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."  

Think ADD Is bad? Have You Heard of CDD?

 

        Do I have your attention?  ADD is a disease that affects the mind, but I am not going to be talking about that in this blog.  I do want to talk about another "disease" that affects the mind...CDD or what I call "Chronic Devaluing Disease."  

        This morning after I got done teaching my Kettlebell class, I checked my email.  One of the emails sitting in there was an email that I have seen come into my inbox many times.  It was a particular continuing education company that was offering a 60-80% discount on some home-study courses.  Then it dawned on me for the 1st time...this is not just another great special...they ALWAYS offer a 60-80% discount!  Every email I receive from them attaches this same discount to it all year long!  It sends the message to their subscribers that they don't put a lot of value on their product because of a perpetual discount.  It essentially cheapens the product and company.  

        Likewise, how many people chronically devalue THEMSELVES?  How many people are always discounting who they are...what they offer as a person...what they have to give?  When you see yourself as not having a sense of WORTH to your relationships and the world around you, it's easy to fall into the trap of never offering your "FULL PRICE" to others!  It's like you put yourself on sale with everyone in your life.  This could be from past hurt/abuse or comparing yourself to others whom you think have more to offer or a more "expensive product."  It could be because you think you have nothing to offer or a "product" that nobody wants.  It could be that somebody has spoken over you that you are no good or have no worth.  

The TRUTH is that these are ALL lies!  EVERYBODY has something VALUABLE to offer.  The question is, do you KNOW you are valuable and were Created with a gift that others need?  We all have been Given valuable and "expensive" gifts, but if we don't realize that, we will continually default to discounting ourselves.  A business that discounts everything all the time will eventually go out of business.  Similarly, a person that always discounts the true value of who they are and were created to be will eventually go mentally, emotionally and spiritually bankrupt!  Even physically your body can suffer health problems when you chronically devalue yourself.  It can lead to great internal stress or bad habits that directly affect your health. 

CDD will never be cured if one doesn't realize WHO they are (not what they do) and that their gift is EQUALLY as valuable as anyone elses.  Our past doesn't determine our worth!  Our job title doesn't determine our worth!  Our bank account doesn't determine our worth!  Our "accomplishments" don't determine our worth!  What people say or think about us doesn't determine our worth!  Our worth was established before we were born!  Our Creator made us ALL valuable and we have to understand that when we DISCOUNT ourselves, we are DE-VALUING how God sees us and the gifts He has given us.  So, go and take down all of the "sale" or "discount" signs on the "windows" and start OFFERING full price to people!  YOU are WORTH it and you will be healthier too!

Be Better Than Average

When it comes to health and fitness, the sad truth is that most people are just average.  Now, let me back up and say that by average, I don't mean that most peoples' health and fitness is ok.  Let me explain by telling you what average has become...40 or more pounds overweight, 1 or more significant health issues, 1 or more medications, 0-1 real exercise sessions per week, only 1/4 of recommended fruits and veggies, 2 or more unhealthy habits, highly toxic due to a variety of factors, and full of nutrient deficiencies.   Does this sound like you or hit close to home?  You see, average these days is a ticking time-bomb for a major health blowout.  It also comes with extra baggage that can be devastating like depression, anxiety, low energy levels, poor self-confidence, reduced activities of daily living, negative mindsets, a lack of motivation, social pullback and more.

In my 15 years in the field, I have seen all of these things firsthand and know how much being overweight, unhealthy and unfit can impact one's life.  Even just 1 of these things can be a game-changer for somebody.  At some point, you have to realize that you will never get healthy and fit with wishful thinking, dieting, a lack of a complete lifestyle change, inconsistency, a failure to really change and make a true commitment.  Jumping on the latest, greatest weight loss plan, popping pills, riding the New Year's bandwagon or thinking just a couple small changes is all you need is going to keep you average.  That is what most people do...they put in little effort and expect maximum results. They ride a quick-fix roller-coaster instead of pacing themselves in a "marathon run."  A lifestyle change doesn't have to be overnight, but it does have to be steady, strategic and consistent.  There has to be dedicated progressive change, not just throwing a few "little bones" at a "big dog."  A mindset of overnight success and rapid results will leave you average in the long run.

