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Dr. Mary Malek joins me this week to discuss a struggle that so many people have: making change permanent. We talk about the issues and beliefs that can keep us rooted in following the same unproductive behaviors and how to solve them. Dr. Mary has so many amazing things to say from not only her background and practice as a clinical psychologist but as someone who has had to adapt to her own health issues throughout her life to establish a foundation of lasting, healthy change. This is an awesome discussion! To connect with Dr. Malek, you can find out more about her atwww.drmjmalek.com To find out more about your host, please visitwww.jasonleenaarts.com Download, subscribe, share with your friends and leave us a review to let us know how we’re doing!

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So many things get in the way of progress. Crazy work schedule, unreasonable demands on our time, conference calls that last longer than they ever should to accomplish less than you ever anticipated, etc. Time and again, I have found the biggest obstacle on our path to progress is ourselves. The self deprecation, badmouthing, sabotage and self-shaming is unfathomable. One of the best analogies I’ve heard is: Would you let someone talk to your child like that? Would you let someone treat your parent that way?

People on a journey of weight loss have the unenviable position of being both the abuser and the abused. You do the damage to yourself (emotionally and physically) and you fall victim to every punishable deed. When did you become such an asshole to yourself?

I don’t like to play the blame game. Yes, bad things happen to good people. Yes, incidents in our childhood can affect us well into adulthood. I have been there, I  do understand.

I also understand that if you’re reading this, you are a grown adult. You have big boy/big girl responsibilities. You can handle being held accountable. You carry the world on your shoulders. Life gets unbearable and quickly spirals out of control when all you really crave is control.

But I’d like you to consider a perspective. Maybe the problem isn’t the diet that you’re on. Maybe the diet is okay and if you work it consistently, you will see results. Maybe the problem isn’t the exercise program that you’re trying (or still deciding to try.) Maybe the program is completely adequate and you just need to show up and get the time in.

Maybe the problem is just you. You treat yourself like garbage and you hold yourself to standards that no one can live up to. This doesn’t mean you’re broken. You’re not. I promise. And you’re not a failure. You’re great.

No one ever got to the place they wanted to be by being an asshole to the only person who can control the change. Ourselves. Not our spouses, not our children, our bosses, our colleagues. Just you.

So, give yourself permission to fail. Permission to be less than perfect and permission to live a life that allows mistakes, detours, and a cookie.

Look yourself in the mirror and say (out loud) “I’m done being an asshole.”

You deserve better. You’ve “earned” better. It’s not about entitlement. It’s about taking your life back. The choice is yours.

It took a bit to nail the time down because this week’s guest is in such high demand! I am honored to share the episode with a fitness legend, Greg Justice. Over the last 30 years, Greg has not only helped to light the way for others in the fitness industry to survive and thrive but he arguably pioneered the most successful way to implement corporate wellness initiatives on a national and international level. This isn’t just insight for other personal trainers though. Greg shares tips for listeners who want to see corporate wellness and health programs work for their own place of work. Greg is a bestselling author (check his Author page on Amazon) and you can also find out more about him and his incredible career at www.gregjustice.com To learn more about your host, please visit www.jasonleenaarts.com

 

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Fahad and I were talking yesterday about why he’s not been seeing his weight drop at a satisfactory rate. There are always so many sides to this conversation and it is important to me that I try my very best to meet any individual where they are on a spectrum of understanding what is happening. While there is a science to everything regarding weight loss, I hate speaking in scientific terms. It just isn’t my m.o.

However, any of my clients deserve every ounce of information I can give them if they aren’t seeing weight loss at a “normal” rate. Fahad’s no dummy either. He “gets it.” But there is still a gap that has to be bridged. So, I asked him to walk me further into what his diet looked like.

Actually, Fahad’s diet is nothing like that. He seems to eat very responsibly but as we’re about to see, maybe not totally in line with his goals.

