total confusion

I was talking to a member just yesterday and we were discussing her goals and what it would take for her to achieve them. Her biggest goal was to LOSE WEIGHT and after listening to her for several minutes I chimed in and said that losing weight was not a goal and her eyes lit up like she had seen a ghost. After several minutes of trying to tell her why I said that, she folder her arms and stated that she did not believe me and then gave me her argument. It was the following:

1) She had a lot of weight to lose and once she lost the weight she would feel better
2) Her weight is what is keeping her from doing anything
3) Her weight has given her diabetes
4) Her weight has given her low self esteem

Now it in of themselves these are valid points, but only points. After listening to her I asked her about what she did in high school and college and she told me that she was an athlete and a good one at that. She showed me pictures of herself just 10 years earlier and I have to say… what a difference a few years have made. I then asked her what she thought had changed and she told me that when she was really active she ate like a horse and now that she is not as active she still eats like a horse. I then told her that she was right with that statement. Our bodies get accustom to the fuel we give it to support the activity we are presently in and when we slow that activity down unfortunate we don’t slow our eating paterns down.

Then I asked her a big question… “Say you achieve this goal of losing the 50 pounds you want. What next? How will you keep it off?” She looked at me as if I were speaking a different language, thought about it and said, “I don’t know I guess I will not be able to eat certain things any more, which I am not looking forward to doing. But I guess I will no longer be able to eat like I do now and become very cautious at what I put in my mouth.”

Now that statement she made is a true one but I said something to her that made her take notice and caused her to think… “All food is good and God gave us food for our consumption. Without it we won’t live. There is nothing wrong with having a hamburger or two with fries.” She was shocked to hear that come from me but then I went on. “The problem is not the food; it is you and your inactivity. By focusing on your weight, you make food the enemy and it is not. By focusing on your weight, now you say to yourself… I can’t do this or I can’t have that and in the end research shows that you put a lot of stress and tension on yourself and eventually give in and do what you said you weren’t going to do. You restrict yourself of the food when in essence you don’t have to and shouldn’t. Your correct response when faced with a dilemma should be that you choose not to indulge in that food because of a specific reason outside of our weight issue.”

The problem we are facing as a society in inactivity and wrong focus. The media wants us to believe that it is about our weight so that we will buy their products. It is not about our weight and if we just began to get active and plot activity based goals, we would feel much freer and much more in control of our ultimate outcome… better fitness. Your goals should be activity based and not weight based. Weight is the end result of you achieving an activity based goal. As an example, take the person who can run a mile in 12 minutes and after a few months can now run a mile in 8 minutes, do you think they lost some weight? Now if they want to stay at that level of activity, 8 minute miles, do you think they will maintain that new weight? Or take the swimmer or walker or biker, whatever, plot your goals in an activity then and only then will you finally LOSE THE WEIGHT you were looking for and keep it off. There is the real answer to the dilemma on how to lose the weight you want and keep it off.

