Being a Healthy Individual isn't a Gym Exercise nor a Diet

[Horton]

by BOJAN SCHIPNER

 

I’m going to assume we all want to live a long, healthy and happy life. The question is how do we approach it. Do we exercise more? Do we eat better? And what does better actually mean?

 

Those are the questions I’d imagine a lot of people ask themselves.

 

And finding the answer can certainly be overwhelming. Exercise alone is not the answer. Diet is alone is not the answer.

 

The real answer is both.

 

You can train as much as you want in your life and go to the gym each day of the year. If you eat terrible junk food you won’t be healthy for long. You might look shredded but the inside of your body looks like a junkyard! That’s where the name junk food came from, I believe! Haha

 

On the other hand, you may have the best diet in the world but sit behind a desk all day and end up with mobility or heart issues because you are not moving enough.

 

So doing one part to justify not doing the other will give you the same end result of not feeling as balanced and well as you could.

 

Like most things in life, long-term success takes long-term effort and isn’t associated with anything extreme. Going to the gym and doing hardcore workouts for an hour or two, three times a week is usually unsustainable for most lifestyles at best and results in injury, at worst.

 

And by that same token, your “diet” must also be sustainable and fit your lifestyle. Anything too extreme often yields a yo-yo effect that could last years.

 

So in a gluten-free, vegan, organic, non-GMO nutshell (kidding) the answer is in identifying your goals and then finding balance on your path to achieve them. Take time to seriously consider what your goals are. Maybe it is a certain weight or size you want to be or maybe it means you want to get up those stairs without losing your breath. Maybe you want to fix the nagging aches and pains. Or maybe you want to achieve new athletic goals. All of those things are achievable through a strategic, balance blend of diet and exercise.

 

Beginning with exercise. Going to the gym and repeating the same 10 machines over and over or going for a jog a few times a week, won’t cut it. More than just doing cardio and weightlifting, living a healthy, well life stems from being mobile, functionally strong and agile for life. This doesn’t mean you are lifting a literal ton of weight but it is also more than an occasional yoga session.

 

A good start for a training session could look something like this:

 

Warm-Up / Mobility work

Core

Strength/Power

Mobility

New Movements and Play

 

I know, mobility is in there twice…and for a good reason. Because most of us hate it and it's “boring” and but that is why we can not do it enough. Do the mobility work, your body will thank you! As a side note I recommend finding some mobility exercises which make you think, are challenging and dynamic. Static stretching is not necessarily the mobility you are looking for. You will get flexible but that is not necessarily functional mobility!

 

Then we have the diet part. I know there are a lot of different diets out there. Keto, Mediterranean, High Protein - Low Carb, Paleo, just to name a few. So which one to pick?

 

I always recommend to really study the diet you want to approach and see if that would be something for you every, single, day. Because there are some hardcore diets out there which you do for 21 days, 30 days or even 60 days and you may even loose a lot of weight. But it will come creeping back to you. And besides the weight, you are putting your body through a very stressful time when you drastically change your diet. It is fascinating how people are more careful with the oil they put in their car and the care they take of the engine to ensure they get the most miles out of their vehicle and limit the breakdowns but are more careless with their own health.

 

Find a diet you know you can master for at least a year and know you are comfortable with the lifestyle. If you find yourself complaining or longing for something different, you may have not selected the best plan for yourself. Your food choices should not be a burden or a source of stress. Stress can block a lot of good operations in our body which influence your success in being a healthy human being. But stress is an entirely different topic for a different day.

 

Finding a good balance with exercise you enjoy and a well-rounded diet you can maintain for the long-term will change your life. Two books I recommend about healthy eating and movement / mobility and functional training are:

 

Food. What the heck should I eat? - Mark Hyman, MD and Becoming a Supple Leopard - Dr. Kelly Starrett

 

If you’d like a consultation to discuss diet options and a fitness plan that is the right fit fro your body type, strengths and weaknesses and for your goals, feel free to contact me at bojan@radixfit.com

[The_MS]

IPA, Kona Coffee and ski daily until hands hurt. Should get you to 86 or so

[epnault]

Great write up Horton! I have read Kelly's book and will check out Hyman's.

 

Another good read I finished last month was Tom Brady's book The TB12 Method: How to Achieve a Lifetime of Sustained Peak Performance. Love him or hate him his training and eating regime is interesting. Plays into what is written above.

[thager]

Buy a hyperactive doberman. I guarantee that dog will keep you moving!

[Bojan]

Hey guys,

 

Thanks for reading the post. If any of you have any questions feel free to contact me anytime. I always like to hear new input and happy to help.

 

@epnault I heard about the book. Haven't read it yet, but I'm going to do so now. Thank's for the input.

[A_B]

One area I found out (the hard way) is we all have a core metabolic rate. This is how many calories you burn while basically doing nothing.

When you are very active in athletics, you burn a lot of calories at rest so you need more calorie intake just to maintain a weight. The basics of getting the high core metabolic rate is getting your heart rate into your age specific work zone and keeping it there for at least 30 minutes or more. As you improve your core rate, it takes more work/resistance to elevate your heart rate to get into the work zone.

