Fit With The Nit

Obesity: A National Crisis : My Thoughts

I’m going to apologize in advance as I may say some things in my post that are controversial, critical, or hurtful to some that may read it. It’s how I feel and I’m tired of holding these feelings in.

Our nation is in crisis. An obesity crisis. Did you know that 2/3 of Americans are considered overweight? 2 thirds!!! Are you serious? What the hell is wrong with us?

That’s great but how is it a crisis? Being overweight increases the diseases - diabetes, heart disease, cancer, stroke, dementia, to name a few. This will lead to a huge drag on our economy. From rising health care costs, to productivity as a society, to the health of our children and their children. It’s bigger than you realize.

Yesterday I started watching the documentary The Weight of the Nation. You can view it at:

theweightofthenation.hbo.com

It’s absolutely mind-blowing. I won’t repeat all the statistics; you can watch them yourself. My emotions from watching it went from sadness to confusion to anger to hope back to sadness and anger again.

I had my “Aha” moment about this crisis a little over a year ago. I sat on a bench in Hollywood Studios in Disney for about 15 minutes waiting for Kendra and the girls. About half the people I watched walk by were overweight or obese. And at least a third of them were children.

I thought to myself - well, these are people who can afford to live and eat abundantly if they can afford to go here. But then I thought, Seriously, you have the money to eat well and more time to exercise. It’s proven that low income people are more likely to be overweight and obese than higher incomes. So I’m watching a population that shouldn’t be overweight. We are in TROUBLE as a country.

Some of you know my story. At my highest I was over 190 lbs at 5”10’. I’ve had people tell me, ‘that’s not too bad’. You know what - my BMI fell smack in the middle of the overweight category.

I’ve since lost over 40 lbs because I learned how to eat better and discovered Beachbody programs and supplements like P90x and Shakeology. They truly changed my life and I’m now at 150 lbs as of yesterday.

But I’ve had people tell me - “Geoff, you’re getting way too skinny.” I’ll be honest - I’m VERY offended by that. When I calculate my BMI, I fall smack in the middle of healthy weight.

And that’s part of our problem. Our society views me as abnormal when 20+ years ago when the BMI formula and groupings were created, that was normal. Our standards of how we view people have changed as a society. That is so scary because we put blinders on the problem.

I understand that there are limitations to the BMI formula. And everyone thinks they fit that bill. “I have more muscle so I’m ok.” A few of you might. But most don’t. You are part of the problem.

On a side note - I was talking with someone last week about their high cholesterol. They said it runs in their family and it’s genetic. That’s bullshit. Only 0.2% of people are diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolemia (purely hereditary). Maybe you’re the 2 in 1000 but I highly doubt it. We need to start taking accountability for the food we eat - not just fat but the ridiculously high amounts of unnecessary sugars from soda, juice, beer, desserts, and non-whole flours. We also need to start exercising more.

One of the women in the video in the video was significantly overweight and set her goals to get to a size 16 or 18. Considering her situation, I applaud her for that. But she said she’d look sexy at that size and it would be her goal weight. Guess what - I bet that still puts her in the highly overweight or obese category. She’s still at high risk of all the factors I talked about before. Lower risk that she was but higher risk than she should be.

I’m also angry that I have to pay what I pay for health care. I eat healthy and exercise so I shouldn’t have to be funding all of these people who are at much higher risk of chronic disease than I am. All these obese people are going to continue to increase the costs I have to pay going forward. I was happy to hear in the video that some states charge higher rates for overweight/obese people. They are finally starting to ‘get it.’

This is where I’m going to get some flak. If you don’t know our family’s situation, my father-in-law was diagnosed with a brain tumor last June. It’s taken a huge toll on everyone in the family with all the doctor and hospital visits, chemo, radiation, and surgeries he’s had in the last year. And it’s gone downhill very quickly. He’s not doing well.

I’m not going to say it was the cause, I can’t. But I wonder if he lived a healthier lifestyle with much better nutrition and exercise if this would have happened as early as it did in his life.

When we found out about the diagnosis, I did a lot of research into how better nutrition could help future damage. I tried my best to help but I feel like I failed as the lifestyle didn’t change. I can’t say that’s why the tumor progressed like it did but I truly believe it had a big part in it.

I don’t want this to happen to me. That’s one of the reasons I do what I do - exercise daily and eat well. I need to be here for my kids and future grandchildren.

Speaking of children, the video spent a lot of time on childhood obesity. Like I said about my time in Disney, I saw WAY too many overweight and obese kids.

