Badass Fitness

Monday Move: The Ab Pulley

The makings of a sexy, well-defined six pack are an all-around effort - as in, working not just the front ab muscles but also the obliques that surround the front.

Strong obliques are, first and foremost, key to a strong and functional core that will power you through everything from moving heavy furniture to finishing a triathlon or getting through a TRX class.

They also happen to look good when they're defined. So today's move zeroes in on the obliques, and without ever doing side crunches on a floor mat. The Ab Pulley is one of my favorite core moves.

You will feel this working right away, and if you incorporate this into a routine that includes cardio for calorie burn and fat loss, what emerges as the fat melts away will be ripped obliques worthy of Spring Break.

Ab Pulley

Muscles worked: Obliques, lower abdominals

The technique: Attach a hand grip to the universal weight machine at your gym. Don't go heavy with weight - you want to tone and strengthen the obliques, but bulging bulked-up obliques aren't so hot.So start with 10 to 30 pounds and gauge how challenging it is.

Start by grabbing the pulley with your right hand. Now pull down the pulley at a slight angle, into your right obliques, as you lift the right heel and crunch in, squeezing for a second before you slowly go back to the starting position. Do 15 to 20 reps. Switch to the left side, gripping the pulley with the left hand.

 

Incorporating it: Pair three sets of 15-20 ab pulleys on the right and left sides with three sets of side crunches (20 reps on each side) and three sets of oblique crunches (20 reps on each side).

Coming this week: A Butts and Guts routine, mid-week Music, and a Badass recipe.

Badass Math: Minus Sleep and Work, Almost 70 hours....to MOVE!

This Badass has never much liked math - hence my college degree and career focused on writing and communications. But a colleague finding her way to a stronger Badass recently gave me a calculation worth mastering.

It goes like this: (7 x 24) - (7 x 7) - (50) = 69 = ZERO excuses.

Translation: In any given week, there are 168 hours (7 days x 24 hours). Subtract approximately 7 hours of sleep for all 7 nights, then subtract another 50 hours for work, and you get 69 hours. That is equal to ZERO excuses for why you "don't have time" to work on your fitness and health.

Even if you did just three one-hour workouts a week, you would still have more than 60 hours of free time left. And yes, I know it takes time to commute, clean the house, chauffer the kids, feed the babies, etc. But it doesn't take 69 hours.

So there it is: The Badass Math you can't discount.

My colleague admittedly discounted the math for a long time, convincing herself that with her young child and husband and intense job, she simply "had no time." But finally, in recent weeks, something clicked. She did the calculation, and it left her with a lot of hours.

She realized that "no time" was code for "not ready" and "afraid," as in afraid to try for fear of failing. And "not ready" because, well, sometimes we're just not ready yet to get on the Badass path. Being afraid to get out there for the first time and jog or take a cycling class or lift dumbbells is totally OK - we've all been there.

But there comes a time when we have to be realistic and honest about the time we have and how we're using it. The fact is, as a whole it's human nature to waste time and make excuses.

How many hours do you spend watching TV or surfing Facebook, and could one of those hours be spent at the gym or doing a home exercise session via DVD? For all the time you spend on the phone, could you be (speed) walking and talking at the same time? Could one of those happy hours with the girlfriends or guys be spent taking a kickboxing class together or at least dancing at a nightclub until you break a good sweat?

Being active and healthy doesn't have to mean going to the gym and getting on the treadmill every day. It doesn't have to entail monthly membership fees or checks to a personal trainer. JUST MOVE. Find what you enjoy, whether it's rollerskating or surfing or hiking or cycling, and DO IT.

That's my challenge to you this weekend: Calculate how you're spending your time, and find at least one hour to do something active.

Because if you keep making excuses and sitting on your Bad(or not-so-Bad)ass, before you know it you'll be overweight and plagued with all of the things that come with that label - diabetes, high cholesterol, zero energy, low self esteem and general discontent and unhappiness.

And we all know there's nothing Badass about that.

Coming next week: Monday's Move; a new recipe or two, and a Butts and Gutts routine!

 

Top 5 Nutrition Mistakes? The Expert Weighs In...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The results you see when you set out on the road to a better, stronger Badass are about 85 percent what you eat and 15 percent how much you sweat, move, lift and get your heart pumping.

