to break it to all those people out there who are doing one of these “magic pill” programs. It’s not the “magic pill”. It’s the discipline of eating right that will get you the results!

Finding out how many calories you should consume, how to divide those calories through the day, and where those calories come from should be the cornerstone of any nutrition program. This is the foundation. Without a strong, solid foundation everything else will fall apart.

Before you go throwing a lot of money towards these “magic pill” programs, start with the foundation first. Shop the periphery of the grocery store, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, eat quality proteins and grains, and avoid anything that is fried or has highly processed food/ingredients in it. The less man made and manufactured food the better. But be realistic in your approach. If you need the structure/accountability of a program or the ease of a prepared shake/meal or even a plan to start with then by all means look into these programs. But know that they will not be nearly as successful if you do not take care of your foundation and stay disciplined in your approach.

Nutrition: I know my scope

January 14, 2015 By Garrett

I always get asked questions about Nutrition. As this is a very broad subject I would like to write a couple blogs about it over the next few weeks. Before I dive into it though, I must give you a disclaimer. And this disclaimer is a big one and should be paid attention to! And that disclaimer is: I am not a nutrition expert!

I know, I know….crazy right! I have been a personal trainer and strength & conditioning coach for nearly 15 years. I hold several nationally recognized certifications and specializations in the field of health, fitness and sports performance. I have worked with weight loss clients, sports performance clients, post rehab clients, general populations and senior populations. With all of that I am still not an expert in nutrition!

Why, you ask? Great question! Because it is not in my scope of practice. It’s very important to understand the scope of the personal trainer. A personal trainer can design and implement training programs that will elicit a desired response. This is what we are experts in, the physical side of fitness. In our course of study, we have read a chapter in nutrition. Heck, we may have even read a book on it. One book, and certainly one chapter, does not make an expert.

So be wary of any personal trainer that is giving out nutrition advice (including me). Be doubly wary when they are giving out nutrition advice and selling a product/plan/supplement with it! Not to say they are giving bad advice or what they are selling isn’t good. Just know that you need to be responsible to do the research so that you can make the best decision.

There are ways that trainers can hone their nutrition knowledge. There are some reputable certifications and continuing education programs by which trainers can obtain this knowledge. However, even with that, their scope is still limited compared to a Registered Dietitian or Licensed Nutritionist.

So why am I going to blog about it you ask? Great question again, thank you for asking! It really comes down to the fact that without proper nutrition (fuel) the work you put into your training will be all for not. I feel it is my responsibility as a trainer to guide you in the right direction so that you can optimize your results. I will not prescribe a diet plan, or say one is better than another. Rather, I will make recommendations on how you can make small changes that will help you.

With all of that being said, I am going to layout my philosophy in nutrition. Keep in mind, I am not an expert and most of these blogs will be based on personal experience and anecdotal evidence. I should mention that I have done more education than just a chapter or book on the subject, but I still do not consider myself an expert. So, for those of you looking for expert advice I can refer you to a good Registered Dietitian.

Stay tuned for more!

Healthy Lifestyle vs. Busy Lifestyle

Having fun on vacation and not letting it derail your goals

Nutrition- The Magic Pill

Nutrition: I know my scope

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