Kickin' The HABIT

Welcome Back,

In the health and fitness industry we encounter many obsticals.  Whether it is with food, exercising regularly, or simply finding motivation to want to be healthier.  Whatever it may be there are no impossible obsticals, they are only as difficult as you make them.   More often than not they appear difficult because we are so use to doing things the only way we know how.  Therefore it becomes HABIT. 

Obviously not all habits are bad, if they were, we would all be in trouble!

Habits are made and fortunately they can inturn, be broken for good or bad.  However, we are going to focus on breaking the BAD and making them GOOD. 

Research shows that it takes on average 21 days to break a habit.  Unfortunately, most of us don't ever make it to the 21 day mark to see any sort of positive change.  Instead we tend to think with the mindset that "if it hasn't killed me yet, it can't be that bad for me."  YET is the opperative word there.  Hasn't killed you YET! 

The United States of America is the #1 obese country in the world and it is because of that irrational thinking that got us to the TOP SPOT on a list I personally am not proud to be on.  We live in day and age where our children are dying before the parents because of preventable diseases like childhood diabetes (typically due to childhood obesity) primarly because of poor eating HABITS!  Allowed by who?  THE PARENTS!

Children do not know any different. It is up to the parents to take an active roll in the childs' lives and set good examples for them at an early age in order to prevent unnecessary illnesses throughout their lives. 

Now don't get me wrong, I think a kid should be a kid and be able to enjoy a candy bar from time to time.  But parents come on lets be a little bit reallistic about this and keep the garbage out of your house.  Good habits start in the home and they start with YOU! 

You are like superheros to your kids whatever you do they want to do too.  If they see you drink a pop they want a pop, if you have a candy bar they want a candy bar.  The list goes on and on.  So why not create the imprint in their minds at a young age that fruits and veggies are delicious and nutritious.  I know it's not always the most convenient snack but that is the problem with people to day is that we are so spoiled by convenience that we neglect to take the time to prepare a health conscious meal or snack not only for our kids but for ourselves as adults.  Instead of the morning pop have a CUP (6-8oz.) of BLACK COFFEE and a water with your breakfast and rather than wake up with just enough time to race out the door to work wake up 30 minutes earlier and have some breakfast with your kids.

I understand people don't like change, believe me I didn't either but I knew that if I didn't change in the profession I am in why should anyone else to want to either.

Take for example my love for Dr. Pepper. I will admit that there was a time where my vice was Dr. Pepper and believe me I LOVE Dr. Pepper!  But I realized that even though I enjoyed the taste of it, I knew that it was one of my obsticals I had to adjust to for me to achieve the goals I was trying to obtain.  First of all pop is aweful for you regardless of the delicious taste, but 90 percent of the time so is most anything that taste great.  But you learn to adapt.

I use to drink at least one pop daily and now I am lucky if I drink one a month.  I was able to kick the habit in less than a week because what I was working for meant that much to me. I was running a do as I say not as I do business and in fitness that just frustrates people more than motivates, so I had to make some changes. And I did!  I no longer crave pop, in fact I find that I can't get enough water and a pop just doesn't hit the spot anymore. 

All it takes is a little will power and the motivation to want to take the steps toward living a healthier and happier life. 

I KICKED my habit. And you can too! 


Best Wishes,
Derek

IT'S TIME TO BE SELFISH

Ladies and gentlemen,

I have a bone to pick with you!  How many of you read these blog posts and apply them to your everyday life?  And, How many of you read them and shrug them off as "same old crap just a different day"? 

Either way we need to chat!  Now as a personal health and fitness advisor it is my job and personal goal in life to help each and every one of you achieve personal fitness success. Keep in mind I am not a miracle worker and I DO NOT have a magic pill that gets immediate results.  NO BODY DOES!  And if they do, chances are, it's probably not safe for you. 

So enough with the rambling.  Because I truly want to help you, it's what I love to do!  So if you would like my help and guidance.  I will give you everything I have got to get you to where you are going.  But what I am going to need from you is a little SELFISHNESS!  That's right be selfish for once in your life, stop doing what everyone else wants/ expects you to do and do something for yourself. 

To life a healthy life means change.  Believe me I know, change is scary. But change is also, GOOD!  You're thinking, well, what do you mean change.  ("I don't want to give up my weekends of fun"(ALCOHOL) or "Eating healthy is too, expensive.") You are somewhat correct on the latter, eating healthy is expensive, but it doesn't have to cost you anything extra, if you could/would just make a few sacrifices. 

Let me ask you this, What is one of your vices you think you can't live with out?  Try getting rid of that and take the money you save from one of your daily/weekly habits (that I am sure isn't all that good for you) and apply that towards healthier foods. 