You can take cycling class or go running or lift weights every day, but if you eat and drink like crap before and after, all you'll do is maintain the status quo - or worse, get further away from your goal. 

Don't believe it? Well, today an expert weighs in. Jaime McHaffie, part owner of my favorite frozen yogurt place in town (Fuzions!), is a licensed dietitian and owner of Nourish Nutrition Consulting based in Tallahassee, Florida.

She provides one-on-one advice to clients, as well as group talks. She even takes field trips to the grocery store to show clients what to put in their cart - and what to avoid. (Yes, stay tuned for a blog on that one!)

So, in the process of interviewing her for an upcoming article I'm doing for Women's Running magazine, we started talking about the top 5 pitfalls that we both see in our clients when it comes to eating and metabolism-boosting nutrition.

She agreed to dish. Do any of these apply to you? If so, no worries! Just adjust, and watch how much faster you see results.

Jaime's Top 5 Nutrition No-No's

1. Skipping Breakfast: Don't Skip Breakfast! Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day! It jump starts your metabolism (your metabolism is what gives you energy and helps you burn calories). Eating breakfast helps fuel your brain and your body. When you're short on time, grab a granola bar, a piece of fruit, a yogurt, a smoothie, toast, or even a glass of milk. These are all items that will help you to start your day out on the right track. Try combining at least 2 food groups for breakfast to make your morning choice even healthier!

2. Not Honoring Hunger: The key to a healthy relationship with food, as well as a healthy body weight, is to honor your hunger. If you ever skip a meal when you are hungry or overeat past the point of fullness, you are not honoring your hunger.

It sounds silly, but most of us consume our meals and snacks without ever thinking about whether we are hungry or full. We just eat because it's lunch time or because we are bored. Likewise, we skip meals because we are trying to lose weight or because we are too busy to eat. Our body is designed to tell us when to eat and when to stop eating. Start listening to your body today and allow it to guide you as to when and how much you should eat.

3. Going "All or Nothing": When trying to change a nutrition related behavior, it is often tempting to go "All or Nothing." This is actually  not a good idea. When making behavior changes, it is important to set small, achievable goals for yourself.

If you try to fix all of your nutrition problems in a single day or even a week, you will most likely be left very frustrated. Pick the one or two things that you are most ready to work on and start there. Let's say, for example, that you needed to start eating breakfast. I would recommend that you set a goal of eating breakfast two or three days a week and see how you do. Then you can slowly increase the days, until you have reached all seven days. Once you are consistently eating breakfast every day, you can pick another nutrition related behavior to change.

4. Not Planning Ahead: We've all heard the quote, "He who fails to plan, plans to fail". This has never been more true for the world of healthy eating. If you are not planning ahead for meals and snacks, it is going to be very hard to make good choices. I encourage my clients to pick one or two days out of the week to plan ahead for meals and snacks. This is key, especially for those trying to lose weight. Try to avoid being unprepared for your day and left without healthy choices to choose from at home or the office.

5. Not Drinking Enough Water: Drinking water is essential to health and weight loss. Most of my clients are not drinking enough water. If drinking water is a struggle for you, try sprucing up your water a bit with a splash of juice, or some lemons or limes. Crystal Light is also a good option for those who find it hard to get in enough water. And for those that just 'forget' to do it, try setting an alarm on your phone, or simply keeping a 'water diary' on your desk for you to track your intake throughout the day.

Coming Friday: Badass Math: Sleep, work, and you still have almost 70 'free' hours...to MOVE!

For a leaner Badass, rethink your definition of breakfast

I hate breakfast food.

I don't have time for breakfast.

I'm sick of cereal and oatmeal, so I just skip breakfast.

Sound familiar? We can come up with any number of reasons to skip the most important meal of the day (Yes, your mom was right!) Often, it comes down to time (or lack thereof) and food boredom.

Yet it's vital to fuel up first thing in the day - not only to kick your metabolism into gear, but to prevent overeating at lunch or grabbing that office donut mid-morning. Not to mention the fact that a Badass running on low fuel will perform like a car about to run out of gas. Yep, weak breakfast leads to Weak-Ass Workout.

