Social Fitness
It is a well-known fact that the western world is suffering from obesity and obesity-related diseases. I have touched on some of this in previous blogs, but I want to cover one specific element of the problem in this blog.
Fitness.
Fitness is a word that, for many people, conjures up images of elite athletes rowing, running, cycling or swimming for gold medals. We tend to picture professional footballers hoisting trophies above their heads, explorers climbing Everest with oxygen masks on their faces or 5% body-fat power-lifters bench-pressing small elephants.
Fitness, for many people, is intimidating - particularly for people who are not fit.
Most fields of interests -business, cookery, music, physics, whatever you care to mention, will attract people interested in pushing the boundaries. There will always be extremely passionate and dedicated people that want to go beyond established physical and mental limits. Fitness, is no exception, and I believe it -and society- is suffering because of this natural tendency to push.
Getting fit is actually extremely easy, natural and very uncomplicated.
If you exercise and burn more calories than you eat, you will lose weight and gradually build up your fitness. If you eat more calories than you burn, you will put on weight and reduce your fitness levels.
I bet at least one personal trainer or purveyor of fitness products that read that last paragraph, shook their head and muttered something along the lines of "it's not that simple". Well, it is - starts dealing with it.
The fitness industry -over the years- has gradually made the process of getting fit more and more complicated. I prefer to believe that this is in an honest attempt to 'add value'. But a pessimist would say it is purely to differentiate and sell their products and services in an increasingly competitive market place. However we got here, it doesn't really matter. The reality is, we now have a society that is largely intimidated to exercise through the fear of getting it wrong and with terms like Amino Acids, Cardiovascular, Supersets, Polyunsaturates, Complex Carbohydrates, Anaerobic, Anabolic, Fartlek and Dual Energy X-ray absorptiometry (I am not even sure I spelt that last one correctly!), who can really blame them?
Life is complicated enough!
All you need to get fit is the belief that you are doing the right thing. Looking after your body is a responsibility that we should all accept and it is a lot easier to do than the people trying to sell you stuff would have you believe.
On food.
Its common practice to eat three meals a day - Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and if you snack in between you should do so in moderation. Your main meals should be made up of a good protein source (meat, fish, eggs, nuts or beans), a carbohydrate that hasn't been processed (potato, pasta, rice or anything wholegrain) and a portion of vegetables or salad (for vitamins) that ideally hasn't been cooked in excessive fat (boil, poach or grill food instead). Each portion should be no bigger than your clenched fist. Eat more than that and you will risk overeating and putting on weight. Snacks should be light and used to bridge the perceived gap between main meals. Healthy snacks, like nuts, fruit, milk, salad or wholegrain biscuits, maintain energy levels and stop overeating at main meals. They are good for us.
The above principles are really quite simple and we all know -really- what we should and shouldn't eat. However, if you do struggle with nutrition, there are a number of free online tools available to help. I use myfitnesspal.com but there are many others like this. You can log your daily food intake with the site (which has a vast database and convenient ways for you to access it via your phone, etc) and in return, you will get an understanding as to where your diet might be letting you down. With this knowledge, you can then make simple adjustments.
Exercise is even simpler. Be social!
Tonight, for example, I weight trained with a friend in my garage wearing the jeans and t-shirt I had on during the day. Tomorrow morning I will walk my dog and then maybe go for a run before I go to work. Wednesday evening I will cycle to a restaurant for dinner with my wife -rather than drive. Exercise is really easy. All you need to do is move. Don't make it an elite activity that you need to make time for or buy special equipment - make it easy, make it simple and make it part of your life and social habits. The more social your fitness habits, the more successful you will be.
As with the nutrition- If you find exercise complicated and need more information to tune what you are doing, you can log your activities with the same tools I mentioned before. They will tell you how many calories you burned during your daily activities which gives you an idea on how much more (or less) active you need to be to meet your goals. You could even invest in something like a Nike Fuel Band. Elite athletes frown on them -because they are not entirely accurate- but they give you a feeling of how active you are being (or at least confirm your thoughts on how lazy you have been). Essentially there are a multitude of simple and easy ways to get affirmation on your routines and habits.
Elite Athletes, please don't get me wrong...
I am not saying that complicated, elite fitness is a bad thing - as to many people it is inspiring. I am simply saying that the majority of people need to establish a base level of fitness before they are lambasted with the world of complexity that is elite fitness. Ironically, the fitness industry would actually benefit from this because fitter people would simply demand more specialist products and services - and ACTUALLY use them consistently over time. There are some early adopters of this approach in the fitness industry and you will occasionally meet a good personal trainer who realises it is about making fitness accessible to their individual clients rather than forcing fitness regimes upon them, but ultimately the change has to start with YOU. Take the first few uncomplicated steps, keep it simple, stay active and social.
On a lighter note, feel free to leave comments - this week, I am interested to know of the most casual and informal bit of exercise you have ever done (i.e. just got off the sofa, put your trainers on and run 10 miles in what you were wearing that day)
Thanks for Reading,
Chancey
Fitness.
Fitness is a word that, for many people, conjures up images of elite athletes rowing, running, cycling or swimming for gold medals. We tend to picture professional footballers hoisting trophies above their heads, explorers climbing Everest with oxygen masks on their faces or 5% body-fat power-lifters bench-pressing small elephants.
Fitness, for many people, is intimidating - particularly for people who are not fit.
Most fields of interests -business, cookery, music, physics, whatever you care to mention, will attract people interested in pushing the boundaries. There will always be extremely passionate and dedicated people that want to go beyond established physical and mental limits. Fitness, is no exception, and I believe it -and society- is suffering because of this natural tendency to push.
Getting fit is actually extremely easy, natural and very uncomplicated.
If you exercise and burn more calories than you eat, you will lose weight and gradually build up your fitness. If you eat more calories than you burn, you will put on weight and reduce your fitness levels.
I bet at least one personal trainer or purveyor of fitness products that read that last paragraph, shook their head and muttered something along the lines of "it's not that simple". Well, it is - starts dealing with it.
The fitness industry -over the years- has gradually made the process of getting fit more and more complicated. I prefer to believe that this is in an honest attempt to 'add value'. But a pessimist would say it is purely to differentiate and sell their products and services in an increasingly competitive market place. However we got here, it doesn't really matter. The reality is, we now have a society that is largely intimidated to exercise through the fear of getting it wrong and with terms like Amino Acids, Cardiovascular, Supersets, Polyunsaturates, Complex Carbohydrates, Anaerobic, Anabolic, Fartlek and Dual Energy X-ray absorptiometry (I am not even sure I spelt that last one correctly!), who can really blame them?
Life is complicated enough!
All you need to get fit is the belief that you are doing the right thing. Looking after your body is a responsibility that we should all accept and it is a lot easier to do than the people trying to sell you stuff would have you believe.
On food.
Its common practice to eat three meals a day - Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and if you snack in between you should do so in moderation. Your main meals should be made up of a good protein source (meat, fish, eggs, nuts or beans), a carbohydrate that hasn't been processed (potato, pasta, rice or anything wholegrain) and a portion of vegetables or salad (for vitamins) that ideally hasn't been cooked in excessive fat (boil, poach or grill food instead). Each portion should be no bigger than your clenched fist. Eat more than that and you will risk overeating and putting on weight. Snacks should be light and used to bridge the perceived gap between main meals. Healthy snacks, like nuts, fruit, milk, salad or wholegrain biscuits, maintain energy levels and stop overeating at main meals. They are good for us.
The above principles are really quite simple and we all know -really- what we should and shouldn't eat. However, if you do struggle with nutrition, there are a number of free online tools available to help. I use myfitnesspal.com but there are many others like this. You can log your daily food intake with the site (which has a vast database and convenient ways for you to access it via your phone, etc) and in return, you will get an understanding as to where your diet might be letting you down. With this knowledge, you can then make simple adjustments.
Exercise is even simpler. Be social!
Tonight, for example, I weight trained with a friend in my garage wearing the jeans and t-shirt I had on during the day. Tomorrow morning I will walk my dog and then maybe go for a run before I go to work. Wednesday evening I will cycle to a restaurant for dinner with my wife -rather than drive. Exercise is really easy. All you need to do is move. Don't make it an elite activity that you need to make time for or buy special equipment - make it easy, make it simple and make it part of your life and social habits. The more social your fitness habits, the more successful you will be.
As with the nutrition- If you find exercise complicated and need more information to tune what you are doing, you can log your activities with the same tools I mentioned before. They will tell you how many calories you burned during your daily activities which gives you an idea on how much more (or less) active you need to be to meet your goals. You could even invest in something like a Nike Fuel Band. Elite athletes frown on them -because they are not entirely accurate- but they give you a feeling of how active you are being (or at least confirm your thoughts on how lazy you have been). Essentially there are a multitude of simple and easy ways to get affirmation on your routines and habits.
Elite Athletes, please don't get me wrong...
I am not saying that complicated, elite fitness is a bad thing - as to many people it is inspiring. I am simply saying that the majority of people need to establish a base level of fitness before they are lambasted with the world of complexity that is elite fitness. Ironically, the fitness industry would actually benefit from this because fitter people would simply demand more specialist products and services - and ACTUALLY use them consistently over time. There are some early adopters of this approach in the fitness industry and you will occasionally meet a good personal trainer who realises it is about making fitness accessible to their individual clients rather than forcing fitness regimes upon them, but ultimately the change has to start with YOU. Take the first few uncomplicated steps, keep it simple, stay active and social.
On a lighter note, feel free to leave comments - this week, I am interested to know of the most casual and informal bit of exercise you have ever done (i.e. just got off the sofa, put your trainers on and run 10 miles in what you were wearing that day)
Thanks for Reading,
Chancey
Quite enjoying your posts Chancey! Agree with keep it simple. You don't NEED to do 45mins minimum before breakfast munching ephedrine/pro-plus whilst wearing a heart rate monitor and then immediately consume a protein/carb snack.
ReplyDeleteJust put your trainers on and move until you sweat for a while...and do it often. Habits take a while to stick. I ate cake so much it became a habit which was hard to break.
Regarding your profile comment about adding protein...soup with lentils in are the way forward.