Supplements

I know that you have heard that there are certain supplements that are really suppose to be good for you. I have had many people over the last several months ask me about what I do in the nutritional area and I have told them that I take glucosamine and omega 3 everyday and it has done wonders for me. However the purpose of this blog is not to tell you what I take but it is to give you some information on how much is truly enough and what I would recommend to you for your individual issues.
Here is the problem as I see it, many of you feel as though when it comes to supplements, if a little is good for you then even more is better and that is so far from the truth. The bottom line is that our bodies can only take but so much before it has no effect on your system. There is a reason why they put the percentages of daily allowances on the bottles. More is not better and you are wasting your money if you think so.
Now I will not tell you what supplements you should be considering depending on your situation of course.
For those that are having weight problems. You are trying just not to lose weight but keep it off, there is a product called Bios Life Slim that is on the market that can help you with that. This product does the following: Reduces your appetite, Absorbs and Removes Fat, Promotes Fat burning ability, Decreases Leptin resistance, Lowers your Triglycerides, Improves your Cholesterol levels by decreasing your LDL and increasing your HDL. This product comes in packets or canister and is dissolvable in water. I have many people on this product and everyone has told me about the results they have gotten from it. From increased energy to weight loss, everyone has told me that they should have gotten it months ago. I have many people that have lost more than 20 pounds in two months on this product.
For those that have knee and joint issues: You have tried everything and now you are seriously considering surgery or a cortisone shot, there is a product called BM&C Plus. This regenerative herbal formula helps reduce tissue inflammation, nourish ligament and tendons, and strengthen the body against infections. There is also a product called Osteo Essential. This propriety blend of glucosamine, calcium, manganese, and other nutrients helps support and rebuild cartilage and bone.
For those that need daily Nutrition: You have been telling yourself that you need to begin to take some sort of multi-vitamin but you just don’t know which one. Well the first problem with a lot of the vitamins on the shelf is that the body ends up excreting them out no more than a few hours after taking them. So in essence you are wasting your money on something that the body won’t use 90% of. However there is a product called CoreHealth Basics which replenishes low mineral, vitamin, and electrolyte levels with Core Health Basics to keep your body in optimal condition. The body absorbs 100% of this product and uses 100% of it, I know I take it.
There is also another product on the market called PowerMeal. This natural super food features the best and most nutritious organic ingredients- harvested and prepared in order to allow the natural enzymes, vitamins, proteins and amino acids to remain intact and easily absorbed by the body.
For my athletic friends that are looking to enhance their athletic abilities there is a product called MYoCap. This is a post workout recovery blend containing an exclusive blend of nutrients that promote recovery after training and exercise and help support the recuperative process. Designed to be taken after exercise, this special formula provides the nutrients release energy for cellular regeneration and provides antioxidants to fight against the free radicals that result from workouts. There is also Power Generation. This product has an effective herbal blend to boost your athletic performance while promoting optimal physical energy and mental focus.
For those that have heart and cardiovascular issues: There is a product called Vascular Complete that I recommend. This unique product has been specifically formulated with nutrients known to optimize the health of blood vessels by promoting blood vessel elasticity, strength and efficiency. Vascular Complete provides nutrients and cell repair factors to optimize the function of blood vessels and the entire cardiovascular system.
I recommend any of these and they work. I know this because they are all in the Physicians Directory especially the Bios Life Slim. That is huge because most supplements are not.
Now the question still remains… how much should a person take? I would recommend taking only as much as the product tells you. Don’t double to dosage or triple the amount just thinking that you will be really giving your body extra. The body will only take what is needs and can absorb and nothing more. I really recommend these supplements and I know they work.
Now the one thing I don’t want you to do is just go and buy them blindly just because “I recommended them”, however try them for one month and see if you feel or see a difference. If so you may have just found what you have been looking for. Please go to my website myunicity.net/ParkersPlace and once there go to where it says “shipping” and learn more about the products I told you about, then order one month… just one month and see what happens.
The New Year is quickly coming upon us… let’s start it right. Our bodies will thank us for it in so many ways.

Preparing for the holidays

Well Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming upon us very quickly and with those holidays, comes the four F’s and they are, family fun and festivities and one other things…lots of food. Now don’t get me wrong, eating with your family and your loved ones is a great thing and I am not trying to keep you from enjoying your time with them however, here are a few things that I want to share with you.

1) Statistics show that the average person after high school graduation gains about 1 pound per year and most of that weight is put on around the holidays. If you don’t believe me count the number of years from the time you were 18 until now. Now step on a scale. Read it and weep! Now this does not go for every person but for the average person it works.
2) Statistics show that more heart attacks and strokes occur during the holiday times
3) The average person consumes enough food so that if they were to try and work it off they would have to burn 5000 calories and that is only thanksgiving dinner
4) There are more turkeys killed at Thanksgiving than at any other time in the year (poor turkeys what did they do to us)
5) The average retailer looks for this time of the year because 40% of their revenue is made in just this next two months (amazing the deals you can get. Just goes to show you that during the year everything is marked up big time)
6) The average consumer does the majority of their purchases in retail stores in these next two months
7) The average man, if they are like me, spend less than 10 minutes doing their Christmas shopping (probably not true, but I know I do)
8) As we become lazier internet sales increase exponentially and every year.
9) Fast food restaurants located in malls do 60% of their business in just these next two months
10) The Green Bay Packers will repeat as Super bowl Champions next year 2012 (Just had to throw that in, sorry my New York friends, still love ya though)

Getting serious again, here are some helpful tips to keep those unwanted extra pounds off during the holidays.

