Freedom Forum Fit Club

[coachmarcMy own worst enemy]

I've been working out for about thirty years. I decided to start this thread to help anyone who is working out to become healthier, fitter, stronger, and leaner. I've recently enjoyed great success with programs like P90X and Insanity so much that I became a Beachbody Coach. My primary passion is barbell work (deadlifts, squats, presses, etc). I am also a certified personal trainer in my early forties and in the best health and shape of my life. I am very committed to reversing the trend of obesity and its related illnesses and diseases around the globe. I have already helped and trained folks in the US, Canada, South America, UK and of course locally with nutrition and exercise.

I'd like to dedicate this thread to you. Feel free to use this thread to ask me any questions you have about getting healthy, getting buff, getting lean, etc. I will be checking in regularly to freely answer questions about exercise and nutrition and help anyone with their own fitness journey. I truly hope that this benefits everyone and that I can be of service. You can also find a growing source of information and articles on my website.

For more info, visit my website: http://marcsstrengthfitness.com

[iamse7encaptain of 1,000]

Sorry, I was just reminded of this clip as I read this:



I should get more fit though...

[coachmarcMy own worst enemy]

That was funny!

Yeah, I get that most people don't value training like I do, although I'm confident that everyone wants or needs to be healthier, especially in today's society. The foods we eat are not of the same quality that our grandparents and great grandparents grew up with, hence the meteoric rise in obesity and it's associated diseases in the US. Has anyone seen the documentary, "Ingredients" on Netflix? Well worth watching, especially now that the government is involved in the foods we consume.

[Zkulptorcaptain of 100]

That was funny!

Yeah, I get that most people don't value training like I do, although I'm confident that everyone wants or needs to be healthier, especially in today's society. The foods we eat are not of the same quality that our grandparents and great grandparents grew up with, hence the meteoric rise in obesity and it's associated diseases in the US. Has anyone seen the documentary, "Ingredients" on Netflix? Well worth watching, especially now that the government is involved in the foods we consume.

Welcome to the forum Marc! I agree with you, we could all benefit from taking better care of our bodies, what we eat, going ot bed early/rising early, eating right.
By the way, I love your Avatar, I know the guy that sculpted that, "nothing stops the juggernaut" sorry I sculpt/design Marvel characters for a living and Juggy is one of my favorite designs.

[SpeedRacercaptain of 1,000]

I eat garbage most of the day. But I am almost in a constant state of motion, even when sitting. So most people hate me because I eat all the time and do not gain weight.

[JasonI am a nobody!]

Another aspect of our lives that may go through some dramatic changes in the near term....

[SpeedRacercaptain of 1,000]

Jules, I am addicted to refined white sugar, and I love it. What, besides that, should I avoid the most?

[JasonI am a nobody!]

Jules, I am addicted to refined white sugar, and I love it. What, besides that, should I avoid the most?

...processed pap!!!

[SpeedRacercaptain of 1,000]

What is processed pap?

[SpeedRacercaptain of 1,000]

Don't get me wrong, my wife is trying to kill me with whole wheat bread she is making herself, and having vegetarian nights and stuff, but if there was one thing to avoid besides white flour and sugar, what would it be?

[JasonI am a nobody!]

What is processed pap?

Most of the stuff in the grocery stores. If it comes in a package it is most likely processed pap (term coined by Michael Colgan of the Colgan Institute).

The processed pap that lines supermarket shelves is plants several steps removed, which is why it provides little nourishment at all. To protect your brain you should know how closely it is linked with shoots, roots, fruits, and leaves.

http://www.askshelly.com/articles/page. ... rain_aging

[JasonI am a nobody!]

Don't get me wrong, my wife is trying to kill me with whole wheat bread she is making herself, and having vegetarian nights and stuff, but if there was one thing to avoid besides white flour and sugar, what would it be?

Probably either aspartame (I'd put it #1) or high fructose corn syrup. MSG is right behind them. If you can't readily identify the ingredients...probably a good idea NOT to put it into your body. You are what you eat!!!

[durangoutcaptain of 1,000]

You sound like the right guy to ask this question: I've heard that the glycemic index of oatmeal cookie dough (raw dough) is lower than the baked cookies. If so, I should just eat the dough and not the cookies, right?

