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Tips for our lifestyles and making the changes that get big results.

An Exercise Craving?

This isn’t going to come as a surprise to anyone, but I love exercise. I crave it. Even when I’ve had the worst day imaginable, nothing cheers me up better than a heart-pumping, calorie burning, muscle building workout. All those endorphins race through my body and make me feel incredible!

But here’s the thing: I don’t think I’m alone. In all my years of helping people get fit, I’ve never heard someone finish a workout and say “boy, I really hate how I feel about myself right now.” That’s not to say they aren’t tired or sore, but they never feel badly about themselves for breaking a sweat. In fact, most people feel really good about themselves after a workout, which has always made me wonder why most people have so much trouble convincing themselves to exercise. On the other side of the spectrum, how many times have you succumbed to the temptation of a fast food lunch, only to feel badly about yourself afterwords? It’s a strange problem, isn’t it? Something that’s great for our bodies and our minds and makes us feel so good when we’re done—exercise—we have trouble convincing ourselves to do. But something that harms our bodies and makes us feel badly about ourselves—eating unhealthy foods—is something we crave. What gives?

The answer, as frustrating as it may be, is habits. While body type is, to an extent, genetic, being overweight (with some rare medical exceptions) is not. What a lot of people who struggle with their weight don’t realize is that they’re not necessarily more or less genetically inclined to being overweight, they’re just hooked into unhealthy habits. There’s no “exercise gene” that people who regularly workout inherited from their parents, just like there’s no “eat fast food” gene. We’re a product of our environments and the habits those environments build. As a result, our bodies start to crave the habits.

So here’s my goal: I want you to break your unhealthy habits. I know it’s easier said than done, but that’s not going to stop me from saying it, and it’s definitely not going to stop you from doing it, right? Because I know once we develop those healthy habits, we’ll feel so much better about ourselves. Not only are we going to know that exercising is going to make us feel great afterwords, our bodies are going to start craving that feeling, just like our bodies now crave fatty and sugary foods. Can you imagine that? Craving exercise? But it’s possible and that’s what I’m going to teach you with Reshape the Nation. I’m going to teach your bodies how to crave healthy habits, and, as a result, you’re going to feel so much better. I’m going to teach your body that sleeping until 8 AM doesn’t feel nearly as good as getting up at 6 AM and going to the gym. I’m going to teach your body that fries dipped in ketchup don’t taste nearly as good as carrots dipped in hummus. And I’m going to teach your body how munching on popcorn at a Sunday afternoon movie isn’t nearly as exhilarating as gulping down water from the top of a mountain you just hiked.

Our bodies crave things based on habits, and habits aren’t easy to break. But we can break our habits and make new ones by focusing on the end results. When we know we’ll feel better about ourselves once we do something, that’s the best piece of motivation we need in order to do it. From there, your body’s natural instincts will take over, and they’ll start craving the healthy habits.

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall…

I was out this weekend with a group of people when a strange thing happened. What transpired offered such an interesting weight loss tip that I knew I had to share it here for all the Reshapers to enjoy. I hope you find this bit of diet advice as helpful—or at least interesting—as I do.

We were celebrating a friend’s wedding, so you know what that means… a collection of people you know, half-know, and have never met nor will ever see again, and you’re somehow expected to mingle perfectly with all of them as you play dress-up for the night. We were at our table of about 10 people when one of the women asked if any of the other women at the table had a mirror. None did, which was, perhaps, in itself surprising. But even more surprising was that one of the men, Tom, did. I don’t mean to be overly sexist with this story, and am sorry if it appears that way. But we all have to admit, if we were forced to ask either a girl or a guy for a mirror, most of us would ask the girl. So the reaction at the table was some good-natured ribbing as Tom passed the girl a compact. He took the jokes in stride, and then went on to explain why he carried a compact with him.

“It’s not for the makeup,” he explained. “I actually used to be 200 pounds heavier, and that little mirror was a big part of how I lost all the weight.”

