Be a Better YOU

My wife and I watched “The Social Dilemma” on Netflix the other night. I usually don’t watch something and begin recommending it to everyone I know, but I did with this one. This documentary shed some light on the truth of the monster we have created in social media and what we need to do in order to raise our awareness and combat it.

If you have kids, have kids that are addicted to their phones, have social media yourself, whatever it may be, it’s worth the watch.

Anyway, the main premise of the documentary was that social media has become a place for fake news and false information to gain traction and influence our minds. This is heavily related to the division we feel in our country.

But as I was watching the documentary, my fitness mind came to the forefront. I began to look at what they were saying through a health and fitness lens.

Sure, social media has clearly allowed more hate, division, and fake news to spread rapidly, causing us to lose our grip on the reality of our world we’re actually living in.

But I would also argue that social media has clearly allowed more self loathing to spread rapidly, causing us to destroy ourselves from the inside out.

Young impressionable girls are subconsciously being taught that their self-worth comes from pleasing men and using their body to do so. They begin to use and expose their bodies for likes and views. And if they don’t get those likes and views, they fall into the trap of believing that their body is not good enough, therefor THEY are not good enough.

They begin this vicious cycle of comparison, self-hate through diet and exercise, and then comparison again.

“My breasts aren’t big enough.”

“My butt isn’t shaped like hers.”

“Her waist is so much smaller than mine.”

I’m not a father, nor do I have any relatives that are young girls. But as I sit and write this, I feel so, so sad. My heart sinks with grief and sorrow for young girls out there.

As they critique themselves, they begin working to change in order to be more like another person and less like themselves. They start going to the gym to have a butt like so and so person. They start saving up money for botox so they can have lips like so and so person.

It is so heart wrenching.

The same goes for young boys.

“Girls will only like me if I have abs like he does.”

“Girls seem to like his earring. Maybe if I get one like that I’ll finally get the girls to like me.”

“My arms are so small, I want my arms to be like his.”

So they begin lifting, taking unnecessary supplements, and possibly even begin exploring steroids to look less like themselves and more like the other person.

This is all subconscious, of course. They aren’t telling themselves this directly. But don’t be mistaken, this is exactly what they are thinking even if they don’t know it.

And the issue doesn’t only lie in the mind of young boys and girls. It is present in all of our lives. I’ll be the first to admit that I fall into this trap.

“He is playing professional baseball, he is far more successful than me.”

“He gets to pitch in front of thousands of fans and live his dream. I guess I’m just not good enough for that.”

I’m aware that these thoughts come into my mind.

I’m willing to bet that you have some toxic thoughts, too.

Look, I had a direction when I began writing this, but right now in this moment I feel my hear aching for myself, for you, and for all the other people out there comparing themselves.

I’m just going to continue to write what my heart is calling me to write.

We mustn’t give into this toxic trap of comparison.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with improving yourself. Where the wrong lies is in the intention of why you want to improve yourself.

Are you aiming to improve yourself in order to be more like someone else you saw on your screen? If so, I have news for you. You will never be that person on the screen because you are NOT that person on the screen. You are YOU.

So instead, focus on improving yourself in order be the best version of YOU.

I fully believe that we were created with unique talents and gifts that were intended to be used in order to make our lives and other people’s lives better. So why not work on improving yourself in order to refine those talents and gifts so that this world can be a better place?

Being healthier and having more energy throughout the day will allow you to create better culture in your workplace. Being more fit may allow you to be more present with your children when they want to have play time with mommy or daddy. Being stronger in the gym will allow you to better learn how to mentally and physically overcome adversity in your life and your household. Being more mobile will keep you from injuries, allowing you to be more adventurous with your spouse.

I know that this is cheesy, but this world literally only has one of you, and this world is so much better off with you in it, living to your full potential.

There is no sense in working to be more like someone else. The world already has one of them.

It makes all the sense in the world to become the best, healthiest, fittest version of yourself because dammit, this world NEEDS you.

You were created with love and a purpose in mind. Don’t you dare undervalue that by comparing yourself to someone else.

That’s my heart today. Take it for what it’s worth.

Much love.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life.

WANT MORE FREE CONTENT?

Download any of our guides for FREE in the “free” tab at the top of the page.

What You Need to Know About Fasted Cardio

Fasted cardio still seems to be a popular topic in the health and fitness space.

Many claim it is entirely useless.

Others say it is the key to losing body fat.

So which is it? Let’s find out together.

