Posts Comments

You are here: Home / Archives for Health

Naomi’s Recovery Experiment; Her Version Of “Bulking”

April 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment
DXA scans are used primarily to evaluate bone mineral density. DXA scans can also be used to measure total body composition and fat content with a high degree of accuracy comparable to hydrostatic weighing with a few important caveats.

Naomi used a DEXA or DXA scan to measure her results. DXA scans are used primarily to evaluate bone mineral density.

Last time I shared that I had some health setbacks; I started 2012 in the best shape of my life and ended it in much worse shape.  In December I had a DEXA scan which showed my lean body mass (LBM) as 114 pounds and 20% body fat.

I had a second DEXA done to check progress after four months of doing the Venus Index Workout.  My goals were to have increased LBM and to maintain body fat.

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA, previously DEXA) is a means of measuring bone mineral density (BMD).  DXA scans can also be used to measure total body composition and fat content with a high degree of accuracy comparable to hydrostatic weighing with a few important caveats.

What is Bulking?

In body building circles, people throw around the term “bulking“.  It’s generally accepted to be part of a bulk and cut process whereby one eats in excess, lifts heavy at the gym, makes huge LBM gains, and then strips away excess body fat to reveal larger muscles.  Men in particular pile on a lot of fat all in the name of bulking.

The truth of what is possible with bulking varies depending upon a variety of factors including gender, training age, genetic potential.

In my case, I am a 48 year old woman with a long history of training who simply needed to regain lost strength.  So right there, it is somewhat misleading to even be talking about bulking, and yet many people would claim my results indicated a successful bulk.

The truth about gaining muscle is that once muscle tissue has been built, it is a much faster process to get back to previous levels of strength.  I still pushed myself very hard.  For example, I could barely do a body weight squat in early December and now I am back to being able to squat 135 pounds and on track to increased loads over time.

How I “Bulked”

You have likely figured out by now that I did not “bulk” in the traditional sense of the term in body building circles.

Instead, I used the tools as laid out to carefully eat enough to allow my strength increases to continue to unfold and I constantly monitored my waist and belly button measurements.  Every time the waist or the belly button increased, I increased my caloric deficit via the principles in Eat Stop Eat until I saw my baseline numbers.  I tend to loosen up a bit more on weekends.  While undergoing this experiment, I carried slightly more body fat than I am comfortable with, but not much.

The Scale Scared Me!

I admit it! The entire four months I trusted John Barban and Brad Pilon on this little experiment, I watched with horror as the scale bounced around.  Admittedly, it never strayed more than about 10-12 pounds higher than my contest photos, so not at all a traditional bulking cycle, but it was a little scary to see bigger numbers when I am trusting that I am living the Venus lifestyle.

My Successful Bulk Results

This is not the ripped levels you see in my contest photos but rather a very livable, maintainable, every day level that still keeps me on my toes.

Naomi after her experiment at 20% body fat. On the left fasted, on the right fully fed and hydrated.

Naomi after her experiment at 20% body fat. On the left fasted, on the right fully fed and hydrated.

My LBM last December was shockingly low.  In fact, it came in well below the levels predicted for my height. I am 5’11″ and with a LBM of just under 114 pounds, I was possibly a genetic outlier on the low end of the scale.  Venus Index predicts my LBM could go as high as 126 pounds.

Fear not, I thought. I had just lost all my strength so presumably bulking would bring my LBM right back up to within a predicted Venus Index Ideal range.

Sure enough, my DEXA scan showed my LBM at 118 pounds, 7 oz which was a gain of just over 4 pounds.  That averages out to about 1 pound per month.

Not bad, right?  Remember that I was actually getting back what I’d lost after illness; this is not a realistic rate of gain for a trained woman my age.

So What’s Next?

While I am not expecting realistically to gain much more LBM in my lifetime, I do expect to see a little more growth before I get older and as more decline sets in.  Going forward I expect to see some more improvement.  I would also like to get leaner.  Perhaps not as lean as I was in the 4th Venus Transformation Contest, but possibly similar to the 1st Venus Transformation Contest.

Changing body composition

I was surprised to see my android (above the belt) vs gynoid (below the belt) fat ratio slightly improved.  Considering how much time I’d spent sedentary before the last DEXA scan, I was carrying 20.1% android fat as compared to 19.7% this time around while gynoid fat went from 29.5% to 29.4%.  While these numbers seem quite similar, it is worth noting that since the total percentage remained the same at 20.2%, clearly there was a change in body composition.

This is solid proof that a well-designed weight lifting program like Venus Index positively affects both physique and health.

Other reasons to have a DEXA

As John realized in his DEXA scan, it is possible to have muscle imbalances.  I was surprised to note that on both of my DEXA scans the entire left side of my body is stronger.  I will be tailoring my workouts to address this issue according to the guidelines John talked about.  For example I will do fewer reps or sets on the left to allow the lagging right side to catch up.

My bone density actually went up in the last 4 months!  I can only guess that weight lifting caused this happy result.

Ladies, pick up those weights if you want to maintain or increase your bone density!  Bone density is the most common reason most women my age have a DEXA scan done.   It can also be used to monitor body composition and is a useful tool when choosing goals and designing your workout.

If you’ve had a DEXA, what did you learn and how did it affect your training program and goals?

