Three Steps To A Fitter You

Please excuse the extremely click-baity title, this isn't actually click bait because this blog has no human readers as far as I know.  But I do from time to time like to post editorial blogs where I actually talk about important things instead of just posting exercise summaries.  There are three pretty easy steps anyone can follow to be fitter.  It takes relatively little money and only requires a bit of dedication and to be honest not really that much.

I'm a big believer that a person can turn their world around in an instant.  You could be a junk food eating, sedentary person and an extra 50 pounds of fat on your body, and if you commit to change, you can turn it all around today.  What seems like a big ordeal to overcome is really just overcoming the excuses you've set up to rationalize failure and soothe the ego.  If you want to change today, you will.

So let's talk about these three changes.  Just three?  Yep, just three.  

• Buy a rice cooker.  

I was going to call this "Eating healthy" but the truth is, that very few people know what that means, and when I say that people envision eating flavorless baked chicken and sucking down protein powder shakes.  That's because most people don't know fucking shit about nutrition.  I'm not a certified nutrionist, dietician or personal trainer even so you can tell me to fuck off if you think I'm wrong.  But unlike those people, I'm not here to sell you protein powder, supplements, or a gym membership.  I only offer helpful information.

So yeah, but a rice cooker.  Buy the biggest bag of Basmati rice you can, bigger = cheaper.  And you will need a lot because this is your new staple food.  Then buy bags of frozen vegetables.  As many different kinds as you can until you find the ones that you like best.  Keep it varied.  Find a calorie free seasoning to add that you like, garlic powder, salt, pepper, onion powder are pretty good.  If you are a hot little potato like me, you can use sriracha or some other kind of hot sauce.  Low sodium soy sauce or teryake sauce also great choices.  Find all different kinds, keep it varied.  Now here is the fun part: cook the rice.  Microwave the veggies.  Add the flavor.  Mix it up.  Voila this is your dinner from now, every night.  Obtain variety by changing veggies, changing flavors.  Some nights, after a lot of work out, use lentils or beans instead of veggies.   There are so many combinations you can make that being bored is pretty much impossible.

Rice cookers make a ton of rice.  Congrats, you have lunch solved now too.  Eat beans + rice for lunch, and veggies + rice for dinner.  Eat lentils + bread for lunch and rice + veggies for dinner.  Whatever.  If you can eat it for lunch you can eat it for dinner and vice versa.  Oh you think this is bad diet advice?  You think it's too many carbs?  Not enough protein?  Zero fat?!  Sorry, nobody in the history of the world ever got fat from eating rice, beans and veggies.  Nobody ever got fat from lentils.  This isn't a bodybuilding blog and this isn't advice on how to gain weight to build big muscles.  This is about weightloss and fitness, not gym aesthetics and I assume anyone who cares to read it is looking to lose weight and not looking to get huge muscles.  Eat rice and veggies and beans and lentils as the majority of your calories and you WILL lose weight.  No doubt about it.  But how much should I eat?  Answer: as much as you want.  Again: no one ever got fat from eating rice and veggies.  If you want another serving of veggies go for it.  If you want more rice, go for it just make sure you balance it with more veggies.  There is no reason to bother to count calories, you will not get fat from eating vegetables with sriracha. 

Oh I missed breakfast?  That's easy too.  Eat as much fruit as you want for breakfast.  No one ever got fat from eating fruit.  Eat a few bananas, some blue berries, strawberries, melons, apples, etc.  Make a smoothie.  Eat them fresh and raw.  It doesn't particularly matter so long as they aren't dried fruit with extra sugar added.  How many calories should you aim for?  As many as you want.  You cannot fit as many blueberries into your stomach as it would take to gain weight.

• Buy a bicycle.

Road bike, mountain bike, hybrid, "adventure bike," or single speed fat bike.  It really doesn't matter so long as you can ride it comfortably.  A bicycle is the greatest weightloss tool ever invented.  Cycling blows running out of the water.  Not even close.  A fit person could bike for 3 hours a day, every day without every injuring themselves, without being sore.  Sure, people can get injured from cycling related sports injuries.  But compared to running?  Not even close.  All dedicated runners will get injured running, it is 100% inevitable.  A casual cyclist can bike without ever being hurt by it no problem.  

Cycling is just lower impact than running or even walking, and especially for overweight folks, it is infinitely easier to do.  It doesn't matter if you're obese or already super fit, so long as you have a bike that fits you properly you can and should ride.  An hour per day is ideal, but even 30 minutes is enough.  You don't have to race.  You don't have to be fast.  You don't have to look like you fit in with racers.  You don't have to wear lycra padded cycling shorts (though I highly recommend it, even under running shorts if you're bashful) or fancy shoes.  So long as you have a bike and a helmet and a trail or reasonable safe road with a bike lane you can ride.  Do you need to follow a structured work out?  Nope.  Ride up the road 30 minutes as hard as you can maintain without blowing yourself out.  Stop.  Drink water, lot's.  Turn around, ride back as hard as you can maintain without blowing yourself out.  Get home, drink more water, start cooking your rice while you shower.  It's easy.  In fact, you don't have to ride hard every ride, or even most rides.  This couldn't be simpler.  Riding a bike is one of the most pleasurable human activities, I don't need to convince you how to have fun.  

Ride every day.  Make time.  No excuses.  Just ride.

• Defeat your opposition.

This part is key.  When you make a positive change in your life, people will attempt to tear you down.  People will criticize your diet.  People will tell you cycling is dumb.  People will make fun of you for not eating dessert at dinner like everyone else.  Even your closest friends and family will often be the worst saboteurs.  People with unhealthy lifestyles will be threatened by your changes and one of the mental barriers they have built up for themselves is to take joy in watching you fail: If you fail, they will be able to tell themselves that they were right not to try, soothing the ego.  If you succeed, they will try to make you fail.

It's hard as fuck to tell your friends about your change without sounding like a religious convert.  Don't preach.  Just be an example.  When they notice the change in you, if they are interested in changing themselves, the best of them will come to you for advice.  The hardest part is dealing with the people who try to sabotage you.  Sometimes you can ignore and rise above by staying focused.  Other times you have to put your relationship with that person on hold until you come out safely the other side.  It can be painful and in truth this is probably the hardest step of all to deal with.  Having a family member you love who isn't positive and responds to your weight loss and fitness gains with derision, insults and negativity is brutally painful.  How you deal with it is up to you, but my advice is to politely tell the person that this isn't a diet that will change in two weeks after you drop 5 pounds.  This is your life, for the rest of your life and either they can accept it or they cannot.  Once they sense you're serious, most people will accept it and your willpower will dominate their lack thereof.    

I said at the start that we build up excuses in our mind to excuse and accept failure.  Part of that is seeking validation (positive or negative) from our family and friends.  This is one of the mental barriers you will have to tear down.  You are the most important person in your life, and you have to be your own MVP.  

On a positive note, there are others like you out there.  They are on the bike trail.  They are at the produce market.  They are at the vegan restaurant.  They are at your job.  They are some of the friends you already have.  Seek out others who are on the same path you are.  Let your fitness group be your social group.  Flourish.

Eat, bike, flourish.