Lean and Hard

Who can forget the fat-free yogurt on Seinfeld that turned out to be fat-full? Everyone was scarfing it down and feeling good, thinking they were enjoying a healthy treat, only to find that they were all mysteriously putting on major poundage.

The same thing can and does happen more than you might think. Stuff is marketed as being healthy, low in fat or sugar, chock full of vitamins, calcium or fiber, so you snatch it up and pay out the nose for it, but don't lose an ounce or notice one bit of difference in your wellbeing. What's gong on?

If you don't pay attention to what's really in some of these foods, you'll end up like Seinfeld and friends, that's what's going on.

Take a look at some of the worst offenders, like protein bars, bran muffins, low-fat salad dressings, and yogurt, on livestrong.com... and don't shoot me, I'm only the messenger.

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(Photo: Healthy Choices Daily) When I was about 15, I started running. I mean I ran as a child, playing sports and that sort of thing, but I took up running as a form of exercise. Sadly though, I took up smoking just a year or so later, to look cool and all that, and so the running got booted out the door like an unwelcome guest. Then, when I was around 18, I gave up the cigarettes (which I had indulged in for all of about 6 months) and got to running again. That lasted for quite a godly number of years. But then, blah blah blah, you've heard the story in previous posts, I got sick from simple carbs and just got too heavy for running to be possible. Now here I am again, having gained significant ground back toward my goal of lean and hard, and I'm faced with this question: To run or to walk? Which is best?

Walking has been part of my fitness routine on the days I didn't do the gym. It's been gym, gym, walk, gym, walk, gym, rest, (that's 7 days, if you're counting) for months. But a few weeks ago I began transforming the walking into running. For example, I had been walking 4 times around my apartment complex. Then I substituted a few hundred feet of running to the walk, then I was walking three, running one, then walking two, running two, then I added a lap and last week I walked one and ran four. I'd like to be running six pretty soon. Then, who knows?

But is this the right approach? Which is best for getting lean and hard? Which is best for my overall health? These burning questions will be answered very soon. Actually, right now.

First, the fat burning question. According to experts, the idea that you burn more fat when you exercise at a lower intensity is a myth. While it's somewhat correct to say that you burn more fat proportionally in comparison to carbohydrates, this small difference is offset by the fact that you are burning far more calories at higher intensities. Take a look at this quote:

Myth: Exercise done at a low intensity, such as walking, is better at fat burning than other high-intensity activities, like running or cardio activities where you push yourself very hard.

The Truth: In a strict scientific sense, these claims are true because working at a lower intensity requires less quick energy and a higher percentage of fat is burned. But you'll also burn fewer calories than you would if, for the same amount of time, you work out at a harder intensity (running versus walking). If you're trying to lose weight, even though a higher percentage of fat is being used, a lower total amount of fat is lost (Busting the Great Myths of Fat Burning).

On the other hand, walking is far and above better than not doing either. And for many people (me included for a long time), running is not an option.

Another consideration is injury. Low-impact exercise is certainly prone to fewer injuries than the high-impact varieties, and running can result in injury to various parts of the body.

So, running burns more calories and increases my cardiovascular fitness better than walking, but is not always possible and can be more prone to injuries.

Here's what I'll do. I'll run, but I'll build up slowly and be careful not to over-train. Cool? Awesome.

(If you're wondering where power-walking fits in, it doesn't. You run the serious risk of getting beat up for looking so dorky.)

Lean and hard movie star of the month: Jon Hamm



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"According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005, nutrient-dense foods are those foods that provide substantial amounts of vitamins and minerals and relatively few calories" (Wikipedia).

The way I think about food has changed over the past year. It used to be that I'd categorize the desirability of possible meals by how good they'd taste and how filling they'd be, and the more of those things, the better. That type of thinking led me into a cycle of addiction to energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods, obesity, a shortened life-expectancy, and all sorts of related health problems.

Now, when I consider the goodness and desirability of possible meals, I think about how I can pack as many great nutrients into as few calories as possible and have it all taste good to boot. With this kind of thinking I've lost 125 pounds so far, and shed some serious health problems along with those pounds. For me it's all about packing in the nutrients, not the calories.

