Tag: Weight Loss

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You Gotta Own It

“Most problems in life are simple to solve. I didn’t say EASY, I said SIMPLE.” – Joe the Runner

When I was at my heaviest, my family and my doctor were telling me that I needed to change. My blood pressure was high, I lacked energy, and my legs almost always hurt. I knew that they were all right, but I wasn’t ready. We would have discussions around why I was so heavy and what had gotten me to this point. Was it genetics? Many of my family members are obese? Had my metabolism slowed down? Etc. This was always my reply. “I am fat because I eat too much, drink too much, and I don’t exercise.” That my friends, is owning it.

Now don’t get me wrong here. Owning it is NOT the same thing as doing something about it. But it is a step in the process. Deep down, I knew why I was obese, and I also knew I wasn’t ready to change it. But as long as I didn’t lie to myself, I also knew that when I was ready, I would make the changes I needed to, and get healthy. Sure enough, that’s what happened. For whatever reason, when I was ready, I got off my butt and started to make changes. I took to running. My alcohol consumption plummeted. I cleaned up my diet. And I lost weight as a result.

There are a lot of reasons why we don’t own our issues. However, for the overwhelming majority of us, it’s most likely that it’s just easier when our problems are someone else’s fault. Money issues. “It’s my boss’ fault, I don’t get paid enough.” Weight issues. “It’s genetics, it runs in my family.” And the list can go on and on. The great thing about it being someone else’s fault, is that you don’t have to do anything about it. Right? I mean, if there is nothing you can do to lose weight, why bother eating healthy and exercising? If your boss won’t give you a raise, why work hard?

Look what happens when you own your issue though. “I don’t make enough money because I don’t add enough value to the organization.” “I am overweight because I don’t eat healthy and exercise.” Now the onus is on you. You have to admit that you are not living the life you want because of the choices that you are making and everyday it remains that way, it is your own fault. Now, when you are ready, you will do something about it.

You’ll go to work and look for ways to add value and get rewarded. If your boss still doesn’t belly up, you’ll look for another job. Instead of a beer, you’ll drink water and get out there for a walk. You get the point. Once you’ve owned your issue and are ready, you’ll start to take action. Consistent actions lead to new habits, and new habits lead to results. Most problems in life are simple to solve. I didn’t say EASY, I said SIMPLE. We know when we don’t have money, we shouldn’t buy that new pair of shoes, but it’s hard to put off that gratification. SIMPLE solution, but HARD to do.

My suggestion is taking small steps. Identify something that you really would like to change, and really own it. Take ownership of the issue by looking at it as something that you can control. Do this over and over with this one issue, and eventually you will get to that point where you are ready to make changes. When you get to that point, you WILL take action. The only one who can change you, is you.

If I can help you on your journey in any way, please reach out to me.

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene  YouTube: Joe Runner  Facebook: Joe Randene

Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments section BELOW and we can have a discussion!

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Your Relationship With Food

When people find out that I lost 130 pounds, the first thing they ask is “How did you do it?” To answer that question is much longer than one post, but here is where I tell them it starts. It’s not your mouth, it’s your head. Anyone can lose weight by severely restricting calories, but to sustain your weight loss, you need to change your diet. You don’t want to be “on a diet”, you want to “eat a healthy diet”. And for that to happen, you need to understand and change your relationship with food.

What does that mean? Well, most people who struggle with weight, over eat or eat unhealthy for a reason that is other than hunger. In my case, it was simply that I was exposed to bad eating habits growing up and I carried those habits with me. That’s not to say that my family are terrible, I love them! But I come from a family of big eaters and big drinkers. Some of us exercise enough that weight doesn’t become an issue, and some of us don’t. Some of us have changed our diets over time to be healthier, and some haven’t. That’s not the point. The point is, I had to realize that my relationship with food was unhealthy because I was propagating those habits, and then change those habits. My relationship with food went from, eating and drinking anything I wanted and as much as I wanted, to eating healthy and almost no alcohol. I’m not hungry and I still enjoy what I eat, and I feel great.

