The only way, you are not

 The one thing about legos besides being one of the coolest toys ever is that the instruction manual is non-negotiable. No matter who you are no matter your personality or IQ everybody needs and uses the instruction manual. We all put legos together by the same process. I know there will always be someone that believes argues differently but we recently got a 1,771

piece Yoda lego set and I can tell you that no one will be putting this set together without the instruction manual. 

This blog isn't about legos or lego sets, even know, like I mentioned earlier legos are the coolest toys on the block! This blog is about how we treat other things in life as if there is a universal step-by-step way to do it right. I have seen and experienced this type of false ideology of  "I've got the instruction manual" attitude as a Pastor in the church for over 20 years and now as a health coach in the health and fitness industry for the past 7 years.

Let me explain. When I was a young youth pastor, I loved attending training conferences. This was my opportunity to glean from others in my field. Some were from my peers that have been doing this longer and then there were the speakers that were brought in to teach (tell) us strategies that would help us be more effective at using our time wisely, being better at personal growth and all the other things that make us a better Christian. I would always leave encouraged with all kinds of new strategies, to only a few months later be totally discouraged because I failed to do what I learned to be the most effective way to grow my own spirituality and to help the students in our ministry grow in the way I was told was most effective. As I matured I realized that I was only failing at being like the speakers and my peers. I was growing my faith and I was becoming a better pastor, it just didn't look the same as others. It's not supposed to! Unlike legos, spirituality looks different and our growth in the Lord doesn't necessarily come the same as others, most of the time it won't. 

 I also noticed this same attitude with nutrition. Someone would go on a diet and do really well. Sometimes that diet was ridiculously restrictive but they did well, and it worked for them. Now, every time someone needs help they believe that they have the answer to everybody that is struggling with their weight. Everybody knows an MLM supplement recipient, you know the ones that purchase an MLM program. Some do really well others not so much. Most become a coach and some falsely promote their supplement as some sort of magic bullet for health, others go on to be great coaches helping people reclaim their health. Kudos to them, that's what a coach does. I'm not against MLM's and I know there are some good ones with good products, but they are not the answer to good health, and not everybody will do well on the program they offer. 

 The number one way to help someone in their journey whether it's a spiritual journey or a health journey or any other type of journey is to get to know them to walk with them and give them the ability to be themselves and when our way is beneficial to them use it and when it's not, help them find their way. We must never let our pride push them in a direction that makes us feel better about who we are, this is of no help to them. 

Anti-maskers are uncaring?

Are the people that refuse to wear face coverings uncaring?

Before we try to judge whether others care or not, I think it would be a good idea to look at some facts about protecting ourselves and others from this or any other virus.

There are many things that we can do to protect ourselves and others. Let’s talk about four of the best things. Three of the four are on the CDC website, with the one exception being the most important for protecting ourselves: Our Immune System. I’m not sure why it’s not mentioned on the CDC website or why it's not mentioned by any national or local leaders but it is without a doubt the most effective way to keep yourself healthy.


Four of the top ways to protect ourselves and others from Covid19.


1. Our immune system.
Our immune system is the best defense we have. An immune system can be strengthened by number one: eating lots of nutrient-dense foods that are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants and by keeping highly processed calorie-dense junk foods to a minimum. Number two: by exercising regularly; staying active.



2. Washing our hands.
Hand washing is the second most effective tool to help combat the spread. If the virus doesn’t reach the inside of our body or the surfaces we touch our chances of getting it pretty much disappear and it’s also very hard to spread.


3. Keep our distance from others. (social distancing).
When we keep our distance from others the chance of spreading or contracting the virus is diminished, especially indoors.


4. Wearing a face covering.
Depending on where you are and what your doing, wearing the proper face-covering, in the proper way can lessen the chance of getting or spreading the virus.


There are plenty of people that are neglecting one or all of the other habits, so does it really make sense to label people who refuse to wear a mask as uncaring? Or should we label everyone who doesn't follow any of these habits as uncaring?

Is it justified for people that may not be practicing one, or all of the other three to criticize those who maybe practicing the other three but not mask-wearing?

Immune System?  A large portion of people in America don’t eat right or exercise regularly. There are a lot of people that are refusing to change their diet or exercise and causing themselves to be more vulnerable, but they still find it appropriate to criticize others for not masking up. We all understand that there are people that have a compromised immune system and it's no fault of theirs. That doesn’t take away the responsibility of eating healthy and exercising to help the immune system do the best it can with said compromise. However, it does give those people even more reason to be more diligent practicing the other three.

Hand Washing? According to studies, less than 60% of Americans wash their hands regularly after going to the bathroom and that up to 95% don’t wash their hands well enough to kill harmful bacteria. You would think we would see a lot more mandates, criticism, and debate over handwashing than mask-wearing since hand washing is a lot more effective and less intrusive to the person doing it.

Social distancing? We have seen thousands and thousands of people over the last year totally disregard any social distancing at all. 

Mask wearing? Just like washing our hands improperly reduces the effect of handwashing, so does wearing the mask improperly and unfortunately, this is also happening regularly.

I put the bulk of my energy is into strengthening my immune system, this makes a lot of sense working in the fitness field. 

I have been the most convicted about hand-washing. Even know I wash my hands and use sanitizer, I only spend 5-10 sec washing; I have made a commitment to do better. 

I also do my best to respect people's space. If I think, or someone tells me they feel uncomfortable, I keep my distance.

I wear a mask where it's required to do so. 

The purpose of this blog is not to argue for or against mask-wearing, personally, if I was going to take a hard line it would be in the area of personal health. But I am bothered that some people have the nerve to judge people's hearts based on if they are masking up or not. 