Filed Under: Bodyfat, Health, Muscle Growth Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Weight Gain And Muscle Gain Escalators Part 2 – Sick vs Corrective Mentality

April 3, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Here’s the next episode of the UNCENSORED Podcasts Season 2.

Today’s topic:  Weight gain and muscle gain escalators part 2 – Sick vs Corrective Mentality

There is a different degree of effort required to ascend the escalators vs staying at the top of the escalators.

Last time we talked about the muscle gain and fat gain escalators.  This is a new analogy and a better way of picturing what the process of muscle gain and fat loss is really like.

Today we will take the analogy further and talk about the process of getting to and staying at peak condition.

Specifically it’s the difference between viewing your body and the process from a ‘sick’ mentality vs a ‘corrective’ mentality.

There is a different degree of effort required to ascend the escalators vs staying at the top of the escalators.

Today we’ll talk about changing your mentality and what can and should be done to get to the top and stay there.

John

 

IMMERSION Clients May Login and Download Podcast Here

Not a Venus Index IMMERSION client? Click here to find out more… and hear a weird story too

Filed Under: change, Health, Muscle Growth, psychology Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Are You Running To Stay In The Same Place?

March 1, 2013 By 1 Comment
Are you running to stay in place?

Are you running to stay in place?

Life sometimes gives us setbacks

How many times have you heard someone say that they got sick and so inevitably the weight started to pile on? Yup, we all nod in agreement. It’s not your fault. It’s too bad about that but of course you became over weight when you:

  • broke your leg
  • had to take care of your sick relative
  • traveled 7 months of the last 12
  • <insert your situation>

Life will throw you curve balls. Regardless of the reason, just because you’re not able to exercise, gaining weight is not inevitable.

Because in order to maintain how much you were eating you exercised.

Since you had a valid excuse for why you could not exercise, you had every right and reason to gain weight. Right?

Do you tell yourself this story? It’s hard not to. Anywhere you turn, including the news, movies, fiction, even supposedly scientific books, you will find the perpetuation of this myth: You have to work it off.

The flaw with this logic is the minute you hit a setback, if you habitually eat the same amount, you will gain weight and you will believe it’s out of your control.

Illness is no excuse

Your next setback is waiting to happen.

It happens to all of us.  It’s a matter of when.  What will be your plan?  You can learn to handle the situation and maintain your weight.

How fast are you “running”?

Have you read “Through the Looking Glass”, the sequel to “Alice in Wonderland”, by Lewis Carroll? A famous quote from The Queen has always resonated with me:

“Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”

The fact is that simply maintaining is work.

You can’t over exercise too many calories, but you can learn to eat within your correct maintenance calories which are dictated by your height, gender and activity level.

The sooner you learn how much your body actually needs each day to maintain with your current lifestyle constraints, the better prepared you are for life’s setbacks.

This year I was broadsided by illness that set me back for two months, I could not work out at all. After that, I began the arduous process of regaining my strength.

Do you suppose I piled on pounds of fat?

No indeed, I did not.

And why is that?

Because I have a very clear idea of how much I need to eat to maintain my weight.

When I was forced to drop the gym habit, I simply cut back a bit on calories. I didn’t cut back as much as you might think. I just made small changes. A little less here, a few missed breakfasts, ice cream less often.

I made simple changes and I watched my waist metric. Without the ability to lift weights I simply had to eat less.  Every time the tape measure started to increase, I made a few adjustments to keep it in check. I rested, got well, and got the mental mindset to get back in the gym.

Every single time you have to start the gym habit again, it does require some discipline. The good news is habits don’t ever go away; they lie dormant.

The first week I was very sore. I had to talk myself into showing up for the first 3 weeks.  I eventually built up the strength to do the Venus Index Workouts.

We all have illness now and then

In November, my whole family got broadsided by a virus that was sweeping the town. I lost 10 pounds in one week.

I’ve never been more grateful for the simple fact of health and a strong body. To honor this body, I will not overfeed it or overwork it.

I will instead eat what I need. No more, no less.

I found myself faced again with the need to build strength in the gym. I “ran” to stay in the same place (not overeating in order to maintain) when I was sick. Now I am “running faster” (lifting heavy) in order to get my muscles back into the shape I like.   I follow Brad Pilon’s “Fat Loss Divide and Conquer” rule.

What about you? Are you making excuses or are you “running” towards your goals in whatever way you are currently capable?

 

Filed Under: Bodyfat, calories, Diet, Exercise, Health, Metabolism Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Your Fitness Goals in the New Year, How Bad Do You Want It?

January 4, 2013 By Leave a Comment

What Is Your Motivation?

As we move into the New Year you might be starting to work on new resolutions or goals.  Will you be one who completes your goals this year?  How bad do you want it?  There is pain and sacrifice to achieve it, but there could be pain if you don’t achieve it.  Recently someone in the Venus Index Community posted this article “What is your Motivation?” and I was intrigued by the author’s use of pain motivation and his figurative “Alpo” as the pain.

I read this right around the US Thanksgiving holiday.   I was actually a bit frustrated on the holiday due to several weeks of social eating events and my jeans no longer fit comfortably.  Rather than have a meltdown I took a deep breath and decided I would not ruin the holiday with my precious husband Randy.  I would come up with a plan to fix the problem the next day.  The following day I decided to take a picture of the several pair of jeans that didn’t fit and place them on the refrigerator and pantry doors.  I also included a smiley face and the words “pain motivation”.  The picture reminded me of how awful I felt when the pants didn’t fit.

