Get A LIFEstyle!

Today, we’re visiting what this blog is really about.  I want to talk about what all of these pointers and guides I’ve posted is truly meant to improve.  My (ImFAT) LAZYfitness plan is not about losing 15lbs for that wedding or for that trip to Jamaica.  The plan is not even a plan, it’s a lifestyle guide.  Everything that I’ve shared up to now has been about adjusting your lifestyle in a more gradual, natural fashion.  Whether you’re trying to get incredibly muscular or incredibly lean, my plan is just a starter kit for getting you in shape, period. 

If you are already wise to getting around the gym, eating right, yada-yada then this is nothing new.  But for the guy who views a treadmill as tough math homework or the girl who eats a pint of ice cream after a salad (because she did “good” that day), this is for you.  It’s getting you familiar with yourself and how best to treat yourself while still, treating yourself.  With my plan, you still PIG OUT for the Superbowl (stay tuned for that post), you still DIG IN for the holidays, and you still GRUB ON some cookies n’ sh!t while looking and feeling great.

UNlearning

From the looks of our current health statistics, Americans seem to have learned the wrong way to eat.  We have been conditioned to put ourselves last and industry first.  I DO NOT serve industry and neither should you if you want a healthier lifestyle.  I’m talking about the demands of your job, commercial industry, healthcare industry, pharmaceutical industry; all of which have a vested interest in you being committed to their agenda, feeding off of your hard work and energy until you have nothing left.  I don’t have to point out the term that represents the type of person subject to this treatment, but what I will say is free yourself.

Unlearn what’s not working for you so that you can have a clearer picture of what will.  Realizing how and where you’re screwing up is just as essential as reading advice articles and the like.  Get educated about new ways and things to eat, learning HOW to eat, keeping an open mind.  And of course, make time.  Make time to work out by cutting time from things that aren’t helping.  Staying in front of the television even when there’s obviously nothing on has to strike you as a major red flag.  Keeping computer time to a minimum will show you just how much time you have in a day.  (Keep in mind, my posts will remain at a twice per week maximum, believe that) Leave your email alone, try not to be a tweetfreak, and see someone about that facebook addiction.  These things are NOT as important as having more of a “real” life.  I should know.

Adjust with style

Getting more of a real life doesn’t mean your current one is boring, it just means you need more genuine experiences; in this case, concerning your health.  So start with something small, like making fresh sandwiches.  You can really get why guys from the NYC delis get passionate about their work.  There’s nothin’ better than slappin down two soft slices of multigrain love dough, fresh maple turkey or honey ham topped with romaine lettuce, ripe slices of tomato, a slick’a mayo and some spicy brown mustard-rrohh-ho-ho (Toolman Taylor grunt).  

 Get familiar with locally grown foods and brands.  FIND OUT WHERE your food is coming from and make it known that you’re doing so.  It’s contagious once you start.  Keep an eye out for fresh farming, cooking and health food locations, and please, visit the produce section more often.  I just ate a Pomegranate for the first time.  To be honest, I didn’t know how to eat one and now it’s one of my favorites.

All I’m saying is pay closer attention to you and dodge the distractions.  Listen to your body and make sure you give it what it needs while getting what you want.  The closer those two align, the better in-shape your lifestyle will be. 

You’ll look good too! AND you’ll look good.

 Next Week: The last part of the 6 part ImFAT series. "Finally, Sweat It Off"

Gettin' There!

First, I just wanna say Happy New Year’s to you and yours and I would like to wish you a healthy and prosperous year & decades to come.  I'm hype about the projects I have going on and am ready for 2011, 2012 even.  With part 5 of my 6 part ImFAT series, I will briefly uncover one of the remaining pieces to my fitness plan.  After my previous points on WATER, Detox, Nutrition, and personal Menu Selection comes the last “stretch,” which is to Get Moving.  Like I’ve stated before, the workout portion is only ¼ of the entire fitness plan, but it is important to the success of your weight-loss goals and to your daily schedule. If all of my suggestions were to stick to the wall, this would be the nail.  Guess who the hammer is? (if you can’t, you’re fat-so fat)

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Contributors to my overall fitness plan