Telling people that they are uncaring because of the possibility of killing others could amount to hypocrisy unless the accuser plans on wearing one for the rest of their life. Since every day before this virus and every day after there is a chance, each of us could give someone a virus that could kill them or someone they come in contact with. For more deadly viruses like SARS, the chance is greater and for the yearly flu it's less deadly but the risk is still there every single year and will be forever. 


No matter where we stand on the mask-wearing or any of these other habits, it's most important for each of us to ask ourselves; how well am I complying with any habits that benefit myself and others. Personal Responsibility. Since most of the time, we have no idea why someone isn't adhering to one of these habits it would be most caring to not play judge and jury to them. 

Celebrating average over extraordinary

Bad to good draws a lot of support and encouragement and inspires people, but good to great draws less support and encouragement and can even draw criticism and jealousy.  We love to celebrate when someone has made a change in their life that brings them out of a bad place. But when someone that is doing good decides that they would like to take their life to a level of greatness, very few celebrate; often people like to criticize and come up with every reason why they shouldn't be or are not really great. We are definitely happy to see someone overcome an addiction, or watch someone do something that they once couldn't. but to see a person that is already making good choices go from good to great gets a much different reaction.

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We see this every day on social media. When someone unhealthy makes progress to reclaim their health the likes and more importantly the encouraging comments are rightfully plenty. When someone is already healthy, gains 10 pounds of muscle and benches his/her new max weight the likes are down quite a bit and the comments are even less.
Maybe it's easy to celebrate when someone does something good, but not so easy when they do something better than us? Or maybe we think they don't need encouragement because they are already encouraged by how well they are doing, but on the other hand, those that struggle may not continue to do well if we don't over celebrate their wins?
 I admit that I'm sensitive to this very situation because of my upbringing. When I was growing up, I was the middle kid that was pretty average (good). I basically listen to my parents and teachers stayed out of trouble most the time and respected the rules that I was under. While I had two sisters that did not follow rules and always pushed the limits. Because of this, they seem to get all the attention of people of authority. Now I realize that a lot of time it was bad attention, but as soon as they made a good decision they received more attention and this was the "over the top" I'm proud of you for making such a great decision type of attention all the while I've been making those decisions daily. When I made what I believed to be a great accomplishment the praise was much lower if any. It was as if what I did was expected.
 Now I realize that my feelings weren't always right on and still aren't today. but I still believe that we do people an injustice by overlooking a great accomplishment while at the same time going out of our way to tell those that have turned things around how awesome and inspiring they are, which we should. But let's not forget the sacrifice and dedication of those the do extraordinary things. Even if we need to push back the jealousy to do it. 

Success through "C"

When it comes to Success "C" is your letter!

When it comes to succeeding we want to grasp on to these four C's

1. Coach - All great teams and winning athletes have a coach. Not because they're not already great, but because a coach helps them compete at their highest level. A coach isn't necessary to make us great but to help bring out the greatness. When it comes to our health a good coach is crucial for long-term success
2. Community - The people we surround ourselves with have a huge impact on our ability to succeed. Those people that we allow in your inner circle are going to either sabotage or encourage our health goals, and our success will be deeply impacted by them. 
3. Commitment - A commitment that is based on our long-term goals, not a commitment that's only there when things are either out of control (reactive commitment) and until the perceived problem is temporarily solved. We must be committed to deep health. 
4. Consistency - Commitment is awesome to get us started and moving toward our long-term goals but it's consistency that's going to keep us on the path. 

www.zaofit3.com

Avoiding Failure is Avoiding Success

When it comes to our health sometimes the biggest mistake we make is trying to avoid failure. 

When we try to avoid something that is unavoidable like, failure the impact of the failure is usually negative and harmful instead of helpful. When we see failures as they are: part of the process of success, we embrace the lessons we learn when we fail. When we see failure only as a failure we learn little to nothing from the failure. 

This is why fad diets are mostly ineffective. I say mostly because there are always a few success stories (even know most of those don't pan out long-term).  

Trying to avoid failure by adhering to some crazy restrictive fad diet doesn't actually help us avoid failure, unfortunately, In most cases, it causes an endless circle of failure.

How many people do you know that have tried more than five different popular diets to only be looking for the next one because even though they may have lost weight on the last five they gained it all back and a few more to boot?

Failure is something we will all face and when we try to avoid it we end up delaying the inevitable and feel much worse about the failure.  

So what do I do?

No matter what you do failure is going to play a part so embrace the opportunity to learn from your failure because that's really what is going to bring success 

Failure doesn't mean you are a failure it just means your learning; more about yourself, more about how your body reacts, more about nutrition. You are learning.

So ditch the latest diet fads and start learning about your body, your strengths and build personal eating habits that allow you to eat the foods you like in a way that promotes health and vitality. 

Eat Slower -  This is a great habit to help build a healthier you and yes sometimes you will fail and from these failures, you will learn strategies to better eat slowly and the more you fail the more you learn until one day you will find yourself being the slowest eater at the table.

Eat until satisfied (Think 80% full) - Another great habit to build a healthier you! Again you will fail but those are the times you will learn the triggers that cause the failure and before you know it you will be eating less because you're done.

Eat less processed food (avoid highly processed food) - This is the food that feeds more than our appetite, it feeds our body with nutrients for a healthier you.  

Listen to your body and don't let the latest confirmation biased weight loss book convince you that: Carbs are bad, Fat is bad, Grains are bad, Dairy is bad, Fruits are too high in sugar, Alkaline is the way, Meat is evil, putting butter in your coffee is the secret to good health.

