Keeping on track with your weight loss journey is tough when traveling under the best circumstances. It can be doubly so when your plane is delayed or even cancelled on a Friday. But it does not have to be! You can stick to your healthy habits with these three tricks.
1. When it snows, find a Skywalk! Getting stuck overnight in a hotel because of a blizzard can curtail your weekend exercise routine. I do not know about you but walking on a treadmill just does not get it for me. I like my walks with some scenery and adventure. One way to switch it up if you can’t get outside is to find a mall or even an indoor Skywalk. Last weekend I was stuck in Des Moines, Iowa when my plane was cancelled. Luckily, I did not have to miss my Saturday Morning walk. I found an entry to the downtown Skywalk about a block away. After a brief bout with the sub-zero wind chill, I was soon walking and getting lost in the Skywalk. It was quite an adventure trying to find my way back through the maze of corridors. Also, felt a bit like Maxwell Smart with all the automatic opening doors. When I was finally done, I had five miles in, while braving the cold for only a few minutes.
2. Don’t stress, catch up on your rest! Missing your flight home due to weather can be stressful if you let it. But it also can be an opportunity to catch up on your rest. If you can’t get out of your hotel, catch up on your snooze time. Most of us are sleep deprived anyway and a few extra hours of rest can do wonders for your metabolism. On the flipside, overly worrying can lead to stress eating.
3. If your late, just meditate. You do not have to get caught up in the noise and bustle when stuck in an airport. Most airports have a chapel, lounge or quiet space where you can meditate or pray according to your practice to clear your head. Here is a guide that can help you out. https://www.sleepinginairports.net/
One of my favorite places is the chapel at DFW. But you can also find one of the gates that does not have a flight for an hour. For just type of these delays, I keep meditation applications Headspace, Calm, and the podcast Christian Meditation on my iPhone.
A plane delay or cancellation does not need to be a reason to go off the wagon. Use these three tips to keep on track when travel sets you back!
Back in my Army and West Point days, I never thought of marching
and carrying a ruck in fitness terms. It
was a necessity. What you carried on
your back is what you brought into combat. The more you put in, the more you were weighed
down. The less you put in, the more you
ran the risk of being ill-prepared.
Recently, however, I realized the fitness benefits of rucking for civilians. I started carrying a weighted ruck in preparation for the Shadow West Point March back that happened last week. The March Back coincides with the annual 13-mile march back of the United States Military Academy’s Plebe Class at the conclusion of summer Cadet Basic Training. I and about 15 fellow members of the West Point Society of Central Texas finished the march last week. The March included loaded Rucksacks and the Texas Heat! See the picture below. The Weather Channel even filmed a piece about us! I will let you know when it comes out.
Rucking has many benefits and is my latest fitness obsession. There is even a community of Veterans that go
on rucking events. It is called GoRuck
and raises money for Veterans dealing with PTSD. I am currently training for the next major
event near Austin.
Here are the five major benefits of Rucking:
Low
Impact. Unlike running that puts stress
on your joints, rucking is low impact especially if you pack your ruck
correctly.
Burns Calories.
It burns 3 times the calories that walking does (even more in Texas
heat).
Carry your Hydration. A ruck provides a convenient compartment to
store water and remain hydrate. I fill
up the bladder from my Camelback in my ruck.
It adds weight and prevents me from passing out int the Texas heat!
Low Cost.
I bought my rucksack for less than 40 dollars on Amazon. There is no need to get a specialized
rucksack unless you want to. To weight
it down, I just evenly distributed 5 lbs. weights that I already had in
pouches.
Fun and social.
I loved marching with fellow members of the Long Grey Line and being out
in nature.
Marching with a ruck is not just for the military. Pick up your ruck, lace up your shoes and
march back to health!
On this one I reach back almost 40 years to examine the lessons learned from four men who were then as they are now on the cutting edge of fitness and health: the four football coaches of Northern Burlington Regional High School in the late seventies – Coaches Charlie Pirrello, Hank Kearns, Carmen Pastore, and Gary Smith. Beyond football, these four men taught me more than fitness. They taught me and others how to be men, to put team before self, and to judge on merit not title, race, or creed.
