New Year's Fitness Resolution ACCOUNTABILITY: The missing key ingredient that may be sabotaging your progress!

     Well it’s that time of year again, when everyone starts failing miserably at their New Year’s resolution to be fitter and healthier.  The missing ingredient almost always causing the failure, is lack of accountability.  Without somebody or something to be accountable to, who is going to call you out when you no-show to the gym, or start drinking 4 beers a night instead of just two?  We all need somebody to call us out when we steer off course, or something to at least raise awareness.  Now I’m not saying you have to go out and drop fifty bucks an hour on a Personal Trainer, all though that would be ideal.  There are in fact many fun, inexpensive ways to incorporate accountability into your fitness and health plan if you cannot afford to hire a Trainer:

1.      Sign up for a race: Most races come with an ideal 12 week preparation plan that you can easily find online for free. (Try Active.com)  The looming race deadline is what will be holding you metaphorically accountable, and it is physically impossible to train for 12 weeks and not become fitter and leaner!  Most of San Diego’s fun races are in April, May and June – perfect timing to begin!

2.      Book a tropical vacation:  Not only will you score major points with your date if you invite one to come along, but just knowing you will be seen poolside or beachfront in your board-shorts will motivate you to buff up to some degree, even if only subconsciously.

3.      Wear a personal activity tracker or fitness bracelet:  You know, one of those FitBit things that track your daily fitness data on a basic, approximate level.  They synch up with an app on your smartphone and at the very least raise awareness and in some sense create accountability, by telling you how many steps you took, how many calories you burned, and much more depending how involved you want to get with the application.  These bracelets and trying to improve daily, become surprisingly addicting!  They’re simple to use, provide real-time feedback yet are very personal at the same time.

4.      Post your goal or resolution on social media:  Post a ‘before’ picture, or state your goal publically and very loudly on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for all to see.  Your followers will hold you accountable and even heckle you!  Seriously though, aside from the unsolicited advice you will receive from all of the fitness ‘experts’ spamming your newsfeed, you will also get a lot of encouragement and don’t be surprised if you motivate some of your friends to join you on your journey!

5.      Buy a home scale:  I actually wrote and entire article about this a few months ago.  And while many Trainers and weight-loss ‘experts’ advocate against weighing yourself daily, I am all for it and have done this for years.  While it is true that most weight fluctuations are temporary or are ‘water weight’, stepping on the scale daily, (along with looking at yourself naked in the mirror), raises awareness, provides the most basic sense of accountability and helps you get a head start on tracking trends in weight changes.  Also the home scales these days are very reliable and affordable and many even come with bio-electric impedance to measure your body composition and body fat level.

6.      Join a sports team or group:  It doesn’t matter what your sport is – there is a team, league or group of guys out there, at your level, who love to play too.  Find them and join them – this is San Diego, America’s 8^th Fittest City – how hard can it be?  Because when you start regularly competing in a sport you love, you’ve truly discovered a secret path to long lasting fitness.  As soon as you make it fun, you’re winning!
7.   Book a Photo Shoot!  Hey I know we aren't all vain, Zoolander model-types, but I'm going to share something personal with you:  NOTHING motivates me to whip myself into tip-top shape more than a booked shoot date coming up.  Because it's game on, as my reputation is on the line, every time I step in front of the camera.  This sounds so shallow to write, but it's truth.  And it doesn't have to be a professional photo shoot or commercial print job either.  Just booking a photo shoot for yourself and or your family for social media use, as 'progress pics' or for just your personal, keepin-it-real, check will suffice.  Selfies just aren't quite the same!

     What you should NOT do as part of your healthy New Year’s resolution strategy:  Buy a detox kit, start a weight-loss or diet plan, or do a juice cleanse.  Detox, Juice Cleanse, Diet Plan are all red flags to steer clear of.  These are fads and gimmicks by folks trying to take your money.  You must learn to take a long term, holistic approach to your fitness and health and evolve it into a lifestyle.

My Protein Bar & Supplement Sponsor, 'Greens Plus'!, AKA, 'Greens+'

Good surfing fuel, both pre or post surf!

Sorry for two blog posts in one day, but I'm way behind in my wish-list of blog topics and critical information I owe to you, and this post is way more personable, and not just a spam or sales-pitch attempt I assure you!  I just wanted to give a shout-out to my relatively new sponsor 'Greens+' pronounced "Greens Plus".  I guess technically I'm an ambassador for them, but they're sending me my favorite products every month so either way I'm stoked.  I'm using their protein and chia bars, and their chia-seed powder blend, and their raw, green, powder blend.