In my opinion, I have one of the easier food relationships to address. I just needed to reeducate myself and change some habits. However, there are much more serious issues around food relationships such as people who use food as a replacement for love, or as a defense mechanism. As an example, some people eat because they were abandoned, and they could always count on food to be there and comfort them. Others eat because they were sexually abused, and they think being overweight will make them less attractive to a predator. Many of these types of issues fall under eating disorders and must be addressed in order to change your relationship with food in a healthy way. The mind needs to be addressed first.

The great news is that you are not alone! There are many places to get the help that you need and get back on track. The National Institute of Mental Health is a great place to start.

The next area that you need to understand, and address is “triggers”. Again, this starts in the head. After sitting and analyzing my eating habits, I realized that when I drank alcohol, I binge ate. So not only was I getting the empty calories from drinking, I was doubling down with really crap food even if I wasn’t hungry. Drinking and eating went together for me. Once I grasped that, I made sure that I put controls around my drinking. I went from drinking moderately most weekends and some weeknights, to I rarely drink alcohol at all now. And when I do, it’s usually a beer or a glass of wine. This has made a huge difference in my calorie intake.

What are your triggers? Is it stress? Is it boredom? My experience was that I knew my triggers, but I had to admit them to myself. This is work that has to be done, because your triggers normally are the pathways to your underlying issues. I’m not going to tell you it is easy, but it is achievable. And if it is something that you need help with, I suggest you go get. I know it can be scary, but change is always scary. On the other side of that fear is your dreams though, so be brave and get help.

Once I recognized that I was simply following the pattern that I had been exposed to, and took the time to reeducate myself on nutrition, the scale started moving in the right direction. And when I removed the “trigger” of alcohol and stopped binge eating, not only did the scale continue to move in the right direction, it became sustainable. Finally, as my weight came down and I started to feel great, running went from exercise to a passion. Not being hungry, feeling great, and pursuing a passion, sounds like something I can do for a long time!

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene  YouTube: Joe Runner  Facebook: Joe Randene

Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments section BELOW and we can have a discussion!

 

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Joe the Runner Interview in Dure Magazine

Dure

This amazing new endurance athlete magazine called Dure, as in endurance sports, just published an interview where we discussed topics ranging from weight loss, ultra running, to the state of the sport, and much more! Click here to read the article in it’s entirety.

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For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene  YouTube: Joe Runner

Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments section BELOW and we can have a discussion!

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New Year’s Resolutions are BS Part 2

Comic

In the first part of this post we discussed S.M.A.R.T. goals. They are goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. You’ll also recall that I added an S. for Sustainable. Because, once you have achieved a goal, what good does it do if you cannot sustain the gains? Whether your goals are related to weight loss, business, or your personal relationships, there are things that you can do to improve your odds of sustaining your improvements instead of falling back in to the old habits that you were trying to change to begin with.

To make the changes in your life permanent, you must make them a lifestyle change and focus on the process just as much as the outcome. And the way to focus on the process, is to create what I call process goals. Let’s apply this to the goal of losing ten pounds in ten weeks.

There are basically two levers that you can pull to lose weight. Those are calories in (your diet) and calories out (your metabolism). In today’s world, there are tons of easy ways to track these two levers accurately. Buy a Fitbit or a Garmin and download the app as an example. The device will provide a fairly accurate calorie burn number and you can easily enter your food intake for the calories in a portion. There you have it, a daily scorecard that will let you know if you are doing what you need to do to lose the weight. From here you can create a “process goal” of creating a 500-calorie daily deficit and track it.

To go a couple of steps further, now that you have a daily goal regarding calories, you can set “process goals” to impact the two levers. As an example, cutting down on soda, and anything with refined sugars will definitely decrease your calorie intake, and exercising will increase your calorie burn. So, if you set some process goals that looked like this: “Instead of soda I will drink water and I will run 30 minutes four times a week.” You will be creating new habits that will change your lifestyle permanently and help you achieve your goals. More importantly, once you have a achieved your goals, since this has become your new lifestyle, you will sustain your gains.

Here is the best part. Let’s say that you have achieved your goal and lost the weight. If you continue to track your weight weekly, and continue to track your daily calories in/out, you can make adjustments to your “process goals” to help stay on track. You see that you have gained a pound, take action right away! Increase your activity or look at what you have been eating. Have you strayed? Get back on track! Does everything look normal but maybe you need to increase your cardio? (Our metabolism slows as we get older!) You get the point.