Coach Charlie Pirrello, the head coach of the fab four is a
legend in NJ High School Football. The
2018 inductee to the NJ Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame he has led 7
teams to the State Championship in his 50 years of coaching. The first of these was led by my 1981 class
that won on the last play of the game.
Unfortunately, I had moved to Texas after my Junior season and missed
it. But I still felt part of the team
and loved seeing my quarterback (I was a Center), Chris Warrington throwing the
winning pass!
Hank the Tank Kearns, the Defensive Coordinator and JV Coach,
was equally a big influence in my life.
His nickname Tank was an understatement; he was more like the Hulk. I still remember when the linebackers were
not deploying correct tackling form, he jumped in there without pads and flattened
the running back! Hank is still a
fitness inspiration to me. I follow he,
Coach Pirrello and Pastore on Facebook and Hank is either biking or doing some
other fitness activity.
Carmen Pastore was the Offensive Coordinator. A former college
football quarterback Coach Pastore helped orchestrate our vaunted Veer Option Offense
that first came into vogue in 1975. It
was cutting edge then as it is now.
Last was Coach Smith who taught the backs. My brother’s coach, I remember him for his
humor. One day I went up to look at the
depth chart. Instead of seeing Donnie
and Gary Grier the names on the list where Abnormal and Normal Grier. He gave me the nickname Abnormal because of
my intensity, the fact that I was on the line, and the way I yelled at the top
of my lungs “Huddle” when gathering the team.
I wore that name like a badge of honor since I was a gruff lineman and
linebacker while my brother was a defensive and offensive back.
The Fab Four are great coaches and leaders of men for these
four and many other reasons:
Constantly striving for excellence through
learning and adapting. The coaches
of NBC were constantly looking for new ways and techniques to get better. I looked forward to each summer training
sessions when the coaches would return with the latest fitness techniques. Two I remember distinctly are the Total
Fatigue Weightlifting Circuit and interval running with proper technique. Total Fatigue included completing a circuit
of weightlifting that went from largest muscles (legs) to smallest muscles
(triceps). I still do the regime today
since it has become one of the key approaches to gain muscle mass and
endurance. Back then it was new. They also emphasized negative training (2
seconds up and at least 4 seconds down).
Next was interval training where we first practiced our running form (I
still attempt to run like Hank the Tank taught me to this day) before
completing sprint intervals. One last
thing that sticks in my mind is there willingness to adapt when something did
not work. One year our football camp included three a days and we really worked
hard – overly hard. The coaches realized
that we worked out too much resulting in a few injuries. The next year they adapted when they added a
rest period in Coach Pastore’s pool which resulted in a better record.
Inspiration
is as important as perspiration. Each
year the coaches made a playbook that we needed to memorize from cover to cover
and guard with our lives. The secret sauce
of the playbook was not just the cutting-edge plays from the Veer Option, it
also contained fitness and nutrition tips and life lessons. I wish I still had that playbook because the
quotes were so inspiring. But you can
get a good feel for them by reading Coach Pirrello’s Twitter feed. Here is one recent one. “I am your coach. When you get discouraged, I
will encourage you. When you come up short, I want to help you come up big next
time. And I will never give up on you even if you give up on yourself.” Charlie
Pirrello. He never gave up on us and
today I still draw inspiration from these four great men.
Judge each man by his merit. The late Seventies and early Eighties was
a difficult time to coach. The drug
culture was in vogue. In addition, there
was sometimes difficulties in race relations.
NBC had one of the most diverse teams in the state having McGuire Air Force
base in our school. Also because of
McGuire Air Force Base, we had new people coming into team each year. I remember distinctly the day Willie Drewery
joined my class in my Sophomore year.
Unknown to the program at the time, he was welcomed in with open arms
and became a linchpin. He later went on to a Professional Career. The coaches never differentiated on race,
creed or color. All that matter was your football ability and the content of
your character. One way they enforced
this is making the team hold hands in the huddle and by teaming up weight
training partners from different races and cultures. Lastly, our pre-game ritual included listening
to equal doses of Bruce Springsteen and Chic that had a big hit at that
time. In this way, we avoided the
fighting that went on in some of our rival schools.
