Dangerously Fit

Summer is finally here in the Midwest (or so we hope)!  I don’t know about you, but for me, warmer weather means renewed motivation and a time to set new goals.  There’s nothing like walking to the gym at 6am wearing shorts and sunglasses.  But, little slices of heaven are not the topic of this edition of Dangerously Fit.

This issue focuses on what I like to refer to as the “myth of meal replacements.”  You see these products everywhere from the famed Shakeology sold by Beachbody – the company behind (otherwise great) fitness programs like P90X – to the pyramid-scheme (otherwise known as “multi-level marketing”) company Herbalife. Both the aforementioned companies offer heavily-processed products that are designed to replace meals in order to generate rapid weight loss.  Having gone through my own weight-loss journey, I know first-hand how frustrating it can be. I know that at times it seems that the only option to lose pounds is to resort to drastic nutritional changes instead of long-term lifestyle changes.  In fact, most people don’t even think of their food consumption in terms of “nutrition” but rather as what their current “diet” looks like.  But the reality remains that any “diet” – including meal replacements like Herbalife – is temporary.  There is no way that either your body *or* your wallet could sustain consuming Herbalife products for the rest of your life.  Ok, you’re thinking, but I only want to use Herbalife shakes and supplements until I lose 30 lbs and then I’ll go back to eating “regular food” all the time.  Well, I must ask – do you really think it’s just that easy?

Let me put it this way: Have you ever been driving down the freeway doing about 70 Mph and thought about shifting your car into reverse? Well, if you’re weird like me you’ve thought about how insane that might be if it ever happened but you’d likely never do it for fear that the experiment might wreck one of your biggest investments.  Luckily, cars are now designed to inhibit the potentially-damaging move of shifting from drive to reverse while in forward motion.  Unfortunately, your body doesn’t have a feature to automatically inhibit you from suddenly shifting from one diet to another – and the potentially-damaging moves can wreck your greatest investment of all – your health.

Suddenly changing your diet without consulting a dietitian could yield many bad results including but not limited to spikes in blood glucose levels and increases in the stress hormone cortisol.  But most importantly, allowing marketing companies to count your calories and feed you synthetic garbage doesn’t encourage or allow you the time to educate yourself about choosing natural, whole foods and learning how to count calories and maintain a healthy weight with real food.

In the end, paying for the services of a professional is far less costly to your wallet and your health.  Don’t fall victim to thinly-veiled marketing schemes – they are businesses looking to sell a product – they are not concerned about your health. Instead, ask your doctor about talking to a dietitian who can get you on the right track to developing healthy eating habits at a reasonable price.  If you have any questions about locating a registered dietitian or finding online resources for nutrition, find me on twitter @Amy_Danger or on Facebook.com/AmyAnnDanger.

In Health,

www.amyanndanger.com

One of the most important lessons I have learned is to always be prepared.  Of course, most of us can recall a time when we were told by friends and family to make preparations for several things: emergency kits in our vehicles, medical information in our wallets and on our fridge, savings accounts – the list goes on.  That said, there is one element of a prepared lifestyle that I have noticed missing from most – that of physical preparation.

But what does it mean to be “physical prepared?” Does it mean knowing self-defense tactics? Does it mean being able to run fast? Does it mean the ability to hold your children comfortably? I’m sure an argument can be made for all of the above, and I wouldn’t exclude them from a list of benefits of being physically prepared. But the most interesting part of this topic thus far is the choice of words that we use to describe these abilities or our desire to have them.

Increasingly, and all too often, our culture uses the term “fitness” to describe a particular segment of the population or a “sub culture.”  Though I have been guilty of using this term to describe myself and some of my endeavors (this newsletter being one of them), as my goals progress, I find the term increasingly problematic.  How do we define “fitness?”  What criteria must be met in order to be “fit?”  And most importantly – what is the function of “fitness?”  There may have been a time when people could associate the word “fitness” with the idea of being “fit” to do something – as in, being capable.  But I honestly believe that our culture has unwittingly forgotten what “fitness” *really* means.  I look around and I notice that in many ways we have replaced the functionality of fitness with vanity – or even disregard the notion of fitness altogether.  Now, don’t get me wrong – I do not dismiss the good feelings that can come of an improvement in one’s physical sense of self – but I do warn that exercise lacks sustainability when only one goal exists instead of a system of complex goals and desires.

