Pressing On

7.5

Whew... where did two months go? The world has turned upside down in just 8 weeks, and yet it might make more sense now than it did before. Slowing down, and totally changing perspective on what it ‘normal’ can be a good thing.

Hopefully you are weathering the global coronavirus response in a measured and compassionate way. Extraordinary times can require an extraordinary response, and out of that we’re sure to grow.

How’s your pantry? If ever there was a challenge to our eating and activity habits, it is now. With 7+ weeks of quarantine and counting, knowing how to stock a healthful, life-giving pantry is crucial. Thankfully, we have been able to keep all our staples on hand, and our whole crew is healthy.

When it comes to physical activity, remember great sites like Darebee.com, CrossFit.com and Spartan.com. There are months worth of healthful workouts available to keep you toned, fit, and challenged, and maybe thriving more than if you were going to the gym.

For me, I’m 5 months into my 1000 running goal for 2020. I picked up a side goal of 100 miles in a month (which I completed for April, today). I’m also going to do 100 miles in a week, likely next month in May, just to see if I can do it. My average resting heart rate is down to around 48-50... so there are definitely benefits to an active running habit.

Make every effort to lean into these strange and unprecedented times. While it is unsettling and even scary, press on in a confident way, and try to savor the time away from the old normal, while leaning into the new normal.

By the Way

Do what you can to establish a regular body weight training regimen. I think the social distancing we’re under will definitely teach us that we never needed a weight machines and spin classes. Find your own groove, keep it interesting and varied, and stick to it.

Additions and Distractions

7.4

I skipped posting the last couple of weeks because of a wonderful addition to our family. A week after my post about a big goal of  running 1,000 miles in 2020, we got a puppy, turning our lives a bit upside down for a while. 

If you have a dog, or are a pet owner, you know they can change the course of everyday life. We get into our routines, and get used to one day being like the last, and tomorrow being like today. But with a new puppy, all bets are off.

Such are the additions and distractions we have in of life. What I realize is that it is best to embrace the new things and not resent or resist them. Like business gurus have said for years, if you're not growing, you're dying. The issue isn't really that we don't like change, it's that we don't like change when it is someone else's idea. 

Our little puppy has been a fun blessing already. Yes, we had numerous sleepless nights the first week, but we're already settling into a new routine, and he has quickly become part of the family. And yesterday and today I was able to get out for my regular workout and running, keeping my mileage close to being right on track.

We look forward to many years with our new friend, and I think he'll even be a good running buddy once he grows up a bit. Have you invited some interesting additions or distractions into your life lately? Find ones that add to your wellness journey, and see where they lead you.

By the Way

Little Leo is a mix between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Bichon Frise. He is as cute as an Ewok, has a great temperament and doesn't shed or bark. What more could you ask for in a new family friend?

Embrace Crazy

7.3

One of my go-to YouTube channels is The Ginger Runner (Ethan Newberry, who happens to be a red head, and his wife Kim.) Ethan has a great outlook on life, and as a filmmaker, musician and runner, he likes to combine his passions to encourage regular people to pursue endurance goals that others may see as crazy.

A recent post from Ethan was about a 100 mile week that he ran late last year. To many, running 100 miles in a week is certainly crazy. In the endurance community, that's kind of a normal week... Ethan considers himself a regular, middle-of-the-pack runner, and had put off attempting the 100 mile week for a long time. But then 2019 was his year.

As it turned out, he did just fine, breaking up his runs between some shorter (7-8 mile) days and longer ones (15 miles). He successfully completed the 100 miles in 7 days, and can add that to his other regular-guy endurance exploits.

This year I've been embracing my own crazy, with a goal of running a 1,000 mile year in 2020. In 2019 I logged 700 miles, just with my regular, semi-intentional running schedule. I realized that with a bit of focus and intention, I could probably hit the 1,000 mile mark without too much trouble.

Realize though, that the only way to log big goals (especially ones requiring endurance athletics) is to maintain a great pantry, and to intimately know your own metabolism and recovery patterns. As I've invested years getting to know my health and nutrition needs, it has yielded a baseline of wellness that keeps me injury-free, and running strong.

So far, I have logged 80 miles in January, and I'm right on track. As winter wanes and Spartan training ramps up, I look forward to consistently building toward the 1k goal. 

