Let me add one more opinion to the dumpster fire of opinions you’ll hear about exercise.

Asked simply, where is your gap? How will you improve it?

This article is primarily for general population and is not suggested to be the best advice for competitive lifters or seasoned athletes.

Walking

Depending on who you are and what your current level of fitness is, I’m going to start with walking. It’s easy to do, it’s easy to recover from, and while it certainly isn’t the most aggressive in terms of burning calories (assuming that you’re aiming to do so), the benefits add up. It’s good for the brain, good for the heart and good for the body. Start here: If you have a smartwatch, look at your average daily steps. Try to improve that number. If you don’t have a smartwatch, put your smartphone in your pocket while you go about your day or buy a pedometer and set it on your waistband. Let’s assume you average 3000 steps a day. Try to increase to approximately 5000-6000 a day. It will take concerted effort but see if you can push your average up. You don’t have to do it all in one go. You can split your walk up into separate bouts throughout the day. Some people will say that walking isn’t exercise but that really depends on the individual. For some, walking is all they are able to do and I am #teamstepcount all the way. Get that average up and make a commitment to stick to it. You don’t have to do 10K steps a day unless you’re already in the vicinity of that number.

Low Intensity Cardio

If you’re already walking or your step count is not an area of opportunity, find 2-3 days per week when you can add in some structured low intensity cardio. This could be on an elliptical, an elevated treadmill (or power walk), a rower, or a bike. If you can slot out 20-30 minutes per day, that would be awesome. My favorite tip is to tell clients to use that time with your favorite streaming device to crank out your cardio while you zone out to an episode of your favorite show. Keep in mind that traditional cardio may drive your hunger up so if you’re using cardio to help with a fat loss plan, you’ll want to be attuned to those hunger signals. Similar to my thoughts on walking, it doesn’t have to be done in one-go depending on your schedule but if you can get it done in one bout, have at it. And just like walking: good for your brain, good for your heart, good for your body.

Sprints

At some point, you may want to spice things up a bit and sprints are another way to do so. I won’t give an exhaustive opinion on sprints but I do want to give you some options. If we were gauging exertion on a scale to 10, with 10 being as hard as you can possibly go, walking would be a 1-3, low intensity cardio might be a 3-6, and sprints would be around an 8-10. They should be difficult but short in duration.

Consider these options:

-10 second sprint with a 20-30 second recovery

-20 second sprint with a 30-40 second recovery

-30 second sprint with a 30-60 second recovery

A recovery can be a full stop of the movement or it can be at a much reduced rate.

Typically, you can run these alternating sprint intervals for 5, 10, or 15 minutes. It stands to reason that if you can go HARD for 10-20 seconds, you may not be able to sustain that same intensity at a 30 second sprint. Do the best you can but you’re aiming for high on that exertion scale. I normally only suggest sprints 1-2 times a week. They can be performed on elliptical, rower, treadmill, bike or you can get creative with kettlebell swings or battle ropes if you have access to them. I’ll reiterate: sprints done effectively are good for the brain, good for the heart, good for the body. Ask your doctor if you believe you have a condition which might make sprints too risky for you.

Strength Training

I don’t want to dismiss any other forms of movement like yoga, barre or Pilates. They are all beneficial and they all serve different purposes. Ultimately, it’s of primary importance that you find a style of movement you enjoy and can stick with. I’ll let my bias show that strength training (using bodyweight, dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, machines, etc) is the other area I’d like you to consider. For many people 2-3x/week of strength training is adequate. Whether you train full-body or you separate into splits (upper-lower, push-pull-legs, etc) is up to the person, the preference and if you’re seeing the results you want to see. In a “perfect world” you’re looking to see yourself make progress via an increase in reps, sets, weight, time under tension or with variations in recovery time. While there is nothing “wrong” with doing something different every time you workout, it is much easier to chart your progress with certain exercises when you can stick with them for a lengthier period of time (like a 4-6 week training cycle). Listen to your body but CHALLENGE your body. If you can lift a weight for 12 repetitions and it’s not challenging by the end, it’s probably too light. By the same token, if you crush yourself every time you walk in the gym, you may be negatively affecting your recovery. There are few things more discouraging to your personal progress than an injury and while it’s nearly impossible to not get some annoying ache and pain along the way, you do want to build enough resilience that you can bounce back quickly if an injury occurs. Lifting weights isn’t just about vanity and aesthetics, it’s to push back against sarcopenia and osteoporosis as we age. As one of my favorite coaches Matt Gary said: Strength is always an asset, it’s never a liability.