1) When you go to do your shopping, walk and at a faster pace than normal. Get your heart rate up a little and why not kill two birds with one stone. Get your exercise in and shop at the same time. This will add new meaning to the term “shop till you drop”.
2) Be very mindful of what you are consuming daily and try this. Before eating or after eating instead of sitting around, immediately get some exercise
3) Remember you want to burn off at least what you have eaten
4) Stay away from the excess alcohol. I did not say do not drink. I said stay away from too much drinking
5) After your Thanksgiving and Christmas meals go for a fast pace walk and take your family and friends with you and enjoy each other’s company as you sweat those unwanted extra pounds away
6) If you find yourself at a mall park further away than you would normally. This will force you to at least walk a few extra steps before you walk into that fast food restaurant and order those cheeseburgers.
7) Watch your soda consumption. Soda is not filling and it was designed that way purposely. You need to be very mindful of this.
8) When you are watching television during the holidays at every commercial drop to the floor and do some sit-ups and or push-ups. You only need to do 10 reps each commercial and no you don’t need to drink a gallon of water after each set.

Here is a true story, one that just happened to me a few weeks ago. I had a person join membership at my gym. Now this person is grossly overweight and it is very noticeable. Every Tuesday they would get weighed in at Weight Watchers and she noticed that her weight was beginning to go up even more and just walking up the stairs was impossible. Well I started her on a low intense workout that even after 10 minutes on the treadmill she was done and she kept this workout up for the whole week. The next week she goes back to weight watchers and I just knew she was going to like the results. Well she comes back to me and tells me that she gains 2 pounds. TWO POUNDS! I thought to myself, “How can that be. She must be doing something and not telling me”.

Well for the next few weeks as I intensified her workout and she kept coming back to me and telling me that she was gaining weight. After a month of this I asked her to come into my office and have a little chat with me. As soon as she sat down, she started to cry and she told me that she has been working so hard and she asks me why she can’t lose any weight. I knew in my heart of hearts that she had to be doing something because she was so heavy that just walking in a circle should help her lose a few 20 pounds. I was getting as frustrated as she was until one day as we were talking she noticed that I was drinking some tea. She asked me how many cups of tea I drank a day and I told her that the tea I make in the morning lasts me all day and that is about 16oz. I followed up with my question to her, “So how much tea do you drink?” She them tells me that she drinks at least a gallon of coffee in the morning and a second gallon in the afternoon.

I looked at her and I think steam began to come out of me ears. I then asked her when she drinks this coffee and she tells me about an hour before she goes to weight watchers but after she works out. If my gym were on the third floor of a building I would have jumped out the window! There was the problem. She was sabotaging her own efforts. I told her this and now two weeks later she is down 30 pounds. Hello! How could she not know that? Well it doesn’t matter case solved.

Anyway back to the thought at hand…this year let’s be very mindful of our eating habits and let’s keep exercise at the forefront of our minds. Remember this… exercise makes the body and mind happy.

How fast and how far can you walk?

I find this very interesting. The researchers asked how far you could walk and not run. At first I thought about why they would ask such a question and the answer came pretty quickly, because most people don’t like running and everyone walks (with the exception of the disabled). Walking and at a quick pace over a length or period of time can give a person the same results than if they ran that same distance.

Now to test this theory, I walked two miles at a very hard brisk pace. The question I wanted to answer was if I would feel the same fatigue as if I had ran that same distance and the answer was a resounding yes. Now don’t get me wrong it was a much slower time but the end result was pretty much the same, leg fatigue. The hardest thing to do during that walk was keep the same pace going. On so many occasions my body wanted to naturally slow down that I found myself really concentrating on my foot cadence to keep the same pace up. At the end of the walk I evaluated myself to figure out if my cardio conditioning for the first two mile walk and this gave me a bench mark or base line. The next day a ran that same two mile course at a moderate pace, 7 minutes per mile and remarkably at the end of my run, whereas I was breathing a little heavier, when I went to take my pulse rate, it was lower than when I walked the day before.

