Are You Running or RUNNING?

With all of the hurricane craziness here in NC, this quote (one of my favorites) came to mind! 

The weather will make people take action running all over the place with a sense of urgency trying to prepare for the worst (even if there is not any real imminent danger)! However, when it comes to many people's overall health, there is no urgency, no preparation! It's as if no health crisis is brewing. The "category 5" health warnings are ignored and when the storm hits, it is often too late...the damage has been done and there are usually casualties! 

Whether we are the lion or the gazelle, we must have a sense of urgency to take precautions and proactive steps towards our overall health! If the work is not put in now, you may "starve to death" or become lunch-meat!"

Now, let's put the hurricane aside for a second!  In just everyday ordinary life without the weather report dictating peoples' behavior...people are caught up "running," however, it's often what I would call negative running!  Think of running as busyness...getting up and scrambling to get ready for work and get kids to school...working all day...then on the go after work running errands, kid's activities, meeting up with people...then the weekends packed with plans running around from A to B to C often with no end in sight.  Then, with the little pockets of down time one gets, they are parked in front of the tv or computer or phone just vegging.  

You see, busyness can be a disease that keeps you running around all the time but never RUNNING!  It can keep you (like the weather) in a constant state of just reacting to your life and never RESPONDING with calculated decisions that improve the quality (health) of your life!  Those decisions could be exercising, doing physical activities, making wise food choices, eliminating (instead of accepting) various types of toxins in your life or that you are exposed to!  

Furthermore, you could be the Gazelle...always running from something but never CHASING ANYTHING!  You could be the Lion...always running after something but maybe not catching anything!  It is possible you could be busy running with no real victory in sight!  At some point, I assure you, that if you don't place urgency on your health and RUN after your health, it will CHASE you down.  The last thing you want is to have not prepared for a health storm that could have been prevented!  

"The best time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining!"  So, I urge you to put your "busyness" in check and get busy giving your health some attention before that "roof" starts leaking!  Make it a top priority as if you have gotten a warning about an impending storm!  There is still time to PREP!  You will never regret the prepping, but will always regret the lack of prepping!  

The bottom line is that something may need to change in order to CHANGE the type of running you are doing!  And, last, you don't have to go sprinting out of the gates.  No matter how slow you start off getting healthier, you are still "lapping the person sitting on the couch!"  

Your Defeat The Fat Coach,

Clayton Halls

Obstacle vs Opportunity

One of my hobbies is to run in obstacle races or mud runs like the Tough Mudder!  These events have no shortage of obstacles that are put in your path! 

What I have found is greater than the actual physical aspect of the obstacle is the mental aspect!  Now, don't get me wrong, the physical component in these obstacles is sometimes very challenging as you can feel your muscles cramping or fatiguing or your energy level is depleted or your heart rate is through the roof!  However, what is even more detrimental to whether or not you will complete the obstacle successfully is your mindset going into the obstacle. 

Case in point:

4 years ago myself and a team of guys I put together ran our 1st Tough Mudder!  One of the obstacles was one called Mt Everest!  It is a 15 foot curved wall that has a slippery surface which you have to run and jump up to grab the ledge.  The help of others to pull you up after you jump and reach was much more likely than not.  Many could not complete this obstacle due to how slippery the running surface was and not fully committing mentally to the run and jump and grab!  I tried 5 times and came crashing and sliding back down.  It wears on you mentally and physically but I was determined to complete it so I went again and finally on my 6th time I made it with the help of those at the top pulling you up! I must admit though that I am not sure how many more attempts I had left in me because my mind was starting to "talk" to me!  But, nevertheless, I did it!  Here is what I'm talking about if you want to see it for yourself...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf_Ox4rZm0Q

Now, fast forward 2 years and we decided to get the team together and do it again.  This time they had a new and improved version of Mt. Everest.  The word on the street was that it was harder...the wall was a little higher and they rounded out the top ledge so you couldn't jump and grab it...you would have to rely solely on the people at the top hopefully catching you and pulling you up! 

When we approached this obstacle, I had convinced myself that it was an opportunity to accomplish something against the odds instead of playing in my mind off past experience with this obstacle and what people were saying and even the voices in my head trying to tell me I couldn't do it!  I had made a decision that I would embrace this obstacle and beat the odds.  That even though this one was harder and I had a difficult time with the 1st one, that I would go all in with everything I had...no holding back...no listening to what others were saying...no thinking I will try to do this! 