What I am trying to say is, the difference between resolutions, that rarely get achieved and even more rarely, stick; and permanent changes that lead to a lifetime of improvements, is that permanent changes are made up of S.M.A.R.T.S. If you want help putting together an improvement plan for any aspect of your life, send me an e-mail! I love helping people achieve their goals.

I hope that this post and this blog helps! To receive new post notifications, newsletters, and post previews, please SUBSCRIBE!

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene  YouTube: Joe Runner

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New Year’s Resolutions are BS Part 1

Comic

Do not let that title confuse you, I am a huge believer in goals, but New Year’s resolutions normally are not goals. In fact, only 8% of people actually keep their resolutions. The new year is a great time to reflect and to hit the reset button for sure, but I’m going to show you a better way than simply saying “I’m going to lose 10 pounds.” The issue that I have with resolutions, is that the majority are either, unrealistic, too drastic, not well thought out, or unsustainable. Most likely a combination of all of these.

Based on my experience, you will greatly improve your chances of hitting your goals if they are S.M.A.R.T. I did not come up with this, I was taught, and I cannot find out who to give credit to, as this acronym is all over the coaching world. I do add my own little twist to it at the end here, so hold on. What are S.M.A.R.T. goals? They are:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Timely

Sustainable (I added this one, as I think that it way too often overlooked)

Specific

Generic goals simply do not get met because there is no real direction. Let’s stick with our weight loss goal above. When do you want to lose 10 pounds by? Someone can say they want to lose 10 pounds, but if they haven’t placed a date to be accountable by, it becomes very easy to pick up that next cookie. Goals need to be as specific as possible and can even help with visualization. You should be able to picture in your mind what it will look and feel like when you achieve your goal. Be as specific as possible.

Measurable

This particular goal is measurable in regard to the weight loss, but as noted, not the time line. This is an area that people often do not put enough time in to because generally they feel that what they will measure is obvious. However, there are usually multiple metrics that can be measured to improve the probability of success and accountability. For weight loss, you can measure calories in and calories burned, as leading indicators of whether or not you will hit your goals. So, as you can see, it makes sense to really think this through and not only measure the ultimate goal, but also, what I call “process goals”.

Achievable 

Surely losing 10 pounds is achievable? Well, what if the goal was lose 10 pounds in 3 days? This MIGHT be achievable, but does it make good sense? Unless you are a fighter trying to make weight, probably not. And if you set goals that are not achievable, you are likely to get frustrated, feel like you have failed, and give up. Lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks, is a much more achievable goal, that you have a much better chance of hitting and feeling like you have succeeded. And, success breeds success.

Relevant 

Your goals have to mean something to you. If you are 6 feet tall and weigh 150 pounds, losing 10 pounds probably isn’t important to you! To improve your odds of success, make sure that you clearly understand why you are setting the goal in the first place, and be completely honest with yourself. No one else has to know your why. People that I work with tell me all the time that their reasons for setting a particular goal is “stupid” or “shallow”. That, my friends, is bullshit. You want to look good in a speedo? Great! You want to climb Mt. Everest? Go for it! You do you and be proud.

Timely 

Man, I cannot stress this one enough. Losing 10 pounds by tomorrow doesn’t work and neither does “before I die”. Be reasonable here and do not underestimate the importance of this. Why? ACCOUNTABILITY. Having a time line that is achievable removes excuses and makes you accountable. If you are trying to lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks, you are much more likely to stick to eating healthy and exercising because you know that this is an achievable goal. If your goal was to lose it by tomorrow, you might as well eat the cake, because it ain’t happening anyway. And if you have a year, well you can always catch up next week, right?

Sustainable 

I’ll give you a little taste here, but this will be a post on its own within a few days. When people find out that I lost 130 pounds, they say “Great job! You must be proud?” Well, I am. But not of the weight loss. Anyone can lose weight, I am proud that I have SUSTAINED the weight loss. Going back to the 10 pounds in 10 weeks, you can achieve that in so many ways. As an example, let’s say all you eat is cabbage soup and you lose the 10 pounds, is that sustainable? No way. And once you start to eat other food, guess what? You will most likely gain the 10 pounds back and maybe more. So how do you sustain your gains, whether it is weight loss or anything else? Here’s a hint: Lifestyle change, process, and process goals. The journey my friends…  I’ll address this in detail next post.