This may also be controversial but to me this is a form of child abuse. Besides truly medical reasons, our kids should not be overweight. There were some interesting stats on the likelihood of obese children to be obese as adults. I forget the number but it was staggering and sad. We are setting our children up to be unhealthy as adults. Isn’t our goal as parents to set them up for success and to be healthy? We are failing there as a society as well.

The 2nd video talks a lot about solutions to this crisis. But they’re all vague. Eat cleaner, exercise more, get support. Duh!!!! Do you think I’m stupid? Everyone knows that. The question is can they do it? How do they start and continue to do it going forward?

Our society wants the quick fix solution. They want that magic pill. Same thing goes for cancer and heart disease and high cholesterol and diabetes. It doesn’t exist people. The answer isn’t easy - it’s working out 30-60 minutes a day and eating clean foods in the correct portions. Period, end of story. It’s worked for me and it’s worked for many others I help.

They talked about walking as an alternative to get started. Sure, it’s better than being sedative but to me it’s a waste of your time and they are fooling themselves. You need to be pushing higher with your goals and actually getting the heart rate going to a level that burns fat.

That is where I come in as a Beachbody coach. Our company has created programs for all people, from the beginners to the advanced. Our table has four legs:

1. Exercise: From intense programs like P90x and Insanity to ones for beginners like Slim in 6 and Power 90. We even have Tai Cheng for people that can’t do higher impact workouts.

2. Nutrition: All the programs come with a nutrition plan. Somewhere over the last 40 or 50 years, people forgot how to eat well. It’s taken me almost 2 years since I started with Beachbody how to eat right. People don’t know anymore. I see the decisions people who I track food journals with make that they think are healthy and are so far from it. We offer Shakeology, “The Healthiest Meal of the Day’ which has change my life. I used to be a 2 a day Red Bull drinker and it helped me quit. I’m so thankful.

3. Peer support: I work individually or put people in groups depending on how I feel it will help them. But I make myself available to answer health/fitness/nutrition questions. I’m not an expert but I know where to find answers to the more difficult questions.

4. Financial rewards: I’d help the people I’d help even if I didn’t make a dime from it. But getting a check each week because I went out of my way to start conversations, send emails, moderate groups, make phone calls, go to training events makes me want to do even more.

To wrap it all up, this is a National Crisis that is spiraling out of control. I encourage everyone to watch the Weight of the Nation films. And take a serious look at where you are at with your health and what it may be doing to you and your family. If you’re not happy with it, call/email/text/Facebook/Twitter me. I so badly want to help you make a change.

 

P90x2 Plyocide Review

I couldn’t wait. I decided to substitute in Plyocide instead of my scheduled PlyoX tonight.

2 words… Great. Workout.

What you need: Medicine ball, stability ball or towel, band or towel, foam roller, mat, and WATER. I also didn’t realize I could use a plyo box so I quickly found an empty cooler which I’m fortunate didn’t tip over. I may just find a sturdy chair to use next time.

Plyocide starts off with an extended stretch period using the foam roller. It’s going to take a little time for me to get the hang of using it. But I can already start to notice the benefits and why it’s used.

The workout is broken up into 5 rounds, each with 4 exercises. I won’t cover the individual exercises but what I noticed was that each on seems to get progressively more difficult through the round, elevating your heart rate. And each round seemed to get a little more difficult as well.

I’d say it’s as much like the leg exercises in P90x Legs/Back as it is to PlyoX. Meaning there are more 1 legged exercises and less leaving the ground than PlyoX. The exercises where you do leave the ground were more like Insanity than PlyoX. If I had to describe it, I’d say it’s a hybrid of those 3 types of workouts.

My favorite exercises were the jack in the box knee tucks, frog burpee hops, and power 90 cross hops. Those 3 wear you out quickly.

Although I won’t know until tomorrow, Plyocide seem to be easier on the knees than PlyoX. Plus it doesn’t have Dom so we all know it’s gotta be better.

At the end there is an extended 12 minute stretch period, which I wasn’t expecting. I can tell already that the P90x2 program is going to focus more on stretching and the self myofascial release. True athletic training.

I may give the Yoga workout a spin on Thursday instead of YogaX. As for the rest of them, I think I’m going to wait until our group starts on 1/2. If you’d like to join the group, contact me on Twitter or Facebook.

P90x challenge

I would like to welcome you to join my P90x Challenge.

Here’s how the challenge works:

I will be creating a private Facebook group for the first 5 people that respond agreeing to the requirements of this challenge.

I will be giving you my personal time on a daily basis as well as completing the workouts with you for the first 8 weeks so I must know that you are as committed to your success as I am committed to you.

