Mom's and Dad's looking for support

So often I hear, "I used to eat x amount of calories, then I increased it to x more calories, and I am still starving. What am I doing wrong?"

The issue is not necessarily that you are not eating enough calories, but you are not eating enough of the right calories. Food is fuel for the body. Your body is a machine. If you do not keep it fueled with the right stuff, you will shut down, be starving, cranky, and more.

Think about it this way. What would happen if you were to fill your car with diesel instead of unleaded gasoline. Chances are it may run for a few minutes, but then it will konk out and you will be stuck. So now you have to flush that out, put the right fuel in it, and then you can go.

Your body is the same way. Imagine if you only ate foods like pizza, mac n cheese, and heavily processed foods. Sure, your body will go for a little while, but that spike in energy will wear off and then your stuck. Not to mention, because those choices are lacking in so many nutrients, your body isn't fulfilled, so the brain keeps saying I need more! So what do you do? You grab another slice of pizza, have another serving of mac n cheese, and slam a coke to wake you up. This vicious cycle will continue over and over.

However, by just changing your nutrition up a little, and adding in more fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and "healthy" fats, your body has the right stuff. You are now filling it with all those macro and micro nutrients the body needs to perform it's job. When you have the right balance of foods and nutrients, you will feel better, have more energy, be more alert and....not as hungry. Because your body now has what it needs.
I used to make this same mistake. I would eat anything I could find to hit that magic calorie intake number, and then still be hungry hours later. And, I wouldn't lose any weight. Once I actually paid attention to a nutrition guide that came with one of my workouts, I found I was eating less, but still feeling energized and full, and actually started losing weight.

So I challenge you. The next time you have these thoughts or feelings, take a good hard look at what you ate for the day and see if you are balancing it out with the right calories. If you're not sure what those are, then chat with me. I would be more than happy to help you out.

Good morning. Here's a little tip for you.

The best way to gauge your transformation is by ignoring the scale.

Remember, as we build lean muscle, we actually gain weight. So the best way to determine how we're doing is by how our clothes fit, how we look, and how we feel. Not by how much we weigh.

I saw an article the other day and it talked about how our great ancestors could kick our *kitten* right now, take our girl, or guy, run across the valley and barely break a sweat. Meanwhile a large majority of us might cramp up after 1/4 mile, and forget about slinging someone over our shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Have we really regressed that much?

I think about the Romans, Spartans, Vikings and other cultures from years past on how if you were not fit, strong and in shape, you would not survive or could not defend your family. Imagine a scenario like that now? Would you be able to defend your family, survive against the odds, or even be able to run for help? I mean after all, your cell phone battery could die on you by mid day right?

I know several years ago when my kids were younger and I was becoming more and more out of shape, I always feared that if something were to happen, like they wondered off, chased after something into the street, had something heavy pin them down, or worse case scenario someone tried to grab them, would I be able to run after them, be fast enough, strong enough, or have enough stamina? Sure some of these are extreme, but I have seen things happen, so you know the possibility is out there. Just a couple of weeks ago there was that video of the twin toddlers that tipped their dresser over on top of them. Amazingly the other twin didn't get pinned, and figured out how to push the dresser off of his brother. Accidents happen, and you have to ask yourself, are you prepared enough to handle life's curve balls?

Just something to ponder. What do you think?

Here is my workout area. Nothing fancy. You can't see my bench or the treadmill from this angle, but they are there. Even my kids use it. As I get stronger, I buy more plates. The only thing I would really like to have is a decent squat rack. While currently I use dumb bells or my barbell with weights, eventually it is going to be a little unsafe to hoist that over my head and on to my shoulders without a spotter or safety measure. Some day. It's on the list

What is it specifically you look for when seeking support for you healthy lifestyle change? Are you looking for nutrition tips? Full workout programs that lay everything out for you, or just someone to chat with?

I know when I started out, I would do whatever I felt would get me to where I wanted to be, try to eat better (which I discovered I wasn't doing a good job of that) and not really share my experience with anyone. It wasn't until I connected with others, found an actual plan to follow, started doing a little research, and shared my victories and defeats before I truly started seeing results. It was hard at first, but the more I did it, the easier it became. Where I thought I was only looking for one area to help me along, truth be told, I needed a little bit from all of them.

How about you?