Back to being selfish.  This can all be done with baby steps but no one else is going to do this for you.  If you find yourself doing everything for everyone else and can not for the life of you remember the last time you did something for you, take this time to reflect and declare it "YOU TIME" or "ME TIME" whichever you prefer and do not let anyone or thing interrupt you for however long you determine.  "BREATHE!"  And say to yourself, "THIS IS FOR ME AND NOBODY ELSE!" 

Once you can declare a "me time"  let it become routine, routines are healthy.  If you say your are going to run 3 miles at 5:30 am then get your butt out of bed and RUN! If you are meeting with trainer at a certain time do your best to keep that appointment, who cares if you inconvenience someone else for 45 minutes.  Let them know you will make it worth their while.  BECAUSE THIS IS MY TIME TO DO WHAT I HAVE TO DO FOR ME!

SELFISHNESS IS A NECESSITY!

CONGRATULATIONS! Now go do YOU!

BEST WISHES,
DEREK

AHH, THOSE SUMMER NIGHTS!!!!

Hello Again,

I know, I know!  It has been far too long since my last blog post and I apologize.  I suppose I could use the excuse I hear all too often, "I'm BUSY,"  but I will not.  As a matter of fact I really don't have an excuse that would satisfy your distaste for my lack of commitment this summer to you as readers, fitness enthusiasts and friends. 

On a daily basis I continue to reiterate to my clients that their excuses do not matter to me.  There is always time to exercise it just takes a little extra commitment both physically and mentally.  Now, I understand that with summer, comes vacations and parties and all of the fun things that we all love to do.  I am guilty of it too! 

However that does not relieve me from my moral obligation to motivate and help each and everyone of you be successful in your fitness endeavours. 

So HEAR IS MY PROMISE TO YOU...
Summer is coming to an end and as much as I really hate to say this it has been a hectic but a good one at that.  My one true excuse I will use is that I did get engaged this summer and on top of that bought a house, so if you could grant me this one excuse it would be appreciated. 

So Starting AUGUST 15th, my promise to you is to post a minimum of two health and fitness related posts monthly but my goal will be to hammer out 1 post weekly. 

SO READERS IF YOU HAVE NOT HEARD FROM ME AT LEAST TWICE  DO NOT HESITATE TO HARASS ME AND SAY "LET'S GO!"

NO MORE EXCUSES!

DEREK

Some-er Distractions

Hi there,

Well, Summer is finally here!  Hopefully you were ready for it.  You worked hard all winter long and through the spring to get in the best shape of your life and now you're ready to sport that hot new swimsuit you've been dying to fit into. 

My question to you is, Are you the type of person who puts all of your efforts into getting ready for the summer only to party and watch everything you worked for go away?  Or, are you disciplined and continue to fine tune that body you worked so hard for? 

Throughout my years of training I have encounted far too many people who work their "tail" off right up until about the the first sign of nice weather and then they disappear from the gym.  Maybe they are taking advantage of the weather and participating in an outdoor fitness camp or prefer to run, walk or bike outside.  If so, GO YOU!  Unfortunately, a greater majority of those people are indulging in other "extra-curricular" activities. 

These I call "Some-er distractions" because some, not all, of the activities we choose to partake in have an unfortunately powerful strangle hold on our decision making when it comes to working out in the summer.  Keep in mind I am not saying you can not or should not enjoy your summer and have fun.  Just remember that more often than not these distraction come with consequences.  If you can live with potentially gaining back most if not all of the weight your worked so hard to lose than by all means go for it, it's your body, your life. 

However, a little note, sometimes indulging in too many "some-er distractions" will actually add unnecessary weight that you might find even more difficult to get rid of.

Best Wishes this Summer,
Derek

To Cardio, OR Not to Cardio?

Welcome,

Everyday I meet people who's goals are to lose weight, tone-up, and just look and feel better.  Unfortunately, those same people are the instant gratification type who want the quick fix to a problem that more than likely did not happen over night.  You did this to YOU and YOU can fix it.  It is just going to take a little time and a lot of effort and discipline.

You can try all of the fad diets and pills you want and you may lose a few pounds here and there, but you can almost guarantee that you will put it back on (often time(s) double the weight) just as fast as you lost it.  Now, if you do not already know, let me be the first to tell you that 80 percent of successful weight loss begins and ends with good nutrition.  The rest is exercise and SLEEP!(8 consecutive hours, minimum)  So unless suffer from insomnia or sleep apnea, this is the easy part. 

Exercise is great!  But there are different types of exercise(s) for different results.  Although weight training is great for toning and building muscle, the most effective form of exercise to assist in your weight loss journey is cardiovascular training.  Keep in mind, for this to be most effective you must first find your optimal training zone (Heart Rate) and then maintain that zone (fat burning) during bouts of cardiovascular activity. 