The solution: Rethink the way you think of breakfast. It does not have to be oatmeal, cereal or eggs and toast. And there are more toppings for English muffins than butter and jelly. Here are five ways to shake up your first meal of the day:

1. Quinoa instead of oatmeal: Who says quinoa is just for lunch and dinner? As grains go, quinoa is superior - boasting lots of fiber and double the protein than brown rice or couscous. One cup cooked has 8 grams of protein and is loaded with magnesium, zinc, vitamin E and selenium - all of which control weight and help prevent heart disease and diabetes. So how about a cinnamon-honey-nut quinoa bowl instead of oatmeal?

• 1 cup vanilla or unsweetened almond milk (low fat or soy milk works, too)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 2 cups fresh blackberries, blueberries or raspberries
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted
• 4 teaspoons organic agave nectar or honey

Directions: Combine milk, water and quinoa in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Turn off heat; let stand covered 5 minutes. Stir in blackberries and cinnamon; transfer to four bowls and top with pecans. Drizzle 1 teaspoon honey or agave nectar over each serving. Serves 4. 

2. Low-fat cottage cheese instead of yogurt (casein): Just because it's more salty than sweet, doesn't mean you have to limit it to lunch and dinner. Cottage cheese is high in protein, specifically casein protein which digests slower and hence keeps you full longer. It's low in fat and can easily be substituted for regular or Greek yogurt. Take cottage cheese and mix it with cinnamon, a little honey or agave nectar and fresh berries or apples, and you have a breakfast with the right blend of protein and low-glycemic carbs to keep you full for a few hours.

3. Wrap it, like it's lunch: Sick of scrambled eggs? Wrap 'em up. A great breakfast on the go is a low-fat whole wheat tortilla filled with scrambled eggs or egg whites, turkey sausage or leftover diced chicken, salsa, and a sprinkle of low-fat cheese.  

4. If it looks like dessert and tastes like dessert...maybe it's breakfast: One of my favorite "breakfast" treats is a parfait that passes for dessert. I mix 1 cup of nonfat Greek yogurt with one scoop of chocolate protein powder (pudding!). I layer the pudding with fresh berries and a tablespoon per layer of crushed graham crackers. AMAZING! And under 350 calories. 

5. Pizza, hold the delivery: The college days of leftover cold pizza for breakfast are over, but why not make a healthier version? Toast a whole wheat english muffin. Top it with salsa, turkey sausage or turkey pepperoni and sprinkle on skim milk mozzarella, feta or goat cheese and a little grated romano. Broil it or pop it in the toaster oven until it's melted and bubbly. It's cheaper than Pizza Hut, and less than 400 calories.

Coming Friday: Surprise! You have 69 free hours every week...so what are you doing with them? 

Monday Move: For Sexy Shoulders, Raise 'Em Up!

Time flies. So before you know it, guys and girls, it will be warm enough to trade sweaters and long-sleeve layers for tank tops, thin T's and other shoulder-bearing wear.

There ain't nothin' sexy about droopy shoulders, so this week's Monday Move aims to build your shoulders so that they make your tank top pop.

The Move: Side Shoulder Raises. These are simple and can show results fairly quickly. And when you see those shoulder muscles lean out and show definition, you'll be happy you pushed through extra reps.

About weight and form: It doesn't take a lot of weight to feel side shoulder raises because they very precisely target the shoulder muscles, which aren't a big muscle like the quadricep or the hamstrings. That also means the shoulders can more easily be injured by going too heavy or using poor form, so I always tell my clients to start light because we can always add weight. Better safe than sorry.

The technique: Grab dumbbells or weight plates in each hand. With palms facing inward, slowly raise the weights, keepng your arms as straight as possible. Lift until your arms form a T. Pause and slowly lower back to the starting point, keeping the arms straight. That's one rep. I recommend starting with light weight and more reps (20-30 per set, and three sets per session) if you're new to weight training. As you build strength, go a little heavier and do fewer reps.

 

Side note: And ladies, don't fear you'll look like a football player by doing too many of these or going too heavy. Unless you're on 'roids, you'll simply look hotter in that halter top. For the guys, don't equate the weight of your dumbbell with the size of your, um, shoe. Be conservative, if only at the beginning, to avoid injury. Your shoulders will thank you.

Coming Wednesday: Too busy in the morning? Sick of oatmeal and cereal? Rethink the definition of "breakfast food."

 

 

 

Chipotle: A lesson in making wise menu choices

A Badass, a nun and a rabbi walk into a Chipotle....OK, scratch the nun and the rabbi.