Maybe 2020 is a year for you to embrace a goal that's a bit crazy. Maybe it's the year to finally get nerdy about your food, and see if you can overcome those aches and pains simply by eating nutrient-dense, real food. Find your tribe, and dig into a goal that gets you out of bed, keeps you out of trouble, and brings life and vigor to you and the world around you.

By the Way

I think I'll add my own 100 mile week to my 2020 schedule. It's about 15 miles a day for 7 days. That can be broken up numerous ways (2 or even 3 runs a day of varying lengths), and you have to figure out your calories and active recovery in between. Then there's the demands of family and work, and life continuing in the background... Sounds like a great challenge!

Add Life to Our Years

7.1

I'm now in my 10th year of my wellness journey, and it's encouraging to see how the benefits and return on my investment are compounding. I'll probably run 5 Spartan races this year, and I'll complete my third Spartan trifecta (a combo of a short mid-range and long Spartan race, in the same calendar year.)

As our kids grow up and move on with their own lives, it's interesting to see them choosing sushi as a take-out food of choice, instead of the box of deep-fried stuff from the convenience store, or anything from a fast food place. And our older daughter is trying out being a vegetarian, just to see how it goes.

Around work, I end up having wellness conversations weekly. Some folks are starting their own wellness journey, and I'm honored and grateful that I might be able to speak into that. Others are refining a certain aspect of their physical activity, or following up on doctors orders to overcome a recently revealed health challenge.

I crossed paths with a good friend the other day who happens to be a runner and cyclist. He's turning 60, and looks like he's in his late 40's. To celebrate his big year, he's working through what he can give, what he can get, and where he can go. And his wellness pursuits will include an 'extreme' race or two (think 24 hour trail run, etc.) I appreciate friends like him who give me a vision of what's possible.

Yesterday, while it was snowy and slushy in PA, I did my Saturday morning sandbag run, and then went to our local climbing and obstacle course gym with two of my kids. We're thinking about a Spartan Stadion race for late spring, so now is the time to get training and develop our work outs for the next four months.

That's what a wellness journey looks like... It has some adventure, some friends, many unknowns, and pulls us to what's possible. How about your journey? Are you grasping a vision for your health that will stretch what's possible, grow your capacity and likely add years to your life and life to your years?

By the Way

Wherever you are in your journey, start there. Two business friends are starting a new phase of wellness to lose weight or find some more energy. Those goals send us back to the fundamentals of clean eating, great choices, and finding our own wellness groove. Then,  as we build our own wellness tribe around ourselves, we gain momentum, accomplish goals, and set new ones. At some point, we live into being our best selves, and taking others along with us.

A Cool Smartwatch

7.1

I have benefited from a fitness tracker for about a decade. Back in the early days it was simply step counters and basic pedometers. They didn't have Bluetooth, so they didn't communicate with anything, and you actually had to write your steps down.

Fast forward to today's offering of innumerable smart watches, wellness trackers and wearable technology. Now we can capture every minute detail of our waking and sleeping hours simply by keeping a watch or wearable on our wrist. They measure and notify us of everything our body is doing and experiencing.

I got my first Fitbit about about 6 years ago. It was a Zip, and met my needs at the time. Then I moved up to a Fitbit Blaze around 2016, and that was the jump in technology and tracking I really needed. Next up was a Garmin Forerunner 235. It was a step into the world of GPS enabled devices, so I didn't need to carry my phone on my runs or races.

My Forerunner served me well for almost 2 years. Unfortunately, the face got a small crack on it during the Spartan Ultra last year. It was still water tight and I didn't lose any functionality. That was until a sandbag workout back in December when the crack ran across the rest of the face on the watch, and it was no longer water tight, and totally fritzed out.

I probably stretched the Forerunner past its design intent - it is really a running watch, not an adventure and obstacle course watch. Enter the Garmin Instinct. It was one of my Christmas presents a couple weeks ago. What a cool smart watch!

The Instinct is water, shock and thermal resistant, built to military standards and has everything I could want or use built into it. Yes, the screen is a bit small, and it only has a two-tone display (not full color). But I am fine with that, given the incredible functionality of the device.

It is very responsive to picking up satellites in all situations where I have used it, and the Bluetooth is quick to connect and respond. It has made me excited to log miles and watch the data gather in the background.

I think our wellness journey benefits when we see the progress we make. Days quickly turn to weeks and before we know it months and years roll by. Having some form of wearable tracker makes our efforts more objective. If we measure it, we can better manage it.

