Maybe It's Not The NEXT Thing, But The LAST Thing

As a fitness professional, we encounter this situation sometimes:

Trainer: Follow this program strictly for 6 weeks and then come back and talk to me.

Client:  Ok, I will do it...I'm ready for a change and I will do my best!

(6 or more weeks later)

Client: I got off track, but I am now ready for a new program...something fresh that will get me results!

Trainer: But, you don't need a new and fresh program to get results!

Client:  What do you mean?  What should I do then??

Trainer:  Simple...do the LAST program I gave you that you never finished (or barely started)!


You see, giving up on one thing DOES NOT qualify you to be able to start a new thing!  Yeah, I understand that maybe the last thing was something that you shouldn't have been doing in the first place like a diet...so definitely don't go back and try that again because you will continue to fail with that! 

What I am talking about are the healthy decisions or habits you were making before for a period (however small) of time that you gave up on!  This idea that there is some new magical unicorn plan out there that will get you quick results and that you will be able to bypass healthy LIFESTYLE choices to get there is a complete fabrication! 

Because the last plan, program, healthy lifestyle choices didn't "work" for you because you chose to only commit to short-term doesn't translate into that plan, program or healthy lifestyle choices not working long-term!  As I like to say...

"The bookends of true change are commitment & consistency!"  

You will never see lasting change until you commit to the right plan, program or healthy lifestyle choices and then be consistent with that commitment over the long-term!  NO real change will ever take place if it is short-lived no matter how good the "new and fresh plan" is! 

A marketing trick actually just came to mind right now!  When something is advertised as "new" or "fresh."  Those words appeal to people!  They stimulate our senses and set off our "feel good" hormones!  We jump at those things thinking they will be exactly what we need in the moment, but all the while, the thing we often really need is something that has become "old and stale!" 

It became old and stale because you put it down and let it get moldy!

Just because something has a "perceived" mold on it, doesn't mean it is no good!  Think of blue cheese for example!  Just maybe that healthy habit or lifestyle plan you had going in the past is the very thing you need to pick back up and do again!  But this time with commitment and consistency!  This time, don't give up and don't be put off because there is "mold" on the last thing!  I have told many before that you could have a "new and fresh" cow pie, but that doesn't make it any better!

ACTION Step:  Take a look back and identify ONE healthy habit you used to do but gave up on for whatever reason and PICK that habit back up and start it TODAY! 

Your Health & Fitness Coach,

Clayton

 

The "Credit Card" Diet

Eating credit cards?  Well, that would cause "weight loss," but that is not what I am talking about!

Let me start by giving you a real life scenario that happens all too often...(happened to me too)...

Your going to college and working, but still tight on money because you are only able to work so much as to not take away from your studies (and social life)!  One day, you go down to the post office to check your mailbox and there is a letter from a credit card company offering you "free money!"  With no real understanding of how interest works and that money has to be paid back, you excitedly fill out the form for your "free money" and send it off eagerly awaiting that magical piece of plastic to come in the mail!  When it comes, you rip open the envelope and have already made a list of what you are going to buy.  You go on a spree and all that nice stuff you are buying is looking good and making you feel good at the moment.  But, fast forward a couple months down the road and now your credit card is maxed out and you have received your first credit card BILL!  You seem surprised when you see the amount you owe and that amount is not MORE than the limit!  You start doing the math and realize that just paying the minimum payment won't pay the card off for 30 years!

Fast forward say a couple years and you somehow managed to pay off the credit card balance in full by making extra payments.  The sting of seeing that credit card maxed out and realizing you actually had to pay it back has now faded, so what do you do??  You get another credit card with a higher limit and then max that one out too!  You see the vicious cycle?  And, do you see that the next time was worse than the previous time?

Now that you have that picture in your brain, think of dieting the same way!  You get lured into a diet by a book you read, a person you talked to, something you saw on TV or in a magazine, etc.  The diet is like that shiny plastic credit card.  You start thinking of all the pounds you are going to drop and how good you are going to look and feel.  You can't wait to start knowing how gratifying it will be seeing that scale go down...possibly even after the 1st day!  For the next several weeks, your new weight loss has got you excited and you flaunt it as if it's a new piece of merchandise you just bought!  You are feeling great in the moment!  Fast forward to when you get your first "weight loss bill"!  In other words, when you step on that scale and it has stopped going down and then you take your body-fat% and come to the cold realization that the "weight" you "lost" now has INTEREST attached to it and there is a DEBT to be repaid!  That debt you have is the MUSCLE you lost (60-70% of the weight on the scale) and the "interest" is that your metabolism is now slower and won't burn as many calories each day!

