Tag Archives: fitness

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.

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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.

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

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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.

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.

About Me, Family, Fitness, health, healthy living, My Favorite Things, Uncategorized

The best dates are Sweat Dates

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Over the last 4 years, my family and I have dealt with a lot on the health front.  Four years ago, my son was diagnosed with a papilledema, a condition normally associated with a brain or spinal tumor (he did not have one).   I had a near death experience due to a heart condition (I made it obviously but if you want the full story you can read it here) and we topped it all off  with my wife’s battle with breast cancer, including the treatment, double mastectomy and reconstruction that comes with it (she has been cancer free for 2 years now and you can read her story here).  And that is just with those who live under our roof.

When you are confronted with these types of health crises you are forced to look at your health so to say healthy living is a priority with us would be putting it mildly.  It is woven through everything we do, everything we eat and in just about every conversation we have – my sons just love that part.

It also has led to a phenomenon we refer to as:

The Sweat Date!!

As we have traveled this road to health, we have begun working out together on a regular basis.  My wife and I are both BeachBody Coaches so often these workouts are conducted in our living room our outside on the deck but whatever the workout, we are spending between 30 – 60 minutes with each other pushing, motivating, teasing and sweating together.  They have become my favorite part of the week and when I really stop to examine the benefits of the sweat date, there are 5 key benefits that stand out to me in regards to working out with your significant other.

Feel better:

I know, obvious but true.  There is all kind of research out there about the effect of exercise on mood, mental health and of course, overall health.  More than all of that though, doing something with your partner for the long term benefit of you both is uniquely rewarding.  There is something to simply sharing the fight.

More Relationship Security:

In our BeachBody business, it is amazing to me how many men are insecure about their wife getting in shape.  Quite candidly, it blows me away.  Why would a spouse ever be against their significant other getting in better health?  But I can assure you, it is a real occurrence and happens way more often than you would expect.  However a shared journey to being fit builds bonds of security in a relationship as couples travel the road together.

Time spent together:

My wife and I have a blast when we work out together.  It is between 30-60 minutes where we are sharing an experience, working towards a common goal and in many cases, have a common enemy (yes, I am talking about you Autumn Calabrese!!!)

Autumn

Healthier eating:

When you focus on health together rather than just exercise, you have to spend time on your diet.  This is so much easier when you are attacking it as a team.   Meals can be prepared for the family and not for an individual who is ‘dieting” (I hate how we use that word) and if you are going through the effort of putting in the exercise you are way less likely to want to compromise those gains by letting your diet go to pieces.

Side benefit of the Sweat Date:

Couples that play together……..well, play together.  Let me spell this out for you, you are exercising, building confidence and connection together.  When you exercise, endorphins are released improving mood as well as health.  You are sharing experiences together.  All of these contribute to a heightened sense of connection in all kinds of ways.  Yeah, we call them dates for a reason.

So there are my top 5 reasons to make time for Sweat Dates in your relationship.  I promise you, if you make your family’s health a priority together your relationship will grow in all of the right ways.

Travel

Dont be THAT Guy!!!

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I don’t know what has been up over the last few weeks but I have been running into some real pieces of work on my travels recently. I am sure you know the types of people I am talking about, the folks who we share the road with who just need to let a few things go and get their priorities back in order.  Who do I mean?  I mean folks like;

two-businessman-talking-on-phone-at-urinals

Cellphone talking in the bathroom guy:

OK, what can possibly be so important that you cannot either a) pause the conversation and call them back or b) put them on mute?  I will never understand the gentleman at the urinal talking about his weekend to his friend while relieving himself.  Really?  I am always sure to flush a couple extra times just to be sure the person on the other end knows exactly where this guy takes his calls from.  However please understand, this guy is completely different from Guy who goes to the bathroom in the Middle of a Conference Call.

gate crowding

Needs to be first guy:

Every flight I ever take, literally every single one, there is at least one and usually a group of people who are in Group 4 or 5 of the boarding process who line up at the gate before the plane has even arrived.   I guess they think that by being at the gate early that they will be able to board earlier.  My favorite are the ones who when the gate agents call for the elite level travelers to board, join right in, only to be immediately cast aside and made to wait in front of all for their “appropriate boarding group”.   All the while, clogging the 2 foot wide pathway to get to the jet bridge.  Not so ironically, these are usually the folks I also see falling into our next category.

Refuses to put anything under his seat guy:

I get it, you bought a ticket just like everyone else on the plane and yes, you have the “right” (show me in The Constitution where overhead space is protected) to put your stuff up above but if all you have is a bag from the HMS Host store in the boarding area, put under your feet in front of you.  Seriously people.