So, if you aren't tracking your wellness journey, maybe now is a time to start. If you already collect data about your journey, maybe now is a time to dig into it a bit further and look for the wins and weaknesses that are apparent.

By the Way 

I logged 700 miles of running for 2019. Without the Forerunner or Instinct, I wouldn't have been able to track my runs or progress. With the help of these wearable devices, I know where, when, and how much I ran, and can better decide how my 2020 training will progress.

Calorie Convictions

6.28

I got a new Garmin for Christmas - more on that in another post - and it is an awesome partner for a wellness lifestyle. I'm able to measure and track about everything you can possibly imagine. One of the things I like to pay attention to is calories burned. As we wrap up the Holidays, and 2019, I have been thinking about our pantry and my calorie budget for the year.

My Garmin tells me I burn between 22,000 and 24,000 calories most weeks. Multiplied across a whole year, that's about 1,200,000 calories! That's a lot of food to fuel my daily life, running habit and some Spartan races... And assuming that my weight is fairly constant (and thankfully it is) I need to actually eat all those 23,000 calories a week.

Considering  all the breakfasts lunches and dinners I'll consume to make up my meals for the coming year, it adds to my conviction to make my calories count. I imagine the eggs, rice cakes and fruit for breakfast, the steak and sweet potatoes, the quinoa and salmon, the salads with nuts and berries... Mmmmm.

The conviction I'm left with is to make my calories count. Some will be fun food, some will be race fuel, and most will be everyday meals shared with family or coworkers. Even though 1.2 million calories are a lot of calories to consume in a year, every one counts. All our calories offer the opportunity to support our wellness or detract from it.

So how will you budget your calories in 2020? Start by aligning your pantry with your wellness goals. Purge the junk and faux foods and invest in healthful food choices your body and mind will thrive on. It's an investment in your health that will always pay dividends.

By the Way

Remember that all calories are not created equally. There are healthy fats and carbs, just as there are (very) unhealthy ones. There are proteins that build our bodies up, whether plant-based or animal proteins, and there are proteins that our bodies might be happier without. Choose wisely.

Celebrate!

6.27

It's the first day of winter, Christmas is 3 days away, and the year is over next week. Hard to know where another year has gone. How was 2019 for you? Challenging? Rewarding? Predictable?

I welcomed winter with a 12 mile run this morning, and I can definitely say that 2019 has been challenging, rewarding, and appropriately unexpected. I completed my second Spartan Trifecta, including my first 50k, Spartan Ultra. Whew... What a year.

I am deeply thankful for the journey I'm on. Every day I try to take time to reflect on all the ways our family has been blessed, and I try to keep that gratitude present as the days and weeks fly by. And at some point it is important to celebrate all that we've prospered through.

I'm almost 10 years into my wellness journey, and there is no way I could have anticipated how far a wellness lifestyle would bring me. My Garmin tells me that I ran over 670 miles this year, and that in 2019 I set a PR in all 5 running distances that  Garmin tracks (5k through marathon and furthest distance.)

I feel younger and healthier than I can remember for literally decades. What a blessed journey. So, this week we'll celebrate Christmas, and the miracle of God coming to earth to live among us. And it will be a great time of feasting ( and fitness) and family. A great celebration to close out 2019.

How about you? I'm certain you have grown and thrived and overcome in numerous ways... Make note of all of them. Celebrate the achievements, and the times when you simply held steady -- When you reached a new high, and when you held your ground. 2020 is right around the corner, and there will be a whole new year to journey and grow through.

By the Way 

Remember that with all the parties and rich, sugary foods, you can be the one to take along the healthy snacks, entrees or desserts. Comfort foods are fun, but can easily be balanced with tasty, healthful choices. Your body, and your wellness journey, will be glad you did.

Bon Appetit!

6.26

To maintain great wellness, I've consistently ascribed to an 80/20 or 90/10 approach to meal planning and eating. Once we find our nutritional groove , and know what foods brings us health and healing, we should lean into those foods for the majority of our calories. It's okay if 10-20% of our calories originate outside our wellness goals...

Thanksgiving is the biggest celebration of food that we have every year. A time of family and community and feasting. But not a time to completely set aside our wellness convictions and goals. With that said I wanted to pass along a fun and engaging food resource that highlights tremendous foods, and I think it can help anyone enjoy this season of celebration and gratitude.

