All posts by RoadWarriorFit

Diet, Fitness, health, healthy living, restaurant, restaurants, Travel, Uncategorized

Food vs. Fuel

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Talk to any serious competitive athlete and you will hear the mantra “Food is Fuel”.  It is a simple, true axiom meant to remind the uber fit that it is ok to eat grilled chicken, brown rice and steamed vegetables for every meal.  After all, athletic performance and staying ripped is all about the quality of the calories and micro nutrients these amazing athletes take in to fuel the work they need to put out.  My guess is that if you are reading this blog for fitness and travel advice, you do not fit into that category.

On the other side of the equation are those who feel that “family is made around food”.   Relationships are made around the table and more people will enjoy the table if the food is rich and inviting.  After all, life is meant to be ‘lived’ not just endured.  But a diet filled with high calorie, high (bad) fat foods is not good for you or your waist line.

So as RoadWarriors, How do we find the balance between fueling our bodies appropriately and feeding our need for relationship?

It is a balance that I battle daily on the road.

I made a major shift in my approach when I realized that I actually am an Uber Athlete – AND SO ARE YOU!!  Can I bench 300 lbs? – No.  Can I run a sub 5 40-yard dash? – No.  Can I go 5 rounds with the UFC’s best? – No.  But I like to think I am really good at what I do and my nutrition plays a big part in my success.  So how do you blend the two successfully?

Plan ahead:

If you have read just about any of my posts you can sense a theme that centers around this.  I firmly believe that Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail.  You need to know when you are committed to others and where.  Planning around client dinners is crucial to balancing your diet and having long term success living a life on the road.  If I am having dinner with a client that enjoys steak houses, I am going to limit my red meat and carb intake that day prior to the meeting.  If the night calls for a more adventurous palate (Ethiopian anyone?) I may front load the proteins to make room for the veggie based dinner.  Get it?

Think about your daily totals:

I don’t really track calories.  I do track how many servings of each macro I have had throughout the day.  I use the container system created by Autumn Calabrese.  It helps with both portion control and total servings.  Learn more about that here.  Knowing what you need to consume makes sure you are being intentional rather than reactionary.

Carb timing:

In general, I like to time my simple carbs around workouts and early in the day (Fruits I will eat whenever and wherever).  Carbs turn into sugar and energy the easiest of anything we ingest so ingest them before you need them.  The  later in the day, the less I need the easily accessible energy so tapper them off.  Taking a group for Italian?  Skip the oatmeal in the morning, have a salad loaded with veggies and protein for lunch and then enjoy the garlic bread and pasta that night.

Eating greens early:

The one food group that I struggle with getting enough of in my diet is vegies.  It is so easy to skip these, especially if you find yourself in the hotel lobby restaurant or airport limited service restaurant.  Do yourself a favor, start your day off with a serving of veggies.  My go to is the omelet bar.  Give me all the veggies, heavy on the jalapenos, with just a little bit of turkey sausage.  I make my digestive system work from the moment we are breaking fast.  If I can, I am snacking on carrots, celery, red peppers or some other veggie with hummus or peanut butter in mid morning.  That way if it does get late in the day and I am tracking my servings, I am not forced to have all veggies to get caught up.

Limit alcohol intake:

As a frequent traveler with status, you can find free booze everywhere.  In the lounge, at the hotel concierge lounge, even on the plane.  Remember that your body treats alcohol as a poison and stops processing of anything else until the alcohol is processed.  Imbibe intelligently.  My favorite drink is actually a tonic with lime – looks just like a cocktail without the extra calories or headache the following morning.  That being said, I also love a good craft beer, rich red wine and/or single malt scotch.  Just in moderation.

In the end it comes down to treating your food as fuel when you are on your own and making those special client meals just that, special.  Remember, you are an uber performer in what you do.  Eat like an uber performer.

Diet, Fitness, health, healthy living, restaurant, restaurants, RoadWarrior, Travel, Uncategorized

How does a RoadWarrior ‘Eat Clean’ on the Road? By minding her P’s & Q’s!

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Happy New Year!!

