The Health Junkie: UTBA 53K .....THE 'IMPOSSIBLE' RACE REPORT.

The Health Junkie: UTBA 53K .....THE 'IMPOSSIBLE' RACE REPORT.: Nearly 12 months of beautiful weather...........but not today. I went to bed on what felt like a warm summers evening and awoke to a tropica...

The Health Junkie: BUY THE BOOK

The Health Junkie: BUY THE BOOK: Just a quick update to all my readers. You will notice on the blog page a picture and a book title ... yes folks I have just published my f...

The Health Junkie: FATBUSTER 2 AND THE OVERCONSUMPTION OF ENERGY

The Health Junkie: FATBUSTER 2 AND THE OVERCONSUMPTION OF ENERGY: Relax, this isn't about global warming, renewable energy, fracking, wind farms or nuclear power.....at least I don't think it is.  ...

The Health Junkie: FATBUSTER

The Health Junkie: FATBUSTER: You might be wondering (or you might not) what I've been up to the past month ... well.....it's not running. Okay I've run ever...

The Health Junkie: 'I DON'T WANT TO LOOK LIKE MADONNA'

The Health Junkie: 'I DON'T WANT TO LOOK LIKE MADONNA': 'I don't want to look like Madonna', wish I had a pound for every time I heard that one. It must be the most overheard phrase i...

'I DON'T WANT TO LOOK LIKE MADONNA'

'I don't want to look like Madonna',.. wish I had a pound for every time I heard that one. It must be the most overheard phrase in the personal fitness training world when you propose that a woman should lift weights.
As I always patiently and calmly try to explain, 'if only it were that easy'. Madonna  has probably worked out every day for hours nearly all her life. Hard work, sweat, discipline, single minded purpose, dedication and time. Most women couldn't even come close, so please don't be afraid, it ain't going to happen.... and if by some weird genetic predisposition it does, well, you can always stop. So fear not, get in the gym and do your stuff, a toned woman to most men is very sexy, even if they tell you they like you with a bit of weight around the midriff, that's not what they say to their mates and I can assure you, it is certainly not what they think.

      So what about the guys, what do they say? Usually it's 'I don't want to look like Arnie, just toned'. Again, I have good news because you aint gonna look like Arnie either.
    To run for 30 hours up mountains isn't easy, to cycle around France in a race for 3 weeks, isn't easy and to look like Arnold is pretty much impossible unless you are prepared to work and train very, very hard for a very long time. So now we've got that out of the way, what can us mere mortals do, well contrary to the comments just made, quite a lot.
 As my friend Brigitte said many years ago in her fab French/English accent, 'It's all in ze training', it most certainly is, plus that other well known phrase uttered by Arnie:- 'Great abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym' . And there you have it:- Training and Eating.
       Do these 2 things well and remarkable things are possible, even for us normal types.
But the real point is - What is your goal? These things may be of no interest and you just might want to go read a book, which is fair enough.
 ((May I recommend and excellent summer read - LAST TRAIN TO ST TROPEZ.
 It is available worldwide on Amazon.
USA Link to Amazon ...

 http://www.amazon.com/Last-Train-Tropez-Phil-Jeremy/dp/1481062875/ref=sr_1_1 s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369325208&sr=1-1&keywords=last+train+to+st+tropez
UK link to Amazon ...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Train-Tropez-Phil-Jeremy/dp/1481062875/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369325421&sr=1-1&keywords=last+train+to+st+tropez

Click on the link and... Buy It Now!))

Sorry about that, couldn't resist it, where were we?
Ah yes, what is your goal?
To many people it is losing weight and to a few more achieving a toned figure or physique ... and to the great majority getting fit and healthy. These are all worthy goals and yet here is the conundrum, if these are the desires and goals of the many then why is obesity of the charts in most countries and getting worse annually.
     Having studied this for a very long time it seems to me that its just too hard to change, to step up,  to walk past the biscuits, to say no to a pizza, to visit the gym, to refuse the candy or ice cream, to reject the glass of wine, to go for a run, to drink water instead of coke, to start a fitness regime and keep at it.
These days the guy or girl at the party who works out and looks fab is seen as a bit weird or obsessed. It never seems to occur to the masses that drinking and eating crap every day is also weird and strangely obsessed ,especially when we know for a fact that the healthy, fit ones will live longer, have less sickness, have more vitality, be less of a drain on the health services and will be here to see their kids and grandkids blossom in their lives. Who's the weirdo?
Then the healthy one gets hit with 'well you have to enjoy life' which is really perverse as it infers that because they drink or eat mountains of pasta that somehow this is more fun! Have these people ever been healthy? Have they any idea what they are missing? probably and sadly not.
As I started this blog in a contentious mood, I figured I'd end on the same note.

PS - I was just reading a report on Dakota Jones who last year ran the Grand Canyon South rim to the North rim .... and BACK AGAIN, in just over 6 hours (called the R2R2R). To some this may
seem utter madness, to me it would be the experience of a lifetime, no matter how long it took. The sheer beauty and hardship all wrapped up in a melange of life being experienced to the full.

