The "I Can't" Crowd

I’m finding, as I find my own fitness, and as I get older, I have very little patience with the “I can’t” and ‘woe is me” school of thought. I suppose it’s because I think everyone should have the same attitude I had when I had my health issues – “This is terrible, I’m a freak, what’s going to happen to me, why me, this is awful, why me, why me, why me?” I had my pity party…then I got over myself, realized this is the hand I was dealt, let’s go. But not everyone does that, and that’s their bag. But it is aggravating.

Case in point: on one of the groups I belong to for people who had or are going to have the surgeries I had, there was a post from someone basically complaining that they had gained around 50 pounds since their operation and nothing they tried could get the weight to come off. They described how they ate like a bird and couldn’t lose weight. They talked about how they only really ate a handful of fruit and maybe some nuts, hardly anything at all and couldn’t understand why they were still, well…fat.

Right away I say they’re not eating enough. Sometimes you have to eat more to weigh less, you know. But I was at work and couldn’t answer right away. Others stepped up and explained a few things and made suggestions. Apparently, several people are having success with the paleo diet and here is where things went south for me.

The person answers, “Oh I’ve looked into that and have a bunch of cookbooks for it but it’s too expensive and too much of a lifestyle change.”

And that simple statement told me everything I needed to know. No matter what advice or ideas I could give, it’s not their time to change yet. They haven’t reached that point…what Anthony Robbins says is the “No More, Not Another Day, Not Another Second” point where they’ll be ready and do what’s necessary to change.

And…there’s nothing I can do about that. Will I abandon or stop trying to advise and help? Of course not. Will I continue to be an inspiration to people? Of course. (Although, truth be told, I am still uncomfortable with that. To me, as I’ve stated, it’s just the hand I was dealt. But if I can be, I will be.) It’s a hard thing for us fitness people to understand that sometimes the only thing we can do is wait.

I’ve got the answer to a lot of stuff but until and unless someone is ready to hear it…I can’t do anything about that. They’ll continue to “I Can’t” their way through until they either hit that point or realize the “I Can” side of the street looks a lot better.

And that’s up to them.

I Remember Why Insanity is called Insanity

I decided to do the Insanity workout again about a month ago, just before the 2014 Beachbody Coach Summit, so I could build up my stamina and endurance to keep up with those young whipper-snappers in the group workouts. It worked! I'm 54, felt 24, unfortunately I feel so good I think I still look 24, which explains the odd looks from the hot, young, fit, Beachbody ladies. (I'm sure they were wondering why is this guy as old as my dad talking to me like that!?!)

When I returned I decided to just keep on trucking and finish a round of Insanity. It's only 4 more weeks after all. Yes...4 more weeks of the MAX workouts. Each about an hour long. Each a sweatfest. Each trying to kill me.

I'm only a couple of days in and have burned a total of over 1900 calories. It's amazing to me that one can burn that many calories simply by being on their knees in their garage workout space, in a pool of their own sweat, repeating over and over, "I can't breathe!" Did I mention I'm 54?

Well...I'm in it now. I often say there's no quit in me. I realize that, while I may never be able to finish one of the workouts in its totality with out pausing it, watching the DVD with a "you want me to do what now who?" expression on my face, and stopping to get more water, at the end of this month I'll probably be in much better shape than I was at the beginning. And that consistency will pay off.

But I swear when I see Shaun T in person, I'm gonna smack him in the head!

Immediacy vs. Reality

We are, or have become, a culture that expects everything right now. Immediate gratification seems to be the watch word of the day.

If you order at the drive thru, you expect it now.
If you play a game, you expect to be great now.
If you work out for one day, you expect to see abs now.

No time for preparation. No time for practice. No time for diet and exercise.

Ain't nobody got time for that!

But, the only way to get where you want to go, to reach your goals, is to try...and fail...and fail again...then take a step forward...and fail...and then, once you've done that a few times, and learned a little bit of why that happened..success, after success, after success.

The fit bodies you admire or say, "I'm going to look like this," didn't happen overnight. (Although, there are some people who it seems just look at a weight and grow!) Everyone started right where you are right now. They may have been fatter, or thinner, I doubt they were smarter. They just kept going and knew that they weren't going to get it now.

Hockey great Wayne Gretzky, when asked how he was able to set or break nearly every record in professional hockey answered simply, "I went to practice."

It takes time. But always remember - Goals combined with Discipline AND Consistency lead to Achievement.

And that's reality.

The workout is only half the story!

Experience or.. I've Done Stupid Stuff

I do give advice, mostly when I'm asked, and sometimes when I must...usually when someone is doing or saying something I know a little about. And even then its because I've done the same thing and know it doesn't work.

It's a slippery slope. I'm not a nutritionist. I'm not a personal trainer. I'm not ripped to shreds and I'm not overtly muscular. But I am knowledgeable and fairly well read. I've worked out for years, done pretty much all the Beachbody workouts (P90X, Insanity, Asylum, etc.) so I know what I'm talking about. I've lost near 50 pounds and almost a foot from my waist.

In other words, all the things you think will work and haven't...I've done because I thought they'd work...and didn't. So there's a lot to be said for doing stupid things that don't kill you because you know what won't work and you can save someone else some wasted time.

That is...if they listen to you. But that's another story.

The Scale - Get It Out Of Your Head

Let me reiterate something I've said before: the scale is not your friend.

By that I mean it's not the true arbiter of your health or fitness. You must go by how you look, how you feel, how your clothes fit rather than obsess about every ounce or pound. That's a sure path to unhappiness and possible insanity ( the condition, not the exercise program!). I weigh myself maybe once a week and if I'm up or down a pound or two, or 5.8, I don't worry...I just resolve to work a bit harder, tighten up my diet, and just keep pushing play.

So don't beat yourselves up if you go on vacation and gain a little weight. Your body needs a rest and that time you take to recharge, reset, and recouperate will lead to greater gains and better results!

A Philosophy of Sorts, Part 2

As promised, part 2 of the two axioms I try to follow. So in addition to the previous:
To be Young, Do Young Things, I give you part 2:

To have energy, be energized.

Well, what does that mean? I hear many times from people they want to workout but they have no energy. Or they're tired. Or they just can't get themselves up to workout.

The truth of the matter is sometimes I don't have energy either, and I'm tired, and there are times when I can't drag myself out of bed to workout. So you know what I do? I get up and workout.

Occasionally I have to force myself but when you form the habit of doing this, even of you don't feel like it, you still go do it! And 99 times out of 100, as soon as you start the workout - there's your energy!

So, again in my rambling way, I have to say something seemingly ridiculous - You need energy to exercise but you get energy from exercising!

In other words, Nike was right - Just Do It!