Now if you don't feel very good after eating dairy, stop eating it. You have stomach problems after eating bread, stop eating bread. You don't like bananas, stop eating bananas. You love butter in your coffee, drink it that way. 

Be careful not to stop or start eating certain foods because someone else is trying to create a fear narrative that's not real, in hopes of promoting their preferred lifestyle.


www.zaofit3.com 

One small change to your eating can get big results

The Game Changer

There is just a few more days 0f 2017 and then on to a new year with new resolutions and renewed aspirations for a new you.  Gyms are packed with people January 1st but are back to the same by February. Why? Because we just want a quick way to lose lots of weight so we can go back to our old eating habits and our little to no exercise habits, and still keep the weight off, but are reminded quickly that this is an endless path to disappointment with our weight, appearance, and self-esteem. 

So what can we do about it? 

Consistency!  We have to find habits that promote good health that we can and will do consistently for the long haul. This is a proven effective way of reclaiming and keeping long-term health!

So why aren't more people doing this if it is a proven method for helping thousands of people reclaim their health for the long haul? 

Because most the time, these changes, that we can do, and are willing to do are usually small changes that do not bring immediate results, they work over time. And let's be honest, unlike our friend ELF, that's not our favorite:) 

This new year, make it your goal to build healthy habits that are sustainable, and stay clear of all the fad quick loss diets and focus on being mindful of what you eat when you eat, and how you eat. 

I want to give you one of the most important habits that you can practice and it's so simple you won't believe it's so valuable, but it is. And even know it's simple it's not always easy to be consistent, but if you are it with pay big dividends for your health in the long run! 

Eat Slowly. 

Here are some simple ways to eat slowly

• Put your fork down between bites.

• Relax. Breathe. Take a few extra moments before you pick the fork up again.

• Set a timer if needed — start with 15 minutes per meal as a basic goal. Work up to 20 or even 30.

• Chew a few more times than you think you need to.

• Enjoy and savor each bite. If you’re eating something delicious, take pleasure in it. Notice smells, flavors, and textures.

• Eat mindfully without distractions such as TV, smartphones, or the computer. (Pleasant conversation with friends and family is, of course, welcome.) 

Why eating slowly is so awesome!!

1. Slow eating creates mindfulness. Mindfulness creates awareness.

When you get the hang of slow eating and your body cues, you'll become aware of when they’ve over-eaten.

2. Slow eating attunes people with flavors, textures, and smells of food.

People instinctively begin to seek out better choices, simply because of increased awareness. Their emotional-brain elephant is gently guided, rather than wrenched unwillingly.

3. Slow eating provides important information to the GI tract and gives satiety hormones time to kick in.

If we rush, we don’t smell, taste, or texturally experience our food. Our bodies don’t notice stuff getting shoved into the pipeline until it’s too late.

However, when we eat slowly, our satiety hormones have time to work. We stop eating naturally, earlier.

4. Slow eating helps with digestion.

The step-by-step information processing also helps with cueing digestive activity such as peristalsis or enzyme secretion further downstream. Our GI tract doesn’t get caught off guard.

So you feel better after you eat.

If you suffer from heartburn this just might be a magic cure :)

5. Slow eating doesn’t depend on controlling what you eat.

This means you can do it anywhere, anytime, with any kind of food — whether that’s a Mother’s Day brunch, a business lunch, dinner at Grandma’s, a Vegas buffet, or S’Mores around a campfire.

No matter what’s on your plate or who’s around you, you can eat slowly.

6. Slow eating makes the client’s body the boss.

This means eventually you won’t have to rely on calorie counting, weighing and measuring food, or any other means of external control. you’ll feel much less anxious, and much more self-assured.

Paradoxically, relinquishing external control gives you more real control.

Mindfulness is the path to this outcome.

This year make a commitment to building habits that build a healthy you!

And if you would like to know more about this other habits that are proven to help you move toward your health goals, and would like help implementing them I would be happy to discuss more, just head over to my website or email me. 

Website: www.zaofit3.com                                                                                                               Email: zaofit3@gmail.com

Jerry Mullins                                                                                                                                       PN1, DSW, CPT, WMS

How can a penny help you get healthy?

The other day when I was on a morning run with my wife and a friend, I was thinking about some of my clients and former clients and I found myself asking why some really struggle and others flourish? If I could just find out "the why" I could be a better coach. I understand we all have stories that can give some insight, and there are a lot of great resources that I use (school, books, mentors) to help be the best coach I can be, but this particular day as I was running, and I started thinking about my wife, and she found change project. Boom! I realized it's all about the penny! So here's how it works: If while running she sees money she stops and picks it up, most the time its pennies but she has found all kinds of different coins, even some bills and other things like pocket knives and even a posable bunny. 

 My wife's old jar and new jar (first got too small)

Most people when running with her for the first time laughs when she suddenly stops. Usually, the person looks back and asks; "did you drop something" and she responds "No I found a penny" and at this point, she proceeds to tell them how she collects money that she finds regardless of its denomination. Most people laugh when she tells them she's saving money to pay for her trip to run Boston (marathon) someday, but others that have run with her for any period of time are inspired. Some even collect pennies themselves. Why? Because she has made believers out of us by collecting over a hundred dollars the last several years.