Be Kind to Yourself Right Where You Are, Right Now

As I was pondering this I had a thought about struggles and victories; cycles continue, struggle, victory, struggle, and victory. Self-worth issues don’t magically go away when you reach your fitness ideal. The best time to treat your body as the temple of beautiful treasures is right now, while continuing the lifelong seasons of reaching new goals.

Randy kind of frowned at me when I put up the picture in the kitchen because it was negative.  Not only that but he thought I looked perfect the way I was.   I was probably still somewhere around 12% body fat.  Since I tend to be hard on myself I have to be careful with the concept of pain motivation.  Many of my girlfriends tell me they must be careful with this concept as well because of a history of eating disorders that stem from issues of self-worth.  I’ve never had eating disorders or emotional eating issues but like many women I struggle with body image issues.  I have to remember that the images of fitness models in fitness magazines are Photoshopped.

I had to remind myself that even though I wanted to achieve a mini goal of fat loss that I was also okay right where I was.  I was healthy, I looked fit, no one saw the little extra bit of fat except me.  It was up to me to make the choice how far I wanted to take it.  Randy, knowing my personal history, warned me with his frown that he’d better not see me beating myself up over this mini goal.

Be Flexible, It’s Okay to Switch It Up

It only took a few weeks to achieve the goal of fitting into the jeans so I switched my motivator to a more positive pleasure motivator (the photo below with the quote “Nothing tastes as good as FIT feels”).  I still remember how I felt the day of this photo shoot and how ecstatic I was when I saw how the pictures turned out.  I decided to make my own (first ever) motivational poster and use it for myself to continue on with my mini goal.  So far it’s working for me.

I switched to a positive pleasure motivator.

I switched to a positive pleasure motivator.

How Bad Do You Want It

The author talks about moving from a state of “Coulda Shoulda Woulda” to a state of “Must” and that reminded me of when I reached my peak of weight gain in 2009.  My weight topped out at over 170lbs.  Something had to change.  I couldn’t possibly do more fitness so I had to change something else.  I had to change my mental mindset and I decided to simply eat less and cut my portion sizes in half.  As I made progress losing weight I constantly used a symbol in my mind of door #1 and door #2.  Door #1 represented achieving the fitness level I had always wanted.  Door #2 represented everything else, every excuse, and simply staying where I was or worse.

The vision of what was behind door #2 was so painful to me that I felt I had no choice.  I must take door #1 which meant continuing to eat at a calorie deficit.  It didn’t mean I had to deprive myself of food; I simply had to eat the right amount to achieve my goal.  This is the beauty of the Anything Goes Diet, Eat Stop Eat, and the Venus Index principles.  Every day when I wanted to eat more than I needed I simply told myself I could have more tomorrow (door #1).

I realized that I used the pain and pleasure motivators all along; door #1 was painful to go through at times but pleasure was on the other side, and door #2 was more pleasurable to go through but pain was on the other side.  Which did I want?  I chose door #1 just about every day for two years.

This dress was my motivator and my reward for achieving my goal.

This dress was my motivator and my reward for achieving my goal.

I had posted up a catalog picture in the kitchen of a swim dress from an athletic clothing company because I wanted to purchase and wear the dress someday.  The picture was a symbol of my door #1 and I kept it posted in the kitchen for about a year.  I achieved that goal and purchased the dress and wore it to the Caribbean last Christmas.  It was my motivator and my reward.

Positive Motivators Worked for Shannon As Well

My friend Shannon who is a busy working mom and wife struggled all her life with weight fluctuations up and down.   She said the tools that finally helped her nail down her success were the Reverse Taper Diet, the Anything Goes Diet, and the Venus Index Workout metric goals using the “Golden Ratio“.

For motivation Shannon said this:

       My past experiences taught me about several components to successful weight loss:  estimating my daily calories so I can be sure I am in a deficit, following an exercise program that I enjoy, taking measurements to track my progress, and working towards a set of daily goals. 

     The process isn’t all that exciting, but the outcome is!  I have been using a planner and stickers to track several daily goals since before my baby was born, including a sleep goal, a calorie deficit goal, a step goal, and a workout goal.  I get a sticker for hitting each of these daily goals, and I find that the number of goals I hit in a week is strongly correlated with weight loss (or maintenance) success. 

     It’s a simple system, and I can easily see the little wins as they pile up.   I like to think about these daily goals as little gifts I am giving to myself every day that have both short term and long term positive effects.

Shannon’s results motivated her husband to start the Adonis Index program.  I would say positive motivation worked very well for her indeed:

Positive motivators worked for Shannon

Positive motivators worked for Shannon

Experiment and Find What Works for YOU

Motivation is different for each person.  You must first define what you want and set your goal.   Then find what motivates you.  Be flexible and if something isn’t working try something else.  Make sure it’s fun and really does motivate you.  Be kind to yourself at all times.  You can change and adjust your plan any time you want.  That is the beauty of experimentation.  You don’t have to stay stuck in a plan that is not working, causes you anxiety, or ends up being destructive to your self-worth or self-image.  We all make mistakes sometimes and learn from them.

