To be fair, the study only provides an observational correlation, but it tracked 11,000 participants, so it was a fairly large sample. The findings are not that the TV itself shortens your life. Rather, it’s simply that people who watched six or more hours of television per day lived, on average, 4.8 years shorter. The study noted that the increased mortality rate was comparable to that of other major chronic disease risk factors such as physical inactivity and obesity.

From here, it’s up to us to make our own assumptions. Hours in front of the TV limits the amount of time we’re physically active. It likely also increases the chances we’re snacking on crappy foods. And, presumably, you’re sitting while you’re watching all that telly, which is even worse, making these exercises even more important.

We take a lot of family road trips. Despite an often significant amount of our minivan’s aft section being dedicated to coolers and food bins, there are times when we just need to grab a quick bite. As you can imagine, it’s a challenge finding fast food that’s nutritious and palatable.

Subway seems to be an undiscovered treasure web it comes to breakfast. There’s never a line in the morning and it’s cheap. Sure, we’re not talking about free range eggs or organic meats here, but when you’re on the road, compromises are made.

Fortunately, Subway’s Sunrise Melt breakfast sandwich isn’t much of a compromise. It’s their highest protein breakfast sandwich and it’s only $3.75*. You get your choice of bread, but the scrambled egg is shaped like a tortilla, which holds all the meat and cheese quite nicely on its own, as demonstrated above, so you can ditch the carb heavy grains. Oh, and you can load the b’fast sammies up with all their vegetables just like the regular subs.

The monstrosity you see above is a 6″ Sunrise Melt with double egg and meat (ham, turkey & bacon) and it cost $4.75. I think the kid working there may have mis-rung that one, but it’s still likely to be under six bucks. And I was full for hours. Hit “more” for it’s nutrition by the numbers…

Here’s about how it breaks down:**

Sunrise Melt w/o Bread

• 48g Protein
• 30g Fat
• 13g Sat Fat
• 16g Carbs
• 6g Sugar

Halve the numbers if you don’t plan on doubling the meat & egg.

One caution. Without bread, all but one of their b’fast sandwiches are over 700mg sodium. With bread, they top 1000mg. So drink plenty of water and limit sodium the rest of the day. Breakfast BMT, Sunrise Melt and SEC are highest – 400mg to 600mg more than the others. With the meat & egg doubled, mine probably topped 2600mg even without the bread.

* prices probably vary by store.
** roughly calculated from Subway’s nutritional chart accounting for the removal of bread. Download it here (PDF). Veggies added will affect nutritional content, but only for the better.

Some of my computer work takes a while to open and save, and sometimes images I’m uploading to my other site, Bikerumor.com, take a while to transfer. During both, my computer’s preoccupied and I’m stuck waiting.

Likely, your job has similar “obstacles” to a free flowing work stream. Rather than sit idly by, then get out of your seat and do a couple exercises. You just got paid to exercise.

If the Air Squat shown above would make you look like a cubicle prairie dog gone mad, click through for a few discreet but powerfully effective exercises you can do in your cubicle in less than one minute.

HOW TO: AIR SQUAT – (top image) Stand with arms straight out in front of you. Squat down until thighs are parallel with floor (or as close to parallel as you can get). As you squat, push your butt back as if you’re going to sit in a chair. This keeps your knees above or behind your toes, which is where you want them. Stand back up. Do 20 to 30 reps, fast or slow.

HOW TO: INCLINE PUSHUP – Put your toes on the edge of your chair and your palms on the ground directly under your shoulders. Your hands should be a bit wider than shoulder width apart so that when you lower yourself down, your forearms are close to perpendicular to the ground. Lower yourself until your upper arms are parallel with the floor. Push yourself back up. Do as many as you can.

HOW TO: DIPS – Put your feet on the edge of your chair and your palms on the edge of your desk, spaced approximately as shown in the picture above. Lower yourself as much as you can, stopping when your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Push yourself back up. Do as many as you can. If your chair has wheels on it, this will be tougher but better.