Care for Each Player. The coaches spent time with each player if
they gave a 100% and strove to be a team player. My brother was a football talent, playing Varsity
his sophomore year. I was less of a talent
playing second team Varsity and first team JV.
Even so the coaches never neglected me and worked with me to make me the
best player I could be. ,They also were
always there for you. I still have the
note from Coach Pirrello to my new football coach when I had to leave for Texas
for my Senior Year. I still choke up
reading it and the care Coach P gave. I
was never going to break Franco Harris’s Freshman Rushing record like my
brother, but he and his coaching staff still treated me with the same respect
and care. To this day, one of my
greatest awards is winning MVP for the Junior Varsity team my Junior Year. To me, winning that award for NBC was the
highlight of my high school athletic career and one of the highlights of my
life.
One last thing to say.
Charlie was not only my coach. He
was more importantly my World History teacher and one of the best teachers I
ever had. He was just as inspirational
and engaging in class as he was on the field.
40 years is a long time and a blink of the eye. Whatever the years, the fab four still shape
the man I am today!
I had the good fortune in my early adult life to be in the Army. One of the perks in the Army is that you are paid to work-out every day. It was part of your role description and responsibility. An unfit soldier will put himself and his platoon at risk. I therefore had the pleasure and pain both at West Point and later active duty to exercise on a regular basis. Sometimes, it was exhilarating like singing cadence at the top of your lungs while on a battalion run. Other times brutal, such as the yearly Obstacle Course administered by the Department with a Heart at West Point. All of it good, necessary and part of your job description!
This all seemed to change when I left the Army and joined
the consulting world. Early morning
calls replaced morning PT. Long hours on
planes and in front of a desk slinging code took a toll on my health. It seemed in my mind at the time that fitness
and taking care of myself was no longer part of my job description or even
opposed to it. I and companies at that
time did not yet see the impact of wellness on work. The drive for more billable hours and seemingly
higher productivity dominated. This corporate culture (or my take on it)
resulted in weight gain, lost health, and a decline in productivity over time.
Like the Army, corporations have now come to realize that being
fit is a necessary part of the job.
Indeed, wellness is almost as important to the survival and strength of
the company as it is to an Army platoon.
Here are three reasons why:
Improves Decision Making. The enemy of all good decisions is
stress. Exercise and fitness help relieve
stress and keep away fatigue. A simple 20-minute walk will provide a few
minutes to clear your mind, allowing you to focus on the problem on hand. Better yet, get up and walk around the office
when taking a phone call meeting when things get heated. The simple step of
standing up will shake off the cobwebs that tend to collect during back to back
calls.
Builds
Comradery. The best thing about the Army was the
comradery. One way it was built was through
morning PT. While I am not advocating
each company go on a company run each morning, I am recommending a common
fitness program like Accenture Active. This
program has really helped me to know my colleagues better through fitness
events (MS 150, Annual Veterans Walk, etc.) and programs (active rewards
programs, Fitbit competition). One
example was a random competition that I and some colleagues engaged in on one
Saturday. One of my friends started a
Fitbit weekend competition and although we were all in different states, we
kept apprised with the others’ progress. We all engaged in friendly and sometimes hilarious
banter through the Fitbit app as we each surpassed 10 miles.
Cuts Down
on Sick Days. Staying fit helps to
keep you out of the doctor’s office and in yours during working hours. Research conducted at Brigham Young University, the Center for
Health Research at Healthways and the Health Enhancement Research Organization,
suggests unhealthy eating is linked with a 66% increased risk of loss of
productivity while lack of exercise
is associated with a 50% increase risk of low productivity. My experience bears
this out. Before returning to fitness, I
was habitually hit with bronchitis and, at least twice a year, pneumonia. Both resulted in sick days and loss of
productivity when I worked through it.
Since returning to my target weight in Nov. 2015, I have had neither
bronchitis or pneumonia. Not sure how many
days have been saved but approximate it as at least a week a year. And, an increase of productivity on those
days that I should have been recovering and drove through and worked despite my
illness.
These are just the top three reasons why you should consider staying fit as part of your role description as a consultant. Increased productivity, esprit de corps and better decisions are just three reasons exercise is an imperative in the working world. Let me close with a cadence I wrote for my team as we run from one project to another:
