We here at Rhino Fitness are experts in fitness, We each have certifications and lots of education and experience to back them up. We spend a lot of our free time researching new techniques, new methods and staying on top of the latest trends in health and fitness. It's our lives. Sum it up: we know what we are doing. When a prospective client comes in and tells us that they have this or that particular reason for not exercising, we know exactly what to tell them. We know all of the ways to get them through any issue with exercise. There is, after all, no excuse for not exercising.

I say all of this, not to toot our own horns, but to let you know something. All of a sudden, the Nike is on the other foot. Since committing myself to compete next year, I find that I am sitting on the other side of the table and I am experiencing all of the things that our clients and prospective clients go through on a daily basis.

I'm talking about everything from nutritional woes to lack of motivation. I now understand what our clients are feeling when we tell them we need a "before" picture of them. I now feel the pain they feel when I ask them to step on the scale or wrap their fingers around the body composition machine. There's some kind of cold reality that hits you when you see those numbers. No matter how low they may be, they never seem to be good enough. And it's painful. I know.

Taking my shirt off and having a picture taken is akin to getting slapped in the face. I don't even want to look at the picture. Just take it and hide it away somewhere. I'll look at it later, when I am in better shape. It really hurts.

I know what it feels like when I know that I need a particular supplement or gadget, or new exercise accessory but the price tag is staring me in the face as if to say, "You can't afford to get into shape!" There seems to always be a reason why I shouldn't spend the money right now.

And then there's the motivation. I know it's only my second week, but it seems like things just are not happening quickly enough. I look in the mirror and say to myself, "I don't look a whole lot different than when I started. Why is the fat not just melting off?" I want to do more to make it happen more quickly, but at the same time, I feel like I have to drag myself to the treadmill each time to get in the necessary cardio workout.

But it finally hit me. I am a client. For the first time in more years than I care to remember, I am being trained. I am no longer exercising or working out, I am training. I have a particular goal and end result in mind, and I am seriously working toward that. And, along the way, I am coming face-to-face with all of the obstacles that I hear my clients talk about. There they are, those larger-than-life hurdles, mocking me. Telling me I'm too old. I lack the willpower. It's too expensive. I'm way too out of shape to ever expect to get there.

But you know what? For the first time, I hear myself and the rest of the staff speaking in my ear and quietly reassuring me that this CAN be done. I hear things like, "Keep your focus on the goal. Don't let little things or (big things) discourage you. You CAN do this!" "Be patient and keep working hard. It'll happen. How bad do you want it?"

So, I guess I may be apologizing if I have ever given anyone the impression that I think weight loss and fitness is easy. It really isn't. I want to tell you that I feel your pain, your frustration and your discouragement. And I want to tell you that I am right there with you, literally every step of the way.

And, I want to tell you that I need your encouragement, motivation and support as well. This is not easy for either of us, but we can get through it if we are there for each other.

Deal?

Something came up this weekend in a discussion with my wife. We were doing our food planning for the week and trying to create menus that were healthy, delicious and most of all, convenient. This got us to thinking: how many times have we sacrificed nutrition for convenience?

I thought about the times that we got home just too late and tired to bother crafting a nutritious meal. It was much easier to hit the local eatery and grab some "food." I thought about the times that we were just plain out of anything to cook at home because we slacked on going to the grocery and getting what needed. I thought about how we really shouldn't be eating at 9:00 pm anyway. Then I really got to thinking.

How many of those times that we didn't eat properly could have been averted had we planned in advance?

And you know what? It’s really not that difficult. I used to do it religiously. And it made a real difference. It’s a matter of planning the week’s menu and getting everything prepared in advance. Maybe this means making sure you have the items you need to prepare a good lunch at work. Even if you have to pack a cooler each day, you can have everything ready to go beforehand and just drop it all in the cooler each morning.

Perhaps being prepared means having all your veggies chopped and cleaned and ready to drop in the steamer. Big zip loc bags full of a day’s worth of lettuce are really handy. Or maybe you need to grill a week’s worth of chicken or fish or whatever and have it in baggies ready to be warmed-up again.Maybe being prepared means getting yourself to the grocery store and stocking up on what you need before you launch into the week and don’t have the time to do it.