 

The Health Junkie: FAT LOSS FOR IDIOTS

The Health Junkie: FAT LOSS FOR IDIOTS: I heard this phrase used the other day and it occurred to me that millions of people around the world are still doing the same things in gy...

FAT LOSS FOR IDIOTS

I heard this phrase used the other day and it occurred to me that millions of people around the world are still doing the same things in gyms and fitness centres whilst getting exactly the same results ... The madness of it all is that they are still fat or overweight and yet they continue to pay their monthly fees and run, cycle, step, dance or whatever and go home thinking they've done well. This is bizarre, this crazy acceptance of failure as if that's just how it is. They have come to accept that working out at home or in a gym three times a week equals no change.
   It's a sort of coercive brainwashing; you do your thing week in week out with the total acceptance that it won't work?

                  'If you keep doing the same thing then you will get the same result'

How NOT to lose fat.

     I am fascinated by the psychology of this, admittedly some of it is pure ignorance but some of the practices that people take part in to lose weight are bordering on the criminal. If it doesn't work and the trainers and fitness centres know it doesn't work then why do millions of people sign up for more of the same year after year. I know that many people believe that if they are not getting any worse then that's a good thing and an end in itself but really that's maintenance. Now maintenance is fine if you have achieved your predefined goal and have low body fat and a super toned body. But most people don't have this so why do they accept it?
    I visited a gym last week and saw rows and rows of people pedalling away on bikes as well as
running, cross training, gliding and doing all sorts of wild and wonderful things on a whole range of aerobic machines and equipment but, with a few exceptions, they all had one thing in common ... they were overweight. Now before everyone starts jumping all over me, yes I totally accept the argument that they are doing some form of exercise and that this is better than doing nothing at all but when you've been doing it for years with the express desire to lose fat and you are not, then why do you continue?
   The person I was with turned to me and softly muttered the line ...

                                           'That's just fat loss for idiots'.

 I am the first to admit that I too suffered this same madness for years as I ran to lose weight. I didn't,  infact I very, very slowly began to put weight on. The reason for this is your body becomes efficient at what you are doing  and so burns less fat because it doesn't need as much energy as it did when you first started exercising. Your physiology adapts.
    Combine all this with poor nutrition and boom! you get fatter. The amount of times I here people say 'but I go to the gym 4 times a week and I eat really well' as if its not their fault, is amazing. The other excuses that get trotted out with staggering regularity are 'it's just my genes', 'it's hereditary' or the one I love the most,  'I have special hormones' ... Wow, what do you want, a prize!

                     Instead of looking for an excuse why not look for the solution.





Stephanie at age 57

  There are proven scientific methods to burn fat and tone the body. Now at this point a very good friend of mine, Stephanie, will probably be dashing of an email chastising me for criticising the masses. So, for the record, let me say again that it's great that people are trying to get fit and working on improving their cardiovascular health but surely the goal is to be effective, so if fat loss is your goal, STOP and change what you are doing now! ... and by the way Stephanie is superbly toned and a great example of fitness and health. As you can see from the picture, Stephanie, at age 57 doesn't look remotely like the masses ... and she doesn't run on long slow cardio machines either ... and never has. 
              
       Therefore assuming that most people who read my blogs are not idiots then how do we cut fat. I will expand on this in another post but for now here are  my top 10 ways to cut fat.
1)  Eat a protein/vegetable breakfast. (Not cereal, orange juice, toast and jam, croissants or waffles etc.)
2)  Supplement your diet with fish oil, probiotics, green drinks, magnesium, zinc and vitamins.
3)  Drink at least 2.5 litres of water per day. (No alcohol ... yep that's what I said.)
4)  Eat at regular times throughout the day (and up to 5 meals per day)
5)  Double your protein intake and severely restrict you carb intake ... and only eat slow/low carbs.
6)  Reduce stress.
7)  Sleep approx 7 hours per night.
8)  Eat lots of vegetables and salad (watch that dressing!)
9)  Lift weights to build fat burning lean muscle.
10) Do 10-20 mins of High Intensity Interval Training at least 4 times per week.

 .... and stop yo yo dieting and doing long, slow cardio ...  because it doesn't work!

Now at this point you might be thinking 'but this guy runs ultra-marathons and that's a lot of long slow cardio' ... yes, but I don't do it to lose fat, I do it because I enjoy it ... well, sort of. It can be fun, exhilarating, beautiful and mentally and physically rewarding, and it can also be a total nightmare of pain and suffering, but mainly I do it for the challenge.

Yesterday I lifted weights and did an 12 minute High Intensity routine. From an exercise stand point this is still the most efficient and quickest way to lose fat.
And today I went for a run in the mountains which was an exhilarating, life affirming and stunningly beautiful experience.

Both have their place just don't confuse why you do what you do ... and don't be an idiot :)







 

BUY THE BOOK

Just a quick update to all my readers. You will notice on the blog page a picture and a book title ... yes folks I have just published my first book!  LAST TRAIN TO ST TROPEZ.
 It is available worldwide on Amazon.