As we launch headlong into another year, I am finding myself evaluating the year previous in order to get ready for the new adventure ahead.  Every New Year brings with it the hopes of rejuvenation of spirit, mind and body.  For many that is a new found dedication to ‘Eating Clean’.  But what does that really mean and how can do we make this happen while living a life on the road?

Let’s start with asking a very simple question:

“What the heck does ‘Eating clean’ even mean?”

Seriously, are we just being sure to wash our food first? 

Is it eating only raw, locally sourced vegetable products that are ethically harvested?

It really is such an arbitrary statement…..kind of like ‘organic’ here in the U.S. (Don’t get me started on that one, the scientist in me wants to scream every time I hear this term).   The funny part about clean eating is there really isn’t a specific definition.  In fact, there is not even a Wikipedia page dedicated to it!!  So what do people really mean when they become dedicated to ‘Eating Clean’?

I think the most commonly accepted understanding of the term could be summarized as:

A focused diet around largely unprocessed foods with specific emphasis on whole vegetative produce (fruits, veggies, grains) along with lean protein sources and healthy fats while avoiding overly processed, refined foods and unhealthy fats.

As you can imagine, this definition allows for a lot of leeway in just how strict your diet has to be in order to be considered “clean” but the point of this post is not to come to a universally accepted definition of Clean Eating.   What I want to discuss is how do you actually make this type of a diet (regardless of how strict) work when you are on the road?  It is easy, or at least easier, to keep your diet on point when you are at home – shopping for the groceries, prepping your own meals, packing your lunch, etc.

But what about the road?  How do we carry those great habits we are developing at home and not waste them once we hit the airport?

Simple, you need to mind your P’s & Q’s!!

Plan ahead

I cannot stress this point enough, if you fail to plan – you are planning to fail.  Heading out on a trip with no plan in place is a recipe for meals that involve a lot of brown.  Whether the brown be from the bag the meal is served in or the color of the food itself, you are a long ways from eating anything close to what would be considered clean.  To read more on how I plan for a trip (it is more than just what restaurant is in the hotel) here is a link to my process.  You would never hike into the wilderness without a map or a GPS – don’t travel without an idea of the lay of the land.

Preparation

How your food is prepared makes a huge difference in the quality of the nutrition you are consuming.  Your body is going to have a much better reaction to Salmon that is baked, broiled or grilled than to the same 4 oz filet that is battered and deep fried or “sautéed” (read: fried in a pan vs. a deep fryer) in a cream sauce.

protein portion size

Quantity

The quantity of the food you take in matters nearly as much as the preparation and is where most people struggle the most.  Spend time familiarizing yourself with what an actual portion size looks like.  Think about it, a portion of lean protein is about the size of a deck of cards.  Now think about the last time you remember getting a chicken breast at a restaurant that was the size of a deck of cards as opposed to a small tablet computer.

colored grill

Quality

Order your food like you would if you were buying a box of crayons.  Remember back in the day when all you wanted was that box of 64 Crayons?  You know, the one with the built-in sharpener!!  Your food should be the same way – full of color and vibrancy.  Mix the browns of whole grains with the greens, reds, yellows, oranges and purples of garden vegetables.  I say we take back the phrase “Taste the Rainbow” back from that candy company and put it back on our dinner plates.

Persistence

Stick to these tips for ALL MEALS and not just dinner.  Too many RoadWarriors let breakfast and lunch just “happen” and try and focus on dinner.  Problem is that by the time you get to dinner, you are starving  because your calorie count is so low.  Be persistent in your diet.

Much more on this subject is to follow over as we continue to explore each of these points in more depth.  How about you?  How do you ensure you are able to stay on track with your diet, whether you are on the road or not?  I want to hear from you as well.

Again, happy New Year and Happy “Clean Eating”

Diet, Fitness, health, healthy living, RoadWarrior, Travel, Uncategorized

There is power in ‘Before’

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Happy New Year!!!  We have officially said goodbye to 2015 and across the globe people are welcoming in 2016 with hope, encouragement and good cheer.  As most of us turn the calendar forward we also take time to set new plans/resolutions/goals for the New Year.  I (as well as hundreds of others) have written before about how to be sure your resolutions are goals rather than dreams and you can read all about that here.

