Club Lifestyle Weight Loss

A member of mine wrote this today on our LL University discussion board. I think it’s great and am anonymously sharing it.

Once upon a time, in the land of Selfcenteredness, lived a young(ish) red-headed woman in her mid twenties to thirties. This woman was very vain, and had the most arrogant thoughts that only she worked very, very hard every day.

As she drove to her job in her fancy German sports car, she scorned those who passed in their very practical SUVs, filled with car seats and smudgy windows, and wondered to herself as though others may hear: “Do you not know how important I am? How important my job is?!?” “Do you not know that I have to wake up at 5 am to exercise in the morning, and can only see my friends on the weekends? I must wait until SATURDAY to have my mani-pedis!! Sometimes, I must even wait until my LUNCH HOUR to go online shopping for the clothes I will be wearing to the clubs and restaurants this weekend!!! While you…YOU…can stay home all day! Watch television and have clean houses! All you must do is watch your children whom you SELFISHLY decided to bring into this world!!”

Hearing these mutterings, the Fairy of Fairness looked down and said, “Oh, silly maiden – I shall bestow upon you a toddler. Gone will be your days of shopping, getting your hair done, and actually showering alone….gone will be days of getting up at 5 am to exercise – you will now wake up at 5, put on three day not-so-fresh jeans and run around like an idiot until you drop on the couch at 6 pm, too exhausted to even turn on the television. You will now look upon the hour and a half nap (if I shall grace you on that day) as a time for making the business phone-calls you’ve blown off all morning and for panicked catching up. Brushing your teeth by 10am shall be a luxury, strawberry stains on your blouse the norm… and you will now know that this is the most difficult, most rewarding job you shall ever have.”

And the now not so young-ish woman learned that she will never, ever, ever make judgments until she has walked a mile in another’s shoes again. Seriously, I’m tired. And I feel like I should write every stay-home (and working) mother a card of apology for my butt-headed past thoughts.

Jamie Oliver, a chef from England, now has a new TV show called “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.” In the first episode he takes on the school cafeteria menu in what’s been called the country’s unhealthiest town–Huntington West Virginia.

Huntington allegedly has it’s obesity waistband stretched to about 50% of inhabitants. If true that is about 50% higher than the national average of 33% of Americans as obese — not overweight, but OBESE! 50% of Huntington is obese? Wow!

Jamie had it rough. He’s an out-of-towner. He’s an out-of-stater. He’s an out-of-countrier. Wow, rough. Especially with the robotic, closed-minded, narrow-minded, Huntington group portrayed in the program.

I know this. This program is a narrow snapshot of Huntington and it needs viewers and ratings to keep going so let’s keep that in mind no matter what. Even so there were open-minded, open-armed souls who were ready to listen and change. I’m sure there are 10-20 percent of the 50,000 people living there who have somewhat of an open mind. And that’s some good news.

The local radio station the “Dawg 93.7″ DJ, Rod Willis, was a total jag off to Jamie and represented Huntington very poorly. I suggest the wiffle-ball bat to the back of his thighs for about 10 whacks a day until he changes his pathetic attitude. Only kidding but you get the idea.

The lunch ladies are all overweight to obese but I’ll bet they are good people too. They did come across as so narrow-minded they could look through a keyhole with both eyes open. They were scared, stand-offish, and ready to fight each and every change, everyday, according to what we saw on the program.

It’s not Rhonda, the Huntington school-system food “czar’s” fault that our USDA, who writes food policy for schools is an idiot - requiring two servings of bread even if brown rice is served. Our schools are “making the numbers work.” And if you’ve been with me awhile you know that healthy, lean eating goes far beyond “making the numbers work.”

Making the numbers work - doesn’t work.

