You Can't Seem To Stick To Your NY Resolution

21 days is typically the time period it takes to form a habit (good or bad), this is what most studies have shown.  People resolve to do things January 1, it is the dreaded New Years Resolution.  Most of these resolutions are around health.  Lose weight is the #1, quit smoking, quit drinking, start exercising top the list.  Fitness centers are packed, quick weight loss diets are making money hand over fist, nicotine gum sales go up, alcohol sales go down, goofy exercise equipment sales go way up.

21 days into the new year, past studies have shown 95% of the population have failed to stick to their resolution.  Resolvers have cheated on their diet, missed a work out session, snuck in a cigarette (or two), had those two drinks (or more).

Here is my Whole 30 update:  I started this on January 7, 2013 (to avoid the New Years Day rush).

Highlights:

I’ve lost body fat.  How much I don’t know but all of my pants are loose, so I lost the body fat where it counts the most, my midsection, my ass and my hips.

I am sleeping better. This alone is worth my body weight in gold! (that would be $4,680,000.00).  Falling asleep quickly, and sleeping through the night, waking up refreshed and energized.  No amount of money can give you this blissful experience.

I am getting stronger!  Set a few personal records during this two week period in some of my exercise movements.

I love the food!  The Whole 30 chili using spaghetti squash is outstanding, and fresh steamed vegetables are my favorite along with grilled steak.  My favorite snacks are fresh bing cherries, black berries, blue berries and macadamia nuts.

My attitude is better, my mental outlook is better. My memory is sharper.

My nose is no longer stuffed up constantly. My sense of smell and taste has improved dramatically!

My digestive system is working efficiently, no bloated feeling, feel clean. I'm a regular guy.

My skin tone is better, my hair feels softer, and that annoying body acne is going away.

My joints feel better.  My recovery from training is quicker.

I feel happy! And my energy levels are high all day long.

Lowlights:

During days 4-7 I struggled with serious food withdrawals.  This came in the form of headaches, bad headaches that would come and go, tunnel vision.  This was serious stuff, only one time did I take Advil, the other times I just suffered it out being fully aware what was taking place.  My body was “revolting.”  This too shall pass, and by day 8 I was feeling better.  It took about 3 days to completely eliminate all the “poison” in my system, then the withdrawals hit.  It took about 72-96 hours to get past those withdrawals.

I am going to Costco a lot!  Costco is a Whole30 shoppers paradise.

Summary:

This is one of those points in my life where I just said WTH and went for it.  It is only 30 days and it could possibly change my life.  How hard is this.

I like the simple question you ask yourself before you eat or drink anything.  “is this going to make me healthier or unhealthier?”  Intuitively you know.  Seriously, can you LIE to yourself?  If you can then you should be locked away in a mental institution.

In the past 14 days I have only drank water and black coffee.  And those may be the only two things I drink for the rest of my life.  (although I do plan on drinking alcohol again on August 14, 2022)

Eliminating dairy, grains, legumes, and sugar has made such a huge impact on my physical well being it is hard to explain.

There is no “cheating” on this plan and it is really simple, just eat what is on the list, and the choices are plenty.

I am now convinced that 90% of the food that Americans are told to eat is poison, that is the subject of another article later.

You can eat “clean” and it is actually very easy to do.  I am now convinced that dairy, grains and sugar are “poisons” to my system.  Without eliminating those from my diet I would have never discovered this alarming fact.  I was brought up eating that stuff for 54 years.  This Whole30 experiment has changed my life for the better already and I am only half way into the time period.  I am looking forward to bigger and better results in the next 16 days.  Try the Whole 30 Program

You Are Fat and Don't Want to Be Fat Anymore

The Quick Fix!  The Magic Pill!  The Easy Way!

The weight loss industry is a multi-billion dollar market.  It is never ending.  Yet, the population is getting fatter.  I will not call them obese, I will call them FAT!  FAT and unhealthy.

It's not your hormones, your job, your family, your stress, your genes, your lack of time or what ever other lame excuse you want to give yourself.  That is over, right now.

Hit the RESET button for the next 30 minutes.  From this moment for the rest of your life, before you put anything into your mouth or drink any liquid ask your self this question.

Is this healthy or unhealthy for me?  This is black or white, no gray areas.  

Here is a short self test to see if you can grasp this simple concept:  You want something to drink, you have two choices, plain water (H2O) zero calories or a Diet Soda (a whole lot of chemicals) but zero calories.  Which is healthy and which is unhealthy?  I'll give you a nano-second to think about that, done.

Look at this picture:

What matters most scale weight or body composition?  If the man on the left weighed exactly the same as the man on the right which body composition would you chose?  So the amount you weigh really doesn't matter all that much, does it? Further more, in your non medical opinion just based upon appearance alone which would man would you say is healthier?  

There is a solution, but it will involve some changes.  I will use the man on my left as a case study.

The goal:  Lose fat, gain muscle.  

The challenge:  no special crazy fad diets, diet pills, powders or treatments.  Just food that is available from the local grocery store and some body weight exercise movements.