What’s important here is that you make it as easy and convenient on yourself to get a meal prepared as possible. This way, you will be less inclined to wimp out and hit the fast food. And, just as importantly, you will be able to have your meals at the proper times. I hope you don’t think I’m being too anal here. But it really does make a difference in your weight management if you seriously plan ahead.

I never had trouble building muscle. It was always easy for me to pack on the lean pounds whenever I decided I needed to. It’s not that I’m bragging, it’s just a fact. I’m one of the lucky few who can gain muscular weight pretty easily.  When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I could gain an inch on my biceps by just growling at the barbell. Seriously. For a young , aspiring bodybuilder, it was very motivating.

Others are not so fortunate. I have a friend who was a competitive bodybuilder also and his chief complaint was that he couldn’t gain a lot of muscular bodyweight. However, he had really low body fat. Naturally. He never had to work too hard to keep his body fat low. As a result, he looked awesome when he competed. I know plenty of people who wish they had this problem. Including myself. You see, though I could build muscle by thinking about it, I had to work really, REALLY hard to keep the fat off.

My point to all of this is that each of us is our own person. We each possess different attributes. Some of us gain weight easily, some of us can’t gain it fast enough. Some of us have no trouble sticking to a healthy nutritious food plan, some of us can’t pass a junk food place without stopping in. There are the beautiful bodies you see on television, and then there’s reality.

Where do you fit in? I’m asking this question, not to antagonize you about your physical condition, but to help you appreciate who you are. You see, not everyone was meant to look like a celebrity, with a perfect body and flawless skin. The great majority of us live every day looking at our flaws in the mirror. And I am here to tell you that it is just fine. That’s right. It’s ok to be who you are. I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to improve your body and your health, I’m just saying you need to be realistic about what you are trying to achieve. If you are happy and feel fine once you reach a size 8 dress, then what’s wrong with that? If you are comfortable at a size 2, then that’s fine for you. Do you see what I am trying to say? I want you to be in the best health possible, but I don’t want you to try to reach for some goal that is unrealistic and unhealthy. As my wife and I say a lot, we were not all meant to be Barbie Dolls. Who would want to anyway? (Must be hard for her to walk with those tiny feet and those huge…umm…eyes.)

I believe we need to strive to strike that balance in our lives and ourselves where we can realistically live.

Stand up and look in the mirror. Think back to when you felt the healthiest. If that was too long ago, then decide for yourself where you would be happy. If you really want to go for the figure competitor body and truly believe that you can, then by all means, go for it. But if you would truly be happy and feel comfortable and healthy at 20% body fat, then that is what you should shoot for. If you need some help deciding what is healthy and realistic for you, give me a call and let’s see if we can figure it out.

I heard Popeye say it more than once, "I yam what I yam." Good enough for me.

So, you've gained a few pounds, maybe more than a few. You decided that it is finally time to get rid of the extra weight. You decided that it is finally time to get back to your old healthy self. So you went on a diet. The checkout counter magazines, the daytime TV shows, even your friends tell you that you need to diet to get back into shape. I’m talking about the commercial diet plans such as Atkins for Life, The South Beach Diet, The DASH Diet, The Best Life Diet and others that are similar. Are you on one of these diets?

Well, if you are, I may have some bad news for you.

Diets don’t work. Plain and simple. But beyond that, they may be killing you. And I’m not joking.

Diets don’t work because they rely on restricted calories and reduced macronutrients (carbs, protein and fat). Simply put, the human body does not understand the concept of dieting. When a person restricts her calories, her body perceives this as starvation. When the body perceives starvation, it does what it’s supposed to do, and holds onto the fat. This is survival. So instead of getting leaner, the person who severely restricts her caloric intake will get fatter, or at the very least, stay fat.

