Badass Fitness

Badass Bookshelf: 'Ultra' Inspiration

  If it doesn't come easy, if it doesn't require extraordinary effort, you're not pushing hard enough: It's supposed to hurt like hell. -- Dean Karnazes' middle school track coach, as recounted in Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner

Karnazes' memoir of his life as an endurance runner likely won't make you want to start running 50 or 100 miles at a time. As he says, "in a pure sense of the word, running is not 'fun.''" Yet Ultramarathon Man will inspire you to push your body, your spirit and your determination to higher levels and greater challenges.

After all, if he can run a marathon in the South Pole and attempt 135 miles through Death Valley in the summer, we can run a 5K or even a regular marathon, right?

Karnazes does not glamourize endurance running in Ultramarathon Man. He does not shy away from divulging details about the aches, the pains, the blisters and the delirium that sets in after dozens of miles of running nonstop. He understands that he is of a different breed. For him, sitting around makes him feel stressed. Relaxation and peace comes when he is running alone in the middle of the night for "training" runs that are the equivalent to a marathon - nothing but his legs and his mental focus to push him through.

If you are a fitness devotee of any sort, you get this. Others might not understand why you love the burning legs that come in a cycling class or why you love "beating yourself up" in a bootcamp. But this is at the core of what Karnazes does. It is at the core of what I do as a fitness trainer and instructor. It's the endorphins, the victory of pushing harder and faster than the last time. It is the personal "win."

A successful middle school and high school track runner, Karnazes had a bad experience with a new coach and stopped running for 15 years. During that time he graduated from college, got married and started climbing the corporate ladder - all the while never getting over the emptiness he felt inside after the death of his sister and best friend, who was killed in a car accident at age 18.

His running resumes the night of his 30th birthday dinner, when he has an epiphany of sorts: To be alive again, he needs to run again. So, after a 15-year "rest and recovery," he sets out on an unplanned 30-mile run from his San Francisco home. He is wearing silk knee-high dress socks, an old pair of sneakers, jockey briefs, and an undershirt. Yes, he looks crazy. And yes, the run is physically miserable. By the time he finishes the next morning at dawn, his feet are so swollen and covered in blood blisters, he can barely get the sneakers off.His muscles ache, and will feel this way for weeks.

Yet, he feels more alive than ever: In the course of a single night I had been transformed from a drunken yuppie fool into a reborn athlete. During a period of great emptiness in my life, I turned to running for strength. I heard the calling, and I went to the light.

He progresses from marathons to 50-mile races to 100-mile races and then to crazy feats like, "Hey let's be the first group to run a marathon in the North Pole!" Like I said, Karnazes' brand of fitness is not for everyone.

But I took away so many valuable lessons and nuggets of inspiration from this book, and I recommend this to everyone - from couch potato to weekend warrior to endurance athlete.

Here, a few of my favorite takeways:

1. Go Far, and then Further: Karnazes is an endorphin junkie. When he finishes one seemingly impossible physical feat, he moves on to the next and ups the ante. If it could be done, I wanted to do it. Because I needed to know how far I could go. I love that. A few weeks ago a boot camp student asked, "Have you made boot camp harder these past couple of times? It's kicking my butt!" Answer: Yes, because you're getting stronger and I know we can push a little harder to get even stronger. The next week, he marveled at how much of "a beast" he felt like in a Saturday boot camp, pounding out pushups "like it was nothing." We don't get stronger by plateauing. We get stronger by upping the ante, even just a little bit at a time. 

2. Fuel to Move, Fuel to Perform: Karnazes eats extremely clean pretty much all the time. Salmon 4-5 times a week, organic vegetables and fruits, complex grains and carbohydrates, and salads topped with just olive oil and vinegar. But when he is actually running an endurance event, he calculates exactly what his body needs to push through all of those hours. For him, that means more than 25,000 calories. Yes, you read correctly. And because he needs densely packed calories and sugar and carbs, his eat-as-I-run menu is an eye-popping one that includes 8 Power Bars, a full pizza (he has mastered the art of running while holding a pizza box), 3 burritos, 2 cinnamon buns, a full cheesecake, 5 chocolate chip cookies, 3 donuts and a large chocolate malt. Holy cow, right? But the key lesson here is that he only eats like that during an endurance race. The rest of the time he eats caveman clean. He fuels himself to move, and he moves often. Result: His body fat is 5 percent.

3. Don't forget strength training and cross training: You know the look of an endurance runner who does little except run. They look lanky, thin, and while their hearts are strong as an ox, they don't have a lot of upper body muscle tone or strength. Karnazes is admittedly more muscular and "built" than typical endurance runners. This bulk keeps him from being faster than he is, but he doesn't mind. He wants the strength to be able to do the other outdoor sports he loves, including windsurfing, mountain biking and surfing. He credits this cross training with the fact that he has never suffered a running injury. He also spends time in the gym, and even when he can't get there he has a daily strength regimen using the most effective resistance there is - his own body weight:

• 4 sets of 50 pushups, once in the morning and again at night
• 4 sets of 90 sit-ups, once in the morning and again at night

4. Failure happens. Enjoy the journey. And try again: Karnazes does not make it through the 135-mile Death Valley run known as "The World's Toughest Footrace." At mile 72, with 63 miles to go, his body shuts down. He vomits every time he tries to eat, his internal body temperature is all out of whack, and he collapse on the side of the road. But Karnazes sees the silver lining: Yes I had failed - but it had actually been a spectacular failure, gloriously disintegrating every aspect of my body and soul until I literally fell over in the dirt...I'd loved every second of it.