But you might wonder what that system of complex goals might look like for you – and rightly, you should.  You also may think to yourself that one simple goal has gotten you quite far either in “fitness” or in some other aspect of your life – and appropriately, I commend you!  But the potential lesson is this: challenge yourself to think of any goal you may have either now or one that you had in the past.  Then, think about whether or not that goal is/was truly one-dimensional.  For example: if your goal was to lose 20 pounds – was it simply to look better in yoga pants? Or, when you revisit that goal – did you realize it was easier to get in and out of the car? That you were more likely to take the distant parking spot at the mall? That you felt better so you smiled more and perhaps because of that you created a better work/living environment for friends, family and coworkers? Perhaps you feel stronger and better prepared to deal with an emergency?

Perhaps you want all of those things.  And we see now that our goals are multiple, even if we lump them together into one easily-expressed thought.

In Health,

www.amyanndanger.com

This edition of Dangerously Fit! addresses a topic very near and dear to my heart: food! Like most all people, I adore food. My favorite meal of the day is breakfast. I often joke about my love affair with Mom’s Best Naturals Toasty O’s combined with unsweetened almond milk – honestly, the combination makes every morning feel like Christmas morning. I actually go to bed excited to wake up and have breakfast! Not to mention, 2 cups of cereal and one cup of almond milk only amounts to 260 calories!

Calorie-counting aside – I’m sure most of us have seen all the propaganda floating around the internet about how eating breakfast every morning can help you lose weight. You’ve heard it on the radio, the tv and those annoying pop-up ads. Likely the most popular ad campaign promoting breakfast is for Kelloggs’ Special K cereal and unfortunately they’re the only source from which many people get this interesting tidbit of information. Two important things to know about Kelloggs’ promotion of breakfast:

1) They’re right. Eating breakfast every day does promote long-term, healthy weight loss.

2) Eating Special K every morning will not help you to lose any more weight than eating a cup of oatmeal. Not to mention – Special K cereal contains High Fructose Corn Syrup and other preservatives that have been linked to weight gain and diabetes.

If you’re sitting there thinking “…but I would never smile if it weren’t for my bowl of Special K every morning…” This is not intended to scare you away from Kellogg’s cereal. Truth be told, I used to eat Special K *all* the time – hasn’t killed me yet. But if you’re looking to eliminate preservatives from your diet (which all health professionals would urge you do) get rid of the K and try an equally-expensive alternative like Cascadian Farms or Kashi! =)

So I’ve promoted three companies and bashed one – what’s the payoff here? Simply this: read as many articles as you want, believe any advertisements that come your way – but I am living proof that eating breakfast can and will lead to long-term weight loss. When I was obese, I rarely ate breakfast. In fact, I used to think that skipping meals would help me lose weight – ridiculous, right? Right. Eating a substantial meal within 30 minutes of waking ignites your metabolism and starts your body on a calorie-burning spree! Yes – that means that you’ll burn more calories sitting at your desk than you would without eating breakfast.

Once I understood that my metabolism burned calories while I did nothing – I was in it to win it with breakfast. So make it a habit. Think of a food that you would be excited to wake up for! And keep in mind that one of the biggest reasons people don’t eat breakfast is because they claim they’re not hungry in the morning. Newsflash: if you’re not hungry in the morning, it means you ate a little too much the day before – but we’ll talk about counting calories another time. =)

In Health,

www.amyanndanger.com

Here we are – just about three weeks in to the “resolution season.” How are your goals coming along? If you believe the widespread myth that it takes 21 days to develop a habit, then you should be well on your way to living a healthy lifestyle forever. But – if you’re a realist like me, you know that healthy habits – while seemingly habitual – take *much more* metal fortitude to execute sometimes. Let’s face it – some days it’s easier to get out of bed and go to the gym (or to the livingroom to turn on that new Bob Harper DVD).