A Badass walks solo into a Chipotle and is faced with a fork in the road to a stronger Badass. The sign above the order counter boasts that this is "Food with Integrity" -- chicken raised without antibiotics, beef sans hormones or antibiotics, local and organically grown vegetables.

"Awesome!" the Badass thinks. "This meal is guit-free, healthy and clean eatin'."

The Badass proceeds to order a burrito stuffed with all the trimmings. A thousand or so calories later, the Badass realizes this meal represents a buffet of bad choices. I did this on my first trip to Chipotle, which recently opened in Tallahassee, but did better the second go-round.

Eating out while staying on the Badass path is all about making the right choices when ordering, and Chipotle is the perfect illustration of how things can go so right - or so wrong.

Free-range chicken is awesome, but it's a nuclear bomb of calories, sodium and fat when you pile on cheese, sour cream, white rice and even healthy stuff like corn, salsa and black beans. Indulging and "cheating" 10 or 20 percent of the time is OK, but eating burrito bombs or other fast food every day or even a few times a week is a recipe for Bigger-Than-You-Want-Ass (as opposed to a great Badass).

Consider: A chicken burrito with rice, pinto beans, cheese, sour cream and hot salsa weighs in at 990 calories, 39 grams of fat and 100 carbs. If you skip the tortilla and make a Chipotle "bol" of rice, beans and salsa (sans cheese and sour cream), you save 400 calories and 26 grams of fat. That's what I call Fat Ass vs. Bad Ass.

A Double Chicken Burrito is more than 1,100 calories and 35-plus grams of fat with all the trimmings. Holy cow. That is two meals worth. But three chicken soft tacos with lettuce and tomatoes (authentic Mexican tacos do NOT drown themselves in cheese and sour cream) are about 500 calories, only 15 grams of fat.

So next time you're out, choose wisely. Whether it's Taco Bell, Wendy's, Bonefish, Carrabas, Subway or even McDonalds, there are always some choices on the menu that are better for your Badass goals than others. Know what they are. And decide: Is this the day to indulge and go "all in," or is this a regular day when - like most days - you pick the healthier thing?

Your health, your weight, your muscle tone - for most of us, they reflect what we do MOST of the time. 

Indulge occasionally. Stay on the Badass path usually.

Remember that the next time you order out.

Coming next week: Monday's Move; Breakfast turned upside down; and what are you doing with your 69 hours?

Celebrity Chef: To lose 65 pounds, he cooked and devoured (low fat) cheese

Chef Daniel Green lost 65 pounds before moving to the United States from England six years ago, but he does not believe in diets.

He concedes that most low- and fat-free cheeses taste like the plastic containers they come in, yet the foundation of many of his recipes is fat-free feta and ricotta cheeses and part-skim mozzarella.

He preaches the importance of flavor, yet rarely adds salt to his recipes.

A walking, spoon-toting contradiction? Hardly. Green lost 65 pounds precisely because he DIDN'T "go on a diet." He lost it precisely because he DIDN'T ban cheese (his favorite indulgence) from his eating plan. He lost it because he DIDN'T equate flavor with "just add more salt."

"Diets don't work because you're taking away something and telling yourself you can't have it," said Green, cookbook author and host of Shop NBC.  "Then we just binge after anyway. Healthy eating is about what you do on average. Monday through Friday, you don't waste calories. That way, when the weekend comes, you can enjoy dinner with friends or whatever." 

Amen! Green isn't much into exercise, but he still earns a Badass Badge of Honor from me because he understands the value of balance in eating. He also understands that banning foods and eating cardboard rice cakes isn't the way to maintain weight loss. Flavor is everything. And even when using healthy fats like olive oil, moderation is important.

During his visit Saturday to the Publix Apron's Cooking School here in Tallahassee, Green proved with a four-course meal that low-fat food can make the tastebuds pop with flavor and amazing textures and aromas. His food is influenced by his love of Thailand and all of its amazing foods - as well as his admitted love of all things cheesy.

But he has found ways to make fat-free feta seem full-fat, and to cook without heaps of salt. His food was amazing, and in no way did I feel deprived! This Badass' stomach was very very happy - and still healthy.

Below, I've shared my favorite recipes from the evening. Try them. They're easy, fast, and well within your calorie budget.