So if you are one of the millions who have set a new goal for 2016, I want to encourage you to do one simple thing that will help you achieve whatever your new goal is.

Take a before picture!!!

And I am not just talking about those of you with weight loss or body image goals.  Yes, if you have those goals, take that mirror selfie or have a friend get shots of you from all those oh so pleasing angles.

Regardless of the scope of your resolution – take a before picture!!!

But what about those other resolutions?

Better organization – take shots of your office/bedroom/house/inbox as they are today.

Eating healthier – take shots of your normal meals, the pantry, the refrigerator.

Better finances – create your balance sheet.  What are your assets?  What about liabilities?  Create it.  Save it.  Screen shot it.

Improved parenting – find whatever represents how you feel you are not living up and take a picture of that.

I think you get the picture (yep, I went there).  Take a pic of whatever will remind you of where you are today – before your efforts kick in.  So now the question you should be asking, why?  Why document this disaster?

There is power in the concept of before!!!

A before photo indicates there is an ‘after’.  It provides hope and encouragement that your current situation is not permanent and can be changed.

Taking a before photo starts the actual process of change.  You are already taking a small action towards change.  It moves you from dreaming to doing.

No one makes a significant change without stumbling once or twice.  Being able to look back and see how far you have come from that ‘before’ can restore your faith in your ability to change.  Use it as motivation to never go back.

It tells the story of you!!  I have never met someone who has completed a transformation that has not wanted to share it with others to encourage them.  Imagine the additional power your story will have when you have made your transition and literally show others how far you have come.

I have never met anyone who has regretted taking before photos but I have met dozens who regret not taking them (including me).  I wish I had a photo of what I looked like on the karate mat before I lost the 30lbs.  I can vividly see it in my own mind but have nothing to show you all where my journey started from.

So as you set those goals for 2016 be sure to document where you are starting from.  Be sure that you capture the power of ‘before’.

Happy New Year and l am looking forward to making 2016 the best year yet!!

Fitness, healthy living, Spirit, Travel, Uncategorized

If you want some things to change in your life…you need to change some things in your life!!

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One of my former colleagues used to live by the mantra “If you want some things to change in your life, you have to change some things in your life”.  While it is the most obvious of truths, it is difficult for most to actually put in to place.

Think about it.  About this time every year, people start to assess their lives, determine what they would like to change and then make ‘resolutions’ around achieving that change.

C’mon, admit it.  How many of your resolutions have been repeated for 3-years or more?  I am willing to bet most of us have at least one.  I know that in past years, I certainly have.  So I have decided I am not going to call the resolutions of our past ‘resolutions’ any longer – I am going to call them ‘wishes’.  Resolutions imply being resolute – wishes are things that just happen.

Resolved [ri-zolvd]

                Adjective

Firm in purpose or intent; determined

Wishes carry the implication that the results are up to someone else.  The Genie gives Aladdin 3 of them.  Cinderella gets hers granted by her fairy Godmother.  Pinocchio’s are granted by wishing upon a star.  See the trend?  Besides all being Disney classics, they all also relied upon the power of others to receive their wishes.

If it is to be, it is up to me! ~ Anonymous

So how do we ensure that this year we make resolutions vs. wishes?