Then Jamie had to serve chicken legs and salad the same day pizza was being served. Golly, to 450 grade schoolers which do you think they chose? Then good ol’ Alice (head pissed off lunch lady) was smug about the fact the kids chose pizza over Jamie’s freshly prepared chicken LEGS (not breast) etc. The first opportunity the kids had for change was a “food fight” with pizza? Wow, that’s not gonna work. Kids will eat the good stuff if they are hungry enough AND that’s all there is to eat. Sorry, that’s how kids are gonna change. As a Father to three great kids now 20, 19 and 16 I get it when it comes to kids. Sure, it can be more gradual. But you’ve got NO shot doing it the way the school system forced the first change tries. Then instead of helping him try to prepare it all right and according to our dumb ass American standards that you need both a law degree and medical degree to understand the school district APPEARED to relish in making it as hard as possible on him to prepare the food and meet the standards.

What’s the silver lining here? The pastor in the city. Others like him. Families willing to listen and try to change. Jamie was on the right track with tough-old-broad Alice the lunch lady. If he could have befriended her for real she was a real driving force with 20 years of serving-lunch knowledge. Had Jamie pursued the Alice route a bit more it might have made the transition and “sell” to the school and kids easier and more successful. Jamie needed a tough, respected insider. Alice might have been it.

The bottom line? Change is resisted no matter where it’s implemented. Anyone hear of this little thing called the Healthcare Reform Bill? Love it or hate it — it’s HUGE change and is resisted heavily.

If you know me then you know that I believe NOTHING is neutral. What we do either moves us forward or backward. Everything counts. I believe that things going on all across the country like what Jamie is being televised and paid to do are good, positive things and they will move policy forward — although 1000 times slower than we’d like. These kinds of programs are good, these kinds of initiatives, wherever they are being implemented OFF TV (and they are) are good. They all count. They all matter — in their own small way. Same goes for what we do here.

So far I give the program 1.5 thumbs up but it’s only through episode one.

You can watch the whole program HERE ON HULU

As of this writing it’s being shown Fridays on ABC about 7pm central. Thank God for DVR!

Remember, it’s a TV reality show. Some of what we saw was scripted, most probably was not. But ratings are king and producers aren’t stupid. The more inflammatory on some days - the better for TV it is.

In health,

David Greenwalt - Founder
Certified Wellness Coach - ACSM
Leanness Lifestyle University

Sometimes when you are angry with someone it helps to sit down, take a moment to cool off, and think about the problem.

Got this in an email today - pretty cute if I do say so myself.

Best place to watch it online is at HULU

http://tinyurl.com/ykwo9ov

Crystal Renn, model and author of “Hungry: A Young Model’s Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves” and Marianne Kirby, co-author of “Lessons From the Fat-O-Sphere” faced off against MeMe Roth, president of National Action Against Obesity and Kim Bensen, author of “Finally Thin.”

Renn and Kirby argue against constant dieting and contend that you don’t have to be thin to be healthy, while Roth and Bensen argue against an obese America and believe in the importance of maintaining a responsible diet.

==========

My (David Greenwalt) Perspective

Kirby is morbidly obese and has failed, at least for now, one TOO many times at dieting to want to try again. Therefore, for her, accepting her behaviors and lifestyle is survival of the mind and spirit even if her weight, in time, costs her, you, me and everyone else big $$ due to the pending health disaster that IS extremely likely to occur.

Renn, a “plus-size” model is 5′10″ and is a size 12. At one time she was the typical, overly skinny model. She says she was anorexic and almost died so most of her discussion, whether it’s directly stated or not, is from the position of EITHER someone is anorexic OR they are a little bigger and healthy (like her).

Bensen was once morbidly obese and is now, from looks, and according to a BMI of 25 or higher being overweight, probably just overweight, not obese, not morbidly obese. She was the least outspoken of the group but her position is “Hey, I will speak from personal experience and tell you this. I was super fat. I was unhealthy. I was miserable. Choose the behaviors that will get that excess fat off and you’ll feel better and be healthier like me.” That quote is really just a paraphrase to try and put what I heard in her words.