Eggplant Stacks

Ingredients (tomato coulis)

• 1/2 lb ripe tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste (optional)

Ingredients (stacks)

• 2 medium eggplants, cut into 16 slices
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 22 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 6 large basil leaves
• 1 garlic clove, minced or grated
• 1/2 cup Sorrenta skim milk mozzarella, shredded
• 4 Tbsp pine nuts, toasted
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 8 ounces Sorrento fat-free feta cheese, crumbled

Directions

To make the coulis: Simply blend the tomatoes in a blender. Heat a medium saute pan with the oil, and add the tomato puree, heating it for 3-4 minutes. Season to taste and set aside.

To make the stacks: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (yes, 180....)

Preheat a large saute pan medium heat. Season the eggplant slices with salt and pepper. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil to the pan. Add eggplant and cook 3-4 minutes per side. Place slices on a foil-lined cooking sheet.

In a bowl, mix the tomqatoes, basil, garlic, mozzarella cheese, feta and pine nuts. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil and then season with salt and pepper. Stir all to combine. 

Assembly: Use the four largest eggplant slices, and on the baking sheet spoon a small amount of the tomato-cheese mixture on top. For each stack, place an eggplant slice on top and then another layer of the tomato-cheese mixture. Repeat the layering again, and then top each stack with a fourt eggplant slice. Cook for 12-15 minutes. Spread the tomato coulis among four plates equally and place the stack on top of the stack to serve.  

Miso Salmon

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
• 2 garlic cloves, grated or crushed
• 4-6 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tablespoons miso paste
• 1 large lemon, juiced
• 4 (4 to 5 ounce) salmon fillets, skin removed
• 2 cups cooked jasmine rice

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together first 6 ingredients. Place salmon fillets in a gallon-size Ziploc bag. Add the marinade and, after squeezing the air out, seal the bag. Let the salmon marinate for 10-15 minutes.

Preheat the broiler.

Remove the salmon from marinade (saving the marinade) and pat dry with a paper towel. Place the filets, skin side down, onto a foil-lined baking sheet. Place under the broiler and baste with the reserved marinade every 2-3 minutes until the salmon is cooled (8-10 minutes). Place 1/2 cup cooked rice onto 4 separate plates and top each with a salmon fillet.

Note: The fish can also be cooked stovetop, in a heavy non-stick pan, and the same marinade and cook method can be used for shrimp or sea bass. Heat the pan to high heat. Place the marinated seafood in the pan, allowing the fish to sear a few minutes on each side. Add some of reserved marinade if desired, and when it's done cooking, place on top of the cooked rice.

Coming Friday: The menu might say "free-range" and "fresh," but it's still up to you to choose wisely.

Monday Move: The Dropsy

Monday comes around, and suddenly it's back to school or work or some other daily grind. How boring and static.

So for the next several weeks, we'll kick off a new week of Badass Fitness with the "Monday Move," a blog segment that highlights one exercise worth adding to your routines (or, if you already use it, worth doing more of). Think of it as "Badass Conditioning 101."

I'll explain the exercise, the muscles worked, the mechanics of proper form, and why it's one of my Badass essentials. Before long you'll have been so well schooled, you'll have an MBB - Masters in Badass Building! ;)

So without further ado, let's discuss today's move: The Dropsy.

The technique:

1. You stand on top of some platform - step bench, park bench, stadium bench, even a stair in your house. The feet should be hip width apart.

2. To work the right side, you leave the right foot planted on the bench and push the left leg back so that it's hovering off the back of the bench.

3. Now, slowly and with control, you lower your body down, bending that right leg until your left foot is hovering a few inches off the ground (You will get stronger and be able to go lower with this over time, At the start, just go as low as your strength allows).

4. Now, using the right leg, press back up to where you began, feeling the work through your glutes, quads and hamstrings. That's one rep. Do up to 20 reps, then switch to the left side.

5. Form note: Your foot should not touch the floor. The idea here is control and strength, using the right side to lower down and lift up without letting the weight shift to the floor or left leg.

I love this exercise for a few reasons:

1. It can be done anywhere - at the gym, at home, at the park, at a high school track or football stadium - with no equipment beyond an elevated surface (bench, step, row of stadiums, etc). Portable exercises are the best because we're more likely to do them amid our busy lives.

