The Only New Years Resolution You Should Keep

It’s that time of year where we swear off sugar, vow to be a regular at the gym and announce to friends and family our grand plans to get into tip top shape. It’s that time of year we are right back where we started last January.

Very few of us are setting a get in shape or get healthy goal for the first time. We stand at the precipice of the New Year and declare that “this year is THE YEAR!” And we mean it. We believe it. We have every intention of pulling it off. We don’t set out to fail, but we often do. Should we just say “screw it”? Decide we can just live with this body as is? Accept that this is as good as it gets? Nope. Wanting to be healthy, and let’s be honest: wanting to be hot, is not the problem. The problem is often the bigness of our grand plan.

The goal is big: transform our sluggish selves into the fit, lean, vibrant, energetic, sexy person we’ve always wished we could be. A big goal like that needs a big plan: giving up sugar, alcohol and carbs; working out 6 or more times per week; signing up to run a race or other event; giving up our Friday night drinks with friends; and learning to say no to all your cravings and bad ol’ habits.

It’s tough – but that’s what it takes. We have to be overwhelmed, do a complete overhaul, make sweeping changes.

Right?

Sometimes an abrupt shift is just what we need….but sometimes, most of the time actually, we need to take a slower, more steady approach.  Just look at your gym this week, it’s packed with new faces. Then look again in March or April – it will soon back to the same crowd that was there in December, save a few new converts.  So the big, grand New Year’s resolution to lose weight doesn’t work so well.

But this doesn’t mean we are doomed to feel badly about our bodies and that we’ll never make the kinds of changes that give us the look and health we want, it means we need to change our plan about how to get it. Take a little of the bigness out of it.  

So what’s the only resolution you need to keep? It’s not to never have dessert or never miss a workout. It’s simple, sustainable and will give you quick and lasting results.  Dying to know? It will surprise you: simply do better than you did yesterday.

Today shouldn’t be so hard right? After days of holiday cookies and too much champagne last night, choose a big salad with protein for dinner tonight and take a walk. Today? It’s already better than yesterday. Then the next day, do a little more.  Go grocery shopping for the week and cook more meals in than dining out.  Hit the gym. Then do a little more. Look into a new class, go “more” organic, or drink more water.

Just keep doing better every day, bit by bit and come this time next year you’ll be loving your fit, healthy body; be a regular at your gym; and have mastered 100s of new healthy habits.  

You don’t have to be perfect every day. You just need to be better.

This year, simply resolve to be better. Be better today than you were yesterday.

For tips, recipes, motivation, and more be sure to follow BETTER by Dr Brooke on Facebook! Gonna be an amazing year!

Black and White, Meet Gray

This perhaps doesn’t  apply to us all….but it applies to nearly every woman that sits across the desk from me at my office. Black or white. On or off. All or nothing. I want results and I want them now.

Much of the time we are either turned on 110%, giving our all on a plan or we are feeling out of control and way off track. We go, go, go; restrict, restrict, restrict; exercise, exercise, exercise – this usually gives some quick results, which we love! But then….then we hit the wall, often landing head first in a pint of ice cream.

This radical on and off mentality sets us up for the dreaded – yet oh so popular – yo-yo dieting. We work our tails off – literally – and lose 10 pounds only to gain back 15.  By the time we come to and realize we’ve not only hit the wall, but bounced back off it farther than where we started in the first place, the guilt sets in, followed by a bit of panic.

We rush out to buy a new workout DVD, hire a new trainer, or end up at Barnes and Noble rifling through the heaped table of weight loss books – all promising the latest and greatest in fat loss. We’re feeling anxious, even a little desperate to get back on track – usually blaming the last regimen we tried, thinking it failed us.

Perhaps it’s not a flawed nutrition plan or an ineffective workout regimen, but maybe it’s our harsh black and white palette that’s messing us up. Rather than on and off like a light bulb, think of your health and fitness as being on a dimmer switch. A dimmer can be turned up or down depending on your goals and state of mind, and it doesn’t ever have to be ON or OFF.  This is the gray between black and white.