Most of Roth’s closest family are obese to morbidly obese. She has big-time genetics to be huge if she didn’t exercise everyday and eat right. Roth is the most science-smart and science-minded of the group. She might get a tiny piece here or there wrong but it’s mostly inconsequential. She’s got the facts and isn’t afraid to share them–regardless of the audience. She’s 5′6″ and goes in the low 120s. She flat out stated she runs 4 miles a day and eats about 1800 cals to MAINTAIN her weight. She said to maintain 120s without exercise she’d have to eat about 1300 cals a day. Know what? I believe her.

The rhetoric of the program unfortunately was slanted to equating health with thinness or “a little overweight” with unhealthy.

Want to win an argument if you are “a little overweight” and you exercise and eat mostly right? Then slant EVERYTHING you say to the FACT that being thin doesn’t equal healthy. Know what? You’ll be right. The facts are that being “a little overweight” but exercising regularly and eating mostly right doesn’t mean you are unhealthy or ever will be more than someone who is thin - in fact you can be much healthier and outlast the thin person depending on genetics and the thin-person’s behaviors, environment etc.

Want to win an argument if you are obese? Only use images of runway models as the ONLY acceptable standard we Americans find healthy and attractive. Your position won’t be true, at all, but it will make your position seem a bit more reasonable. Why? Because if runway models were the only acceptable standard there isn’t much chance any of us will ever reach that weight or look so — WHY BOTHER? So if you only talk about looks, body size and runway models you can kinda win the argument — depending on how ignorant your audience is.

The Nightline program, I’m guessing for viewer attention and ratings and to create debate, too often used “body size” and the extremes of the weight continuum as the points of argument. They, instead, should have focused on behaviors regardless of body size and the science supporting a reasonably-healthy weight with the behaviors that support healthy eating and exercise.

Being a little overweight but exercising regularly and eating according to what I teach in Leanness Lifestyle is not a person any of us will focus on, stigmatize, or worry about relating to costing us all healthcare dollars or a scrunched up airline ride due to “spillover.” One of the reasons the topic has become SO prominent and worth dissecting is because we Americans aren’t “a little overweight but living an otherwise healthy lifestyle.” No, we are a third obese and beyond that classification we are living very UNhealthy lifestyles regardless of classification.

Let’s focus on the behaviors, intently on the behaviors, use science to support behaviors that create health, and then wherever a person lands after that? Let them be. Let’s get away from the ridiculous arguments of one is EITHER anorexic runway model OR they are morbidly obese — that’s a losing battle and not the only two options we have available to us.

In health,

David Greenwalt - Founder
Certified Wellness Coach - ACSM
Leanness Lifestyle University

Grab a bullhorn and stand on the highest mound in your city and shout “Eat less and exercise more!” Watch how many people change because of it–virtually no one. Almost everyone understands the basic five-word diet mechanics of weight loss. If only it were that easy in the real world.

Modern-day weight loss is complex because the obesogenic world we live in has made it so. Naysayers can state their claims that all people need to do is put their forks down and “get off their fat asses” but proof is literally in the pudding–knowing this isn’t solving this. Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” And repeating the five-word diet mantra is just that–insane. It doesn’t work!

Because weight loss is complex doctors are going to need resources beyond their nurses and dietitians to make a real impact. Doctors are incredibly influential with their patients, however, time and resource limitations won’t allow most PCPs to effectively and consistently manage their overweight and obese patients. The obesity epidemic doesn’t begin and end with doctors but they are on the front lines and one of many positive forces that will be necessary if we are going to make serious headway toward a leaner, healthier America in the next decade and beyond.

The above post was a Comment on: Study: Doctors need tools to help patients slim down at 3/17/2010 12:18 AM EDT

In health,

David Greenwalt
Leanness Lifestyle University

The usual excuse of “lack of time” for not doing enough exercise is blown away by new research published in The Journal of Physiology.