Here's a great article that lists some awesome nutrient-dense foods. Once you've learned to identify them, the trick is putting them into tasty, calorie-sparse recipes. Obviously, there are scads of ideas on the internet, and you can learn to make them up yourself through some trial and error. A couple of great categories for putting these awesome meals together are soups and salads, just because they both can handle lots of excellent ingredients.

For example, instead of potatoes and pasta in your soups, add beans and vegetables. And in your salads, instead of the boring iceberg lettuce, make them out of spinach, carrots, walnuts, cranberries, avocados, etc. There's almost no end to the number of delicious superfoods you can easily pack into these two types of meals.

When you eat like this you're accomplishing two excellent things. You're keeping your calories down in order to get rid of fat, and you're enhancing your looks, health, fitness and longevity at the same time.

So, pack in the nutrients, not the calories!

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I'll begin by saying that not all sleep apnea is caused by obesity. But since mine was, it only makes sense that I could cure it by reversing the cause.

As I steadily gained weight over the years, I started to snore, and snore worse and worse, to the point where I was waking myself up and even stopped breathing for short periods of time. (I guess if it had been for long periods I wouldn't be here to write this.)I woke up with headaches almost every morning.

Eventually I went and did a sleep study, which is a miserable experience, I assure you. They set me up with a CPAP machine (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), which made breathing easier during sleep but was a pain to use. The thing looked ridiculous, but at least I wasn't snoring or taking breaks from breathing during the night.

I used that thing for years and years, taking it with me on trips and wearing it without fail every night. Until a week ago , when I finally packed it up and put it away deep in my closet. And guess what. I'm sleeping better than ever.

As I was losing weight over the last several months, I was also dialing down the pressure setting on the CPAP, and I eventually reached a point where I could do without it completely. It feels so good to be free of my tether! Just another benefit of becoming lean and hard.

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The word "diet" is not bad, per se, but its typical meaning relates to something bad: That is, when it refers to an eating plan that, by its very nature, is doomed to failure. Anyone who has struggled with weight issues knows that most diets fail. Like me, they have dieted over and over again and, while they did lose weight at first, they inevitably gave up and gained it all back and then some. Why is this such a common pattern? I'll offer 5 simple reasons in this post.

1. They are overly restrictive.

Any eating plan that results in weight loss must cause you to run a negative energy balance. In other words, you have to be taking in less than you are using up. No way around it. But many diets make that negative balance too large. They bring some very impressive results, but always lead to intense feelings of deprivation and inevitable binging. A sustainable weight-loss plan should run a small negative balance that, over time, brings huge results. Beware of any diet that promises to cut 30 pounds in 30 days. Even if it worked, you'd probably put on 45 pounds in 45 days after that.

2. They include bad carbs.

For a diet to be sustainable over the long haul, it can't leave you feeling like you're starving to death, or have you dreaming about consuming an entire bag of chips or box of donuts. Diets that include simple and highly processed carbs will cause sugar spikes that leave you craving more of the same. When I tried these I'd end up eating 4 lo-cal meals in a single sitting just because I'd be so hungry. What works is an eating plan that is nutrient dense and calorie poor, not tiny amounts of calorie dense and nutrient poor foods.

3. They don't include exercise.

As I've written before, research has consistently shown that both diet and exercise are essential to any successful attempt to become lean and hard. Exercise transforms our bodies at a cellular level and makes us feel more energetic and less prone to regaining the weight we've lost by dieting alone.

4. They don't seem doable.

It's been shown that successful changes are the ones we can see ourselves making. The single change that got the ball rolling for me was switching out complex carbs for simple ones, which my oldest son happened to mention he was trying almost one year ago. It sounded doable to me. If you'd asked me then how confident I felt that I could make that change on a 1 - 10 scale I would have given you a solid 9. I could see myself doing it. Later one, once I began to feel stronger and less hungry, I could see myself cutting my caloric intake. Later still, after I'd lost about 20 pounds, I could see myself joining a gym and working out regularly. It's important that you make changes you can actually see yourself making successfully, even if you don't make them all at once.

5. They don't taste good.

This is one reason I failed at diets that had a specific menu. If I don't enjoy what I'm eating, how can I I keep eating it? I've tried diets before that told me exactly what I could have for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I hated them, and I can promise you I got off them as soon as I got within shouting distance of my goal. And then I went back to eating what I liked and gained all the weight back. What I do now is sustainable because I enjoy the recipes I've come up with. There's been lots of trial and error and there will be more, but it's got to taste good if you're going to keep doing it.