As a member of Chris Powell’s Reshape the Nation team, naturally, I wanted to know more. I’m always looking for great weight loss tips, and if that little mirror helped this guy lose 200 pounds, I wanted to know how. So I explained to him what I do, and about David Smith and Chris Powell and how we’re trying to Reshape the Nation, and he gladly agreed to share his story. And even better, he agreed to write it out for me. So instead of relating it secondhand, here’s the email he sent about how he used a little mirror to lose a lot of weight:

Hey Aaron,

As promised here’s the explanation of how my pocket mirror was a big help in helping me lose weight. I’m 6’2” and used to weight over 400 pounds. Now I’m around 220. I put on all that weight basically by eating a lot. I know that’s not how everyone puts on weight, but for me, it was just all about eating too much. I mean for other people they probably don’t eat too much but are unhealthy eaters or aren’t active. I’ve never been a junk food person. I just liked to eat tons and tons of everything. The key to losing weight for me wasn’t working out or eating healthier as much as it was training myself to stop eating, which is easier said than done. I just got into a habit of always having some food to put in my mouth.

I knew I had to stop eating so much, but I just couldn’t. And every time I looked into a mirror, I saw how large I’d gotten and hated myself even more. Which, of course, led to more eating. So one day I got the idea that maybe if I reminded myself about how much I hated what I was doing to my body before I did it, that could somehow end my cravings. So the next time I felt myself going to the office vending machine to buy a bag of chips, I stopped by the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. That changed my mind real quick, and I didn’t go get chips. So I tried it again the next time and the next time and the next time. Going into the bathroom every half hour or so obviously isn’t very practical at work, so one day I decided to pick up a little pocket mirror. That was probably the most embarrassing part because I felt weird buying a makeup kit, but after that, it made looking in the mirror a breeze. Any time I got hungry, I’d just take a quick look at myself and remind myself of why I shouldn’t be eating so much. And mind you, it doesn’t always work. Sometimes I would look at myself and decide I was still hungry, but I think that’s OK because it’s OK to be hungry. What it did was help me to stop eating when I was eating just to eat.

So I’ve been using that pocket mirror for three years now, I’m down about 200 pounds, and a lot has to do with that. I wouldn’t say everything has to do with it. As I started losing weight, I got motivated to go to the gym more and I started eating healthier, but the mirror was what inspired me to get going and what kept me going throughout. And now I use the mirror to remind myself of how much better I look and feel, and even though they come less often, when I have cravings to just eat for no good reason, I take a quick look at myself and remind myself of how great I’ve done and ask if it’s really worth giving that up just for a few minutes of sugar gratification.

It was nice meeting you this weekend, and I hope this helps your readers. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you. I know it’s a tough journey, but tell everyone to hang in there because it’s really worth all the hard work in the end!

-Tom

Helpful Tips For A Healthy Weight Loss Weekend

I can’t believe the weekend is here again already! I feel like I was just talking about the weekend and trying to keep everyone motivated last Friday, and now it’s time to send the same message. Sorry if this seems a bit repetitive, but at the same time, repetition is the key to building healthy habits!

Let me tell you, I absolutely LOVE weekends. They’re great not because I hate my job (I love what I do), but because it’s the time when everyone seems so much more relaxed. My friends always want to do stuff, there are lots of events going on, and the days just don’t seem as hectic or I don’t always have to be in such a hurry. The problem is the relaxed style and lack of a time crunch seems to make us less likely to stick to our workout plans. And all the hanging out with friends and family lead us to make unhealthy food choices. So how do we stay on track while still enjoying our weekends?

First, I want to say that enjoying our lives is absolutely key in a successful weight loss program. If you feel like the sacrifices aren’t worth the benefits, you’re not going to be successful. That’s not to say their won’t be any sacrifices to build healthier lifestyle habits, but the benefits have to outweigh the sacrifices. That balancing game between sacrifices and benefits becomes much easier if we can make the sacrifices seem like less of a burden. And one of the things I always hear is that people hate giving up their weekends.