Some of you may have mastered the art of gray and know how to use your dimmer switch. You’ve found a middle ground that keeps you on track to your body comp goals over the long haul – for the rest of us, life is colored starkly in black or white and we swing abruptly between them.

When we are on, we are way on – but when we are off, we can get way off. We over exercise and end up injured or exhausted. We restrict our “treat foods” so much that we end up binging on them.  We view a single cookie as a sin, but end up eating the whole bag eventually. And then comes the guilt…which can bring on even more binges or just more bad feelings.

This black and white attitude is not only bad for us emotionally, it seriously wreaks havoc on our hormones. Strict dieting, especially followed by a binge, sends a very mixed message to hormones like leptin that regulate hunger, and hormones like insulin that regulate fat storage. And let’s not forget our sex hormones – progesterone often wanes during strict dieting causing our periods to get light or stop all together.

Cortisol is yet another hormone that gets perturbed when we strictly diet or over-exercise. A rising cortisol can cause us to stall or “hit a plateau”. If you’re already burnt out from stress or a past history of yo-yo dieting, a very restrictive phase can really affect blood sugar causing you to have serious carb cravings or it can give a wicked case of insomnia (Remember, cortisol breaks down stored fuel to raise blood sugar between meal and during the night. When your adrenals are sluggish your cortisol reserves can be low, meaning you have to rely on adrenaline to keep your blood sugar stable while you sleep. If you need a burst of adrenaline during the night guess what? You wake up and have a hard time going back to sleep.)  

Shades of Gray

Gray is a mix of black and white.  Gray means better hormonal balance, less anxiety, less feelings of restriction and less guilt from falling off the wagon –  what it doesn’t mean is no results.  When I first meet with a patient and we discuss their goals I often ask them how important this is to them, what their level of commitment is and how soon they want results.  They typically respond with: “It’s a 10 of 10 – or even a 12 or 10! I want all you’ve got – diet, exercise, supplements – everything and I want results NOW!”

How many times have we jumped on board with a new book or a new plan and did great for a few months? Seriously, how many times???? If it’s more than once then what you did wasn’t sustainable and didn’t  give you lasting results.  It’s not to say that that particular plan was full of poor advice or that it didn’t work – but perhaps you went into the plan 110% and “blacked out”, so to say, and next ended up all “white washed” and totally off the wagon and most likely back to many of your old habits.

You’re not alone. Even my youngest patients, even 20 year old women, have tried at least one diet in the past and yet here we all are again – looking for the next, best way to shed pounds.

Learn to Use Your Dimmer Switch

Don’t black out. Pick a plan and incorporate 1-3 habits per week. Master them and then move on – trying to do everything at once is usually too overwhelming. For example, start eating a protein based breakfast everyday or figure out how to order out a healthy lunch. Or even drink more water.

Don’t white wash. When you get off track it doesn’t have to be a total disaster! You are one meal away, one workout away, even one positive thought about your body away from being back on plan. So you ate the bagel, don’t have it with a side of guilt and self defeat – have it with some lox to balance out the insulin response and get right back on track.

Guilt is optional in the gray zone.  Life will happen, you won’t be perfect everyday – but self correcting and not letting the guilt set in will help keep a bad meal or even a bad day from turning to weeks or months off plan.

Sometimes your gray will be darker than other times, you’ll be move motivated and supported and find it easier to make progress. When it lightens up, don’t panic and don’t feel guilty – if you are ready to get back on track, go for it. If you aren’t, find the gray zone that feels maintainable for now rather than holding on so tight to the idea that you have to be perfectly on plan that you lose your grip and drift away.

Know when you have the stamina to turn up the heat.  When you are ready for a big push towards your goal, be sure you are feeling healthy, injury free and supported before you jump in.