  • Set goals
  • Experiment
  • Find what motivates you
  • Make it fun
  • Be kind to yourself
  • Make it a daily routine
  • Track progress
  • Get support
  • Give yourself rewards
  • Be flexible

It is the Yew Year, 2013.  What are your goals?  How bad do you want it? Make it happen.

Ro

 

Filed Under: Bodyfat, calories, Diet, Exercise, fat loss, Food, Health, Metabolism, psychology, Shape, Uncategorized, weight loss, Weight training Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Phi-Life Series: Can Fasting and Training Add 20 Years or More to Your Life Span?

December 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Today we bring you another podcast from our phi-life series.

Today’s topic: Life Extension

Life extension and anti aging products have become very popular in the last few years, a few of these products include: many types of health foods, supplements, workouts, drugs, and even special therapies.

One of the biggest claims actually comes from intermittent fasting when used as a tool for extending one’s life span, some say that it can add decades to your life.

The question is, can it really add that many years to your life? This is what John Barban and Brad Pilon will answer for you today.

What’s the secret to life extension?

Technically, there are only two ways we can approach the anti aging process. First, the obvious one is to create protocols around your diet, workouts, drugs and therapies and wait for the results.  However, the issue with this approach is that you need at least one generation to have valid data and more importantly you can’t tell people what to do for the rest of their lives. The only way this approach can work is to study mice, keep in mind that mice are very different from humans, so not everything that applies to mice will apply to us.

The second approach is to reverse engineer this process and to actually study the people that have lived the longest (over 100 years).

Strangely enough, there is very little they have in common. There is no single workout or diet you can copy and hope to live for as long as them.

There are a few common indicators such as:

  • Low Stress Levels
  • Activity (both mental and physical)
  • Low Bodyfat Percentage

Apart from these three things, each individual lived a different lifestyle. In other words, you can’t guarantee that a low carb diet or powerlifting type of training will help you to live to be a 100.

The even greater question to ask  is will lifestyle changes help you live longer or are you at mercy of your genetics and faith?

If so, what is the  best  approach to take?

This is what John and Brad will attempt to answer for you today in our podcast.

You will also learn and discover:

  • Is it even possible to study anti aging and have any measurable data?
  • Does modern science currently offer anything you could use to delay the aging process?
  • What is your best bet when it comes to living a greater QUANTITY and QUALITY form of life?
  • What’s the magical age that determines you will  have a good chance of living to be a 100?
  • What are some things you can control that will help you improve your life and live longer?
  • Can you make the aging process enjoyable?

Listen to the podcast here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: Health, Phi Life, Podcast Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Is Fasting Bad for Women?

December 19, 2012 By 5 Comments

Here’s the next episode of the UNCENSORED Podcasts Season 2.

Today’s topic: Intermittent Fasting, Intermittent Feeding and Gender Differences

Could Fasting Actually be Bad for You?

What are the Benefits of Intermittent Fasting?

Could one benefit be a goal to achieve 0% BF?!

Of course not!  When incorporating fasting into your lifestyle you should know what to expect and understand why you are doing it.  Do you want to create room for extra weekend calories? Or use fasting as a tool to lose one additional  pound each week?

When our friend Eric tried fasting at about 7% body fat before his competition he could hardly push to the 24 hour mark and felt terrible. Was this a surprise? Not really.

If you are already ripped, you can’t expect to fast four times a week for 24 hours.  The less body fat you have the more your body will try to “protect it”.

This is something most people don’t realize and even major fitness articles are wrong when they state “Fasting doesn’t work” or  ”Intermittent Fasting is Dead” and so on.

Truth be told, intermittent fasting has become quite popular in 2012.  As the trend follows with everything that receives a lot of attention and popularity, there is always some negative feedback attached as well.

Today, we will analyze a blog post from a woman who tried fasting and misunderstood the effects of dieting on her hormones and blamed fasting for being unhealthy. We will also cover her false conclusion of a famous mice study on fat loss and fasting.

John Barban and Brad Pilon will also show you the difference between intermittent fasting and intermittent feeding and explain which is more useful as a fat loss or bodyfat maintenance tool.

In today’s UNCENSORED training, you will also discover:

  • Different fasting protocols you can follow and how to determine which one will fit you the best
  • How to make (intermittent) fasting sustainable
  • Discover at what point you have to reduce the frequency and length of your fasts
  • How to optimise the whole process of dieting so you get the results, feel good, and don’t burn out
  • Learn whether there any “side effects” of dieting or  intermittent fasting/intermittent feeding
  • What steps to take when you read other blog posts about intermittent fasting and want to remain objective
  • How to take into account your limits when training, dieting and fasting
  • What fundamental questions to ask yourself when you reading an article/journal which quotes a research study
  • The second part of the  Eat Stop Eat lifestyle you can’t forget about
  • What the signals indicate you to stop fasting
  • The difference between intermittent fasting and intermittent feeding and when to use them

 

Filed Under: Health, Podcast, Uncensored Podcasts S02 Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Making the Mona Lisa Smile

October 5, 2012 By 8 Comments

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da VinciDoes Mona Lisa Smile For You?

