Want Ads

by Kris Pitcher

Seeking: Married female in search of trusted, reliable relationship. Willing to be exclusive, sort of. Able to accept diversity...lots of it. Difficulty committing, over and over. Looking for loving relationship - with food.

If you wrote a "want ad" about your relationship with food, what would it sound like? In the twenty years (that makes me sound old) that I've been successfully managing my weight my relationship with food has grown and changed...a lot.

It certainly didn't happen over night. Elbow deep in chili-cheese nachos from 7-11, I thought I was having a healthy lunch in high school. That was when I wasn't eating pop tarts and diet 7-up. Of course I drank diet! Please! No one drank sugar soda even then!

There were years of tug-of-war, anxiety and over-feeding. Then my relationship started to change as I began to take interest in exercise. But the knowledge about nutrition came later, and putting the two together took further refinement.

So, if you thought you'd have all this figured out in a few weeks or months, that's noble but not realistic. Then come the wake up calls to deal with your emotions around eating, what you are willing to tolerate for yourself, and why you've given up control to punish others - only taking it out on yourself.

Figure all that out and you'll be on your way. But it won't happen quickly. It takes time to learn about yourself. It takes time to make mistakes, to start and stop, to put the pieces together.

Today, my relationship is very utilitarian. I "feed the machine" and if a food doesn't meet my goals, I'm like a cat - not interested. I think of food as fuel, it serves a purpose to get me to my goals.

I still enjoy it, I still plan and execute my re-feed, or "cheat", meals carefully and probably with a little too much joy. But when I enjoy something, I really enjoy it.

And while it consumes much of my energy and focus, it doesn't run my life in the way it once did. I don't think about food in the same way. My want ad would read much differently now. My relationship has changed. My relationship is one of peace.

Protein Waffles!

by Kris Pitcher

It's Sunday and by all means...EAT PROTEIN WAFFLES!

3 egg whites
1/4 c oat flour
2 scoops protein powder (any flavor)
1 T applesauce (no sugar added)

Pulse dry oats in food processor or blender. Mix all ingredients together and spoon onto preheated waffle iron. If you are feeling lazy...it is Sunday, just put the oats in without grinding it into flour. Same dif.

Makes 2 waffles: 235 calories/35 g protein/8 g carbs/2 g fat

Don't wreck them by putting a bunch of sugar and syrup on them. A dollop of sour cream and some cinnamon is nice, or a little yogurt. Mmmm! I'm getting hungry - now have a great day!

Winning, It's Personal

by Kris Pitcher

Sometimes when we get where we're going...we're disappointed. We reach a goal and it doesn't "feel" like we thought it would. Maybe we aren't rewarded (externally) like we thought we would be.

No matter our physical goal, it's got to be personal. Don't take this the wrong way, but it's not enough to think we'll win. I say that because we've got to train like we want to win, to be number one. But that's not enough.

In any race or competition there's only one winner. The competition will be fierce. You'll be up against lots of other people who have trained just as hard as you...some harder. The point isn't don't even bother.

The point is make your goal personal. Compete to be your very best, to achieve something bigger than a reward or a medal. I'm suggesting compete for something deeper.

Finding your personal purpose in working toward and achieving your goals is where you win. Sure a trophy is nice, but in my sport the top five get a trophy and everyone else - if that's what they are competing for - goes empty handed.

Those fifteen others in the category aren't losers. They didn't show up having not earned their place on stage. We all need to find our personal purpose in what we pursue.

In most any sport all you can control is you. You can't control who you are up against, what their talents might be, or how they trained. What you can control is how you train, and what talents you bring. This is where you make it personal.

As you embark on your next journey, your search should be for your personal purpose. Finding it might lead you right to the head of the pack, the top of the mountain, or standing in first place.

Believe It Or Not

by Kris Pitcher

Have you ever thought yourself into a bad mood? Or into a good mood? Well, believe it or not, you are what you think you are.

The trouble is, we don't use this to our advantage. We should. There is an art to believing in yourself with humility. Projected in the wrong spirit, it comes across as horribly conceited. Yuck!

What I'm talking about is different. It's internal. It's about believing you can do things and believing you deserve certain things. Deserving to be treated a certain way for example vs. having things. It's about what you will tolerate in your life. What you believe you are worth.

You have the power to believe yourself to be anything you want. That is an amazing thing. I look at artists who re-invent themselves.

Madonna was the Queen of that, and now we have Lady Gaga. Marketing marvels of believing themselves into existence over and over.

We have the power to re-invent ourselves too. A big part of that is what baggage we carry around. You can choose to identify yourself with your baggage, to identify yourself by it...or not. It's entirely up to you.

To choose that power takes courage. You have that courage. You can believe it or not. You are able to think yourself into re-invention, identify who you are and choose what defines you.

You have that power within you, that courage. You just have to believe it. I meet amazing strong men and women all the time who teeter on the edge of that courage. It's not easy to stay connected to it. Maintaining that connection takes a little bit of work. I believe you can do it!