The study, from scientists at Canada’s McMaster University, adds to the growing evidence for the benefits of short term high-intensity interval training (HIT) as a time-efficient but safe alternative to traditional types of moderate long term exercise. Astonishingly, it is possible to get more by doing less!

“We have shown that interval training does not have to be ‘all out’ in order to be effective,” says Professor Martin Gibala. “Doing 10 one-minute sprints on a standard stationary bike with about one minute of rest in between, three times a week, works as well in improving muscle as many hours of conventional long-term biking less strenuously.”

David says: Research has been out for quite some time now that indicates, depending on effort and intensity of course, we can burn more calories in less time if we engage in high-intensity interval training. 20 minutes of HIIT can burn the same calories as 40 or even 60 minutes of long-slow cardio BUT it does depend on how intense you really go in your sprints during your shorter exercise session.

Most people don’t perform HIIT intensely enough. But I want to caution a newbie to HIIT in that you WILL want to get a proper medical evaluation prior to pushing yourself “all out” to get a good HIIT effect.

The interesting note about the study discussed above is the researchers were able to show positive benefits without the subjects having to go ALL OUT. The sprints would certainly be more intense than standard, long-slow cardio but less than ALL OUT. This could be an easier sell for the non-exercisers of the world to try it or even for the die-hard long-slow cardio kings and queens to give a more intense cardio style a try. If time is a valuable commodity in your world then HIIT is even more important to consider.

You can read the entire article here.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100311123639.htm

In health,

David Greenwalt - Founder
Leanness Lifestyle University

Not all that long ago my long-time marketing mentor and friend Joe Polish interviewed me for his success series. If you didn’t hear the interview you can get the MP3 downloads of it here http://www.geniusnetwork.com/davidgreenwalt/ The username is PURSUE and the password is PERSIST.

What I really wanted to say here is congratulations to Joe for being Virgin Unite’s first “Entrepreneur of the Quarter”! You can read more about Joe there and what Joe has done for Sir Richard Branson’s charity. http://tinyurl.com/yz8r9so

In health,

David Greenwalt - Founder
Leanness Lifestyle University
Certified Wellness Coach - ACSM

Food is not a product we purchase like buying a new printer for our computer. Through biological drives, habits and conditioning, addiction, allergies and the overwhelming obesogenic environment of modern-day America we make food purchases for reasons far beyond its naturally-intended purpose–FUEL FOR THE BODY. Because this will NEVER change on a mass scale regulation at the governmental level IS going to be necessary. If we tax junk food making the purchase of it more painful while subsidizing vegetable and fruit growth making them more readily available and cheaper this may be a start that might have an effect we can actually see and feel on a mass scale.

As members of LL University you are simply NOT members of the herd. The bottom line is LL University members are advanced in their nutritional knowledge and lifestyle skills. So while I know LL University members can acquire the knowledge and skill to beat the Beast (biological drives, poor habits and conditioning, addiction and allergies, and the obesogenic environment) you are not a good representation of the masses. On a mass scale what you all are learning here and committed to achieving does NOT represent what common America is ever going to learn or do. And the reality of concomitant junk-food tax+health-food subsidies is help for LL University members too. But the average Joe and Jane are not going to wake up one day and simply make good, healthy food choices given the current environment.

In health,

David Greenwalt - Founder
Leanness Lifestyle University
Certified Wellness Coach - ACSM

Unhealthy Foods Become Less Popular With Increasing Costs

ScienceDaily (Mar. 9, 2010) — Adults tend to eat less pizza and drink less soda as the price of these items increases, and their body weight and overall calorie intake also appear to decrease, according to a report in the March 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

“To compensate for food environments where healthful foods (i.e., fresh fruits and vegetables) tend to cost more, public health professionals and politicians have suggested that foods high in calories, saturated fat or added sugar be subject to added taxes and/or that healthier foods be subsidized,” the authors write as background information in the article. “Such manipulation of food prices has been a mainstay of global agricultural and food policy, used as a means to increase availability of animal foods and basic commodities, but it has not been readily used as a mechanism to promote public health and chronic disease prevention efforts.”

