Tips for ADHD people to find good health

Image from Flickr, by Life Mental Health

People with ADHD have special challenges if their quest is good health.  The impulse control issues we experience make life that much more difficult when you're trying to eat good, healthy food and maintain a training schedule.  It ain't exactly easy if you're not ADD/ADHD, so the unique challenges make things oh-so-interesting.

So, how does someone with ADD/ADHD actually make it into a healthy lifestyle?

Just a single set today

Image from Flickr, by Lars Plougmann

Today, I managed just a single set.  Unsurprising, to say the least, but I just couldn't do any more.  I felt pain, and I mean the bad kind.  Right in the pelvis during my swings.  I've felt a twinge there a time or two, but nothing like this time.  Ouch.

If anyone has any feedback on this, whether it may be technique or something else, please let me know.

Other than that though, it wasn't bad.  I dragged tail on my military presses, particularly my right arm (I'm right handed), and I have no freaking clue why, unless I just blasted things to much on Monday.

3 tips to help you eat right in the modern world

Image from Flicker, by Skistar Trysil

Eating right should be simple.  You know what's allowed and what isn't.  You know how much you can eat.  You know all of these things backwards and forwards.

Unfortunately, the real world likes to intervene from time to time.

So, what's a health conscious soul supposed to do?  You want to be social, but you don't want to go off the rails.

Luckily, here are a few tips that will help you out on that count.

A response to "It's too hard"

Image from Flickr, by jimmypk218

It started out as a conversation.  I was talking about my renewed focus on fitness and losing weight, which lead to them saying that they'd love to lose weight, but "it's just too hard".

Folks, what's too hard is being overweight.

I'm still fat.  My body mass index is still over 30, even after losing over 35 lbs.  I'm not going to blast away at folks who are overweight, because I know all to well what they're going through.  Let me say it again: What's hard is being overweight.

Four tips for dealing with fitness information overload

Image from Flickr, by jontunn

There is a lot of data out there.  There are paleo blogs, vegan blogs, kettlebell blogs, free weight blogs, pilates blogs, and so on.  This doesn't touch the fitness magazines, fitness television shows, podcasts, vblogs, video podcasts, and a million other things.

How is one person supposed to filter through all of the crap and get to the Golden Truth (TM) [patent pending]?

Luckily, there's a few tricks that I use that helps.  A lot.  Here, for a limited time only, are just those tips.

Why 'an athlete'?

Image from Flickr, by familymwr

Yesterday, I wrote about identity and shared the rules I've decided to use to build that new identity.  Rule number 10 may have raised a few eyebrows, because it didn't make a lot of sense on its own.  That rule was "I am an athlete", and I wanted to go into why that was my choice.

First, there's a reason why I ruled out choices like "I am a marathon runner" or "I am an MMA fighter" or similar things.  That reason is simply that I don't have any intention of competing.  While I might take MMA classes (I've taken a few and had a blast), or I might choose to run in a marathon at some point, that's not something I'm actually considering right now.  Why say I compete in a sport if I'm not competing?

In that case, why be an athlete?

Beware of dieting

Image from Flickr, by Steve A Johnson

Dieting is bad.  There.  I said it.  It's a hard truth, but it's a truth.  Dieting is, actually, a bad thing.

Did I just say that?  Yeah, I did.  You know what?  It's true.

"But Tom, didn't you say diet was the biggest chunk of losing weight?  Are you backing off of that already?"

No, I'm not.

You see, your diet is important.  Dieting is a bad thing.

Still scratching your head?

Stacking your deck

Image from Flickr, by LaRuth

There are secrets to success.  When you're trying to transform your life - and if you really want to make any gains with body transformations, you are wanting to change your life - these secrets are what makes it possible.

One rule that is, in my opinion, a hard and fast rule that has no wiggle room is that you are who you surround yourself with.

Why protein is so important

Image from Flickr, by tarale

 

Protein is one of the most important macronutrients you can eat.  It's essential in the building of muscle, and studies indicate that it's also key in helping stave off hunger.  However, that's not all that protein can do.

You see, protein also has some unique qualities that make it essential if you're wanting to lose the nasty fat.

Of all the nutrients you could eat, protein does something pretty awesome.  It fires up your metabolism just be being in your stomach.

My motivation and how I use it

Image from Flickr, by Jimee, Jackie, Tom & Asha

I'm 39 years old.  To most folks, that doesn't mean a whole lot.  For them, it just means that I'm older than a 38 year old, but younger than a 40 year old.  It's not like the age of 38 means anything special.

