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Ten Things I Learned: #1 Setting Goals for Success and Failure

January 12, 2013 By 2 Comments

Setting Goals

I’m Competitive

I’m competitive, very competitive. Some of you reading this, if you know me, chuckled a little and thought that was probably an understatement. I like to win. And because of that tend to only do things I’m good at. This is something I’m working on.  But, truth be told, I tend to find I really like to do things that involve competing in some form. Board games, cards, fantasy football, and driving carpool all provide opportunities to win. Yes, you can win at carpool and the drive there. What’s the big deal if everyone else in the “game” doesn’t even know that it’s a game?

Setting Goals

Anyway, back to the Crazy Idea. Last year as I was thinking up this crazy idea I knew that in order to stay motivated I would need to set some goals, some crazy goals. Goals like losing 70 pounds and running a marathon. Goals that would push me hard and be difficult to reach.

As the year progressed I realized that I hadn’t done the best job of setting goals, they weren’t S.M.A.R.T. goals. Sure they were specific, measurable, actionable and time-bound, but they weren’t realistic. I wasn’t a runner and when I tried to run, my knees wanted nothing to do with it. So I had to re-evaluate a bit and decide that a marathon or even a half-marathon just want going to happen. We changed my training up to focus more on strength training rather than on reaching running goals. This in turn affected my weight loss as I added muscle and lost fat. So in the end, I didn’t reach my goal of a marathon or of losing 70 pounds (though I believe I did come close to that in fat loss, but the muscle gain off-set the total weight loss). [Read more...]

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Ten Things I Learned: #2 Make A New Plan, Stan

January 10, 2013 By 2 Comments

Yes, yes I did quote Saint Paul Simon in the blog post title. And as I type this Julie pointed out by doing so I just dated myself. But I’m okay with that.

But as Mr. Simon suggests, it’s time to make a new plan, a plan for your new healthy lifestyle. That’s the number two thing I learned from this crazy idea – healthy requires a plan, especially at my age. I once was healthy, naturally, or so I thought. Truth was, I ate junk, but was active enough I looked and felt healthy. But nature ran it’s course. And I did nothing to combat it. The extent of my plan was to not think about it and go along for the ride. After all, it was natural, right! Why fight it?

But last year I decided if I wanted a different course for my life I had to have a plan. I had to know where I wanted to be and how to get there. You wouldn’t just jump in my car and take off for a new destination having no map (see how I dated myself again there). You would figure out the best route and how long it would take to get there. So it is with your health.

As you approach 2013 what is your plan? If you’re like I was ,you may not even know where to begin. That’s why I asked Ed from Ed’s Gym to help not only with the map, but to jump in the car and go along for the ride.

So, three questions for you.

Where are you now? Where to you want to go? What do you need to do to get there?

Filed Under: Craziness, Fitness, Progress
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Ten Things I Learned: #3 Even the Lone Ranger Had Tonto

January 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Even The Lone Ranger Had Tonto

 

We live in a world where making it “on your own” is rewarded, even glorified. But when it comes to making huge life changes, going it alone is hard, if not near impossible. Everyone needs support, shoot, even the Lone Ranger had Tonto.

Looking back over the past year, I can’t even begin to imagine how I would have done it alone. If I was left to face it all by myself, I’m not sure I would have stuck with it to be honest.

Family Support

Without the support of Julie and the kids I would have been nearly impossible to complete the Whole 30 or stick with a Paleo diet. They not only did it with me, but were encouraging along the way. Sure, they weren’t always excited about our limited food choices, but they never lost sight of the big picture and didn’t complain much. If you’re going to make a drastic diet change like I did, you’ve got to get those closest to you behind the vision. [Read more...]

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Ten Things I Learned: #4 – Travel And A Healthy Routine

January 7, 2013 By 2 Comments

flight

 

On The Road Again

This year we did more travelling than we ever have. Rocky Mountain Media Group trips took us to Seattle, Oregon, Nashville, Pittsburgh and Steamboat Springs. Those coupled with family trips presented challenges to keeping a healthy routine.