HOW TO: THE FOUNDER – Stand with feet shoulder width apart and bend slightly at the knees. Push your butt buck to exaggerate the natural arch in your lower back (lordosis) and lean forward, forming approximately a 90º bend at the waist. Your weight should be on your heels. Pull your shoulders back and down, reaching your hands straight back past your butt. Hold for 15 seconds. Reach up straight past your head, but keep your shoulders back and down (don’t shrug, your shoulders should not be up by your ears). Palms should be turned 45º inward between down and facing each other. Hold for 15 seconds. Repeat. You should feel this in your lower back. This graphic only shows a partial Founder. The video below shows the full exercise in action, and it’s from a book I like called Foundation.

DISCLAIMER: By doing these or any other exercises at work, you are fully responsible for your own health and safety, the safety of your office furniture and what your co-workers think of you. That is until they see you at the company picnic. Then their opinions may change.

Oh, and I don’t recommend doing any of these with heels on.

Saw this sign at RiverScape Metro park in Dayton, OH. Makes you think…if it’s not good enough for the birds, why are we eating it?

How to make healthy eating and exercise easy: Make a list of the things two main goals you want to accomplish.

Make it short, simple and clearly defined, like “No grains or sugar” or “Only eat vegetables, fruit and meat” or “Do 20 pushups every morning.”

By writing it out, you’ve made the decision to do it and put it in no uncertain terms. From there, all you have to do is follow your list. For exercise, use that smartphone and set a reminder at the time of day you want to do the exercise (first thing in the morning pretty much guarantees it won’t get pushed off the day’s plate), and if necessary, set a second reminder for the night before to lay out your workout clothes. Set the reminder to repeat every day.

This same concept is used by some very smart people to get more of the important stuff done each day, and there’s nothing more important than your health. I bet in a matter of days, you have it memorized and in just a week or two, it becomes automatic. Congratulations, you just made a major healthy lifestyle change by writing a couple of sentences.

Want to see a couple simple ways to keep your list in front of you? Click ‘more’…

Take a picture of your list and make it your computer’s background screen.

Use the same pic for your home/lock screen on your phone.

One more tip: If one of your daily reminders is something like “Do yoga video when I wake up”, then put the DVD in the player the night before and have your remote lined up ready to get it started. Remove all barriers and impediments to doing the things on your list and they’ll be even easier!

First, the Corn Processors fire off ads mocking the intelligence of those who slight High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). Sugar Growers blast back with ads highlighting the manufactured, chemical nature of HFCS in a very unappetizing manner (Remember the school play where a kid says “I’m high fructose corn syrup and I’m chemically altered”? I couldn’t find a link).

Then, the Corn Refiners Association asked the FDA’s permission to allow HFCS to be labeled “corn sugar” and began advertising that moniker before receiving approval. Now, the sugar industry has sued to stop the commercials, claiming false advertising and damages for lost profits and corrective advertising.

Does any of it matter? No. Avoid both. The only winner in this battle is the lawyers. Why? Click ‘more’ for the bullet points…

• Sugar (aka Sucrose) is 50% glucose / 50% fructose.
• HFCS is 45% glucose / 55% fructose (there are other versions, but this is what’s used in beverages)
• Metabolically speaking, they’re processed the same by your body. How they are produced is irrelevant
• The glucose is absorbed directly into the bloodstream, triggering an insulin response and gets stored as fat immediately. Higher sugar content equals a larger insulin response equals more stored as fat.
• The fructose is processed by your liver and, when consumed in rapid abundance (ie. drinking a soda), gets processed into and stored as fat.
• In other words, both are equally good at making you fat.
• Continued overconsumption of either sugar or HFCS is likely to lead to insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes, obesity, heart disease and high cholesterol, among other health risks.
• Even slightly elevated levels of blood glucose produce Advanced Glycation End-Products (AGEs) that cause hardening of the arteries, inflammation and lead to high blood pressure, arthritis and more. They also interfere with the vascular dilation (read: erectile disfunction) and vascular permeability (read: holes in your arteries).
• In the absence of glucose, your body will burn fat for energy.

TAKEAWAY:

Ignore the news and courtroom drama. If you want to be healthy and get/stay lean, avoid Sugar, Fructose and HFCS in any form. Whole fruit, in most cases, contains far less fructose than sugary beverages and snacks, and can be eaten in moderation without harm. Just skip the juice.

