I am asked all the time about "how to lose weight", "gain muscle" or eat right.
Just yesterday I was in Randall's (wearing my Fitness Trainer shirt) when an elderly, obese gentleman approached
me and asked me how to "put on lots of muscle." When I told him it was all about diet, he said, "Nah thats not what
I'm interested in - I just want to know how you lift and what exercises you do." When I repeated (again) that diet
determines how much weight you will lift, he turned on his heel and walked off.
Recently, I was in Sears (again wearing my shirt) purchasing some autoparts for my car when a young, obese lady
(about 25) came up to me and asked me this gem: "Pardon me sir, are you a personal trainer?" When I replied in
the affirmative, she asked, "how do I lose weight?" I immediately asked her, "well, first what do you eat?" She was
honest and said: McDonald's, Taco Bell, Burger King, etc. I told her that first, she had to stop eating crap in order to
lose bodyfat and gain muscle and second, she had to establish a fitness lifestyle. As I began to give her my usual
spiel about proper diet, she too then replied, nah, I enjoy fast food too much to stop, and thanked me and walked off.
What ignorance.
Its interesting. Most people I speak with are clueless about diet but refuse information about why they are obese or
what it takes to lose it. They are looking for the quick fix. The magic pill. They have been led to beleive (eroniously)
that
The simple conclusions are this:
Only you can answer that question.
Another true story:
Who are you working for? You or them?
Dont get me wrong - I am a Capitalist Pig!
Regardless of how productive you are as an employee, you can be replaced. Everyone can. Your boss will even
tell you that. One of my bosses told me that every employee should work at least 30 hours more a week to
impress the corporate executives!!
What insanity! What stupidity! And these men are "educated" at our finest institutions!
I have talked with men of industry ... and like law enforcement ... I am talking with dead men. These men are usually
dead from heart attacks at 50 or 60!
Declare independence and dedicate yourself to a new lifestyle:
While everyone else has fallen for the over-consumptive American lifestyle in our must-have-it-now culture, with the
your-life-is-your-job deathstyle ... be the person who breaks out of that mold! Be the person who makes fitness if not
a primary, then a secondary goal within your life.
Remember, you have one body and one life.
Your given only so many years so make it count!
Just yesterday I was in Randall's (wearing my Fitness Trainer shirt) when an elderly, obese gentleman approached
me and asked me how to "put on lots of muscle." When I told him it was all about diet, he said, "Nah thats not what
I'm interested in - I just want to know how you lift and what exercises you do." When I repeated (again) that diet
determines how much weight you will lift, he turned on his heel and walked off.
Recently, I was in Sears (again wearing my shirt) purchasing some autoparts for my car when a young, obese lady
(about 25) came up to me and asked me this gem: "Pardon me sir, are you a personal trainer?" When I replied in
the affirmative, she asked, "how do I lose weight?" I immediately asked her, "well, first what do you eat?" She was
honest and said: McDonald's, Taco Bell, Burger King, etc. I told her that first, she had to stop eating crap in order to
lose bodyfat and gain muscle and second, she had to establish a fitness lifestyle. As I began to give her my usual
spiel about proper diet, she too then replied, nah, I enjoy fast food too much to stop, and thanked me and walked off.
What ignorance.
Its interesting. Most people I speak with are clueless about diet but refuse information about why they are obese or
what it takes to lose it. They are looking for the quick fix. The magic pill. They have been led to beleive (eroniously)
that
- (a.) working out,
(b.) taking a thermogenic (Hydroxcut, TrimSpa, etc.) while still being able to
(c.) eat at McDonald's ... will allow them to loose weight.
The simple conclusions are this:
- ITEM: We are what we eat. Think about that for a moment.
ITEM: You must eat breakfast. If you don't your starving your body of nutrients for the rest
of your day.
ITEM: You must drink several glasses of purified water a day to clean out your colon and
'insides.' Its best to drink a glass of water RIGHT when you wake up.
ITEM: You must eat 3-4 small meals per day with two GOOD snacks to provide your body
energy to survive those 40-, 50-, 60-, or 70-hour a week jobs. For those of you who are
working 50+ hours a week, ask yourself this question: is it healthy for you? And second,
does your boss care about your health? The bottom line here is your health, not his.