Furthermore, current evidence suggests that these diets and similar plans, are severely lacking in micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). A study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (“Prevalence of micronutrient deficiency in popular diet plans,” Jayson B. Calton, June 10, 2010) found that, “Six micronutrients (vitamin B7, vitamin D, vitamin E, chromium, iodine and molybdenum) were identified as consistently low or nonexistent in all four diet plans.” and, “These findings are significant and indicate that an individual following a popular diet plan as suggested, with food alone, has a high likelihood of becoming micronutrient deficient; a state shown to be scientifically linked to an increased risk for many dangerous and debilitating health conditions and diseases.”

So, while in the pursuit of better health, you may be putting your health at risk. Deficiencies in macro- and micronutrients are dangerous. Have you ever noticed when a person is on a diet, they are not the most pleasant person to be around? This is not just because they are miserable because they didn’t get to have that piece of cheesecake that they wanted. This is because their body is experiencing a shortage in the nutrients that it requires to remain healthy. These shortages can result in everything from mood swings to lack of energy and in some cases, severe lethargy and death. And all in the name of losing weight.

Do me and yourself and those around you a big favor. Don’t diet. There are much more intelligent and permanent ways to lose weight. Keeping the body in balance is the key to getting and staying healthy and fit. If you would like to know how, visit our website at www.MeetTheRhino.com or give us a call at 951-283-9473.

In previous posts, we looked at the reasons why we need to stay hydrated, especially during exercise, and how to do this. In this post, we will talk about the signs and symptoms of dehydration. If you are not getting enough to drink, your body will begin to show you through various symptoms. If these are ignored, they can get worse and eventually may lead to serious illness and death. It is crucial, therefore, that when you experience the FIRST sign of dehydration, you stop, hydrate and then decide if you can continue the activity. To be honest, depending on the degree of dehydration, it can be difficult to get hydrated quickly enough to continue. It can possibly take hours to consume enough fluid to safely continue, even in moderate dehydration.

The first signs of mild to moderate dehydration are:

•    Sticky, dry mouth (cotton mouth)
•    Thirst
•    Fatigue
•    Headache
•    Lightheadedness or dizziness
•    Muscle weakness

At these first signs, you should immediately stop activity and hydrate with some water or sports drink. It may be difficult to “catch up” your hydration level at this point. It should be pointed out that when a person first begins to feel thirsty, he is already dehydrated. Children are especially prone to dehydration, because their metabolic rates are higher and they generally require much more fluid than adults. In addition, their kidneys are not able to conserve fluid as well as adults’. Therefore, it is extremely important to monitor the hydration of children during physical activity.

Signs of severe dehydration include:

•    Extremely dry mouth
•    Extreme thirst
•    Rapid heartbeat
•    Confusion and irritability
•    Sunken eyes
•    Cessation of sweating
•    Fever
•    In extreme cases, fainting and unconsciousness

One of the best indicators of hydration or dehydration is the color of your urine. If your urine becomes dark yellow or deep amber color, this is a sign of dehydration. Clear or lemonade-colored indicates adequate hydration. As we said before, thirst is a good indicator or dehydration, however, it almost always comes too late. You must be sure you are already adequately hydrated BEFORE you begin any physical activity.

At the other end of the scale is a condition called, hyponatremia. This is technically water intoxication, but actually occurs as the result of a dilution of sodium (salt) in the body. You may experience this if you drink too much water without replacing electrolytes. This is why it is important to add a sports drink or some electrolytic replacement to your hydration regimen.

A study completed by the U.S. Army indicated that, “dehydration in excess of 2% of body weight consistently impairs aerobic exercise performance.” This study went on to caution of the dangers of hyponatremia as the result of hyper(over)-hydrating before, during or after exercise. It is absolutely critical to be sure you are not only getting the proper amount of water, but also electrolytes.

I hope this post has helped you to see how vital it is to be sure you are not only well hydrated, but that you are replacing the electrolytes in your body, before, during and after physical activity. If you have any questions, seek the advice a qualified professional. In my next installment of this series, I we will talk about some of the best ways to hydrate to maximize your training.