REFERENCES:

• Links within story, plus:
• Is Sugar Toxic? (NY Times Magazine, by Gary Taubes)
• Advanced Glycation End-Products (Wikipedia)
• Sugar: The Bitter Truth (Video presentation by Dr. Robert H. Lustig)
• Why We Get Fat: And What To Do About It (by Gary Taubes)
• Suicide by Sugar (by Dr. Nancy Appleton)

The USDA unveiled the much needed replacement for their God-Awful food pyramid, MyPlate. Conceptually, it’s a great visual representation that clearly and quickly shows what to put on your plate.

I just decided to make it healthier. Pick your plate. Government’s on the left, Crashfit’s at center and right. Hit ‘more’ for details…

FAT LOSS – Grains, Sugar and Dairy will slow down or completely sabotage any attempt to lose weight. For a bit more comprehensive list of foods to eat when you want to burn fat, check this post. Sugar and Grains will quickly convert to glucose once digested, which causes a big insulin response. This tells your body to store all of that glucose as fat. Don’t eat sugar (including, unfortunately, that found in fruit, too) and grains and skip the milk and you’ll be priming your body to burn off accumulated body fat without storing more. A little (real) cheese is fine.

DAIRY – The USDA recommends drinking skim or 1% milk, but if you’re trying to lose weight or just get some good healthy fats, you should drink 2% or Whole Milk. As a longtime Skim drinker that’s recently converted, that recommendation doesn’t come lightly (just ask Sweetie). Real cheese and Greek yogurt are good, and if you can find a non nonfat Greek yogurt, all the better.

GRAINS – Conventional Wisdom says we need all the fiber and complex carbs that grains have to offer. Problem is, they all contain proteins similar to Gluten (or gluten itself) that cause intestinal irritation, resulting in inflammation or worse. They’re also high in carbs, which are easily stored as fat.

PORTION SIZE – Other than overdoing it on fruit (because of the sugar), you really don’t need to worry about counting calories or watching portion sizes. Eat until your full, then stop.

This isn’t a crash diet, it’s simply healthy eating based on foods that promote fat loss and discourage fat gain.

It couldn’t be simpler. You don’t have to count calories, adjust portions, track points, blah, blah, blah. Just eat the Good Foods, skip the Bad Foods. Eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full. Besides losing fat, eating this way is exceptionally healthy. You’ll feel great doing it, have plenty of energy and you’ll be full.

You’ll notice there are a few otherwise healthy foods (fruit!) on the list of things you’ll eliminate – it’s necessary to promote rapid fat loss. There’s no harm in eating like this for extended periods of time. Heck, our ancestors did it for about 2.5 million years. Once you’ve hit your target weight, you can bring things like fruit, milk and others back into your diet, which is outlined in our Healthy Eating Food Plan (coming soon).

Combine with our 10-minute Tone & Strengthen Base Workout to maximize results and sculpt a strong, shapely body as you lose the fat!

WHY THIS REALLY IS SIMPLE:
Because you simply don’t eat the stuff in the BAD FOODS column. Not “oh just a little bit.” None. Don’t even think about it, just do it. Anyone can do it. You can do it, too. It’s only for a couple months. Simple, right?

WHAT TO DO & HOW IT WORKS:

• This high protein plan fills you up with foods that won’t easily convert to body fat.
• You get fat because carbohydrates, even those from whole grains, quickly convert to glucose. All that extra glucose causes your body to release a lot of insulin. Insulin tells your body to direct the glucose into the fat cells for storage. Thus, when you eat carbs, they are predisposed to be stored as fat, even if you exercise a lot.
• Eliminating carbs forces your body to mobilize its fat stores for energy, fueling everything from brain function to muscles to normal biological functions. When you eat grains, sugar and other carbs, your fat stores remain intact and unused, and the carbs simply add to them.
• Protein and Fat create virtually no insulin response and provide the ideal energy for your body. Your body is finely tuned to produce what glucose it does need from its fat stores.
• Contrary to popular belief, the fats from the meat, eggs and vegetable sources (avocado, nuts, etc.) recommended here won’t make you fat. In fact, your cholesterol, blood pressure and triglyceride levels are all likely to improve.
• Don’t worry about counting calories or managing portion sizes. Eat when you’re hungry and eat until you’re full. Trying to restrict calories will make your body want to hold onto its current fat stores, which will make this hard, and it isn’t.
• If you’re hungry between meals, snack on nuts, cheese, fresh veggies or leftovers. More tips are on the next page.
• Cutting these things out cold turkey may leave you with cravings. That’s normal, but they’ll pass after the first week or so, after which you’ll notice your energy levels will become more stable, without the ebbs and flows common after large, carb-heavy meals. You may even notice that you’re not starving when you wake up in the morning or craving sweets late at night.
• Don’t cheat. Just one little cheat opens the floodgate and makes it far more likely you’ll cheat again and sabotage the entire plan. Sugar is particularly insidious…one taste and you’ll just want more, it actually is addictive, and even drinking artificially sweetened beverages may trigger an insulin response, which tells the body to store fat.
• Take all of the BAD FOODS from your pantry and donate them to a food bank. Out of sight,out of mind.
• When you eat out, order like you mean it. Restaurants can and will substitute.
• Continue on this plan for as long as it takes to reach your goals.