2. It really targets the glutes and hamstrings, as well as the quads. Because this exercise isolates one leg at a time, it concentrates the work to the muscles intended. And it eliminates any room for "cheating." When you push back up with the working leg, the glutes on that side will stand up and salute you!

3. Over time, it works the core and balance: As you lower down with that working leg, you have little choice but to engage the core as you work to maintain balance.

4. It's not rocket science: Too often, we complicate things with exercise. We assume that to be effective, workouts require fancy equipment or choreography or amazing athletic prowess. If you've ever tried a resistance band workout, you know better. The Dropsy is simple, yet highly effective.

So find yourself a bench or step, and get to work! A tighter Badass awaits....

Coming this week: My "date" with the British chef who lost 65 pounds by cooking up a storm, and a trip to Chipotle drives home the importance of making wise menu choices.

 

Three things that could be holding you (and your Badass) back

You go to the gym religiously, but your Badass looks the same as it did a year ago. You eat virtuously, or so you think, but the scale is stuck - or moving in the wrong direction. You lift weights, but you're not getting much stronger.

If any of these hit home, odds are you're missing the equation somewhere. As a trainer and fitness instructor, students and clients often share their goals - and their frustrations - with me. Three things consistently emerge as the culprit. When they address the culprit and make adjustments, they typically start to see the results they want.

As the new year and Resolution season gets underway, here are the most common fitness missteps I see along the road to a leaner, stronger, healthier Badass: 

1. Lack of Intensity: News flash -- walking the treadmill at an ambler's pace when you're capable of a jog, or even short sprint intervals, isn't going to get you to your weight loss goal any time soon. Spinning with the tension knob at 2 when you should be on a steep "hill" is cheating yourself. "Pumping iron" with 3-pound weights when you're strong enough for 10-pound dumbbells isn't the way to get sculpted.

This Badass journey is not a stroll in the park. It takes sweat, elevated heart rates, sore muscles and doing more pushups than you'd rather. So if you're going to show up, SHOW UP. Badasses don't do anything Half-Ass. Work hard. The eventual result: Harder abs, tighter Badass, rock-hard biceps.

2. Poor Form: Good form in weight training is key to good results. Instead I see:

• Crunches that involve pulling (and straining) the neck, instead of squeezing the core.
• Bicep curls that are all sloppy momentum, instead of a controlled curl.
• Lunges that are more like a quarter-curtsy instead of a deep, 90-degree lunge that really works the glutes and quads.

It's easy to get stuck in a comfort zone. But if that comfort zone involves poor form, you'll be just another "gym rat" who comes every day yet looks the same month after month. If maintenance is your goal, fine. But if you really want to make changes in your Badass, you need to lunge deeper, curl with more control, and lift smarter.

3. Miscalculated eating: The key to an efficient, fat-burning metabolism is balance. That means you don't cut calories to 1,100 or 1,200 a day while doing two-a-day cardio sessions. It means you don't justify three pieces of double-meat, stuffed-crust pizza with "But I just took a cycling class!"

Your body is a machine. Machines need fuel to keep running. They need not just the right fuel, but the right amounts. Eat too much, and the scale won't budget because you're not burning more calories than you put in. But if you eat too little, the scale won't budge because your body thinks you're starving it - and slows down your metabolism as it goes into the survival mode that dates back to our caveman days.

This miscalculation of eating is one of the most common challenges I see in clients and students. It inhibits their progress and frustrates them. They're exercising a lot, and they expect to see results. Totally understandable. But keep in mind: All work(outs) and no food makes your Badass starve. All work(outs) and too much food makes your Badass stagnant.

Balance, Badasses, balance. It will get you farther down the Badass road than any extreme diet or extreme exercise plan.

Coming next week: My 'date' with a healthy chef from across the pond; Monday's Move; and a Butts and Gutts workout

Badass Bookshelf: Lessons in humor, and perseverence, from 'Fatty'

Fifty pounds in 50 weeks. One pound a week, or more than 2 ounces per day.

This was the weight loss goal for Edward Ugel, who spent a lifetime convincing himself and others that he was a "foodie" when in fact he was a compulsive eater - addicted to the "high" of carb, sugar and fat binges.

His struggle, unfortunately, is not unique. We interact with people every day who struggle with food disorders. What sets Ugel apart is the way he tells his story, in his book "I'm With Fatty."