Here is my thought, I am a believer that running isn’t for everyone and in the end, for the general public, whether you run or walk at a fast pace, doesn’t really matter. You can achieve the same ultimate goal using either method. Now I know some of you are shaking your heads and saying that you are walkers and not runners, but have you ever done a study comparing to two and which one really gets you in the best shape? Or are you just saying that because you “feel” that running is too hard and difficult and it is too uncomfortable? Is your statement “feeling” of logic based?

Did you know that there is a big difference between running and walking fast pace? With running you are using your mid foot and rolling to your toes (with the exception of sprinters that are always on the balls of their feet) and with walking your are rolling from your heal to your toe. With walking you are using much more of your Tibialis anterior and much more of your Illiopsoas muscle than you do when running. Your legs are more engaged while fast paced walking compared to running. One foot is always on the ground with fast pace walking and with running you spend more of your time in the air than on the ground. I can honestly tell you that fast walking was much harder than it first appeared and much more taxing on my legs.

Now try this as an exercise. For two weeks find yourself a one mile or two mile course and time yourself. Then over the next two weeks try and better that time. Every time you finish I want you then to take your pulse and keep record of it. Then compare when you first started to your 14th day. Then I want you to run (at your own pace) that two miles and do the same thing, take your pulse when you finish. See if after your walking there was a noticeable difference and after you’re running there was a noticeable difference. After you first walk that will give you a baseline as to the amount of beats per minute your heart rate was at. Chart it and look at the progression for the 14 days. Then do the same with the running. Now once you finish both exercises then compare them both and see which discipline gave you the best overall results. Numbers don’t lie nor are they emotional.

Now how you base your final results is on looking at your first initial pulse rate and then charting your progress throughout the 14 days. As an example let’s assume you started your first day after walking with BPM of 118 and after 14 days of walking that same course at that same time, it went down to 108 beats per minute. Then you started the running and after your initial run your BPM was 118 again but this time after 14 days your BPM was 112, then the best way for you to get into good general condition would be by fast pace walking. Why? Well when you started the walking your BPM was 118 and you lost 10 BPM compared to running where you only lost 6 BPM over that same amount of days.

Well from that you can begin to plan out how you will get yourself into better cardio condition. Hey a one other thing, remember this, the better condition you are in the lower your resting heart rate… the longer you will live. Now go do it!

Shoes, Shoes, everywhere

So many people have asked me over the past few years about running shoes and I have told everyone of them that it really doesn’t matter what type of running shoe you get, but what matters is that they invest in a good pair of orthotics. I have told so many of them that all they need to do is go to the local bargain store and buy a reasonably cost effective pair of shoes but invest in a good pair of orthotics.

However, every person that I have told that to has never taken my advice seriously. In the end they would go to some specialty store and spend hundreds of dollars on shoes thinking that they have the “right” pair for them. I remember when Air Jordan’s came out and every basketball kid in America just knew that if they got those shoes they would play like him. Since that time every good basketball player has their brand name shoe and we spend hundreds of dollars just to be like “Mike”.

Over the past several years I have seen shoe commercials come out talking about their latest and greatest find and how much research has come out to support their newest findings. Recently a shoe that looks like a rocker has come out and a friend told me that every time she goes walking this shoe helps strengthen her legs because of the design of the sole of the shoe. It could never have anything to do with the fact that she is walking now when she wasn’t before? But I could be wrong. Just for giggles I found myself in one of those specialty stores just to find out what was the latest and greatest thing on the market. I was met at the door and greeted like I was a king and as an ex-sales person, for you to be able to make any inroads with anyone you need to treat them like royalty. Moments later they had me up on a treadmill and they were looking at my running style. They told me that by looking at that, they could get me the right shoe for my foot.