So, in reading this, find the area(s) you feel are missing from your plan. Start with the simplest one to implement that you can do consistently. If you’re currently lifting weights but your step count is abysmal, try improving the walking. If you’re walking every day but you’ve never done a sprint, add one day a week of sprint work.

Lastly, for whatever reason you choose to train your body, look at the long game. Lift, move and recover in ways that make it possible for you to do so for a lifetime. In doing so, make sure the foods you nourish yourself with support those goals as well.

And if you need my help, drop me a line.

Sometimes I get so lost in my own little nutrition and fitness bubble that I forget bad diet information runs rampant in social media.

I was recently scrolling through Instagram and saw the claim that you can drop 10 pounds in one week by consuming this drink each night before bed:

2 TBSP apple cider vinegar

2 TBSP lemon juice

1 TBSP raw honey

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup hot water

Let’s cover the basics: There is nothing, I mean NOTHING magical about this drink or combination of ingredients that can make you lose 10 pounds in one week.

However, here are few things that “could” (keyword) happen.

-Apple cider vinegar “may” have some appetite suppressing effect. It won’t have this effect on everyone but it may for some. If you find that your appetite has been curbed, there is a chance that you’ll eat less than normal and that can contribute to a downtick in weight.

-You could also decide to swap out a meal for this drink. Let’s say you decide to opt out of dinner each evening and have this drink instead. That choice alone could save you hundreds of calories in one sitting and also contribute to a downtick in weight.

-Sometimes, when people embark on a new “diet hack”, they start changing other behaviors as well. Maybe they start walking more, maybe they snack less, or maybe they alter some other habit to either a) increase expenditure b) decrease intake. Either way, this “magic drink” becomes the catalyst for changing other behaviors and *voila*…fat loss.

The best part about seeing this B.S. post is what was in the caption. The creator of the infographic was actually leading you to their 21-day smoothie plan where they claimed you could lose an additional 15-20 pounds.

Let’s take this apart too.

Further inspection shows that each of these smoothies (you can enjoy 3 a day), average around 200-300 calories each. That means, you’re consuming a whopping 600-900 calories a day in smoothies.

OF COURSE YOU’RE GOING TO DROP WEIGHT.

Any grown adult will lose weight on this plan, they will also lose muscle which is NEVER a good idea if you can help it.

I hate to be “that guy” but I will in this case: if it sounds too good to be true…

Listen, it’s ultimately your body and your choice of what to do when it comes to fat loss. My first issue is the far-reaching claim that your body weight will plummet when you follow these plans. Much of that has to do with what your starting weight is and the rest comes down to what else you’ll change to get the scale to move.

Oh yeah, and then there’s that other issue of: what happens when I go back to the way I normally eat?

You guessed it, those pounds will come happily back.

If you’re feeling stuck, drop me a line. There’s a more sane way to approach fat loss.

(Photo courtesy of Francesca Hotchin)

*Note* This article is not meant to replace the advice of a medical professional or physical therapist.

My first gym-related injuries of note occurred around 8 years ago.

Over the span of a year, I injured myself twice on trapbar deadlift and traditional deadlift respectively.

After the second injury, I had to ask myself what was more important: To find ways to continue to use those lifts in my training plans or to find ways to make progress without them.

I chose the latter.

You’ll find people out there who could take similar circumstances and roll the dice differently for themselves but it was a decision I was comfortable making.

Now, when I do those lifts, it’s at a very low weight and only enough to show a client how to perform the lifts for themselves.

My lower back has remained a vulnerable area ever since.

Fortunately, I know enough about how my body behaves to know which exercises provide more risk than reward. I’m also fortunate that I have someone overseeing my training plans (Shout out to Nick Morton) for helping me stay in the gym with as little time off as possible.

Nevertheless, sometimes aches and pains come along and they can be significant enough to make me rethink how my body moves.

A few months ago, I started dealing with a pain that was affecting my left pec, shoulder and triceps. As a result, I removed all pressing movements from my routine. The good news is that, despite the injury, I’m making perfectly good progress with pulling movements, some bicep/tricep work, and leg work. When the left side starts acting right again, the pressing exercises can shift back in.

Often, people take their injuries and stop training.

Please don’t read what I’m not writing, depending on the nature of the injury, you may need some time off.

However, I’ll do everything possible to keep my body moving in every way that I can.

I do that for several reasons:

-I hate giving up.

-My body can still be used in a variety of ways to make progress.

-It makes me feel physically and mentally better to move my body.

-I would much rather have the soreness of a workout over the soreness of being sedentary (Even though soreness is not an indicator of an effective workout.)

-It helps me to be a better coach when the modifications I can make for myself could also serve my clients as well.

I’m fortunate to have a stable of people who also help me recover as quickly as possible since the demands of my job mean that I don’t get a ton of physical recovery. Shout out to Dr. Robert Ault (Ault Chiropractic), Dr. Austin Foguth (SCOR Performance and Recovery, Dr. Aline Mille (Gaitkeeper PT) and my massotherapist Tom Young (Gavin Scott Salon & Spa).

The goal for me is strength for a lifetime. I can’t do it on my own, I need my “team” behind me and I have to take the ideal with the less than ideal and make it all work.

I don’t need a flawless body. I need one that can handle the stress and strain of everything that comes its way.

This won’t be exhaustive but let me take a few moments this week to give you a rundown of some things I’d like you to know before you start your fat loss journey.

-Not everyone needs to count calories or track macros. If you like the quantitative approach to your food intake, it can be helpful to learn the skill of tracking. Regardless of which food tracking app you elect to use, I normally advise clients to start your process with a goal of weight maintenance. You’ll be asked questions like: age, gender, height, weight and level of activity so that your calories can be calculated. Remember that all numbers given are estimates and none of them are perfect. If you decide to count calories, spend a few days learning how to measure food, weigh food and/or scan UPC codes for the best accuracy you can provide. Unless you truly love tracking your food intake every single day, I believe it’s best used for a short-term snapshot of your current intake so that you can determine where and how you want to make reductions for fat loss.

-Your body does not burn the same amount of calories per day and most conventional smartwatches and cardio machines are inaccurate at estimating what you burn. You’d be much better served to use your exercise as something you check off the list that it was accomplished rather than assuming that you burned 560 calories when you may have only burned 320. Someday (maybe), those smartwatches will be more accurate in estimating expenditure but we’re not there yet.

-You can eat a nutrient rich diet and lose fat or you can eat a nutrient poor diet and lose fat. I’m not encouraging you to do the latter, simply stating that it can and has been done. Ideally, I want you to eat food that is as nutritious as you will enjoy and stick with. If you need room for some “fun foods” and you can still achieve an energy deficit then you’ve got the ideal scenario for fat loss and ultimately living at a maintenance weight you’re happy with.

-I would love for more people to increase their protein intake. Not because I want you to be a bodybuilder but because more protein tends to correlate to greater satiety and fullness cues. This is important when you’re dieting. No one enjoys the feeling of being hungry. You can play with loose ranges of 100-120g of protein on a lower end and see how you feel. That equates to 400-480 calories out of your day. It’s not easy for everyone to do it and even if you can get close to 100g you’ll probably be in a good place.

-Following on the heels of protein, fiber is another component to your diet that can not only assist with overall gut/digestive health but may help you stave off feelings of hunger as well. At least 12g of fiber (from multiple sources) for every 1000 calories you consume is a good minimum. Sources of fiber worth considering: whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, many fruits and most vegetables.

-The jury remains out on how much water you should consume to help with fat loss. It’s not necessarily that X amount of water is the secret it’s that dehydration may make you hungrier. If you need a very simple test that you’ve had enough, the urine test is a good way to go. You’re aiming for light yellow to clear in color (be advised that certain vitamins can make your urine stay brighter for longer).

-It’s a bit of a game in semantics but fat loss done right isn’t really about sustainability. If you do it right, it’s a very short term process leading to a maintenance outcome that IS about sustainability. As for the fat loss part, you need to find a process that you can do consistently enough to get the right results. No one signed up for yo-yo dieting and said: YES, this is what I was born for.

-Some people can do aggressive dieting and have little to no negative outcomes. Many people cannot. If you’re fighting like hell to slash and burn calories every which way you can and your quality of life sucks, then something needs to change.

-There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with slow fat loss. Everyone I’ve ever worked with wants to achieve their fat loss goal yesterday. I’ve found, with rare exception, that the people I’ve worked with who take a slower and more conservative approach to fat loss tend to be really good at keeping the weight off.