So here’s my weekend advice for this weekend. Try it, and see what you think. Above all, try to stay on your plan. That means exercise as planned and eat your proper STAX portions as planned. That’s your first task, and I promise, doing that will work perfectly.

However, if the weekend doesn’t go quite according to plan, here are a couple of tips:

First, when hanging out with friends, try to get them to do something active. So instead of planning to go to the movies or watching a game, go hiking, go play golf, or even go to the mall. The important thing is to do something that requires you to move. Trust me… if you don’t make it to the gym, but you still walk around a mall for four hours, that’s a pretty good substitute (just avoid the food court!).

So let’s say you do go to the mall instead of the movies. Great! You’re one step closer. But then it’s lunch time. What are you supposed to do? Here’s my suggestion: order water! Of course if you can, order a vegetable instead of fries, ry not to eat the fatty garlic rolls, don’t get desert, and make all those kinds of healthy choices. But if nothing else, whatever you do, make sure you drink water with it… and lots of it. You can save as many as 500 calories at a meal just by drinking water instead of sugary sodas. It’s not the best solution, but it’s definitely an improvement and one that won’t seem like a huge sacrifice.

Those are my weekend tips for today. Remember, we’re trying to take small steps for now and start building healthy habits. With my Reshape the Nation program, my goal is not instant weight loss, but total lifestyle transformation, and I know the best way to do that isn’t to deprive people of all the things they love. With that said, enjoy your weekend. I’m sure you’ve done a lot of great work this week, and you deserve to relax!

A Sneak Peak At What Chris Is Up To

Wondering what Chris is up to and how he’s working to reshape the nation? Don’t worry… we’ve got a sneak peak for you. Just check out this video from his appearance on Entertainment Tonight.

That’s just a preview of what we have coming down the line, but remember, Reshape the Nation is about bringing Chris Powell and his lifestyle changing ideas to you. So you don’t have to just watch Chris help other people. Join Reshape the Nation and let Chris help you!

Little Goals Add Up To Big Results

A lot of people like to set big weight loss goals. For example, they decided “I’m going to go to the gym six days a week.” But who can really go to the gym six days a week every week? Vacations come up, or you get sick, or or there’s a blizzard, or your car breaks down, or you have to go into work early, or something else happens and you don’t make it six days, and you’ve not only not achieved your goal, but you’ve also got the guilt of not achieving a goal. Another example is people make goals like “I’m going to lose five pounds a month.” While five pounds in one month might be possible, five pounds every month equals 60 pounds a year. Most of us don’t need to lose 60 pounds per year, and for those of us who do, 60 pounds per year isn’t going to always be healthy. At some point, we’re not going to achieve that five pound per month goal (and for most of us, that point will come sooner rather than later), we’ll feel guilty, and it will make us less likely to continue our journey toward happier, healthier lives.

So instead of setting big goals that take a super-human, and perhaps even damaging amount of dedication, I’m going to suggest an alternative. Have you ever considered setting little goals?

For example, try this goal: I’m going to lose a quarter of a pound a week. That’s not a lot, but it’s easy to accomplish and, over time, it will add up. We can lose a quarter of a pound per week just by making some simple lifestyle changes like drinking our gallon of water a day, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, doing morning Metaboosts, and adding a green vegetable to every meal. None of those things seem hard, do they? And now for some math. A quarter of a pound per week equals 13 pounds per year. And over five years, that would add up to a weight loss of 65 pounds! If someone told you that five years from now you’ll be 65 pounds lighter, wouldn’t that sound fantastic?

It doesn’t have to be a hypothetical question… you really can be 65 pounds lighter if you set the more realistic goal of doing it in five years instead of one year. If you try to lose 65 pounds in one year, chances are you’ll get frustrated. You’ll not want to give up the foods you love, you’ll not want to make the time commitment to working out that you need, and you’ll always feel guilty for not achieving your goal. But consider what I discussed in my last post about having perspective, and how perspective is imperative for weight loss. Weight loss doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time. So set goals accordingly, and ask yourself this. Would you rather be 65 pounds lighter in one year, but weigh the same as you do now, or more, in five years, or would you rather be 13 pounds lighter in one year, and be 65 pounds lighter in five? Seems like a pretty simple question to answer, right?