Oh and by the way, you are not allowed to complain about either the boarding process or the deplaning process if you choose to place everything overhead.  You are the reason that one person who has a CPAP machine in their bag or the person in 7F who placed their bag above 33D is holding up the process.

it will fit

Mr. Spatially Unaware:

So this version actually comes in two varieties.  The first is the one who has no concept of how geometry works.  This is usually best displayed as they attempt to place a 9x14x22 inch bag into a 3x7x22 inch space.  No really, keep trying.  I am sure you can make it fit.  Much like this guy

The second version is the guy who does not understand that the arm rest actually represents the type of force field between your seat and mine.  It should be treated like a kindergartner treats the “lava” if they fall of the carpet.  It is to be avoided at all costs.  Of course the one who really takes the cake in this category is Mr. I am Going to use your Shoulder as a Pillow Guy (yep, it really has happened) much like this classic

Married to my seat guy:

So I saved my personal pet peeve for last.  That is the person that is so attached to their seat that they are unwilling to move for any reason.  I was recently on a flight where a father and his 5 year old son were assigned to two window seats IN FIRST CLASS that were not in the same row.  The gentlemen in the aisle seats of both of the rows refused to relocate.  Let me remind you, THIS WAS TO ANOTHER FIRST CLASS SEAT!!!  I literally could not believe it.  I turned to the gentlemen next to me after seeing this dad settle his barely grade school aged son in the row behind him and asked “Are you married to that seat?” – fortunately he was already thinking exactly what I was thinking.  We immediately gave up our row so this father and son could sit together.

RoadWarriors please here me.  If you see a family separated on the plane, regardless of the seat assignment, if you can switch and make it better for them, DO IT and yes, I have sat middle in coach so families can sit together.  I feel so deeply about this I think we should start a Whitehouse.org petition to make it a Federal Law.

The lesson in all this?  Well, Pope Francis got an ovation on the floor of Congress for mentioning it, you may know it as the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have done unto you.  Christ told us the greatest commandment was to love one another as he loved us.  Somehow I do not see Jesus saying – “Nope, I need the window seat”.  Now to be fair, he would probably make every seat a window seat but that is a whole other post.

So how about you RoadWarriors?  Who are some of the people I forgot to include on the list?

Here is to hoping you are able to avoid them all on your travels.

City Reviews, Diet, Fitness, health, healthy living, restaurant, restaurants, Travel

A Tale of Two Lists – What makes a good RoadWarrior Restuarant

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Earlier this week my wife forwarded me a great list that Men’s Health had put together listing the “Coolest, Healthiest Restaurants in America”, a summary of the top 18 restaurants around the country that are not only dishing healthy eats but food worthy of top praise.   You can read their recommendations here

Suddenly – I have a new To-Do List!!

I am a sucker for lists like this.  Give me the top 20 or so ‘place experience here’ and I am all about trying to get them checked off as done.  This latest list reminded me of another that at one time I had the goal of working my way through and just how much things have changed over the last 6 years.  That old list?  The top 50 burgers in the State of Texas (you can find that one here and I really cannot recommend Dutch’s burger highly enough – it was phenomenal).

I used to be so bad about eating burgers that my boss stopped checking my expense reports:

“Andrew – why would I check your report?  Wait – let me guess.  Cheeseburger and a beer at Pappa’s Burgers in the airport for $18.68.   Shocking.”

It was one of those wake-up call moments in life.  I think I made it about ½ way through the burger list before getting serious about my health and focusing on what I put in my body when I am traveling.  It has become such a focal point that I made it Rule #5 of getting and staying RoadWarriorFit.

Finding the local burger joint is easy –the good, healthy and appealing alternative is usually not quite as ubiquitous.  This new list makes me ask the question – what makes a good RoadWarrior restaurant?

Local Flair:

One of the very few perks to traveling across the country every week is I do get to experience some great food.  With a little preparation and/or a trip to the concierge desk of the local full service hotel (you know you don’t have to stay there to ask a question, right?) you can find fantastic options to meet every taste preference.   Skip the familiar chains and head to a locally owned treasure to support the local economy.   Most of the time you can practically taste the love in the food in the local hot spots.  Oh, and don’t forget to ask the wait/bar staff of your hotel where they eat after getting off shift, I have found some of my favorite dining eating experiences that way.

The smell of smoke:

Grilled is always better.  Period.  (Says the guy who grills just about every day I am home).  Yes, there can be arguments made for specific dishes as to their health benefits vs. grilled but in general, grilling is a safe way to go with your meals.  So if you are standing at a crossroads and one way smells like smoke – head that way.

