Plan to Fail in Order to Succeed

How does that saying go? "When you fail to plan you plan to fail." Yeah, I like that one, but I also think that you need to plan to fail in order to succeed. 

We often think about failure as something we want to avoid. Who wants to fail at something? Failure sucks, but failure is a part of the learning and growing process. If you aren't failing, you probably aren't trying to learn, grow or improve in life.

I often run into this with my nutrition clients as they go through the program. A common sentiment is "I didn't do what I was supposed to do last week, I feel like a failure."

It's a great opportunity to remind you that failure is part of the process. Behavior changes are hard. No one decides to eat healthier, to start working out or change bad habits and then immediately changes their whole life. It just doesn't work like that. No one reads one article on the internet, goes to one exercise class or enrolls in one nutrition course and instantly changes all their bad behaviors. Change is hard, it takes time and practice and it is never linear. A lot of times you have to fail a bunch of times before you get it right. 

Trying and failing is part of the process. One of the lessons in the nutrition program is to eat our meals slowly. No one reads the lesson one time and starts eating slower for every meal from there on out. It takes practice. One of my clients said, "I feel terrible, but I was so busy this week, I didn't have time to eat slower! My toddler was throwing mashed potatoes at me while I was trying to eat my dinner. I had to eat it as fast as possible. I didn't do what I was supposed to do, I failed!"

This may feel like failure, but this is real life. Two year olds will always act like two year olds. If you plan to only "do better" when your two year old matures, then you'll never get there. Expect that something will almost always go awry. It's not about doing everything perfectly, but just trying to do the best you can in your current circumstances. 

It's a learning process. It's all about making lifestyle changes that fit into your already busy life. