Okay - so where do we start?

For those of you who have kept up with our journey so far, first let me offer my thanks. Being able to share what has become a true passion for us has been, in itself, hugely rewarding.

But - our goal here at 40SomethingFitness is to inspire others to achieve their own goals. Inspiration is fine and good, but we all need specifics at times. So, if we've achieved the "inspiration" part and you're ready to start taking steps, here are a few things to get you going.

Step 1: Making the commitment to a better you

Okay - this may not feel like you're actually "doing" anything, but I'm convinced that this is worth investing some real time to dealing with. What do I mean by commitment? I think it encompasses all of these things:

• Understand why you are committed to a better you. For us, we were tired of being tired, unhappy with our bodies, and riding the roller coaster of "feed and crash." What is it for you? Be specific about what you want to change. Picture it clearly and, maybe, even write a letter to yourself.


• Understand where this commitment fits in with your other life's priorities. Let's face it, we're all pretty busy and we have a lot of obligations to others in our life. But you're going to have to make choices in the near future. The demands on your time will not ease up. When our trainer asked us separately to rate our commitment on a scale of 1-10, we both said "eight, because life happens and things come up." So - which things will come up that you will let your priorities shift. Because, honestly, most demands on your time will adjust for you if you stand your ground.


• Understand when you can fit your commitment into your schedule. Everyone has their preferences about the best time to train, but the truth is the best time is when YOU can train.

When you have a serious talk with yourself about your level of commitment, you have a pretty fair idea of how far you will go to make it happen. Set yourself up for success - a permanent transformation to a better you.

Step 2: Put together your nutrition plan

In Part 3 of our Healthy Transformation story, we outlined a number of nutritional approaches and our take on each of them, ending up with the guidelines we follow. If you haven't read that yet, and you don't know where to start, I recommend taking a few minutes reading the overview.

If you have any health issues, especially metabolic or cardiovascular issues, make sure your doctor is aware of changes in your diet, so you can discuss impacts to medications or other possible changes.

These are our recommendations for healthy adults who will be combining a nutrition and fitness regime for weight loss:

• Emphasize protein first at every meal. Protein helps build muscle and keeps you full. Breakfast foods like yoghurt and eggs are great alternatives to cereal. Try and leave the breads and buns behind at lunch.


• Get creative at adding veggies everywhere you can. Fresh spinach goes on a lot of things. Cauliflower is deeply under-appreciated. And you can make a stir-fry out of just about anything in the crisper drawer in about 10 minutes.


• Eat some fruit - not a ton - but some. Berries are best.


• Make any grains you eat the closest thing to the whole form possible.


• Ditch soda and sweetened beverages in favor of water and/or unsweet tea. It's quite simply the easiest way to remove a lot of calories from your daily intake, and the sugar spikes are awful for a healthy metabolism.


• If you can afford it, switch fresh or fresh frozen ingredients for things that come in a box. The amount of hidden sugars and other interesting chemical components make sticking to a nutrition plan much more difficult.

Step 3: Implement your nutrition plan.

• Plan your meals. Especially as you're getting started and changing your default selections, you may not have everything on hand that you need to cook differently. A meal plan at least a couple of days into the future will help you ensure you have your macro nutrient priorities (protein, fat, carbs) in order and key ingredients in your fridge.


• NOTE: If you're an iOS user, the free app MyFood (among others) is a handy way to check the nutritional content of fresh foods and ingredients.


• Cook things in bulk. Having key elements in place and ready to use will make meal prep easier and take away the temptation to go back to old habits. We make the following things ahead of time to cover three or four meals' worth:




• Chicken breast - sliced into 1" strips, seasoned and pan-grilled in olive oil. We use it in wraps, stir-fries, sandwiches (on homemade bread), and just on-the-fly.


• Egg salad - six eggs at a time. Great for on-the-go protein in a hurry.


• Mixed salad - we use Hefty or Debbie Meyer green bags and make up about a gallon of salad at a time. Takes minutes to throw in a bowl. Ten minutes if you boil an egg and dice up some of that pre-cooked chicken in the fridge.


• Fresh salsa - very simple to make (we will share the recipe on a forthcoming page) and a great topping for just about anything. You'll never buy a jar again.


• Steel cut oats (apples & cinnamon) - A cup of steel cut oats (dry) makes about six servings and it refrigerates and reheats beautifully.