-Fat loss does not solve every problem. Some aches and pains will exist even if you lose the weight. Some people will hate their body even if the weight comes off. It sounds very “woo” but if you don’t find something (or several things) to love and respect about your body, fat loss becomes just another avenue giving you the ability to mistreat or speak poorly about your body.

-Even if you’re doing “all the right things” the scale may not reflect the outcomes you want (yet). Be patient, make sure that your actions are in alignment with your goals and track trends over time. For the ladies, the days leading up to and during your period are not a great time to weigh yourself. If you’re “feeling” less bloated after your period, you can try hopping on the scale then for a more accurate measure.

-I can’t overstate how many people have basically ONE area of their diet that’s in the way of their fat loss goals: they snack too much, they keep eating after dinner, they drink too much, they have too many sweets, they dine out too often, etc. That doesn’t mean the problem is easy to change but it does mean that it isn’t more complicated than that. Any diet approach you use, if it doesn’t manage to tackle that ONE area will only end up causing you more frustration. Try tackling the problem first before you drop $25 on a best-selling diet book that’s more fiction than fact.

(Photo courtesy of AllGo)

(The following article contains triggering subject matter)

If you’re new to this page, some of what you’ll read may be new to you.

If you’re a long time reader (thank you), some of these stories you’ll know bits and pieces of.

My past tells a story.

I had great parents, generally a very good upbringing, a good education, clothes on my back, food on the table and friends to play with wherever we lived.

I was also sexually abused, in and out of hospitals for attempted/threatened suicide and addicted to drugs. When I could no longer afford my drug habit, I resorted to dealing them to keep a supply on hand.

I’ve shared greater details about those parts of my life elsewhere on this site but today, I’ll just glance over them.

Those things happened.

I can’t change them.

They will forever be a part of me.

Through therapy, literally years (on and off) of therapy, I had to process those parts of my past. As the adage goes: Hurt people hurt people.

And that’s how it played out in my life too.

Until I learned to heal, I hurt a lot of people along the way.

Somewhere on that path, sometime after getting clean (which happened in 2006), I knew I wanted to help others. That path become one paved with fitness and nutrition.

So, when I started RevFit in 2009, that was my canvas wiped clean (at least for a time).

I still had more healing to do, more therapy to do, more WORK to do.

My past, despite my best efforts, was still in control.

It took the work of a great therapist, more trauma in my own life, and a very patient family to help me through it.

And I DID get through it.

Your past can teach you a lot.

It can inform the great things you do for yourself and others.

It can also be the crutch, the anchor, and the reason you can’t seem to move forward.

It would be easy to just lay down and play victim.

Poor me.

But it isn’t poor me. I am a survivor and I didn’t succeed by myself.

I had support.

In the first module of my 8-week online group coaching program, Fat Loss Simplified, we talk about “mindset”. I share some of my past in that module. I share it because I’ve found that many of the people who come to work with me have a past they struggle to escape.

They let the wrong parts define them.

Once upon a time, I turned to drugs to cope with life.

Many of the people who work with me turn to food to cope with life.

The greatest distinction is that we don’t need drugs to survive (at least not the kind I was using) but we do need food.

So, when I crafted this program, it was to take a slightly different look at why something as deceivingly simple as “eat less, move more” can become such a terribly difficult thing to adhere to.

And I come right out of the gates not talking about calories, but talking about what’s happening between our ears.

It’s a module filled with a lot of questions because the hope is that the members who’ve enrolled will start doing some better digging.

Rather than asking: Which diet should I try next? members will be able to step back and acknowledge: So, that’s why that tool didn’t work for me.

And much of it comes from looking into the past.

It’s not easy work. It’s necessary work.

And it’s necessary whether someone joins to lose a stubborn five pounds or one hundred and five pounds.

Hopefully, your past isn’t as checkered as mine. But if it is, you won’t be judged, you’ll be embraced,

While the details of each person’s story remain private and confidential, everyone who’s participated in this group has a different story and we honor that story.

If you’d like to join, feel free to comment on this article or email me at: jason@revfittherapy.com

Promotional pricing ends March 31 and the group begins officially the first week of April. That promotional rate is $139/month for two months.

I look forward to seeing you there.

(Photo courtesy of Hadija)

I know I’ve said this before but I need to say it again:

Fat loss isn’t easy.

Some folks can put their blinders on, make a couple of changes to their diet and weight just dribbles off their frame.

For everyone else, it’s a slog.