Confession time. When I first learned that the famous Mona Lisa was smiling, I was surprised. Maybe this will sound odd to some, but I’d honestly never perceived her expression as happy when I was growing up. Now, obviously, this statement reveals more about my childhood than it does about the Mona Lisa.

Growing up as a latch-key child with an emotionally absent alcoholic father and a physically absent mother doesn’t do a whole lot for creating an atmosphere of joy. So yes. I totally missed that she was smiling.

The Creation of Happiness

I am happy to report that she does indeed smile for me now, but sometimes it’s work; sometimes I need to consciously fish around in my mental storage bin for my virtual rose colored glasses.

I accept responsibility for my emotions now but with that responsibility comes the requirement that I study and learn techniques that might be obvious to those with a solid foundation in early childhood happiness. It’s one of the reasons I strive to create as full and happy a childhood for my children as I can; perhaps they won’t have to work as hard as I sometimes do to create happiness.

Love and Accept Your Body Before You Transform

You may be wondering what all this jibber-jabber about art and attitude has to do with transformation so bear with me while we take a little journey.

One of my early active steps towards my transformation was plunking down a wad of virtual cash for an eBook. I’m not a relic but it took me some years to come to terms with my failure to transform on my own and be willing to part with cold hard cash for something seemingly intangible.

I eagerly “ripped open” my shiny new transformation program, only to be hit with a lecture and some airy-fairy exercise on loving my body. Now while I’m as airy-fairy as the next person, the guy who wrote this particular program wasn’t. I’d been watching his videos online and had even met him. I know one thing and that is that he had no business trying to get all woo woo on me.

However, I put that aside and went on with the exercise. (And by exercise, I mean writing crap on paper, lest you think I was doing something physical.) As expected, it fell flat. I’ve done intensive personal growth seminars and made great positive strides. Sitting with a piece of paper doing some contrived mental exercise wasn’t going to do a darned thing for my belly fat. In losing faith in the exercise, I lost faith in the program.

This dude and the mainstream fitness mafia can pile on all the guilt in the world that I have to lurve my body and accept as it is before I can successfully transform. I call bullsh*t.

In hindsight, I’m so glad I did! I stand by my conviction that anyone who pretends to hold expertise outside their actual field of expertise loses all credibility with me. And in giving up on this program, I was able to continue seeking out the answers and ultimately find my way here to Venus Index where information is research based.

I Hated My Body and Transformed Anyway

This may be a hard pill to swallow but when I finally began the successful stage of my transformation journey, it was without feelings of love towards my body shape and size. I was quite clear about who I am as a person and that I am a person of character, and I am also clearly blessed to be gifted with a functioning body complete with working parts, but at the same time, I was hiding my body away by choice to avoid humiliation. This was not who I was. In avoiding social situations, I was depriving both myself and my children of a chief source of joy in life.

It turns out, there’s research to back me up on this; it turns out that depressive episodes are strongly linked to excess adipose tissue and inflammation.

Online Socializing is a Poor Substitute for the Real Thing

Realizing that I was doing us all a big disservice was one of the driving forces behind my successful transformation. I wanted joy for us and I wanted to be comfortable enough in my own skin to be pleasant around other people. The bulk of my socializing had moved to online. Many studies are saying this is a good thing but it’s interesting that the timing coincides with the obesity epidemic. Perhaps others hide away for reasons similar to my own?

One of the reasons winning a transformation contest was attractive to me is that it involves a clear deadline. The focus I’d be putting into the necessary work would soon come to an end and I could move to the next leg of the journey. The whole point of the exercise was to create more joy in our lives. With that in mind, you can bet I became a student of maintenance early on in the journey; every tool I added to my toolkit got stored away for use at any future time. I regularly rotate through these tools now.

Creating Joy

Would it surprise you to learn that once I reached my goal, I wasn’t actually completely happy all the time? Some of this had to do with having been hit with a few extreme life challenges and still doing internal work to ascertain what my part I’d played and how I could grow from the experiences and move on with my life. But the bulk of my failure to feel happy more of the time was just due to still not knowing how to be happy.

Enter Transformation as an Ongoing Journey

It was at that point in my personal journey that I realized that simply achieving the physical body I’d always dreamed of was not going to be the biggest achievement of my life, nor should it be. (Perhaps that sounds silly but I went for it with that much tenacity.)  There are so many things I am capable of doing and that bring me joy. I found myself energized by the open book my life had suddenly become at the age of 47. I find myself more able to be the parent I wanted to be, but also wanting to return to my personal life journey that had been put on hold during my earlier years of parenting.

Sometimes, it’s overwhelming. There are so many ways in which I’d like to improve and they simply cannot all happen immediately. And in fact, it is not possible to ever achieve the level of success that I dream of in all endeavors simultaneously. This is an area in which I am learning to shift my thinking. I am choosing a few priorities and setting goals. I used to set too many goals and fail across the board. Now I strive to set what I call “mini-missions” that I am sure to complete and get a feeling of accomplishment that propels me to further success.

Stop and Savor the Espresso

What makes even small successes worthwhile is consciously thinking about them. I am tired of missing out on the joy as if I move about head down with blinders, getting it done but not enjoying the process. There is joy in the process!

