Sunday Story…Work it

You’ve got goals…lose 10 pounds, drop 5 inches from your middle, improve your back squat by 10 percent, start a new business, or write the great American novel. You’ve made them S.M.A.R.T…specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. You are ready to go to work. This is your year; you are going to crush all of your goals this time. But…how?

You need some help, a program, a coach. You need a road map. You need to find people who have done something similar to what you want to do and then follow them. And finally you need to pull on your big boy pants and go to work.

I know how smart you are. I know you know all this stuff about what you want to do. I know you are different and you are a special situation. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard something like one of the following:
“I know what I need to do. If I do __________, ____________, and ________ I will ___________ (fill in goal here).”
“That doesn’t work for me because my _________ is different.”
“I’ve tried ___________ before and it didn’t work.”
Yet here is an expert who has taken many an expedition down the same river you want to travel. But you are going to do it your way because you know better. The question is this…How has that worked in the past? You have been saying that nonsense for a long time. Here’s an idea…give all that up, put yourself in the hands of an expert, do exactly what they tell you to do, when and how they tell you to do it. No more…that doesn’t work for me (because you are special); no more…I know what I am doing (because I read up on it on the internet); no more…I tried it that way and it didn’t work (because you really didn’t).

Take the program and do it exactly. If it doesn’t work it doesn’t work and you are exactly where you are now (which is where you are going to be anyway if history has any bearing). You can always try it a different way after giving the program a legitimate attempt. And by legitimate I mean a 100 percent all in, no questioning, just do it attempt.
You have goals. You have a road map. You have a friendly native guide. Now you need to trust your guide and put in the work. Get up in the morning knowing exactly what you are going to do that day to move yourself forward. Tomorrow do the same thing. Repeat until the goals are reached or it is obvious the program is the wrong one for you and your purpose.

You have to do the work, the hard work, after you have set goals. You must get up in the morning and approach your goals like you a professional would…in other words you do it with 100 percent focus and energy even on the days you don’t want to.

Plan your work, work your plan.

Namaste

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
Follow me on Facebook

Sunday Story…Alcohol and CrossFit

Don’t mix.

Ho hum. We all know that being fit and putting poison in our bodies is a bad idea. We all know that having a glass of wine or two is probably not going to kill us unless it’s a 16 oz glass or two every day. And I am pretty sure we could all agree that having beer and burpee contest would be a recipe for bad things happening.

That isn’t what I am talking about here. Yes you can a have an occasional glass of wine or a beer or a cocktail. If you are healthy it probably isn’t going to kill you.

No, this problem is much more insidious than just a simple little drink. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed before anymore athletes end up with a very big-stop training-for a few weeks sort of problem.

Here is the back story…You started CrossFit. Maybe you weren’t in great shape, maybe you wanted to get some of that collegiate fitness back, maybe you just wanted to lose a couple pounds and have some fun. Then you got serious. The inches came off, the pounds got lost, you got strong, really strong, and CrossFit became something bigger than just another exercise thing you did.

You shared your experiences, you instagramed photos of you and your box-buddies moving weight and sweating and smiling. You were all in. You could do things you forgot you could do. Your coach told you about all of this fitness stuff being functional and being able to do things outside the gym walls. You bought it all.

So…you took your big bad fit self out with some friends and had a few drinks. Maybe a few more than you are used to or than you should have. But you can handle it…you CrossFit. And someone says…”let’s race to that telephone pole” and they say it with that look…you know the look I am talking about…the one that says you can’t do it, the one that doesn’t believe you are really an athlete. Without another thought to your footwear (inappropriate), your warm up (non-existent), or your field conditions (it’s dark), you pick up the gauntlet. Someone says 3-2-1 Go! And just like Pavlov’s dog you are ON IT! Maybe about ½ you realize your hamstring is a little tweaky but you go anyway, or you slip on a rough patch and twist your knee (blowing out your acl), or you fall and skin your knee. You finish…first of course…but you know something ain’t right.

When you get up the next morning and realize what you have done…because you fall out of bed on that missing acl, or your hamstring is blown, or you have rocks and glass embedded under your skin…you are faced with an awful truth:
CrossFit and Alcohol don’t mix.

Be safe out there this holiday season. Don’t let this sad tale be yours. We love you and want you to keep wodding forever.

Namaste

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
Follow me on Facebook

Sunday Story…2015

We are entering the last month of the year. It happens every year around this time. Thanksgiving has come and gone, there is crispness to the air, and our focus turns more inward with the deepening dark.

In 21 days or so the days will begin to lengthen and we will enter a new year. It is time to take stock of the last year, to savor the victories and assess the not-victories; to analyze what worked and what didn’t; to look back over last year’s goals and figure out what worked and what didn’t.

Too many of us will wait until 12/31 to start making goals and setting forth a new path. This isn’t enough time to really take into consideration all the good and not so good that went on last year. I am here to tell you need to start looking at it now.

You need to start formulating a plan for next year now. You might have your goals in mind but you need to write them down. You need to make them concrete and measurable. You need to have a plan of execution. You need a support team to help you. Goals are great. Written down goals are better. Written down goals with a plan of execution are even better. And the best is goals written down with a plan of execution and a timeline for achievement.

The hardest part of any of this is the getting started part. That’s why you should not wait for 12/31 or Monday or some other contrived date. The time to start is now. Write down on thing that went well last year. Then write down one thing that wasn’t so hot. Then write down one thing you would like to see happen next year. Boom! You are on your way. Lather, rinse and repeat. Remember perfect is the enemy. This doesn’t have to be perfect. If we wait for perfect, nothing ever gets done. Start; fix u it up later; say to yourself, “Self this is just a rough draft. It doesn’t have to mean anything and I don’t have to stick to it if I don’t want to.”

The next thing you know you will have a list of all the good and not so good of last year, goals for next year and a plan of attack and most importantly a timeline for getting those things accomplished. It really is that simple. Just get started…now. Stop reading and open a new document and start writing.

Go now. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.00. The life you want is waiting for you.

Namaste

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
Follow me on Facebook

Sunday Story…3 Food Truths

It’s that time. You know the one…where the cognitive dissonance of eating clean and healthy, your training schedule and the holiday party season come into full blown conflict. All of your favorite foods you remember from your childhood days will be in evidence. These foods aren’t necessarily the best or worst for you but they are filled with memories.

Food isn’t just about calories or chemicals. Food is about emotional triggers and imbued with meaning, right or wrong. The right smell will send you to cloud 9 and the wrong one will put you in a funk. A bite of watermelon might send you back to a lazy hot languid summer afternoon with friends and family. The taste of a particular soup brings up a meal time of strife and stress.

Here are 3 things you need to know about food that may make these next few weeks easier to get through and not blow your entire regimen up for the New Year.
1. Fat doesn’t make you fat and neither do carbs. That’s right…a high fat, low carb diet isn’t going to make you fat and neither will a high carb low fat diet. Obviously something else is at work…if you eat too much based on your energy expenditure you will get fat. If you drink too much sugar (soda or juice or alcohol) you will get fat. What really matters is what your overall diet looks like. Lots of junk food? Loading up on spinach dip and bread before dinner? Pounding handfuls of salted roasted (in Trans fat) nuts watching the game? Not a recipe for healthy results. Have a bite of spinach dip or 1 handful of nuts (pass on the Trans fat though!) and enjoy every guilt-free morsel. Just don’t put on the feed bag at the hors d’oeuvre table.

2. Food marketers are liars. Well, not exactly liars. They just don’t tell you what you need to know. They tell you what you want to hear. Whole grain cocoa puffs are not any healthier than regular ones. Froot loops are froot loops and it doesn’t matter if they are organic or not. Gluten free isn’t necessarily healthier, it’s just gluten free. Let’s start recognizing this BS for what it is…a way to get you to buy more products. They don’t care if it’s healthy or not, their purpose is to move calories off the shelf. You get to decide if those calories fit your particular needs.

3. Eat when you are hungry. It you aren’t hungry don’t eat. Don’t confuse hunger for thirst. Drink lots of plain water throughout the day. Sit down and eat. Give thanks for whatever you are eating and the people you are eating it with even if it is with strangers in a restaurant. Approach each mouthful with pleasure and an attitude of gratitude, your gut will reward you.

When that big holiday meal shows up or that buffet or office potluck you get to look at those offerings and decide how best to serve your current health needs. Have pie alamode if you want but you don’t need a whole pie or a half gallon of ice cream. Get your frontal lobes engaged and stop the lizard brain from devastating the buffet table.

If you don’t know what you should be eating let’s figure it out. If what you are doing isn’t working let’s do something different. Call me, write me, send out a smoke signal but let’s get the ship righted before it sinks.

Namaste

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
Follow me on Facebook

Sunday Story…Start to be Great

Every person who walks through the door at CrossFit Odyssey is an athlete. Outside the door they may be a Doctor or Lawyer, mom or dad, brother or sister but once they grace our door they become an athlete.

You might think of yourself as weak or out of shape but in here you are an athlete. In here you are unpolished marble waiting to be molded into something amazing. You are meant to move. You are a human aligned with the natural world…top of the chain baby.

You might get up in the morning and put on your uniform for your designated job but once you step in here your job is simple…be an athlete. And that translates to world changer.

When you change yourself you change the world. It is that simple. Are you going to drag the world down by sitting on the couch all day long? Or will you lift us up with your positive attitude and kind words, your hair on fire enthusiasm and no obstacle too large thought process?

It is never too late to get up and get going. You can always be more than you were just a moment ago. You can always choose to change your attitude. You can always choose to be better. You can always decide to be benevolent and give people the benefit of the doubt. Life is a series of choices.

You walked in my door today. Some of you did so literally…you showed up here in the box and did work. Some of you did it ethereally…you opened this email and read the words. And I am standing in front of you telling you can do this…you can change the world by changing yourself. You can be bigger, more powerful, more charitable, friendlier, stronger, healthier, more fit…if you would only just start.

You don’t have to be great to start.
You do have to start to be great.

Walk through the door, put on the uniform of athlete, great parent, model employee and get started. Don’t worry about doing everything right…you won’t, mistakes will occur. Don’t worry you aren’t good enough…you are doing battle and it is the one in arena who matters, not the critic, not the nay-sayer.

Get dirty, hot, sweaty, and if necessary bloody literally or metaphorically. But get in the fray. Do not allow yourself to be beaten by negativity, by disbelief, by poor attitudes. You are great. You walked through the door.

Fall down seven. Get up eight.

Namaste

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
Follow me on Facebook!

Sunday Story…5 answers to healthy eating

You notice I didn’t say diet. You notice I didn’t say 5 ways to lose weight fast or get the pounds off for the holidays. This isn’t about any of that. And it is all about that. These are the 5 answers you must have to successfully shift your eating from unhealthy (it’s killing you) to healthy (it supports your life.)

#1…Know where you are.
What do you weigh? What is your body composition? What are your measurements?
If you don’t know where you are how on earth will you know if you have gone anywhere?
Suck it up, get on the scale, get your fat percentage measured, get the tape out and get it around your hips but get those baseline numbers. And the more numbers you have (data) the more comparisons you will have to measure your progress.

#2…Know how much and what you are eating.
What are you eating? When do you eat it? How much are you eating? If you don’t know the answers we can’t make changes. If you are taking in 2000 calories and I adjust your eating to say 2000 calories we probably won’t see much movement on the metrics.
Keep a food journal, use an app to measure stuff but do it now. Once you write it down it becomes real and you will begin to understand exactly what you are doing that isn’t life enhancing.

#3…Know how much you are moving.
What are you doing for exercise or training? You better know if you are walking or running those 3 miles. What is your time? How much weight did you lift? How many pushups did you do? Again we can’t tell you to more if we don’t know how you are moving now.
Keep a training log. Again write it down or use an app to track it but do it one way or another.
#4…Understand the process.
You won’t proceed directly to your goals without some side trips. You will have some time where it feels like nothing is happening. You will have setbacks and fails on your way to healthy eating. There are going to be hurdles to get over and setbacks to endure. And the answer isn’t going to be more, harder and faster.
Looking at your progress and making adjustments is a critical part of this process. What worked in the beginning is going to change over time, be ready with your data and be ready to analyze it.

#5…Be in it for the long haul.
This isn’t a 30 day trip or a 90 day plan to a new you. This is a commitment to your life and health and that doesn’t end in 6 weeks. That is the beautiful part of this trip, once you are on the path the destination is there for you to grab every day. You are arriving all the time at better health, more clarity, and a happier attitude.

It is simple. Not easy but worth it. There is lots of help out there but get it from people who want you to be healthier for the rest of your life, not just lose 20 pounds in 20 days.

You can have everything but if you haven’t your health you have nothing. And health starts with the food you eat.

Namaste

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
Follow me on Facebook

Sunday Story…Gain

I have frequent conversations with people that start something like this…” I want to lose some weight.” Or, often, “I need to tone up and lose…” Rarely does this conversation start with the sentence like”I want to gain a better understanding of food, or “I need to gain some strength.”

We are, as a society, conditioned to have a love-hate relationship with the losing things, especially weight. What you weigh always seems to always be the question. I have seen very healthy people obsess over 10 pounds on the scale. Frankly, unless you are participating in an event where you must “weigh-in” to compete in a specific division, what you weigh shouldn’t matter on a day to day basis.

The real question is should be what do you want to gain? Not what you want to lose. Losing is a problem. Whatever it is we are trying to lose is going to fight tooth and nail to stay. Your mind has us doing battle against those last 10 pounds or that image we have of ourselves as that fat uncoordinated kid in the 3rd grade. Your mind and your body are going to hold on to those things…they are invested in keeping the things we want to lose…and getting them back once they are gone.

What you need to gain is a healthy relationship to food.
What you need to gain is a better health.
What you need to gain is better mobility.
What you need to gain is more strength.
What you need to gain is the ability to move how you want when you want.
What you need to gain is a self image that says it’s OK to be strong (and not skinny).
What you need to gain is a thought process that says failure is just a learning process.
What you need to gain is the feeling of joy that comes from movement.
What you need to gain is happiness at learning something new.
What you need to gain is an appreciation for your victories.
What you need to gain is happiness for the accomplishments of your friends and neighbors.
What you need to gain is a willingness to ignore years of social conditioning about your weight.
What you need to gain is the ability to look in the mirror and love what you see.

Honestly I don’t care if you come in here to lose weight. I’m going to just nod and smile while I start plotting how to get you to gain whatever it is you really need to gain.

Get strong. Get healthier. Get fitter. Get better. Get happier. Get transformed.

Get in here.

Namaste

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
Follow me on Facebook.