- In 1994, I was assistant property manager for a large real estate firm in Southwest Houston. My boss,
an incredibly overweight, dictatorial, obese female (age 49), was typical of the "martyr employees" I
have met in 25 years of working in office jobs. She never ate lunch, worked late (every night), ate
potatoe chips, cookies, candy bars, candy and fast food at her desk and requested all employees to
work through their lunch hour ... "for the benefit of the corporation." She was obsessive-compulsive
about "the success of the corporation" and told me on several occassions that if I "sacrificed now for
the company" I would be rewarded in the future with a large office, big desk, a wrist watch and a four-
fold increase in pay. Instead of quitting right then and there (for my health alone) I spent the next three
months, working my rear-end off, - 70 hours per week (salary), gained 17 pounds of fat, slept 4 hours
per night and never saw my family. On enight I passed out at work from exhaustion at my computer
because of not eating (we were not allowed to eat at our desks) and was woken up by the night
cleaning crew. I immediately saw how insane this was and quit to join a different company with a
different philosophy. I decided I would NEVER work for a "martry employee" again.
Several years later ...
... the night-time cleaning crew for this company arrived in my former boss's office at 3am ... and found
her body on the floor next to her desk. She was pronounced dead at the scene by Houston EMS. An
autopsy performed later confirmed she died of a major myocardial infarction (heart attack) in her office;
the resultant autopsy showed arterial decay due to her incredibly bad diet, stress and obesity. Satisfied
that she had "given her life for her work" as the corporate shill eulogized her at the funeral ... this
company simply rehired another martyr employee in her place.
Question: Was the "extra money worth it? Does YOUR BOSS have YOUR BEST INTERESTS at
heart?
Only you can answer that question.
Another true story:
- While driving to work in 1997, a man in a car next to me on Highway 6 (near Westheimer) had a major
heart attack. His vehicle (a white, Jeep Cherokee) veered next to mine and when I swerved to avoid
him, I pulled off the road. I watched as he swerved off the highway, down into a ditch, up onto an
embankment, plowed through a barbed wire fence, into an open field where he finally stopped after
slamming directly into a tree. I stopped my vehicle, jumped out and ran to this man's car. When I
opened the car door, I found the driver ... a man who looked about 70 (was actually 47), blue in the
face (which meant no oxygen - he was having a major heart attack). I pulled him out on the ground,
began CPR and pounded his chest (while several people stood around and watched) for 30 minutes
until EMS arrived and took over. They shot him with athropine to stop the m.i. He was then immediately
transported to West Houston Medical Center where he was pronounced dead on arrival (DOA). Several
days later, his family contacted me (through the Harris County Sheriff's Office) to thank me for
attempting to save his life. They told me that he had been employed at a major brokerage firm, had
been working 70-80 hour weeks (urged on by his boss to work more), that his diet was horrible and he
was mentally stressed to the breaking point.
What they told me next was incredible, "Dad beleived that if he worked more he could retire early."
Who are you working for? You or them?
- You must get 6-8 hours of sleep per night, period. If your working more than your sleeping then
you need to decide whats more important: having a good life or living exclusively for your job. The
American Heart Association has linked work-aholism with significant risks of heart attack. - You must exercise. And that means lifting weights.
- You must do cardio. At least three times a week. If all you can do is walk down the block, then do
it every other day for five minutes. But DO it. Dont say your gonna do it, but never get around to
it. Get your butt outside and sweat. - You must eat proper, lean protein (chicken, fish, beef, steak, tofu, etc.) to build lean body muscle.
- You must eat proper carbs (grains, breads, sweet potatoes, etc.)
- You must stick with it. Remember -its your body, its your life.
Dont get me wrong - I am a Capitalist Pig!
Regardless of how productive you are as an employee, you can be replaced. Everyone can. Your boss will even
tell you that. One of my bosses told me that every employee should work at least 30 hours more a week to
impress the corporate executives!!
What insanity! What stupidity! And these men are "educated" at our finest institutions!
I have talked with men of industry ... and like law enforcement ... I am talking with dead men. These men are usually
dead from heart attacks at 50 or 60!
Declare independence and dedicate yourself to a new lifestyle:
- ITEM: Dedicate yourself to a good lifestyle not a deathstyle built exclusively on making
someone else wealthy!
- ITEM: To lose bodyfat, gain muscle and have a life free of disease and stress, you *must*
eat right! But you must also establish a zest, a zeal, a fanatacism for fitness! Fitness is not
about going to the gym and going through the motions; it's a single-mindedness - a lifestyle.
While everyone else has fallen for the over-consumptive American lifestyle in our must-have-it-now culture, with the
your-life-is-your-job deathstyle ... be the person who breaks out of that mold! Be the person who makes fitness if not
a primary, then a secondary goal within your life.
Remember, you have one body and one life.
Your given only so many years so make it count!
| Straight Talk on Fitness www.mikestewartfitness.com Web/blog Entry August 8, 2009 EXERCISE OR DIE: Working to Death for your boss, your job and your family... |
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