Please understand that I am not saying that you can not lift weights to burn fat.  You simply have to lift weights at a rate at which it increases your heart rate to the optimal training zone and maintain it as you would during a run, walk, or bike ride. 

Formula for finding your training zone:  220 - AGE= max heart rate(HR)   Cardiovascular endurance training (Max HR x .75 =  cardio training zone),  To burn fat you should train at 50-60 % of your max HR, to find your range take (Max HR x .5-.6= Fat burning zone).

Thank You for Stopping By,

Derek

The Ever Confusing Carbohydrate **???** To EAT or NOT To EAT

Hey there,

As a Certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Nutrition Coach, keeping up with all the changing trends can be rather exhausting.  Do I eat this? Can I eat that? How much do I eat? And, when do I eat it?  WELL, I am here to try and help with some of the confusion as it pertains to a much needed macronutrient and major source of energy, the Carbohydrate.

Carbohydrates are a one of three major macronutrients that the body uses for energy.  When you here about high endurance athletes "carb loading" the night before an event they are in fact filling up their bodies tank(s) to allow for optimal performance.  Keep in  mind "carb loading" does not mean that they are ingesting "twinkies" and cupcakes but, complex carbohydrates that will stick with them for an extended period of time as fuel for their event. 

If your thinking, "why can't I carb load?" " I Love Carbs!"  The reason is that most people carb load at the wrong time of day and with the wrong type(s) of carbs.  Simple carbs are carbohydrates that are burnt off quickly and spike the glycogen strores (blood sugar) providing a quick burst of energy, however, with the possibility of a crash at the end.  Then there are Complex carbs.  These are what fuel you throughout the day. 

So now you're thinking, why don't I just eat bread all day if it gives me so much energy.  Well, because if you're like the majority of Americans the chance that you're going to burn all of that fuel as energy is highly unlikely and unless you're eating breads made from WHOLE GRAINS you are missing the picture.  We as Americans are lazy, and after a long day at work the tendency is to want to come home and veg-out on the couch.  We want food that tastes good and not like cardboard, therefore, we opt for the foods high in sugars and artificial sweeteners. Which in turn causes that unused energy to be stored as "FAT". 

Because we have other energy sources that our bodies draw from at different times for different levels of activities carb loading is not necessary.  Especially if the end goal is to shed unwanted fatty tissues. 

Although it is important to balance your proteins, fats and carbohydrates, if you want to burn unwanted adipose tissue (fat) try to keep your carbohydrates to that of the complex form (whole grains, oatmeal, vegetables) keeping the majority of the carbs in the morning for breakfast and taper your carb intake as the day gets longer.  My recommendation is to try and eliminate "bread" carbohydrates after 2pm.  Vegetables are good to eat anytime.  The more fresh (uncooked) the vegetables the more nutritional value they have.


Also, feel free to check out my new website.  http://www.hummelhealthandfitness.com/

Thank You,
Derek

Side note:  If your workout sessions are later in the day do not be afraid to eat some sort of complex carbohydrate 30-60 minutes prior to your workout.  Small enough to fuel your body but not so big it comes back up mid workout. 

4 Month Check Up

Hello Again,

Every New Year we find it necessary to make a resolution to do something we have not done or change something we have not changed.  And most of us are committed for a month or two, some of us a little longer but too few actually stick with the original plan.  Don't get me wrong, I am sure every resolution was made with the best of intention.  Unfortunately, LIFE HAPPENS!  I get it, YOU'RE HUMAN, aren't we all. 

We all slip up from time to time, no one is perfect.  Although we were taught not to be selfish, well some of us, but when it comes to your health it is OK to be selfish.  We as humans tend to get side tracked on doing everything for everyone else that we put "us" off for later.  Most times we forget about "us." Yes, sometimes it is second nature to put others first, but at what point to we have to draw the line and say, it's my time now!

Now this is a health and fitness blog, at least it is supposed to be.  So, if you are reading this and your New Year resolution was to go the gym more, get in better shape, run or walk more, lose weight, decrease body fat, or simply live a healthier lifestyle, this is for YOU.  However, if your resolution has nothing to do with health or fitness, this is still for you. 

Having said that, IT IS APRIL!  What have you done?  Are you on track to reaching your goals?  Or, are you the majority and have given up on what you set out to do?

This is your 4 MONTH CHECK UP!  If you are someone who made the resolution to better your health and fitness but have done nothing to help yourself, IT'S NOT TOO LATE!  This is where you reevaluate what is important to you and then do something about it.  It all starts with accountability and accountability begins and ends with YOU and only you. 

If you have given up on your resolution(s), MY CHALLENGE TO YOU IS, renew your resolution and get back on track, stop with the excuses and finish what you set out to do.  Life happens and unfortunately, it waits for no one.  So make time for NUMERO UNO!

Sincerely,

Derek