Nutritional Transformation Period: 30 day quick start on nutrition using the Whole30 program, this is a starting point.  It will reset your entire nutrition outlook, and it will change the way you look at food for the rest of your life.  Is it easy, no.  Is it worth the journey, yes.  Read about the entire Whole30 program and invest in the book or the one month program here. Investment $20.00

The Whole30 Program Information

Physical Transformation Period: 30 day body weight program using Convict Conditioning.  This is a great place to start, and it progresses you through beginner to complete advanced using body weight exercises only.  Everything is mapped out for you in steps.  It works.  You don't have to join a gym, buy any special equipment and the book is worth it's weight (loss) in gold.  The book is your guide and is worth the investment.  Read about the program and buy the book here:

Convict Conditioning

I am going to promise you results based upon your adherence to the guidelines in the Whole30 Nutritional program and the Convict Conditioning program for 30 days.

The biggest question is are you willing to commit?  The eating part is easy, everything is planned out for you all you need to do is follow the roadmap.  The physical part is easy also, 30 minutes a day to start, build up to 45 minutes a day. Investment $40.00

If you don't want to be FAT anymore then invest the time and invest $60.00 in yourself.

If you have any questions drop a comment below or email me at al@ironsolid.com

You Are Not Sleeping Well At Night

I am convinced that swinging a kettlebell in high volume is a cure for not sleeping well at night. Over the past four days I did 1730 one arm kettlebell swings with a 20kg bell, last night I was the fortunate soul that was able to sleep solid from 10:00pm until 4:30am.  A deep uninterrupted restful sleep, I fell a sleep and then I awoke, rested.  What happened?  When I awoke I felt refreshed and was ready to get up and start the day, and this is a Saturday.

In life there are very few things that are complete bliss and joy, and most of them are free.  It is hard to rank them because they just depend on the situation, but a good restful night of sleep gets very high rankings on my list.

A good solid night of sleep.  There is no price tag on getting a great nights sleep.  If you have ever had the experience of a restful night of sleep you will agree completely.

The way I earn my US fiat currency to support my current lifestyle is very sedentary. If I didn't have to drive a car and walk to restaurants with clients I could pretty much do everything I need to do in the supine position.  But being a domesticated human being I sit all day.  And sitting is bad for you.  My earning activities revolve around talking on the phone (a lost art) occasionally, or working an electronic communication or data input device (cell phone or computer) most of the time.  My performance in responding to requests, hitting deadlines and occasionally rectifying business issues do not depend upon my physical attributes or capabilities.  So when I retire for the day I am more mentally tired than physically tired.  Although I am mentally tired it is very difficult to shut off your mind and this would often times lead me to restless nights of sleep.

Enter the Kettlebell! (again), over the past four days I have been doing kettlebell swings through out the day to hit the volume I need to do on a daily basis to achieve the 10,000 swing challenge for the month of January.   I may have hit the magic point based upon my restful night of sleep.  Taking on high volume swings is not for the faint of heart, the task seems overwhelming for most normal people.

I love the kettlebell swing and all the great benefits that come from this simple but very effective total body movement.  And I just experienced another benefit - A Restful Night of Sleep!

So if you are finding the restful night of sleep elusive, one possible solution is to learn the RKC Hardstyle Kettlebell Swing and start swinging!  Put in some high volume work each day and your body and your mind will thank you.

You Are Losing Strength As You Age

Just by looking at a persons physical appearance and the way they walk I can pretty much tell if that person is strong, I've been fooled on occasion but rarely. The first thing we do is a proper FMS screen to assess mobility then we test strength. OK, I need to define strong.  Here is my definition of strong for a male in his 50's.  These are not elite standards by any means just baselines and in some circles considered minimums.

I use three strength screens, barbell, bodyweight, ketllebell.  I start with bodyweight first, I may have to do some instructing prior to the kettlebell and barbell tests and that is OK, our goal is to get a baseline to start our training program.

Body Weight

Do your age in push ups minus 10 reps adding 1 rep for each year over 50.
54 years old the target would be 36 reps (50-10-4=36)

Do your age in full squats minus 10 reps adding 1 reps for each year over 50.
55 years old the target would be 35 reps (50-10-5=35)

Pull Ups - at least 3 preferably 7-10, dead hang pull ups or chin ups
Dips - at least 5 preferably 7-10
Run 1 mile in under 10 minutes, or walk 1 mile in under 13 minutes

Kettlebell Movements

Goblet Squat 1/3 your body weight for 5 reps
100 - 2 arm swings with 1/3 your body weight in 5 minutes
Strict Military Press 1/3 your body weight with each arm
Perform a Turkish Get Up with 1/3 your body weight on each side

Barbell Lifts

Deadlift 1.5x bodyweight

Bench Press 1.25x bodyweight

Squat 1.25x bodyweight

What I usually find is the man is carrying around an extra 25 pounds, and it is most likely concentrated around the mid section.  The muscle mass has diminished in the upper body and in the posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, erectors) and the thighs.

Nutrition habits will usually clean up most weight problems, unless there are medical issues.  Slight changes in what a person eats and drinks will show dramatic changes within 30 days.

For programming strength we start with bodyweight, then move to kettlebells then to the barbell.

In a short 30 days we can progress a unconditioned person through bodyweight to get them close enough to start adding in some kettlebell and barbell movements to aid in building the strength.

Over a 90 day training block using a session every other day as a guideline we can get a 50+ year old male to a reasonable strength level.  Then it is a matter of programming and goals.

90% of the males in this age bracket want to lose fat and gain muscle (strength).  Mobility is also key at this age so we do quite a bit of mobility movements and very little static stretching.  Our number one mobility movement is the Turkish Get Up.

Mobility, Stability, Strength is our goal as we move into our 50's.  Getting Strong is the #1 Goal.