Setting Fitness Goals

by Kris Pitcher

"If you don't know where you're going, you might wind up somewhere else. - Yogi Bera"

You know I like Yogiisms because they're just so obvious. It's true, if you are not planning on where you are going, you won't get there - you will get somewhere else.

Setting fitness goals requires knowing where you would like to go. Having a goal provides the direction you need to stay motivated. It's a circular process. Goal, motivation, success, repeat.

People get frustrated because they can't find the motivation. But the motivation comes from having the goal. We've got to set a goal in order to find the motivation. We do ourselves a disservice if we think, "Oh, I'll just feel so excited to get up and do cardio at o-dark-thirty!"

When you don't feel that joy in the morning, you feel like there's something wrong with you. There's nothing wrong with you. You are normal. Completely!

It's your goal that motivates you to do the things necessary to get there...even when you'd rather hit the snooze. You consider your goal, why it's important to you and how you'll get there. And pretty soon, you're in your groove.

It starts by knowing where you're going. It takes some thoughtful consideration really. Would you like to try a mini triathlon? Run a 5K? Or maybe learn how to swim? It's your goal...it's where you are going. Pick a place, it's all up to you!

Having that direction gives us a sense of purpose in our actions. And it gives our actions purpose. Decide where you are going in order to get there. Otherwise, you'll wind up somewhere else.

A Wild Ride, Bike Commuting

by Kris Pitcher

One morning on my commute into work I watched as a middle aged cyclist took her position in the left of two lanes at a stop light on a very busy arterial. She was decked out in commuter gear but looked like she'd be more comfortable on the trail than in the middle of this major intersection.

I watched with trepidation as I anticipated what would happen next. As the light was turning green the "gentleman" in the pickup behind her laid on the horn. She hadn't had a chance to even turn the pedal. Her wheels began to turn and he laid into her with that horn.

Sure enough, the next light was red, she held her position in that left lane as she was about to take a left hand turn onto a four lane arterial. But as she did, her mouth let out a slew of comments to him that I cannot repeat. This time they were side by side.

She let him have it. Yelled like a banshee! He rolled his window down and shouted back at her from his brand new dark blue Chevrolet pick up with the license plate number...OK, I didn't get the plate number from the new plate tag hung in his window - but I wish I did.

I wasn't sure why this guy was so upset about her doing exactly what she was supposed to be doing? I wondered about his entitlement in his world and how she had impacted that.

Certainly we can exist in a world where we are not verbally assaulting one another on our way to work over our carbon footprint. I thought about the cortisol levels of each, of the stress of their mornings...of being a bystander.

Look around, look outside your four or six doors. Look along side your vehicle, check the bike lane before you make a turn. And by all means, share the road.

Secrets Your Personal Trainer Should Be Telling You

by Kris Pitcher

If you work with a personal trainer there are certain things they should be telling you. This is a special kind of professional relationship built on trust. When it is, sales gimmicks and flashy programs won't be necessary.

I'm honest with you, and today's topic is simply my philosophy. Take it, or leave it. Your relationship with your trainer should be one of communication and information. These are five secrets your personal trainer should be telling you.

1. There is no "right" way. There isn't one magic formula or a workout or eating plan that is going to work for everyone. If they have one "right" way of doing things and they believe everyone else's way is "wrong" that should be a red flag. A well educated professional is going to use every tool in their educational arsenal to get you the best response. If your trainer is only using one tool...I'd be worried.
2. You need to be compliant in order to see results. There is a reason your trainer is asking you to do certain things. It's because they are trying to elicit certain responses in you. They are trying to make changes. Your trainer should be sharing this secret with you. In other words, they should be telling you why they are asking you to do things...you're more likely to be successful when you know why.
3. You don't need those supplements. This might be a broad statement. But the truth is, you must have the base of a solid eating plan and be doing everything right with that plan before you add supplements. The supplements won't make up for poor eating. If your trainer is selling you a bunch of supplements that you must take...they might be selling you a line.
4. I could get you EXACTLY to your goals if I could get you to eat right. Many personal trainers know some about nutrition, but there is a science here where others might have a gap in knowledge. Putting the right nutrition plan with your exercise plan would get you to your goals. And your trainer is thinking "if only!" because they wish they could get you to eat right.
5. You don't need me. The final secret your trainer is not telling you is that ultimately, once armed with information...you won't need them any more. At least you won't need them for a little while. In all fairness, this is a very loaded statement. Many people benefit from the on-going long term relationship with a personal trainer. Others, need to learn how to workout, how to eat properly and they are on their way for a while. When it's time to make some changes...they'll come back for some more refinement. The point is, you should not be dependant on your trainer - you should be learning from them.

These are five secrets your trainer isn't bothering to tell you. They may not have the guts, or the heart to tell you that you need to be compliant in order to see results. They may be required by their work place to sell a certain quota of supplements every month. It may be their personal style to make you dependant on them so you never leave them.

I believe there is enough in this world to go around. I think that happy clients tell other potential clients how much they learned and how great an experience they had. I'm sure you've experienced that in your work too.

Enjoy your next session with your personal trainer! I hope you are getting everything you need from that relationship. It is an important professional relationship which can take you to incredible places in your life. And I hope they aren't keeping these secrets from you.