• Pot roast or carnitas - A large roast in the crock pot is about as effortless as it gets. We usually get about six servings out of a roast. Precooked, you have key ingredients for Philly cheesesteak, mexican style dishes, or just picked out of the bowl.


• Snacks - we make roasted garbanzo beans and three-bean salad that make grazing healthy and tasty.




• Plan for "temptation triggers". Having the right kinds of ingredients and prepared snacks readily available will keep you from wavering when you're thinking about that afternoon cookie at Starbucks. Make sure your food goes with you. Also, watch out for triggers based on routines or rituals. Where are you most likely to indulge in an impulse snack? For me, it used to be the after-work gas or grocery run. I still look extra hard at the Whatchamacallit bars at the quicky-mart.


• Purge your pantry. You're not on a "diet". You're not in food jail, some day to be let out for good behavior. You're changing your nutrition to feed and nourish your body machine. Being respectful of your budget, get rid of any of the Hamburger Helper, Cheese Nips, chips, and other nutritional crud that doesn't fit into your plan. Donate it if you'd prefer not to waste it. But you don't need it. It's another step of a full mental commitment to turning over a new leaf.



Get involved, get inundated.


We've published a series of links that we like. Most of the sites are published in blog format that allow you to subscribe to updates daily. One of the great things about these authors is that they are not shy about sharing the sites and blogs they like. Then you're running with scissors.

Among these links, you will find access to some great recipes to help with your meal planning. As they are fitness-focused, the recipes are composed and explained in a way to make the task easier (macro nutrient breakdown, calorie count, and usually fresh ingredients). We have stolen liberally from many of them. Fun fact: eating healthy is not bland, boring, self-denial. It's delicious!

I believe this is an important step. To change your mindset, you've got to change your context. Opening a world where people eat, sleep, and breathe fitness is a powerful way to impact how (and how much) you think about the subject.



But what about the gym?


You can't out-train a poor diet. No amount of work you do, no training program you can conceive will give you the kind of progress you want if your kitchen isn't in order. This is a journey; it involves some monumental changes in attitude and behavior. Taking things in steps and making incremental changes will allow you to adjust and make you more successful in the long run.

In upcoming posts, we will break down the elements of an effective training program.

And the Results are in!

I always love those small-font disclaimers on television ads.

"Professional driver on a closed course."  

"Fictionalization." 

"Wim Hoff is a professional. You are not. Do not attempt." 

But there's one that gets my hackles up:

"Results not typical."

You know the ones I'm talking about.  Every weight loss commercial out there.  They want you to buy their product, but then don't offer the results.  They show you exactly what you want to see in "before" and "after" pictures, but are quick to point out that they probably can't get you there.

As I've said in previous posts, Michelle and I are results-oriented.  So, when we made our choices on selecting a training and nutrition program, we sought out people for whom results are not only typical, but expected.  And I'm sure you feel the same way.  If you're going to continue investing your time in visiting with us, then you probably want to know "does this stuff really work?"

Us before we started.  A little painful to look at now

By the numbers:

July 2012:

• Michael: 159 lb., 14.5% body fat, 33+" waist.
• Michelle: 154 lb., 33% body fat, size 10

January 2013:

• Michael: 147 lb., 6.9% body fat, 29" waist.
• Michelle: 127 lb., 18% body fat, size 4
• Both: increased percentage and total weight from lean muscle mass

Let me put this in perspective.  These numbers represent the best shape of our adult lives!  We haven't looked or felt this good - well - ever.

But wait, there's more!

July 2012:

• Frequent heartburn (Michelle)
• Chronic low back pain (Michael)
• Trouble sleeping/staying asleep (Both)
• General lack of energy, "roller coaster" energy, paired with "food comas" (Both)
• Sagging self-esteem, body image (Both)

January 2013:

• No heartburn
• No back pain
• Sleep like the dead! (and love it!)
• Plenty of energy, all day, every day - no "low spots"
• Loving posting progress pics!

This time, results are typical.

I believe that Michelle and I are pretty much dead center of the bell curve in terms of genetics.  Our parents are in marginal health, we are of average height and build, and we didn't really take that great care of our bodies throughout our twenties and thirties.  I'm a statistics guy.  The bell curve principle says that about 65% fall within the "hump" of the bell curve.  That means, as a population, they're similar to "average us".  15% should be somewhat better in performance and 15% should be somewhat worse.  At either end, 2% each comprise the top and bottom performers.  That means that 98% of people should see at least "some good" results from adopting a program like ours.  Those are pretty good odds.