Karnazes is a total Badass. His journey inspires. Run, Dean, Run!

Coming Wednesday: "Triggering" recovery and muscle release for endurance athletes and weekend warriors.

Badass Bookshelf: Fuel + Fitness

Sandra Koulourides had me at her book's title: Fuel + Fitness: The Total Package.

I preach this mantra of "fueling your body for fitness" often to students and clients, as well as on this blog,  because it is the most consistent truth in health and physical performance. Group fitness trends will come and go, new "super-vitamins" might emerge and fade, but one fact never changes: Garbage in, garbage out.

We are what we eat. We perform only as strong as the fuel we take in. Our bodies are like cars and machines - fuel them with the wrong thing, and they will sputter and drag. Power them up with optimum, high-grade fuel and they'll run fast and smooth like a new Porche.

Fuel + Fitness is a handy, practical guide to finding that balance between what we eat and the results we see - at the gym, on the scale, and in our overall energy levels. This is a must for your Badass Bookshelf.

In about 150 pages, she includes everything from a "Nutrition 101" guide and dining-out tips to recipes, snack ideas, shopping lists, and sections on the exercise-metabolism connection. She covers how to eat to lose weight, how to eat to gain muscle, and pointers for staying on track with any eating plan.

Sandra, a fellow fitness instructor I first met at a fitness conference, is a registered dietitian whose Horizontal Conditioning class completely whipped my Badass - in a "that was awesome" kinda way. She knows what works, and not just because she studied it while becoming a registered dietitian. She lives the "fueling for fitness" balance every day.

She is a married, working mom. She has places to be, errands to run. So she writes her book from a practical perspective - giving readers fast, easy ways to maintain a healthy fuel and fitness balance based on her own experiences and successes. While she writes the book from a largely female perspective, the book is gender-neutral in its usefulness.

She writes: "Fuel + Fitness is not a diet. It's a lifestyle. It's about balancing food, fitness and life. It's about freedom and choices, not restrictions and deprivation."

Amen and amen. These are the messages I work every day to convey on this blog and to students and clients.

I love her blend of practicality and "no-excuses" approach to eating and exercising, as outlined in her 12 basic guidelines to eating well for fitness. A few of my faves:

• Avoid your trigger foods: Moderation is key, so if a bag of chips will send you into "eat it all mode," don't get anywhere near it.
• Eat every 3-4 hours: Keeps the blood sugar stable, keeps the metabolism humming.
• Drink lots of water: Dehydration can easily be confused with hunger. Drink water all day.
• Be prepared: Make your lunch, have healthy snacks around always. Planning prevents eating disasters and stumbles.
• Limit alcohol and don't eat late: A few cocktails makes the 2 a.m. Whataburger stop seem totally OK. It's not.
• Don't weigh yourself daily: Weight fluctuates, so don't obsess over the scale. It's how your clothes fit that really tells you where you are.
• You always have choices: Choices mean you are in control. Make the right ones and you'll see results. Period.

If you buy only one book this year as part of your Badass Journey, I recommend it be Fuel + Fitness. The information isn't all earth-shattering or new, but sometimes we have to be reminded of what we instinctively know to be true. Fuel + Fitness puts it all together in a neat, readable package that can help you every single day. Happy Reading!

Coming up: Three core exercises you might not be doing, but should. And "The People's TRX workout"...

 

 

A few fit essentials for your holiday travel carry-on

Toothbrush? Check. Toiletries? Check. Underwear and socks? Got it. Whether you are traveling by plane, train and automobile, the list of must-pack items for the carry-on or overnight bag is pretty standard.

But if you've got fitness on the brain, there are a few extra items to add to the list. Even this week and next, amid Christmas and New Year's, we can keep on the Badass path as part of those 2012 (new and continuing) Resolutions by packing smart.

So here are a few essentials, and this applies to travel any time of year - though especially during the gluttonous holiday season. I, for example, will be fed ample amounts of meatballs, pasta, cookies, and other things I don't usually eat this weekend by my Irish-Italian grandparents. So Tabata drills are on the menu, too.....

Badass Carry-On Essentials

1. Fitness magazine or book, or Kindle loaded with fit reading: Out of sight, out of mind works in reverse, too. If you are reading about exercise and healthy eating while you travel, it keeps wellness on the brain - and maybe induces a healthy amount of guilt. I don't know about y'all, but the last thing I want to do after I read Oxygen,  Shape or Jillian Michael's latest book is sloth around on the couch eating a third serving of Grandma's Cinnamon Sour Cream Coffee Cake.