It’s not just a daily slog, it’s a several times a day crawl through every morsel you put (and don’t put) in your mouth.

If you’re among the privileged who can afford a coach to help you navigate the minefield, it’s challenging enough to follow the guidance they provide (assuming it’s accurate and practical enough to follow).

One of the first hurdles you’re likely to encounter is the one related to patience. Everyone wants fat loss NOW and every uncomfortable step you take towards getting the scale to roll down “should” be all that it takes to get that instant gratification.

But that’s not exactly how fat loss works.

Fat loss is a game of understanding estimates (like how much you actually burn in a day versus how much you consume), it’s a game of consistency (and not confusing it with perfection) and it’s a game of reminding yourself that maybe, just maybe, your individual path is going to take a hell of a lot longer than you’d like it to.

Once you hunker down and accept those facts there’s another little issue you’re going to run into: other people’s opinions.

You see, for something that we do several times a day like, eating, you’d think we’d all be professionals at it. The reality is, we (as a whole) struggle to know how to appropriately feed ourselves and that statement alone is why it’s damn difficult to sort out what and how someone else should be eating. This is assuming you don’t coach nutrition for a living…

I have a client (let’s call her Julie) and Julie has been seeing really nice results with her fat loss efforts. It has not been fast fat loss, but it’s been a near methodical drip down since January. Julie struggles enough with her own self-doubt and wondering if she’s doing enough of the right things and that maybe she needs to be doing “more of this or more of that.” The answer is: probably not.

Unfortunately, Julie is inundated with feedback from her inner circle of family and friends who mean well but they inject their own opinions into how she eats. In addition, Julie, like anyone else, knows someone who is losing weight faster than she is. This keeps that self-doubt pinball bouncing in all the wrong places.

When Julie isn’t letting the external feedback get to her, she’s able to objectively step back and assess what’s happening: she isn’t crash dieting, she’s not on a juice cleanse, she’s not murdering herself on the treadmill. She IS keeping her step count high, focusing on types of and quantities of food that agrees with her digestive system, is patient when her period comes each month (since that’s not the best time to step on the scale) and she’s prioritizing strength training.

Ultimately, when she looks back over her data over the last three months, the numbers tell the tale. And the numbers, while nuanced, show a trend and the trend is where the success lies. I credit her for trusting the work we’re doing together and following the plan.

If you’re tired of struggling through fat loss, the doors are reopening on the first week of April for the next intake of Fat Loss Simplified, my 8-week online group coaching program. It’s not a contest and it’s not a challenge. It’s a supportive toolbox with personalized feedback and a wealth of information to make fat loss less of a slog for you and a place where you can make the pieces fit specifically for you.

If you’re interested, drop a comment on this article or you can email me directly at: jason@revfittherapy.com

I marvel at technology.

I’ve been fascinated with tech in some capacity since I was a kid and I’d love to tell you that I have enough intuitive sense to be an early adopter to advancements in technology but that would be untrue.

I tend to be a slow adopter and some things take a while before they click at all.

Take, for example, ChatGPT.

If I wanted to, I could use this resource to help me craft blog posts or to create content for social media and I’m sure it would be of assistance if I needed to brainstorm a bit.

However, I tend to be something of a purist in many ways and I value having “my own voice” when it comes to the content I put out into the world. That may be a good or a bad thing but it does give me the space to put my most unique self forward as opposed to something more “artificial.”

I was having a conversation with our Coach David, here at the studio not long ago and he had asked if I had ever used ChatGPT to write a training program.

I had not.

David, having his own sense of curiosity, decided to have a strength training program written out using the A.I. software.

What we found was that the program, while admirable, seemed to have a lot of gaps.

Imagine opening up a fitness magazine you find on the shelf and deciding that since the fitness model in the magazine looks good, that we should try the same workout for ourselves.

I hope you can appreciate how this could be problematic.

I asked ChatGPT to design a 3x/week strength training program for me. Here’s what it gave me:

Day 1: Full Body

Squats – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Bench Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Bent Over Rows – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Overhead Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Deadlifts – 3 sets of 5 reps

Day 2: Lower Body Focus

Deadlifts – 3 sets of 5 reps
Romanian Deadlifts – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Lunges – 3 sets of 10 reps per leg
Leg Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Calf Raises – 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Day 3: Upper Body Focus

Pull-Ups/Assisted Pull-Ups – 3 sets of 6-8 reps
Barbell or Dumbbell Rows – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Incline Bench Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Barbell or Dumbbell Bicep Curls – 3 sets of 10-12 reps

Now, is there anything “wrong” with this workout? No.

