Overcoming yourself: The first step to a new (and improved) you

The number one reason that obesity exists, in this nation and others, is not what you would immediately figure it to be. It's not trans-fat. Nor is it over-eating. These might come with the territory, but are not the actual reason.

So, what is it?

People idolize food

It's pretty simple. People, especially Americans, have become enamored in the fact that eating can give them sensations of taste that make them (temporarily) happy. Think about it:

1) Every major holiday in America has some type of eating attached to it. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, Easter...all of them have a large meal prepared in tangent with celebrating their respective evens. Last time I checked, the only one of those that had anything to do with a large meal was Thanksgiving. Think they were obese? Go chop your own wood, build your own accommodations, plow your own fields, and have no air conditioning...they were very active people. Americans, for the most, are not.

2) Most people eat based on what tastes good to them, not what is good for them. Doesn't this defeat the purpose of food...which is strictly to fuel the body with macro/micro nutrients and vitamins?

The sad thing is that the things that we have programmed to think taste good are the things that are chocked full of calories and not so much with nutrients. Also, in the ways of business, things are going to be made as cheaply as possible in order to turn a profit. That means using poor quality ingredients in fast foods and pre-packaged items in order to make money for the business. Would you even begin to think that things like granola bars are chocked full of high fructose corn syrup and sugar to sweeten them? Even "health foods" arn't so healthy these days.

Some people can get away with eating however they want. That's fine. Honestly, if you can stay healthy and be satisfied with your looks by eating however you choose, then more power to you. For the rest of us (and I am definitely within your ranks), we have to work for what we get. That means watching what we consume and using the nutrients we take in for proper physical exercise and muscle hypertrophy. It's the only chance we have of not ending up unhealthy and in a physical state we don't want to be in.

A lot of people, however, are already in that physical state they don't want to be in. It's extremely important for those people to realize that without a change in how they view food and the role it plays within their life, they will progressively get worse.

I completely feel that food addiction can be as damaging and hard to kick as most drug addictions. If you don't think ordering a super-sized value meal at your local fast food restaurant is toxic for your body, think again. For a lot of you, that was close to what should be your ENTIRE caloric intake for the day. When, in turn, you could have spread out those calories over a period of hours in foods that will promote health within your body.

Even if that is the only meal you eat for the day, there is a big difference in the person who eats 2000 calories of fast food a day versus someone who eats 2000 calories of chicken, broccoli, and sweet potatoes a day.

Now, this is where you make a choice. And I can assure you it is a very important one. It could completely change your life from here on out.

How do you want to look? To feel? Do you want to wake up everyday knowing you are living a healthy lifestyle?

Obesity kills. It leads to numerous diseases. Allowing your children to be obese is going to set them up for mockery and exile from their classmates once they reach primary school years. Trust me, that is not fun...and kids aren't getting any nicer. Is food worth that? Is a sense of temporary gratification worth risking years off of your own life expectancy?

I once asked a friend while exercising if you knew that eating poorly would take 5-10 years off of your life and would increase your chances of getting numerous diseases related to obesity, would you change? He said of course. As he should have. And as someone who has had to face this choice before, struggled with it, dealt with it, adapted to it, adopted it, and learned to cherish it for what it does for me, I can safely say it is worth it.

Make your choices wisely on what you consume. Learn what eating the right foods will do for you. Ask someone to help you with what food choices are right for you.

Food is fuel for your body. And if you fuel your body correctly, it will take care of you right back.

An introduction: Three months for the rest of your life

Until now, the only post visible on this blog was a post entitled "What you need to do". I wrote it in a period of around an hour and a half and it is quite rough. But I had at least 4-5 people ask me to write them a plan and they would follow it. What followed, was that post.

This post is here to clarify that achieving a body composition of your choosing is not as simple as I made it sound. Having the title of that blog be "What you need to do" was a mistake and was my response to having a short amount of time to crank out something for the people I promised a work-out plan to.

However, that was one of many blogs that will follow in the next few weeks. In the following blogs I will write on topics like low-resistance training vs. high-resistance training, strictly cardio to lose weight, fad dieting, water consumption, the mentality needed to lose and maintain a healthy exercise and nutritional plan, binge and emotional eating and much more.

For one, I am on a weight-loss journey of my own. I started at 212 pounds at the end of May. June 1st I have it logged that I was 206 pounds and today (June 26th) I weighed in at 195lbs. This is definitely the slowest I have ever lost "weight" and for good reason.

I am doing it right this time. And as someone who has experienced both the right and many of the wrong ways to lose weight, trust me when I say that slow way is the only way. I can assure you that 90% of that weight loss was pure body fat. Why? Because I do heavy resistance training 4 days a week to maintain muscle mass (and I have actually gained muscle on a calorie deficit somehow...more on that later) and drink at least 1 to 2 gallons of water a day. Accompany that with a nearly flawless nutritional plan. It's a lethal combo for those looking to physically change themselves.