[coachmarcMy own worst enemy]

I typically tend to eat raw foods (lots of veggies), lean meats like steaks, tilapia fish and whole eggs, oatmeal, fresh fruits, etc. I stay away from most processed, packaged foods, although I do enjoy the occasional cold wheat cereal. I very seldom to never eat McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell and all those junk food places that feed us greasy fat and sodium by the truck loads unless I'm on vacation and then I'm extremely selective. I do eat at Subway sometimes. McDonalds tends to serve products known to cause cancer in the state of California and they have posted signs about it, too. I rarely eat candy, though I do like peanut m&m's and I sometimes drink a diet soda pop. I'm currently at about 11-12% body fat and very active.

[JasonI am a nobody!]

I typically tend to eat raw foods (lots of veggies), lean meats like steaks, tilapia fish and whole eggs, oatmeal, fresh fruits, etc. I stay away from most processed, packaged foods, although I do enjoy the occasional cold wheat cereal. I very seldom to never eat McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell and all those junk food places that feed us greasy fat and sodium by the truck loads unless I'm on vacation and then I'm extremely selective. I do eat at Subway sometimes. McDonalds tends to serve products known to cause cancer in the state of California and they have posted signs about it, too. I rarely eat candy, though I do like peanut m&m's and I sometimes drink a diet soda pop. I'm currently at about 11-12% body fat and very active.

...steak is a lean meat???

[SpeedRacercaptain of 1,000]

Honestly from my POV, something is going to kill you. There have been predictions that the person who will live to 150 yrs/old has been born. Sure we see sickness and disease, sure we see obesity. But our mortality rate is so low that the weak people make it through to adulthood. 150 years ago that was just not the case. We talk about our grandfathers food being healthier, but we forget they had some rough times where they ate tons of moldy food to prevent starvation. How much food gets pitched on a daily basis?

While I agree we have a stewardship over our bodies, moderation is key. Going overboard on anything, and moving our focus too much on something that reduces our ability to serve our fellow men is in violation of good, better, best. We will be more concerned on service at the end of the day, than if we had one too many cheeseburgers I promise. Of course if we put ourselves in an early grave, we will have some serious regret as well.

So exercise, but in moderation. Eat healthy, but not to the point that it consumes all of your time to ensure you have strained every last chemical from your diet. Have desert or sweets from time to time, especially with friends over good conversation.

Lastly, ensure your spirit is well fed, and is clean. This will count most of all.

[JasonI am a nobody!]

Honestly from my POV, something is going to kill you. There have been predictions that the person who will live to 150 yrs/old has been born. Sure we see sickness and disease, sure we see obesity. But our mortality rate is so low that the weak people make it through to adulthood. 150 years ago that was just not the case. We talk about our grandfathers food being healthier, but we forget they had some rough times where they ate tons of moldy food to prevent starvation. How much food gets pitched on a daily basis?

While I agree we have a stewardship over our bodies, moderation is key. Going overboard on anything, and moving our focus too much on something that reduces our ability to serve our fellow men is in violation of good, better, best. We will be more concerned on service at the end of the day, than if we had one too many cheeseburgers I promise. Of course if we put ourselves in an early grave, we will have some serious regret as well.

So exercise, but in moderation. Eat healthy, but not to the point that it consumes all of your time to ensure you have strained every last chemical from your diet. Have desert or sweets from time to time, especially with friends over good conversation.

Lastly, ensure your spirit is well fed, and is clean. This will count most of all.

Well that would be nice.....but unfortunately there are conspiracies afloat to try to kill you (but over time) and suck out every last dollar in the process. So one has to be much more careful and informed than ever before in history....or pay the price! A few years ago I found myself doing the funky chicken on the floor at work.....its been an enlightening educational process ever since (and I prescribed to the same paradigm you do above at that time).

A Word of Wisdom, for the benefit of the council of high priests, assembled in Kirtland, and the church, and also the saints in Zion—

To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom, showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days—

Given for a principle with promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints.

Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation—

http://lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/89?lang=eng

[SpeedRacercaptain of 1,000]

Must be genetic. I just had 4 family members who lived like me pass at over 94 years of age. Something is working.

[BrianM]

I'm going to take you up on your offer to answer our health and nutrition questions... I feel like I know what I should be doing and I am progressing but when I'm not progressing as I would like it seems I'm simply not doing what I know I should do... though I also still like to ask questions of others to get other perspectives and input.

I've been exercising on a regular basis for about 9 months now. I'm doing a mix of cardio (treadmill / elliptical / bike) and weights (bench press and various upper/lower body machines)...

Question: If I'm exercising about 1 hour a day, 4 or 5 days a week, what do you recommend in regards to what I should do each day? cardio every day? how long? upper body weights twice a week? lower twice a week? or? I'm working out at Gold's Gym in American Fork (anyone else??) sometimes I take some of classes there (bootcamp/kickboxing), I usually get a better workout that way.

Ideas for getting rid of addiction to 'refined white sugar'?

[WhereCanITurn4Peacecaptain of 100]

Welcome coachmarc! Glad to have ya!

...steak is a lean meat???

From what I've heard/read, filet mignon aka beef tenderloin is very lean and a great cut of meat. Super tasty, but expensive.

When my husband and I have our "date night" (2 or 3 times a month), our go-to restaurant is usually a quality steak house. Nothing like a medium rare 7 oz filet mignon and sweet potato...YUM!

[WhereCanITurn4Peacecaptain of 100]

Another member of the sugar addiction club right here!

I drink maybe 1 soda a week (if that), but I sure do looove me some baked goods. I have noticed that if I've stayed away from eating refined sugar (especially candy), the drive to eat/drink it goes down. When I consume more, I crave more.

I like to put grapes and bananas in the freezer...delicious and feels more like a treat that way.

Was interested in using agave, but have read that agave nectar is not a natural sweetener and it has more concentrated fructose in it than high fructose corn syrup, so was discouraged from using it.

From the Food Renegade website: In a recent article now posted on the Weston A. Price foundation’s website, Ramiel Nagel and Sally Fallon Morell write,

"Agave nectar is not made from the sap of the yucca or agave plant but from the starch of the giant pineapple-like, root bulb. The principal constituent of the agave root is starch, similar to the starch in corn or rice, and a complex carbohydrate called inulin, which is made up of chains of fructose molecules.Technically a highly indigestible fiber, inulin, which does not taste sweet, comprises about half of the carbohydrate content of agave.

The process by which agave glucose and inulin are converted into nectar is similar to the process by which corn starch is converted into HFCS. The agave starch is subject to an enzymatic and chemical process that converts the starch into a fructose-rich syrup—anywhere from 70 percent fructose and higher according to the agave nectar chemical profiles posted on agave nectar websites."

http://www.foodrenegade.com/agave-nectar-good-or-bad/

[coachmarcMy own worst enemy]

Speedracer, I believe it's about the quality of life. Consider JackLalanne who could do hundreds upon hundreds of push ups in one set, exercises vigorously and ate healthy until about 96 when he finally passed away. Then someone like President Hinckley, who lived about as long, but was feeble, though supported and sustained by the Lord. Many people live to see their nineties, whether or not they smoked and drank all their lives or avoided it all in favor of wholesome foods and quality exercise. It's about the quality of life and the burden you refrain from putting your body through and the burden it places on family and society for making poor food choices.

As far as steaks go, they can be lean, I should have qualified steak as "lean steak". Lots of protein and creatine in meats and poultry. I seldom eat red meat, though. Most of my protein comes from tilapia fish and whey protein shakes.

[coachmarcMy own worst enemy]

Question: If I'm exercising about 1 hour a day, 4 or 5 days a week, what do you recommend in regards to what I should do each day? cardio every day? how long? upper body weights twice a week? lower twice a week? or? I'm working out at Gold's Gym in American Fork (anyone else??) sometimes I take some of classes there (bootcamp/kickboxing), I usually get a better workout that way.

Ideas for getting rid of addiction to 'refined white sugar'?