If you struggle with stamina on a plan, know when it’s a good time to start. Maybe planning to lose 20 pounds between Halloween and Christmas isn’t feasible for you, but losing 10 pounds and having 12 new habits by the New Year might be. 

BETTER Body Thoughts:

Ugh! I ate ______ , I might as well just start again next week!

BETTER: Ok, I ate _____ and that was a temptation for me because _______.  One off plan food doesn’t make or break anything – a week of plan will so I’m recommitted as of RIGHT NOW.

I wasn’t perfect this week, I missed workouts and didn’t eat well; this will never work so why bother.

BETTER: I did do _______ and _______ this week and I’ll continue to do those and include ______ next week. Doing something for my health is better than nothing – good habits build upon themselves. 

For example: I did get 3 workouts (but aimed for 6) and I got plenty of sleep this week. Next week I will schedule my workouts in like appointments to be sure they happen and I will drink more water.

What If We Took Compliance Out of the Equation?

And What Can We Learn From Bodybuilders About Losing Fat? 

You may think you have nothing to learn from these hulks and hulkettes. Many react to that particular physique with, “um, I would never want to look like that”. But let’s face it – body builders, or figure athletes, know how to lose body fat! And that’s something we’d all like to hear a little more about. 

A friend and colleague of mine, Matt McGorry, recently competed in his first body building competition (which by the way – he won!). I sat down with Matt and talked with him about his experience of losing 35 pounds and 12% body fat in about 4 months – which is no small feat, even for someone who was already considered fit. Impressive…but what can us regular folks learn from what these competitors go through to shed fat? 

How did you commit 110% to this goal? When I asked this, Matt didn’t hesitate one bit with this answer: “I knew I needed a good reason to do it. The reason to do it needs to justify the commitment, the hard work and the sacrifice it will take to pull it off….it had to be worth it.” 

Are you committed whole heartedly to leaning up? Or is it a ho-hum attempt that you think about off and on during the week – as in “I meant to hit the gym 5 times this week, oh well”.  Is your goal clear and measurable? Or vague, such as “I want to lose weight”? Instead of a clear, measurable goal with a deadline such as “I will lose 130 pounds by July 4^th.“. This type of goal allows you to know exactly where you are going, sets mileposts along the way and also, you know it will end….and then you’ll get to have a piece of pizza. 

Many of us think we are committing whole heartedly – and in the moment we probably are. Tuesday morning at my office you’re on board 110%, but come Happy Hour on Friday evening you’re 110% committed to unwinding with several cocktails. Next, your buzz leads you to make less that optimal dinner choices and your Saturday-morning-low-blood-sugar-brain has a one track mind: pancakes.

What is your reason for wanting to lean up and lose weight? It better be something good or it won’t be worth ordering a soda water when your friends are on their fourth drink or eating an on-plan meal before you head out to socialize so you aren’t tempted to get off track. 

Your reason can be whatever you want – but it needs to drive you. It needs to be something worth getting up at 6am to workout for, worth passing up the cookies at a co-worker’s birthday party and worth that effort it takes to drag yourself to the gym on those crazy busy days where it’s 9pm and its either go to bed or keep your commitment to working out that day. 

While losing fat might seem like one isolated aspect of your life, the discipline and fortitude it takes to achieve that goal will bleed into every other area – and people notice. Matt figured this goal would not only make him a better trainer, open up new acting roles, but also demonstrate to everyone that he had what it takes to be incredibly disciplined. 

Set your goal, give it a deadline, get some coaching or help on how to pull it off – then go for it! Do everything you can to achieve it – because honestly, if you do all you can and don’t achieve it you won’t be too bummed out. You will still have lost a lot of fat – even if it wasn’t all that you’d planned on. Disappointment will only come from looking back saying, “if only I wouldn’t have cheated those few times” or “if only I wouldn’t have done only 8 sprints when I was supposed to do 10”. Matt’s goal was to be compliant with his diet and exercise and keep his word to himself that he would do his absolute best – not to win a body building competition. In the end, that was just a bonus. 