FASTED CARDIO: WHAT IS IT?

Fasted cardio is exactly what it sounds like. It is cardiovascular activity in a fasted state. Wake up, don’t eat, do some cardio. That’s what it is.

A common misconception, though, is that fasted cardio is moderate to intense cardio in a fasted state. This is never a great idea. When you wake up and your body is fasted, it has almost no quick energy to tap into for something that intense, and that can cause you to pass out. Not good.

Most fasted cardio is done at a very low-intensity state like walking and climbing the stairmaster.

FASTED CARDIO: WHAT DOES IT PROMISE?

The idea behind fasted cardio is that when doing activity in a fasted state, your body doesn’t have any readily available energy, so it is forced to tap into stored body fat.

While this may be true, we’re talking about a very minor difference in fat burned. To add to that, research shows that although the body may burn a bit more body fat during a fasted cardio session, a fed cardio session burns more calories during and after the session, which may contribute more to fat loss. And that leads us to the next thing we need to discuss.

THERE ARE MANY MOVING PARTS

You see, the processes behind fat loss can be oversimplified at times. It’s super easy for us to say that it all comes down to calories in vs. calories out, which it does, but there are a lot of behind the scene elements that influence calories in vs. calories out.

Hormones, stress, sleep, and more all influence the amount of calories we store and calories we burn. The reason I bring this up is because although fasted cardio may burn a teenie bit more body fat during the session, it’s not the magic fat loss solution.

In order to lose body fat, you need to make sure you’re creating an environment where you’re burning more calories than you are taking in.

If you do fasted cardio, but you’re not tracking your food intake and you’re overeating, you’re not going to lose fat.

If you do fasted cardio, but you’re losing sleep and chronically stressed, your body will be more prone to storing fat and you won’t lose fat.

Fasted cardio is a tool that can be used to get the last bit of fat off when all other resources have been utilized. It is a tool, but it should be a last ditch effort tool.

So, if you want to do fasted cardio, that’s fine. Just make sure you’re taking care of these big rocks first. And I’m willing to bet money that you’ll hit your goal just by focusing on these big rocks.

• Lift weights. Lifting weights, building muscle, and getting stronger all send a signal to your body telling it to burn more calories throughout the day.

• Manage stress. This looks different for all of us. I like to pray. Some meditate. Some go for a walk. Find a healthy way to decrease your stress.

• Get quality sleep. Too many of us are wired and tired. Before bed, (at least 1 hour before) go through a nighttime routine to let your body know it’s time to wind down. Make sure your room is cool and dark.

• Track your food intake. You won’t know what’s going on with your calories in vs. calories out until you track your food.

Fasted cardio can be a beneficial tool, but only when the big rocks have been addressed. 99% of the time, fasted cardio isn’t needed at all to lose fat.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life.

WANT MORE FREE CONTENT?

Download any of our guides for FREE in the “free” tab at the top of the page.

3 Keys to Getting Lean and Staying Lean

Losing fat in general isn’t the hardest thing in the world. Eat less, move more.

Doesn’t sound too bad, right?

Wrong.

Telling people to eat less and move more is the exact reason so many Americans yo-yo year after year. They starve themselves, run until they pass out, and lose all their weight. Then, 6 months later, they’ve gained more body fat back than they had in the first place.

This has GOT to stop.

To make it stop, we need to approach fat loss differently. We need to not only make a plan to lose fat, but make a plan to keep it off as well.

The key to keeping the fat off is losing the fat in the most sustainable way possible. Let me give you an oversimplification for example. Let’s say Linda want’s to lose 50 pounds. She walks 30 minutes per day and loses the 50 pounds. That is VERY sustainable. After she has lost the weight, she will likely continue walking for 30 minutes per day. If Linda lost the weight eating 500 calories per day, and running for two hours per day, the chances she maintains that after she loses the weight are extremely low. I have a better chance of developing the worlds greatest calves.

It ain’t happening.

Linda needs to lose this weight as sustainably and realistically as possible, and so do you. Here are three keys to getting lean and staying lean.

#1: EAT ENOUGH PROTEIN

Too many people seem to think that higher protein intake is just for meatheads and bodybuilders. Nope. It’s for the rest of us, too. Protein serves so many different functions, but let’s talk about why increasing your protein intake can help you get lean and stay lean.

The major reason protein is important along your journey is because it helps preserve and build lean muscle tissue. Muscle tissue is expensive to maintain. This means that your body will burn lots of calories working to preserve that lean muscle.