If you are not one of the first 5 people to commit, you will be put on a waiting list for the next challenge I run.

Here are the requirements:

1. You have the P90x program. If you do not already own P90x, I request that you purchase it through my website.  It is IMPERATIVE that you have all the materials that come with the program including the fitness worksheets, the nutrition plan, as well as the necessary equipment for the workouts. If you are unsure what you need, please ask.

2 You will create a free Team Beachbody account with me as your coach.

3. You will order Shakeology Home Direct and drink your Shakeology once a day.

Trust me when I say this - this is the MOST IMPORTANT part of this challenge. It will provide your body with the fuel that it will need to get through these workouts. You will replace one meal a day (preferably breakfast) with a shake.

I already drink this every day. It is a staple of my nutrition and I don’t know what I’d do without it. Thanks to Shakeology, I kicked my 5 year-long Red Bull habit. I’ve lost weight. It’s reduced my cravings for sweets and gives me the energy I need to get through my day. If you aren’t convinced, there is a 30 day money-back guarantee. I doubt you’ll need it.

4. You will log your workouts daily in the WOWY SuperGym. This is part of your free Team Beachbody account. Logging your workout increases your accountability. And you may be eligible to win the random daily $500 prize by doing so.

5. You will complete the necessary workouts each day logging your weights/reps and follow the nutrition plan logging your daily food intake.

6. You will share your activity. You will report daily to the Facebook group and share how your workout and eating was for that day.

7. You will share your physical results. You will begin by sharing your results with this small group and others who may ask you. This includes photos, measurements, and weight. They will be required at 0, 30, 60, and 90 days. The more you share the more you give inspiration and gather support.

8. You will share your emotional results. Along the way you will experience “life changes” on more than just a physical level. It’s important that you share your emotional and social results within this small group. Chances are others in the group are facing or have faced the same things. Together, we are stronger!

9. You will finish. You are making a 90 day commitment, and I am holding a valuable spot on a team of only 5 people. You will not stop short and will not allow the others on the team to stop short.

10. You will pay it forward.  This change begins with you and along the path there will be others who ask about what you are doing. You are committed to paying it forward as the opportunity arises. You can refer them to me or become a coach yourself and organizing your own challenges.

Here’s my commitment to you:

1. I will give you my cell phone number making myself available to you ANYTIME you need help, an extra push or a question answered.

2. I will interact with you daily on our Facebook group to help keep you going on your journey, answering questions, giving encouragement, or providing a kick in the pants. If I don’t see you check in on Facebook, I will text, call, or DM you to see what’s up.

3. I will participate in the workouts with you for the first 8 weeks. I have already committed to starting P90x2 with a group starting January 2^nd. However, I will be monitoring the group daily for the remainder of the 90 days.

4. If you complete this challenge, I will personally buy you a P90x t-shirt.  Trust me, you will have earned it.

If you are willing to commit to ALL of the requirements above, then… what are you waiting for?  Message me right now and tell me you want in.

Decide. Commit. Succeed.

Geoff Alaishuski
Independent Beachbody Coach
Website: http://beachbodycoach.com/thenit
Email: geoff.alaishuski@gmail.com
Twitter: @The_Nit
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1532163211

Insanity Results

I plan to write up a review of the program in the next couple days but I thought I’d post my before and after pics in a separate blogpost.

Here they are:

Before

After

RevAbs review

Many people I’m working with ask me if there’s a workout program to improve their midsection. If that’s your number 1 goal, I highly recommend a program called RevAbs. 

If you watched this season of Biggest Loser, you are familiar with Brett Hoebel, one of the 2 new trainers. Brett is the lead instructor of RevAbs. He’s motivating and for the women I’m sure a pleasure to look at while working out.

Brett developed a proven Abcentrics training technique which works your abs from 6 different angles. He also incorporates the martial art known as Capoeira into some of the workouts.

There are 2 phases to the program; each is 45 days long.  After recently completing 2 rounds of P90x, I was in decent shape going into the program. The Phase 1 workouts weren’t easy but they weren’t nearly as strenuous as P90x. So, I decided to do 2 weeks of Phase 1 and then move onto Phase 2 (for a 60 day program). The Phase 2 workouts are much more difficult than the Phase 1 workouts.  

There are 4 different workouts in each Phase. They vary from 15 to 45 minutes long. On the day you do the strength training workout, you also do a 15 minute ab one (Mercy in Phase 1, Merciless in Phase 2). So 1 or 2 days a week it’s an hour total workout time.