BURN FAT FOOD PLAN PDF

Share this with friends or just keep a copy handy when you’re offline. Download the PDF with bonus tips to get you started!

Crashfit’s Tone & Strengthen workout is a full body workout designed to strengthen and tone the upper body, core, legs and butt.

With just five exercises it works the entire body quickly and effectively to create functional, practical strength and power that you’ll use in everyday movements. In particular, the T&S workout is designed to:

• Strengthen the muscles typically ignored by desk work, sitting on a couch or driving for long periods.
• Strengthen and tone the back, leg and butt muscles that provide a strong, sexy appearance.
• Strengthen the hip and core muscles to improve athletic performance.

Combine this workout with our Fat Burn Food Plan (coming soon) to look and feel your best. The video above shows proper form for each exercise, and photos, technique tips and more information is posted after the break…

The Tone & Strengthen Workout Routine

This workout puts the exercises in a particular order to maximize safety and effectiveness. The first two not only give you a good workout, they also loosen up your back and hips for the Kettle Bell Swings. The Mountain Climbers then work the front side and get your shoulders and chest ready for the pushups. I strongly recommend doing these exercises in the order shown. For all exercises:

• Do as many as you can.
• Minimum of 20 reps per exercise
• 50 minimum for Kettle Bell Swings

The whole thing only takse about 10 minutes, so make the most of it. For the Kettle Bell Swing, pick a weight that lets you do safely at least 50 reps. When you’re picking your weight, keep in mind your daily activities and fitness level. If you’re routinely lifting heavy things (children, boxes, etc.), choose a weight that’s about half of that . I’m using a 25lb kettle bell is what I’m using in these photos and video – I’m an avid cyclist and it’s plenty of weight. Beginners should start with 5lbs to 10lbs. (Practice with an unopened gallon of milk to see what 8lbs feels like, just don’t drop it!)

Together, these moves will help give you a great beach body by shaping the muscles in your butt and back (kind of like a “butt lift”), strengthen your core and hips for more explosive sports performance and generally improve your fitness. To maximize fat loss, do this workout first thing in the morning followed by a high protein, low carb breakfast. To really drop the fat, follow our Fat Burn Food Plan.

Supine Bridge

• Start this exercise by lying on your back and bringing your knees up to form about a 90º angle (left).
• Your upper back should be flat on the ground, and your lower back should maintain its natural arch. You can tell if it’s in the correct position if you’re able to slide your hand underneath your lower back. If you’re unable to do this because of excess mid-section girth, just focus on keeping your abs relaxed.
• Keep your arms and head relaxed and lying flat on the ground. Do not attempt to lift your body with your head or neck.
• Lift your toes slightly, this will help you focus the effort on your glutes (butt) rather than activating the hamstrings.
• The movement begins by lifting your butt off the ground. You should feel the effort almost entirely in your butt, not your legs or abs.
• Focus on pushing down into the ground through your heels.
• At the top of the movement, you should be resting on your heels and shoulder blades. Your body should form a straight line from your knees to your shoulders.
• If you feel the exercise mostly in your hamstrings (back of your thighs), adjust your heel position and/or the amount of toe lift.
• Do as many reps as you can, minimum of 20. If you can easily do 20 or more, try lifting with one leg at a time as shown in the video.