My goal is to have a set of fully visible abs by September 1st. Why then? Because I really feel I started this lifestyle change of mine on June 1st...and I want to prove to myself and everyone who has ever doubted their ability to change their body just how much can be done in three months. What types of changes your body can endure by treating it to the best you physically can for simply 3 months. I'm not saying you can go back to square one, over-eat, and under-train again after those three months are up. Quite the contrary. I am saying that by the time three months are up, you will have proved so much to yourself about what you are capable of doing that you will never let yourself go back to how you once were.

You are capable of doing earth-shattering things simply because you are motivated and determined to accomplish a goal. I prove that to myself on a daily basis.

Are you ready to do the same?

Matt Williams

The basics: Getting started on the right path

If you’re reading this, I am going to assume one of a few things. Either:

1) You want to lose weight

2) You want to get into better physical shape (gain muscle, tone muscle, etc.)

3) I have bothered you so much about exercise and nutrition that you gave in and told me to write something to help you. This is probably the most common reason.

If you fall into categories 1 and 2, congratulations! This will be the start of a new you in terms of your physical appearance and body composition. For those who answered number 3, just delete/throw away and just humor me when I ask you how things are going.

First off, before I get into anything too deeply, you have to make a few promises to yourself. These aren’t to me. If you genuinely want to improve on your physical appearance, the first step is complete honesty with yourself about who you are and what you want to become. If you really don’t want this, then you are wasting your time. But if you do and can dedicate yourself to a program that involves improved nutrition and regular exercise, we can make this work.

Here’s what you need to do:

1) Follow a nutritional plan that involves eating foods that will promote a healthy body composition, not detract from one.

2) Start and follow a resistance training workout. This goes for men and women, alike. Only trying to lose fat? You aren’t excused either. I will tell you why, later.

3) Participate in a cardiovascular activity of your choosing. How much of one depends on your personal goals.

If you can do that, I can make you some pretty solid promises.

1) You will have a complete different body composition in 3 months.

2) Increased vitality, energy, strength, and all other benefits from eating the right things and training your body to become stronger.

3) Freedom from severe food cravings and the urge to overeat. You will be re-training your taste buds to desire and appreciate healthy foods.

So, if you are still interested, let’s get specific. Here’s what we are going to do.

Reduce calorie intake

The bottom line is this: You have to have a calorie deficit to lose weight. If anyone tells you that you can eat whatever you want of a certain food and lose weight, they are lying to you. How do you create a calorie deficit? It’s simple.

Take your body weight and multiply it by 15. That is a rough estimate of your maintenance caloric intake. In other words, that’s how many calories you need to eat in one day to stay at your current weight. So, to lose fat, we will multiply your body weight by numbers from 8-12. Preferably, the higher numbers to start out with.

“But I want to lose weight fast!”

If you go any lower than 10-12 to begin…your body is going to go into survival mode. That means it will begin to burn muscle mass in order to keep its energy at a sustainable rate. That leads to lower metabolism. Plus, most people that starve themselves don’t last long and go back to their old ways. A lower metabolism will mean more weight gain than what they started with. That’s exactly what we don’t want.

So, if you weight 180 pounds:

180 x 10 = 1800 calories a day 180 x 12 = 2160 calories a day

This will bring about a 1-2 pound loss of fat per week, keeping in mind one pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. That’s a lot more than you think and keeping this rate will make it a lot easier to maintain for the duration of the program, and more importantly, after the program is complete.

Eat the right foods at the right times

You only have one body. Really let that set in for a second. Now, let’s think about it this way. Would you put toxic waste into your car and expect it to make it too far down the road? Of course not!

Then, what do you expect your body to do when you load it with McDonalds, Burger King, and the other nutritional equivalents to toxic waste?

Do some research on diseases related to nutritional defects. Watch Fast Food Nation and Supersize Me. Is a sense of temporary gratification worth the risk of health issues at an early age? Combine that with this: Eating the right foods will make you look better, feel better, and have an all-around better quality of life.

So, where is the decision in this?

Anyway, back to the subject. Let’s get your eating right. Without a good plan for your nutrition, this is a very uphill climb.

You want to get around 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. That might seem like a lot and that is because it is a lot! But, doing that will reduce hunger and provide the body with adequate energy to recover from workouts. Also, we want to reduce carbohydrates to around 60-100 a day. This is NOT A LOW-CARB DIET, though. But, it is scientifically proven that a reduction in carbs, especially those high on the glycemic index, will bring about fat loss. Almost all of today’s top trainers advocate this train of thought.

Here are some important points to implement:

1) Eat 20-25% of your calorie intake at breakfast. Breakfast should include a fibrous whole-grain and protein source, as well as fruit if you care for it. You can never go wrong with oatmeal and eggs.

2) After your workout, you need a lean protein (chicken, turkey, fish) combined with a starchy carb. This is because your body is deprived of glycogen from exercise and a starchy carb will help replenish that, as well as help with the absorption of the protein into your muscles. Great examples of this are sweet potatoes, black beans, brown rice, and whole-grain pasta. Not so great examples are white potatoes, white rice, sugar, or white bread.