A typical day looks something like this:

Morning meal: 1 pita bread with a few smears of cream cheese (approx 250-400 calories)

Snack: Handful almonds or sunflower seeds (approx 200-300 calories)

Lunch: Salad with beets, peppers, potatoes, lettuce, olive oil, herbs, spices (approx 300-400 calories)

Snack: Starbucks pumpkin bread (approx 400 calories)

Dinner: Meat/fish with steamed rice and olive oil (approx 400-500 calories)

First, let’s discuss Fahad’s caloric needs. Based on his current weight, height, level of activity, age, gender, etc. His baseline calories (what he needs just to feel good where he is right now) is about 2000 calories a day. I normally suggest a reasonable deficit of 20% in calories. So, let’s say 1600 calories a day.

I made approximations above for a few reasons: 1) I have no idea what his portion sizes are or true measurements of any particular food. 2) With some slight deviations, we could assume a low and a high on any given day relative to where he needs to be. 3) This can give us a better idea of what a day should look like without obsessively counting calories.

So, what does that show us? On the low end, Fahad has been consuming about 1550 calories (about in line with weight loss.) On the high end, 2000 calories. So, if he followed this diet routinely and my high estimates were close to accurate he was only going to stay the same weight (unless he really ramps up caloric expenditure every day to create a deficit.)

I told him to make one change: remove the pumpkin bread.

That removes 400 calories a day. No more calories to count. To be fair, he wasn’t eating this every day, but several times a week. See where the trend can go?

It stands to reason too, that by asking Fahad to remove one of his meals from the day, he IS going to feel it. And he WILL feel hungry. That’s ok. He’s not starving and it will be slightly uncomfortable only for a bit.

A crucial thing to note is: I changed nothing else. He’s not been given a Jason meal plan (or anyone else’s for that matter.) He’s eating exactly the same way without getting weird about those stupid calories or macros or anything like that. It’s  Fahad’s plan, which means it will probably work out great. Stay tuned on that.

Reaching your goals is simpler than you think. Not easy, but simpler. Here’s Fahad pulling more than his bodyweight on a traplift yesterday. I’m so proud of how he’s progressing.

 

Jonathan Pietrunti joins me this week to give his unique take on your mindset and reaching your personal wellness goals. Bringing with him over 12 years of experience in the Navy as well as his background in personal training and sports psychology, Jonathan has a great perspective to offer. If you want to keep a pulse on one of the up-and-comers in the fitness indsutry, Jonathan is someone I have very high hopes for. He’s definitely someone you’ll want to keep an eye on with his writings, featured at www.thatgreyarea.com You can also connect with him on Instagram at thatgreyarea or on Facebook @ Jonathan Pietrunti.

 

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I have the great pleasure of speaking with Dr. Garth Davis, who is the author of Proteinaholic (available on Amazon) and highly successful bariatric surgeon based out of Texas. My knowledge of him began through his advocacy of veganism and plant-based diets through our circle of friends and colleagues in the fitness industry. He joins me on this episode to give a very insightful and passionate take on his philosophies for pursuing a plant-based diet for overall health and wellness. This is quite a episode and I always love learning new perspectives on ways to help individuals in this industry. To learn more about Dr. Garth, check out his book Proteinaholic on Amazon and connect with him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/drgarthor on Twitter at www.twitter.com/drgarthdavis. To find out more about your host, Jason Leenaarts, please visit www.jasonleenaarts.com Subscribe, download and share this episode with your friends and don’t forget to leave us a review to let us know how we’re doing!

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In what will arguably be our most entertaining episode to date, Rog Law joins me this week to talk about the ten things everyone should be doing with their health and fitness goals. We also manage to clock in our longest episode ever because Rog knows how to deliver with excellent content. I haven’t laughed this hard in a very long time. So if you need to find a way to lighten up your fitness journey and remember not to take things so seriously, you can’t afford to miss this episode. 

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Our first line of tees/tanks has been selling great. The plan is to keep offering new colors with limited runs each. So, don’t wait much longer, the green ones won’t last!