Bird Dog

• To perform the Bird Dog, start by resting on your hands and knees.
• Your hands should be directly under your shoulders, and your knees directly under your hips.
• Keep your neck in line with your spine and your head facing straight downward throughout the movement.
• To begin, kick your right leg out.
• Keep your toes down and focus on kicking out, not up. Your heel should not rise above your butt.
• At the same time, extend your opposite arm straight out in front of you, turning your thumb up like you’re giving someone a thumbs up while shaking their hand.
• Your back should maintain its natural arch throughout the movement.
• Pause briefly at the top, then return to the starting position.
• Repeat with the other leg and arm and continue to alternate sides.
• Do as many reps as you can, minimum of 20 total (10 per side).
• To make it a little harder, pause for 3 to 5 seconds at the top before lowering your arm and leg.

Kettle Bell Swings

• Begin with feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart.
• Toes should point between straight forward and 15º out.
• Hold kettle bell with both hands, letting it hang in front of you.
• Bring shoulders back and down and keep your head facing straight forward throughout the movement; this will keep your back in a natural arch and keep you from bending too far forward.

• Start the movement by pushing your butt backwards as though you were going to sit in a chair.
• As you come down, keep your knees in line over your toes and don’t let them extend in front of your toes.
• Come down as far as you can, stopping when your thighs are parallel with the floor.
• Your lower back should maintain a natural curve.
• On the first movement, swing the weight slightly backward between your legs and immediately start the upward movement.

• The upward movement should be fast and powerful, as though you’re trying to jump off the ground.
• The weight is lifted entirely by momentum…do NOT lift the weight with your arms or shoulders.
• The weight should rise to about face or neck level. Do not let it rise higher than your head.
• The movement is a straight vertical, up-and-down lift, not a swing. Your hips should not thrust forward.
• As you come back down, do not bend forward. Maintain proper back form, and let the weight gently swing between your legs.
• Repeat movement as many times as you can; shoot for a minimum of 50 reps. If necessary, it’s OK to rest for a second in order to get 50 total.
• If you’re regularly doing more than 60, move up to a heavier weight.

Mountain Climber

• The Mountain Climber works your entire core along with a little shoulders and chest.
• To perform the Mountain Climber, start in the standard pushup position on your hands and toes.
• Your hands should be directly under your shoulders, slightly wider than shoulder width apart.
• Your head and neck should remain in line with your spine, and you should face down looking just in front of your hands.
• Bring one knee up to your chest, squeezing briefly at the furthest forward point, then return to the starting position.
• Repeat with the other leg and continue to alternate legs.
• Do as many as you can, minimum of 10 per side.

Standard Pushup

That completes the Tone & Strengthen workout. GREAT JOB!!!

Addressed to the family matriarchs – my mom, grandmother, aunts, sisters-in-law and cousins – I asked that they refrain from buying bunny shaped (or any other shape) candy for our children. Apparently this caused an uproar. Separately, I emailed a list of groceries to my mom with an offer to make dinners if she would pick them up. The list, of course, included mostly organic and/or free-range meats and vegetables, which provided a bit of sticker shock for her.

The conversation, in a greatly truncated manner, went something like this: Kristi, my wife, explained that while my email was curt, our decision to eat and live the way we do has been a constant progression of small decisions made over the past 15+ years. We tend to make changes abruptly based on things we learn and try, and given our geographical distance to my family and only seeing them a few times per year, our lifestyle choices can seem overwhelming when presented bluntly and in rapid fire manner.

But, as the conversation progressed, we could hear my mom’s wheels turning. She recounted how, in her youth, all of the meat and eggs they ate came directly from the farm. Vegetables, too. There were no hormones or antibiotics and very little mass-produced meat in their diet. Whether because of budget or availability, they also ate very little snacks, cakes or other junk food. She even mentioned this to one of the other family members, which seemed to get her wheels turning a bit.

Then we started explaining why we were cutting out grains from our diet and eyes rolled, glazed or quickly averted to the TV.

Family conversations like these inspired me to start Crashfit. Here, things are broken down into simplified and clearly explained bite size nuggets. Hopefully, these smaller “conversations” get the wheels turning, for my family and yours.