2. TRX, or resistance bands: The beauty of the TRX or resistance bands is, you can bring them anywhere and use them anywhere. They weigh very little and take up little space. Yet they are all you need for a challenging workout, be it a quick 15 minutes or 45.

3. Healthy Snacks: Airports and rest stops increasingly offer better eating choices. But it doesn't hurt to have insurance. So pack almonds, turkey jerky, granola bars, fruit, string cheese and other portable snacks so that you have a healthy choice when hunger hits. I also pack a few Emergen-C packets to help ward off plane and other germs, as well as Crystal Light Pure flavor packets to make water taste less boring.

4. Sneakers and workout clothes: No explanation needed. If you pack it, you have just taken away the excuse of, "But I don't have my clothes and stuff."

So happy packing and safe travels, everyone. Happy New Year, and get ready for some great blogs to kick off 2012 strong!

Eating for Two (a-Days)

When you push your car harder, faster, and more often, it requires more fuel. Not the diluted cheap stuff, but the good stuff.

Our bodies are no different. Our bodies are machines. Yet as we push harder to get to our goals faster, we sometimes forget the importance of fuel. Or we're just not sure what's what, and what is best, when it comes to eating.

The fuel balance can be especially tricky with two-a-day workouts, which are putting demands on your body - and glycogen stores - within 12 hours or so, far less recovery time than is typical.

The two-a-days are a staple in competitive college and professional sports, typically in pre-season training. For "mere mortals," exercise sessions in the morning and again in the evening can be done a couple days a week (more than that and beware of overtraining) to break up cardio and strength training (not uncommon for bodybuilders or just to accommodate work schedules) or to boost calories burned for those trying to lose weight.

If your two-a-days are simply your typical 90-minute morning workout broken into two 45-minute sessions, odds are you don't need extra calories because you aren't burning more - you're merely burning them over two intervals. But you might need to time your meals and snacks a bit differently to ensure your furnace stays fueled.

And for those trying to lose weight: if that second session of the day equates to extra sweat and muscle burn time, you need to find the balance between fueling your muscles to keep them from breaking down, while maintaining the slight calorie deficit you need for steady, healthy weight loss. Because if you just keep exercising more and eating less, your body can feel too deprived. When that happens, the metabolism slows and you will not see the scale move how you want it to.

So, here are a few pointers for those days when you're hitting the gym, pavement, swim lane, clay courts, or roads more than once:

Two-A-Day Eating Tips

1. C,P,F: Carbs, protein, fat. Your body needs all three. Without all three, you DO NOT have a nutritious eating plan and you will not see maximum performance. Eating just a bagel after your morning workout will spike your sugar and leave you hungry because your body wants the protein. Eating just two eggs before a cycling class will leave you ready to throw in the towel midway through because your muscles need glycogen (carbs) to meet the intense demands of the class. So for your main three meals, shoot for 30 grams of carbs minimum; at least 20 grams of protein; and at least 10 grams of fat.

"Carbs" doesn't mean white toast or sugary cereal. It means oatmeal (complex carbs) cooked with skim milk (protein) and topped with a handful of berries (carbs) and walnut (healthy fats). Or a whole wheat wrap (carbs) smeared with hummus or avocado (healthy fats) and filled with three ounces of chicken (protein) and lots of veggies. Snacks can also be a mix, but smaller portions, like a small apple (carbs) and a piece of string cheese (fat, protein); a handful of almonds (fat, protein) plus half a banana (carbs); or a small 100-calorie wheat pita (carbs) stuffed with a slice of tomato, and a slice of swiss cheese (protein, fat).

2. Don't miss the post-exercise window: In the 30 minutes after an intense cardio session - be it a cycle class,  intense swim or boot camp - your body really is a machine quenched for fuel. Your metabolism is still smoking, and this is the window when you want to re-fuel. Go for a mix of carbs plus protein - ideally in easily digestible liquid form like a smoothie or protein shake that will absorb quickly. The carbs restore your glycogen levels, and the protein helps rebuild your muscles and speed up your recovery. I like the EAS Myoplex, which tastes great and is a low fat 170 calories with a great blend of carbs (23 grams) and protein (25 grams).

3. Eat your antioxidants: Intense exercise is taxing to your system. Weight training tears muscles so that they can grow stronger. Distance running puts a lot of strain on the joints and muscles. The antioxidants in fruits and greens and vegetables will go a long way toward your body's recovery. So snack on fruits and vegetables with protein like hummus, peanut butter, and low-fat cheeses. And give vegetables a starring role in lunch and dinner.

4. Eat clean, but reevaluate the portion sizes: If you typically eat one slice of whole wheat bread as an open-faced sandwich for lunch, consider adding just a slice to help keep you satisfied through that second workout. Usually put a tablespoon of peanut butter on your mid-afternoon apple slices? Add a second tablespoon. The tweaks needed for two-a-days are just that, tweaks. Depending on the workout, you do not need what amounts to an additional meal.

5. The math still matters: An athlete like Dara Torres or Michael Phelps needs thousands of calories. One of the most common missteps among those of us "mere mortals" trying to reach fitness goals - be it muscle building or weight loss - is that we overestimate calories burned and underestimate the calories in what we eat.

If your second workout of the day is half an hour of weight training without cardio bursts or plyometrics in between, and you're trying to shed pounds while getting lean, odds are you do not need to chase this session by eating a 350-calorie protein bar or gulping down a 20-ounce smoothie that weighs in - as many do - at 500 calories or more, and then eating dinner an hour later.  So do the math. Track calories burned. Track what you're eating. Do the math.

6. Hydrate: Water, water, water. You need to stay especially mindful of your water intake (yes, I said water - not juice, not soda) when you're doing two-a-days.

7. Listen to your body: If your stomach is growling, and if you know it's not just dehydration (which is often mistaken for hunger), feed your empty tank. Don't gorge it, feed it. All it takes is 200 or so calories as a snack to keep you going. That's a piece of toast with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, or fruit and string cheese, or hummus with a small pita.

8. Plan ahead: You cannot be caught empty-handed in terms of food on days when you're pushing extra. Success in healthy eating absolutely requires planning ahead and shopping, cooking and baking ahead. This is not always easy, but the more you make it a habit, the easier it gets. And there is simply no way around it. Every SDaturday after I teach bootcamp, I drive down the street to EarthFare. When I don't stock up on these good eats for the week ahead, my eating is inferior and my fitness performance suffers.

So hardboil a dozen eggs on Sunday. Bake 5 chicken breasts for weekday lunches. Make a huge bowl of salad and pull from it throughout the week for lunches. (Yes, I do all of this) Pack fruit, almonds, etc. for snacks. Make protein bars for a sweet but healthy pre-workout pickup. Whatever works.

If any of you 2-a-day veterans have found strategies that work, please share in the comments section below or by email to [email protected].

Coming this week: An 8x8 workout for shoulders/ bi's/ tri's with the TRX...

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.

Badass Bookshelf: Finding faith in food, believing in yourself

When I was little, weekends at Grandma's house were my safety net. My comfort zone away from the uncertainty and chaos of dysfunctional parents. Always, the safety net was filled with food - apple turnovers from Publix, meatballs from Grandma's kitchen, Hershey's bars shared with Grandpa.

The other food extreme came when I was away from Grandma, with far less plentiful cupboards at home. Many of those nights away from her, I would lay in the dark and pray the simple prayer of a Catholic grade-school student: "Dear God, please make everything better."

I didn't realize it then, but those early experiences would shape my relationship with food - one that is, thankfully, far healthier now than it once was. My extreme was dangerously limiting my food, with the occasional overeating of turnovers and meatballs and chocolate in between. There I was, vacillating through my food between the deprivation of one household and the plenty of Grandma's kitchen - a symbol of her comfort and love. Controlling my food was how I coped.

After reading Women Food and God, I know I am not alone. In her newest book, bestselling author and longtime compulsive eater Geneen Roth draws upon her own experiences at extreme ends of the scale (from 80 pounds to dangerously obese) and with time spent leading retreats with hundreds of fellow weight loss strugglers to conclude this:

Our measurement of food is a measure of our faith.

"As I've taught the retreats, I've learned that each of us has a basic view of reality and God that we act out every day in our relationship with our families, our friends, our food," she writes. "It doesn't matter whether we believe in one God, many gods or no god. Anyone who breathes and thinks and experiences has beliefs about God. I turned to food for the same reasons people turned to God; it was my sigh of ecstasy, my transport to heaven, my concrete proof that relief from the pain of everyday life was possible."

It's not a crazy notion. Think about it:

When we reach for the third helping of brownies that we know we don't need, are we really just reaching for some sort of anchor? When we starve ourselves even as our bodies wither into bony nothingness, is it a reflection of our deepest beliefs in ourselves, in our loved ones -- and even in a higher power?

So often our "cravings" really just a case of eating to cope with our emotions - or more specifically, our attempt to avoid feeling them and dealing with them. It can be as simple as a bad morning at work that makes us reach for the M&Ms, or it can be something as devastating as a family death or emergency that either sends us diving into that pint of Ben & Jerry's or swearing off the kitchen altogether.

For anyone with a compulsive eating problem - anorexia, bulimia, a combination - this relationship with food plays out every hour, every day, to the extreme. 

For me, it was easier to deal with the self-inflicted hunger than it was to deal with the baggage of my difficult  childhood. As Roth puts it: "Being thin becomes The Test. Losing weight becomes their religion...an endless succession of dietary privations." It was only when I came to terms with that baggage that I was able to let go. I could get through anything, I realized, and it didn't require me to restrict my calories so dangerously that the scale stayed below three digits.

I also had a moment of clarity that remains with me today: a moment when I came to see my body as a blessing. It is a powerful vessel from a higher power, and the least I can do is take care of it. That means not starving it or stuffing it. That means moving it and putting it to use - for myself and for my fitness students.

Roth, the author, had a similar "come-to-Jesus" moment, so to speak.

"The shape of your body obeys the shape of your beliefs about love, value and possibility," she writes. "To change your body, you must first understand that which is shaping it. Not fight it. Not force it. Not deprive it. Not shame it. Not do anything but accept..."