¼ = Water and Breakfast

½ = Natural Detox

¾ = Eat fresh, less heavy, 4-5x daily

1  = Stretching & Exercise: My LAZYworkout

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Before the sweating even starts, I have something more geared towards finding your comfort zone.  The best thing about my workout is that it’s coming from one of the laziest, summer-couch potato livin’, snacks in the middle of the night-eatin persons on earth.  That’s serious business, because there’s NOTHING to watch during the summer! You may be like me, hardily comfortable with using machines, heading to the gym, or working out in general; but just remind yourself that you are doing this for YOU and you only.  You have to know what it is like to be you at your best, your healthiest.  It’s a great feeling, my uncle told me.  He was no slump in his day, and he’s always proud of how agile, witty, and energetic he was when looking through old photos.  Seeing my elders look back on being young and not regretting a thing has had a huge influence on me and I recommend creating that reality for you one day. 

THE STRETCH

For the record, my workout is a home workout and does not require much.  In creating this, I started by talking with those familiar with nutrition and fitness; asking physicians, friends who are or were athletes, and personal trainers about how to conserve or gain energy.  I found out that something as simple as Stretching could cure most saps of energy that we feel on a day-to-day basis.  Now for the most part, if you’re like me, stretching can seem incredibly shoot-me-now boring, but if you truly want to get in shape without becoming a gym rat, you must get to know your body.  Stretching the right parts can do your body a huge favor.  It’s kind of like finally scratching a hard-to-reach itch on your back; stretching can feel very satisfying.  If you want to get technical, stretching increases the body’s ability to more efficiently spread oxygen throughout your circulatory, respiratory and muscular systems.  In short, you become stronger by breathing, the right way.

WHAT I DID

I’m no expert on stretching, but in my case, I’m an artist and drawing people, focusing on parts of the body in movement, allowed me to test all the different ways to stretch one muscle or muscle group, starting with my neck.  I thought about ALL the directions it could move and just stretched in each of those directions. (diagrams in later posts) Then I applied the same method of thinking to every extremity (arms/legs) and smaller joints which made me curious about stretching EVERY part of my body.  The workout is just the exercising of those very muscles from the stretch positions.  This is how my home-style LAZYworkout was born.   

The stretching allows you to create the discipline necessary to carry on to the exercises.  After getting through my full body stretches, the workout will naturally feel like the next step.  Luckily, with my plan, you stretch without working out for two weeks before breaking a sweat at all.  This preps your body to find a certain comfort level that will complement how and where you start at-doing exercise.  My Full Body Stretches are to be done either at the start of the day, 30 minutes after drinking water and eating breakfast or at night before going to bed, DAILY.  You can grab a drink and some fruit, then stretch or go IN with the full breakfast and wait a little bit before you start.  Concerning my workouts, you do this daily for 2 weeks without exercise, then continue, around the exercises.

FULL BODY STRETCHES - OVERVIEW

Neck                  -  front – back – sides – diagonals

Shoulders           -  inner-shoulders 

Upper Arms       -  Bicepts – Tricepts – outer shoulders

Forearms            -  front - back

Chest                  -  stretching Pects

Back                   -  lower rear of neck - along spine - and deltoids

Hips                    -  pelvic area – front – back – sides - diagonals

Waist                   -  obliques – abs – front - sides

Calves                 -  inner calve – outer calve

Thighs                  -  Quadricepts  - inner thighs

Strings                 -  Hamstrings

Lower Back        - straight down, head to knee direction

WHAT HELPS

One thing that will definitely help you to adjust is listening to music.  When I’m stretching, I choose to go the mellower route.  I’ll listen to reggae (not dancehall, reggae), ambient music and alternative/experiment sh!t.  It works great for me but do you.  I save the hip hop and rock for the actual workouts.  Another thing I found out was that it’s good to stretch before and after you’re workout for the best results.  I have yet to work my Full Body Stretch into such a practice, but shorter, core-focused stretch exercises will work for that.   Thursday,  I will share a few tips involving stretching and readjusting after veering off from your new diet, though that shouldn’t happen. (Finger-point)

Stay tuned for Part 6, “Finally, Sweat It Out!” my preferred playlist(s), and images for the stretches and home exercises.

-          JP