The resource is the Bon Appetit  channel on YouTube. One of our kids turned us onto Bon Appetit last year, and it has become a fun 'cooking show' distraction for us to watch together. This Channel is a sister to the Bon Appetit magazine and web site of the same name, and gives the viewer a behind the scenes look at the world-class staff and editors that make it all possible.

Note well, Bon Appetit isn't about foods that are particularly healthy or healing, but they are certainly about quality, taste and community. And their recent YouTube post are all about Making Perfect Thanksgiving...from turkey to sides to desserts, they have Thanksgiving covered.

So be sure to celebrate gratitude, providence, community, family and more this Thanksgiving. Maybe mix in a new dish that respects your wellness goals, while at the same time taking advantage of the abundance available to us. Bon Appetit!

By the Way

If you are looking for great holiday recipes that DO respect your wellness goals, go over to Dr. Josh Axe's content, or Mark Sisson's (Mark's Daily Apple). Tons of valuable content from these two sites!

The Joy of Gathering

6.25

Fall is here, summer is over, and it's time to settle in for the Holiday season. Hard to believe...

As we work on our wellness lifestyle, and our health, and express concern for those around us, we have the opportunity to do life together, and grow and appreciate the days we're given. That's really what a wellness lifestyle is all about. Have we engaged in today, in a significant way? Have we sought healthy foods, healthy movement, and healthy relationships?

With the holidays come all kinds of opportunities to gather over food. As the decades go by, I think a lot of folks think that the food is the important part of getting together. So many memories are built on cooking, feasting, and celebrating over and with food... But I think the real celebration is in the gathering, not the food.

Think of the best celebrations you have enjoyed. The weddings, the graduations, the birthday parties; the anniversaries, the wonderful holiday celebrations at Thanksgiving or Christmas or New Years. All involved food, yes, but they also involved wonderful opportunities to connect and reconnect, time to celebrate others, and to celebrate milestones.

If we think that celebrations are more about the food, as we age and our relationship circles grow smaller, we may lean on food at the catalyst to rekindle the great memories of the past. But if it was actually about the gathering (not the food) we may have a frustrating journey of misplaced expectations and unfulfilling celebrations.

So make sure you're finding a great circle of friends, relations or family to do life with this holiday season. Find joy in gathering to enhance your wellness journey.

By the Way

New circles of friends can come from unlikely sources. Don't miss opportunities to connect with folks in areas related to work, or a local gym or fitness club, or maybe a place of worship. And be wary of online gatherings to fill this need - while technology can keep us aware of the world around us, it is a poor substitute for actually meeting with other people, face to face. Keep your gatherings real.

A Good Brew

6.24

Years ago I was a coff-alholic - I consumed significant quantities of coffee daily, with little regard for how much I was actually drinking. Then at some point, maybe about 15 years ago, I realized that the rush of caffeine was less energizing and more stressful than what I wanted to live with. I bailed out and felt much better over time. One problem is that I really enjoy a good, hot mug of fresh, black coffee.

Since adjusting my coffee consumption, I've ebbed and flowed between decaf (it can really be a poor stand-in for regular coffee) and no coffee at all. Recently, I've found a better middle ground of a cup or two a day, several days a week. Not nearly the highs and lows of caffeine I experienced years ago.

So is coffee good for you or bad for you? The answer is really a bit of both. Much depends on how it is prepared (high-quality water and fresh ground, appropriately roasted beans) and how much we consume. There are great anti-oxidants in fresh brewed coffee, and numerous, everyday health benefits.

Check out this article from Dr. Josh Axe on the top 8 Health Benefits of Coffee. Coffee is great for heart health, liver health, and controlling things like asthma and Type 2 diabetes. Beyond those, coffee increases energy and mental concentration, fights depression and improves athletic performance.

The key to benefiting from coffee consumption, like so many things, is moderation. Thankfully, I've landed at that place of moderation myself, after all these years, and I think I'm at a sustainable place. If you're a coff-aholic, like I was years ago, consider cutting back to a few cups of coffee a day. If you're not a coffee drinker, no need to start, but maybe you'll develop a taste for the aromatic, tasty brew that has revved up societies for centuries.

By the Way

Be aware of numerous coffee look-alikes, that aren't the real thing. A lot of high-volume coffee vending comes from reconstituted coffee concentrate that may contain stabilizers, preservatives and 'natural flavors' to extend shelf life and yield a good-tasting end product. It's not the real thing, even if they've mimicked good tasting coffee.