Reading Women Food and God, I kept thinking of an awesome woman I met last month during a business trip to Atlanta. She is beautiful, smart, funny, accomplished. She has also struggled with being overweight for a long time. At the hotel bar one night, we started talking about health and fitness. She told me that she knows what she needs to be eating and how she needs to be moving to lose weight. But often, all it takes is catching a glimpse of herself in a mirror to send her down a path of food-filled defeat.

She said she sees not the accomplished and beautiful woman that she is, but "a fat person." And she thinks, 'Well it's too late. I might as well just eat.' And that one moment of self-doubt often ends with her eating far more than she needed or even wanted to. So goes the cycle. After our talk, I kept thinking about what she said. I was struck by its honesty, and the pain inherent in it.

Roth says in her book that ending patterns like that happens when we start believing. In ourselves. In possibilities. In a higher purpose. I hope the woman I met in Atlanta, and any person out there battling the same eating battles, reads this book. And if you don't read the whole thing, at least read page 80:

"When you no longer believe that eating will save your life when you feel exhausted or overwhelmed or lonely, you will stop. When you believe in yourself more than you believe in food, you will stop using food as if it were your only chance at not falling apart."

Believe in yourselves, Badasses. Once you do, anything is possible.

Coming Monday: A routine to make the indoor row machine anything BUT routine!

 

Badass Bookshelf: Bethenny is a (balanced) Badass!!!

Badass CEO Confession #1: I am addicted to the Real Housewives of New York City. It is like a train wreck that you know is coming -- once I start watching, I can't take my eyes off the disaster and dysfunction.

Badass CEO Confession #2: Bethenny is my favorite, because she is a Badass.

She gets it. By "it" I mean balanced, sensible eating. A diet that isn't a diet. Eating that doesn't declare any food off-limits.

As she puts it in the introduction to her book, "Naturally Thin," millions of Americans "have become enslaved by dieting.... We don't feel good or happy or satisfied with our lives, and we blame it all on a number on the scale." All because we want to be that "naturally thin" person.

If there is anything I hope the Badass Fitness blog conveys, it is a message of moderation, balance, and self-acceptance. That doesn't mean being resigned to a lifetime of obesity or being 30 pounds overweight. It means finding your best self. No the self that looks like a Victoria's Secret model or LeBron James. I'm talking about finding the Badass you: the strongest, best, healthiest and most balanced you.

Bethenny is preaching a similar message, and it's good enough to share with the Badass Army. "Naturally Thin," with its recipes and quick tips, is a good book to have on your fitness and health bookshelf.

Until you get your own copy of the New York Times bestseller, here are a few of my favorite Bethenny-isms. Write them down and put them on your fridge - that way you're reminded of them the next time you go to eat in a way that is anything but balanced.

1. Your Diet is a Bank Account: This is the biggie, the "master rule," as she puts it. Just as we balance our checking accounts, we must balance our food choices. That means not eating too much of any one thing. It means not depriving ourselves all the time. We should consider what we eat to be investments in ourselves. Your Badass is a temple. Treat it that way. 

So if you have pancakes for breakfast, that's like taking $100 out of your account. Do you really want to have a big bowl of pasta for dinner (another $100) and a footlong Italian sub for lunch (another $100)?  Why not balance the pancakes with a lighter lunch and fish for dinner (add back another $200!)

2. Leave that plate dirty, not clean: Just because the food is there, doesn't mean you have to eat it all. Most servings in restaurants are too big anyway. That entree is two, if not three, serving sizes. So it's not even healthy to eat it all. You can have meatloaf - just don't eat enough for three truck drivers. And mac n cheese isn't going to make you fatass. But 2 cups versus 1/2 or 3/4 cup will. So when you start to feel full, stop eating. Tell the Clean Plate Club goodbye.

3. Downsize: About those portions. They are excessive. My father and his wife, native Japanese, live in Tokyo. When they come to the U.S. to visit, they are appalled at how much restaurants serve. So much of weight management is portion control. Unfortunately our ideas about portions are distorted. Take a step back and learn what a real serving size of pasta and meat and cheese is. Then you'll understand why the French eat cheese and bread and wine - but are a lot leaner, collectively, than Americans.

4. You can have it all, just not at once: OK, you want a double cheeseburger. But why do you have to have that AND fries AND a milkshake? You can have all three - just don't eat them all at once. Remember the bank account? Why not bank the fries and milkshake for future indulging? We live in a society of "now." We want it now, and we want it all. Well, that might be OK for a DVD collection, but apply it to eating and that's a recipe for an oversized Badass. So go ahead, have a few bites of that chocolate cake. But do you have to have it all now?

5. Know thyself: We all have our own food triggers. If you put a bag of Tostitos Hint of Lime tortilla chips in front of me, I will attack that bag like nobody's business. I know this about myself. So I don't keep them around. Yes, if I'm at a party I eat plenty of them. But I know that if they were in my pantry all the time, I'd end up eating a lot more of them. So what are your triggers? Do you know that one M&M leads to 50? Be aware. Be honest. It's OK to have food triggers. It's even OK to give in. Just don't do it every day.