A bent towards whole foods:

We all know that the less processed the food, the more likely it is to be better for you.  We focus on buying the best for our families when we are at home, why would you change on the road?  Check the menu for the preparations and techniques (you know how I feel about fried foods on the road already).  Heck – take a walk through the restaurant real quick and just glance at people’s plates.  See lots of brown and white?  Keep looking.  Plates look like rainbows?  Time to have a seat.

So there you go.  That is what I look for when I am evaluating restaurants on the road.  Hope it helps and look forward to seeing you on the road.

About Me, Family, Spirit

Styrofoam cups and old magazines

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I hate them both.  With a passion.

Not because I am some hyper environmentalist nor am I on a green movement to stop the destruction of our planet’s forestation.  No, I hate them because of what they represent to me.

They are the very image of surgical and treatment centers.

This upcoming Saturday, September 5th will be my wife’s 2 year cancerfreeversary.  Yes – we made up a term for it and yes – we celebrate it.  Over the course of the last 2.5 years, I have spent a lot of time in the waiting rooms of medical centers.

What the medical team won’t tell you when a loved one is diagnosed with any disease that involves long term care is the amount of exposure you are going to receive to Styrofoam cups and old magazines.  They won’t tell you that you are going to spend days in waiting rooms.  Waiting for diagnoses.  Waiting for consultations.  Waiting for treatments to complete.  Waiting for recovery.

Waiting.

Helplessly waiting.

Waiting where the only refreshment is either coffee or water – served in Styrofoam cups.

Waiting in rooms where there are old magazines everywhere.

For the loved one of someone going through something like cancer, you will wait a lot and it is the hardest part!!!  Yes, you will be a shoulder to cry on.  You will be a punching bag to work out aggressions.  You will be the encourager when they think they can’t keep going.  You will be a nursemaid as they recover from chemo/radiation/surgery.  You will be all of those things at once but in all of those times, you are doing something.  You can take action.

Once they go back with the medical professionals, you are left to just wait and pray.

Wait with a Styrofoam cup full of coffee and an old magazine to distract you.

I hate Styrofoam cups and old magazines.

But back to something more positive – celebrating the gift that is the cancerfreeversary.

This year we are celebrating by having what we hope to be the final procedure in her reconstruction journey.  In fact, they just rolled her back to administer the anesthesia and begin the procedure.  So I am sitting in yet another waiting room, with my cup of luke warm coffee in a Styrofoam Cup leafing through old magazines deciding between an issue of Seventeen from 2014 or Sports Illustrated from 4 months ago (at least it is featuring Ronda Rousey but with my passion for all things MMA, I guarantee there is nothing new in there for me).

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I hate Styrofoam cups and old magazines but I am so thankful for another opportunity to be here.  I am so thankful for the wonderful health care professionals who provide them and for their dedication to both their patients and their family.

I am so thankful to be celebrating her cancerfreeversary

City Reviews, Fitness, RoadWarrior, Travel

Sometimes you have to let your subconscious win

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On my travels this week I found myself staying in a wonderful Marriott hotel in Hartford, CT.   I won’t even try and hide it, I am a hotel snob and will try and stay in a full service hotel any chance I get.

Yes the rooms are wonderful.  Yes, the concierge lounge is a great amenity but what I really look forward to is the gym.  I know if I am staying full service, there will be a full service gym as well.  I get legitimately excited knowing that I have all of my gym options available to me.

Full service gyms make me a happy traveler.

As my cab pulled in under the portico at “oh My God’ early this morning, I caught a quick glimpse of the stairs leading up to the Connecticut Convention Center next door.  Stairs that were clearly and loudly calling my name.  I have no idea why but I had an inkling then that I would be skipping the gym the following morning and heading up those stairs.  Again and again and again.

Stairs 2

Even though I was arriving late I made sure the alarm was set for enough time to do the workout in the gym that my heart was heart set against.  As I was appropriately adjusting my phone’s settings, I kept telling myself I could always sleep in and hit the great gym on the 22nd floor.  When the alarm finally went off at 7:00 AM I was already awake.  Time to get moving.

I promptly got dressed, had my coffee, checked emails and eventually headed up to the 22nd floor to check out the gym.  It was a great gym.  Cardio, weights, kettle bells, stretching space….the works but it was not enough.  No stairs.  No stares from the other travelers and folks walking to work wondering;

“Who is that guy and why does he hate himself so much to put himself through that!?!”

So after fully surveying the scene, I got back in the elevator and headed down to the lobby level and out the front door, walked next door and stared up at the stairs.

Then I started running.