The other days it’s only 30 to 45 minutes total workout time.  Even in that short period of time, you get a decent burn and are spent at the end of the workout. The program schedule is 6 days of workouts with the 7^th day being a rest day.
 
The title RevAbs is deceiving. You aren’t necessarily doing pure ab work every day. One workout is strength training, one is interval cardio, and one is specifically core-focused. But if you are doing all the exercises correctly, you should feel each one in your abs.  For example, if you do lunges and squats with weights correctly, you should be able to feel some burn in the abs.
 
Each workout is 3 rounds of 3 to 5 different exercises. All moves are easy to replicate. The last round is called the ‘spice round’ where you intensify the exercise or focus on the muscle a differently.

Coming off the more time intensive P90x program, it was nice to have slightly shorter workouts. The only downsides of the program are that with limited exercises it can get repetitive and sometimes I wish it was longer. 

After 60 days of RevAbs, my core strength greatly improved and my abs were more toned. It’s still important to maintain healthy nutrition for great abs but I highly recommend RevAbs if improving your mid-section is one of your top goals. And if you don’t believe me, I’d be happy to share my before and after photos to see for yourself.

If you are interested in ordering RevAbs, you can order it directly through my website: http://teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping/RevAbs?referringRepId=80288

If you have any specific questions on the program or general questions on health and fitness, email me at geoff.alaishuski@gmail.com, find me on Twitter @The_Nit or message me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1532163211. I’d love to help you on your health and fitness journey.

Why do I workout every day?

In search of blog topics I asked my Twitter followers for suggestions. One of my friends asked me to write about why I workout every day.

Although from my Twitter posts it may seem that way I don’t work out EVERY day. But it’s typically at least 6 of the 7. I think a rest day once a week is important for recovery. I’ve noticed my efforts the next week are reduced drastically if I don’t take a rest day sometime during a week.

There are a few reasons I workout every day. I tried ranking them according to importance but no one reason stands out over the others. So my #1 isn’t any more important than my #6. (although for some reason it posts as A. thru F. Whatever.)

1. It makes me feel good. I don’t argue it but it just does. During my first round of P90x, I was constantly sore but it was a good sore. It was a sore that made me feel I accomplished something the previous day. Once I found the P90x recovery formula, the soreness went away but I still had the feeling in my muscles that I improved my body hours earlier.
2. It makes me look good. I just posted my before and current pictures on Facebook last night. I hated taking my shirt off in public 9 months ago. Around a pool, I’d pull up my bathing suit to cover my gut. Now I don’t mind mowing my grass or walking around a pool without a shirt. I’d still like to improve my upper body muscle tone but I’m still a work in progress and always will be. And I’m ok with that. I have a sense of self-confidence now that I’ve never had before and I love it.
3. It makes me feel healthy. I can play tag with my daughters and not get winded. I can carry bags of water softener salt from the car down to the basement repeatedly and feel fine afterwards. My resting heart rate has gone down over the past 9 months. I don’t need as much sleep as I used to and I sleep more soundly.
4. It makes me a better father and husband. I’m not sure what it is but since I started the Beachbody programs 9 months ago, I’m much less argumentative with my daughter and wife. I think exercise reduced my stress level and the little things that used to bother me I am able to handle much more easily.
5.  I want to lead by example. As a Beachbody coach, I motivate people every day to “Bring It” or “Dig Deeper” or whatever the slogan is. If I weren’t working out along side of my friends, how can they respect the advice and support I give them? I would be like the overweight smoker doctor or the crooked televangelist or Ohio State football coach (oh snap!) Also as a father, I want to instill to my daughters that it’s important to be active. I’m going to write more about children obesity in a future post but do you know where it comes from? The parents. I don’t want that for my children for many reasons.
6. I want to live forever. Yeah, I know it’s not possible but I see friends and family who are out-of-shape and overweight. And I see the health problems these people are having at way too young of an age. I don’t want to be like that. I hate doctor visits and hospitals and the less I have to see them, the happier I will be.

If you have more ideas for posts, please email them to me at geoff.alaishuski@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @The_Nit.

The Ohio State University scandal

In 2004, I visited Ohio Stadium to see Ohio State play Penn State. Both teams were having sub-par seasons so that season’s game was easily the least meaningful PSU-OSU game in the past 7 seasons. I went there expecting to get badly ridiculed by the so-called “obnoxious” Buckeye fans.

However, everyone I talked with in the parking lots, stands, and on the bus ride over to the stadium were surprisingly friendly. Granted, maybe it was because the game had no meaning because both teams were struggling but I formed an impression of their fanbase that was very different from other Penn Staters.