Coming tomorrow: Badass CEO plays Badass Foodie! Hint: That veggie co-op zucchini makes a great dessert!

Badass Bookshelf: 10 foods you might be missing out on

Badass Foodie yesterday hit another home run with her post on how you are what you read.

Me? As a person and Badass CEO, I have high expectations -- of myself and of others. Likewise, I expect a lot from the books I read. I want them to affirm things for me, but I also want them to teach me something new - or lots of things new.

So it is with my latest fitness and health read, a combo nutrition and recipe book by Dave Lieberman and Anahad O'Connor. 

In 10 Things You Need to Eat: Eat Smart. Get Healthy. Live Long, the authors provide a top-10 list to help you make the most out of your fuel. Some of the foods I already incorporate into my daily eating. Others? Not so much. But after reading 10 Things, I am eager to start. And I learned a thing or two about some of the foods that I eat every day.

Here's my Badass cheat sheet rundown of the highlights, because I know we're all busy but eager to feed our Temples of Badass with the best stuff. I'm doing five now, and five later. So stay tuned:

Tomatoes: They are amazing for you, even the tomatoes on your pizza. Scientists in Italy did a study and found that those who consume pizza regularly, like one serving a week, were 40 percent less likely to have a heart attack. (Before you order a large with everything, keep in mind Italian pizza is the way it should be -- not Pizza Hut stuffed crust style.) Tomatoes have lycopene, a heart protector and anti-cancer agent. And cooked tomatoes rule because chopping and heating them enhances the nutritional content. Add a touch of olive oil, and your body can better absorb the good stuff. So eat a light tomato sauce, or slice one up as a snack with fresh herbs.

Avocado: Yum, the mother of all creamy 'good fats.' Specifically, monounsaturated fat that lowers cholesterol, reduces inflammation, prevents heart disease -- and tastes damn good as guacamole or as a substitute for mayonnaise when you need a creamy sandwich spread. I chop them into salads, scrambled eggs (with tomatoes), and even use a quarter of one in my smoothies for creaminess.

Beets: So who knew, but these rather misshapen, ugly cousins of produce are among the best around in  terms of the range of folate, potassium, iron, fiber, antioxidants, even protein. Roast, boil or steam them. You can use them in soups, salads, and moist baked muffins. Their rich red pigment are a reminder that the most brilliantly colored veggies and fruits are the ones packed with the most good stuff.

Spinach: You could eat a whole 10-ounce bag of spinach for barely any calories, and your body would be so much better off for it. It has iron that is unleashed when you pair it with other foods that contain vitamin C. But the coolest thing is that it contains this little Badass Army of compounds that basically send a drop-kick to cancer cells. Many studies have shown cancer incidence go down as spinach eating went up. The dark leaves have calcium, potassium, vitamin K, vitamin A, folate, omega-3s, etc. Studies have shown it to slow down declines in mental performance with age. And it's just as good raw as it is cooked. Scramble some into eggs with that avocado and tomato, and your Badass is golden! The 10 Things book has some great recipes that I'll prepare and share in the weeks ahead.

Quinoa: See ya, couscous and brown rice! Quinoa kicks your Badass. This grain is very high in protein, close to what you find in meat and dairy products. One cup has as much protein as four eggs, and it's a complete protein that contains all the amino acids we need for tissue growth and repair. Use it in place of brown rice or couscous, and use it in salads for hearty fuel. Or pair it with oats, honey, milk and cinnamon for breakfast that stays with you.

Now what are you waiting for? Get thee to the grocery store and stock up!

Coming tomorrow: No more excuses, ladies and gentlemen. Time to crunch and plank away those guts!

Badass Foodie: You Are What You Read

Call me a nerd, but I could spend hours upon hours perusing the shelves of a bookstore. Something about  the expansive rows of shiny books, comfy chairs, bustling coffee shop patrons and endless reading material makes it an addictive place.

During college, I would “study” in my local Borders Bookstore for hours, occasionally forcing myself to break away from perusing the historical fiction racks, cookbook shelves or bestseller display for short study “breaks.”  (In hindsight, I recognize that this may not be the textbook example of stellar academic productivity, but it kept me out of keg parties, ok?)

One of the best aspects about hanging out in bookstores, aside from  limitless browsing possibilities for bookworms such as myself, was the people watching. Oh come on, we all do it – admit it! Bookstores rank right up there with airports and a college town fast-food joint at approximately 2:15 am.

In bookstores, it’s always so interesting to see people walk in, peruse the shelves, and eventually gravitate to the section of the store that is best suited to them. The adolescent teen with a skateboard? I’m not surprised when he heads straight to the Japanese comic section, where he camps out for three hours straight on the floor. The stressed mother with multiple children under age 5? She’s going to the kiddie area section, stat!

And, usually, the folks camped around the Nutrition, Health and Fitness sections were always – you guessed it – fit, healthy, lean BADASSES. So, what does that tell us?