It's also the age that terrifies me.

Over a decade ago, my uncle - a man who was more like my brother than an uncle - dropped dead at the age of 39.  He wasn't the first family member to die at that magic age either.  He was just the latest in a long line of folks to die at 39.  Of course, good healthy doesn't exactly run in my family either.

So, despite rationality, I'm terrified of being 39. 

Four secrets to not getting sidetracked

Image from Flickr, by redjar

When you're fat and trying to become awesome, you try and do everything you can to stay on track.  Unfortunate, that's not always as easy as it sounds.  Real life can get in the way.  It's happened to me, and I suspect that most folks who have tried to go from fat to awesome have had it happen to them too.

However, the secret to avoiding it is to know what to look out for.

So, without further ado, here are four secrets to not getting sidetracked on the way to your fitness goals.

Small Changes, or Go Big?

Advice is often worth every penny you pay for it, and since most advice is free, you can see where I'm going.  However, there is often two schools of thought when it comes to making changes to your life, and those are whether to make a huge, radical change or to make small changes.

Well, despite it actually being a myth that small changes lead to big gains, the reality is that small changes are easier to swallow than big ones.

The problem is, can small changes work?

Are Celebrity Chefs Making Us Fat?

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey. (Image from Flickr, by jo-h)

Celebrity chefs have a tendency to draw a lot of fire when it comes to healthy eating folks.  However, are they responsible for where we has a society have fallen?  Are we a result of cooking shows which push tasty looking, but ultimately unhealthy, recipes on an unsuspecting society?

Well, Stephen Hoyles took to the digital airwaves (via his site at HoylesFitness.com) to defend these chefs.

Predators Out to Eat Your Weight Loss

Image from Flikr by By el_taytus

We have a new look here, as I'm sure you've noticed. I already talked a bit about that, so now down to business.

In our modern wilderness, we have a ton of predators to deal with.  These predators aren't after you, but are out to eat your weight loss gains.  Oh yeah, they're out there.  They're waiting in the weeds like a Rick roll, ready to smack you upside your head before you know what's going on.

Some of the predators are the kind you can clearly see.  Ready-made cakes, cupcakes, cookies, ice cream, all of the things people normally associate with weight gain.  Those are easy to deal with, because we all know it.  This is one time that conventional wisdom is universal.  This things can kill your weight loss plans.

The ones you need to worry about are the things that market themselves like healthy food, but aren't.

Three Simple Secrets to Eating Healthier

Have you ever tried to eat healthier, but keep getting sidelined?

If so, you're not alone.  Millions of Americans want to eat healthier foods, but keep falling short.  It's no surprise either, as our bodies tend to release chemicals that make eating some of these foods a little similar to drug or alcohol use.

However, if you want to eat healthy, there are some tricks you simply have to know and use.

The Only Thing You Need for Shredded Abs

Do you want that awesome six pack?

Of course you do.  Every guy who reads fitness blogs wants that.  Well, back before I became a disgusting fat blob, I had that.  In high school, I had the abs that every guy in school envied.  That's right, I'm a fat boy who knows the trick!

So what is this secret?  What exercise or piece of equipment will make you look like Brad Pitt in Fight Club or Gerard Butler in 300?

Why Go Paleo?

The paleo diet can be kind of controversial.  A friend of mine recently told me that he thought the paleo diet was kind of dumb, and that he didn't believe that it accurately replicates what ancient man consumed on a daily basis.  Well, that's a fair point.  The ancient hunter-gatherer cultures ate very different foods than grass fed beef and free range chicken.  However, there are some other good reasons why I tend to go with a paleo style diet that have nothing to do with evolutionary biology.

Healthy and fat?

Can you be healthy and fat?

Well, Anisa Sims, a plus-sized model, says she's healthier at her current weight - a weight many would consider "fat", though I'm not one to judge - as opposed to when she was much thinner.  From an article at Glamour magazine's website:

Photo from Flickr, courtest of from daxnorman

Seven Myths of Obesity and Presumptions That May Not Be

Are you a big person who's been trying to lose weight?

I suspect that you are, which is cool.  I'm right there too.  If you are, then you probably need to learn to identify the myths of obesity and weight loss, courtesy of The New England Journal of Medicine.

Five Facts About Weight Loss

Yes, a lot of this blog is devoted to weight loss, but that's because of where I am right now.  I've learned quite a few things, and I've still got a long way to go so I'll learn quite a few more things.  However, now that I've gotten to where I am right now, there are a few things that you just need to know to lose those pesky 20 or 30 lbs.