A Little Perspective Goes A Long Way

Sometimes I wonder if losing weight was easier 50 years ago. No… the physics of our bodies and metabolisms didn’t change. Heck, even our willpower and our ability to say “I don’t feel like getting off the couch right now” didn’t change. What did change was the “culture of now.” Lest anyone think I’m about to hop up on a Luddite soap box about how technology is evil and we should go back to pre-computer days, I want to first take a minute to remind everyone that I’m writing this article on a blog and work with Chris Powell on an Internet-based weight loss program. While I’m not necessarily the first person to Tweet every time I find a penny on the sidewalk, I’m also clearly not suggesting technological advancement is the worst thing that’s happened to the world. Instead, I simply want to point out how one of the side effects of the digital age is a tendency to expect instant gratification.  For example, if I can’t remember the name of an actress from a movie, I don’t have to call a friend who’s really good at remembering those kinds of things… I can Google it. If I want to see the score to a baseball game on the other side of the country, I don’t have to wait for the morning paper… I can check my cell phone. If I want to tell my best friend in Japan something, I don’t have to mail a letter or wait until I know he’s awake to call him… I can send an email, a text, a tweet, write on his wall, poke him, throw a virtual snowball at him, or any other of a variety of digital communicatory abstractions that, 25 years ago, would have sounded like gibberish.

My point is—and yes, I am coming to one eventually—in a world where we expect instant gratification and instant results, weight loss becomes much more challenging. I’m as guilty of it as the next person. I order vegetables at one meal instead of the fries and I expect to see a drop on the scale the next day of at least two pounds. Or I do an extra 50 crunches one morning and I expect to see washboard abs the next time I look in front of the mirror. But that’s not how our bodies work!

Just because the rest of the world is moving faster than ever, our bodies are evolving at the same slow rate they’ve been evolving at since the Dawn of Man. Perhaps in another 10 billion years or so an extra hour on the treadmill will knock off 10-15 pounds, but for now we’ve got to learn to be patient with our weight loss. Changing our habits now isn’t going to result in an immediate achievement of our goals. Always, always, always try to view your fitness and lifestyle progressions in perspective. Doing this will help you account for the fact that our bodies don’t change nearly as rapidly as the world around us.

A Relaxing But Active Sunday

Sure it’s Sunday, but we just wanted to put up a quick post of encouragement reminding everyone to keep drinking that water, and to stay active. At Reshape the Nation, we know weekends are our relaxing time, but that doesn’t mean weekends can’t be great opportunities to keep losing weight and creating healthy habits. For example, instead of going to the movies, why not go to a museum? Not only will you get a little culture, you’ll also do a lot more walking at a museum than the movie theater.

Not a big art fan? Don’t worry… you have other options. Even a trip to the mall is healthier than a movie. Think of all that walking you’ll do while shopping! Or if you have a dog? Consider a trip to the dog park. Your furry best friend will love it, too! The important thing is to remember that relaxing doesn’t have to mean sitting. Do something fun, do something relaxing, and do something you’ll enjoy… just try to do something that won’t keep you in a chair for hours at a time.

Enjoy the rest of your relaxing weekend. You’ve earned it!

Weekends Don’t Have To Be Diet Killers!

TGIF, Reshape Nation! Another week down, and now it’s finally time for the weekend! But there’s just one problem… weekends are a notorious “healthy lifestyle changes” killer. We’re great at following our exercise routines when we have a 9-5 job we’re responsible for, and we’re great at packing and eating those STAX when we’ve got a routine of meal times, but our schedule-free weekends can really set us back. Sure we might sleep late, which is great for our bodies since most people don’t get enough rest (myself included!). But then, because we slept late, we might not have breakfast, which throws off our metabolisms. And then we decide to go to the movies or the mall or hang out with friends, and before you know it, the day has slipped away without any time for exercise, and without our well-portioned and well-balanced meals.