The exercises are appropriate as are the rep and set schemes. By all acccounts, it’s a perfectly reasonable place to start assuming you can perform all of these exercises in a safe manner.

However, I have some areas of vulnerability that I would need to work around. So, I fed ChatGPT some more information and said that I needed a modification based on a lower back injury and an injured left shoulder.

Here’s the modification:

Day 1: Lower Body (Lower Back-Friendly)

Bodyweight Squats or Box Squats – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Leg Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Romanian Deadlifts – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Seated Leg Curls – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Calf Raises – 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Day 2: Upper Body (Shoulder-Friendly)

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Lat Pulldowns with a neutral grip – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Chest Supported Rows – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Incline Bench Press with a neutral grip or using dumbbells – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Face Pulls with resistance bands or cable machine – 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Day 3: Full Body (Low-Impact)

Goblet Squats – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Dumbbell Chest Press on an incline bench or flat bench – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Single-Leg Romanian Deadlifts – 3 sets of 8-10 reps per leg
Dumbbell Pullovers – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Planks – 3 sets, hold for 30-60 seconds each

Of note, I know that, based on my current issues with my shoulder I won’t be able to do any pressing movements so I had to feed ChatGPT some more information so that I could have a more effective workout. I told the software as much and, here is a new plan based on my shoulder concerns:

Day 1: Lower Body (Lower Back-Friendly)

Bodyweight Squats or Box Squats – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Leg Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Romanian Deadlifts – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Seated Leg Curls – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Calf Raises – 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Day 2: Upper Body (Shoulder-Friendly)

Lat Pulldowns with a neutral grip – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Chest Supported Rows – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Seated Cable Rows – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Face Pulls with resistance bands or cable machine – 3 sets of 12-15 reps
Bicep Curls with dumbbells or cables – 3 sets of 10-12 reps

Day 3: Full Body (Low-Impact)

Goblet Squats – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Single-Leg Romanian Deadlifts – 3 sets of 8-10 reps per leg
Dumbbell Pullovers – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Lateral Raises with dumbbells or resistance bands – 3 sets of 12-15 reps
Planks – 3 sets, hold for 30-60 seconds each

I’m getting closer to something that I believe will work. That being said, I’m also aware that there are still a couple of exercises that have a greater likelihood of bothering my lower back and the one that definitely sticks out to me is the Romanian Deadlift. I told ChatGPT that I tweaked my back doing this exercise and it gave me a new plan:

Day 1: Lower Body (Back-Friendly)

Bodyweight Squats or Box Squats – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Leg Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Machine Leg Curls – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Calf Raises – 3 sets of 12-15 reps
Seated Calf Raises – 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Day 2: Upper Body (Shoulder-Friendly)

Lat Pulldowns with a neutral grip – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Chest Supported Rows – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Seated Cable Rows – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Face Pulls with resistance bands or cable machine – 3 sets of 12-15 reps
Bicep Curls with dumbbells or cables – 3 sets of 10-12 reps

Day 3: Full Body (Low-Impact)

Leg Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Hamstring Curls on a machine – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Lateral Raises with dumbbells or resistance bands – 3 sets of 12-15 reps
Bicep Curls with dumbbells or cables – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Tricep Pushdowns with cable machine or resistance bands – 3 sets of 10-12 reps

So, after several adjustments, I believe I’ve found a routine that will give me options for strength training with the least amount of risk for my areas that are vulnerable to injury on my body.

Now, what should YOU do about your training?

Well, that depends.

If you need a plan and you don’t know where to start and you don’t want to spend money on a program, I’d say ChatGPT “might” be worth playing with.

Remember that the software will work with what you give it, so the more information it has, the more it can modify based on your needs.

I’m also in an advantageous position because I not only know how to do all of the exercises that the software gave me, but I know enough about my body to know which exercises will be safer than others.

Here are some points to consider against the software:

-If you don’t know how to perform the exercises, you can look up videos on YouTube or hire a coach.

-If you get injured, a coach can help you modify in real time so that you are less likely to lose gym time because you tweaked an area of the body.

-Depending on the type of person you are, some people are self-starters. They don’t need “guidance” they just need a plan. Others not only need the guidance and a plan but they thrive on the community aspect of a gym setting.