The time is now.

Let's face it: we aren't getting any younger.  But that doesn't mean we have to accept the conventional mythology that we are in decline and shouldn't expect anything better.  Our health forms the foundation of every aspect of our lives: work, play, financial planning, longevity, and setting an example for the future.  No matter how busy we are, there's just no escaping the fact that health is an overriding priority.

In future posts, we will be sharing a list of motivators for you to examine and compare to your own life, as well as some very specific guidance on getting started.  

Remember: The best "you" that you can be. Period.  

Our Healthy Transformation (part 4) - Choosing a Nutrition Plan

Welcome back to the final installment of Our Healthy Transformation series.  When I first set out to write these, my driving goal was to share our story and get people thinking about what they could do to change their own bodies and lives.  I mean, if we can do it, then anybody can.  

As Michelle and I were discussing how to wrap up the series, it felt important to give you the details and tools we used to develop our own approach to nutrition and training.  Because, at the end of the day, it has to be yours if you're going to own it, nurture it, make it grow and improve over time.  If you're just following someone else's plan then there's no accountability and no permission.  If it doesn't work, then you can safely blame the source for "giving you a crappy plan."  Worse, if it "almost" works, you don't feel empowered to make the tweaks to make it really sing for you.  

So - the blame is officially on you from this point out.  Just kidding... sort of.

Our grocery store assault plan - work the perimeter!

Major Nutritional Plans:

Now let's get something out right up front.  We didn't even bother with the "Flat belly in 5 days" or "Burn your buns off" so-called diet plans out there - and I don't think you should either.  These things are fad and fluff and if there is anything in one of them that happens to be right-minded, well, even a broken clock is right twice a day.  

We also don't much care for the word "diet".  Though technically correct, it still has been sufficiently corrupted by the commercial fit/fad industry to sour about any meaningful conversation on the subject.  We have nutritional goals to support, sustain, and strengthen our bodies.  We meet those goals with a nutrition plan that gives us the ground rules to fill our fridge and our ever-hungry bellies.  

Standard American Diet (S.A.D): According to an article published in the journal Nutrition in Clinical Practice, "on any given day, Americans consume an average of 265 g of carbohydrate (50% of total calories), 78.3 g of total fat (33% of total calories), and 78.1 g of protein (15% of total calories)."  This is your typical: boxed cereal for breakfast, sandwiches on processed white breads for lunch, and refined white carbohydrates as a side item with practically every meal.  Its also nominally aligned with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). The article sums it up this way: "Americans consume far more total grains (including those from refined sources) and fewer whole grains than currently recommended."

     Our take on it: This is the nutrition plan that caused us, along with much of America, to gain weight. It is predicated on the assertion of one Ancel Keys et. al. that meats and the saturated fats that come with them are the primary contributors to heart disease in western nations. In recommending a reduction of fat consumption, something had to replace the calories. The (according to Keys) obvious choice was to increase the intake of (in their opinion, benign) carbohydrates, such as wheat-based products to prevent caloric malnutrition. When coupled with the American predilection for processed, packaged, and fast foods, this is a formula for a lot of low-nutrient, empty calories that attack your metabolism in progressively more vicious ways.

Portion/calorie control (e.g. Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem): These diets are based on a couple fundamental premises: (1) that weight loss is a matter of managing calories in vs calories out; and (2) that weight loss itself is simply a matter of pounds coming off. Essentially, these programs are telling you that you're fat because you're a glutton. These dietary plans also follow the Dietary Guidelines, as much to avoid liability as any particular nutritional belief system.
     Our take on it: These diets oversimplify the real mechanisms for weight loss and operate on the assumption that your body functions EXACTLY like everyone else's. Furthermore, they take the responsibility for understanding and defining how you fuel your body off your shoulders, and, in my opinion, you should NEVER let that happen to you.