If this describes your weekends, the first thing I want you to do is stop feeling bad! Most diet programs require you to resist temptation and to keep your routine no matter what. But in my Reshape the Nation program, I understand that real life requires real flexibility. We don’t always eat breakfast. We can’t always say “no” to that fattening piece of pie. And sometimes we just don’t make it to the gym. But a good diet program shouldn’t make you feel guilty for missing a workout or eating a little too much food. That’s why people give up! They have one bad weekend, feel guilty, get stressed out, and then they quit. So if you splurge this weekend, if you miss a workout, or don’t drink your gallon of water each day, don’t stress out. And whatever you do… don’t give up!

I’m never going to be mad at you for giving into a craving. This isn’t Guilt the Nation. This is Reshape the Nation! So try your hardest this weekend to stay on track. But remember, if you fall off the horse, the best thing to do is pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get right back on.

Enjoy your weekend!

Let’s get Reshaped!

Happy Monday morning everyone! I’m excited to announce a big change to the Reshape the Nation blog. Now that we’ve officially launched Chris Powell’s Reshape the Nation program, we’ve gotten “too big for our collective britches”... meaning there are a lot more people keeping up with the Reshape lifestyle and weight loss program. To fulfill our goal of, well, reshaping the nation together, the Chris and the Reshape Team have decided we want to do our best to give you even MORE daily blog and video content. Yup… that’s right: more eating tips, more diet and exercise advice, more of Chris Powell, more of David Smith, and more help creating a happier, healthier America.

To do that, we’re bringing in backup in the form of me! My name is Aaron, and I’ll be working closely with Chris and the rest of the Reshape the Nation team to bring you more blogs every week with a focus on improving lives. We’ll also be adding fitness advice and lifestyle advice from some of Chris’s other friends and health experts with a goal of making the Reshape the Nation blog your daily source for the Internet’s best health advice. But to do that, I’ll need a lot of help from you, the readers and fans of Chris Powell and Reshape the Nation. Our goal is to make Reshape the Nation a community of like-minded people, working together to better the lives of themselves and those around them. So we want to ensure that Chris, David, myself, and the rest of the Reshape Team are addressing the issues most important to you. Sure, we can post new articles every day about what’s going on in our lives and how we’re working to reshape America, but we want to make sure we’re answering your questions and providing you the support you need to make the same kind of incredible transformation Chris has already helped so many other people make.

At Reshape the Nation, we know changing habits is not an easy task, but with the right support system, anyone can do it. Just ask David! Let us be your support system. That’s what we’re here for. So feel free to send questions, make comments, or just use us as a sounding board as we work together, as a community, to change the world. You can reach me at aaron (at) reshapethenation.com. Or, better yet, post in the comments section and let’s build this community even stronger.

Thanks for your support of Chris, David, and Reshape the Nation. I hope you’re as excited about this journey as I am.

Keep Reshaping,
Aaron

Obese Kids: Is it Criminal?

Sounds like a segment for the nightly news.

But actually it’s more like a reality show. Several states across the nation have set a precedent by ruling that morbidly obese children are victims of criminal neglect. In a recent case in South Carolina, a mother lost custody of her 14-year-old son, whose weight had reached a high of 555 pounds! She was accused of placing him at risk because of the threat his weight posed to his health.

There’s been article after article about the alarming rate at which child obesity is rising in this country. The government wants to throw money at the problem. But unfortunately, there isn’t much available. Many of the more promising federal programs don’t reach their potential or have been dropped because of lack of funds. Meanwhile cities are using money to fund local programs like building sidewalks and bike paths to encourage more kids to walk or bike to school. Or community garden projects to introduce inner-city kids to healthy foods. True, programs like these are having some moderate success, but childhood obesity continues to be a concern.

