Simple plans, better results
Written by Mike Cheliak on August 19, 2009 – 8:06 pm -As life becomes busier with work, family, activities, socializing and more it is often the case that we overcomplicate our lives even more by adding complex “things” to our everyday fitness and nutrition.
In the last year, I have turned my fitness and nutrition into a simplified solution. I have found that often the most complicated plan or situation can be simplified to an almost rudimentary function.
Let’s start with fitness. Many people who are trying to get fit spend countless hours and dollars on workout plans, new gadgets, fitness fads and more. They often lose interest because the plans are almost always unnecessarily complicated.
Simplify your workout. Compound exercises (such as Bench Press, Deadlift, squats, lunges and others) work multiple muscle groups and nervous system branches. They are simple to do, simple to learn and very efficient. Build your weight training around a core of those exercises and keep the workout scheme simple using super sets when possible so your resistance training is done in 20 minutes!
Add some interval cardio (sprint/rest) and keep your method simple but keep changing how you do it (treadmill, rowing machine, stairs, body movement circuits…). You will find your workouts are quick, fun and very diverse.
Active resistance training and interval cardio = maintained/gained muscle
Next we move into the most complicated and confusing one of all…nutrition and diet. You don’t have to be a genius to know that there are tens of thousands of different diets, fads, supplements, wonder herbs and drugs and self proclaimed gurus.
The problem is that they all have a gimmick; every one of them preaches that their plan is the best and most of them have very little scientific research to back their claims. Oh ya…the biggest downfall is that most of them are so complicated you need to watch, count, measure and manage absolutely everything you put in your mouth.
And you wonder why most people fail when they start a new “diet plan”.
Here is the simplest, easy to understand, scientifically proven, undeniable, truthful program that you will ever hear…and it’s free!!! Are you ready?
Eat fewer calories = lose fat
While that is somewhat of an oversimplification it is also very true. If you want to lose fat, eat less, if you want to maintain muscle, use resistance training and add in interval cardio to help increase your metabolic burn.
Working it all out is pretty easy. I have made it my mantra to keep all my workouts as simple as possible. I work out at the gym four days per week (sometimes three). I do a 5 minute warm up run on the treadmill, do some ballistic stretching for about 5 minutes and then do 3-5 supersets of combined exercises that allow me to work hard and rest very little. I finish my workouts with 15-20 minutes of intervals of my choice. I am out of the gym in less than an hour every time! I switch my exercise sequences, weight loads and rep sets every 4-6 weeks to keep from adapting and also to keep it interesting and challenging.
I like to keep my nutrition even more simple. I follow a routine of intermittent fasting which involves fasting from 2PM in the afternoon until 2PM the next day. I do this once or twice per week. The rest of the time, I eat a well balanced diet of mostly whole foods (not much processed stuff). I don’t count calories, carbs, protein, fat or anything else. I just make good food decisions most of the time and when I have a little “cheat” here and there, I don’t even concern myself with it as I know that my fasting puts me in a caloric deficit for the week.
“De-complicate” your fitness and nutrition. It is easier than you think and empowers you to take control of your own needs and results. It is amazing how much you can learn from yourself!!
In Happiness and Health as always,
Mike C.
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Eat to Lose Fat Train to maintain muscle
Written by Mike Cheliak on August 12, 2009 – 1:45 pm -A friend of mine and a brilliant eBook publisher Brad Pilon recently wrote a couple articles about losing weight (fat). The basic message is that we need to eat less to lose fat and train properly in order to maintain/gain muscle.
Too many times you will see people in the “Cardio Confessional” thinking they can out train a bad diet. Not so. The amount of calories you burn is insignificant compared to what you intake. Learning your body means learning what your threshold for weight gain, loss or maintenance is. This simply means that everyone…I MEAN EVERYONE…has a different formula that will produce the results they want.
This sounds daunting, complicated and potentially expensive. It may sound that way, but isn’t any of those things. The key is to simplify your plan. Making choices in food is as simple as this. 90% of the time, you need to eat whole, healthy, nutritious foods. 10% of the time you can stray from your plan and indulge in something that you truly crave. This isn’t a licence to binge but rather a little “release valve” for us everyday folks who just want to enjoy a little now and then.
The other key is to plan a workout regimen that you enjoy and stick to. Exercise is mandatory in maintaining good health. It increases our quality of life, provides a stress release and also should provide a positive social environment to interact with. When you surround yourself with people who are healthy and like minded, it will help you to stick to your program.
The combination of simplified nutrition and enjoyable physical fitness is something anyone of any age can do successfully. I myself follow a program of Intermittent fasting and simplified healthy food choices like ones outlined in The Diet Solution by Isabel De Los Rios. Neither are complicated and both plans are great tools in finding your “zone”.
The key is not the nutrition plan you choose but the ability to stick to it. Remember that simple is better and no one plan is right for everyone. YOU have to adapt it to your lifestyle, your requirements and your goals.
In happiness and health as always,
Mike C.
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Spanish Theme Party Part Three – Red Sangria
Written by Mike Cheliak on August 1, 2009 – 4:22 pm -Sorry it has taken so long! I have been crazy busy. Our theme party is pushed back to later in August due to a bunch of stuff. Anyway; here is the red sangria recipe I have tooled with and made several times. I like it just as much made virgin as it is super fruity and refreshing!
Next week I will be posting a bunch of Tapas recipes to consider. There are almost endless little food that makes for a great party but it seems Spanish cuisine has cornered the market on making some really fantastic and diverse tastes to enjoy anytime!
RED SANGRIA (Sangria Rossi)
This recipe is easy to double or triple based on the number of people you are expecting. The one thing to expect is that it WILL go fast!
INGREDIENTS
1 bottle of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rioja, Zinfandel, Shiraz)
1 lemon, cut into slices
1 orange, cut into slices
1 lime, cut into slices
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup Pure orange Juice
1 small can of diced pineapples (with juice)
2 ounces Cointreau
1/2 cup of sliced strawberries
1/2 cup raspberries
4 cups ginger ale
PREPARATION
Pour wine into a pitcher or a bunch bowl and add all the citrus slices. Add the orange juice, sugar, pineapple and juice and the Cointreau. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale, berries and ice just before serving.
You can make this Virgin by using a high quality Pure Unsweetened Grape Juice. I have also made a virgin recipe by using a Sparkling Grape Champanade or similar product. As with the white version, I also like to freeze some grape juice to use as ice (although this usually goes so fast, the ice doesn’t have time to melt!).
In happiness and health as always!
Mike C.
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