A brief look at how and why I changed my “normal”
I grew up in suburban Wisconsin. My diet was that of a typical American: French fries, burgers, chicken nuggets, white pasta with spaghetti sauce, a typical diet to say the least.
My exercise was as typical as my diet. Lifting weights (bench press, squats, bicep curls, etc) by doing 3 sets of each exercise and doing as many reps as I could until I felt somewhat uncomfortable. These recommendations came from both my football coaches and my father.
Distance running was also a form of exercise that I took up after high school. My mother was and still is a runner. She influenced me to take up running and truly pointed me in the right direction of caring for my health. I never ran any outrageous distances. Mostly between 3-6 mile fun runs.
I also took up yoga. Never anything serious just some Denise Austin videos here and there. I heard that yoga was good for elongating muscles so I figured I would give it a try.
I've also experimented with biking, swimming, canoeing and countless other "cardio" and weight training techniques and routines.
Truthfully, I exercised and ate pretty much like a basic everyday American. I watched the health portion of the evening new, read Men's Health, read the health tips section of the local news paper, obsessed over watching Dr. Oz on Oprah and I took there advice without a moments hesitation.
Why did I believe that what was on TV and in magazines to be the absolute truth?
It was all that I had ever known. I had never met anybody that didn't eat meat or told me that running everyday is a very inefficient way to burn calories. I was and still am being told that the "normal" way to eat and exercise is the "right" way. I am here to tell you that what is "normal" is not always "right" and what is right is all most never normal.
Currently I am very far from being "normal". As of about two months ago I ate a very strict vegan diet (no animal products) for about six months. I thought I had the nutrition game all figured out. I was wrong. I got my hands on the book Good Calories Bad Calories written by investigative journalist Gary Taubes and some of the most basic beliefs that I had on nutrition are being proven untrue. (I will write about this book later.) To mirror Gary Taubes's book, Ultimate Wellness, a live streaming question and answer session with Dr. James Carlson has also transformed my understanding of how food interacts with our bodies. (Watch Dr. Carlson's first episode for free by clicking on the Ultimate Wellness link)
My abnormal lifestyle also is reflected in my exercise choices. Instead of 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day (which is recommended by the American Heart Association) I exercise for 60 minute per week. I do this via High Intensity Strength Training, High Intensity Interval Training, Sprint Training and resting.
Stop for a moment and look at the way you eat and the way you exercise and ask yourself why? Who has influenced you over your life that have culminated in you making these lifestyle choices. Was it our parents? Football, hockey, soccer coaches? Siblings? And then lets ask ourselves why we believe that they were right? I think you will be shocked at the answers that you come to.
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