Fast forward months down the road and you have gained all the weight back, BUT, the debt has not been fully paid because you didn't just gain all the muscle you lost back, you gained fat!  But, some time goes by and all you remember is how good that diet made you feel because you were "losing" weight!"  You see the cycle?  And, each time you do another "credit card diet," your metabolism takes more of a beating just like your credit takes a beating when you max out credit cards.  It can take years to recover!

So, let's cut to the chase!  IF you want to stop going into debt and paying interest and live debt-free (fat-free), you need to STOP DIETING!  Dieting WILL rob you of long-term weight loss success and will keep you in debt until the day you die!  If you are READY to cut up the "credit cards" and start living a sustainable lifestyle, it's time to get serious about a real weight loss plan that works and that will PAY YOU INTEREST!    #micdrop

Your Health and Fitness Coach,

Clayton

WHAT Are You Waiting For???

A heart attack?

Bodyfat% to be in the "danger zone?"

A horrible doctor's report?  

Medication?

Realizing you can't do something you used to be able to do?


Don't you know, the best time to "fix the roof" is when the "sun is shining!" 

Why wait until it is "pouring rain" before you decide to make a healthy lifestyle change?  Yeah, I know, a healthy lifestyle change requires some work, commitment, consistency and some changes!  But, that sure beats the alternative right?  Maybe this will help put it into perspective...

There was a stubborn guy who ate whatever he wanted, his vegetables were french fries, his fruit was blueberry donuts, his exercise was his thumb channel/computer surfing on the couch and about the only physical activity he got was the walk to the mailbox and back. 

One day, he found himself on a rooftop being confronted by someone who meant business.  This person gave him an ultimatum as it had come to that point.  Think of it as his last chance to fix the roof before the big downpour came!  So, the man who meant business on the rooftop said, "you have 2 choices and you must choose 1 now!  Either you change your ways and adopt a healthy lifestyle or I am going to force you off this rooftop to take your chances." 

The stubborn man then said, "I will not change my ways...this has to be a joke!"  Then, ALL OF A SUDDEN, the stubborn, unwilling man found himself falling off the roof.  His last words were, "so far so good!" 

Now, I realize that may be a little extreme for some, but a very true reality for others!  I know personal stories of those whose health got the best of them and watched them struggle to survive or get taken too early from this life!  We only have about 80-90 years or so on this planet so why not give ourselves the best chance possible to maximize that time? 

I have been told before that I could walk out tomorrow and get hit by a bus and die so what good was living a healthy lifestyle?  My response back to them was that I can only control what I can control and I can't control what I can't!  In other words, when it's my time to go, it's my time, but what if my time isn't until I'm 100?  If I live that long I want to be able to still have quality of life.  You see, I don't do what I do to try to live as long as I can because I don't have full control over that; I do what I do to live as QUALITY as I can while I'm still alive! 

We have a lot of things to stress about in this life, but why should health be one of them?  We have the ability to take control of our health and live a better life because of it!  As a natural doctor that I know says, "we only get 1 'earth suit' so wear it well!"  I want to live the best life I can while I'm still alive so a big part of that is staying physically healthy. 

Of course, there is also mental, emotional, relational, spiritual health as well, but I guarantee you that if you get struck with a serious health condition, it will instantly jump to the front of the line and can end up dominating your life AND those loved ones around you!  This opens up another can...which is if we don't take care of our health, eventually, we will force others around us to have to!  It then puts incredible stress and hardship on loved ones/caregivers in our world to now have to help us because we chose for many years to not help ourselves in the area of our health! 

If I'm going to be alive, I want to have the best quality of life that I can within my control!  A healthy lifestyle doesn't ensure your life will be great and you will have no problems, but it can only make your life better from whatever place you are in!  A former boss of mine said one time to me, "money isn't the answer to everything, but it sure helps to have it."  In the same way, a healthy lifestyle isn't the answer to everything, but it sure makes your life better if you live it! 

My challenge to you is to start TODAY by incorporating 1 healthier choice/habit daily and build from there!  It may or may not help you live longer, but I guarantee you that it will help you live better! 

Your health and fitness coach,

Clayton

Comfort Weight Loss

Huh?