  • Wishes are nebulous – Resolutions are specific. Eat healthier.  Exercise more.  Reduce debt.  Be a better friend.  All of these are great aspirations but are horrible resolutions.  So if I eat a tomato today with my salad did I achieve the ‘eat healthier’ wish for the year?  Make sure your resolutions are specific in the actions that will help you achieve the larger more nebulous wish.
  • Wishes last forever – Resolutions have an expiration date. When are you going to achieve the end result of all of your hard work?  Put it on a calendar.  This is critical to making the next step work.
  • Wishes focus on the macro – Resolutions focus on the micro. If the end that you have in mind is to lose 30 lbs, we set a goal of a target weight (big picture).  While having the end product in mind is important, you need to focus daily on the little steps that will get you there.  Exercise 5 days a week.  Get your heart rate up to specific levels.  Make sure you do not exceed specific caloric intake levels.
  • Wishes magically happen – Resolutions can be measured. Now that we know what we need to do every day to step closer to our end result, track it.  Cutting back debt?  How much is being paid off and when?  Being a better friend?  Who are the 3 people you reached out to today?  If you did not track it, it did not happen.  Depending on the nature of the resolution, I am sure there are dozens of aps already designed to help you track the activity surrounding your resolution.
  • Wishes are luxury – Resolutions are necessity. When you wish for something, you are neither surprised nor disappointed when it does not happen.  After all, it was a wish.  When you are resolute about something, you are going to make it happen.  It is a necessity.  This especially shows through in 4 out of the 5 of my travel Guardrails.  Want to guess which rule is the one I break the most?
  • Wishes are private – Resolutions are public. Now this one may be uncomfortable but you are far more likely to achieve a goal, even a well-crafted one, when you have accountability.  Find a family member, a mentor, someone on the same path as you or even one of the many website/aps out there that assist with this.

Remember, wanting to make a difference in your life is a good thing!!  Let’s just make sure we are really making resolutions and not just making wishes.

Diet, Family, Fitness, health, healthy living, Product Reviews, RoadWarrior, Uncategorized

What to buy the RoadWarrior in your life this Holiday Season

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The holiday season is upon us and with it, the gift giving season.  If you either are a RoadWarrior or are close enough to one to buy them gifts, you know that life on the road is just easier when you can carry everything with you on the plane and skip the fun of the baggage carousel.  There is no place I would rather be less than standing around watching the metal conveyor belt revolve around a carpeted island of futility and wasted time.  I avoid it at all costs.  It does not matter whether I am traveling for the day or for the week, you can bet I will be getting it all to fit in the overhead bin so I pay special attention to what I pack in my bag.  Suitcase space is premium real estate and has to be utilized well.

So what are the things that make the grade for me?  

Here is my list, my 12-days of Christmas if you will, of the items that hold special places in my carry on and why.  Feel free to use these ideas for gifts for the RoadWarrior in your life:

 Vibrams

Vibram Five Finger Shoes:

This was probably the first product that I purchased specifically because of the way they travel and the one that I get the most comments on.  Vibrams to put it simply, are awesome and yes, I do run in them regularly.  Now I am not in the camp that is all about minimalist footwear or the camp that wears Five Finger shoes because they will help strengthen the smaller muscles in your feet.  For me, these are all about how much space they take up in a suitcase.  When you wear a size 11 shoe like I do, your tennis shoes take up a lot of space, even if you do stuff them with socks and underwear.  These take up less space than my flip flops and I really do love working out in them now.  I started on the space argument but now don’t think I would ever switch back to traditional shoes.  To shop for your own, click here.

jump rope

Jump Rope:

This is one that travels with me about 50% of the time based on the hotel gym I may be encountering.   All you need is about 10 sq. ft. of space with an 8 ft ceiling and you can get a great HIIT cardio workout in.  One thing to note, if you carry a weighted speed rope like I do, be prepared to be stopped by TSA about 50% of the time.  They are not used to seeing them and often confuse them with a club of some type.  I honestly think the TSA agents are more curious than anything else.

shaker bottle

Water Bottle:

Seems simple enough but I did a whole blog post on the motivating power of an empty water bottle last year.  I now carry a ‘Premium’ bottle with me so that I can have both the benefit of tracking the water I intake as well as being able to utilize the shaker function.

bluetooth headphones

Bluetooth/Sweat Proof Headphones:

I love being able to set my phone on the side of the gym with my other belongings and not have to worry about it falling out of my pocket or me snagging the headphones cord during my work out.  I can’t tell you how many times I sent my phone flying off the treadmill before I invested in a set of these.  I am also a firm believer in having a set of headphones that you work out in and another for phone calls.  I am living, breathing proof that no headphones are truly ‘sweat proof’.

