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The Best Time to Exercise

I like to do my cardio in the mornings on an empty stomach, then weight training in the afternoons. There are several reasons for this type of training.

Why Cardio in the Morning

In performing any cardiovascular activity, the body uses the aerobic system which requires oxygen to make energy for the body.  Using oxygen, glycogen is broken down to produce glucose (sugar) for energy.  However, in the mornings, this glycogen storage is somewhat depleted by the body working overnight to maintain itself while in a fasted state. That’s why we have break-fast to break the fast. What happens when our glycogen storage is low? Where does the body attain its energy? The body has an energy reserve called “fat”. It will begin to break fat down when the glycogen storage is low.  In other words, the body will burn fat if it has no other alternative. Getting up early is certainly worth the sacrifice then.  Don’t you think? I was even more encouraged by someone I met recently in the gym.  He was an 87 year old man who looked to be 69. I asked him how often he comes to the gym. He said five days a week at 6:30 a.m. I thought to myself, what an inspiration!

Why Weight Training in the Afternoon

Making sure the body is properly fueled up is the main preparation of weight training. To ensure a proper workout, it is important to have had a meal at least one hour prior to working out. As in cardio training, the body needs glycogen. But unlike in cardio training, resistant training, which functions on a system called anaerobic, does not need oxygen to make energy. Sometimes it has been difficult consuming a meal on time, and so I have had to resort to a quick meal replacement shake.  It’s liquid so it is fast absorbing unlike food.

 Another reason is the muscles do like to be warmed up first. They even like certain temperatures, such as about 70 degrees. Though I have weight trained in the mornings around 6 a.m., my workouts in the afternoons are far better.

In training, the “when” is just as important as the “what”. Timing is important when choosing to do certain exercises. But sometimes what’s most important is getting exercise in when we can.

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It’s Mainly in the Head

I learned from a professional basketball player that their success was 80 percent mental and 20 percent skill. I have come to realize that this percentage could be applied to many areas of life as well.

Today, a young lady just stopped in to see me here at the office. She was the daughter of one of our patients. She had the gastric bypass surgery and had just completed another follow up visit with her doctor who was next door to us. She was not doing well. For the most part, the surgery went well, but she was not happy. I knew she was suffering from depression based on the discussion that I had with her mother. I was delighted to see her. For the sake of giving her a name, let’s call her Anne. My heart went out to Anne. I wanted to encourage Anne. Earlier this week, I had read a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson that said “what lies behind us and what lies ahead us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” I shared this quote with Anne. She understood what I was saying.

The strength is within us all. Living a healthy life begins from within. Whether we opt for a gastric bypass surgery or not, we must condition or train our minds to think healthily. The body, by nature, is designed to destroy itself. Why else do we have to train ourselves to think positively or to stay or become healthy? Our minds must be transformed to bring about a healthy lifestyle. When we connect to God, we discover a power beyond ourselves. Many of us know from experience that will power will only get one so far. The God within us is greater. And the God within us can do far more than we can ever think or imagine. Connecting with God through daily prayers and meditation and training the mind to think constructively require no skill but a mental willingness and a desire to carry through.

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Staying Motivated

Last night a girlfriend and I got together to watch Macbeth at the All American Shakespeare Tavern Theater. Before the performance, she commented on how she had fallen off the band wagon.

 When I went home, I really got to thinking about “falling off the band wagon” .  How do we fall off the band wagon? Sometimes life over takes us. Sometimes we lack the discipline to consistently exercise. Sometimes we become distracted. Sometimes we don’t see the results we desire, so we quit.  Whatever the answer, we know that unless exercise is a part of our lifestyle like brushing our teeth, we will continually fall off the band wagon.

But then I got to thinking about myself. How did exercise become a lifestyle for me? Do I think about flossing after my meals? Not anymore. I simply have made it a habit to do so.  Personally, I think we give our feelings too much thought when it comes to exercise.  Just as feelings have nothing to do with flossing or brushing our teeth, feelings have nothing to do with exercise unless one is feeling sick or dizzy. The question, then, is how does exercise become a lifestyle?

 KNOWLEDGE LEVEL

First of all, we need to know what exercise is. Exercise is an ACTIVITY.  Activities can be gardening, hiking, walking, running, swimming or our traditional exercises in the gym, for example. What activities are you doing now?

 COMPREHENSION LEVEL

At this level, we understand the importance now of exercise. Exercise makes us healthy. It’s good for the heart.  It helps lower cholesterol.  It boosts the immune system. The benefits are astounding. Then why aren’t more people exercising if they understand the importance of exercise?

 APPLICATION LEVEL

At this level, we apply the knowledge and understanding of exercise to a new or real life situation.  We surpass the comprehension level. When I first started exercising, I was later encouraged to do bodybuilding.  Later, as my spiritual depth grew, I began to liken physical fitness to spiritual fitness. I found a new way to use my knowledge. Also, during the winter, I began challenging my fitness level in running 5k’s.  How can exercise be applied to another situation in your life?