Low Carb (e.g. Atkins, Beach Body): These diets are based on the concept that flour-based products (refined carbohydrates) are an unnecessary component of a person's diet and that weight loss results from a severe restriction of any of these in your nutrition plan.
     Our take on it: While we are on board with the concept that refined carbohydrates are unnecessary and potentially even harmful when consumed at the levels of the average American, the diet plan is still essentially a calorie restriction plan through the elimination (mostly) of a single macro nutrient. Also, the mindset up front is "you can't eat this," which is all-too-often doomed to failure. And, if you're pushing your body through physical training, you're going to need some carbohydrates to replenish your glycogen levels after a session.

Paleo/Primal: These nutrition plans are based on the idea that our bodies evolved to eat and move in a certain way and that we have strayed far from that, which is making us fat and sick. These are more than just "diets"; they are a lifestyle that propose a simpler, cleaner, more fundamental approach to life as a whole. The nutritional emphasis is on those things that anthropologists believe comprised the "hunter-gatherer" diet. Mark's Daily Apple is a great example of the paleo/primal lifestyle.
     Our take on it: There's a lot to like about the paleo approach. Foods that are based on natural, whole ingredients are more nutritionally dense, and the recipes are truly tasty. Nobody is advocating chewing tree bark. But, like I said, it's a lifestyle, and therefore driven as much by values as nutrition. It's not for everybody. And, as with most good ideas, it has been commoditized and commercialized in many forums to the point where the original principles are all but lost.

Organic: Proponents of organic diets will often (but not always) claim that organic food is inherently better for your body, due to the absence of hormones, chemicals, pesticides, and genetic modifications. Usually these claims are coupled with the idea that organic farming is "better for the environment". For the most part, there is little nutritional difference between organically and conventionally grown/raised foods. Like paleo/primal, the decision to go organic is more one of personal values rather than strictly a dietary choice.
     Our take on it: Absent compelling science that differentiates organic foods from conventional in a nutritional sense, we are content being in the middle on this issue. Environmentally, "better" is subject to interpretation, as conventional farmers work extremely hard to make their operation as efficient and productive as possible. But, it is important to note that organic does not equal healthy. An all-organic meal can be just as nutritionally devoid as one made with similar conventional ingredients. And - for the increased cost associated with organic foods - you might get more bang for your buck in a traditional produce aisle.

Carb cycling: Carb cycling is favored by many weightlifters and body builders. It is a planned placement and portioning of carbohydrates (clean, whole, complex carbs, principally) in conjunction with your workout load. Heavy lifting/full body days are planned with more carbs following training, tapering down to low/no carbs on rest days. This type of cycling is used by those that are simultaneously trying to gain muscle and either lose or maintain fat levels without depleting muscular energy for training.
     Our take on it: We have implemented some "informal" carb cycling in our nutrition plan, specifically planning healthy whole carbohydrates (steel cut oats are a staple in our house) following heavy lifting days. Our diet is generally low-carb overall, especially in comparison to the S.A.D., so further restriction was neither necessary nor pleasant for us. It is a very useful exercise to plan the placement of your macro nutrients where you need them most and to be more aware of what your body needs to get through your day.

Intermittent Fasting: IF has become increasingly popular of late and has spawned a lot of variations. The idea behind it is to intentionally create a period (which varies a lot depending on your approach) where you don't eat. This allows your body to process any excess nutrients in your system, transfer over to a mode of body fat consumption, and essentially "clear up" any metabolic effects of your diet, such as insulin levels. It's difficult to point to a single authoritative reference, but Mark's Daily Apple has a good entry-level overview.
     Our take on it:  We work out six days a week.  On those days, we have a pre-workout shake in the morning and a post-workout meal as soon as we get back from the gym.  Saturday is our rest day.  We didn't set out do intentionally include IF, but, as it turns out, we have about a 15-hour fast between Friday dinner and Saturday breakfast.  Its just a natural rhythm that we have gotten into.  We both like this "unofficial" IF, because we aren't clock-watching for the moment we can eat again.  It just works for us.

Ketogenic: Your body can pull and produce sugar to use for energy in brain and muscle tissue four different ways. If you take low-carb to its ultimate extreme, the body transitions over to a mode called ketosis. Ketones are your body's ultimate survival mechanism during lean times. In order to make sure you keep your caloric intake high enough, practitioners of ketosis increase fat and protein consumption dramatically. Dr. Peter Attia is a highly reputable advocate for and practitioner of a Ketogenic diet.
     Our take on it: Putting and keeping yourself in ketosis is a dramatic change to what most are accustomed to. A person should make sure that he/she is otherwise healthy, especially in a metabolic sense (blood sugar, cholesterol) prior to considering this approach. It also involves some pretty meticulous attention to everything you eat. For people who are engaged in strength training, the lack of readily available carbohydrates is going to be an issue. Still, there's a very strong case for people who are ready to make the commitment to this lifestyle for long-term fat loss.