With 16 weeks of strict diet and exercise, weren’t you temped to cheat?  Matt was so committed that he did not cheat once during his 16 week prep time. He didn’t sneak even one extra bite of food, nor did he miss even one minute of exercise.  He told me, “I didn’t want to be the kind of person who cheats or sells myself short”. To keep on track he focused on the fact that it was a short term goal – 16 weeks. After that he would not have to be so strict. He used other short term goals as well – like counting the days until his cheat meal and counting the minutes until the end of his cardio session. 

These little goals – even if it was “hey, I’ve done 30 minutes and I’ve got 30 minutes left” – kept him from feeling overwhelmed. Focusing on what you can do right now, in this moment, to get you closer to the goal keeps the bigger picture from becoming too daunting. Everyday make several little, good decisions and they will add up.  

Matt also did something a little scary for most of us – he told everyone what he was doing. He told his clients, other trainers and everyone else what his goal was.  This kept him accountable and got him in pretty deep, he said. “I couldn’t really throw in the towel on the frustrating days because I’d committed not only to myself, but to everyone around me that I was doing this.” Sharing his big goal also garnered some unexpected praise. Everyone who watched Matt go through his contest prep felt inspired by his determination and hard work…and it made several of us wonder just how far we could push ourselves. Matt never set out to inspire or gain more respect, but he certainly felt when it started to happen.  Another bonus. 

But what if you do “cheat”? Just shrug it off and get back on track – don’t let it derail you by beating yourself up over it. It’s done so now troubleshoot why it happened, try to avoid it in the future and get back to business.

I can hear you all now: Matt is a personal trainer….it would be much harder for me to lose 35 pounds. To be honest, losing 35 pounds would’ve been easier for some of you – and harder for some of you. Matt will be the first person to tell you that he loves junk food and can remember a time when it was rare for him to go a whole day without some sort of “treat”. However, he has been working on creating the discipline and building upon his nutrition knowledge for years, “This contest was like the sprint at the end of a marathon”.  

And although he is in the fitness profession and is a competitive power lifter, he’s had a harder time losing fat than his friends or fellow trainers – so he knew he’d have to work for it. He began using a nutrition coach over a year before he took on this project, so he’d cultivated a lot of habits that made this restrictive diet plan doable. “My aim was to be the best client ever. I did everything my nutrition coach asked me to do and it was amazing to see what was possible when I took compliance out of the equation.”

What if we could all do that? Not forever, but let’s say for just 16 weeks. What if for the next 16 weeks you completely adhered to your exercise and nutrition plan? No missed workouts, no unhallowed carbs, not one sip of alcohol….for just 16 weeks? What about just 8 weeks? What would be possible in your health and physique if “not doing what you needed to do” wasn’t an option? It’s something to think about, huh? 

And here come the Big Buts: But I have a job. But I have a child. But I am too busy. Yes it’s true that Matt didn’t have a toddler to chase after and he does work at a gym….but let’s not ignore everything he had to give up to do this. His show was in January, which meant he went through Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s…without cheating. He packed his chicken breast and carefully measured serving of brown rice to Thanksgiving dinner. He attended multiple Christmas parties sipping water or diet soda and staying away from even a taste of holiday cheer or holiday cookies. 

I asked Matt what it was like to have to give up so much: “It was miserable at times. It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But I knew it wasn’t forever and I had committed so much in the beginning that blowing it was not an option. I wanted to be successful more than I wanted to cheat.” 

How do you pull off something that takes so much time, stamina and hard work? Matt simply made it work – he did what he needed to do to get to his goal. Troubleshooting is the key and here’s a few of the things he did to make it work: 

            *Part of his workout regimen was hour long fasting walks on the treadmill, 7 days per week – tedious and boring. So he bought himself a portable DVD player to make it more bearable and said “it was probably the best money I’ve ever spent”.