What do My clients and their health have to do with my wife and her coin collecting endeavor (obsession)? I believe it's the same reason you and I don't stop and pick up a penny, well, at least why I don't. When I see a penny I think its value is not worth me stopping in the middle of a run to pick it up; well it's only a penny and some of the pennies are barely even recognizable. Now if a see a quarter I think about it, I still don't pick it up but I do think about picking it up and if I see a dollar it's mine. What I have learned from my attitude towards her found change project; Is that because of her faithfulness to pick up everything she sees no matter the value, she has collected about one hundred dollars, a couple of pocket knives, a cool rock that says "Jesus Lord of all", a pretty shell and has inspired others to start their own found change jar.  

My coaching philosophy is a slow process of building habits and learning to make choices that are a little better. One of my favorite sayings is "Think a little better"  When it comes to your nutrition and exercise we can always do a little better. The problem with this philosophy is that it's like collecting pennies and most people don't want to collect pennies we want dollars! But you see if my wife only collected dollars she would be at a fraction of where she is, as a matter of fact, she might not have anything saved, because why save the dollar when it's sitting in your jar for over a year all by itself, it's a little discouraging so we might as well spend that dollar, right?

So what am I trying to say? When reclaiming your health you can be like my wife who no matter how tired she is, or how hard she has to push to catch the pack, how the run is going or how small the denomination of money is, she picks it up, because she understands that the Boston (marathon) is expensive and every penny gets her one penny closer to her goal.

Or you can be like me and pass the pennies hoping that you will find the stockpile of money that will pay for Boston all at once and end up with nothing. 

There is no magic bullet (short cut) to get you to your health goals, it comes one penny (small habit, little better choice) at a time. The awesome thing is that some days because of your faithfulness to the small things (pennies), big things (dollars found) will happen.

If you are looking to reclaim your health and are willing to build habits that bring long-term results by making small changes (collect pennies) I would love to talk to you about some options that will give you the tools needed to collect all the pennies you need to reach your health goals.

zaofait3@gmail.com

Open the pharmacy

Some people think I'm a little fanatical about my running. Yes, I do enjoy running, and I probably run more than most, I also do enjoy the spiritual, emotional and physical benefits of running. But it's not as much about running than it is about the benefits of exercise. Yes exercise. Running is my choice for exercise, but it's not the only choice. These days it's not uncommon to hear people argue over what is the best form of exercise, but unless we do it, I don't care how much science we have it's not going to work. The same goes with nutrition. We can argue all day what nutrition plan is best, but those that know nutrition are aware that there isn't a one best plan for everyone. My point is that we are all different and the exercise and nutrition plan that we follow can help one succeed and another feel like a failure. The important thing is to know that moving and staying active with something you can enjoy and eating as much real food as possible opens up the best pharmacy in the world; the one inside of you and me. The pharmacy that we have within us can heal and help us better than any drug in any pharmacy man has created thus far, unfortunately, most people have closed their pharmacy. The keys are in our control, but we have to put them to use so we can open the pharmacy up for business. I do believe there are situations where people need medicine from an external pharmacy, but a lot of times we need them because we have closed our own personal pharmacy and we have to get the medicine somewhere else. Here is an amazing thing about our own pharmacy: Our pharmacy knows exactly what we need and how much with no guessing! Yes, imagine if you went to a doctor and they gave you a prescription that wasn't based on a guesstimate of what the average person that was your size weight, and gender needed, but rather what amount you needed for you as an individual. That's what your body is capable of doing. Open your pharmacy and keep it open 24/7, it's your best plan for quality and quantity of life.

If you are wanting to open your pharmacy and you could use so help email me at zaofit3@gmail.com

A Script can save you lots of regret!

I want to take a minute and talk about the importance of scripting when it comes to change.

Scripting is thinking about what you would like to happen in a difficult situation.

So why is it so important to your health?

The other day I was at a leadership meeting for a conference that I help plan in the Spring every year. Our meeting was at Izzy's and one of the leaders while eating his mound of pizza and fried foods said he was on the Mediterranean diet as prescribed by his doctor. He went on to tell us that he has done very well for the past two weeks and wanted us to know that he was just enjoying this one meal, but would be right back on it tomorrow. Now there are a few things that made me sad about this conversation, but let's focus on how scripting could of made all the difference in the world for this guy. I could tell by his conversation and conviction, that he had every intention of making good choices when he got there, but there was so many good (Bad) choices that he was overwhelmed and just grabbed what he knew.

So how could scripting help?

I like the things on his plate as much as he did, but I scripted out a head of time.

Here is my Script: Go strait to the salad bar and fill my plate with highly nutritious food and when I'm done and mostly full I return to get something from the not so nutritious area.

So what did I do at that meeting? You guessed it. I went by my script and had a spinach salad lots of fruits and veggies some cottage cheese and for extra protein I got a friend chicken breast and pulled off all the skin and ate the meat, then I went and got a bowl of soft serve ice cream concoction (I think), yes it is a red light food!

Do I have more self control? No I don't believe I do. I scripted out what I would do so I was not left with lots of options, yes I was tempted, and I usually am, that's why I have a script to follow when I know things will be tough!

The more choices we have the more likely we are to pick what we know, and what were familiar with. But when we script out a plan we are more likely to choose what we have already decided to eat.

Try using a script when your going into a tough situation and share with me how it works out for you.

What does health have to do with character?

What does health have to do with character?