It is an aptly self-deprecating title - one that captures Ugel's deft balance of humor, honesty and painful confession. Consider this passage early in the book, when Ugel goes to a sleep disorder clinic at the urging of his wife, who realizes his fat is blocking his breathing at night while he sleeps. There he is in the clinic, his face covered with a breathing mask that looks like an elephant trunk, when the reality of his situation hits him like an elephant stampede:

What had I done to myself? For the first time in my life, I was scared of being fat. This wasn't about looking good or fitting into an old suit. ...This wasn't funny. This was life support. This was literally life support. I was the elephant in the room. I didn't end up there because of my genes. I didn't end up there because I fell ill. This wasn't some bad hand of cards I'd been dealt. I was there because I wouldn't stop eating. I did it to myself. It didn't have to happen.

And so, faced with the sobering prospect of eating himself to an early death, the father of two sets his 50-pound goal -- inking it in the form of a book deal in which he agrees to chronicle "The Fatty Project." The journey is good, it is bad, it is ugly.

"I'm With Fatty" is funny, sad, and thought-provoking. I consider it a must-read for anyone embarking on a goal or resolution for 2011, or for anyone who knows someone taking on such a goal. You should also read it if you're "that person" who looks down upon overweight people - assuming that they must just be lazy or "weak." Sure, some are. But so are some skinny people. You should also read it if you're at all hesitant about pursuing a resolution for a healthier, fitter 2011.

The fact is, a person like Ugel has a genuine addiction. Working to address it, and with such raw honesty, is admirably Badass. Many of the lessons he learned over 50 weeks are applicable to the Badass Army - whether you're a soldier training for a 5K or a marathon, whether your weight loss goal is 8 pounds or 80.

My favorite "Fatty" lessons:

1. Find that healthy thing that you love doing, and do it: He rediscovers his love of racquetball, and realized it was a way to burn calories. For him, the treadmill was torture. Racquetball is fun. Make fitness fun, or it will never last.

2. Find the absolute freshest ingredients and make a meal around it: Ugel was schooled early on in French cooking, and while French food isn't necessarily light, Ugel's kitchen savvy was key as he set out to cook healthier and eat better. The more you know about what you're putting in your mouth, the more power you have to make it the kind of fuel you need for a leaner Badass. As Ugel puts it: "Shopping smart when you're on a diet is 90 percent of the game." So shop fresh, shop real, and cook often.

3. Know what trips you up, and step away from it: In one brutally honest chapter, Ugel details the downward spiral into bingeing that came one weekend - four months into his 50-week weight loss journey -- when his wife and daughters were away. He ventures out, fully intending to buy healthy groceries, but when he passes a bakery and then a gourmet deli that was a favorite since childhood, it all goes downhill. He orders a donut, a walnut danish ring big enough to feed 12, a huge tub of turkey salad, Italian cold cuts, ice cream, and the list goes on. And yes, he eats them all. Rapidly. All the while, feeling ashamed.

Later, analyzing himself, he fully realizes his addiction. He understands that these foods are a trigger. Just like an alcoholic can't just have one drink, he can't just have one slice of danish:

When I'm in a tailspin like this, it happens fast and it goes deep. It only ends when I'm ruined - too wasted or broke or full to keep it up....I was too busy calling myself a foodie to realize that I'm a food addict and compulsive eater first, and a foodie a distant second.

4. Falling down can mean success...If you get back up: Ugel falls down a few times during his 50-week journey. Sometimes, like during that binge weekend when his family was away, the fall is deep and seemingly insurmountable. But he didn't give up. He got back up and tried to find his way back to the path he needed:

Failure - sometimes intense failure - comes when you change your lifestyle. If it were easy, if anyone could do it, what kind of story would that be? ...Early on, failing was a soul-crushing, ego-bruising loop. But getting back up, and actually finding some success, started to feel good - too good to ignore. Eventually, I wanted to succeed at the Fatty Project more than I wanted to eat.

5. Laugh at yourself: The addiction in this book is not funny, but Ugel is very funny. He can make fun of his beast-like snoring, the anti-snoring mask that makes him look like an elephant - and the very UN-sexy way it makes him look to his wife. Sometimes, when we're struggling through weight issues or even just another hard-core training session, we have to laugh or we might cry. So laugh at yourself. And then keep going...

Coming Friday: Three things that could be holding you (and your muscles) back.