Read the entire article here …
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100308170959.htm

I wrote this originally back in 2006. Today, I did NOT attend a funeral. I am posting this here because I think it’s a good reminder for me or anyone else who feels remotely similar and needs the same reminder.

Death Is Not Last Goodbye

Today I attended a funeral of a family member on Tracy’s side. Please, don’t reply to wish me well — I promise we’re fine and that’s not the purpose of this post.

Being a sponge for human behavior and lifestyle management something struck me today that I just wanted to share with all of you.

This was an “open casket” funeral. This seems to give attenders some extra peace as they feel they get to say their last goodbyes to the deceased. At one time when I was a decade or so younger I may have felt the same because I didn’t know what I know now and do my best to live in real time with my family and teach all of you.

The last goodbye that counted wasn’t at the funeral — it was the last time you spoke to the person lying in the casket and they were alive. Your last “goodbye” might have just been a missed opportunity if you left or they left you and you never said a word — happens often — every day.

The most important things in life aren’t things at all — they are people. If you left one of the closest people in your life today did you say goodbye? Leaving what was MOST important (a person you love and who loves you) to go do something that is just “important” without a word, a touch or both? It’s a shame.

That all-important errand you had to do or place you JUST had to be took precedence over a person and you took for granted that you’d be back again — and they probably took for granted you’d be back too. If you didn’t say goodbye you missed the last real time you had to say goodbye if they never come back.

When my mother was killed in 1998 we couldn’t do an open casket. This bothered me little other than why we couldn’t. The last day I saw her alive I had said my goodbyes to her just as I always would. There wasn’t really anything I didn’t say to my mother. I have no regrets. She knew I loved her. I knew she loved me. And it wasn’t because we telepathically dialed each other up. We talked to each other — we communicated. We laughed. We cried. We said it all. No regrets. Truly none. All I miss are the years I don’t get. I don’t miss that I couldn’t say my “last goodbyes” because the casket wasn’t open. I had already said goodbye — I said it when it counted — when she was alive the last time I saw her.

This message isn’t to express the typical reactionary “Give those you love a big hug” blah blah blah as occurs when we all attend funerals. No, not at all. I didn’t learn a lesson today. I’m simply trying to convey to you that hearing what I heard just re-enforced what I teach, believe and do my best to do. And I’ll be the first to admit — I fail at doing it every chance I get. Let’s face it. I miss opportunities too. No, this isn’t the “Look what I remembered since a loved one died” message.

This message is simply this — be among the living and appreciate them. Say your goodbyes daily. Gain an understanding of the difference between Important and MOST Important. I can guarantee you this. MOST Important things are not your errands, chores, bill paying, work and general running around. The MOST Important things are those coming and going out of your home on a daily basis who do come and go, all too often, without a word spoken, and totally taken for granted. We can all improve this. No need to wait for an open casket to say your last goodbye. You can say it the next time you leave–it may very well be appropriate.

Base 10 Training is a name I have given to the following protocol of resistance training

The “Base 10″ part comes from the basis of this protocol being 10 sets of 10 reps per body part. It’s quite a bit of volume for the average Joe or Jane. It’s about one-half to one-third the training of a pro bodybuilder.

Once you are beyond your first 30 days of resistance training ANYONE can do it. Your experience, or lack of experience, will dictate the loads you can use. If you are a basic, 3 sets of 10 person I will caution you that you WILL very likely be quite sore for 1-3 days after your first pass for each body part.

Base 10 is most commonly going to be used when you want to train a body part once per seven days.