Tune In

6.23

We come up with so many excuses for living in unhealthy ways. No time. No direction. No one to journey with. As an 'old' guy, I could resonate with many of those. My reality, though, is one of conviction and perseverance - I choose to tune in to my wellness daily.

This weekend I've taken yet another step to keep up with what is new, useful and challenging in the wellness realm: I created an Instagram profile. It's not that I was resisting following Instagram, I just hadn't done it. 

But Facebook... that is something I resist. To me, it is a resource that doesn't benefit me compared to the distraction it creates. Yes, I have a Facebook profile, but I only visit it once or twice a year.

Now that I'm on Instagram, I can tune in to what my kids are doing and posting (some of the stuff they follow is really cool) and I can more closely follow content that is meaningful to me. I have a bunch of profiles I'm already following, including the faith community, Spartan Race, Crossfit, as well as some of the best Wellness gurus of our time.

I appreciate the guidance of Dr. Josh Axe, and Mark Sisson, so those are two profiles I'm already following. The content from Spartan and Crossfit is inexhaustible - so I'll not get bored anytime soon with all that is available.

What good is all of this? It is motivation. It is grounding. It gives us a vicarious tribe. It keeps our head in the game - our game, our journey, our wellness choices. So consider tuning in. If you're not on at least some form of social media, maybe give one a try and see if it fits for you.

By the Way

My user name is "b.dedic8d" - I use "dedicated" as a foundation for why I live a wellness lifestyle. It is actually from a quote that captured my attention years ago, "Obsessed is a word that lazy people use to describe the dedicated."

Grow and Thrive

6.22

What I have grown to appreciate about living a wellness lifestyle, is how it keeps me out of trouble. I have a fitness regime that now spans 7 days a week. None of it is too grueling, but it is certainly demanding, and I'm disciplined enough to be consistent.

Investing in wellness grows us in ways we often don't anticipate. In the Spartan Race world they call it obstacle immunity and resiliency. What I would also call it is resistance to vices and illicit habits. Who has time or need for booze and philandering when you're healthy, well-adjusted, and physically beat at the end of the day? And knowing that tomorrow morning brings the next recovery run or endurance workout (not to mention family, work, and community engagement), sleep becomes precious.

Signing up for regular races will also bring you an opportunity to thrive. I eat very cleanly the last 10 days to 2 weeks prior to a race. No inflammatory foods, coffee, chocolate dairy, etc. And what's great about that is how healthy I feel and the energy I have. And no aches or pains beyond simple muscle exertion. That's a great place to be...

What supports a wellness lifestyle like this? Some conviction...Some basic nutritional knowledge...A deep and growing understanding of our own body and how it responds to foods and movement... A tribe to journey with... (including support from spouse and kids, and those close to you...)

Then we simply journey on. We invest in a great wellness day today, and string those together into a healthy wellness week, which becomes a successful wellness month. Pretty soon we have lived a thriving wellness year.

So, if you haven't tuned into your pantry recently, give it a once-over and see what's in it. Make some healthy substitutions. Find your tribe, and get moving. Set a great goal, and better yet, a growing vision for your wellness lifestyle. Then go live and grow and thrive.

By the Way

Yesterday I ran my 9th Spartan race. This one was with a team from work, and it was a blast! This year Spartan reformatted their stadium races into the 'Stadion' format. Different than other Spartan Races, the Stadion mixes in gym exercise movements (box jumps and ball slams, the assault bike and weighted burpees) to keep it interesting. It was a beautiful day at Citizen Bank Park in Philly, and we finished together, and really enjoyed the race.

Burpees and Calories

6.21

Soon enough it will be the holidays, and we'll be treated to the joys and foods that make holiday celebrations so memorable. With all the festivities come calories and loads of inflammatory foods that our bodies would do better without. But there are some simple disciplines we can put in place to help.

The reality is, our body weight comes down to basic calories-in-calories-out calculations. Our caloric needs change as we age, and it is different for men and women, but to maintain our current weight, our nutritional food intake needs to yield a zero-sum with our activity. If we favor food, we gain weight; if we favor activity, we lose weight.

Try out this great calorie calculator from Mayo Clinic - it shows the estimated calories you need to maintain the weight you are, based on current height, weight, age and activity level.
Click here for the calorie calculator

My Garmin tells me I burn about 2700 calories a day, mainly because I do 40 minutes of functional training on weekdays, and 1-2 hour workout-run sessions on Saturdays and Sundays. On a heavy workout day when I'm also cutting the lawn, that might be a 3500+ calorie day...