I hope that this post and this blog helps! To receive new post notifications, newsletters, and post previews, please SUBSCRIBE!

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene  YouTube: Joe Runner

Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments section BELOW and we can have a discussion!

 

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Eating with Intention

Fridge

Anyone who has followed me and read most of what I have written in regard to diet, knows that I believe diets do not work. In my humble opinion, you shouldn’t be “on” a diet, what you eat “IS” your diet. What I’m trying to say is, when I restricted the amount of food that I ate so that I could lose weight, I failed to sustain my weight loss every single time. Losing weight is as simple as calories in vs. calories out, but there are many levers that you can pull. My experience has been that by putting my calorie burn on hyper drive via running AND changing my diet, I have been able to lose 130 pounds, and more importantly, sustain it.

So, what do I mean by eating with intention? Great question! When I went on diets and restricted the amount of food that I ate, I was very often hungry and irritable. I didn’t change my diet, I was simply eating the same type of crap that I was eating before I went on my diet, but much less. Did it work? Well; yeah. Temporarily. And, because I was still eating crap, my body was still getting revved up on sugar and then crashing, causing me to have stronger and stronger cravings to eat. Pissed off, hungry, and craving food like an addict is NOT sustainable.

However, once I started to look at food as fuel and my diet comprising everything that I eat and drink, I realized that I could eat a lot of the RIGHT foods and I wouldn’t be hungry and irritable. This is eating with intention. I look at my diet AND what I’m trying to accomplish comprehensively, and then eat accordingly. Let me provide you with some concrete examples of what I am trying to say.

As a runner, I look at my year and build my race plan and training around several goal races. I literally will schedule training blocks and training breaks for the entire year. If I am in a training block and my goal is to feel good for my workouts and runs, and possibly lose some weight (running is easier when you are lighter), I’ll eat “clean”. Clean for me means very little refined sugar, no alcohol, no junk food, plenty of vegetables and fruits, and lots of lean meats and fish. Normally I’m running 50 plus miles a week and I can eat as much of this type of food as I want without gaining weight. It’s easy for me to say no to a beer or a piece of cake, because I know that it will harm my training and take me further away from my goals. Honestly, I am very rarely hungry during these training blocks when I am eating clean. I believe it’s because I can eat large amounts of food and with no refined sugar, my body isn’t having the blood sugar crashes and creating those hunger cravings.

You’re probably thinking “Yeah, that’s great, but you never eat junk food?” Rest assured, I absolutely do! During my break periods, I still run 25 to 35 miles per week, just to maintain my cardiovascular fitness and keep my metabolism primed, but I eat and drink what I want. THAT is still eating with intention. If I know that I am taking a month break and I want to drink some beers, I don’t feel guilty about it at all. In fact, give me that second piece of cake as well! Why? Because I earned it and it’s good for my soul. I also know that at the end of the break there will be another training block and I have the discipline to start eating clean again and I’ll burn my break food off. The great thing with scheduling these things is that I can choose to take my breaks when I know I would be at my weakest! Thanksgiving and Christmas anyone? Fourth of July cookout? Why make life hard on yourself?

There you go, some real-life examples of eating with intention so that you can apply them to your own life. Every piece of food and every beverage that I consume has meaning, and I make sure that I understand what and why I’m consuming something. Even if it’s a simple “Hey, this beer your drinking has no nutritional value, but you are on your break and you love a good beer so, enjoy!” I make sure it fits with my current goals and if it doesn’t, I stop myself.

I hope that this post and this blog helps! To receive new post notifications, newsletters, and post previews, please SUBSCRIBE!

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene  YouTube: Joe Runner

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Joe the Runner Interview on Sany Delight’s Blog

Sany

Sany Delight is a social media personality and Chicago foodie that I met via FitBit. She was attempting her first marathon and we struck up a conversation and I offered to help her with her training and nutrition. We have become friends and I am proud to say that Sany completed the Chicago Marathon!

