The state of the nation ...on diet

I am working towards my goal of bringing my body fat down to around 18%. Currently my BMI - Body mass index- is around 23%, which is normal for my height and weight, but not ideal. For that reason I want to get it lower than that. This week I had a regular check-up with my doctor. I am diligent about my appointments and has been seeing the same doctor for the last 12 years. This time I decided to ask her for a referral to a nutritionist. She looked up from her screen somewhat puzzled (she was typing all the things about me non-stop) and asked "A nutritionist? What for?" I explained that I want to lose some more weight and would like to do so in the healthiest manner possible, hence wanted to consult an expert. She resumed typing while explaining that the only nutritionists or dietitians she knew were dealing with diabetes, and they would not take my insurance unless I had it.

Well, I have to tell you that my doctor is not some ancient quack. She is quite progressive, holistic in her approach and even uses acupuncture as one of the methods of treating her patients. So if she does not have anyone to recommend, that makes me scratch my head and puzzle "What's wrong with this picture?"

The modern medicine is focused on treating diseases, and pays just a basic token to prevention. The huge gap in understanding of how to lose and maintain a healthy weight is filled with various pseudo-experts peddling fad deprivation diets, "magic" lose-weight-quick pills, useless at their best, harmful at heir worst, questionable colon cleansing and other shady practices. It seems that you can get medical attention for your nutrition only when you are morbidly obese and in need of stomach stapling, or when your endocrine system gives out, or something drastic like that.

Until 2007 I was one of the confused masses trying to follow this or that advice and growing progressively frustrated. I knew that I needed to eat fresh fruit, lean protein and whole grain, exercise and drink water; I followed that advice, but the pounds piled regardless. Not until I started Beachbody programs did I understand how important it is not just what you eat, but how much and when. The change happened gradually and took a lot of research and trial and error on my part.But I was not at sea anymore, I had some tools to bring me ashore. Now that I am ready to take my nutrition to the next level, it looks like I will have to search for an expert on my own and pay out of my own pocket. I don't mind the latter part, I was just hoping that at least my physician whom I trusted all these years would be able to help me find the right specialist, but apparently that is not to be. Trial and error is the way to go in the area of diet. What else is new?

I don't want to appear entirely cranky and a complainer. I am really grateful for this "problem" - having to improve on my healthy diet because I want to - not because I must - is not a bad lot, after all. But it would be so much better for the country if we truly made the knowledge of how to eat healthy..well...common! This should be really something that a doctor handed to you before you developed weight related issues, such as blood pressure, diabetes, hear disease and even cancer. I think this is going to happen, and I hope it will happen soon enough. The change is urgently needed, in this dieter's opinion.
Bring it!

Learning the lesson

I looked at my finished workouts in WOWY and could not believe my eyes - my weeks for the last two months were filled 'wall-to-wall' with two, sometimes three workouts a day, except for rest days! For example, Turbo Jam Cardio party in the morning, fast walk during lunch time and Chalene Extreme Push 1/2/3 in the evening? WOW! And to think that only in October I was struggling with my motivation and lack of energy! I am not terribly methodical or scientific, but I learned to extract a lesson from everything, especially if the lesson is a positive one, so I asked myself a question: what made a difference?
As I am writing this, I admit to myself, that just like everything about fitness, there is not ever just one factor, but several.

1. My on-line friends

What helped me to pull myself out of the energy slump was posting on Beachbody forums. I posted every day about my frustration and lack of energy or motivation, or wondered what produced a sudden spur of energy, and shared my struggles with other brave souls; I got feedback and support and returned the favor. I saw that my difficulties were not unique. By learning how my forum buddies dealt with theirs I was able to overcome mine. Day by day, by writing what's on my mind , I was creating and sharing my online public journal, and that helped me think creatively and climb out of my 'blah' state.

2. Food journal

Keeping my food journal kept me aware of what I put into my body, and helped me stay within the reasonable calories intake and quality of food. It is helpful that I love to cook and know that I need to have variety in my food ( another 'lesson learned' from a previous year) for my own sake and for the sake of my family. Preparing food is my hobby and is somewhat of a meditative thing for me now.

3. My NYC Beachbody friends

Myself and 3 other Beachbody coaches started monthly group workouts and post-workout lunch and chat. More and more people I meet through these meeting are becoming my friends and we stay in touch via e-mails, Facebook and phone conversations. These are the people of different walks of life, different ages, fitness levels, different professional and cultural background. But one thing unites them though - their refusal to accept status quo as far as their health and fitness is concerned. On a day when everything looks bleak, it means a lot to me see my friend have a breakthrough with his or her fitness, nutrition or coaching. This immediately picks me up and inspires me to try harder and allows me to see my present problems for what they are - obstacles that can be overcame.

4. Stress management

Talking to my friends, observing others and journaling my progress made me realize that my worst obstacle was stress. When I am under stress, I can't sleep, therefore I don't have energy to workout, start missing workouts - my frustration snowballs from there. This realization gave me a huge incentive for dealing with stress on daily basis. Knowing that a lot of stress is self-created, I analyzed what my major sources of stress are and worked out attitudes and strategies of avoiding or reducing it. This comes at a price - I had to cut down on amount of TV I watch, for example, but in the end the price is so worth it!

5. The ability to 'pay it forward'.

As I wrote to one of you in the e-mail 'this (meaning Beachbody) is too good of a thing to keep to just myself'. Even when I was in my not-so-happy state I started several challenges on the forum to keep myself and other accountable for eating clean and pushing play . It made me feel responsible for more than myself, forced to step up to a leadership role and through that become a stronger and more confident person. It really worked!

In one of my forum posts I wrote 'Where there is will, there is the way. Fitness is not straightforward, and 'life happens' - all the time! - but we in Beachbody are lucky to be so empowered by many tools (ways) to build our fitness from ground up and have so much support to keep our commitment strong! This is really is a unique and powerful thing to have in one's life!
Bring it!

Is exercise good for stress relief?

Recently someone asked me - is it possible to work out too much in a day? The person was a self-described recovering emotional eater, and recently discovered that if she worked out when she was stressed instead of eating, it helped her relive stress.

I think it is a great question, and I was happy to share my thoughts on it.
Exercise definitely relives stress, at least temporarily. Exercise promotes generation of endorphins, which are responsible for a sense of well-being. Plus an intense workout takes your mind off the things that bother you, so there is a meditative effect as well...

But there is a danger in swapping doing one thing to excess for another, as in this case from eating too much to exercising too much! While exercise releases some stress, but it should not be the only way we deal with stress because there is a limit to how much a person can exercise! Over-training has multiple symptoms, none of which a pleasant, and systematic over-training can leads to injuries! I know runners that should not be running because of serious injuries, who cannot stop because it is the only way they relax! They need to run to stay sane! This is extreme, but not as rare as one might think.

The source of stress is in our minds, how we react to outside world, so the best way to handle stress is to train our brains to react to stress better.

Books and books are written about this subject, and depending on how much you read already already and what things you tried I could suggest some. I am currently finding a lot of great answers in Eckhart Tolle's "The power of NOW". But it may not be everybody's cup of tea...

I know, it seems like a lot of work on top of what we already trying to do in our busy lives: work, family, kids activities, exercise and now making our own clean food... Now we have to deal with stress in some new fashion? Yeah...I straggle to incorporate some form of stress management into my routine, but I am totally aware that most of my "falling of the wagon" episodes are due to stress. But I think I am getting better at it. Building physical strength and building character go hand in hand, so to speak, so I am bringing with both!

Hope you are too!