Please let me explain!  An all to familiar phrase is "comfort foods."  You know...those foods one eats that are associated with making them feel better or intertwined with emotions.  They are the "go-to" foods and EASY to eat when one decides to choose comfort instead of something that requires a harder decision such as eating the apple instead of the ice cream!

Well, I just made about 4 of my points with that last little paragraph when you shift to thinking of "comfort weight loss."  Yes, this is a phrase I came up with because I have seen it 1,000 times...maybe more!

Someone decides they are going to try to start losing weight again...could be their 2nd, 10th or 20th time!  Throwing all logic and reason out the window, they make an EMOTIONAL decision to go on another diet...likely the same or similar one they tried the last time and time before that!  They remember how it made them FEEL initially...the "honeymoon" phase of weight loss!  Vivid thoughts of how that scale went down so fast and it made them excited because after-all, it doesn't matter what kind of weight you are losing as long as you are losing right?

They think of how nice it was to be wearing smaller sizes, the attention they got, the perceived success of a number of pounds SEEMINGLY gone...forever!  It's as if reality is suspended and plum sugar fairies are dancing in their heads (which could also be from the thought of another no carb crash diet because the body will crave sugar if you starve it of carbs but that is another story).

Somehow, they think the 10th time will be magical and the weight will stay off this time!  It is a comfortable and EASY decision because THEY KNOW short term weight loss is inevitable and they will get those feel good feelings seeing the scale go down fast.  They know it "worked" last time (at least for 12 weeks) so here it is...

THE SAME SWITCH IN THE BRAIN THAT GETS FLIPPED FOR CAVING IN TO COMFORT FOOD IS THE SAME SWITCH THAT FLIPS WHEN ONE CHOOSES TO GO BACK ON ANOTHER CRASH DIET!

The same with comfort food...you get all giddy when you know you are going to be eating it, then when you are eating it you have all sorts of feel good receptors going off in the brain; then comes post-comfort food when reality sets in...you are stuffed, lethargic, feeling guilty, vowing you will not do that again, etc.

Think of the diets and rapid weight loss...you start getting excited at the thought of weighing less, then when you are dieting and seeing the scale go down, your brain is activated with all these good emotions of getting lighter; then the post-diet reality sets in (could be 12 weeks or even more) where you realize the diet wasn't maintainable, nor was the weight loss.  You lost 30, 40 or 50 pounds but didn't realize that your bodyfat % didn't go down as it should have to correspond with the weight lost.

I hate to break it to you, but the comfort weight loss feels good temporarily, but in reality, it is mainly muscle and water you are flushing down the toilet which is not sustainable.

Anytime the word "comfort" is being used, you can be assured that it will likely not benefit you long-term!  IF you want to lose REAL and SUSTAINABLE weight, you have to get OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE!

www.defeatthefat.com

Your Health & Fitness Coach,

Clayton

Which Is Better For Fat Loss: "Hours In The Gym" or "Just Minutes Per Day??"

A BIG...FAT...NEITHER!!!

The hours in the gym lie is tied to the workout extremists!  The ones who live and breathe at the gym or those with a lot of free time on their hands.  Many get duped into believing the only way to burn fat off is to spend countless hours on an elliptical, treadmill, bike, rower or taking back to back exercise classes!  They are sold the notion that more exercise equals more calories burned which means more fat loss!  It sounds good in theory, but the truth is that is not how the body works.  Well, it only works that way to a certain point, but then too much exercise (usually exercise lasting over 60 minutes continuous) starts to stress the body out and it releases FAT-STORING hormones.  So then, what is burned when the body is in this stressed-out-state?  MUSCLE...more specifically, your body starts pulling the stored glycogen out of your muscles for energy in addition to putting a governor on the metabolism so even if you were burning fat, it would be a limited amount.  Once you start tapping into your muscle for energy, you begin running the opposite direction of long-term fat loss!

But what about the dreamy promise of "just minutes a day?"  It sells books, gets a lot of views and bites online!  Being sold the idea of minutes per day or easy puts people in a hypnotic trance suspending reality!  If you hear someone tell you just minutes per day...run!!!  I have seen as little as 3 minutes a day up to maybe 10 or 15 max when this idea is sold of less is better.  The truth is that less IS better...but only to an extent!  As I mentioned, over 60 minutes can be counter-productive (unless you are specifically training for a long distance event) but why would we jump to the other end of the spectrum and somehow think minutes a day is going to yield big results with so little time?