-For me, I’ve written my own strength training programs, I’ve followed programs out of magazines, websites and books and I’ve also had other coaches write programs for me. I will tell you, without question, my best results have come when other coaches handle my programs.

I personally don’t see myself using ChatGPT for strength training programs. That isn’t because the information isn’t valuable. Perhaps it is. I like knowing a real, live person is putting thought and care into the routines I do. It’s the same reason I like going to a checkout station at a store that has a real, live person behind the register.

Technology is a powerful, wonderful, amazing thing.

But nothing beats human connection.

(Photo courtesy of Igor Omilaev)

Most of the people I work with like to have something occasionally sweet in their diet. That might mean a donut in the morning, a handful of candy, or maybe some ice cream after dinner.

None of those options, in and of themselves, is particularly wrong to do.

However, we want to step back and look at the diet as a whole and see if sugar is as big of a problem as some might make it out to be.

Let’s look at two hypothetical clients:

“Ashley” wants to lose fat and has a mostly nutritious diet. She eats lean proteins, eats a salad most every day for lunch and a relatively balanced dinner. However, her “guilty pleasure” is a large caffeinated drink in the morning that has a considerable amount of cream and sweeteners in it. This is her biggest sweet splurge on any given day.

“Sarah” wants to lose fat as well and she eats a diet with more highly processed food options. She drinks a Diet Coke every morning for her caffeine kick (which has no calories) but she opts for a blueberry scone at her favorite bakery. After lunch, which is usually a fast food sandwich, she grabs a handful of Hershey kisses from a container on her desk. She has a balanced dinner with her family each night and gravitates towards a small cup (sometimes a bowl) of ice cream afterwards.

Both of these clients take in messages from friends and social media that they need to reduce the sugar in their diets for better health outcomes and to help with fat loss.

In Ashley’s case, the change could be relatively simple. Since the biggest area of opportunity is her morning drink, she could find ways to reduce the amount of sugar that’s in it, she could opt for a smaller size or she could have the drink less frequently throughout the course of a given week. Remember, this is about reduction, not elimination.

In Sarah’s case, we don’t want to remove all pleasure from her diet but the sweets are more of an area for improvement than in Ashley’s diet. She could select one sweet treat per day that she feels drawn towards and let that be her luxury for the day. Rather than having something sweet at or around every main meal, she can pick one thing that she’s truly craving, savor and enjoy it and save something else for another day. This way, we’re not removing every sweet option, just some of them, and she still has something to look forward to. She’s also far less likely to resent the changes she’s looking to make because she’s making the conscious effort to change something without complete deprivation.

I don’t want to fall down the rabbit hole of “sugar addiction” because I don’t think it’s a helpful conversation to have. Where I could give some credit is to people who notice that every day they have sugary treats AND every day they crave sugary treats. An experiment worth looking into is to break the pattern of daily sweets and see if, after a few days, some of those cravings subside.

Of note, some women do tend to crave sweet foods as they are nearing or are on their periods.

What you’ll hopefully notice is that I’m not going to demonize any food selection. If you want something sweet, have it. If you think that you’re going overboard, try and find ways to minimize what’s happening by taking a moment to ask yourself two questions: 1) What do I really need right now? 2) What’s the least amount that will satisfy my craving?

(Photo courtesy of Wojtek Mich)

We have a close friend of the family who has known me for my entire life.

His name is Larry.

Larry was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and he was eligible for a surgery called the Whipple procedure to remove the area of the pancreas where the cancer was located.

While the side effects from the surgery have been not as positive as any of us had hoped, Larry remains cancer free but has been dealing with other issues which have affected his ability to eat and enjoy food like he used to.

These complications have led to a dramatic drop in weight and he’s now using the assistance of a feeding tube to help give his body the nutrients he needs to put weight back on his frame. The doctors are hopeful that if Larry can get back to a certain weight, they can remove the feeding tube.

He’s always been a tremendously positive person and to see him in this shape is difficult.

Nevertheless, he is a devout believer that with continued prayers, God will not give him more than he (and his family) can handle.

We were talking this past weekend and he made the comment that he often gets cravings for certain foods. By his admission, he can have anything he desires but there was a statement that he made that stuck with me:

I get these cravings for certain foods so I make sure that I have them but often, I just need a couple of bites and then I’m happy.

It’s a simple statement and one that, as a nutrition coach, I find myself sharing with clients a lot.

-If you want that treat, have it and share it with others.