One way in which I keep being able to enjoy the success of maintaining my Venus body shape and size is by having just an espresso for breakfast whenever the mood strikes me. I’ve learned from Brad Pilon that breakfast is not a requirement and that if you stop and listen and find you’re not hungry, there is simply no reason to eat. But I still pop out of bed eager for that espresso! In fact, the last thought before my head hits the pillow is tomorrow morning, I get to have an espresso! Along with this simple ritual comes a reflective morning peace that might lead to a bit of weeding in the garden or reading in the morning sun.

Creating my Happy

As life constantly changes, so must one work at the formula for creating happy today. I use many techniques, most of which you’ve likely heard of. Here are a few techniques I cycle through:

  • Take time regularly to be truly grateful for things. Get creative on this one so it is not done by rote.
  • Truly connect with people. I mean in person. Yes, even you introverts. Make some eye contact!
  • Get present and simply remind yourself to enjoy the moment.
  • Unplug completely on a regular basis.
  • Get out in nature.
  • Pay it forward: help someone with no strings attached. Or do volunteer work.
  • Declutter and simplify.
  • Keep up with chores.
  • Feed your mind daily with interesting and challenging new information.
  • Put an event on your calendar. Simply anticipating it will bring you untold hours of joy!
  • Feed  your soul with worthwhile brain candy.
  • Use color, scent, music, art, etc for mood enhancement. Taste is not our only sense! Don’t neglect the others!
  • Take up an old hobby or join a group that does something you love.
  • Hang out with dogs, cats, children – whatever energizes you.
  • Challenge your body (within reason).
  • Dress well!
  • Don’t expect too much of yourself. We have been led to believe we should own more and accomplish more than is reasonable.
What do you do to get  your happy? It doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated.
Filed Under: Food, Health, stress, weight loss Tagged With: , ,

Falling Forward: Turning Mistakes into Success

September 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer. -Denis Waitley

The hardest part about mistakes is to keep moving forward but that is what you must do.  Everyone makes mistakes but if you keep moving forward the mistake will soon be behind you.  Have you ever made a mistake at a new job?

I currently work as a volunteer patrol deputy for our local Sheriff’s department.  I had spent 25 years prior working for a corporate high tech company and then decided to go through the police academy and volunteer for the community in a unique way.

The environment at a law enforcement agency is vastly different from the corporate company I was used to.  Yes, I made mistakes.  It’s hard on the ego when you get called on the pad and into the Lieutenant’s office.  Part of me wanted to quit and say this is just not for me.  But when you keep moving forward you can sometimes become better for having made the mistake.  The best thing to do is own up to it and face whatever consequences come with it and continue to do your best.

Because of what I learned from that mistake I’m now in a position to help coach others on how to avoid that particular mistake should the opportunity arise.  Can you think of ways that you became better because of mistakes you have made?

As I lost 60 pounds I chose to move forward even when I made mistakes at work as well as on my weight loss journey.

The Sheriff gives a speech every year at our official swearing in ceremony.  Because consequences can be severe for mistakes made in law enforcement he always talks about the concept of owning up to mistakes and moving on.  He has an awesome sense of humor and a fun personality, but he shows us his serious side when he talks about consequences in our work mistakes.

The other option is to stop, freeze, or quit.  If you stop moving forward and are worried about making more mistakes you will never progress.  Every successful person has made mistakes and know they will make mistakes again.  They don’t live in fear of mistakes.

My friend April and I share some of the exact same mistakes regarding motherhood.  Sometimes this gives us a special bond with a friend and helps us deal with residual guilt and healing.  For women especially there is a certain amount of guilt we all feel about not being perfect mothers for our kids.   Whether it is simply a matter of raising the children, sharing custody, adoption, congenital medical issues or children’s health issues, whatever is the circumstance these all cause very deep emotional issues for women.

Because of what happened in April’s situation she lost a lot of weight and became very thin, then did the yo-yo in the opposite direction and gained a lot of weight and started down the path of an emotional eating disorder.

April believes that the reeling torment on the inside was being reflected on the outside (manifested in her yo-yo body weight), and that she was punishing herself for the guilt she felt.

April finally decided to take a step forward when she joined the Venus Index Community.  She owned up to her mistakes with eating along with the other mistakes.  She allowed herself to be accepted into a community of women who understood and treated her warmly and with respect.  April said this has helped her get her body right and get through some rough times.  This is helping her get her mind right as well. April learned that sometimes getting support means you have to give it order to get it.

April wants to learn to forgive herself for not being perfect for her son.  She shares a unique story where she is the birth mother and she shares a special bond with Rebecca Bennett.  April wants to be a Venus both inside and out.  I think she is well on her way and moving forward now.

As we start out on our weight loss journey full of hope, new tools, new books to read, and new workouts we must remember to forgive ourselves from the mistakes that we will make.  We must learn to keep moving forward, or falling forward, or leaping forward, anything but staying frozen in fear of mistakes.

Whether the mistakes are at a job or school, or on your weight loss journey you can move forward and learn to overcome adversity.   Do you have trouble getting over a sabotage point; have anxiety with food choices, or food addictions?  These can all be overcome; you can learn a new way to eat regardless of your situation.  Are you afraid of the gym or are you afraid to lift heavy?  This too can be overcome with a winning mindset.

 

April chooses to leap forward from her mistakes. You can make this choice too.

What about you? Will you learn from your mistakes and keep moving, or will you let mistakes control you?