multi

Multi-port USB Charger:

The number 2 priority I place on item selection when it comes to packing is the weight of the time (volume being #1).  When you are traveling with a laptop, iPad, iPhone, bluetooth headphones, etc, etc, etc, that is a lot to charge and a lot of chargers.  One charger, multiple cords.  Less weight.

cinch backpack

Cinch Bag:

You know those cheap backpacks that everyone and their brother are giving away as promotional items and every middle school boy in America is walking around with?  Yep, those.  They are awesome for bringing stuff to the hotel gym, the real gym or even the pool when it is warmer and you either have no pockets or stuff falls out of the pockets really easily (as in every pair of workout shorts ever).

 insulated-lunch-bag-ensures-safe-and-convenient-food-carrying1

Snack bag:

You can read all about the contents here but I always travel with a snack bag, even day trips.  If I am going to invest my time and energy into making sure I get a good workout in, I am going to do everything I can to not sabotage it by making poor dietary choices if I can avoid them.   I always also include Shakeology in my bag as I want complete nutrition options if I find myself in the airport and hungry.

TRX

TRX:

I LOVE MY TRX!!!  However it usually only travels with me when I know the hotel gym that I will be experiencing is beyond lackluster.  This one really does take up a lot of space but especially on short trips, is totally worth it.  I use it routinely at home and on the road and you can get a GREAT workout with this single apparatus.  With the door mount, you don’t even have to leave the hotel room.  Best travel fitness investment I have ever made.

mouthpiece

Mouthpiece:

So this one is pretty specific to the martial artist but it does bring up a good point.  I love to train in martial arts, especially rolling BJJ when I am on the road.  One piece of equipment that is critical to preventing injury is wearing a mouthpiece so I travel with one everywhere I go.  By having my mouthpiece, I can go roll at any school that will have me with little to no notice.  It lets me pursue one of my passions.  For you (or your RoadWarrior) it may be a racket or a club.  Whatever it is, bring it along what you are passionate about so that if the opportunity arises (or you create it), you are not left with the excuse “It is too bad I did not have my……”

So there you have it, the list of my favorite things that may or may not be in your suitcase today.  What makes your cut?  What are the things you simply can’t travel without?

For full disclosure, I am not receiving any type of incentive from the companies that make or distribute these products, with the exception of Shakeology as I am a BeachBody Coach.

About Me, Fitness, health, healthy living, Spirit, Uncategorized

Body Image – What’s your standard?

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The holiday season is officially upon us, summer is officially over and for some, this comes as a relief.  For others (like me) it marks the end of our favorite season.  The kids are out of the house and back in school.  Football is back in full swing and the temps are starting to come back down which means there is no need to worry about how the bathing suit fits for another 7 months or so.  Somebody cue up the Kool & The Gang!!

Every year when we transition in and out of summer I am always fascinated with the obsession around the bathing suit.  With people across the nation fretting over the concept of the ideal body I want to ask you, What’s your ideal body?

Who do you spend your time looking at?  For some it is the models on the cover of the magazines.  Others, it is the folks that they see in the gym every day, you know the ones that seem to literally live there.  For me, it is the fighters who train their body to sustain an abuse that I hope you and I never know that I look at the most.  It is an image that I probably should not be so focused on but we are all friends here so I’ll put it out there.

UFC

I spend A LOT of time paying attention to the fighters.  Their training techniques.  Fight results and the news reports around the fights.  These athletes are fittest of the fit.  They have a body fat % that can be measured in the single digits, they train up to 4 times a day and have positioned their bodies to withstand the most abusive physical demands you can imagine.  And yet somehow they are my benchmark.

I have a problem….

When it comes to body image, I have always said I have one particular goal.  I simply want to fill out a T-Shirt well.  I don’t want to be huge but I want to be fit……and then I watch a UFC fight.  These guys are in the prime shape of their lives.  Other than the heavyweights, I would guess that the average body fat % is about 7%.  Tack on 2 – 4 weeks of weight cutting (read: losing up to 25 lbs and dehydrating themselves to the brink of death) and these modern day gladiators present a statute that is completely impossible to keep, even for them.  Doesn’t mean that I still don’t have that mental image in my head every time I run, lift, roll or step on the mat…and it is not healthy.