My mental position was that I WAS going to do this and that there was a victory waiting just on the other side! 

That victory is like your victory every time you get through your workout no matter how you feel or what voices are going off in your head or every time you choose to have skip the fries and eat the apple instead.  You will succeed long-term when you get yourself to a place in your mind that each workout that you do is an OPPORTUNITY to get healthier, more fit, feel better and burn calories and that each time you eat is an OPPORTUNITY to move closer to your health/fitness/weightloss goals. 
Instead of dreading the exercise or the apple as a 15 foot slippery wall standing in front of you and trying to defeat you, think of that wall as an opportunity for VICTORY! 

As I have been saying, change your mind and then change your body!  When you diet, you are not changing your mind...you are just following something temporarily that only changes your body temporarily!  That is what I call the Diet Disease!  It is a disease that approaches weight loss like an obstacle and not an opportunity! 

I will leave you with this...

As the pessimist and optimist were arguing over whether the glass was half full or half empty, the opportunist drank it!  Become the opportunist!  Don't sit around analyzing your perceived obstacles, move boldly towards OPPORTUNITY! 

Your Defeat The Fat Coach,

Clayton

DE-program Before You RE-program!

You could really apply this principle to just about anything, but I want to specifically apply it to weight loss and health!  So many people fall into the INSANITY CYCLE of thinking that the latest new weight loss program or health fad will be their ticket to:

Finally getting the weight off that has been handing around for years... 

AND/OR

Achieving the ever so elusive optimum health...

Here's the trick...although that latest, greatest program may indeed be great or the newest health fad may actually help improve one's health...

NOTHING REALLY CHANGES IF NOTHING CHANGES! 

What I mean by that is if you haven't DE-PROGRAMMED your mind and core belief system, no RE-PROGRAM; no matter how good; will stick long-term!  Think of it this way...

Over time, your computer collects a lot of JUNK on it!  Spyware, malware, viruses, stored data, outdated software, memory overload, etc.  Because these things are HARD-WIRED on the computer, they will affect day to day operation anytime you use it!  And, just because you get the latest SUPER version of Windows with all the bells and whistles, it doesn't start your computer from a clean slate!  It doesn't all of a sudden run the exact way you desire and hope it should run just because of this great new program you have ADDED to the "damaged or diseased" computer right!?

What you need to do is UNINSTALL some pre-existing programs, remove all viruses, spyware, malware, etc., and CLEAN UP the computer BEFORE you re-program!  The new program WILL NOT work as intended if it has to COMPETE with pre-existing conditions on the HARD DRIVE!

Are you getting my point?  If you truly want to see CHANGE in your body LONG-TERM, you must first UNINSTALL the previous mindset of all the behaviors and beliefs (fear, doubt, hate, unforgiveness, anger, LIES) that lead to you being overweight and unhealthy!  All the JUNK in your brain such as eating for reasons other than being hungry, punishing yourself because of perceived things in the past or how you feel presently, eating foods to try to cover past hurt you experienced, not putting any value on exercise or healthy living, believing your lifestyle is either good enough or that you don't deserve better, etc.  These are all viruses, spyware, malware in your brain that will never let you have a successful RE-PROGRAM unless you first DE-PROGRAM these mindsets, beliefs, past hurts, etc.

Wipe the slate CLEAN through prayer, surrounding yourself with the right people, reading some encouraging and revelational books, declaring TRUTHS over you life, identifying and eliminating bad habits that prevent you from de-programming!  Once you have found your way and have a NEW HARD DRIVE, you can then LOAD the NEW PROGRAM and see LIFESTYLE results like you never have before!

I charge you to STOP thinking all you need is a RE-PROGRAM to change your body and health!  Don't load something good onto something bad!  YOU CAN'T POUR FRESH WINE INTO OLD WINESKINS!   There you have it!  Find that DE-PROGRAM button and HIT it FIRST!  Once your COMPUTER is FREE of the viruses, spyware, malware...THEN, add the RIGHT PROGRAM and you will be well on your way!

Your DEFEAT THE FAT Coach,

Clayton

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