Weight Loss... Very, Very Simple, But Not Easy

I just came across a post yesterday from one of my Facebook friends.  He's a great guy, but he had a post and rant yesterday that I just don't get.  He's been doing a great job of becoming healthier, but hasn't lost as much weight as he would have liked to over the past couple years. 

He posted about Shakeology and other direct sales supplements and his opinion is that they should give their product away for free so people can see if it works.  The first problem I have is the mindset of a product "working" or "not working."  Until that mindset changes, a person will not reach their goals.  No one is going to get results just from using a product. 

There is no such thing as a good weight loss product or a bad weight loss product.  They are all just tools and they can either help or hurt.  A person could consume too many calories of the healthiest food or supplement out there and they would gain weight. 

I can't believe I'm defending the direct sales supplement industry, but the bottom line is this.  Everything works.... if done right.  Shakes can help someone stick to their diet.  Does that mean the shake magically worked?  I don't think so, but if it helps you, then use it.  If diet pop helps someone stick to their diet do we say that the diet pop worked?  No, it was just a tool used to help keep the sugar cravings away. 

I just wish that people would realize that weight loss is very, very simple.  Burn more calories than you consume and you will lose weight.  No one can escape the Law of Thermodynamics.  It's very, very simple, but not easy.

After I do this I will be happy.....

How many times do you hear someone say this?  After I do this or after I do that, then I will be happy and everything will be great.  Then they accomplish that one thing (or more likely, they fail, and then pick a new thing that will magically make them happy) and they still aren't happy. 

Add them all together and eventually you're dead without ever being happy.  I do this sometimes, too.  After I finish school and get in my career things will be so much better.  After I get a raise I will have more money.  After the kids are in school I will have more time to do some things around the house. 

I am going to work on realizing when I say these things and stop.  The only time we ever have is now so whatever it is we want, it needs to be done now. 

Want to have more money?  Budget better, get another job, start a business. 

Want to have a happier marriage?  Read some books on marriage and psychology and apply them to your marriage. 

Want more time for an activity or for your family?  Put it first and MAKE time. 

Wherever you are right now is where you really wanted to be at one time.  When you were a kid you really wanted to be grown up and have a job so you could have more money.  When you were in high school, you really wanted to be in college.  When you were single, you couldn't wait to meet someone and get married.  You, I, have what we want right now let's start making it happen. 

Don't spend all your life waiting for things to be perfect because things are never perfect. Do it now.

Irrationality and Emotional Decisions

Having children made us look differently at all these things that we take for granted, like taking your child to get a vaccine against measles or polio.  ~ Melinda Gates

This post is a little off topic, but I don't care.  I'm sure this will offend some of the hippies out there, but this topic keeps coming up on Facebook and in articles on the internet so I wanted to write about it.  Like they say, if you're not pissing off somebody with what you write, you're doing it wrong. 

Childhood vaccinations is what I'm talking about.  Apparently there is a group of people out there that think they are smarter than the doctors and scientists and are taking the miracles of medicine for granted.  Do these people know that the only reason that their kids are relatively safe from things like polio, whooping cough, measles, smallpox, and a bunch of other nasty diseases is that there are smart parents out there that DO vaccinate their kids? 

It is arrogant, stupid, and selfish to not vaccinate your kids.  These people are living in a land of superstitions, conspiracy theories,  and irrationality.  Up until recently, vaccines weren't available and millions of people died from diseases that now are nearly 100% preventable, but yet some parents think they are smarter than the scientists and doctors that develop and test these vaccines. 

I know most people aren't rational, but if you look at it rationally, the only way you shouldn't vaccinate their kids is if the chance that the kid will die from the vaccine (or get autism or whatever) is higher than the chance the kid would die from the disease without getting the vaccine.  The risk has to be higher than the reward.  Even if there's a 50% chance of dying from a vaccine, you should still get the vaccine if the chance of dying without the vaccine is 51%.  Just another reason people should learn more about math and statistics! 

That's not the case now, but it will be eventually and it will be because of the parents that decided not to vaccinate their kids. 

Colorado Shooting, Crazy Scumbags, and Irrational People

I just heard about the movie theatre shooting in Colorado while driving to work this morning.  It sucks and it's sad that so many people died because of a crazy scumbag.  There really isn't a punishment that could do him justice. 

What I don't understand is everyone trying to make sense of it.  There isn't a way to make sense of it.  The fact is that there are crazy people in the world and things like this will happen.  There isn't a way to prevent it and random things like this happen because that's just the way it is. 