The fact remains that there is no clearly-defined length of time to form habits, and there is no “safe zone” one can reach to be sure that getting at least 4 hours of exercise a week is guaranteed for the rest of our days. Even the recently-departed “founding father of fitness” Jack LaLanne has been quoted several times as not enjoying exercise – it’s just something that he knew he must do to stay healthy. It would be great if we all had that element of resolve, but for the most part, we typically don’t do what we don’t find enjoyable.

And you’re likely thinking to yourself “Well, without a habit and without a passion for exercise – is there any hope for me?” Well, duh! That’s where your Dangerously Fit coach comes in to play! Often time people abandon their workout routine because they get bored. And ya know if all I did was jump on a treadmill or an elliptical every day, I’d get really bored too! The key then is to diversify your idea of fitness. There are several ways to engage in exercise, and most of them don’t include a gym – in fact, even though I work out in a gym 5 days a week, I rarely use machines or conventional, designated “areas” of the gym for my workouts.

One example: instead of jumping on a treadmill, I’ll run up and down the stairs for 5-8 minutes. Not only is the cardiovascular portion of the exercise much more intense – but you’re activating larger muscle groups when you run stairs. Also – running stairs is an interval exercise which is optimal for cardio conditioning and has been proven to burn fat WAY faster than jogging at the same speed for triple the time! You run up with maximum intensity, and recover on the way down. This also gives you a faster “reward” – i.e. your recovery.

But the best part of electing to run the stairs instead of on the treadmill is the fact that stairs are free and you can find them anywhere – in your home, your office building, the library, the parking structure, etc. And once you get bored with that, find me on Twitter (Twitter.com/Amy_Danger) or Facebook (Facebook.com/AmyAnnDanger) and let me know! I’ll give you another equipment-free, gym-less activity to get you well on your way to being Dangerously Fit in 2011!

In Health,

www.amyanndanger.com

“It’s a lifestyle, it’s something you do the rest of your life. How long are you going to keep breathing? How long do you keep eating? You just do it.” – Jack LaLanne

Hi, everyone!

My name is Amy Metcalf, though most of you know me as Amy Danger.   I earned my nickname years ago from a friend who once told me that I have “Dangerous, relentless passion.”  When I want something, I go for it – and I work my butt off until I get it.  Whether it’s at the gym or in the classroom, I do my best to give everything I have to each moment of the day.  I know that each and every one of us are born with a maximum capacity for greatness, whatever we believe that to be – and if the greatest you involves being fit and healthy, I am here to tell you that it *is* possible, you *will* achieve it – and I would love to help!

This wellness newsletter will be designed to address various elements of fitness and nutrition with the ultimate goal of educating others and sharing the knowledge I have gained over the past 3 years of my life.  Over the course of the past 3 years, I have naturally lost 65 lbs and have kept it off without any crazy fad diets or super-expensive fitness equipment.  By “naturally,” I mean to say that I did not use any weight-loss drugs or supplements, nor have I ever starved myself, nor did I eat any special processed “designer” foods.   I believe that my personal health journey has been successful and consistent because I have respected the *process* of wellness, not a perceived end result.  That said, my personal wellness philosophy is a combination of diligent fitness, mindful nutrition, and positive thinking/stress management – these three components work together to create and foster overall health that is sustainable for a lifetime.

Each Dangerously Fit! Newsletter will include new perspectives on goal-setting, follow-through, and all the media distractions that prove to deter the populace from loving themselves through every stage of their lives – those distractions that encourage people to buy products that promise unrealistic and unhealthy results.  Working with me, you’ll learn that there’s no guarantee that exists other than the one you make to yourself.  If you want something, *YOU* need to put in the work – no magic pill, no fancy sports drink, and no one piece of equipment will take you where you want to go.  I am here to prove to you that you are possible, to help you respect and love the process instead of the end result, and to offer encouragement and knowledge every step of the way. J

Best of luck to you in 2011 and beyond!

In health,

Amy Danger!