Ultimately, most diets fail because they are unsustainable, and if you can't do it for at least a year, it's pretty much a waste of time. I like this quote from an interview with Dr. John Berardi, a very successful fitness coach. When asked about some of the most important lessons he's learned about helping people over the years, he said this:

I also learned that all the technical, scientific recommendations in the world are meaningless...if you can't actually follow them for at least one year. Because that's how long it takes to make a sustainable, jaw-dropping transformation.

 In other words, if you can't sustain it for at least a year, it won't produce awesome results.

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The key to weight loss is not as simple as eating less. If it were that simple, no one would ever be overweight.

Yes, it's true that IF you eat fewer calories than you are burning, you WILL lose weight. The problem is with the IF. It's not easy, and virtually impossible for many people to eat fewer calories that they're burning. It was for me. I knew I was ruining my life by becoming morbidly obese, but even the threat of death couldn't help me to eat less. Quite simply, I was as addicted to fast carbs as someone else might be to alcohol or cocaine.

The problem was I didn't know it.

The good news was, it wasn't that hard to break my addiction.

All I had to do was replace fast carbs with slow carbs. A complete substitution.

What are fast carbs? While there is no absolute line between fast and slow, some are clearly fast and some are clearly slow. Fast carbs are simple carbs, carbs that break down into sugar very rapidly when eaten. Things like white potatoes, refined flour products like bread and pasta, sugary drinks like soda or even orange juice, cakes and pies, candy, ice cream, white rice, are all fast carbs. And almost all low calorie recipes still include them. Just try looking for a so-called lo-cal frozen meal at the supermarket that doesn't have these ingredients. It's not possible.

So you have to simply stop eating those things. No more donuts or bagels. No more pizza. No more linguini. No more white bread sandwiches.

But lets talk about what you can replace these things with.

All kinds of beans, vegetables, whole grain breads like Ezekiel bread, corn flour products like tacos or tortillas, yucca and yams, sweet potatoes and fruits, other whole grains like quinoa and flax. There's a pretty long list and thousands of great recipes.

What are some typical meals for me? (Keep in mind that I'm only eating 1200 to 1500 calories a day in order to get my weight to an ideal level, while at the same time getting exercise 6 days a week in order to build muscle, so the amount you eat may need to be different.)

Breakfast is usually a scoop of cooked beans and half a cup of liquid eggs. I make a big crock pot of beans and mushrooms, cooked in chicken broth and with my favorite seasonings, and just get a scoop of them in a frying pan with some cooking spray (I like to add some jerk seasoning too because I am Jamaican after all), then I add the liquid eggs and stir. Delicious.

My mid-morning snack is usually a cup of soup, which I cook on weekends and take to work in a Tupperware container. I like to cook boneless/skinless chicken thighs, which I pull apart when they've been boiling long enough to be tender, then add vegetables like squash, carrots, etc., and some split peas or lentils that I've pre-soaked. Sometimes I'll include chicken broth, chopped spinach, onions, celery and the like. It makes a very healthy, thick, delicious soup that keeps me going till the afternoon.

My mid-afternoon meal is typically a piece of chicken with a slice of Ezekiel bread, or sometimes a salad.

Dinner might be 3 tacos, made with seasoned ground beef in whole grain corn taco shells, diced tomatoes, a bit of shredded cheese and some chopped jalapenos. For dessert I might have a few apple slices.

Of course these are only a few ideas. You can find thousands more online, but you only have to avoid the fast carbs listed above and replace them with slow ones.

I hope this helps!

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I hate those stupid web adds that promise to do everything from get rid of belly fat to save you thousands on car insurance if you will follow "this one simple rule." Doing those things is rarely accomplished with a simple rule. If they were then no one would have belly fat or pay with their left arm for car insurance. But I can tell you how I was able to cure myself of morbid obesity, chronic fatigue and type 2 diabetes by substituting slow carbs for fast carbs.

Chronic Fatigue and Morbid Obesity

I suffered from chronic fatigue, at first sporadically, then eventually continuously, for about 30 years. I can tell you that it is very real and can drastically impair your life. It hurts those you love, hinders your career, and can end marriages. And almost worst of all, it gets no respect.