We have a health crisis in America and there are few if any that would deny this fact, but the truth is the way things seem is that we are more concerned about our weight than our health. What do I mean? Well just look around you for a moment and look at how we as a country approach this problem. think back at the TV ads, magazine covers, social media ads, and how companies get you to buy their products. Now that you have taken a minute to think about it, doesn't it seem obvious that the message of the day about our bodies is: We can help you lose weight and lose it fast. There are cleanses, 21-day challenges, heavily processed meal bars, and miracle shakes. Just to mention a few. All with the promise to help you shed that unwanted weight. We know that all this advertising is based on what we are buying; Weight loss. As a health coach that has the privilege of working with so many people. When it comes to weight loss, I know that health really is more important than weight loss to most us, but so many have mistaken weight loss for good health. Unfortunately, weight loss doesn't mean healthier body. If we are pre-diabetic/overweight than getting healthy will equate to weight loss, but weight loss doesn't always equate to better health. 

  So what does health have to do with character? Let me first share a quote by John Wooden: "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are". Now let's replace Character with health and reputation with weight.  Be more concerned with your health than your weight, because your health is what you really are, while your weight is merely what others think you are. When I first read this quote it really hit me hard, because it's easy to get caught up in what people think of us and forget that's it's more important who we are, than who people perceive us to be. It's the same with our bodies; it's more important to be healthy than for people to think were healthy because of how we look. But a lot of the times we are concerned with how we are perceived and so we shoot for weight loss above health. I know this not only because I'm a health coach and personal trainer, but also because of the numbers. Take a look at these numbers: 

The annual revenue of the U.S. weight-loss industry, including diet books, diet drugs, and weight-loss surgeries is 20 billion dollars, there are 108 million people on diets in the United States, and Dieters typically make four to five attempts per year, and 220,000 people with morbid obesity in the United States had bariatric surgery in 2009, and most people, well over 90% do not keep the weight off. 
  So what can we do about it? First, we must fight the urge to make weight loss our focus, and then refuse to jump on the next weight loss fad that comes along; because they will keep coming. And then remind ourselves that making a conscious decision to get healthy will always lead to a better body. just like a good reputation doesn't always mean a good character, a drop in weight doesn't always relate to better health, but a good character will lead to a better reputation, and good health will lead to a better body.  

To Carb or not to Carb?

To Carb or not to Carb?

when I was a child I remember the food trend "Fat Free", yes every food was going or seem to be going fat free, why? Because Fat was the cause of our over-weight problem. Or was it? Well of course not, but that didn't change a great number of adults from buying fat free everything in hopes to take-off or keep-off those unwanted pounds. The sad things about the whole Fat Free craze, was that most the fat free foods were more unhealthy than the original. Good thing we got over that lie (for the most part) and moved on. Or did we?

companies are still making fat free and some people still believe fat makes you fat, but it doesn't have the momentum it had in the 80's, but there is a another belief that has stirred up a new diet craze. In the last decade we have demonized a new macro-nutrient, the carbohydrate. Yes the new make me fat macro-nutrient is the carb! Everywhere we go, we hear low carb, no carb, and a few others things I won't mention. I remember one diet that started in the late 90's and when I cared very little about what I ate or dieting, but what I did notice is a lot of friends and family members losing weight and attributing it to this specific diet.

What I also noticed is that they didn't look very healthy, they just looked thin. What, isn't thin healthy? NO! They looked as if they got sick and lost a bunch of weight; their skin  just kinda hung off their body they looked tired and had little energy, but they were happy to be thin, so I was happy for them. The worse part of it, was that I can't remember one keeping the weight off, and most were heavier one to two years later, with a higher fat ratio than before. Well that was then, when I didn't know what a carb was, and this is now; when nutrition is a passion of mine and I not only know what a carb is I know that they are a crucial nutrient for our body, and Our bodies most preferred form of fuel. And since we were created by a God that makes no mistakes, I don't believe it's a coincidence that our bodies preferred fuel is carbohydrates. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that carbs are more important than fat, or protein, because they are all important. I believe in a right carb diet, I also believe in a right fat, right protein diet too. The biggest problem we have with carbs, is that we eat the wrong ones. We love the pre-packaged, highly processed junk food and sugary drinks. If were really looking to make a health a priority, this is where our carb cutting should be. One more thing about carbohydrates that we should take into consideration; Our brain also needs fuel and unlike our bodies that can use fat and protein for fuel if need be, our brain can only uses carbs.

  I suggest getting your carbs from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, think of this way: Good carbs come with friends. Their friends are fiber , and protein, and bad carbs the carbs you should cut out is carbs that travel alone, like soda pop. 

  If you are on a low carb diet and it works for you, that's great, but most of us don't do so well and should stick to fueling with our bodies most preferred and our brains only source for fuel. 

P.S. below is a couple links with great reads:  Always follow those that use science, here are two of my favorites! 

Dr. Sears Wellness Institute

https://www.drsearswellnessinstitute.org/blog/food-for-brain-health/

Precision Nutrition: 

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/low-carb-diets

The Go in Pokemon Go!

The GO in Pokemon go? 

Yes the Pokemon go craze has hit and I have something to say about it. Not much of a surprise since most of the world has something to say about it. There are those who love it and have anticipated the game for months (I never heard of it until just a few days ago), then there are those who despise the game, at least that's what the latest Facebook posts would lead you to believe. he haters are probably bothered even more now that it's a reality game played by millions all around in broad daylight! How could it be Pokemon on the street corners?!? Well I have a little bit of a different take that might not fit so well in either category.  Wait! You might be thinking I fit neatly in the, "I don't care" category but I would say: "I don't fit in that category either, because I Do Care.