She has profiled me on her blog asking questions such as “Why is running such a large part of your life?” and “What advice do you have for those that hate running? How do you get someone from disliking running to actually enjoying it?” and many more! Please click here to read the profile and enjoy! Thanks Sany!!! And if you want to see some great food, check out her Instagram!

I hope that this post and this blog helps! To receive new post notifications, newsletters, and post previews, please SUBSCRIBE!

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene  YouTube: Joe Runner

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3 Reasons that Drama is Not My Mama

No Drama

“You have to want your dreams more than you want your drama.” – Jen Sincero

When you write and share your message with people, there are times when you have to write something and then leave it alone to fester. You need to let time do its work and see if when you revisit it, if it is valid and relevant or if you just wrote something that ultimately isn’t useful and should just be left alone. Sometimes it’s simply because you’re scared that what you wrote is not high quality or that it will get a negative reaction. THIS is one of those posts. I actually wrote this on May 2, 2017 and its been sitting there ever since.

After reading it again, I realized that I left it because I didn’t want to offend anyone. But, ultimately, if you are going to help people, then you are going to have make yourself, and those people uncomfortable from time to time. Well, this is one of those times.

So, before you read this, I want to say in advance, this is my opinion and I do not mean to offend anyone, but I do feel strongly that this can help some people. If you read it and your good, awesome! If you read this and you get to thinking, even better.

I was reading a book by Jen Sincero, You are a Badass at Making Money, and I came across this quote of hers: “You have to want your dreams more than your drama.” I instantly thought of this post that I had just been letting sit. You can apply this to your running goals AND your life goals. So, I am going to roll the dice and publish my thoughts around one of the biggest hurdles to success for anyone, including myself. Drama…

Time

Time is the only true commodity that you cannot buy more of. When you leave this earth, it’s over, and no one can be sure when that time will come. Knowing that I only have a limited amount of it, I work very hard to keep the drama in my life to a minimum. It reasons that if I only have a limited amount of time, and I want to spend it doing awesome stuff that is productive, rewarding, and fulfilling, I can’t fill it with petty arguments and dealing with situations that are usually completely avoidable. I’m too busy trying to kick ass to worry about petty bullshit. This means that I minimize my exposure to people who create or participate in any drama as well, because if you get sucked in, the outcome is the same… NEGATIVE.

Stress

Have you ever been around someone who always seems to have bad stuff going on, or is always talking bad about other people? It’s a bummer, and it is downright stressful. Everything that I have read about stress, is that it is possible that it’s worse than smoking or being obese! Think about that for a minute. Being stressed can do more damage to your body physically then something that causes cancer or diabetes! Think about that the next time you are going to overreact to a comment someone made, or you are getting ready to hang out with that friend who always seems to have crazy things going on in their life!

Predetermines Failure

This is a hard one to swallow. Other than the Kardashian’s, I have not met anyone who has a ton of drama going on in their life that becomes successful. In my job as a leader, I have terminated numerous people for being chronically late to work, and they all say the same thing the day they are terminated. It usually goes something like this: Me “Employee A, we are terminating your employment today because you were late to work for the 7th time in the last 12 months.” Employee A “You’re firing me because I had a flat tire, that’s not fair!” At this point, I try and explain to the person that we are not firing them for the flat tire they had today, it’s because of the other six incidents AND the flat tire today. How does someone show up to work late so frequently? Drama. They are not taking care of their crap and it ends up biting them in the rear.

It’s really that simple, drama is a drain on your time, money, energy, and well-being. If you don’t believe me, think about the drama that you are creating in your own life and take control of it for a few days. Make sure that you get to bed early, that you pay your bills, try not to overreact to other people that upset you, etc. Next, think really hard about the people you are spending time with that love to drum up drama and always seem to have a problem, and then cut them out of your schedule for a few days. Don’t talk with them, visit with them, or look at text messages and social media. Simply collect yourself for a few days. If you really do this, tell me that you don’t suddenly have more time, more energy, and less stress in your life!

Trust me, if you stop letting drama run your day, you’ll be a lot more productive and that is always a good thing.

I hope that this post and this blog helps! To receive new post notifications, newsletters, and post previews, please SUBSCRIBE!

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene  YouTube: Joe Runner

Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments section BELOW and we can have a discussion!