 

Skiing doesn’t elevate your heart rate long enough to work on the core metabolic rate. You have to supplement with aerobic work to keep the core metabolic rate up.

 

As an ex-athlete who could play high level basketball for 3 hours or tennis, or run at an 8-minute mile pace for a long time, and basically ski short line 15 or more passes, I am telling you that if you stop all the core metabolic rate work, you get fat and skiing 3-4 passes is exhausting.

 

My goal is to lose 60 by 60. That’s a little over a year. It’s probably too aggressive but I like the sound of it. I would still have some meat on the bone at that point, and ideal ski weight would be another 20.

 

Bojan’s article and core metabolic rate work is the only way I have a shot.

 

Too many friends in my generation are dieing or having heart attacks. Time to get serious about this health stuff.

[bishop8950]

Thanks @Bojan, great stuff and all makes a lot of sense. A great framework to help people figure out where to start and what to expect.

 

It made me think about how true the long term aspect is. I have been learning, experimenting and refining how I approach diet and exercise for +20 years. I think it takes time to figure out what works for you specifically. Your body, your life, your activities, your age. I have incrementally improved over those 20 years and continue to work on it. At 44 it’s becoming even more critical. Especially mobilization!

[eleeski]

@Bojan Great insight! Especially regarding the long term commitments.

 

@Horton Your dad is a pretty good role model. Reasonably successful, good athlete for a long time, lots of friends and what appears to be a long happy life.

 

@MS has a lot of it right. Enjoy the ride!

 

Waterskiers are a different demographic. We are motivated and seem to age pretty well. We have quality role models, relevant goals and share good advice.

 

Eric

 

ps Not a Brady fan. He displaced Drew Bledsoe who is a skier! OK, a snow skier but there's crossover.

[Brady]

I loved this article...but are some things missing. Many people who are “fit and skinny” make it sound sound damn easy. For many it is so damn easy. For others, who have a different genetic makeup, it is the hardest thing on planet earth. I am sure it is the same with everything in life. For some people, being outgoing and talking is the hardest thing imaginable but for others it is simple. Same with drugs, alcohol, and a million other things. Weight for me has been a struggle from about 35 on. I have buddies who are mountain bike guys who absolutely eat like pigs and are skinny and ripped. I have another buddy who works his ass off in the gym doing CrossFit and eats healthy and looks like a soft marshmallow. I, along with guys like @A_B can walk by doughnuts or cookies or other tempting sweets, and literally we can start acting like a heroin addict the needs a fix! It sucks! Being fat and overweight sucks!!! Not being able to see your shoes, among other things, sucks!!! With weight, I feel like an alcoholic!! It is a daily struggle to eat healthy and to work out. Daily, hourly and sometimes moment to moment!!

With that said, this is the main reason why I ski the balls!!! Having my reward for eating good and working out is simply to spend a bit longer than 14 seconds free from every care on this planet. No work stress, family stress, kid stress, health stress, nothing!!! It is gone. And for every pound I shed off my fat ass, the better I feel and the better I ski. That is why I work out. I don’t give a damn about being fit for any other reason. When I ski, I am a better husband, a more patient father, a nicer businessman, and overall a better person. Skiing is what does that for me. It is my religion, it is my passion...it is my zen. It is my addiction. So, thanks to many of you for being my support group, and Al, you can do this too!!! Forget the 60 by 60. Just eat clean today!! Then let tomorrow be a whole new set of balls!!

I love this friggin site!

[dvskier]

I lost 32 pounds in 2005, it's still gone. I read "The South Beach Diet", it took maybe an hour and a half. Once you learn the glycemic index of different foods it's not hard at all. Also quit drinking a 12 pack of beer/day. Don't miss the beer, have replaced it with red wine. May not work for you but when I saw Bill Clinton drop weight with it I realized it was possible.

 

Feels great to be physically fit. I also hit the gym 3x/week and walk hilly terrain 3.1 miles/day. Used to run 7 miles/day but the knee cartilage started getting thin. Anyway losing weight is getting serious about what you want out of life. Many diets to choose from.

[braindamage]

Principles to make this easy:

 

Diet:

1) Eat food your great grandparents would recognize as food

2) everything in moderation, including moderation.

 

Exercise:

1) strength

2) heart

3) flexibility

4) balance

 

For us normal joe’s, do both by the “80 pct rule”. Good enough is good enough, unless you are a high end competitor in your field.

[braindamage]

Oh...I forgot. 2 of these 3 need to be true in order to sustain either a healthy diet or exercise:

 

1) you love it!

2) it enables something that you love

3) it builds social networks or strengthens relationships.

 

Without at least 2 the odds of continuing are close to 0%.

 

[DW]

@braindamage : I think ballers 'diet' of skiing in moderation is a bit much of an ask...

[epnault]

@Brady

 

I am with you. I need to be very diligent with my workouts and eating. I have a 250lb guy on the inside I beat down every single day I wake up in the morning and hit the CrossFit gym. It is not easy at all but skiing is the reward and it is worth it. Like mentioned by @braindamage - I enjoy the work outs and I have found a eating plan that is not hard to follow, tasty, and not hungry ever. What infuriates me the most is when people think I am lucky for my health and fitness level. BS - it is hard ass work.