Food Journaling

This week I want to write about a subject that my lovely wife, Kristi suggested. Food journaling. I know it’s not exactly the sexiest subject, unlike my wife, but it’s important. The bottom line is this: if your goal has a body composition aspect to it (meaning you want to lose or gain weight) every study and every bit of anecdotal evidence I’ve seen says you have a much better chance of hitting your goal if you keep a food journal.

Why? Because if you keep an accurate food journal (notice I said accurate) you allow yourself to really see what you’re eating. There have also been many studies which show that people who want to lose weight think they’re taking in many fewer calories than they are and the reverse is true for people who want to gain weight.

Many times I’ve had clients tell me that they eat healthy only to find out different once they keep a journal for a week. You see, with many things in life doing something right 80% of the time is pretty good. In baseball it’ll get you into the Hall of Fame. With eating it’ll get you right where you don’t want to be.

Here’s an example, let’s say it’s Tuesday. On Sunday and Monday you ate well, but on Tuesday afternoon you have a bit of a craving and you make some cookies. Before you know it you’ve had six or seven and now you’re not hungry for dinner. Wednesday and Thursday are pretty good and by the time Friday night rolls around you’re tired and you’ve forgotten about the cookies from three and a half days ago. You go out to the Cheesecake Factory and of course you can’t eat the entire burger and fries after all that delicious bread (and you’ve got to leave some room for desert, too) so you take some home and have it for lunch on Saturday.

Now, out of 21 meals this week you’ve done pretty well on about 15 of them. Sounds good until you look at your journal and realize that it’s not.

Another thing is that knowing that you’re going to write everything down can make you think twice about some of the things you might eat on a whim and then forget about. The afternoon chocolate bar, the extra piece of bread late at night. It adds up and makes a huge difference. For many people those small things might be the biggest thing holding them back but they just don’t realize what they’re doing.

If you need any help with your journal or any advice on what to do, just drop me a line. Also, check out my video blog to see some easy ways to use your phone, computer, or just a pen and paper to keep your journal, and don’t forget to consult your doctor before beginning any exercise program.

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT
MitchRFitness@gmail.com
http://www.mitchrfitness.com/
510-754-7113
Discover Your Strength!

Video Blog - Lose Weight With A Pencil

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT
www.MitchRFitness.com
MitchRFitness@gmail.com
510-754-7113
Discover Your Strength!

Hips Don't Lie

I hear from and see a lot of people with a variety of issues and goals, but each day I am becoming more and more convinced that no matter what anyone’s goals may be, the key to feeling better overall lies in your hips. I know what you’re thinking, but this is a family publication so let me explain. Think of a door and its frame. What connects the two parts? The door hinge. Think about how nice it feels to open a door when the hinge is nicely set and oiled. Now think about how it feels to try and open a door with a creaky hinge. Not so smooth. You have to yank on the doorknob and put stress on the frame. Well, your hips are just like a door hinge. They lie right in the middle of our body, connecting the two parts and allowing them to move smoothly back and forth into flexion (hips in a sitting position) and extension (hips fully forward).

If your hips move well it takes stress off our shoulders, back and knees. Unfortunately, the fact that most of us sit all day tightens our hips and that forces our back to move more than it should. It also puts pressure on our knees and all of that tension moves up to our shoulders and messes them up, too.

Well, you might be asking, how can I get my hips moving better. Well, lets start with a simple exercise called the Waiter’s Bow. Stand with your back against a wall and take a step forward. From here, take a deep breath into your chest and hold your chest high in that position. Find a spot just above eye level and don’t take your eyes off that spot. Now, keep that upper body position and push your butt back and touch the wall. Go back to the starting position and be sure to squeeze your glutes to finish the movement.

This also brings up another crucial point. One of the biggest problems people have is that they can’t differentiate between hip movement and lower back movement. The problem there is that our hips are meant for movement and our lower backs are meant for stability. When our hips don’t move well our lower backs have to, and that creates problems This is also exacerbated by the fact that many people have weak glutes and they are a very important muscle when it comes to good hip movement. In my video blog this week I show you a few exercises that can help strengthen your glutes and improve your hip function.

Please drop me a line if you have any questions and don’t forget to contact your doctor before beginning any exercise program.

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT
www.MitchRFitness.com
MitchRFitness@gmail.com
510-754-7113
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