Be Truthful…Just Fat Map it! – Take a few personal Fitness Notes
By Dave Gluhareff
I get calls all the time from people interested in OneOnOne Personal Training, Online Personal Training, and Small Group (Semi-Private) Personal Training who say: “I eat healthy and exercise all the time but still seem to gain weight and body fat…and I don’t know why??”. I also get this from clients time to time who fall back into the same old ruts. Well let me tell you….they are lying! Maybe not intentionally or consciously but they are absolutely not telling the truth!
Let me make this simple and be a little blunt then I will explain Fat Mapping:
No one is getting “Obese” or Fat from eating Lean Proteins, Good Carbohydrates, Good Fats, Fruits, Vegetables, and Water!! Even if you are overeating too much of these you will not get Obese, but maybe gain a few pounds. Carbs are NOT the Enemy! No One has ever gotten Obese from eating too much whole grain bread and oatmeal! Fruits are NOT the Enemy! No one has ever gotten Obese from eating too many Fruits! Dairy is NOT the Enemy! No dairy farmer has ever gotten Obese from his cow’s milk ever! Wake Up and stop the Excuses! We get Obese from skipping meals like breakfast, eating junk in excess, mal nourishing our bodies, being lazy, lack of sleep/rest, high stress, and lack of control and self-discipline.
Honestly if we all ate healthy foods such as lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, low fat dairy, and water all the time plus were active throughout our day and Not LAZY then we really wouldn’t have an “Obesity” issue in America. We maybe, just maybe would have a small “Over Weight” issue but that’s it and that would be directly related to over-eating too much healthy foods maybe at night before bed and/or linked to Laziness too…maybe.
I coined a term “Fat Mapping” over a decade ago referring to how we Map to find out when, where, how, and why we became Fat. You see, I honestly cannot blame anyone else, my thyroid, the environment, gluten, dairy, the President, NO ONE but MYSELF for why I became FAT at 305 pounds as a teenager. I am able to go back and map out where I went from sort of normal size, to chubby, to “Obese”! It was my own fault, my doing and only I could do the Un-Doing!
At my peak Obese weight of 305+ pounds I was skipping breakfast, sometimes skipping lunch, then maybe having a Mountain Dew and Honeybun after school or before football practice, then heading out to play sports until I was 16yrs old which my driver’s license made me lazier and I put away my bicycle then also my processed junk food, parties with friends and late night over-eating right before bed would be most of my caloric intake at night for my whole day then I may sleep only a few hours. I was a walking heart attack waiting to happen! My choices were leading to my demise!
When I have prospective Clients call in the first thing I do is ask them what their daily diet/nutrition is like after most of them say they don’t know why they gaining fat. Every time I map this out for them and for existing clients that get off track they all see their errors. Once we can highlight mistakes, have the person accept responsibility, only then we can begin work on fixing those areas and getting back on a Healthy track!
Do your own Fat Mapping. Take a few days, maybe 3-5 days, and write down everything you eat and do. Please be honest with yourself or you will fail. If you lie to yourself you are only hurting yourself and prolonging the agony of Obesity and being Un-Healthy.
Write down something like this for each day:
Meals -
Snacks -
Drinks -
Activities -
Exercise -
Sleep -
Stress Level (Low?/Medium?/High?)-
After you have done this, and seen where you may be snacking on chocolate, sneaking a soda, over consuming diet sodas, too many high calorie meals out with friends, skipping breakfast or other meals, excessive alcohol consumption, junk foods, processed trans-fat foods, laziness, lack of exercise, little sleep, high stress, and more bad habits injected daily here and there, then please accept your personal wrong doing and correct these behaviors.
This article sponsored by my friend and client Cardiologist Dr. Kevin Lingle of Cardiology Consultants of Danville, Virginia! Thank you Kevin!
Here is your solution to begin ASAP after Fat Mapping:
Your Fitness Blueprint:
The following is your Fitness Blueprint! I have developed this blueprint and use this with all of my One-On-One Personal Training clients, Small Group (Semi-Private) Personal Training clients, and Virginia Bootcamp clients every day! I also do my best to follow this blueprint personally. I hope this gives you an outline of what you can, and should be doing, to get healthier and build a better quality of life!
Exercise: Your Weekly Exercise Plan Blueprint should be as follows:
*3 Days of Resistance Training for 30 Minutes with a Day off in between Workouts Example: Monday/Wednesday/Friday Resistance Training Workouts
*3 Days of Cardiovascular Training for 30 Minutes with a Day off in between Wkts Example: Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday Cardiovascular Training Workouts
*Stretch before, during, and after each of your workouts!
Nutrition: Your Daily Meal Plan Blueprint should be as follows:
Breakfast – (Lean Protein, Complex Carbohydrate, and Water)
Mid-Morning Snack – (Lean Protein, Fruit, and Water)
Lunch – (Lean Protein, Complex Carbohydrate, and Water)
Late Afternoon Snack – (Lean Protein, Fruit, and Water)
Dinner – (Lean Protein, Vegetable, and Water)
Nightly Snack - “Optional if Hungry and up late? (Lean Protein, Vegetable, and Water)
** You can add a couple Cheat/Reward Meals or Snacks each “week” but don’t go overboard!**
Healthy Grocery List Items to Plug into Your Daily Meal Plan Blueprint
Proteins:
Unsalted Peanuts, Natural Peanut Butter, Natural Almond Butter, Beans, Cottage Cheese, Canned Tuna, Chicken Breasts, Canned Chicken, Whey, Casein, and Soy Protein Shakes (low-carb / low-sugar), Fresh Halibut, Fresh Flounder, Tilapia, Unsalted Almonds, Low Fat or Skim Milk, Unsalted Walnuts, Low Calorie Cheese – Sliced and Stick, Eggs, Tuna Steaks, Low Sugar Yogurt, Buffalo, Bison, Rabbit, Deer/Venison, Soy Nuts, Soy Burgers,
Complex Carbohydrates:
Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, Whole Grain Breads and Bagels, Sweet Potatoes, Red Potatoes, White Potatoes, Whole Grain or Long Grain Rice, Brown Rice, Whole Wheat Pasta, Veggie Pasta, Kashi Cereals, Quinoa
Fruits:
Apples, Cherries, Peaches, Nectarines, Pears, Bananas, Blueberries, Strawberries, Papayas, Blackberries, Cranberries, Kiwi, Mangos, Plums, Grapefruits, Oranges, Tangerines, Pineapple, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Honeydew Melons
Vegetables:
Fresh, Canned, or Frozen Green Beans, Fresh Cucumbers, Fresh, Canned, or Frozen Spinach, Salad in a Bag, Fresh Lettuce – Iceberg and Romaine, Fresh or Frozen Cauliflower, Fresh or Frozen Broccoli, Fresh, Canned, or Frozen Collard Greens, Fresh, Canned, or Frozen Turnip Greens, Canned or Fresh Asparagus, Tomatoes, Onions, Mushrooms, Green Peppers, Yellow Peppers, Red Peppers, Orange Peppers, Jalapeno Peppers,
Miscellaneous:
Water, Coffee (low sugar/cream), Tea (Low sugar/cream), Fresh or Bottled Herbs and Seasonings without salt/sodium, Bottled Water, Apple Cider Vinegar, Low Calorie Italian Dressing, Balsamic Vinegar, No-Trans Fat Butter – Tub, Stick, or Squeezed, Cinnamon
Rest: Your Weekly Rest/Sleep Plan Blueprint should be as follows:
1) -Get 8 hours of sleep each night!
2) -Take a nap each afternoon, everyday!
3) -Take an hour for yourself each day to just chill and relax with your hobby of choice!