Well they had me running at 5.0 with no incline and they took film of my running ability. No one asked me if I was a long distance runner or a sprinter. I personally don’t think they cared. I think they just wanted to sell shoes and the more “information” they could get from me would make them seem smarter and I would just rely on them and buy whatever they suggested. Before I knew it they were having me try on these $200 shoes telling me that this is what I had to wear to correct my foot issues. I let them go thru their sales pitch as they told me that I would probably lose about 2 minutes off my 5k mile time which I thought was really funny being that they never asked me how fast I’ve run it in and I am a sprinter not a distance runner what do I care about running 3.1 miles. Give me 100 meters any day. But I listened not asking any questions until the end. My only question was if they thought that I should get orthotics and their response was that I could but did not need it with those $200 shoes.

I took the shoes off my feet and looked inside them and felt around to see if there was any arch support in them… there was none. When I asked about that they said that the arch support was on the side of the shoe and the shoe would be good for about 300 miles of running. I graciously thanked them for the information, handed them back the shoe and left. Then I went to the local bargain store and bought the same shoe for much much less and invested in a good pair of orthotics. Instead of me spending $200 I ended up spending $40 plus the orthotics of $35 my total was $75. Now since that time (6 months ago) I have bought one other pair of shoes but I still have the same orthotics. I will spend no more than $40 for any pair of sneakers and I truly believe no one has to spend any more than that… but that is my opinion and I could be wrong.

This morning I was watching television and there was a report on Reebok and their “Easytone” sneakers. I am not making this up, these shoes are suppose to reshape your glutes and strengthen your legs and how they do it is by these bubbles they have on the bottom of the shoes. From the beginning many people have been skeptical about this new shoe so there were two independent studies done and one of those places that did a study on the shoe was University of Wisconsin Lacrosse and what they found out is that there was no difference from wearing those shoes or not wearing them. It has been found according to this report that Reeboks advertising was misleading and deceptive. No really! It couldn’t be because they are using 20 something year old models who have never been pregnant and probably work out their whole life. Or that 20 something year old guy how just finished playing some sport at some university? Hey, let’s use that 40 something women who had 3 kids or that average man who is in his 40’s. No, that wouldn’t sell! Now it has been found that there has been deception going on. Hello!

In a nut shell, there is not one shoe out there now on the market that has good arch support nor are really good for your feet. You won’t find it. They have taken the arch supports out to save money. Whether it maximizes profits or not I don’t know, all I just know is that they have taken them out. (Remember Sam Goody and their shoes? Oh now that was a good pair of sturdy, foot pleasing shoes.) However, I am going to try and help you all who read this blog out… If you want good pair of running or walking shoes and your feet are hurting, don’t go out and spend $100 dollars on a pair of sneakers. Don’t do it! Invest in a good pair of orthotics to support your arches then go out and buy a pair of sneakers within your budget. They problem are the arches for most people and orthotics will definitely take care of that.

Now I could get really scientific and explain to you why your arch is so important and how with a weak arch you will displace your right foot strike and compromise your walking and running gate, but I won’t just know go out and buy so flexible orthotics and enjoy walking again.

Thank you

Over the last few months I have not been myself and I know that some people have suffered because of it. Just last week, as many of you knew, I buried my mother after a long bout with cancer. Some of you have read my first book and if you recall I mentioned that back in august of 2009 she started the fight of her life and little did in know what affect it would have on me, my family and my community here in Wisconsin and your patience has really made me appreciated even more how blessed I am to know you all.

A special thanks goes out to my Parkers Place members who really stepped up to the plate and took over the business while I was gone. Once again you blessed me with how you took control and took care of “your” gym. I even heard that we have a few new members that have joined while I was gone, wow!

Special thanks goes out for all those that braved the weather and came out to the viewing and funeral. It was good to see you all especially those I haven’t seen for a long time. Thank you also for all the prayers that went out on behalf of my family. I truly believe that God heard you and now my mother is comforted in heaven and my father’s rehabilitation is going quicker than even the doctors thought. Please continue to pray for a quick recovery for my father.

Thank you Spring Creek Church for you many cards and prayers. I believe they were heard and felt by my whole family and because of your prayers even in the midst of a hurricane, an earth quake and power outages my mother’s final burial time was peaceful and will never be forgotten.