The point is, we only need to get our bodies moving to burn some calories. Walking is a great, low-impact activity to burn calories. So it swimming. So are burpees! Burpees are one of the best all-body exercises (arms, core, legs, plus coordination, and aerobic stamina.)

Spartan did a great article a few weeks ago about how many burpees are needed to overcome our less-than-healthy food choices. Check out the article here.

This is a great time of the year to incorporate simple activity disciplines with our healthy eating choices. The foundation we build now will serve us well a few months from now when holiday festivities are everywhere, and that foundation will serve us well for a lifetime.

By the Way

There are innumerable activity calculators that show calories burned with certain activities. Try out one today to see how much activity will get you some good burn. Here's one from www.healthyeater.com  - click here for the calculator.

Taking Stock

6.20

Where is 2019 going?! How can it be the unofficial end of summer, the restart of school for all the kiddos, with fall arriving in just a few weeks? Well, it can be, and it is. As we finish these last few months, and take stock of all that happened over the last 12 months, hopefully you can look back with good memories and gratitude.

For me, this has been a great year. I have continued to focus on simple wellness goals, to regularly evaluate our pantry and fridge for great food choices, and to stretch my physical capacity with challenging workouts and races. While I set out to achieve a Spartan trifecta of some challenging events beyond just Spartan races, I'm realizing that a better plan probably resulted from the Spartan races I've participated in. I completed my first Ultra, and I think there will be more of those in my future.

Our family enjoyed a great vacation a couple weeks ago, and took our wellness pursuits with us. We traveled to Canada, where I included a couple of runs to enjoy the local scenery, and my older daughter and I did a great workout along the Ottawa River. We shared some tasty poutine and beaver tails (Canadian fun-food) while at the same time sticking to our 90/10 eating goals and healthy choices.

To close out the year I may end up doing 3 more Spartan races. We gathered a team from work to do the Stadion Sprint in Philly (at Citizens Bank Park). It's been great to share a training schedule and encourage each other to grow and step up to a challenge. This is a first Spartan Race for most of the team. I also have two pending trips in October where I can tag on a Spartan Race local to my destination. Destination races are always a good time, because the venue is always an adventure, even if we know what to expect in the race.

I'd say my biggest wellness accomplishment of 2019 has been further study of collagen and the healing benefits we get from this simple 'bone broth' protein foundation in our diet. I know my body is healthier still from supplementing with collagen.

How about your journey? You set out with particular goals for 2019. Did you achieve what you hoped? Even if you needed to modify things because circumstances changed, did the initial vision pull you forward? 

By the Way

As a family, we are also starting to launch our older kids into their lives and careers. As they establish their own routines and households, it's cool to see them making legitimate wellness choices in their food and fitness. Who knows what races we may do together in the coming years, and what we'll be able to learn from them.

Move Forward

6.19

This past week a business friend of mine lost his battle to cancer. I'm bummed out. He was a great guy, and at 58 years old, you couldn't see it coming. He was diagnosed about 9 months ago, and the cancer aggressively overtook his body. Who knows why, and why now.

What I do know is that Scott is secure for his eternity. As a Christ follower, he long ago committed to following Christ, and with that was assured of forgiveness and salvation. So today, Scott is enjoying the benefits of a simple decision; he's in heaven, and his eternity is secure.

For the rest of us, there can be feelings of being left behind. There's loneliness and questioning, and then even anger and anxiety. What if we have a latent disease that suddenly presents itself and overtakes life as we know it? Could we be an illness and nine months from our end?

Maybe...maybe not. We walk the journey a day at a time, and hopefully make great choices that help us maximize our current reality, and thrive in the midst of all we have. For me, I feel very blessed to be a Christ follower as well, and my eternity is secure in Him. So the rest of this life should simply be purpose and investing in now, right?

I'm so thankful for the wellness journey I'm on. I look forward to bringing others along, and together we will hopefully grow our capacity for movement, healthful eating, community and intentionally encouraging relationships. Who knows what tomorrow or 6 months from now, or 2 years from now will bring. But for now we can move forward confidently, and enjoy the wellness and great relationships that come with that intention.