You often hear the phrase “you are what you eat.” How you fuel your body affects exactly how your body will perform and respond. But I also believe strongly in this Badass Foodie-ism: “You are what you read.”

As a member of the Badass Army, you know that living a healthy lifestyle isn’t always easy. The Badass CEO has addressed many of the challenges we face out in the “real world” as we struggle to eat right, exercise and get it all done.  We all know that our diets don’t often follow the easy, tear-out “meal plan” that the shiny fitness magazines have prepared.

However, I strongly believe that the most successful Badasses are the ones who truly commit to a full lifestyle change and embrace their new pattern of healthy living with body, mind and spirit.

This isn’t just about healthy eating for a short period of time – this is about healthy eating for the rest of your life. And a critical part of making the full Badass Change is surrounding yourself with healthy influencers – and learning as much about your new lifestyle as you can!

What does that mean? Well, you’re already doing it – by reading this blog! You’re electing to spend some of the minutes of your busy day reading Badass Fitness, instead of snacking, watching TV or feeling sorry for yourself! I hope you are benefiting from learning about Shannon’s KILLER workouts and maybe picking up some recipe tips along the way.

However, I can personally state that a lot of my recipe ideas, fitness inspiration, nutritional knowledge and motivation come from some amazing writers around the blog-o-sphere.  I began perusing fitness and food blogs a few years ago as I slowly started becoming more interested in health and healthy eating.

We all know that the sheer amount of information available instantly at our fingertips on the web can be daunting – you know there’s some great stuff out there  -- you just aren’t completely sure where to find it and don’t have time to stumble around the web.

Though we always want Badass Fitness to be your fitness and food blog “home,” I hope you are taking time to learn, explore and become inspired by other great bloggers out there.  No matter what your interest is, there’s a blog that will likely motivate you to push a little harder or try something new.

Remember – surround yourself with positive influencers – your friends, your TV shows, your family… and your “fun” reading – and I PROMISE you will see a difference in your disposition and your derriere.

Check a few of these out – and let me know what your favorite food, fitness or healthy living blogs are! Remember, you are what you read!

Badass Foodie’s Favorite Healthy Blogs:

The Fitnessista: “Because Being Fit is Always In Style” – a savvy, spirited food blog from a personal trainer who shares lots of creative recipes, pictures and training tips. One of her greatest hits is the Breakfast Cookie– which I can personally attest is easy and delicious!

Healthy Tipping Point: A former party girl, Caitlyn has a stellar personal food blog dedicated to the right balance of healthy living and positive thinking. However, I hope you check out her blog and her special project Operation Beautiful– which has received nationwide media attention for its goals of eliminating negative “fat talk” and improving female self image. Badasses ARE Beautiful!

For the Foodie:

Eat, Live, Run:  “A Food Journal of a Girl with a Healthy Mission” - Jenna is a Florida girl who started her blog in 2008, then recently got a dream job working for a winery in Napa Valley.  Though her blog has always been beautiful, informative and chock full of healthy living tips, it's now completely STUNNING due to the sheer beauty of her job and newfound lifestyle. For amazing recipes, pictures and food reviews, check her out!

Carrots ‘N Cake:  I love this blog for its great pictures, accessible but interesting recipes and for her opinion that “no food is off limits!” You can have your cake – and carrots, too!

Oh She Glows:  A spectacular, personal blog started by a 20-something who quit her job to persue her dream of starting her own healthy bakery business. She shares her recipes, workout regimen and positive spirit, and makes you feel like you can pull up a chair in her living room. She’s gotten me hooked on the Green Monster, too!

Heather Eats Almond Butter:  A balanced, food-based personal blog from Heather, who lost about 80 pounds and has maintained this amazing weightloss through healthy  living for about 10 years.

And…For the Vegan Foodie:

101 Cookbooks:  The Gold Standard of healthy, vegan food blogs. Beautiful pictures, gorgeous recipes and a great sense of balance throughout the site.

For the Low Carb Foodie:

Kaylyn’s Kitchen– Lots of recipes, lots of South Beach references. This girl is amazing – you may find some of your own kitchen inspiration here.  Organized by topic, dish and ingredients.

For the Fabulous Fitness Buff:

Fit Bottom Girls: A positive, healthy living fitness blog started by two former magazine editors. Lots of fitness news, product reviews and occasional recipes. There’s a lot of content on this site, so peruse awhile!

For the Boy Badasses in your life:

Mark’s Daily Apple– Extremely informative and straightforward with a great approach to healthy living – eat like the cave men! Fruits, vegetables, lean proteins… and move around! It’s not rocket science, but Mark makes you think. (And, of course, female badasses will like it too!)

A Hometown Shoutout:

Inner Workings of a College Graduate: Meghann and Badass Foodie graduated high school together, and even attended FSU at the same time, though we never really hung out. I stumbled across her blog by chance about a year and a half ago and was floored by her transformation, her great blog and her inspiring story. Her posts on running, healthy eating, Orlando living and a balanced post-graduate life have made her blog extremely popular - she’s definitely doing our hometown proud!