I'm sure there will be people that now refuse to go to movie theatres just like there were people that refused to fly after 9/11.  Here are some more facts (I don't have the actual numbers and I don't care to get them).  12 people died out of millions that go to movies every year.  You have a better chance of being killed driving a car or walking down the sidewalk so if this stops you from going to a movie then you are making an irrational decision.  Same thing if you refused to fly after 9/11. 

While this whole thing was sad and senseless, I will keep living life as normal and I hope everyone else does as well.

Coming Out of the Funk

I have noticed something since I started lifting regularly three years ago.  My motivation seems to come and go in a predictable pattern.  I get really motivated around October or November and push really hard with lifting and dieting and make some pretty good gains.  Then around May I notice that I'm not as excited about my workouts and I slowly start eating too much. 

I even knew that this had been a problem for me in the past and was prepared for it this year, but it still happened.  It even happened earlier than normal this year.  It started around April and lasted until just a couple weeks ago.  It's not like I didn't work out at all during that time, but my workouts were inconsistent and I didn't really make any strength or body composition gains. 

I do know that it is behind me now because I'm looking forward to my workouts and I'm excited for my workout time to get here everyday.  On my off day yesterday I was disappointed that I wouldn't get to lift.  That's when I know I'm back in the right mindset and I'm going to take advantage of it. 

I have been doing more research on upcoming meets and I think I found the meet that I'm going to register for.  It's November 16th in Dubuque, IA.  I will be competing in the raw division in the squat, bench, and deadlift.  My goals as of right now are to bench 315, squat 475, and deadlift 525.  That would give me a total of 1,315 pounds and would be great for my first meet.  I'm not committing to anything after that, but I am leaning towards taking a couple weeks off and then preparing for a spring bodybuilding competition. 

That is scary for me to even think about because I have dieted down for a contest twice so far and quit at about ten weeks out both times.  I did learn a lot about what to expect from those two attempts so I think I would be better prepared this time, but who knows.

Today's Workout

Something Everyone Should Have

I just celebrated the ten year anniversary of the day that my wife and I met.  I was so different then than I am now and I'm sure my wife would say the same thing about herself.  I'm not going to make a huge list and bore anyone with how we are both different.  That would not be awesome.

What I am going to do is talk about my life philosophy, something everyone should have.  Ten years ago, I didn't have a life philosophy or at least I didn't know what it was.  As I have gotten older, I have learned a lot about myself and slowly started to realize things about life, myself, other people, and the way the world works.  I have developed some rules that I try to live my life by.  I'm sure in ten years I will have replaced some of these rules with new rules, but we only live in the present so this is what matters to me right now.

1)  I Am Only Going To Do Things That I Want To Do

Selfish, huh?  At first glance, yes, but really it's not.  I think I am a good person, and to me, good people like to do things that help others so I don't consider this selfish.  If I do things that I want to do then I am going to be a happier person.  When I am happy I am going to be a better husband, father, and friend.  Those are good things.  If I am stuck doing lots of things that I don't want to do in life then I am going to be miserable.

I firmly believe that positive and happy people attract good things and negative and miserable people attract bad things.  By doing what I want to do I will have a happier life and so will my family.

2)  Don't Worry And Don't Do Too Much Planning

Most things we worry about never happen and most of the things that we plan for the future don't apply in the future.  Yes, we need to make sure that we have an outline for what we want the next year, five years, and ten years to look like, but don't spend too much time on those plans because they could be totally disrupted tomorrow.  Be flexible.

3)  Lead By Example

I haven't always done a good job of this, but I'm trying.  I want to live the life that I want my kids to live.  Sure, I could get rid of my dreams, sacrifice, and work a job I hate just so we can get by and pay the bills, but that's not the kind of example I want to set.  I want to keep dreaming big and going after those dreams.  I'm in the process of finishing my degree at age 30 after ten years out of college.  Hopefully that proves to my kids that no matter what kind of setbacks they have, that it's never too late to go after what they want.

I work out and try to stay healthy even though it keeps me away from home some nights.  That's ok because I want them to know that being healthy should be a priority and that I will be around many more years because I stay healthy.

4)  Live Life With Excitement

Some people would call me immature, but I would disagree.  I just refuse to grow into a boring adult that becomes negative and jaded.  I'm going to be doing new and exciting things until the day that I die.  I hope I die doing something exciting like having sex on my 90th birthday, climbing a mountain, or skydiving.  If I don't do exciting things I might as well be dead anyways, right?  A boring life isn't worth living.