Since medical science has been unable to pin down a cause, many people will assume that you're a malingerer, faking illness to avoid things you don't want to do. Loved ones will question whether it's all in your head. People will ask you over and over to explain what it feels like. I can assure you that it's not like normal fatigue. I've experienced both and they are nothing alike. The double whammy for me was feeling too sick to do anything but lay in bed while at the same time maintaining an enormous appetite. So, guess what happened? I got very, very fat.

I tried everything under the sun to find a cure. I traveled to foreign countries, submitted to batteries of tests, visited with real doctors and quacks, all to no avail. But I have now found a cure that has worked for me going on almost a full year. I've regained my strength, diminished my addiction to huge amounts of food, and so far have lost 121 pounds, going from a high of 303 to my latest weigh-in of 182.

Type-2 Diabetes

With the morbid obesity came type-2 diabetes. I was having to spend thousands of dollars on insulin and other medications just to control my blood sugar. Over the past year I have been able, under my endocrinologist's supervision, to get completely off all diabetes meds while maintaining healthy sugar levels.

What about you?

I can't say whether or not you, reader, will find the same benefits from adopting my eating habits, since we are not the same. I am certain, however, that there are many, many people out there who will.

In my next post I'll go into more detail about the slow carb for fast carb swap.

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Here's an interesting question you might ask yourself: What percentage of people my age are physically fit? (I'm defining "fit" as being lean and hard from regular exercise and healthy eating.)

If you're in your 20s, you might think that number would be quite high. You might then be surprised to learn that:

Approximately one-third of boys and girls age 12 to 19 in the United States do not meet standards for physical fitness. (according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine)

But still, 66% is not bad. So if you're fit in your teens or early 20s, you would be among the 66%.

What about older people? Check this out:

During a 2006 study the National Center for Disease Control determined that the percentage of adult’s age 20 years and over who are overweight or obese was an astounding 67 percent.

 It would be intuitive to guess that the percentage drops off as the age range gets higher, but counting everyone over 20, we're talking about a complete reversal. Now you're among the 33%. And your cohort gets smaller and smaller the older you get. Are you over 50? You're in a very small club.

While not scientific, you only have to consider the people you know and see as you go through your life. Very few, if any, are physically fit at 50 and over.

So it's very inspirational (assuming you want to be fit over fifty) to read about women like Ruby Carter-Pikes, who recently placed second in a women''s body-building competition.

The 64-year-old Palmdale resident, known as “Miss Ruby” recently bested her 20-something competitors by scoring second place for Women’s Figure, a category judged by shoulders, lats, abs and quads, at the FitSciences Championships in Atlanta. Carter-Pikes was also a top finisher in the Fit Mom Class.

Women and men like this show us that we can be fit over 50, and that's a message we can afford to hear over and over again!

Have a great fitness story? Share it in the comments and inspire our readers!

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Is it ever advisable to take a break from my regular workout routine? Will I lose all my gains if I miss a day? How do I know if I need a break? And how long should a break be?

These are all great questions. I've actually taken short breaks by necessity rather than by choice, and I've found that they can actually be advantageous. But what do the experts say?

While exercising consistently is important for building endurance, conditioning your body and losing weight, you may reach a point where you're tired, bored and desperately need a break. Taking a break may be just what you need to rest, recover and rejuvenate, but how long before you start losing your fitness?

You may be surprised to learn that taking a few days or a full week off from training won't necessarily hurt the gains you've made. In fact, many serious exercisers and athletes regularly schedule a week off every 8-12.

So if you're serious about fitness you can be certain that breaks are not only not a bad thing, they're actually important for your long-term fitness goals.

Today's awesome workout song...



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File this under "Tell me something I don't already know."

Studies are confirming what advertisers have long since figured out and you already suspect. Looking at photos of unhealthy foods like sweets and fatty treats makes it harder to resist indulging. This article tells us that...

Looking at pictures of hamburgers, cupcakes and other high-calorie edibles can trigger cravings for fattening foods, especially if you're drinking something sweet at the time, according to a new study.

What would happen if you didn't know those things existed? What if you had no mental image of that food whatsoever to lure you into its slobbering maw? What if you had no memory of its smell or taste? Could it still entice you? I guess there's no unringing the bell on that score, but at least we can avoid adding to our mental library of bad foods.

So friends, flip the channel when that commercial comes on! And don't look at your friends Pinterest collection of chocolatey treats, either.

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