The reality is I am a 43 year old man who will never step foot inside an Octagon.

Sure, I spar.  I roll.  I train but I am never going to test myself the way these athletes do.  I am also not on the variety of performance enhancing drugs/supplements that these athletes are.  There is literally no way I can achieve the standard they set.  However I still regularly find myself trying to.

  • I don’t have the testosterone level they do.
  • I don’t have the time to train multiple sessions a day
  • I am not dedicated to that purpose
  • It is not my profession…………but yet I still compare myself to these professional athletes who train for a living.

I think I finally know what girls and women around the world have been dealing with for decades.  How can we possibly achieve the standards we see in the media (even without the prolific airbrushing)?  We can’t.  The standards are not realistic and we are picturing the top .001% of the population (probably even more remote than that but still…..) as the ‘standard’.  So give yourself a new standard to measure yourself against.

Measure your future self against your current self.  The only one you are in competition with is yourself.  Simply be better tomorrow than you are today.  That is the gold standard.

Diet, Family, Fitness, health, healthy living, Recipes, Uncategorized

Stuffing Nests – OMG!!

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So I have been trying to find some new ways to use all of the Thanksgiving left overs this year (not that I don’t love a good Turkey sandwich on sourdough but….).  Between this desire and watching way too much Chopped, I was on a mission to find non-conventional ways of using everything.  Of all the ingredients, the stuffing was giving me the most grief, so I decided to try something new.  Utilizing the stuffing, I made nests for eggs to poach in.  The result?  Phenomenally good.

Here is how I did it:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray.
  3. Scoop a heaping tablespoon or two of leftover stuffing into each tin, molding the stuffing to the shape of the pan leaving a well for the egg to join the party later.
  4. Place in the oven for 5 minutes allowing the stuffing nest to begin to brown.
  5. Individually crack an egg for every nest into a bowl and pour into the nest (beware, there is a strong possibility you will have more egg than nest area – be sure the yolk makes it in before it is full).
  6. Return to the oven and bake for 12 minutes.
  7. Carefully remove each nest from the pan and plate topping with your favorite fresh herbs, salt and pepper to taste.
  8. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

  • Leftover stuffing
  • Eggs
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Fresh herbs of your choice
Fitness, health, healthy living, My Favorite Things, RoadWarrior, Travel

Sometimes you have to improvise

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OK – I admit it, I am completely sick of the hotel gym with dumbbells that go through a whopping 50lbs (or in my latest adventure – 30 lbs) and the obligatory elliptical machine and (non-functional) treadmill.  It may just be the fact that I have been on the road a lot lately but it is getting old……fast.

image

So you can imagine my elation when I walked into the gym at the hotel on the first leg of my most recent trip and saw her standing in the corner.  She was a 7 foot beauty.  Strong.  Lean.  Shiny.  The cable cross over machine of my dreams.

You mean I can actually do a pull up!?!?!

Oh how my expectations soared.  Pull ups, axe choppers, triceps extensions…….the possibilities were endless.

Or so I thought.

Until my dreams were crushed.  You see, the only attachment available for this wonderful piece of equipment was a straight bar.

What!?!!?   No rope?  No single handles?  No rowing handle?

How dare you crush my dreams!!!

It was time to improvise.  For a very brief moment I felt like Ed Harris in his portrayal of the NASA scientist in Apollo 13.   “OK Gentlemen.  Here is what they have in the capsule.  How do we make a square peg fit in a round hole?”  How do I make this work?  Then I went to work.  Scouring the room for resources.  What could I do?  What could I use?  And then, like a shining white light of salvation in the corner of the room I saw them.

gym

Towels!!

Your simple, everyday gym towel would come to my rescue.  Throughout my training I have often incorporated towels, gi belts and other fabrics into my workouts to train my grip.   This night was going to be all about using the towel to facilitate my workout.  With the way I feel today, I can tell you that I will be doing this on a regular basis.  My forearms are still on fire and the rest of my upper body is more sore (in all the right ways) than it has been in quite some time.

