Write it down

“Can you set me up a diet plan?”
“Gladly. What have you eaten over the past 3 days?”
“Everything? I don’t remember everything.”
“No big deal, just write down everything you eat and drink for the next 3 days and I’ll be glad to help you out.”

This is a conversation that I have had more times than I can count. Usually, then I get a response that they just want me to write something down for them or they say ok but never mention it again.

When it comes to making a change, we have to know where we have been and where we are in order to know where we are going. When it comes to diet and exercise, it is difficult to see our faults and make the proper changes. One way to make a change in our diets is to take a close look at what we are actually eating. And because most of us can not remember everything that we ate today much less 3 days ago, keeping a dietary food log is the best way to remember everything we eat.

Keeping a food log is very easy. Keep a 3x5 note card in your pocket and write down everything that you eat. Now you don’t have to carry a scale around with you and measure everything, but be as accurate as you can. Make sure to include all the liquids too.

After a few days, take a look at your card. Don’t beat yourself up if it didn’t go exactly the way you had hoped. Focus on the good choices that you made and look for ways to improve. Don’t try to change it all in one day. Set a goal to make one change this week.

Writing it down makes it real. Writing it down helps you remember. Writing it down will help you make the proper changes and choices. Writing it down will help to make you better.

Be better.

-Tiller

Wave Runner

Went to the beach to visit some friends last weekend and got in a good interval run. If you are heading to the beach for the weekend try out this interval run. It is a very simple, quick, and great exercise. No watch needed. Begin with a light jog along the edge of the water. As a wave rolls in, sprint to keep yourself just out of the incoming water. Try to run as straight and fast as possible while keeping just out of the water. Then as the wave recedes, slow to a jog as you follow the wave back into the ocean. Then when the next wave rolls in repeat! Good quick interval run in the sun. Enjoy your weekend.

Be Better
-Tiller

Finding Balance

Everyday on the news we hear about the trouble on wall street and the numerous companies asking for a bailout and declaring bankruptcy. I don’t have a degree in finance and nobody has ever asked me for financial advice but I do know a little about finding balance. Doesn’t matter if its money, life, or our bodies; knowing the difference from input and output is the key to success. In business the goal is to have more money coming in than going out. It really is not as difficult as the big shot finance guys make it look. And when it comes to our bodies, it is the same way.

With the body it is really simple. It is calorie balance. Caloric output vs. caloric input. If the goal is to lose weight we must take in fewer calories than we expend. Gaining weight occurs when we take in more energy than we use. That is it. It really is that easy. No rocket science. No fancy spread sheets. Just simply two things to look at:- the amount of calories taken in and the amount of calories used. If you are gaining weight then your input is more than your output. Losing weight simply means that output is greater than input. If your weight is holding steady then you are in energy balance.

Body composition (fat mass vs. muscle mass) is slightly more involved but is still very simple to understand. Body composition is improved by increasing muscle and/or decreasing fat. The same principles apply to body composition as with total body weight with the main exception being where the gains and losses occur. If the goal is to lose fat then we have 3 options: increase exercise, decrease the amount of food we eat, or improve the quality of food that we ingest. Gaining muscle is a little tougher with our choices being to increase the amount of food we eat or improve the quality of food we eat while increasing the demand on our muscles. This is why gaining muscle is so hard. We must increase work as well as give our muscles more quality food.

There are 3 simple ways to lose weight and decrease body fat. 1. Improve the quality of food you eat. 2. Decrease the amount of food you eat. 3. Increase the amount of work that you do. Thats it.

Contrary to what we hear on the news everyday, it is not hard to figure out balance. Our bodies, just like out budgets need to be balanced. Keep it simple. Input vs. output. Everyday we have a choice.

BE BETTER

-Tiller