Well the story is not over yet. My wife is still fighting the good fight and my prayer is that she concurs her fight against cancer. The future is uncertain, however I know one thing… I have a support network that even in my most lowest point will help me thru anything I may go thru. With that I can rest my head on my pillow at night and sleep well. Thank you all for you help and support.

Depression

Everyone at some time in their life goes through it. No one is exempt but how we react and deal with that state can determine the path of one’s life. But what is depression. Depression to me is when our expectations of life are not met and we fall short of some goal we thought that we would achieve now understanding that the probability of achieving that goal is small at best. As an example the marriage that breaks up. You went into that marriage with the idea that you both would grow old together and watch the grand if not great grand children play. Now the marriage has ended. Or that business person who wanted to be a millionaire only to find out that their dreams of becoming a millionaire are a pipe dream at best. Or the woman who desperately wants to have a child only to find out that she or her husband cannot because of physical reason. Or the dream job that you had now has been cut either in pay or termination and now you need to find another job to make ends meet. All of these plus others can and do lead to depression.

Life is like the stock market. You watch it go up and up and you think you have mastered it. You watch your stock portfolio get higher and higher and then one day without warning it crashes and begins a downward spiral that seemingly feels out of control. Most people at this point begin selling things off to keep from losing everything, but is that the real time to do that? Quite the opposite, you should be buying more shares as prices drop so that you can purchase cheaper shares so that over the long term your portfolio will appreciate that much more when the market begins to go up again. Most people just sell off and take their losses never to invest again.

Isn’t life like that? For weeks, months or years you are riding high on life. Everything seems to be going really well. The kids are doing well in school. Your health is perfect. Your job couldn’t be better. Your friends look at you in awe and see you as the perfect person and their idol. Then one day the bottom begins to fall out. You lose your job do to downsizing. You get a real bad report from your doctor about your health or the heath of a loved one. A child has done something that will have an altering lifetime effect on their life or maybe the perfect storm happens where you have your business and personal life crash all at once. Depression sets in and you begin to ask yourself the question why. You begin to doubt the people around you and you wonder if you will ever get out of the situation you are in. You get so low you begin to doubt life itself. Now what do you do?

What I can tell you is that just like the stock market problems are temporary and how you deal in the situation will determine the course of your life going forward. Now I said “deal in the situation” not “deal with the situation” understand that. Dealing in a situation is much different than dealing with a situation. A positive way of dealing in a situation is our attitude telling us that this problem is only temporary and that in the end everything will work out. Now that is not to say you don’t try and work out the problem which is “dealing with” that particular situation. To consistently have a stress-less demeanor we must realize that whatever the problem, we have a higher being that has our back and that what we are going through, in the end, is really temporary and that there is a greater good that needs to and will come from this situation. You need to look past your current issues and focus on your end goals whatever they may be.

I know how depression can get you down. I know how you begin to doubt everything including life itself. Trust me I know. However here is an idea you can use that worked for me. Surround yourself with people who really love and care for you. These people need to love you “unconditionally” and it may not be those who you think it should be. In most cases it is someone that you least expect. Open your heart and don’t close down. So many think that in the case of feeling depressed they need to go into a closet and hid never to be seen until they can be happy again and I need to tell you that that is the biggest lie one could ever tell or believe. We need each other and it is your turn to get the physical, mental or monetary help you may need.

Someone once told me that if you help another person out, it makes your problems seem much small or manageable. I don’t know how true that is but what I do know is this, while in your depression state so many things are going through your mind that you need to not trust your own thoughts and feelings. This is the time when they will lead you astray, but rely on the people you trust around you to give you good advice and follow it. Remember only those with no added ulterior motive. By doing this you are giving yourself the ability to replenish and think about the future. In a depression state our eyes are clouded with confused thoughts and feelings and every decision you make will be more for pleasure in some way more so than common sense.

Depression is an emotion we all go thru. How we handle it can determine many things in our life. If you are in a depressive state find those unconditional friends to come along side you and help you. Don’t rely on yourself but trust in that higher power and know that what you are going thru is temporary and he that higher power has got your back.