So how did I incorporate a towel(s) into the mix?  Here’s how.

Pull up – throw the towel over the bar and suddenly you have offset grip pull ups (these are no joke people).  Switch your hands and you have offset grip chin-ups or the one I hope to actually accomplish someday, towel grip pull ups.

image

Crossover cable:  Triceps extension…done.  Upright rows….done.  Wood choppers…..done both up and down.  Weighted crunches…..done.   Bicep curls…..done.

image image

With dumbbells:  Need 70lbsers?  No problem, grab the 30’s and the 40’s and wrap the towel around the handles .  Now not only do you have 70lbs per hand but the weight will shift on you which engages all of the smaller stabilizing muscles.

Improved Ab work:  Ever seen those floor sliders to allow your feet to effortless glide across the floor almost eliminating friction?  Yeah, towels come close (double trick, hit up the breakfast buffet for a couple of paper/plastic plates instead of a towel).  Suddenly my abs are begging that we go back to the world of just trudging along on the treadmill.

So the next time you find yourself discouraged by either the type of equipment available or the condition of the equipment, think about the humble towel and how you may be able to put it to work for you.

See you on the road.

Family, Fitness, Travel

But it looks so good on the calendar!! (Alternative title: What the heck was I thinking?)

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At least once or twice a year, I have a week of travel that looks great on a calendar.  The kind of week, like the one I just started, where I have 6 different in person meetings across six states in 5 days.  The kind of week where on the last leg of the trip you find yourself chanting  “never again” over and over like it is a tantric mantra.

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

This week I will find myself on six different planes, 4 hotel rooms, 3 rental cars, 2 different trains, countless taxi/Ubers and (fortunately only) 2 time zones.  I think I will literally be spending an entire day in some type of mode of transportation this week.  Crazy.

So how do you prepare for a marathon week like this one?

First of all, you prepare.  Heading into a period of travel like this without making preparations is setting yourself up for disaster.  And I mean going past planning on what you are going to wear and what weather to pack for.  You need to prepare yourself, your family and your coworkers for the craziness of weeks like this one.  How you ask?

Communicate:

This is a big one for me.  I have a very bad habit of not communicating to my wife early and often about upcoming weeks like this one.  After over a decade on the road, she pretty much assumes that I am going to be traveling each and every week but weeks like this are the exception.  Of course this is also the week my eldest son decides to throw a relational grenade in the middle of the living room.   Oh, and wrestling season is starting with two different evening events.  And my youngest son has an orchestra commitment.  And, and, and……. While there is never a good week for this type of trip, this is a particularly bad one.  Of course, I waited to communicate the schedule this week so it caused grief for all involved.

You also need to communicate with your coworkers.  Normally I am very flexible with how and when I will take phone calls and do webinars.  Did you catch the fact that I will be on a plane/train for nearly 24 hours this week?  Pretty hard to conduct a webinar from 38k feet.  Communicating this early and often with your teammates will only benefit all of you.

Support:

One of my wife’s love languages is Acts of Service.  I have written about it before (read it here) but I spend my Sunday’s planning but this Sunday was even more intensive than most.  I always plan the menu for the week and shop for the groceries but this week I also prepped all of the meals.  I made sure the laundry was done and put away.  The garage was cleaned out so the car could park in it.  Why?  So when her day gets a head of steam, or a hail storm rolls through, she is not letting the dinner storm or the literal storm derail the family.  The more I can make sure is ready to go (Monday’s dinner, Wrestling Singlet cleaned and ready to go, PE Clothes cleaned, lunch accounts having full balances) – the better the week will go.

Does that mean I get to sit on the couch and watch football all Sunday?  Nope.

refigerator

But I can tell you that when I leave and our refrigerator looks like it did this morning (above) than there is zero complaining about the games being on all Sunday when I am in the kitchen making this happen.  It also makes reentry on Friday night, way better.

