From Struggling with 50 Yards to Crushing 1 Mile in Open Water...

Circa 2009 at the Westchester Toughman Half Ironman. 14th place Overall and 1st in Age Group

The other day, I met a new neighbor who had just moved in. After asking me what I do for a living, he replied, “How do I lose this 15 lbs.?” I gave my usual response, “Stop eating sugar.” He answered, “I don’t eat sugar, but I drink a lot of beer.” It got me thinking, why do we put an asterisk next to our goals? I want to lose weight but I don’t want to eat healthy. I want to put on more muscle, but I don’t want to lift heavy weights. I want a better job, but I don’t want to leave the one I have. Typically, the reason you aren’t where you want to be is because of the condition you have chosen to live by and hold onto.

If you think and act like your old self, you are doomed to stay your old self. The actions you consider unthinkable to do now will be normal for the person you will be. I use myself as an example. When I was 23 years old, I decided I wanted to train for an Ironman after watching the world championships on NBC. I was a newbie to triathlon so I went to Borders books (yes this is dated) and I grabbed a book called Triathlon Training for Beginners. I read the book cover to cover and started to follow the training program in the back of the book. The first swim workout when training for an Olympic distance triathlon read as follows:

• Swim 200m easy warm-up

• 12x50m @ tough pace

• Swim 200m Easy Cool-Down

Just to give you an idea, though I had a background in swimming for my town team in the summer, I hadn’t ever swam more than 100m in a row at any given time. I knew this workout would be rough. And I was right. I could barely make it through the warm-up, and by the time I got to the actually workout, I was already gasping for air with a belly full of pool water. After the workout, I skipped forward a few pages and looked at what I would be doing 12 weeks in the future:

• 2,000m time trial

I was shocked. I couldn’t fathom swimming that far continuously in a pool. But I showed up for the next workout and continued to struggle. And struggled more. And struggled more. After a few weeks, the warm-up became easy. I threw in a few swim lessons here and there my confidence started to grow. After 12 weeks, I had reached the time trial workout. Man, was it brutal, especially the first 500m. But once I found my rhythm, the laps just melted away. At the end of the 2000m, I was spent but felt awesome. I had done it, and it felt good. It felt normal. I had grown so much in the last 12 weeks, but had I allowed my fear of failure or pain or the challenge get the best of me, I would have still been struggling with the 50m intro workout.

What I am trying to get at is that if you are looking to achieve one of your fitness and wellness goals, prepare to struggle. That’s completely normal. What it really means is that you are challenging yourself. As I showed in my own story, the person you are to become will look at the person you used to be with gratitude for putting yourself into a vulnerable position and taking that risk.

If you are ready to become comfortable with the uncomfortable, but a free assessment today. I offer nutrition coaching, individualized training programs, and personal training. Let’s get started today!

How the Paleo Diet Changed My Life...

There I was sitting in an ER with an IV in my arm writhing in pain.  I didn’t realize it then, but that trip to the hospital was a tipping point in my life.  Let’s take a look back and see how a gallbladder attack forced me to take a good hard look at the food I was putting in my body.

I had just finished up a training session at The New York Sports Club, swimming roughly a mile of intervals and running 40+ minutes on the treadmill.  I was 9 months in Ironman training and I was just hammering myself with two-a-day workouts four days per week.  I rushed home to get some food in my stomach, and an hour after downing an entire entrée of whole wheat linguini, the area just below my sternum started to ache.  I knew this wasn’t a stomach issue because of the location of the pain.  An hour went by and the ache turned into a stabbing pain.  An hour later and the pain did not let up.  I knew something was up so I drove over to the ER to get checked out.  An ultrasound and physical examination later, the ER doctor told me I was having a gallbladder attack.  He recommended that I see a gastroenterologist for a follow up.  The attack subsided later in the evening, but I booked the appointment anyway.

I followed up with the gastroenterologist and she ran tests on my liver, stomach, and blood lipids but didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.  It was recommended that I reduce the fat in my diet drastically, as the gallbladder is key in fat breakdown as it releases bile into the small intestine.  I scratched my head.  “I really don’t eat a ton of fat,”  I said to the doc.  “In fact I eat mostly whole grains. I am a triathlete,” I followed up.  She didn’t give me much else but said if the symptoms persisted, she would recommend me to a surgeon to have my gallbladder removed.  I did some research and found that approximately 20 million people in the United States have gallstones. Of these people, there are approximately 300,000 cholecystectomies performed annually.  These numbers made me think this wasn’t such a big deal, but I wasn’t in love with the idea of getting surgery.  Thankfully, my instincts were correct.

As luck would have it, my good friend at the time, Max El-Hag (Training Think Tank), recommended I read Paleo Diet for Athletes by Dr. Loren Cordain and try out a Paleo Diet.  The idea behind the Paleo Diet was that the traditional western foods I was eating contained tons of anti-nutrients and gut harming proteins that were reeking havoc on my digestion.  This systemic inflammation was causing my gallbladder issues and potentially killing my performance.  I trusted Max and gave a strict 30 day Paleo Diet a try.  Once I took wheat, legumes, and dairy out of my diet and replaced them with sweet potatoes, coconut milk, and other paleo friendly products, my gut issues disappeared (and I haven’t had them ever since).  That next April, I took 13th place out of hundreds of participants at the Nautica South Beach Olympic Distance Triathlon, winning my age group as well!  Not only was I feeling better, but my performance was great too! 

Needless to say, changing my diet was a big step, but I felt forced to.  I couldn’t live with the way I was feeling anymore.  Luckily, I had guidance and someone to give me “permission” to make the change.  That’s why I am so passionate about nutrition, and why I have helped thousands of clients over the past decade change their diets too!  If you are dealing with gut issues, chronic fatigue, or stubborn weight loss, it’s time to book a free assessment today.  The best version of you is waiting.