It all really depends on your personal goals. The more muscle you build/have, the more efficiently you metabolize fat. Muscle burns fat. I good balance of resistance training and cardio will keep your muscles strong, as well as your connective tissues. Cardio, of course, keeps your cardiovascular system healthy as well as blood pressure, etc. I say do what you enjoy, whether it's bike riding, rope jumping, running, etc. The point is to keep moving to stay mobile, flexible and strong.

[JasonI am a nobody!]

Must be genetic. I just had 4 family members who lived like me pass at over 94 years of age. Something is working.

LOL....keep telling yourself that!

My grandfather boiled his pancakes in bacon grease every morning up until his late 70's. He stayed pretty healthy up until his 90's when after taking some medication his vision got jacked up. He died on the john (trying to get some processed pap out of his system) a week before hitting 95.

My father eats the same and is in his 60's with no major health problems.

That said....ingredients in most if not all processed foods have undergone some rather dramatic changes just in the last 10 years (look into the FDA approval process for aspartame - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 8524526735). What have formerly been classified as toxic poisons are now food ingredients. Your raw foods our now coated with myriad pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc....not to mention genetic modifications like including the Roundup (toxic poison) in the genes of the plant (now you can eat the poison).....all due to the deficiencies in trace minerals that have developed over decades of destroying farm land that create weak diseased plants that need extensive coddling and genetic manipulation in order to survive. And then you eat them....making the same coddling necessary for you!

Diabetes is spreading like wildfire....not to mention other stuff like autism, asthma, etc...from vaccines.

Might ask yourself why pharma companies are invested in fast food companies??? ....and why health insurance companies are invested in both???

Ignorance is bliss. Maybe you'll get lucky....maybe you won't.

[JohnnyLcaptain of 1,000]

...My grandfather boiled his pancakes in bacon grease every morning up until his late 70's. He stayed pretty healthy up until his 90's when after taking some medication his vision got jacked up. He died on the john (trying to get some processed pap out of his system) a week before hitting 95.

Where can I get some of that bacon grease?

[JasonI am a nobody!]

...My grandfather boiled his pancakes in bacon grease every morning up until his late 70's. He stayed pretty healthy up until his 90's when after taking some medication his vision got jacked up. He died on the john (trying to get some processed pap out of his system) a week before hitting 95.

Where can I get some of that bacon grease?

LOL....I think it was a sheep herder special! Couldn't keep up with him deer hunting when he was in his late 70's....nor my father.

[Elizabethcaptain of 10]

I am endeavouring to eliminate acid reflux without resorting to medication. Anyone have advice?

So far, drinking lots of water helps. Keeping away from milk, bread. tomato, cheese... except for ricotta.

[kingbmmcaptain of 100]

Coach Marc,
I have about two weeks to trim down and add as much muscle as possible, going on a short trip with some friends...what kind of daily work out routine would you reccomend along with diet?

[coachmarcMy own worst enemy]

I am endeavouring to eliminate acid reflux without resorting to medication. Anyone have advice?

So far, drinking lots of water helps. Keeping away from milk, bread. tomato, cheese... except for ricotta.

Does it happen at night before bed or in the morning when you wake up? There are difference. Anyway, without taking meds? Well, for one, stay away from spicy foods and fried foods. Secondly, here is a site that may help:

http://www.heartburn-remedies.com/

[coachmarcMy own worst enemy]

Coach Marc,
I have about two weeks to trim down and add as much muscle as possible, going on a short trip with some friends...what kind of daily work out routine would you reccomend along with diet?

Wow, two weeks isn't really enough time to make a significant change in fat loss or muscle gain. With a good hour of moderate/intense interval training you can conceivably lose up to about five pounds of body fat. Any other loss/gain will be food/fluids. Without knowing your body composition, eating habits, conditioning, etc. it's difficult to say, but essentially stick to lean, healthy meats/protein sources, lots and lots and lots of veggies, a little bit of fruit to get your vitamins in or just take a multi vitamin each day instead. Keep carbs to a bare minimum--a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. Drink lots and lots of water and that's about it.

I wrote an article that I think will help you determine exactly what you need to make long term changes:

http://www.marcsstrengthfitness.com/ind ... ion-basics

If you apply what I've written therein, you will be well on your way to getting as lean as you want with optimal health.