Schedule:

Yes, I schedule my flights and meetings but I also have to schedule my workouts and meals on weeks like this.  I do not want to find myself at the airport looking to board a late flight having not worked out and not eaten.  It is a recipe for late night fast food and running to the gift shop for Tums.  Not good.

gym

It also means thinking ahead to the schedule of the week for those around you.  How can I make the upcoming week easier to deal with?  Are the clothes ready for any special events?  Are there days where you know if you are going to get a Facetime conversation with the kids in that it has to be in the morning?  Can you reposition anything scheduled for the upcoming week into another time slot to make everyone’s week go a bit smoother?

Now that I think about it, prepping for weeks like this all boils down to putting others first.  When we as RoadWarriors are on the road – it is an inherently selfish time.  We can’t deal with the trials, tribulations, arguments and meltdowns that are happening at home.  The best we can do is help to avoid them in the first place.  So wish me luck this week and maybe I will see you in one of the 6 airports I get to visit this week.

Fitness, health, healthy living, RoadWarrior

Do you exercise, work out or do you train?

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Let me start off by saying there is no “right” answer to the question above but how you answer tells a lot about your attitude towards fitness.  It is actually a question that I have really struggled with recently.

“Why do I work out the way I do?” And more pertinently “How do I really want to train?”

Maybe it will help if I define the three options for you.

Exercise:

The person who says “I am going to go exercise” typically does not have a real plan in place.  They may be the one who hits the hotel gym and decides based on availability as to whether they are going to run or hit the elliptical that night.  Now mind you, they are still ahead of 28.3% of Americans, who according to the Physical Activity Counsel have done NO EXERCISE AT ALL over the last 12 months…..and they even included walking the mall as a form of exercise!!  The reality is this group is also the least likely to see any type of real and persistent results from their efforts.  It is also the easiest mindset with which to skip altogether and find yourself among the 28%.

Work Out:

These are the people who typically have at least a semblance of a plan.  They know the muscle group they are going to target or the cardio exercise for the day.  They are usually intentional in their workout and they may even have specific goals for the work out (for example, today my goal was 40 minutes on the treadmill at 7 mph).  They make their time for their work out a priority.

Training:

These people have a specific goal in mind.  For some it is a race (think marathon running), for others it is a competition (fighters and bodybuilders), others still it is an amount of weight to drop.  For me it has been various rank advancement in karate or the occasional grappling tournament.  There is a different intensity to the workouts but more importantly, there is a different intentionality.  You are there in the gym, or on the mat, or on the road with a specific goal and purpose all of which leads up to a larger result.

So why bring this up at all?

Because I find myself in a time of transition.  For the last 7 years I have had something to train for and right now, I don’t.  A random set of circumstances has really thrown my training off the rails.

  • Schedule changes at the dojo preventing me from getting in regularly.
  • Work obligations getting in the way of my lunch BJJ sessions.
  • Nothing on the calendar to run towards (although I am going to run a Disney Race at some point)
  • Traveling an average of 4 days a week

All of these have conspired to put me in a spot where I am not training for anything specific right now.  There have actually been moments over the last few months that I have found myself walking into the gym with absolutely no plan…..and it terrifies me.  The good news is I am still walking in the gym or pressing play every day though.

The reality is that people who have something to train for are more intentional about their exercise regime and far less likely to miss a workout.

No- I don’t have a study to back that claim up other than the anecdotal evidence and my own experiences but the bigger question is how do embrace that fact and apply it?

I want you to think back to High School Physics class and to Newton’s first law of motion.  Do you remember?

A body at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an external force. 

Intentionality is that external force to our stagnation.  The Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG for all of you Good to Great fans) is what moves people from exercising to training.  You have to have something you are working towards, or running from, that is so motivating that you not only exercise but you do so with intention.

I am on the hunt for mine now and I will be sure to share it when I identify it.  I am one of those weirdos that are not motivated by a number on a scale but by the things I am able to achieve.  That doesn’t mean that the chasing a number is wrong, it is just not what does it for me.

So what is it that will take you from exercising to training?  What is your BHAG?  Can’t wait to hear from you.