I don't think that any of these values will go away as I age because these are a pretty big part of who I am, but I'm sure I will add to the list.  The important thing isn't what is on the list, but that we have some type of philosophy that we live by, even if we can't put it into words.  Without it, we will just drift through life and before we know it, we will be out of time.

Vaginitis

Why is it that the smallest and weakest guys in the gym are the ones that cause the most problems and act like idiots? They walk around with ILS , throw weights, slam machines, and make an ass of themselves.

I just took a break from writing this post because I had to go tell someone to quit slamming the LEG EXTENSION machine. You really have to slam the LEG EXTENSION machine? That must be tough doing leg extensions with 100#.

How about this? Get off the machine and get in the squat rack or lift some heavy shit off the ground. Maybe that will cure your vaginitis.

Today's workout

Supplements

I'm not a huge proponent of supplements.  I have been asked to sell advocare, herbalife, isogenix, and other types of supplements, but I always say no.  Sure, I work in a gym and could probably sell a good amount of supplements and make some extra money, but integrity should come before money.  I admit, it hasn't always been that way for me. 

I feel that a person should have their diet and training in order before they start worrying about supplements.  The diet doesn't need to be perfect, but they should at least have an idea and a plan of what they're trying to do with their diet.  The reason I believe this is that too many people look at supplements as a shortcut or they think that they can eat like crap just because they're taking certain supplements. 

Supplements should be exactly that.  Supplements to a nutritious diet that fill in any gaps that may occur in their diet and this is why I probably will never sell supplements.  90% of people (I'm being generous here) don't have their diet in order so there really isn't any sense in them spending money on supplements.  They would be better served using that money to buy healthier food. 

All of that said, now that I have a plan as to what I'm going to be eating and what my training goals are, here is the short list of supplements that I will be using up to the meet.  Creatine, multi-vitamin, vitamin D, vitmain C, and whey protein.  To me, these are the basics.  Some people would add some other things to the list and I may add more to my list eventually too, but right now I need to focus on the basics and get consistent with them before I start adding more to my plate. 

Epiphany

Ok, so I think I realized today what it is that I need to do.  I have been messaging back and forth a little with Harry Selkow (check out his log here).  He knows his stuff.  I was hoping to work with him because I was thinking that I needed some guidance and motivation.  Well, he definitely motivated me, but not in the way that I expected.

He basically said that I need to man up, register for a powerlifting meet, and get to work.  Once I send in that entry fee and commit to the meet he said I would become a different person.  I would be a lot more motivated, driven, and focused.  I really respect that advice because he could've easily written me a program and took my money, but he told me his true opinion even though it didn't make him any money.  That's integrity right there and you don't find it very often.

I'm going to start searching for meets around November or December and get training.  I had plans of doing a powerlifting meet a few months back.  The meet is actually tomorrow, but I wasn't fully committed because I'm not doing it.  I never sent in my entry form or check so I guess I wasn't very serious.  That's what is going to be different this time.  I'm going to send in the entry fee as soon as I find the meet that I'm doing.  

Paleo Update

So far this paleo thing has been a complete failure.  I lasted for about two days and went back to eating as normal.  I am noticing that it has become a lot easier for me to IF, though I'm not even trying to do that right now.  I normally don't eat anything until noon (no breakfast, that's terrible right?)  Not really, google Martin Berkhan, John Romaniello, or intermittent fasting and you can learn a lot abou it. 

Not that that matters right now because being able to IF successfully wasn't my goal.  I would love to be able to say I'm committed again and ready to go starting right now, but I'm not.  I'm not ready yet, but maybe I will be soon.

Training has been going well, though.  I had taken about four weeks off from lifting because I just wasn't feeling it.  Everyone needs a break sometimes and I figured I should listen to my body.  I got back into it yesterday and worked my way up to a 405lb squat.  It went up fairly easily and I know I could've gotten 425lbs and possilby 450lbs.  My goal is a 500lb squat by January 1st. 

I need to take this weekend and seriously think about what I'm going to do for the next five months with my training and diet.  Right now I weigh the most I've ever weighed (246 lb) and I'm the strongest I've ever been, but I'm also not really comfortable with the shirt off! 

Over the past couple of years I've dieted down for a bodybuilding contest and got to ten weeks out both times before quitting.  I was the leanest I had ever been the second time around at ten weeks out and for some reason I quit again.  I guess that was the point it really started to suck and I didn't keep pushing.