Do what you need to do to make it work. Figure out another day of childcare, cut back on an hour of TV, solve your insomnia problem so you can get up and get to the gym in the morning – whatever it is get it handled! And of course ask for help if you need it.

            *Matt only ate out at a restaurant one time during the 16 weeks, which meant taking the time to grocery shop, cook and pack up meals – everyday. It does take a bit of time, but cooking for yourself keeps your diet very clean and yields amazing results.

           *One of the things that kept Matt from diving head first into a pint of Ben and Jerry’s was sticking to his meal schedule. Eating smaller, more frequent meals keeps you from getting too hungry and being left with only will power to get you through. Also, always having a meal with you means never having to either eat off plan or be left feeling famished.

            *Schedule, schedule, schedule! You schedule in important meetings and a haircut appointment right? Why treat your meals and workouts with any less importance? Set aside time to shop for and prep your health meals as well as time at the gym – then stick to it.

            *Keep your word to yourself. You said you’d get in 6 workouts this week and here we are at weeks end with only 4 done. What to do? Get them in. Consider a strength training workout in the morning or a fasted walk, and then an interval cardio session later that day. This isn’t ideal, but it keeps your promise.

Because Matt did this over the holidays, he wasn’t only up against holiday junk food but holiday gym hours. Some days because of shorter open hours, he hit the treadmill for his 60minutes of walking, gobble down a meal and 2 hours later was back at the gym for a weight training session.

So what can we learn from Matt’s experience and apply it TODAY to our fat loss goals?

*Commit fully to your goal. Make a solid, clear goal – with a deadline, and have a reason important enough to you that it matches the sacrifice and commitment.

*Share what you’re up to. This will give you support from others around you, keeps you accountable and before you know it you’ll probably inspire someone else to get healthier.

*Prep and pack your meals with you. Spend a little time each week cooking up chicken breasts, chopping up veggies for quick salads or stir-frys – or whatever it takes to have quick, healthy, fat-loss-supportive foods on hand so you can’t use the excuse “but I was exhausted and had nothing healthy to eat” or the all too common “I went out with a friend, was starving, and made terrible choices only to feel sluggish and guilty afterwards”. If you simply can’t cook for yourself, consider a healthy meal delivery service such as 5 Squares.

*If you are just starting out with more healthy, lean-eating habits – don’t sweat the small stuff. So your favorite restaurant doesn’t have organic salads. Still order the salad with chicken or fish instead of the pasta. If you can’t stomach one of Dr Brooke’s favorite snacks, say a can of sardines – what can you do? 3-4 oz organic, deli turkey? A protein shake? Find something that works. Don’t worry so much about if it was 4 or 5 oz of protein in the turkey burger you had for lunch when there was 6 hours between lunch and dinner. Stick with the basics of protein and veggies at every meal, opt for higher fiber carbs such as sweet potato or legumes over breads and cereals, and always eat every 3-4 hours.

*Don’t set yourself up for failure or feeling deprived by going to a social event hungry. Eat something on your plan before you go and always, always stick to the 3-4 hour meal rule – it’s truly the best craving reducer.

*Get some help. If you aren’t sure what you should be eating or have been doing the same tired workout for months – get some help. Matt attributes much of his success to “putting himself in the hands of a trusted nutrition coach”. From there he just had to do what he was told.

*Remember losing fat isn’t forever – you’ll lose it and then you’ll be in maintenance.  If you could possibly commit 110% percent for just a finite period of time – maintenance will be a piece of cake! Literally.

For more info on Matt visit www.mattmcgtraining.com or www.peakperformancenyc.com. To read more about his bodybuilding contest prep, see an interview at: http://elitefts.com/documents/mcgorry-starnes.htm.  And for you guys out there, check out Matt’s article in March’s Men’s Health Magazine about getting that good lookin’ V Shaped Torso.