So go get 'em. You know what you need to do. Put aside the junk food and refined grains (and maybe all grains.) Fill your pantry and fridge with whole, simple foods that your body will thrive with. See your family doctor for a check up, create a healthful routine of regular physical movement, and work additional vitamin D into your diet. It's simple. We just need to do it.

By the Way

A wellness lifestyle doesn't guarantee us longevity. Maybe it just makes a great day today; we can live in the moment and appreciate the blessing of it. And maybe we'll be blessed with another day, and another. And putting them all together, we may gain the blessing of years of health. Or maybe not. But it won't keep me from living out a healthy day today.

Adult PE

6.18

This weekend is the 2019 Crossfit Games in Madison, Wisconsin. For the fitness world, it's a really big deal. I've been following Crossfit on YouTube for about 3 or 4 years, and have grown to appreciate the truly functional fitness promoted by the Crossfit program and lifestyle.

It is an encouraging community of  'adult PE'. Remember at various levels of primary education, how we always had to do some form of PE (physical education)? Whether it was time on the playground, or compulsory shooting of baskets in the gym, physical exercise was important to growing up.

Crossfit recognizes that need for regular exertion and working up a good sweat, as well as the simple, unprocessed food to fuel our activity. There are over 13,000 Crossfit affiliate 'boxes' (gyms) around the world, making Crossfit the biggest gym franchise worldwide.

The Crossfit Games started a little over 10 years ago in California as a gathering for encouragement, sharing of best approaches and workouts, and the chance to throw down against some of the fittest athletes from around the world. Now it has become the yearly stage to feature the very best in elite fitness.

And for those of us who follow Crossfit, or better yet, participate, adult PE is a great thing. I have gained so much guidance into functional fitness, and I'm sure it will serve me well the rest of my days. I have insights on how to keep my knees and hips limber and strong. I learn about endurance and growing in strength. And through the posts and vloggers on YouTube, I see what is possible when we commit to hard work and consistency.

How's your PE? Maybe tune into the Crossfit Games content this week and see what is truly possible in human performance. These athletes are the world's elite; some are Olympic champions, all are committed to a life of affirming the best in others and their fitness.

For the best feed on the Crossfit Games go to the Rogue YouTube channel: Rogue on YouTube.

By the Way

My very favorite, encouraging and family friendly vlogger in the Crossfit world is Craig Richey. He has a great following, a gift of encouragement, and love of regular people growing their capacity for a great life. Check out Team Richey here: TeamRICHEY on YouTube.

Vicarious Tribes

6.17

We have incredible volumes of information available to us, and can benefit far beyond what was possible just a few years ago. For years, I have gleaned professional and worthwhile guidance from YouTube, Google searches, and the Internet in general. This part of my wellness journey has afforded me numerous vicarious tribes that I feel really connected to, even though they are virtual.

I've mentioned these in Power Pantry before, but here is a list of some of these tribes, and the guidance I seek from them:
Pantry choices and fitness:
Dr. Josh Axe - Dr. Axe-Food is Medicine
Mark Sission - Mark's Daily Apple & Primal Blueprint
Spartan Race - US Spartan website
Darebee 

Fitness and sustainable health:
Crossfit

You can also find great guidance at the YMCA, a local Rec center and various fitness clubs (like running clubs, biking clubs and hiking clubs.) The point is to tune in, and realize that the information each of these sources presents is always improving. So visit your vicarious tribes often - find their blogs, podcasts and articles, and glean the best of what's new.

Every journey is best lived out with others, and the hope is that our vicarious tribes turn into real-life tribes we can journey with. Take someone along today, and grow and learn together for accountability and improved results.

By the Way

I visited with one of my tribes yesterday, at the Spartan Super in Palmerton, PA. It was a great day to tackle the 8.1 mile course, up and down the ski slopes of the resort. We logged 29 obstacles, and I pretty much crushed it, only doing penalty burpees on 2 obstacles. Lots of grip strength and core obstacles to challenge racer's endurance and resilience throughout the course. It was an awesome day.

On Track

6.16

Nine years into my wellness habit, I'm fitter and stronger than any other season of my life. I was often sickly as a kid (tonsils removed, appendix removed, life-threatening accidents and surgeries... it was rough.) In college, while my general health stabilized, I started with underlying gut issues that persisted until just a few years ago. That's a long time to weather a daily grind of ill-health.

Now things are different. After all the years of research and challenging my food and physical activity choices, I'm fitter, stronger, pain-free and loving life. My mental focus is consistently on-point. My joints and back are healthy and perform great, even under consistent physical exertion.

