One of my favorite ways to spend a Sunday is cozied up in a Chapters with a big giant pile of books. I just love reading, learning and the endless number of amazing, interesting ideas there are out there.
I picked up Bob Harper's book,
Skinny Rules, last weekend and not only could I not put it down, but I was just going bananas with my highlighter. While the tips are habits I'd already built a few years ago, the value I found in this book was that it is
such a great guide for someone who is just looking for a clear, detailed place to start.
1. "End the day with preparation for a good start to the next: put a large, full glass of water on your bedstand every night and drink it when you wake up, every morning."
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How much of a babe is this guy,
I mean really??!
Source: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images North America |
-- LOVE this! We sweat while we sleep and of course, that leads to slight dehydration. When you wake up in the morning, your body is just screaming for a big juicy glass of H20 and downing a full litre first thing in the AM will set your bod on "smooth sailing" mode for the rest of the day.
2. "Net carbs are, in short, digestible carbs - the carbs that cause weight gain. The figure is arrived at by subtracting grams of fibre from total grams of carbohydrate. A piece of whole-wheat bread might weigh in at 25 grams of carbs, but when you take out the 10 grams of fibre, you've got 15 net carbs. I'll take fewer carbs any way I can get them."
3. "Just how much protein is enough? ... If you're 200 pounds, try to get at least 100 grams. I'm not saying it's 100 percent scientific, but more and more research shows that consumption of a high-protein diet with reduced high-carb foods results in better weight control metabolism. I'm saying it works. For me. For my clients, my contestants, and for you."
While it will vary for each individual, I personally aim for around 125 grams per day with my clients, but I think as a starting point, 100 grams per day is a fantastic goal.
4. "Eat 30 to 50 grams of fibre a day. ...Eating fibre in the amounts I'm advocating is looking more and more promising as a way to prevent type 2 (diabetes). And I am talking fibre from food, not from supplements."
I used to work with a guy who was overweight, and would always go on about how "I start my diet Monday. Yup, just this one more Wendy's meal then I'm goin' hard. I did an hour of running on my treadmill last night." He would talk a lot about how he had so much trouble going to the washroom but would down a glass of Metamucil and "how much better he would feel." Ya, Metamucil does not work the same way as eating a diet high in naturally-occuring fibre. Don't be like that guy. :-)
5. "We are, as humans, hardwired to seek sweetness. It is a powerful, deeply rooted inclination. We even have specialized taste buds for it on our tongue. Think about it: in evolutionary terms, sweetness, as in berries and wild fruits, signalled something that was safe and edible and high in energy - what cavement and -women needed to run all day. We don't need to run all day. That's why I want you to get away from all added sweeteners."
6. "For many modern eaters, it's hard to imagine a time when fast foods... were a rare treat, but they were. ... But that is how it was - fast-food scarcity! - until three things happened:
(1.) The government encouraged overplanting of crops like corn and soy (to sell to global markets).
(2.) Food companies used low-priced corn to make less expensive sugars, allowing them to sell supersized portions cheaply.
(3.) A new-style American family emerged, with two parents working and no time to cook."
Think: High Fructose Corn Syrup, soy based protein bars, I challenge you to go check any box of cereal in your pantry and count how many of the ingredients are corn-based.
7. "Harper's Way is not easy. I told you that when we started. The old easy way got you here! If you want to change your life, and not just your lifestyle, you've got to do things differently. Or say fat. Period."
Yes, yes, yes! Amen, Bobby!!!
All of these excerpts have been taken directly from Bob Harper's Skinny Rules and truly only give you a teeny tiny taste of all the awesomeness he's wrangled together in this read. His book, along with a million other tools, are available on his website http://www.mytrainerbob.com/.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a very easy to understand manual for how to make small changes in your daily life that will lead you to BIG results with your energy levels, your self esteem, your body size and shape, and your health! And really... what a fantastic Christmas present! How awesome is it to be able to give someone a gift that really means something this Holiday season - something that could be that tool they have been looking for, that really just flicks the switch inside of them - and allows them to find their greatness?
Dare ya to try it, I can definitely say it's one of the most empowering and awesome feelings I've ever found!
Tonight's inspiration is absolutely one of my favorite all time quotes ever to be found. You know that feeling you get when you see fireworks? It kinda makes me feel like that, but in my heart. Love this.
"It's never too late to be what you could have been." - George Eliot
Yours in strength and stretchiness,
- Brooke
xox
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