So… should parents actually be considered “criminally negligent” because their child inherited grandma’s “big” genes… and feeds them? Or because no one wants their child on their sports team, so he comforts his hurt and loneliness with a bag ─ or two or three ─ of potato chips? And can parents be held responsible for the eating habits of their children outside the home? In the coming years, this issue will come under close scrutiny by the media and the courts. More programs to reverse the rapid rise of obesity will be instituted, but many of them will fail. In the end, it’s not really the government’s responsibility to oversee the eating habits of children. Yes, good eating habits should start at home. Not just by presenting well-balance meals, but also by helping your children to understand the part those well-balanced meals ─ and regular exercise ─ play in helping them to stay healthy. But with all the questions being asked, the question that comes to my mind is, “You can lead a horse to water, but are you responsible if he doesn’t drink?”

Is Second-Hand Eating as Dangerous as Second-Hand Smoke? You Be the Judge.

I recently read an article that started out: “Obesity now poses as great a threat to Americans’ quality of life as smoking, a new study shows.”  The article went on to say that in the past 15 years, the number of smokers has decreased while the proportion of obese Americans has increased. “Obesity,” the researchers noted, “had a larger effect on disease, while smoking had a great impact on deaths.”  And both have a serious impact on health care costs. But the results of the study showed that “quality-adjusted life years lost to obesity are equal to, or greater than, those lost because of smoking.”

You can find the whole article in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Check it out. But what I found most interesting were the comments I read online in reference to the article. There was a lot of chatter about smoking and over-eating, but I question the comment that read,  “Nobody’s ever died of second-hand eating, have they?”

It made me think. I’m not sure I totally agree with that statement. Look around you… overweight parents often seem to have overweight children. In fact, studies show that 64% of children with overweight parents became overweight, as compared to 16% of children with normal-weight parents. Obviously, there are many factors involved here, including genetics. But several studies on this topic show that the link between obese parents with obese children is more often a result of behavior rather than genetics. Does that actually describe “second-hand eating?” The studies did prove that children eat based on what they are offered and the influences or examples – good or bad – set by their parents. I’ve written about the importance of being a good role model for your child when it comes to both diet and physical activity. Isn’t it time you put aside what you learned about eating from your parents and try to be the best role model you can be for the next generation?

Inspirational Quote: January 21

“People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.”
— Author Unknown

Makes good sense, doesn’t it? If we eat sensibly most of the time, we can enjoy our “cheat days” with no guilt and little gain!

Lonely heart… Large thighs?

Okay… you’ve used up all the leftover turkey stashed in the freezer after Thanksgiving, there’s nothing left of the Christmas ham, and you just ate the last gingerbread cookie. The holiday season is over. Now what?

Well, some of you are making a new year’s resolution to lose those extra pounds you put on. But for others, the letdown after the holiday season may have left you feeling lonely and vulnerable, and you’ll turn to comfort foods for solace. Studies show that loneliness contributes to overeating in several ways. Emotional eating can become a vicious – and unhealthy – cycle. You eat because you’re lonely, you gain weight and don’t feel good about yourself and won’t go out with people, so you eat some more because you have nothing to do and you’re even lonelier. While findings presented at an American Association for the Advancement of Science conference described how physically “social isolation contributes to decreased blood flow throughout the cardiovascular system and higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which affects the immune system and may influence appetite and metabolism…”

It is possible to get off this unhealthy treadmill. You’ve heard this advice before, but it’s worth repeating. First of all, analyze the emotional triggers that lead to your overeating. If you’re feeling lonely or depressed after the excitement of the holidays, substitute an activity for overeating. Join a new group, try a new hobby, or just go for a walk. The key word here is “overeating”. The Chris Powell Reshape the Nation program recommends 5 meals a day with the right combination of healthy foods to keep you satisfied and ward off cravings. There is help… learn to manage your emotions without using food as a crutch and you’ll see the pounds melt away.

State of the Nation - Friday December 11

Today I’m in LA and talking about the life of the traveler.  I’ll tell you how to get enough protein from shakes when you’re on the road!

State of the Nation - Tuesday November 17

Good Tuesday morning!  Today I talk about breaking through the plateau - even at a relatively low body fat!