Up 100 stairs.  Push up or dips at the top.  Run back down 100 stairs.  Squats or pistol squats at the bottom.  Up and down 20 times.  This was a workout I did alone.  There were no others there to lend that non-verbal supportive head nod like you get in San Diego (read about that run here).  Just me, 100 stairs and a goal – 2000 stairs and it was awesome.

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Sometimes the subconscious has to win.  Sometimes you have to skip the gym in order to hit the stairs.  Sometimes you just have to crush it.

Travel

Dirty little secrets of a RoadWarrior

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I don’t know about you but I definitely behave differently when I am on the road than I do when I am home.  This really was put front and center a few days ago when a friend ratted himself out on Facebook to some of his odd travel habits that he does not practice at home and it got me wondering….

What do I do on the road that I would never (or at least almost never) do at home?

Now please understand I am not talking about some deviant behavior and you will definitely not see my name among the outed Ashley Madison users.  If that is what you self-reflected on, you need therapy and professional help (not to mention legal counsel).  No, I am talking about the weird, kooky and selfish behaviors that I routinely participate in on the road that I almost never think about, let alone do, while I am home with the family or even when I travel with my wife.  So here we go:

Unpack immediately upon entering the room:

unpacking

This is the one that I personally cannot explain.  As soon as the door is shut behind me upon checking in, I am immediately unpacking everything from clothes to toiletries (including unwrapping all of the hotel provided soaps, etc.) and putting everything in the proper place.

Why do they put the shampoo and conditioner on the sink anyways?

Within 5 minutes everything is unpacked, plugged in and hanging up as appropriate.  When I get home from a trip – the suitcase may sit for 3 days before I unzip, let alone unpack and that is usually so I can turn around and pack it again.

Sleep with the curtains open:

My wife and I both like the curtains pulled and basically have put blackout drapes on our windows in our bedroom at home.  However I almost never pull the blackout drapes when I am staying in hotel by myself.  I think there is some innate fear I have of oversleeping so I hedge my bets by letting the sun shine through bright and glorious at ‘Oh My Dear Lord’ early.

Sleep with the TV on:

This happens all the time on the road.  I will put on some inane, brainless show and end up falling asleep to it.  I cannot tell you how many times Dog the Bounty Hunter and his crew have lulled me to sleep.  At home, TV is off well before we are asleep.

Eat dinner at 10:00 at night:

open late

I did this just last night.  I would rather eat a decent meal at 10:00 than grab McDonald’s at 6:00 but this often means I am not eating until I have made it to the hotel.  I would have revolting hangry sons and wife to deal with at home if I tried to pull this move off.  Never going to happen.

Exercise at 11:00 at night:

When you are working all day and then grabbing a flight that evening, sometimes this is the only time you have.  At home I would be worried about the noise I am making and how it might be disturbing others.  On the road, if there is anyone else in the gym with me at that hour, we are having a great conversation.  Unfortunately, at that hour I am normally working out on my own.

Get up at 5:00 AM to get a work out in:

The reverse relationship of exercising late at night.  At home, no one wants to hear me dropping weights, doing tuck jumps with Shaun T or hear the treadmill going.  On the road, I am trying to figure out how to get the workout in with all of the other crazies in the morning.  And when you follow RoadWarriorFit Rule #4 – workout before wine, and you know you have a full day, you make it happen.

Change in the parking lot of a National Monument/Cemetery or bathroom of the rental car lot or airport or club lounge or……:

Guilty as charged!  I have changed from work clothes into gym clothes at Arlington National Cemetery to get a run in.  I also very much prefer to travel in Jeans and flip flops vs. coat and tie and have changed clothes in the bathroom stall of pretty much every major airport across this great country.  Little tip here, if you have time, change at the rental car facility rather than the airport.  Stalls are usually less crowded and cleaner.

Skip late night snacks:

So both of my dogs take medication every night (they are both completely neurotic) and they will only take it if I smother in cheese.   I usually take advantage of this time to also steal a couple of slices myself every evening.  If it is not cheese, it may be a cookie with my 15 year old as he unwinds his day or potentially ice cream with my wife.  On the road this never happens.  I don’t order dessert.  I am not the guy that hits the Concierge Lounge for the dessert bar (I do raid the fridge for water and Diet Coke though).  Just no desire when I am not on the road and don’t have the big puppy dog eyes pictured below staring at me.

Work out in the same clothes all week:

OK, I realize this is one of the grosser travel habits I have but when you are traveling for 4-5 nights in a row, space in your suitcase is a premium.  I am not going to waste that real estate with multiple workout shorts, shirts, etc.  Nope, you can fully expect me to be working out in the same shirt/shorts you saw me in yesterday.  Besides, I am probably going to be in a different city tomorrow so all the folks that saw me today will have no idea what I am wearing tomorrow.