 I do care and I care greatly, but it's not about Pokemon or a bunch of weird named creatures that I can track down with my phone and capture, and I definitely don't care if I ever control or own, or what ever you called it; a gym! So what do I care about? I care about my twelve year old boy who wants to win a gym, and he wants to raise and capture and evolve lot's of Pokemon's and he wants to do it with me! yesterday we went on a 5 mile bike ride came home and took a break and went out running/walking for 3 more miles, all the while talking about things that mattered (the in an outs of Pokemon) to him and so they matter to me! Because you know, we also talked about a lot of other thing and we exercised (hunted pokemon) for three hours. This morning we went out and walked another 3 miles doing, you guessed it; hunting Pokemon. 

 I think there is a couple of things we should all be excited about Pokemon go; first Nintendo has given us parents, grandparents, youth/children's leaders a tool to connect. I know we can connect without Pokemon, but with the popularity of this game I think it would be crazy not to leverage it for relationships, instead of thrashing it and everybody that plays it. Also the last two days I've seen more kids and adults out walking around than I have ever seen, and I'm not exaggerating in the slightest, and we as a nation need to move more! Being one of the largest Countries in the world we need the Go in Pokemon Go. Yes we should thank Nintendo for getting us moving more, I would much rather my son be walking around looking for monsters on his phone than pushing buttons on a controller or watching a TV screen for hours. 

  Yes I do play Pokemon Go, but no I don't understand or like the whole Pokemon world and honestly I never did. But this game that has my son asking me to go bike, run, walk and spend two to three strait hours with him is a winner in my book, so whether you hate me for playing or for playing and not really caring about the game I will keep playing (spending quality time with my son) regardless of what other may think or say. 

Junk-Drawer Syndrome

The other day I was going through and cleaning out some cupboards and drawers in our kitchen and I came across one of our two junk-drawers and thought it was time to take them down to one. So I went through and sorted everything out of one draw, by doing one of three things with everything in it: One: I put the actual junk in the garbage
Two: I put things where they actually went
Three: I put them in the other junk-draw.

Maybe your wondering how we got two junk-draws, maybe not, but let me explain anyway: When we bought our current house nine years ago and we were putting things away in our new kitchen, I said "let's make this drawer our junk drawer" my wife immediately said "no I don't like junk-draws". she decided we were no longer going to have a junk-draw, and this was the perfect time to do away with it. So as the years went by we would slowly add a few things to one of the draws in the kitchen that kind of sorta fit with each other, but not quite, and after a few years two of these draws seem to get more and more stuff that didn't fit and had no real connection with each other, and boom we had two junk-draws. So that's how we got two. But why I'm talking about junk-draws. First of all junk-draw is the wrong name to call such a valuable draw. Second the reason why we have them is because they really do carry valuable stuff, stuff that has been separated from it's purpose, but never the less is valuable. So where am I going with this whole junk-draw thing? Well a junk draw is filled with things that we found and we know they have value, but were not quite sure what their purpose is when we find them. But like I said they are valuable and they do have a purpose even know at the present time we don't know what it is, and we don't want to throw it away because we know it's valuable and when we discover what it actually goes with or is a part of life just seems to be better. We know that if we can put this thing, we found in the drawer, that someday we will find the thing that brings out the value in it! It already has value and we know it does but we just can't see it apart from what it was made to do.
  Have you ever found that perfect nut or bolt, you know the one that you could no longer buy, that could fix that broken chair? I have, it's awesome! This for me is a revelation! People are valuable way more valuable than the things we find in a drawer, but when people don't know and are separated from their purpose, we can't see their value, and even worse they don't see their value! There are people that have been put in the Junk-draw or have put themselves in the draw, and they feel worthless and misplaced, and others see them as a wasted life, when in reality they just need to be where they belong, where their value is evident to everyone including themselves. So I say, for the things that are laying round our house, that we don't know how or where they fit, let's go ahead and put those things in the junk-draw until their time to be discovered happens, but for people that have intrinsic value, let's fight against the urge to do this same thing and strive to help them discover the purpose that couldn't possible make them any more valuable than they already are, but will bring out the value that is already who they are.
  If you are reading this blog and feeling yourself like junk (worthless), I want you to know that nothing could be further from the truth! You were created invaluable and are loved by God and have purpose that brings a joy, adventure and excitement to your life! I would encourage you to stay away from people who would confine you to the junk-draw and surround yourself with people that will help you discover the things that make obvious the value that is already who you are.

Why do people trade Love for Hate?

As a person that has led people ever since I was eighteen, and have always strived to learn more about people so I could better lead. I know I'm not where I want to be as a leader, but I'm learning and growing every year. There is one thing that I have noticed in a small group of people that I just don't get (I'm Lost) I try to understand but just don't get it! What is it? It's the action of walking away from everybody and everything that is loving and good and chasing people and things that are not.

You might be saying "people don't do that!" but I would say with confidence that they do, and it's happening every day. Anybody that cares about people has seen it a number of times and no matter if we know that person personally or not, it breaks our heart. So many people suffer from this and even know the number of people that do this type of thing is a minority, it affects everybody at some point in our lives, if not directly most definitely indirectly. So what does it look like?: It's the parent that neglects their child/children, the child that rebels against their parents, the spouse that abandons their husband/wife, or the person that walks away from their entire family, to name a few.    So what makes these people they are moving toward harmful? That's easy. Anybody that allows you to walk away from a loving and nurturing support system is not only harmful but hateful, not only to the loving support system but to you! If they were truly caring and loving they would support and encourage the continued relationship with the people that love you. I don't get it, maybe because, even know I've done lot's of things I wish I could change or do better, I have never walked away from a loving support system or loved ones, and I most definitely wouldn't have done it in favor of a person or group of people that showed contempt toward my future. So I ask why? 