Macro-nutrient Portioning (the Zone Diet): Focusing on the relative proportions of calories consumed in terms of macro nutrients (protein, fats, carbohydrates) in your diet is another common practice of weight lifters and body builders. You'll note in the description of the S.A.D., the macro nutrient breakdown was 50% carb (mostly the empty, refined kind), 33% fats, and 15% protein. Commonly, trainers recommend 40/30/30 split in different combinations, depending on needs and goals. Okay - stay with me here; there's math involved.

• A gram of proteins or carbs has 4 calories. Fats have 9 calories per gram
• Someone looking to gain muscle consumes (rule of thumb) about one to 1 1/2 grams per day of their target weight.
• I'm looking for 160 lbs, so that's 640-960 calories daily from protein.
• If that's my 40%, then I should be looking for 480 calories each for my fats and carbohydrates, for a total of 1600-1920 calories daily.
• To round it out, that's 53 grams daily of fats and 120 grams of carbohydrates.

Or, we could make it simpler and say: compose your meal plate with principally protein, followed by fats and lastly carbohydrates in roughly 40/30/30 proportions.

     Our take on it: Your body is a machine. It needs different components supplied to different systems in order to function effectively. You wouldn't put engine oil in your gas tank would you? Why not? Petroleum products are petroleum products, right? Of course not, that's ridiculous! So why on earth would anyone assume that all calories are created equal? They aren't. Everyone should be cognizant and planful about the macro nutrient composition of their diet.

Also - pure calorie counting is technically impossible, since there are so many variations in what you eat (differences in water content in vegetables, for example, changes the weight, but doesn't impact the caloric content). And your body is wondrously adaptable, so don't count on your daily caloric burn, even with complex calculations, to be precise. So, count calories to get a directional indication of your consumption level. but if you want proof - trust your waistband above all else.

Clean eating: This is an "oldie but a goodie" in not just weight lifting, but pretty much all athletic circles. It has been refreshed by fitness coach Tosca Reno.  The clean eating principle is pretty simple: choose foods that are as close to their original, recognizable form as possible. Fresh meats and fish, fresh produce, eggs, and fresh dairy are your staples. You eliminate pretty much everything from your diet that comes out of a box or plastic bag. Anything that is packaged is in its least processed possible form (steel cut oats instead of rolled or instant, for example).
     Our take on it: We adhere to this principle as much as possible. The beauty of clean eating is that you know exactly what ingredients are in your food. Every choice you have is nutrient-dense and valuable to your body. No dimethyl sodium phosphate or other similarly unpronounceable un-food ingredients. In fact, if you eat clean, you may find that you have to be creative to reach your caloric goal, rather than struggling to find ways to reduce your intake. It makes any other dietary approach simpler, because you're in control.

How does this all add up for us?

We've tried to become informed about as many reputable nutritional approaches as possible. From them, we have made our own decisions and choices that work best for our bodies and our lifestyle. It's a combination of the best ideas from many schools of thought.

I sum it up this way: We eat with purpose. We removed just about all refined sugar, flour, and rice from our diet.  We use fresh ingredients to prepare simple and healthy food that meets our bodies' needs for training and for life. We emphasize protein with every meal (meat, cheese, eggs), get as many servings of vegetables as possible (veggies are carbohydrates - isn't that great?), use fruit sparingly, focusing on berries, and get enough additional fresh, whole grain carbohydrates to keep us going. We eat five meals a day, including a morning protein shake before workouts and a mid-afternoon snack. Nothing we eat is low-fat or non-fat, because our bodies need a certain amount of that essential macro nutrient. Some of it is organic, some of our recipes are paleo, but all of it supports the body machine and our goals.

What does it mean for YOU?

We have found our winning combination. Eating this way, we have cut each of our body fat percentages in half from a starting point just six months ago. Will our approach be exactly the same as yours? Probably not. In fact, I hope not. Finding your own answers and building your own plan will make it yours. And, when you own it, you will guard it, defend it, and make it better. That's what we all want, isn't it?