More muscle (even a tiny bit more muscle) means more calories burned at rest. The more calories you burn at rest, the easier fat loss is.

This is exactly what I help my clients do. Before most of them work with me, they can’t figure out why they won’t lose fat. Well, the reason they won’t lose fat is because their metabolism is slow. They’re eating 1200 calories per day and are still not losing weight. If that’s not a red flag signaling a slow metabolism, then I don’t know what is.

To improve their metabolism, I have them eat plenty of protein to preserve and build lean muscle.

And as an added bonus, they end up getting that tight and defined look they’ve always wanted.

Unless you’re highly overweight or obese, I recommend getting anywhere from .6-1g of protein per pound of bodyweight. There is individual variance, but I have found that sticking around .8g of protein per pound of body weight works real well for my clients.

#2: LIFT WEIGHTS

Another part of speeding up my clients’ metabolisms is weight lifting. I have preached this 1,000 times over and I will continue to do so. Because it WORKS.

When we lift weights, we send a signal to our body to become stronger and increase lean muscle tissue. This also means that your body will burn more calories throughout the day.

Lifting weights will speed up your metabolism.

The actual muscle tissue that we add to our body doesn’t equate to massive amounts of additional calories burned at rest, but something else is going on when we lift weights.

We don’t quite know what it is yet, but we know that it works.

Take Joy for example. She was a client of mine years back. When she first started working with me, she was lifting but not optimally for the results she wanted. She was maintaining her weight at about 1600 calories. Which isn’t bad, but it didn’t leave her much room to reduce calories if she wanted to get leaner and stay leaner.

So, over the course of 6 months or so, we tweaked her lifting and introduced more protein into her diet. By the end of our time together, she was maintaining her weight at 2800 calories.

What did we tweak with her lifting? Well, we shifted her focus. And this is what I recommend a large majority of you do.

You see, simply lifting weights isn’t going to cut it. I can go to the gym, grab some five-pound dumbbells, and go through the motions, but just because I’m lifting weights doesn’t mean my arms are going to get any bigger.

If I want my arms to change, if I want my body to change, I need to demand it to change based on the exercise I am giving it when I am in the gym.

You need to lift with a different intent. You need to be purposeful. Think about going to the grocery store. If you just need to go to the grocery store, you drive there. You’ve done it hundreds of times. You take the same route and it is almost automatic. You get in your car and next thing you know, you’re there. But what if you want to get to the grocery store in ten minutes, in the middle of rush hour, with road construction? You’re going to be driving with intent, taking backroads, timing lights, etc. Same goes for lifting. You need to use the weights and how you’re lifting them to tell your body to change.

For most people, simply shifting your focus to strength and getting stronger, rather than sweating and getting your heart rate up, will do wonders. Sweating and getting your heart rate up doesn’t really help with getting lean and staying lean sustainably. Would you rather maintain your results lifting three days per week, or running seven days per week?

#3: REDUCE PROCESSED FOOD INTAKE

Hear me out.

Processed food in and of itself doesn’t make you fat. Take a look at the Twinkie professor from Kansas State. The dude ate nothing but a Twinkie every three hours and lost a butt ton of weight. Sure, he lost muscle and he probably didn’t feel well, but the point is that no one food inherently makes you fat.

However, processed foods will make your getting lean and staying lean journey a b*tch. They are engineered to hijack your taste buds and neurological pathways to make you want more and eat more.

You know how it’s really hard to eat a potato chip and not eat another. Almost impossible! Yeah, that isn’t an accident. They intended it to be that way.

Here’s a fun fact for you. There are about 4-5 potatoes in a bag of Lays chips. I don’t know about you, but I could easily down a bag of Lays potato chips. No problem. But eating 4-5 baked potatoes? Forget about it. That ain’t happening.

The point is, whole natural foods help you regulate your hunger and satiety levels. They don’t trick you into wanting more when you don’t need more. They nourish your body and keep you fuller for longer.

Highly processed foods do not. They cause you to crave more and eat more. And to make it worse, they are very calorie dense and lack in quality nutrients.

Does this mean you need to avoid highly processed foods at all costs? Absolutely not. For goodness’ sake, live a little. Eat a cookie.

But, the more processed food you eat, the harder getting lean and staying lean will become.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life.

WANT MORE FREE CONTENT?

Download any of our guides for FREE in the “free” tab at the top of the page.