(By Habib Wicks, PEERtrainer co-founder)
Yesterday after a 40 minute workout with Joshua I was hungry and tired and wanted to find something that could really build upon the good work that I had done. I fired up the frying pan and grabbed 4 cloves of garlic from the fridge. I smashed them with my palm in about 10 seconds and threw them in the pan with some olive oil.
I then grabbed a bag of spinach from the freezer and threw it in the pan. Covered the pan and cooked for maybe 4 minutes? I might have added a few grinds of pepper. The spinach got cooked and steamed pretty good and then I just dumped the contents of the frying pan right into the Cuisinart. Pressed both the buttons getting the blade to go in both directions and pureed the spinach.
I then dumped it on a plate and opened up a bag of Kettle chips to curb my carb cravings. I then ate the entire plate of spinach (a full pound) dipping the chips into them. It tasted really good and it was EASY to make. Today I feel better than I have in a while.
I used to workout when I was single and lived in NYC. I would hit the gym and lift. But I never really felt great because I ate poorly. Of course I did not understand that at the time because I was not overweight. Later on, a business colleague (and former chairman of a big healthcare company) gave me a copy of Eat To Live (and then introduced us to Dr. Fuhrman) and this book totally changed my outlook on eating. If PEERtrainer seems like the Dr. Fuhrman show at times, this is the reason. This is my personal agenda, and it has to do with his advice getting my own health in order.
I am not a vegetarian by any stretch, but I do go out of my way to get my greens in especially each day. I also understand the need to really chop up the greens to really get the nutrients out. Dr Fuhrman explains that our body cannot digest the cell wall of a plant, and you can only chew your food so much.
Recently I have started to do a lot more strength training, adding this back to my routine. I am not hitting the gym or doing bodybuilding, but just getting the muscles themselves a good workout. The last few years I have just run, played tennis or maybe rollerblade from time to time. Pure cardio.
Running PEERtrainer, companies now often send stuff to us to test, evaluate and then write or blog about. If we like it or it really captures our attention and we actually make it part of our day to day we do so.
For example, Total Gym recently sent us their top of the line model, the Total Gym XLS. And luckily I have Joshua with me who is a fitness nut. We are going through all 80 of their exercises and really pushing ourselves. At the end of the workout yesterday we had the incline at the highest level and I found myself doing inverted bicep curls, pulling my weight up the incline keeping my elbows locked into place. A heck of a workout.
But my point here is that for the first time I am combining a high nutrient way of eating with strength and resistance training. And I feel fantastic. I have been doing this for about a month, and yesterdays tweak to the routine prompted this post. Was so easy to do and prepare.
This all started last month we were testing and working with resistance band systems. And I started this process of working out the muscles with those bands. Resistance bands work really well to isolate all sorts of muscles quickly. Then I started Total Gym and basically worked out the entire body in a short amount of time.
I just wanted to communicate this combo- and suggest that you find a way to get some daily training in where you engage the muscles with some form of resistance. Resistance bands are a great thing to have in your home. Bodylastics is hands down the best product on the market and we have written a review about it here. And also recorded a bunch of videos on how to use it in different ways. But the basic idea is that for less than $100 you get something that essentially functions as full gym in your house. Both men and women can use it, and it really works.
Total Gym is another great option if you have the space. You can watch a video of Joshua using it. It can be a little expensive though. The list price for the top of the line model is about $1500, and there are less expensive options and ways to buy used ones. We talk about it on the page. The Total Gym is also pretty durable and you might be able to find one on Craigslist. As long as the pulleys work nicely and you can get the incline going I highly recommend using one.
Or go to the gym. But just get in the habit of working the muscles and then getting your nutrients in, and really work this combo. Carrot juice is another excellent source of concentrated nutrients. One of the things Dr. Fuhrman has done with a new book of his, Eat For Health, is put a "Point System" on different fruits and vegetables. The idea is that you want to hit 100 points a day for optimal nutrition. He sent us a copy of this a year ago and it helped to really focus my eating habits each day. The stuff at the top of his points list are all the greens, and things like Romaine lettuce, red peppers, escarole, broccoli.
This book again changed my daily food decisions permanently. I grill red peppers whenever I find them on sale. If I am at an italian restaurant, I order a side of esacarole and beans and a side of broccoli rabe for my entree. The server usually looks at me like I am crazy, and is probably a little tweaked because this meal will cost less than $10 at the best restaurants!
But this strategy has given me a lot of energy especially in the last year. Adding the resistance training and bodyweight training to the mix has just stepped up how I feel, and I wanted to share that with you all. Work the muscles and work the high nutrient veggies. And when you do, add a comment to this blog post. Tell us what exercise you did and what you ate afterwards, please!!
I also got Joshua to do a piece for us which you can watch below. Just click the arrow to play the video, and he also shows you some simple exercises you can do with just your own body and nothing else:
In addition to Joshua being highly entertaining he is also a core part of our Point Of No Return Program, and in this role he essentially takes people on a tour of the thoughts behind the thoughts in their head. He has studied tons of stuff in the area of the mind, and delivers what is some of the best advice available. Stuff that works.
He is living proof of the idea of "mind-body connection" and is doing a great job with Jackie in giving people an experience that is literally changing the lives of many people. When you make different decisions in your life, you will get different results. I think the real trick is getting to the point of successfully making that shift, and this program does that.
One specific result we see that people experience in this program is a real sense of hope. We keep hearing this word "hope", "I have hope" over and over from participants. I am very excited about the early feedback on this new effort we have undertaken. Please check it out if you have a weight loss or fitness goal you have not met. This will help.
-Habib
