Fit For Life: Its Not Your Fault…

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Matt Espeut, GoLocalWorcester Health +Lifestyle Contributor

If you know me, and how I operate, you know that I have very little tolerance for excuses, or b/s stories. I truly believe that if you want something, or want to do something bad enough, you CAN find a way. If you do not want it bad enough, you will make up an excuse. Every excuse has an anecdote. I didn’t have time to hit the gym, is a common one. I counter that with: You had the same 24 hours that everyone else did, you just decided to spend yours differently, and not schedule 45 minutes of your day to workout. But you HAD the time. Another one that folks like to use is: I can’t afford to eat healthy, or join a gym. My answer: If you have an iphone, cable TV, eat out, buy coffee daily from a coffee shop, drink any amount of alcohol regularly, or own sneakers that cost $100 or more, then you CAN afford it; but you choose not to include health and taking care of yourself into your budget. Yes, organic food costs more, but when you are trying to better your physique, and overall health, you won’t be buying all the costly, processed junk food anymore, so it balances out. Again, if you want something bad enough, you can find a way to make it happen.

However there is an example, or an instance when you can get away with not reaching your fitness, and fat loss goals - and that is ignorance. If you truly don’t know about something, or you were misled into believing something was healthy, or you were lured into some heavily marketed gimmick, I’ll give you a pass, because the world is full of trickery and false claims. I tell all my clients, you can only use this one excuse once with me, because when you become a member of my Fit Body Bootcamp, I not only provide you with kick-ass, stimulating, and fun workouts, I try to educate you and explain step, by step how to reach all your health and fitness goals. During every member’s nutrition consultation, I explain all the benefits, and pitfalls of different foods, and how they react inside your bodies, how they effect your blood glucose/sugar, and what types/brands of foods are good and bad. We also talk about how to accelerate your metabolism by eating frequently, and how to balance nutrients. When you leave our consultation, you will have a better understanding about what makes us fit, versus what makes us fat. Now the “I didn’t know” statement becomes obsolete, because now you know, and if you still continue down the path of destruction, well, that WILL BE your fault.

One of the biggest misunderstandings I hear frequently is, “but I shop at Whole Foods, so I eat healthy”. First, I want to say that I shop there, and only there. I enjoy shopping at WF because you CAN find all sorts of healthy, quality food that you can’t find anywhere else, BUT everything in the store isn’t healthy, or Fit Body approved. Just because a package of cookies is “organic” doesn’t make it healthy, and certainly won’t help you when trying to get fit. It just means that the ingredients are better than the cookies that large food factories produce, and chemicals, or GMOs aren’t being used in their products. Better, yes, but not good. If you buy their conventional produce not labeled “organic", you may still be exposed to pesticides, and chemicals. The same goes for their animal products, you still need to pay attention, and only purchase items with an animal welfare rating of 4 or better. Not all items in the store are the same quality, so you can’t shop blind, just because you are in a better higher quality market. They also sell lots of beverages loaded with sugar and calories, and this is a big no-no in my book. Unless its a smoothie packed with (measured) healthy nutrients, and protein, I do not recommend drinking anything containing calories. Even organic soda, and sports drinks. When you drink calories, they usually find their way to your hips, belly, and butt. And fast. It is very easy to pack on extra pounds just by consuming one calorie packed beverage a day, even if the label says it is good for you, so don’t fall into the liquid calorie trap, and eat your calories because drinking excess calories is too easy.

I got the idea for this column yesterday when I was at Whole Foods eating lunch. I overheard a couple of girls talking about how hard they are trying to lose weight, and they are eating salads as part of their efforts. When I got up, I had to look at what they were eating, and to my disappointment, I saw two huge salads, topped with approx.1500 calories worth of: cheese, beans, olives, eggs, beets, seeds, and nuts, along with some sort of dressing covering the whole thing. It was a real struggle not to say something, but I learned a long time ago, not to offer my advice unless asked or retained to do so. Number one, I don’t want to look like a know it all, and number two, I didn’t want to discourage two strangers, making what they thought was a valiant effort to lose weight. It was obvious that they wanted to better themselves, but didn’t know how. This is the case with a lot of folks. They try, but fail, due to lack of knowledge. This is the only excuse for not being able to achieve perfect health and fitness, but once you come into my facility, remember, you are only allowed to use this excuse once. Because I will help you learn. My advice: before you exert any effort in anything you do, do some research, or hire a trained professional to help. Let someone help you reach whatever goal you have, as efficiently, and effectively as possible. Time is too valuable to waste, so stop going around in circles, and find the straight line to success.

Matt Espeut, GoLocal's Health & Lifestyle Contributor has been a personal trainer and health & fitnesss consultant for over 25 years. He is the owner of Fitness Profiles, a one on one, and small group personal training company, as well as Providence Fit Body Boot Camp, located at 1284 North Main St., on the Providence/Pawtucket line. You can reach Matt at (401) 453-3200; on Facebook at "Matt Espeut", and on Twitter at @MattEspeut. "We’re all in this life together – let’s make it a healthy one!"

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MapMyRun

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Made for iPhone, Android and Blackberry

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MyFitnessPal

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Made for iPhone and Android

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JeFit

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Made for iPhone and Android

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Strava

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Made for iPhone and Android

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YogaStudio

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Made for iPhone only

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SimplyBeing

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Made for iPhone and Android

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Fooducate

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Made for iPhone and Android