Then 2005 came with the epic Whiteout showdown. Penn State won that tilt, lost to Michigan the next week (for their lone loss of the season) and it reinforced my hatred of the Maize and Blue.

Then things started to change. Over the last few years, Michigan started slipping, the seemingly never-ending losing streak against them was broken and my ‘hatred’ turned back to Ohio State as they became the team Penn State could never beat.

And then the scandal hit. Considering what has transpired over the last few months in Columbus, I’m happy that Tressel didn’t survive. Back in March, I thought he was going to get away with his cover-up. But after more information came out, it seemed inevitable that he would get the axe.

I don’t feel bad at all for Tressel. He knew what he was doing, took a gamble, and lost. He reminds me of the televangelists who preach the gospel yet can’t live it in their own lives. Even after they are ‘found out’, there are still flocks of people who so bought into what they preached that they can’t still help but put him on a pedestal.

In a way, it’s sad but I can understand. Have your heroes ever disappointed you? I try to be a hero to my children everyday but sometimes I do things that I wish I didn’t in front of my kids. I’m human. But yet, my kids still love me unconditionally (most of the time). You’ve likely been that way with a hero that’s disappointed you. It’s human nature.

As the starting qb, Terrelle Pryor obviously gets thrown into the forefront of the scandal. Well, I guess the 7 or 8 cars he’s used since he’s been in Columbus helps as well.

Many Penn State fans say that they are so happy he didn’t come to Penn State. I don’t agree with those feelings. Terrelle is like a toddler in a family who refuses to discipline their children. He’ll get whatever he wants without consequences. Eventually in life, it will come back to bite him.

Maybe I believe in people too much but I think Terrelle could have been successful at Penn State because of Coach Paterno’s discipline. The “kill people” comments would never have happened as no mikes would be allowed near him. He wouldn’t have the opportunity to start until his redshirt sophomore year. He would have been forced to fit into the ‘Spread HD’ offense which I believe is more suitable for his talent. And the Penn State family wouldn’t have allowed the garbage he pulled in Columbus. If he did, he’d be long gone.

Personally, I hope the truth comes out as to the misdealings in the entire athletic department. And I hope they are punished accordingly for their actions. I’ll be watching closely to see what else comes out of the investigation. I think there could be more that we haven’t even seen or heard about. At least that’s what I’m hoping. I’m evil like that – moohahaha.

Afterburn baby burn

Still in my first week of Insanity and today was Pure Cardio. I used to dread that workout because it’s 11.5 minutes of no breaks, then a stretch, then over 14 minutes with no scheduled breaks. I can tell that I’m in much better shape than 4 months ago the last time I finished it. Only took 2 quick 15 second breaks in the last stretch.

Anyway, after the workout I stopped my HRM (Polar FT7 - I plug it enough I should be a rep) to see that I burned 598 calories in the 40 minutes. That included the cooldown and stretch. I felt fine, ready to go about my day.

Then I thought, “let’s see how many calories I burn in the next 20 minutes.” So I turned the HRM back on. I sat down once and noticed my HR plummet about 20 beats/minute so I stood back up for the remainder of the test period. I sorted through some mail, looked online a bit, and when the 20 minutes ended, I stopped the monitor.

The result - 186 calories burned in 20 minutes. From doing nothing but standing. From now on, I’m going to leave my hrm on for 15 minutes after the workout to get a better measure of how many calories I really burned during my workouts.

Special moments

I am a father to 5 year old twin girls. They are our only 2 children. Don’t get me wrong, having twins is special. It’s almost like this unique fraternity. When you see a set of multiples in a public place, a conversation with them is 100 times more likely than a typical parent.

But, the difficulty with twins is that they are always together. Mrs Nit and I talk about spending more 1 on 1 time with them but it’s tough, really tough. Anyone with more than 1 child can attest to that but when they are exactly the same age, it’s even more difficult. I know, excuses, excuses. We’re working on it.

This morning I need to get gas for my lawn mower (LawnX workout) and drop some Shakeology samples off at the post office. Paige was tired and grumpy because she woke up earlier than she should have (she needs more sleep and they share a room). So I decided to ask her to go with me by herself.  She jumped at the opportunity.

She got to ride in her sister’s carseat. When we got to the gas station, I let her get out of the car and “help” push the buttons and pump the gas. We talked about all the different stamps they had on the wall for sale at the post office then came home. Things that would be SO difficult to do having twins.

I guess my point is that it’s tough to have these ‘special moments’ having twins.  I hope she thinks back and remembers those 15 minutes today fondly because in that time, it was all about her. I definitely enjoyed it and will remember it.