Also, the 10 X 10 base and all variances of it apply to the following body parts:

Chest
Back
Biceps
Triceps
Quads

and not commonly to the following body parts

Shoulders
Hamstrings
Calves
Abs
Traps

Typically the smaller body parts above will be trained between 1/3 and 1/2 the sets of the larger body parts but if you have a lagging body part above then Base 10 COULD be applied to any body part.

Base 10 training dictates that you pick 1-3 exercises for a body part and you perform, for example, a total of 10 sets of 10 repetitions. So if you are working Chest and you are doing one exercise you’d simply choose ONE WEIGHT for that exercise and perform 10 sets of 10 repetitions.

The rest period is between 30 and 90 seconds between sets. Varying the rest period will vary the load you can use.

If you choose 2 exercises for a body part (e.g., chest again) then you simply make sure that a total of 10 sets of 10 are complete by the time you finish the two exercises. Any combination of sets between the two exercises is fine. You don’t have to do 5 sets of each. The same goes for adding a third exercise. Just make sure that a total of 10 sets are complete between the exercises total. 10 total sets. Not 10 sets of each exercise.

Now this is where Base 10 gets interesting. Typically, training methodologies dictate that we can either train really heavy (high intensity) or we can train really long (volume) but not both with any real consistency. Base 10 is great because it maintains the integrity of this philosophy quite well. Here’s how.

With Base 10 you can add more variety by moving your reps down as your sets go up. It works like this

10 X 10
11 X 9 (using more weight for same exercise performed doing 10 X 10)
12 X 8 (using more weight for same exercise performed doing 11 X 9)
13 X 7 (using more weight for same exercise performed doing 12 X 8 )
14 X 6 (using more weight for same exercise performed doing 13 X 7)
15 X 5 (using more weight for same exercise performed doing 14 X 6)

I stop the progression at 15 X 5 because 5 reps is at the lower end of the hypertrophy-specific rep range. And the purpose of this type of training is to increase strength in the specific repetition range proven to increase the size of type II muscle fibers. But ladies listen — if you keep losing body fat you will continue to get smaller and smaller and smaller even though your muscle grows. Always remember fat is three times as large as muscle if we’re measuring pound for pound. Add a pound of muscle but lose a pound of fat? You’ll be smaller EVERY SINGLE TIME.

So back to chest for a moment to clarify. If you are training chest once a week using Base 10 training and your last Monday chest workout was 10 X 10 it is entirely okay for you to choose, for this Monday, a 12 X 8 protocol. That would be 12 sets of 8 repetitions. Again, 1-3 total chest exercises totaling 12 sets and every set is 8 reps. Because the reps are lower than the original 10 you SHOULD plan on using at least a little bit more weight. And the goal is to choose a weight for an exercise that you don’t need to increase or decrease to get all your sets at the repetitions you are shooting for.

CAUTION: To protect your joints, tendons and other connective tissues I don’t recommend that you jump more than two progressions if your repetitions are dropping in any given week. For example, if you last did chest at 12 X 8 I don’t recommend you jump to 15 X 5 the next week. That would be three progressions beyond 12 X 8 for intensity (load you can use). 14 X 6 is two progressions beyond 12 X 8. However, when your repetitions are going back up it is acceptable to jump to any place you want since lowering the load (forced as the reps go up) will be easier on connective tissue. So if you want to work a body part at 15 X 5 and next week you want to do 10 X 10 that is perfectly fine. It’s okay to move your reps UP on the scale anytime but stay with the two-progressions rule if your reps are decreasing.

The base of my training is Muscle Professor — straight up. Why? It works and it’ll work for you regardless of experience. But when I want to shake things up BASE 10 training is great and adds the variety I need mentally while keeping volume in a nice range for overall hypertrophy-specific goals. If you aren’t using the Muscle Professor as your base and you want to have muscle that people can see then start using the Muscle Professor.

The Muscle Professor is available to students of Leanness Lifestyle University. Click Here To Go There Now

In health,

David Greenwalt - Founder
Leanness Lifestyle