If you are more enlightened to this situation than me please share and comment to help me understand why this happens. Maybe you were that person, and were blind to it and now you see, whatever it might be please share anything you believe will help understand and help families and individuals deal with this tragedy.

Help Youth Trips are killing me!

Last week I was at a youth conference and a friend walked up to me and said, "Jerry you should write a blog on how to survive on a youth trip" he was referring to our physical health. I immediately thought, that is a great idea! So here we go. As a youth pastor of nineteen years I have led between four to six overnight youth events per year since 1997, so somewhere around a hundred trips, and I know what it's like to go on a youth trip with no concern for my health, but more recently, I also know what it's like to be concerned and make adjustments to honor God.  Let me start by saying over the years youth trips were the times I treated my body worse than any other 3-5 day period of my ministry, but thankfully I have grown in my knowledge and desire to make adjustments on these trips.
So how do we have a great youth trip, with the focus on our students and at the same time do practical things to manage our own health on the trip?
  FitPastors an organization that I work with to coach church leaders from all over the country has a very simple illustration that we use of our bodies; That illustration is that of a vehicle. Just like our vehicle carries around the most precious people in the world to us; our family, our bodies carry around the most precious part of all creation; our soul.  I won't go into all the details here, but I want to use what we call the four tires, to help you make better choices on your next youth trip. What are the four tires? 1. Move 2. Lift 3. Fuel 4. Rest, and our goal is to balance all four of these tires so we can keep our vehicle (body) on the road in working condition, fulfilling God's call. Out of our four tires, There is one tire that I still haven't figured out how to balance on a youth trip, but it is a tire that can be and should be focused on right after the trip, and that's the Rest Tire. Trying to get rest on a youth event is like watching our students try to speak Spanish for the first time in mexico, yes they try but it's more amusing than it is effective. So my advise on taking care of your rest tire is it take two to three days off immediately following the event; I know there is a lot of work to do after an event, but I also know that you getting rest is way more important for your long term ministry, and if your church doesn't make you take days off (It Should), you let the leadership of your church know your need for rest, and start making it part of your post trip routine. So let's talk about the three other tires. How do we balance them on the trip, or do we also just push through and worry about them afterward the trip also? Absolutely not! You can and must learn how to manage these other three tires while on the trip, and this goes for any church leader at any multi-day conference.
  Let's talk about the fuel tire first. Depending on the type of event this could change considerably, for camp you are pretty much at the mercy of the camp, but you can make good choices and even be willing to bring some more healthy snacks with you to the camp. Stay away from the white breads, white pasta, and rice. Eat lots of salad but stay away from the creamy dressings. Example for a Mexican food meal: hold off on the rice, and choose Corn tortilla over flour or even better make a taco salad with meat, chicken if available, with beans and salsa. And always pick fruit over fries or tater tots. How about a youth trip where you are buying breakfast and eating out for lunch and dinner. First you have total control over the morning food so make sure that you say no to the Costco muffins (I know they use to be a staple in my breakfast too) and go for the boiled eggs, Greek yogurt, maybe a few whole grain cereals, whole grain bread and peanut butter, and of course fruit. When you choose places for lunch and dinner try to find an area that will give kids an opportunity to have options, a lot of kids if available will choose better options, and it will give you an opportunity to do the same. If your stuck at a fast food place like McDonald's or Burger King, here are some small hacks that will make it a little less toxic (bad for you). Choose no bun or take the top bun off and go open faced, get fruit instead of fries and skip the sugary or fake sugar drink and get water. Speaking of sugary drinks this is definitely the most significant change you could make. Get rid of all the sugary drinks and carry a water bottle and drinks lot's of water! There is one exception that I make to this and it's coffee, not black coffee that's great, drink up if your a black coffee drinker, I'm talking an annihilator at Dutch Brothers, Yes caffeine is a need and unfortunately I can't do black coffee yet. If you too need your fluffy coffee fix don't over do it, maybe that one for a morning pick me up, and cut out all other drinks besides water and drink lots of it. If the conference has a green room, be conscious of what you eat, most of them are filled with both decent snacks and snacks that have little or no nutritious value. The top rules are: grab a water, pick fruits and veggies, and stay away from the candy bars. I know it's tempting but just walk away!
 Now lets talk Lift and move tires which is Cardio and strength training. Now at first glance these two tires might seem tough; you can't run or lift weights at a youth trip, right? actually it is quite easy to keep these balanced if you are willing to be intentional. In the youth group bonding time this is happening, swimming, basketball, Ninja, and horse play all throughout the conference or camp. Then you can add, parking further away from the church, hotel or restaurant, so you have to walk, take the stairs instead of the elevators, or how about serving the ladies by having a small group of guys including yourself take their bags to the rooms. This one maybe a little tougher, but getting up thirty minutes early and hitting the gym if your at a hotel, I've been able to pull it off some mornings on some of the trips over the last couple years and I have never regretted it, one time I even got the boys in my room to join me. I realize that this is not an exhausted list but I guarantee you that you will come home feeling better and weighing less if you take time to implement these simple youth travel hacks to your next Youth trip.
If you would like connect or specific questions or comments that you would like to discuss I would love to connect with you, and help you reach your health goals. I am a certified personal trainer, weight management specialist, sports nutrition, DotFit Instructor, Certified health coach, with both Dr. Sears Wellness Institute, and Precision Nutrition, and Pastor who has a passion to see others succeed in every area including but not limited to their physical health.



If you would like to know more about coaching, email me at zaofit3@zaofit.com. Iwould love to help you reach your health goals.

It's My Life!