Also, a lack of doing anything will surely keep you robustly average. (pun intended)  Think of it this way...A guy is standing on top of a large building and he is faced with 2 choices.  Either continue his unhealthy ways with little to no effort to make any real change and jump off the top of the building or make real, sustainable healthy changes in his life consistently over time so he is anything but average.  Well, the guy is stubborn and not willing to change so he takes his chances and chooses to jump.  As he is falling he yells, "so far so good."  I think you get the point...eventually, if you live "average," you will face a major obstacle in your life and I pray you get a 2nd chance.  We only get 1 life, so why not live ABOVE AVERAGE?  Why not make the most of your life and live healthy and vibrantly.  As Dave Ramsey says, "If you want to 'live' like no one else, you have to 'live' like no one else."  I tell people that I don't live healthy because I am trying to necessarily live a long life (quantity), but to live as good a life as I can while I'm alive. (quality)  A high quality life doesn't just happen and you will not find that kind of healthy life by just being average.  TODAY is always a great day to DECIDE to step up your game and turn up the heat from 211 to 212 degrees. That 1 degree of change lies in your mind and will.  A true above average life has to be fought for and earned!  Are you willing to fight?  Are you willing to change?  For your sake...for your loved one's sake...for your life's sake...for goodness sake, it's time!

Using Your Voice & Mind As A Weapon

A good friend of mine and I used to have many deep discussions when he lived closer.  One thing that often came up was what we summed life up with..."Voices & Choices."  So, let me explain...

The things we give VOICE to and fill our minds with are what ultimately shape our realities. Likewise, "dancing with demons" of the past or present will never free us for our future! God has given us weapons to "slay the demons" but those weapons are only activated when we make a CHOICE to activate our God-given VOICE.  A great first step is to release any "dead weight." you may have been carrying so that you can get your heart and mind into a BATTLE-READY STANCE. Now, keep in mind that whatever demon or stronghold you are facing past or present, I can guarantee you 2 things...

1) You will never have TRUE victory over that demon fighting it in your own strength, and will eventually get defeated  

2) If (CHOICE) you EXERCISE your faith (VOICE) and "join forces" with others; all of your battles will lead to victory. 

The enemy's goal is to convince us that we either are strong enough to fight our own battle (A CHOICE) or that we have nobody on our side and no VOICE to fight with!  This is one of the biggest lies of the enemy and I assure you that it will ultimately lead to defeat. God's goal is to join us to others who will fight with us for His cause like a spiritual army! If one remains isolated, they will get picked off and destroyed!  

You need to make the CHOICE to be open to building relationships with people and being PLANTED in a place that you will be able to draw strength and encouragement from when you find yourself to weak to fight or too discouraged to care or make the right choices.  Side note: regardless of how good of an exercise and nutrition plan you have, it will not work long-term if you don't first build a strong mental and spiritual foundation.  In my 15 years in the health and fitness field, I have seen countless people cycle with weight...health problems...overall fitness because they never made the choice to get to the root of their problems, listen to the RIGHT voice and then exercise their own voice through prayer, faithful declarations, and making the CHOICE to use their VOICE to speak to that big bad mountain in front of them that is blocking them from where they are supposed to get to in life.  If we choose to keep making the same choices, we can't ever expect to see real, sustainable change.  If we keep listening to the voices of: you're not good enough, you can't do it, quit trying, you are not making any progress anyways so just give up, it's not worth it, I really don't need to change, everything is ok, etc., you will find your life shaped by those voices.  At some point, you just have to get fed up with allowing yourself to keep making the choice to listen to the wrong voices or you will forever have those mountains standing in your way whether that be weight loss, body image, health problems, unforgivensss, etc.  

If you want change, you have to change! If you want a different reality, you need to make a FIRM CHOICE to listen to the RIGHT VOICE and then take steps of ACTION by exercising your VOICE (faith).  I have realized over the years that all the dietary and exercise advice doesn't do anybody much good if they don't first change their mind and heart about some things and take a forward leaning READY stance to do "battle."  Life is a battle, but there are many battles within the battle to be won or lost!  With "choices and voices" you can win those battles and get your body, mind and spirit to a better place!