You can order yours here

How does your day start?
Sluggish?
Stimulating?
Don’t touch me ‘til I have my coffee?

Admittedly, I run through all of those.
Every morning.
Even though my body and mind are accustomed to getting up at roughly 4am Monday through Friday.

A couple of months ago, I started changing up my morning routine and it’s really helped to shape my day differently. You’re welcome to try any and all of these options to see if they make a positive impact on your day as well.

I normally give myself about 30-40 minutes in the morning to sift through everything in this list so be aware of any potential time investment.

Yes, I still start my morning with a strong cup of black coffee. This is right after I feed our rotten dog, Dempsey, and let him out to do his business.

I have two small journals. One for gratitude and one for rambling.

In my gratitude journal, I put the day’s date and 3 things I’m grateful for. It doesn’t have to be anything lengthy or poetic. It could be as simple as: I’m grateful for my busy day or I’m grateful I got to spend the afternoon with (my wife) Marissa.

In my rambling journal, it’s simply a brain dump. My mind races in the morning (all day really) and this helps me compile my thoughts. I even get a little bit geeky and use an old-fashioned fountain pen (you know, with the funky tip and the refillable ink cartridge that you have to hold at just the right angle?) It’s usually a few paragraphs of thoughts, musing, motivations or frustrations to give me some focus. Both journals together take up roughly 5 minutes of time.

At this point, I’m pouring my second cup of coffee (still black.) Then, I meditate for about 5 minutes. Unfortunately, there is still a funny stigma associated with meditating so I basically sit in the dark, back straight, hands on my thighs and focus on deep breathing. That’s it. I don’t set a time but I tend to get antsy about 5-6 minutes in so I know it’s time to get ready for work.

Anecdotally, it’s been a huge help. Yes, I still waste a little too much time on my phone, checking emails and getting on Facebook so this whole process could be as quick as 15-20 minutes for those on a time crunch who aren’t as phone-happy as I am.

But I find it filters a lot of mess out of my mind and gets me ready to conquer my day.
I’d love to hear what best practices work for you in the morning. Even better, I’d love to hear if one/all of these concepts work for you too.

With that, I’ll leave YOU to conquer the rest of your day!

Last night, one of my cousins sent me a text. She was concerned because she had been involved with a workout class in Memphis and she was having some unusual side effects. By her admission, the class was difficult and intense and she was having sporadic problems with vomiting when she was finished.
Of course, in my mind, several red flags are going off. I’ve trained my cousin before. She’s tough. She has no problem with hard work, a good sweat and maybe some muscle soreness afterwards. However, my workouts never made her throw up.

There were a several factors I asked her to consider:

-Maybe the workout is too intense and it isn’t for you
-Maybe you’re training in a fasted state and the lack of nutrients is making you sick
-Maybe the room isn’t properly ventilated and the heat is making you sick
-Potentially, any added stress on top of a stressful workout is the problem

As you can see, there could be different perspectives on this. I think this is where intensity mistakenly is synonymous with “reasonable and effective workout.” I do believe many people don’t push themselves appropriately in the gym. By the same token, I can count nearly as many who go too hard when they work out. I remember hearing the adage “Live to train another day.” In other words, maybe you shouldn’t be beating the snot out of yourself in every workout just so you can crawl to the door as you leave.

There are some trainers out there who use my cousin’s example as a badge of honor. To be very honest, some of these trainers are excellent at what they do. The names that typically come to my mind are those who train elite athletes. Make sure you read the last two words of that last sentence again: elite athletes.
I don’t know about you but I’m no elite athlete. Nor do I train them. I refer them out to people who specialize in that type of thing. The problem I see all too often are those who attempt to go from “couch to bad-ass” in 2 weeks. Funny thing, they never seem to last very long either. Maybe there’s a correlation there.

All sarcasm aside. Train appropriately. Think about your goals, consider how much longevity you want. Then remember that you also have a life to live that may not include elite performance but more just feeling better about yourself, moving well, and enjoying life. Minus the nausea of course!