We all know life can be hard, and our own bad decisions can make it
a lot tougher, but the worst is when someone else's bad decisions make our life tougher!  A person's willingness to do something knowing it will cause other great pain is a great indicator of how truly selfish that person is, and when the person causing all the pain is a loved one it increases the pain tenfold. Most, if not all of us have been affected by a loved one that says with their mouth they love us, but their actions say something very different. With the excuse being; "it's my life!" Really? It's my life! I wonder sometimes if people really believe that they have the moral right to make difficult, destroy, dishonor, and just plain make others miserable in the name of "It's my life!"? I think back to my days as a teenager and I have no doubt, that some of my decisions hurt others, but I can say with sincerity that it wasn't with the attitude of it's my life, as a matter of fact, there was a number of times that I choose not to do something for the sake of others and as I got older, I became more aware and intentional about making decisions for the good of others too. I get it we all want to have control of our life, but when we have control of anything including ourselves it's not without responsibility, and part of that responsibility is for the concern and care of others that are connected to us. I know that believing in a creator, and one that is personal and cares about our daily life concerns plays a part, actually is a huge reason why I care about the feelings of others, and why I believe that we're all in this together not for competition, but community.  All too often I have seen people suffer huge, because a child, parent, or spouse decided that their so-called happiness was more important than the rest of the family and they needed to do their thing regardless of what it would cause to everybody else, and unfortunately, there are people that would lead them to believe, that it's not only ok but needed for their happiness.

To make things worse years later the person is still not happy but they have also succeeded in hurting the ones they claim to love because happiness is never obtained through selfishness but rather selflessness.  This is not a letter to shame or condemnation, but of pleading. I plead with you for your future self and for your loved ones that are hurting with and for you, stop attempting to live as though your alone on an island and live as though the island is full of people that love you and are affected by your choices and will do whatever it takes to help you succeed in life because ultimately your life is theirs too.

The Like button

Facebook has really evolved over the years, and one of those things is the like button. Something that I have observed quite a bit, over the years working with teenagers is, holding back a like because they're mad at their friend. Really? But as time has gone by I realize it's pretty universal. Yes, unfortunately, it seems adults are leading the way. I know sounds absolutely ridiculous that social media has caused us to regress to the point of; "I will show you I'm mad by not liking your stuff" instead of having a relationship and going to our friend and discussing the issue. When a friend offends us, most of the time they are not aware (that is until we decide that we will not like or comment on their stuff to show them they can't get away with that). And the best way to work it out is to let them know so they can react based on the knowledge that they have hurt us, whether they apologize or not, either way, we both know where things stand.
Unfortunately, I have participated in this childish way of dealing with conflict and hurt too many times, but I'm grateful for the conviction of the Holy Spirit that has caused me to rethink my tendency to hold back my likes based on feelings that can be so fickle. I know I also use to justify it by telling myself I just don't like that, but we know otherwise don't we? I also know it's simple to justify holding back alike because we feel as if they were the ones being a lousy friend, and maybe they were or are, but if we think for one minute, that we are being anything more than lousy in our friendship to them we are dead wrong. Ok, I can go on forever about how wrong and immature it is for us to use Facebook as a tool to show our anger over something we feel is more than justified. (even know we are and would be wrong) But I would like to end by saying; Friendships should always be valued and valued enough to listen to the good advice of Paul in his writing to the church in Ephesus, where he says to "always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other's faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the spirit, binding yourselves together with peace" As adults, I hope we can lead the way in showing our children the importance of relationships and how to reconcile and preserve our friends so they can build and have healthy friendships throughout their lives.

Letter to that guy

To all the little boys out there who think their men. You know the ones. The ones that think they can treat young ladies like their property, like something they wear, get tired of it and throw away. The ones that take beautiful princesses and make them feel that they are less than. They are the ones that take these precious little girls, those little girls that were created by God, and treat them like an ordinary skipping rock. Yes, these beautiful souls were created to be honored, protected, and loved like a perfectly cut diamond that was made for a special purpose, and created for a perfect setting, to be worn and cherished and protected by one person forever. But you chose to take that beautiful precious diamond and use it for a skipping rock and wonder why everybody seems to hate on you. Let me inform you; people aren't hating on you their loving on the one your hating on.
  One day you may have a precious daughter and hopefully, you will come to a realization how foolish you were, but until then do your community and every other human being a favor and move to an island with all your fellow fools and live there, for let says the rest of your life. Or at least until you grow up and realize that loving someone requires selfless sacrifice, a sacrifice for which you know nothing about.

I know your name and I know your game, telling her; "no one else understands you like I do" only works while she is blinded and then it all comes crashing down, but unfortunately by the time they see you for who you really are they have already been taking down a path of hurt, pain, and regret, that will affect the rest of their life, of course, that doesn't bother you because your intention was to get what you could for as long as you could. I know you want to make her feel like she's broken so she will hold tightly to you, the only one that can fix her, at least that's the lie you tell her, but in all reality, you are the one broken, and unfortunately broken people like to break others. I just want you to understand that you're not fooling anybody else and you will pay for your lying and manipulating ways. Yes, I know you think you have gotten away with something, but believe me, you haven't, you have only temporarily taken down another person with you. Understand when I tell you; love is more about what you do than what you say, so don't be surprised when the people that really do love that precious young lady that you so shamelessly use, end up doing everything in their power to make you a distant memory, and please don't talk about love as if you know what it means because you got as much clue about love as you do about being a decent human being. I will end by saying I really do hope and pray that you actually wake up and see that you too are valuable under all that loserness, but for the sake of us all; leave our nieces, sisters, daughters, and granddaughters alone while you figure out yourself.