It is your choice.

-Ro

Filed Under: change, Diet, Exercise, Food, Health, Shape, stress, Uncategorized, weight loss Tagged With: , ,

Eat for “Flavor” & The 6 Step Recovery Method from Orthorexia

September 19, 2012 By 2 Comments

Here’s the second part of this month’s UNCENSORED Podcasts Season 2 on Orthorexia.

Check out the first part here: The Side Effect of Modern Society and Even Scientists Can’t Escape

What we covered in the first part:

  • We’ve talked about how certain foods can completely mess up your personality and social identity
  • You learned why people in the fitness industry feel superiority over you because of their diet choices
  • You discovered why you should bother tracking and testing things related to nutrition and not just training
  • You learned about the connection between people suffering from orthorexia and drug addicts
  • You also discovered what’s really in the root of the search for healthy eating and if that goal is really achievable
  • You learned that orthorexia is a marketing driven eating disorder and that the food and fitness industry are making billions just from people getting fatter every year

Let Go of the Good Food/Bad Food Belief

You need to learn to let go of the good food, bad food belief and dump all the bad food lists. And instead start focusing on the foods that taste good, are filling and make you feel great.

It’s a mind shit and a whole different perception, especially if you have been exposed to the mainstream fitness media for the last couple of decades.

Ask yourself this question: ” What do I like to eat?” And eat exactly that!

A lot of people will be thinking that this statement means you can eat burgers and ice cream all day long. Well, that’s not true. Nobody can do go on a diet like that and that’s a pretty boring lifestyle to have.

There are lots of food choices, if chicken with broccoli and chocolate with ice cream are the only meals you know you are limiting yourself and preventing yourself from tasting some amazing foods that are also rich in nutrients.

Get a variety in your diet and start experimenting with different cuisines. Just ask yourself, what exotic meal you haven’t tried yet?

Believe it or not, there are other foods and meals outside the “healthy” recommended by fitness media and “unhealthy junk food” like chocolate or burgers. There are a lot of other options and they can be very tasty.

Today John Barban and Brad Pilon will show you how to switch  from good/bad thinking into “eating what I really like and what makes me feel good” and “what would be the best and most tasty option for me?“.

If you’ve heard the first podcast and you’ve read so far then you understand what’s the point of it, but you may still be unsure of the whole process, so before you listen to today’s episode where John and Brad discuss this in great detail, let’s look over the steps you can take to recover from Orthorexia and start eating for flavor:

  1. Realize that any health message is a marketing message
  2. Understand that you won’t cheat death, and especially not by choosing different foods
  3. Create new food lists, but assign them different meanings (e.g. rank them by flavor)
  4. Make a list of foods that makes you bloated or that you are allergic to
  5. Evaluate every food on those lists based on how much you enjoy it, how many calories it contains etc.
  6. [you will have to listen to the interview for this one :) ]
There is a lot of choice outside the traditional healthy and unhealthy lists AKA good foods/bad foods. European and Asian cuisines are very rich in different flavors and tastes, just start experimenting. Today we are going to give you the permission to do that and explain you why it’s beneficial and how to go about it.
Filed Under: Diet, fat loss, Food, Health, Podcast, psychology, Uncensored Podcasts S02 Tagged With: , ,

Stop Wasting Your Time: How Women Shortchange Themselves at the Gym

August 31, 2012 By 7 Comments

Anyone who has spent any amount of time in gyms over the years has seen the same patterns repeated over and over again.

I’ve been training since the Nixon administration and I’ve seen  every diet/exercise craze, new fad and latest greatest equipment/program that has rolled down the pike since the 70’s.

I’ve even tried a few of them too.

The natural human proclivity for novelty makes us all suckers for the next new thing.

What really works to produce results seems to be a mystery to many women, even though they crowd the gym in droves.

Escape the Average Treadmill Physique

Because there are so many choices and so many people marketing their various programs/diets/workouts like religious cults, it leads to confusion for the average woman.

The bigger  problem is that most women  have no clue what they want out of their workouts and are scared to venture into the  free weight area of the gym. They listen to conventional  fitness wisdom peddled by the media and spend endless hours at the gym plodding away at steppers, treadmills and bikes.

They crowd in the studios doing zumba, pilates, yoga, bootcamp and all kinds of other “fun” activities. They think this will produce “visible results”.

Occasionally, they may see some random improvement.  I  plead guilty to falling into this trap in the past. Cardio has it’s place and purpose from a point of  health but endless cardio does not equal weight loss and a better body.

Next time you are at the gym take a look at  the women and men slogging away on the stairmaster or bikes and ask yourself if they have a body you would want.

Chances are the answer is no.

Big Fat Lie: “I Have these Arms from Lifting Itty Bitty Girly Weights”

Another thing I’ve seen at the gym is women piddling around the weight machines with no real purpose or program. Paraphrasing Martin Berkhan, this is a bad case of Fart-around-itis  (the original term is not appropriate for family publications).

I occasionally see women in the free weights area doing a few sets of flies, presses or rows with 5 & 10 lb weights. Occasionally,  I will see a  woman lifting  heavier weights. Usually a college athlete.  It’s so uncommon, I take notice.

Woman Lifting Heavy

Do you want to get in shape? You have to lift heavy, period.

Which brings me to my big question.