So what do you do?  If over 60 minutes is too long and up to 15 minutes is too short?  My answer is at least 30 minutes and up to 60 minutes at least 3 times per week as long as intensity is right!  Intensity is not entirely based on heart rate, but breathing rate or VO2.  A simple way to establish a ballpark VO2 durning exercise is if you can't say a full sentence without needing to take a deep breath, then you are not exercising hard enough.  At that point of intensity, it is roughly considered 80% of VO2 max.  You need to average 80% of VO2 max for at least 30 minutes and up to 60 minutes at least 3 times per week.  This gives you not only tremendous cardiovascular benefit, but also unlocks EPOC (Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption) which simplified means the length of time it takes your body to get back to "normal" after exercise.  This process utilizes fat for energy and can lead to significant fat-burning.

For example, TORCH, my 6 week online fat-burning program that I am releasing next month, has you doing 3 full-body plus cardio workouts per week of 30-45 minutes at 80-90% of your VO2!  I promise you that if you follow this exercise protocol, in addition to a proper (non-calorie counting) nutrition plan, and do it CONSISTENTLY, you WILL see fat MELT off!

Your Fitness Coach,

Clayton

What Is The BEST Fat-Burning Exercise???

THE ONE YOU'RE DOING...and doing CONSISTENTLY!!! 

Truth is, there are A LOT of different ways to burn fat, but NONE of them burn fat if you don't do them!  I mean, no matter what you do, you will still be doing laps around the person sitting on the couch! 

Don't get so hung up on what specific things you should do...just DO...something...for goodness sake!  And...GET A STREAK GOING!  That's right...get a certain number of days in a row of doing "your something" and once you hit that goal, THEN add to it!  I suggest 21 days for a streak to prove to yourself you are serious! 

If you can't do the small thing like brisk walk for 5-10 minutes a day, how do you expect to do the big thing like High Intensity Interval Training for 30-45 minutes 5 days a week?  Furthermore, what good would it be to do HIIT training just on days or weeks you felt like it?  Or, maybe you would never feel like doing it so it would remain just a THEORY that it is the "best fat-burning" exercise! 

You see, no matter how many "best" pieces of information you have, they will do you very little good if you don't put that info into ACTION consistently!  Also, anything you do CONSISTENTLY will get you good results...at least for awhile! 

Once you have achieved your STREAK of one thing...anything...THEN it's time to step it up with a little more challenging streak and you can get into having multiple streaks going!  Before you know it, you will have better habits developed! 

I would choose something that you find at least slightly enjoyable or something you have a little accountability with whether it's a class, a person, an app or social media!  I suggest getting a whiteboard and keeping track of your streak(s) on it daily!  Cheers to some good "streaking!"

Your Fitness Coach
www.claytonhalls.com

It's amazing to me how many people that say or think things like...

"I have been fat my whole life!"  

"I have always had this disease."

"I have been this way forever so why change now!"

Like it or not, these types of statements reflect a mental disease of sorts!  I'm not talking about the typical mental disorders, but a more subtle one.  It's one that has become such an integrated part of how you think and live that you don't even notice it anymore!  It's the type of thinking that keeps you caged up your entire life UNLESS you start changing what you say and think about yourself!  

The cure for this "mental illness" lies in the FREE WILL you have been given!  Free will; when EXERCISED; can open that cage door and bring on the courage to step out and spread your wings. Once you get a taste of flying, you will never want to go back into that cage again.  Furthermore, you will realize that you have been living a lie your entire life.  Birds that fly are LIVING LIFE, not dying inside a cage that is slowly losing oxygen!  

You could look at stepping out of the cage as getting out of your comfort zone, overcoming a fear, deciding to do something you otherwise thought impossible, taking a step (or leap) of faith, choosing to LIVE, defeating negative words others have spoke over you in the past, stepping into purpose or becoming reborn.  The bottom line is that whether you have lived in a cage your whole life or found yourself making a home there; you still have time to get out and truly reach higher than you ever have before or at least in a long time!  

Some birds don't get a choice to ever get out of the cage, but YOU have a CHOICE!  You can make your free will your greatest blessing or your worst curse!  There is "one" who wants us to remain caged and de-winged our whole lives never even scrapping the surface of what's possible!  As 1 of my mentor's said, "All you are given in this life is a dash between 2 dates and it is up to you to decide what you are going to do with that dash."