Wash those same clothes in the bathroom sink:

sink

However all the people who see me tomorrow should not have to smell me also.  When I work out, I tend to go at it hard and I don’t glow or sparkle or shine or any other cutesy synonym for sweat, I SWEAT!!  Like dripping off my nose, wring your shirt out sweat.  In an effort to end the party between my sweaty gym clothes and bacteria, I have routinely washed my gym clothes in the bathroom sink with shampoo and air dried them throughout the day.  Hey, whatever it takes, right?

So there it is folks, the weird things I do on the road that never happen at home (or at least the ones I am willing to publicly admit to).   Like I often convey, traveling as much as I do is much more about survival than recharging like a vacation.  How do I get maximum results with minimum resources.  So how about you?  What are your quirks when you travel?

Looking forward to hearing from you and here is to seeing you on the road.

Diet, Family, Fitness, RoadWarrior, Spirit

Are you ready?

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Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted. One moment. Would you capture it or just let it slip away? – Eminem

In life you have to be prepared to take advantages of opportunities when they pass by.

This past Saturday, I had an opportunity come and smack me in the face.  While training at the karate studio, the Master Instructor asked me if I was ready to test for my Second Degree Black Belt in 13 days!!!!

Thirteen days?  Are you crazy?  I trained for 8 intensive weeks to receive my black belt……and that nearly killed me!!! (You can read that story here). Thirteen days!?!?!  There is no way I can do that!!

Now up until that moment, we had not even discussed the possibility of testing. No commentary on what would be needed to be prepared, where he or the other instructors saw weaknesses in my game or even the structure of the new test.

Just a spontaneous “are you ready?” conversation.  There was only one answer I could give…..

“Absolutely!”

You see, I train with a purpose and so should you.

Now your purpose is probably not the same as mine.  Not many people are actively training in multiple martial arts and focused on being able to go 10 rounds or stop multiple assailants on a plane if needed (yes, I really do think like that).   However everyone should put a purpose behind their health goals.

It is easy to skip a workout, or multiple workouts, when you don’t have a clearly defined purpose.  It’s easy to order the chili cheese fries when you don’t have a goal staring you in the face.  It’s easy to have that extra glass of wine when there is nothing to focus on.

Without a big goal to command your focus in the long run, the decisions you make in the short run lend themselves to the easy rather than the best choice.

So what is your goal?  Is it…

scale

Weight loss:

You know this is a simple matter of calories in, calories out.  You also have to understand that it is the marathon of goals, not the sprint.  Set a weight target and a realistic date to hit it and then track your ongoing progress (there are lots of great apps and calculators out there to help you do this).  Put that number everywhere you turn so it is constantly reminding you of the real treat, seeing your number on the scale.

Blood pressure

Lowered Blood Pressure:

Talk to your Dr. About what you need to do specifically in this area but I know for my family it is keeping salt to a minimum and making sure we are exercising.  Skip the salt shaker and get your 20 minutes in everyday.  Believe me you will feel and sleep a whole lot better.  Track it regularly and celebrate small incremental decreases.

energy

More energy throughout your day:

Foods high in refined sugar and carbs lead to spikes in blood sugar and corresponding crashes.  Remind yourself before indulging in those cookies of how you will feel an hour later.  Is the short term burst worth the crash later that day.  Sometimes the answer is ‘yes’ but work to make ‘yes’ a rarer and rarer answer.

headshot

Fitting in your clothes better:

When I started this fitness journey about 5 years ago, this was a major goal of mine.  When I am on the mat I am often wearing a rash guard/compression shirt.  They show every ripple, bulge, love handle, muscle or lack there of.  I was embarrassed enough of my body that I would wear a t-shirt over the rash guard until it was time to step on the mat.  Vanity was, and still is, a major motivator for me.

Interestingly, I fill out t-shirts and rash guards much better now but I still am in the habit of wearing a t-shirt over them for the most part, even in the gym.  I guess some habits are really ingrained.

But let’s not lose sight of the bigger issue here, you have to have a long term goal to help you make good short term decisions.

G2G

Jim Collins in his book Good to Great defines it as a BHAG -Big Hairy Audacious Goal.

If you have a clearly defined BHAG, and you keep it front and center, when the opportunity arises for you to make a choice that either gets your closer or moves you further away, the answer will be clear for you too.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a test to go train for.  Time to go spar, roll and practice katas.
See you on the road.