Why do women shortchange themselves in the gym?

Why are so few lifting weights that can actually give them results and a body that people would envy?

There are a lot of cultural issues that come in to play here.

I suspect that most women are afraid to go beyond their comfort zone and have preconceived ideas about weight training and femininity. I also think that women have no clue how strong they really can get and lack the self confidence to find out.

Have a Clear Measurable Goal

So we get to the heart of the problem.

Ask yourself this question: What is my goal?

If it not something that is clear and measurable you will be wasting your time.

Things like  “getting in shape” getting “fit” or losing a few pounds seem like goals, but they are really pretty nebulous and hard to define. It’s like people saying they want to be healthier. The definitions of “health”  being “in shape” or being more “toned” are varied and subjective.

Even losing  scale weight,  while measurable does not always yield a more attractive  body.

Many women are in a “normal” BMI range, yet over fat and under muscled. Losing 10 lbs will not really help if you do not work on increasing or maintaining muscle mass.

If you have small underdeveloped muscles and you  lose 10 or 15 lbs you will  be smaller but still look soft and undefined. If you don’t believe me look at pictures of these guys in prison camps and ask why they don’t have six packs.

They don’t because they have enough muscle left for a six pack. It also explains why anorexics and “skinny” women are universally unattractive except to the fashion world (again a post for another time).

Muscle creates shape.

That’s what separates “hot” from NOT.

Skinny vs Lean: Dude, where’s my abs?

Do What Produces the Best Results for the Time You Put In

This is where women shortchange themselves and fail.

They do endless cardio and fitness classes thinking that it will “tone” them and make them look “hot”. They go and do  a couple of  light sets on weight machines. Or they pick up some 5 or 10 lb dumbbells and do some kind of weight training without a clue of what they are doing and  are clearly NOT challenging themselves in anyway at all.

Result is: no noticeable results!

Challenge Yourself and Use Heavier Weights

pudgy stockton pressing overhead

Look, Ma: Big Weights & No Bulking.
Great Results: Old School Style.

Big news flash: Women will not get big and bulky using heavier weights. You do not have a Y chromosome and lots of circulating testosterone, so you will not build huge muscles. Not now, not ever.

The women and men you see in bodybuilder magazines and competitions use  anabolic steroids and lots of other drugs you’ve never heard of to look the way they do. Lifting heavier weights will NOT make you look like that.

“But I get bulky if I lift something bigger than a  pink barbie bell” you cry.

Reality check: bulk is fat.

That blanket of adipose that covers your  scrawny little muscles is the source of the “bulk”. Lose the fat  and there is no “ bulk”. Losing fat is a question of  appropriate caloric intake for your height. You need a lot fewer calories than you think. If you are not losing fat you are eating too much.

Yes, I know, not what you want to hear.

Apparently most of people I see in public are not eating less. Which explains the expanding pant sizes and need for bigger hospital gurneys.

Define your goals.

Let’s face it, unless you are a competitive athlete,  your goal  is probably to  look better in a bathing suit. Your definition of better. If you need to lose fat, you will have to control your calories and eat less. Doing an hour of stair stepper and then drinking a 600 calorie juice smoothie will not lead to fat loss unless you are 6’4”.

Use cardio to condition your  cardiovascular system, not to burn excess calories. The actual caloric burn from most exercise is rather modest. Not the 900 calories the stairstepper/treadmill/ machine thingie says. Those are fantasy numbers.

Lift heavier weights.

Preferably  free weights, not machines.

You will build muscle by repeatedly creating strong contraction against greater resistance.

So use enough weight to create that required resistance.

At the minimum you need to lift at a threshold of 40-50% of your one rep max on any given exercise. This will vary but chances are if you have not gotten good results in the past with weight training you are not lifting enough weight.  3 sets of 10 reps with 5 or 10 lbs will not produce any results unless you just stepped out of a prison camp or famine or you are 90 years old and in a walker.

You  also need  a good program that gives proven physique results.

Venus Index is designed to give you a balanced symmetrical shape that is  universally attractive and healthy looking. It works for all figure types because it is based on the  universal proportion found in nature   (fibonacci’s number). Every woman wants to have a balanced hour glass shape. That is considered attractive in all cultures and throughout history.

It is a prime indicator of youth, health and vitality.

Even if you are not 18 years old, you can have a great body at any age if you do the necessary work in the gym.

If you are over 40, 50 or even 60, a youthful, lean strong body makes you younger and healthier.  And another news flash: It does not require hours a day in the gym or on a treadmill.

Working out longer is not necessarily better. You can do marathons and spin classes ‘til hell freezes over and not look good in a swimsuit.

More is NOT always better. Better is better.

Lifting ‘til you puke or working out ’til you drop does not equal great results.

Targeted programs give real results with no photoshopping needed. Just real results for real women with busy lives who are willing to do the work.

The Cliff Notes:

  1. Have a clear measurable workout  goal
  2. Consider what gives the best results for the time put in. More is not better. Better is better.
  3. Challenge yourself with heavier weights
  4. Choose a good program that will give real results. Venus Index fits that bill.

 

Filed Under: Bodyfat, cardio, change, Exercise, fat loss, Health, Shape, transformation, Uncategorized, weight loss, Weight training Tagged With: , , , , , ,
« Older Posts