-Have anything you like but be willing to leave some behind.

-No food is off limits but just ask yourself what amount will satisfy you.

I wouldn’t wish Larry’s scenario on anyone. Having lost my father to bone marrow cancer in 2011, it’s a horrible disease no matter how it manifests in the body.

But when he made the comment about those couple of bites, it just had a different effect on me than when I normally share the advice with others.

There are a myriad of ways to approach the way we eat. Food gives us life, it gives us energy, it gives us joy and it is a necessity. Certainly for Larry, he needs every bit of food that his body can tolerate.

You’ll hear a lot about mindfulness with nutrition and in this way, Larry’s sentiments count: Give your body what it needs because deprivation probably won’t serve you well.

As we were wrapping up the call, Larry shared another thought that I’ll leave you with:

I’ve learned through this whole ordeal that you basically have two choices, you can be bitter or you can be better and just because you’re bitter, doesn’t mean it’s better for you.

We love you Larry, keep fighting.

(Photo courtesy of Keila Hotzel)

Last week, I attended a wellness event locally and I had the chance to meet some people in the community that I hadn’t previously known.

Most of the people attending the event were there for fat loss and each person had their own unique challenges that they shared with others.

I realized that many of the circumstances I heard about were simply glimpses into the lives of those who are struggling to improve their health in ways that make sense to them.

It’s a slightly different post than normal but I wanted to share some of what I heard at that event and my quick take on what each person could do to get a little bit closer to where they want to be. The names have been changed.

Sarah said she was attending because she wanted to lose weight. If I had to estimate, Sarah’s in her 60s. She said that she sits most of the day and doesn’t feel like she has a lot of motivation. By her admission, Sarah said she’s been told she doesn’t have a very good attitude about things and (her words): “I’m kind of a negative person.”

Sarah, I’d love to see you get some steps in. You don’t have to do anything too taxing. Just make a conscious effort to improve your step count and (if possible) get outside to do it. I think being outside would be good for you, even if you have to bundle up to navigate the cold weather. When you’re ready to tackle more than just steps, you can. But start small, and focus on increasing that daily step count. It could do wonders not only for your sedentary life but for your mental health as well.

Joel said he was attending because he is recently widowed. He’s lost his sense of identity since his wife passed and now it’s just him, alone at home with his dog. I would estimate Joel is in his 60s or 70s.

Joel, I think we need to get you in some type of community. Perhaps one with other widows so that you have a community of people who understand and can relate to your grieving process. But, aside from that, I think you may need to join some type of gym. It can be large or small but make sure it has enough of the amenities that you feel drawn to: cardio equipment, maybe a pool, a weight room, classes, etc. You need to be around other people and not have so much time, alone with your thoughts. Get your body moving, find a “tribe” of people you can connect with and start writing this next chapter of your life. It won’t bring your wife back but it will help you forge a new identity as you adjust.

Ruth remarked that she’s been called an “overexerciser”. She does a class based exercise program often 2x/day and walks with her husband several times a week. Recently, her husband has been diagnosed with a neurological condition which will dramatically change how their lives play out now that they are at retirement age. I believe Ruth is in her 60s.

Ruth, I love that you have no fear of exercise. However, I’d really like to see you do something that incorporates strength as a focus. If you could swap out 2 days per week of your two-a-days in the group exercise class for something that is strength focused (as opposed to cardio focused), I think it would be really beneficial for you. As your husband’s health continues to decline, you’ll appreciate and need that physical strength to help him. It will change the way you view your body, and you’ll never regret it.

Janice said she was looking for fat loss but felt like she had too much conflicting information coming in and didn’t know where to start: which diet is best, which way to train that helps with fat loss the most, and does she really have to give up chocolate?

Janice, you’re not alone. There is an overabundance of information out there and there is no sign of it slowing down. One person says: eat more protein, another says: protein is overhyped. One person says: do HIIT classes for fat loss and another person says: go for a run. My advice: start simply. Take your diet “as-is” and see where you can cut back slightly. You don’t have to go overboard. You can leave a little bit behind on your plate or you can opt to not have that snack. Just let those decisions compound over time. As for exercise, do what feels right to your body without overthinking “How many calories does this burn”? Exercise for your mental and physical health NOT because it burns a boatload of calories. As for chocolate: have it and enjoy it. Don’t deprive yourself of it but find a kind that you truly love and see if you can make it a part of your day.