For the Tabloid Queen:

Fit Celeb:  I’m almost ashamed to include this one, but it's pretty dang inspiring. If you love perusing the tabloids and celebrity rags for those paparazzi beachside photos of stars in their bikinis, this blog is for you. This entire blog is dedicated to fit (and fat) celebrities – so maybe you’ll find some motivation within?

Coming tomorrow: The Badass CEO is back with 10 power foods you might be missing out on!

The Badass CEO's latest favorites...

I don't have the luxury of a schedule that allows me to watch The Oprah Winfrey Show very often, but a couple of times over the years I have been off work and home in front of the television at the right time to see that annual episode in which she unveils her "favorite things."

The audience who happens to be there that day gets to go home with all of the favorite things, which is really pretty Badass in my book. This Badass Fitness blog and my personal training side career haven't (yet) made me enough money to be able to offer a truckload of gifts to the whole Badass Army. But I can spread the love through knowledge - specifically, by sharing my latest list of "favorite things" to help you enjoy and reach new heights in your climb to the top of the Badass mountain!

Here goes...

Shannon's Fitness Favorites, Spring 2010 Edition

1. The Women's Health BIG Book of Exercises: I think I need to baptize this as my fitness Bible. For just $24.99 (less at Amazon.com), this book from the health magazine makers offers 619 exercises to sculpt your Badass from head to toe -- not to mention dozens of sample workout routines that puts it all together.  There is a chapter on nutrition, and answers to weight lifting questions. The best part: PICTURES!!! Every exercise includes a picture demonstration and description on proper movement and form. It is simply awesome. Buy yourself a copy. Keep it in your gym bag. Use it daily. 

2. Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution: Kids today, in increasing numbers, are increasingly fat. Obese. Diabetic because of what they eat, not because of genetics. And I give mad props to British superstar chef Jamie Oliver for trying to stop us from become a world of flubby flubs. This is not about appearances, OK? This is about health -- specifically, about having it so that we can be a productive, happy, vibrant society of movers and shakers. Not a society of slovenly sloths. You think the healthcare debate is wild now? Just wait 20 years, when every American in their 20s is on blood pressure and cholesterol meds and insulin medication. I'm thinking that won't bring down insurance premiums. Jamie Oliver is on a mission to curb childhood obesity by improving the food served in schools. I want to give him a big Hoo-ah and a hug! This week, an ABC TV show began that documents his efforts in Huntington, West Virginia, which has the unfortunate distinction as being dubbed the unhealthiest cities in America. He went in, he took over the high school cafeteria, and he shrank some Badasses. I love you, Jamie Oliver. Besides Badass Foodie, you are now my fave chef!

3. 100-Calorie Almond packets: Almonds are one of the best power snacks out there, but as with even the best of foods, too much is no good for our Badasses because those calories and (good) fats add up. Enter Emerald nut company's 100-calorie almond packs (less than $3 a box at Target). One of my new co-workers, a fellow fitness enthusiast, introduced me to these recently. The packets eliminate the "how much is a serving?" guess work, and they come in natural or -- drum roll -- cocoa powder covered! Cha-choco-ching, right?! These are the perfect snack to keep in your desk drawer, gym bag or purse. Snack on a packet as you flip through that exercise Bible!

4. Amazing Grass Green SuperFood: This "grass" is totally legal and totally awesome! The Badass Foodie, keeper of so much amazing culinary and good eating knowledge, got me onto this powder powerhouse. It's sold at most health food stores, and comes in regular or berry flavor. Both are great, and I use a scoop in my protein shakes every morning. One 30-calorie scoop of the organic Green SuperFood contains wheat grass, alfalfa, spinach, broccoli, carrot, acai, green tea, goji berries, beet and raspberries. All those fruits and veggies means you get tons of antioxidants, and vitamins and minerals. I have seen a difference in my skin and energy levels, and a male athlete friend has experienced the same. I'll have another scoop!

5. Tide Sport with Febreeze: Yeah, so I wish I could say my sweat smells like roses. But um...not so much. Sweat is sweat, and while the burn and glisten of a power workout feels great, it smells like nastiness. And the smell is even worse when it sets into your workout cloths. The geniuses at Tide know this, and thank the heavens they have made a version of Tide designed to leave our shirts, shorts, socks and yoga pants smelling like heaven. It's got Febreeze odor neutralizer, and it works. Yeah, that's me you smell walking into the gym, all Febreeze fresh!

6. Almond Breeze almond milk, unsweetened chocolate: A friend and triathlete introduced me to this yumminess, and I am hooked. Less than 50 calories a cup, less than 4 grams of fat, and scant amounts of sugar make this an awesome substitute for milk (which is high in calcium but also high in sugars, albeit the natural kind). Cook your oatmeal with it, use it in smoothies, or even over breakfast cereal. I use it every morning with Amazing Grass in my protein shake. Publix usually sells this in the Greenwise section (in sweetened and unsweetened varieties) for less than $3 a carton, as do many health food stores. So go get some! Because really, how can you turn down anything that is chocolate!?

Coming tomorrow: Creamy tuna and chicken salad - two more dishes you DON'T have to give up!