What's the secret? There is no secret... It's just a relentless pursuit of a simplified pantry, eating real food that my body appreciates, and regular physical activity that challenges me weekly, monthly and yearly.

What we eat matters... be aware that we are, literally, what we eat. My diet is mostly Paleo-style right now. Meat and veggies, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and sugar. I have found that my body does well if I avoid grass grains (wheat, oats, rice, corn, etc.) and nightshade veggies (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and such). 

Combine this with a commitment to Spartan training and physical rigors of a good sweat 6-7 times a week, and I've found something to sustain me for years to come. My muscles are toned, and my gut is healthy. I have endurance to take on all kinds of challenges (including the mental and emotional ones that come with work and family life - ie, improved wellness improves numerous facets of our lives.)

Your journey is different, yet we all benefit from investing in a clean pantry, vigorous physical exercise and goals big enough to lead us on. So make great goals today. Find a wellness buddy, and better yet, a whole wellness tribe. Challenge yourself to something you thought you could never do, then go do it. Make wellness a habit, and you'll be on track to exceptional physical and mental health.

By the Way

I have my next Spartan race coming up this weekend. I'll be at the Palmerton Super to log my 2nd of 3 races this season (for a 2019 Spartan Trifecta). While this wasn't my original plan for this year, I'm in race-day shape physically, and excited to hit the mountain hard (this race is at the Blue Mountain ski resort, so the course trails are literally up and down the ski slopes).

Roll with It

6.15

We're almost half way through 2019, can you believe it? I have realized in the last several weeks, since I ran the Spartan Ultra in April, that I need a new goal. I had my race calendar lined up for 2019, I thought, and then things changed.

Originally, I was going to do a couple of Spartan team events (they call them Hurricane Heats), but circumstances for our summer schedule have ebbed and flowed, and now those events may or may not work. Even with all that up in the air, I'm still training hard. I decided to roll with it.

I've realized after years of having a fitness habit, that it's best to keep in shape and keep things going. If I pull back and don't have a daily and weekly investment in my fitness, it is harder and harder to get back into the groove. In the next couple of weeks I'm going to look at the summer and fall schedules and see what will fit, and I'm confident that the final plan will likely be way better than the initial plan.

How about your fitness and wellness this year? There is plenty of time to make 2019 your best year yet, with a few PRs and some traveling adventures, and maybe some new wellness habits in your pantry. Recommit today to your health, to creating and living out great habits, and to taking someone along on your journey.

By the Way

Even when you don't have a well-designed workout or race plan, regular and consistent fitness will keep you ready for when the right opportunity arises. Keep your head in the game!

Collagen to the Rescue

6.14

I've mentioned bone broth in previous posts, and have benefited from including stewed and slow-roasted meat dishes in my diet. A valuable sideline to the bone broth conversation is collagen. Collagen is an abundant, complex protein in our bodies, responsible for numerous restorative traits of our skin, joints and muscles, and as we age, we produce less and less collagen, and suffer the effects of that deficit.

We get collagen from roasted or stewed meat, mainly making the animal proteins in our food available for our metabolism. We can also boost our bodies collagen production by eating fresh vegetables and fruits, nuts, garlic and onions. Gelatin is also a form of refined collagen, and yields many of the same benefits we gain from collagen in our diets. 

Obviously, we can supplement with a collagen protein powder to make this valuable dietary asset available beyond mealtime. There are all kinds of collagen powders on the market, and innumerable collagen-enhanced foods (like snack foods and protein bars.) The point is to get an ample supply of naturally-occurring collagen in our daily diet.

Check out this article from Dr. Josh Axe to learn great details on collagen: What is Collagen

And here's a great article from Mark Sisson (author of Primal Blueprint) on 10 Reasons to Eat More Collagen

So work some collagen into your pantry and your diet. Our bodies are meant to benefit from this amino-acid-rich source of protein, especially as we age. Our bones, skin and joints will be glad we did.

By the Way

It's okay to eat the chicken skin from your chicken wings and legs - these are tremendous sources of collagen. Egg whites are as well. Consider stewing any and all kinds of bony meat cuts - things like ox tail, and shanks, and cuts of beef and chicken with the bones in. After a lengthy cooking time (think crock pot, not microwave) you'll have a great bone broth base for a few flavorful meals.