Eating On The Road

When you are used to eating all natural, gluten free, paleo meals, travel can get tricky. Being prepared and planning ahead is the key. Do some research on the area you are visiting to find out what restaurants offer options that fit with your plan. And plan to take some snacks with you. When I travel, fresh fruit and nuts are always handy in my bag. Sometimes you will find yourself in situations where there aren’t good options. But again, planning ahead can help. One meal off plan won’t do much damage, but when that one leads to two than five it can. Make the best of the situation and don’t let it de-rail the work you have put in. [Read more...]

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Kicking Off 2013 – Whole 30 Style

January 2, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Today we’re taking a break from the “10 Things I Learned” series to give you an update on how 2012 ended and how we are moving forward in 2013.

In 2012 we have had some highs…

Jeff & Julie Highs

And we have had some lows…

Jeff and Julie Lows

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was a roller coaster where our nutrition and work out schedule was concerned.

[Read more...]

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Ten Things I Learned – #8 There Is Still An Athlete In My Mind

December 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I grew up playing sports

I grew up playing sports – all the time. Football with the neighborhood kids, shooting hoops for hours on end, I even tried baseball for a while and managed to find a spot on the tennis team at one point. From 4th grade through high school I played basketball in competitive leagues and for my school (and I am old enough to have played in the short-shorts era). While I might not have been great one, I was an athlete.

The athlete in my mind

Where did that athlete go?

[Read more...]

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Ten Things I Learned: #9 Healthy Becomes A Habit

December 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Healthy Becomes A Habit

Healthy Habits

I had never thought about health as a habit. Smoking was a habit, biting your nails was a habit, but health? Than shortly after we ended the Whole 30 (and I figured out you can do anything for 30 days), I discovered that eating healthy had become a habit. It wasn’t something I obsessed thought about, it was just something we did. It had become our lifestyle, not something we went out of our way to do.

Developing Healthy Eating Habits

Experts say it takes anywhere from 30-60 days to develop a new habit. For it to be ingrained in your routine and become part of your lifestyle. We found that for us it was about 45-50 days of eating healthy. After that, we didn’t think about it as much. It wasn’t weird to go shopping and skip over all the junk. The cravings were gone, and it was the rare exception when we ate something that wasn’t Paleo. This was a huge change from the deep-fried, fast food, high carb diet we were used to. [Read more...]

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Ten Things I Learned – #10 You Can Do Anything For 30 Days

December 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

You Can Do Anything For 30 Days

Back in January when I started the Crazy Idea I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I did know that the hardest part would not be the exercise. Sure, that would present its own challenges, but I knew what to expect – sore muscles and all. No, the biggest challenge would be the Whole 30 that Ed wanted us to do. 30 days of fruit, vegetables and meat. 30 days of no sugar, no bread, no squirt cheese and no deep fryer.

Here’s the video of the kitchen clean out Ed did.

Working out was just something new to add to the routine. But the Whole 30 was different. It required some major lifestyle changes and it effected the whole family. And it was more than just eating different food. It challenged me physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

There were times I wasn’t sure I could, or that I even wanted to finish it, like this day. [Read more...]

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It’s Been 11 Crazy Months – A Crazy Idea Update (Video)

December 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I can’t believe it has been 11 months already, and those 11 months have had their crazy ups and downs, life changes and challenges. And though it’s been a while since we updated the blog, I wanted to share where we are as we wrap up the year of this crazy idea.

 

Crazy Idea Update – 11 Months

We would love to hear how your crazy idea is going in the comments.

 

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Three Things Throw Down to a Healthier You in 30 Days

October 21, 2012 By 9 Comments

Getting Healthier

We are doing it friends. Every day the Abel family is getting healthier. Thanks to Ed at Ed’s Gym, we are ten months into Jeff’s Crazy Idea, and our family seems to really have turned a corner in making some major life changes. Are we always perfect? No. But we are’t the same people that began this journey in January.

Three Things Throw Down

The Three Things Throw Down

So to share the health love with everyone, this week on Facebook I threw down a challenge to all of my friends. I’m calling out folks to 30 days of eliminating three things. What are they? I’m so glad you asked! Here are the three things that are crap (yes, I said crap) and they’re killing us as a nation. [Read more...]

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