USA Link to Amazon ...
   http://www.amazon.com/Last-Train-Tropez-Phil-Jeremy/dp/1481062875/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369325208&sr=1-1&keywords=last+train+to+st+tropez

UK link to Amazon ...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Train-Tropez-Phil-Jeremy/dp/1481062875/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369325421&sr=1-1&keywords=last+train+to+st+tropez

Click and put this link into your browser.


 Firstly this is NOT about running but I think if you like my blogs then you will like the book. It's an amusing true story of my adventure through France in 1978.  A quest for freedom with no responsibilities it pulls no punches and is written from a young man's view of the world. Hopefully you will be entertained and perhaps inspired as it is a vivid account of life on the road, meeting dynamic characters, beautiful women and surviving risky situations whilst living on your wits.
 Enjoy.





 HEALTHJUNKIE BLOG
phil@modelplan.co.uk http://www.healthjunkiephil.com/phils-weekly-blog.html

SPECTATOR SPORT

Sunday was the Ultra Trail des Balcons d'Azur ... its already one year since my 54 k 'impossible race', amazing, time flies and all that. This year I decided not to run it. I achieved my goal and now I seek new challenges. I am still working on strengthening my body for potentially more ambitious challenges but more on that later. In the meantime I felt it was time to give something back to this truly demanding sport. As my French is lousy, a position at an 'Aid station' was not an option but I had others.
    On race day the weather was even worse than last year, and that's saying something but I thought if those guys and girls can go out in this storm then so can I. I arrived to wave off the early morning runners, many with that look on their face of,  'What the hell am I doing?' I knew the feeling well, its a sort of abject fear of impending pain. Later on in the day I hiked up into the mountains to give encouragement at the 5 hour mark. I stood on a fork on the trail in the driving wind and rain wearing my trusty bright orange racing jacket with not a soul around. As the runners came through they appeared a bit lost as the trail markers were not very clear so I started directing them the right way. I was going to move to another spot but felt it important to stay and keep directing everyone as getting lost up here is not an option, and I should know ... having done it myself on more than one occasion.
    As time passed a few more people appeared and started asking me questions about the race. It dawned on me very quickly that they obviously thought I was a Race Marshal, they seemed somewhat confused when asking me a question in French as my reply was always a blank stare. I had no idea what they were talking about and they must have thought I was a lousy Race Marshal who was either a mute or an idiot ... and probably, 'How on earth did he get this job?'
   However it kept happening as more and more people appeared. This was compounded further by the runners themselves asking me questions. 'Combien des kilometres?' ... 'Ou est la Revailletissement? These I could answer easily, '5 kilometres', but I did it with such assured aplomb  that it convinced the spectators even more that I was a Marshal ... a crap one admittedly but at least I was sending everyone the right way. I felt a bit like a traffic cop, Sue says it was my jacket ... judge for yourselves.

As time passed I picked up some of the language that others were using to encourage the runners. One girl kept shouting   'S'accrochez!'. I remembered hearing something like 'accrochez' when hanging up a phone so I figured this must mean something like 'hang on in there'. I found out later that this was correct however my pronunciation was pretty lousy and when I said it I got weird looks .. not sure why ... maybe I was saying ' go hang yourself ' or something even more bizarre. The leaders had come through much earlier and they seemed serenely calm as if they were on some early morning jog before breakfast. Weird. I of course had never seen these people before due to the fact that I am always at the back ... still, most disheartening, they looked so cool and in control ... and fast! After about 2 hours the majority of runners had passed and I was one big wet orange blob.
       There were 3 different races that day and this was the 54k with a longer 64k taking place further away. I decided to move on to an even more remote location where the 'back of the pack runners' of the 64k would be. I ended up at possibly the most remote place in France (well it felt like it). The wind and driving rain were horizontal and I had to keep running up and down the track so that I didn't die of exposure. This time nobody else appeared other that the odd bedraggled exhausted runner. I clapped, and shouted 'Bravo', I didn't risk 's'accrocher' in case some poor soul took the more dramatic option and to be fair about five of them looked liked they didn't have long for this world. Maybe that's what I look like after 10 hours, Crikey!, no wonder the Medics always look concerned when I pass them by.
     When they asked the distance to the finish I told them it was 12 kilometres. It wasn't, it was more like 14 but I think that would have pushed a few of them over the edge and I wanted to keep their spirits up. They also had the worst climb of the day ahead of them, I know, because last year it took me an hour to go about 3 kilometres and at the top its practically vertical. Ultra running is a tough, even brutal sport, the sense of achievement in doing it is immense but it's at these times in a race where you feel the mental pressure to quit the most and hence my reason for standing there. Quite a few of the runners thanked me, clapped and shouted 'Bravo' back. It's a respect thing, I guess you had to be there, it's quite emotional.
     I waited until I could see no more runners coming up from the valley floor. It was getting near the cut off time so I presumed that was the last of them ... I hope so as I don't like to think of one last lonely guy struggling on his own ... one day it could be me.
     When I got home I had a sauna to get warm as it felt like I had sort of run the race myself, I was exhausted.  Very strange.
     The winner did the 64k in just over 6 hours ... and the last guy, in just over 12 hours; and he was 66 years old. Amazing stuff, it makes me proud to be part of such a unique group of complete nutcases.