This the bar I like! - Max

     Their products are all non-GMO, certified organic, raw, alkaline, gluten-free, cold-pressed, (I could go on with all the bells and whistles and fancy labels but I won't!)  Many are available in vegan options as well.  My current favorite is their new 'PlusBar' whey protein bar in peanut butter-chocolate flavor with 72% cacao content of course!  The whey is 100% whey isolate for high BV, quick absorbtion.  This bar, although recently re-furbished and re-branded into full super-food status, has been my travel companion for years, (way before this sponsorship began), both on the JetBlue jet and on many fitness shoots, and surf trips!  So tasty, it will also satiate and silence your chocolate-peanut butter craving too!  Here is the direct link to learn more about this fantastic bar, (and NO I am not the one selling it or receiving any points or downline or upline haha!...just looking out for you!): Greens Plus, Whey protein PlusBAR, peanut butter-chocolate!

Have PlusBar will travel!  Healthy snack at cruise altitude!

Thanks for listening, your's truly,
Max
"Optimum health is my method of life!"

Human Growth Hormone: Is it the 'Fountain-of-Youth' hormone some anti-aging 'experts' are touting? Should you consider hGH replacement therapy?

     Natural human Growth Hormone, abbreviated as hGH and medically known as Somatotropin, is a truly amazing and essential hormone, but sadly it is not a fountain-of-youth hormone.  In this article I’m only going to discuss hGH’s role in fully mature adults.  hGH is also produced synthetically, since 1985, and is available only by (very expensive) prescription via low-dose injections.  The synthetic form of hGH is known generically as Somatropin but is sold through prescription under many different brand names, usually ending in ‘-trope’ or ‘-tropin’.  There is absolutely no oral tablet or capsule form of hGH that is legitimate because it is destroyed in the stomach during digestion.  There is absolutely no supplement that will boost your own hGH production.  Those are all false claims and marketing ploys, unregulated by the FDA.  The only synthetic form of hGH that is real, is available by prescription injection only.  You are an idiot if you were to ever try to buy black market hGH and administer it to yourself and that is as far as I am going to discuss black market hGH because I refuse to waste your time.

In adults, hGH is secreted by the pituitary gland in sporadic short bursts throughout the day, peaking at night about an hour after we first fall asleep and enter our first deep-sleep phase - which is why if you take nothing else away from reading this article, simply by ensuring you go to be at the same time each night and don’t miss that critical first cycle of sleep, you will be accomplishing one of the best things you can do to maximize your natural hGH production.  Other natural occurring times when hGH is secreted is in direct response to intense exercise, physical trauma, and during periods of fasting/hunger.  More on this later, as we can deduce simple strategies to maximize our hGH based on this information.

The Juice-Cleanse Myth...and How You Could Be Harming your Liver!

Juice-cleanses, juicing-fasts, juice-detoxes...It is time I interject some common sense into this over-hyped, fructose-laden, crash-diet-in-disguise fad!  As usual I have done my best to sift through all the bro-science, and anecdotal, placebo-effect claims out there in internet land, and also have managed to sniff out all the false-marketing, testimonial-type, social media posts attempting to sell us cleansing kits, polluting our newsfeeds (pun intended).  ‘Cleanses’ and fasts are certainly not new as they have been around forever, and I don’t think they will ever go away.  Folks are drawn to them and always have been – beginning a cleanse is almost like a spiritual journey for many – like a baptism, and many also like the discipline and sense of accomplishment completing a cleanse can bring.  Cleanses and fasts permit us to immediately and radically start fresh, or break a downward spiral of poor diet and lifestyle choices.  They empower us and cause us to feel as if we are taking back control of our bodies and health with a tangible, simple plan.  However, they are also a means to rapid and sometimes unhealthy weight-loss, so many folks often use cleanses as way to kick start their diets, though often this sets in motion a pattern of yo-yo dieting, or fasting as a way to make-up for binging episodes.  It’s a slippery slope into diet abuse.  I’m sure you know of some folks who are cleansing every month whether they need to or not.

We can see that there are many mental and motivational positives to undertaking a cleanse or even a strategic fast.  In fact Intermittent-Fasting is even linked to improving longevity and boosting metabolism.  And of course there will be immediate accompanying weight-loss, usually temporary water and glycogen weight – but seriously, are our insides any ‘cleaner’ or less toxic as a result?  Doubtful.  And certainly the only claims of the latter I uncovered were anecdotal at best, or worse, evangelistic testimonials from folks trying to sell us cleansing-kits and products.  The bottom line is, are bodies do a fantastic and thorough job of maintaining and detoxing ourselves on a daily basis.  We have organs and systems designed just for this purpose and they never stop working for our greater good.  Liver, kidneys, sweat glands, mucus membranes, colon, lungs, lymph nodes, skin – they are all working in harmony to eliminate toxins and protect us.  All you have to do is not deliberately sabotage yourself, by leading a relatively healthy lifestyle, and you will be good to go!