 ANALYSIS LEVEL

At the analysis level, we are able to break down complex information into simpler parts. For me, becoming a personal trainer certainly allowed me to do this.  However, let’s say the goal of most people is not to become a personal trainer, so how is this stage attained? For one, it helps to understand how our bodies are affected by the exercise. When I am working my legs, I know which muscles are being worked on though I cannot actually see them. This is developing physical intelligence. Developing physical intelligence is part of connecting with our bodies.  If you do have a trainer, the trainer should be able to help you understand how each exercise affects the body. Analysis involves also being in the moment—being mindful.  For example, I am aware of my body when it wants to duck a workout. Sometimes I totally ignore it; other times, I check to examine why. Are you being lazy? Or do you really need to rest because you have received only four hours of sleep? In that case, I may need to listen to it. How can you develop physical intelligence by connecting with your body inside-out?

 SYNTHESIS LEVEL

A person can analyze and synthesize the same time.  For simplicity sake, the synthesis level brings in new found knowledge as a result of applying and analyzing. At this level, we have moved beyond the knowledge, comprehension, application and analysis level to apply principles to explain why we do what we do. It is no longer “I don’t want to be fat”, “I want to have a knock out body,” “I don’t want to be sick,” or even “I want to be healthy.”  Rather it could be knowing and understanding at a deep level the human body is designed to move. That exercising is one way to honor the body because it is the oil that lubricates it.  What principles can you develop involving exercise as a lifestyle?

 EVALUATION LEVEL

Here we make judgments against other standards. For me, it was moving from a fitness buff to a health advocate. Having two sisters diagnosed with cancer and lupus respectively got my attention. Thankfully, I had the knowledge, the understanding, the discipline to apply an exercise regimen but wanting to be fit was just not enough.  Exercise had to be a natural part of my life; it had to become organic. I defied genetics and declared that I would live a life that would celebrate life! The flow of oxygen rushing through my body made me realize that I was alive! I celebrated that my legs could move. My sister, though in pain from the lupus, often shared with me how she pushed herself to take walks. For her, her daily walks were painful but to not do them made the pain worse, she said.  In the past, I hated falling off the band wagon, because it was more painful getting back on. In other words, it was more work trying to lose weight rather than staying fit. Now I simply celebrate life.  For me, exercising and eating healthy physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually is a way of life.  It’s a lifestyle of a celebration of life!!!!

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Living Like a Diabetic

It’s Diabetes month. I have lived the last 10 years of my life very much like someone who has had diabetes. I watch my carbs and exercise regularly.

 Carb Control

Though I don’t advocate any particular diet, it is so important to control the amount of carbs in order to lose or maintain one’s weight.  Carbs control the insulin level. If too much insulin, a hormone central for regulating carbohydrates and fat metabolism, is released into the blood, then messages are sent to the body to:

1.  Store fat OR
2. Do not release any fat

 The Best Carbohydrates

The best kind of carbs are the ones God created.  The whole grains and the starches, such as quinoa and the sweet potatoes are the better choices to choose from. For dessert, the fruits are definitely the choice foods.

 The Forbidden Fruit

Carbs genetically altered by us, human beings, are deceptive. Unless our taste buds have adjusted to eating the healthy carbs, we will find the manmade carbs much more appealing in terms of taste.  Why? Because carbs tend to comfort us and give us a feeling of false pleasure.

 As the winter approaches, we naturally eat more carbs because they keep us warm. But if we eat too many of these foods, our blood sugar level is affected and our emotions as a result. If your emotions take a dive after one hour of eating, it is likely that you ate too much or ate the wrong carbs.

If our spirits are going to dwell in this earthly body, then we need to understand how foods affect us physically and spiritually. We cannot live without carbs, but they must be carefully monitored, especially as we age.  Also as we seek to know God more, allow His foods to teach you how to eat.

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Run for your Life

October 30, 2010, I ran my first 5k for the year.  I had done my best, I thought, to prepare for it, but not the obstacles I faced that day.

The whistle blew and we were all off. It was maddening dodging the many runners from children to adults.  Someone ran smack into one of the orange cones used to section the road off.  I felt the inclination to stop and pick up the cone so no one else would get hurt, but I kept on running. Focus, I told myself. Stay focus on the goal;these things do happen. By now, my two other running buddies were ahead of me.  It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with them and break free from the herd.  I decided to find a comfortable pace and just run my own race at my speed.  Good advice. But that thought was short lived.  Two runners were catching up to me. I could hear one of them.

“Oh, my God a hill’s coming up.  Look at that hill! You see that hill?”

Though he was not talking to me, I decided to look straight ahead. A hill loomed in the distance. Not a big hill but one that was big enough to challenge a cold body early in the morning. I knew I had to run away from this runner. His words began to feel like a mill stone around my neck. So I picked up my speed.

I pumped my arms as we climbed up the hill. I could hear a lady talking to her friend. “My feet are shot.”

“Mine’s been shot before this race ever started,” the other lady responded.

Run. Keep running. Thankfully, somewhere in the dust, I had left the “Mr. Hill Fascinator” and the “Miss Shot Feet” behind.  But my gratitude was short lived. “My knees are all gone,” I heard one lady say to another runner. Wrong conversation I said to myself. Run. Run away.

I finally found a comfortable place. I was all alone, running only with my thoughts.  I was about twenty minutes into the race. My body was already beginning to feel like a tug boat carrying a cruise ship.  Then I heard the most bizarre conversation between two ladies. “I was asking him if he wanted to buy one of the tickets for the event. Then he asked how much it would cost to have sex with me. I was so surprised.  I didn’t know what to say, so I told him $100.”

“So did you have sex with him?” the other lady asked.

“Oh, God no! I got out of it. Not like he was my type.”

Run!  Run! You got to run ahead or let them run ahead, I told myself. It would be faster if you run ahead. But I am so tired now, my body responded.  You got to run, run faaaaaaarrrrrr away, I said in response to it.

I pumped my arms. I could hear myself breathing. You got to run far away from them. Before I knew it, I had left “ Miss $100 Sex Ticket” behind, too.

I was tired, but I had only 10 minutes before I would reach the finish line. I could hear the announcer. People were on the sidelines cheering. I had made it!

After the race, I learned a valuable lesson. No, it was not run from negative people or stay focus at all cost. But wear some earphones and listen to some music while you run. In life you may not be able to stop the “naysayers” or pessimistic talk around you, but you can drown them out with the right music, then RUN! Perhaps, run for your life would make a good song.

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Your Attitude Stinks!

After working with the LiveLiving writers and staff to put together this month’s issue on “Fragrance of God,” I got to thinking about the antithesis to the eMagazine’s theme. How many times have you heard it said “you have a stink attitude?” Then again how many times have you met a person with such a sweet personality—almost other worldly? They were too sweet to be true we used to say as kids. But there are some individuals with such an aromatic spirit. I believe they are the offering Paul refers to—“the sweet smell of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are being lost” (2 Corinthians 2: 15). They wear the perfume of Christ.

I became cognizant of my sense of smell in creative writing and acting classes. However, it has only been most recent I have become more aware of a fragrance of God upon certain individuals. This awareness requires the ability to smell with your spiritual senses. God has surrounded us with many beautiful smells—the smell of jasmine filling the night’s air, the smell of the ocean, the smell of earthiness in a garden.

Likewise, God has provided beautiful odors in the spiritual world. They come in the form of peace, love, joy, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, temperance. When we do not exhibit these qualities, instead becoming cantankerous, fussy, and irritable, or depressed, we emit an unpleasant odor. We have to learn to recognize toxic smells and we need to be conscious at all times to wear God’s perfume on us.
I love beautiful scents. But now I have come to realize how important it is for me to smell good not just physically but also spiritually.

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Are You Spiritually Healthy or Spiritually Fit?

It felt good to be out in the early Saturday morning air. Dawn was breaking. It was a beautiful morning declaring the glory of God. A few early morning joggers with movements of a gazelle trotted passed me as I felt the weight of my body reluctantly following its master—my mind. 

I was practicing for a 5K, and I must admit I felt a clear difference between being healthy and fit. For someone who ate healthily and lifted weights regularly, there was no indication of fitness. I panted.  I stopped as I dragged my body along. My body was clearly out of shape for this run, but thankfully it was a practice run—day two. I was glad I was starting at least 30 days out from the competition day. I had to pace myself, work on breathing correctly and only then did I feel my body developing its on rhythm.  I began to shift my thinking from my unfit body it seemed to my spiritual life.

How similar our spiritual life can be! I have always met some believers who pray more, some believers who read the word of God more, some who spend private moments worshipping  God more. But like this run taught me I can still be spiritually out of shape if I don’t balance all of these areas. What are these areas? A believer must pray without ceasing. A believer must read the word of God daily, for it is our spiritual food.  A believer must also meditate on God’s word, so that it is a natural way of thinking. There are many of us who are spiritually healthy, but how spiritually fit are we?  Can we tarry, if need be, in prayer when the time comes? Can we arise early enough in the morning to spend time with God before our hectic schedule starts?  Attending our regular Sunday meetings can keep us spiritually healthy, but we must also work on being spiritually fit as well.

This is the discipline of the believer.  The body of Christ is commanded to stay together and to meet regularly. However, we are also to discipline ourselves in praying or talking to God constantly and consistently, meditating or listening for God’s voice always. And sometimes even pushing the plate back if necessary.  Sometimes the body does not need food. And this is not a diet.  We are in a time when only the spiritually fit survives.  We must be so confident in our relationship with Jesus Christ that no one or nothing can separate us from God’s love.  Like a couple whose love can only grow by being nurtured daily, so our love for Christ can only grow by regularly doing so likewise.

Getting back to the runner’s analogy—I must say I love running. I can’t wait to begin running like the other joggers, trotting like gazelles. Their bodies gliding effortlessly.  Their breathing so controlled.  It will take practice. How many great women and men of God can you think of? Some may have been born great but most, I believe, have taken the time beyond their sanctuaries to develop their relationship with Christ.  Let’s be spiritually healthy and fit.