Have you ever just known something? You don’t know how or why you know it, but you’re convinced it’s the right thing. At first you don’t question it, you just do your thing according to your belief. But somewhere along the line, outside influences have you question your basic foundations, so you try something new just because it’s new and there may be a shred of truth in the new thing. In the end, it reconfirms what you once knew intuitively and you come full circle back to where you started.
I went through this cycle recently. At AlaskaFit, my entire staff and I are constantly experimenting, investigating and making sure you are getting the best information we can share with you. We rarely take something at face value and we’re kind of geeky with our fitness and nutrition. We love peer-reviewed articles, books and quality internet-based websites that also test, question and tease out the best answers.
About two years ago I started setting some fitness goals. With the opening of AlaskaFit in its current location at the end of 2011 and all of the trials and tribulations of being a business owner, I had let my personal fitness and nutrition goals slip. I wasn’t feeling great, had gained some body fat, lost muscle and overall felt weak and crappy. Just like you, I let life get in my way and had missed more than my share of workouts.
It was time to get back on it. I contacted a friend of mine to ask for his help coaching me to achieve my Strong First Level 1 Kettlebell Instructor certification. He agreed and I started down a fun and interesting path. I achieved my certification in February of 2015.
Around the same time I was planning a trip to Hawaii and he asked me if I wanted to “lean out” to get ready for my trip. Just like you, I wanted to look great for my trip. So I said “Sure,” having no idea what he meant by the proposition. The first text I received was a little scary. He was putting me on a low-carb, protein-rich diet.
“Well,” I thought, “this will be interesting. What the heck, I’ll give it a shot. My clients are always asking me about low-carb options and I can try this out for a few weeks, see how it goes and then give them even stronger reasons why I don’t think low carb is a good idea for long-term health and wellness.”
But then it happened…the euphoria of quick weight-loss. I dropped 10 pounds in 12 days. I was ecstatic…and confused and tired and dreaming of pineapple and other fresh fruits and veggies I’d have on my vacation.
I didn’t think too much about it and off I went. No, I didn’t exercise much (other than snorkeling) and I didn’t think at all about what I was eating.
When I returned, I was up 5 of the 10 pounds I had lost.
But that’s not all. More tomorrow.