3) Learn to love green vegetables. Broccoli, asparagus, lettuce, zucchini, etc. They are your best friends if you want a better body. My personal favorites are stir fried zucchini, mushrooms, and onions with soy sauce and pepper. You know, the vegetables you get at Japanese steakhouses.

4) Eat at least 20-25 grams of protein per meal from a lean protein source. Fat-free cottage cheese can also be used and is any bodybuilder’s best friend.

So, here is a sample diet. Once again, we will use the 180 pound guy as an example:

Breakfast: 3 eggs (boiled) with 1 serving of oatmeal (sweetened with splenda, ground cinnamon, and vanilla extract). 400 calories

Meal 2 (pre-workout) – Lean protein with vegetables or salad and almonds. 400 calories

Meal 3 (post-workout) – Lean protein with sweet potato. 400 calories

Meal 4 – Lean protein with vegetables. 300 calories

Meal 5 –Fat free cottage cheese with almonds. 300 calories

This is right at 1800 calories. Remember, fruit can be added to meals one or two, which would increase the calories to the higher level. If you weight less or more than 180 pounds, you will need to adjust the portion sizes accordingly to get them to your caloric intake level.

“Well can I eat (insert name of this food here)?”

This site will answer that question for you.

http://whfoods.org/foodstoc.php

Exercise. And by exercise I mean lift weights.

Let’s get rid of this quickly and move on. You don’t have to spend tons of time doing cardio to lose fat. You don’t. Honestly, you don’t even have to do cardio unless you are trying to get really far down in body fat percentage. Two days a week of 20 minutes, high-intensity cardio is all you need if you are looking to get tone and lose fat.

The rest of the exercise will weight lifting. Here’s why:

1) Adding muscle increases metabolism. One pound of muscle burns 35-50 calories. You want that. Trust me.

2) Resistance exercise promotes lean mass gains, helps keep muscle intact while dieting, promotes increased bone density, and tons of other good stuff.

“But I don’t want to get big or bulky!”

If you are a woman, you aren’t going to get bulky. Your body doesn’t produce enough testosterone to make you bulky. Your bone structure doesn’t encourage the growth of bulk. You will get tone. You want that. Need more convincing, read this. I assure you she knows what she is talking about.

http://www.loriincledon.com/article10.asp

If you are a man, why are you worried about that? It takes a long, long time to get big or bulky. If it was that easy, everyone in the gym would look like professional body builders. So, please, stop worrying about it.

So, we have proven that weight lifting is essential. How are we going to do it? Well, let’s see.

I prefer a four day a week weight training schedule, including two days of cardio and one off day. We want to train the entire body at least one time per week. Let’s split it like this:

Monday – Chest and triceps

Barbell Bench Press 4 sets 6-8 repetitions

Incline dumbbell press 3 sets 6-8 repetitions

Decline barbell bench press 3 sets 8-10 repetitions

Decline close-grip press 3 sets 8-10 repetitions

Dips 3 sets 10-12 repetitions

Tuesday – Back and Biceps

Assisted/Unassisted Pull-ups 4 sets- 6-8 repetitions

Lat Pulldowns 3 sets 6-8 repetitions

Lat rows (machine) 3 sets 8-10 repetitions

Dumbbell bicep curls 3 sets 8-10 repetitions

Incline Dumbbell hammer curls 3 sets 10-12 repetitions

Wednesday – Cardio and Abs

Thursday – Shoulders

Shoulder Press 4 sets- 6-8 repetitions

Rotating Dumbbell shoulder press 3 sets 6-8 repetitions

Dumbbell Raises 3 sets 8-10 repetitions

Dumbbell Shrugs 4 sets 8-10 repetitions

Friday – Legs

Leg Presses 4 sets- 8-10 repetitions

Calf Raises 3 sets 10-12 repetitions

Leg Extensions 3 sets 8-10 repetitions

Leg Curls 3 sets 8-10 repetitions

Saturday – Cardio/Abs

This is a really bare-bones plan that would provide a start for anyone looking to begin a workout plan. A lot of circumstances effect what one will do on a given day at the gym. I don’t recommend anyone do any free-weight exercises without a spotter watching you. Also, if you are new to weight training, steer clear of any of these lifts that seem odd or difficult. For instance, the decline bench press is an advanced lift only to be performed by someone who knows what they are doing and with the assistance of a spotter. Substitute a machine or cable exercise that targets the pectorals in this case.

You will notice a lot of these lifts are 6-8 reps. That doesn’t mean grab a weight that is light and do it 6 times and be done. That will NOT get you ANYWHERE. If an exercise says to do 6-8 reps, that means you use a weight that you will have a hard time completing any more than 6-8 repetitions with!

This enough to get anyone started. I will write more later. Email me if you have any questions!

Matt Williams

Mwilli5009@gmail.com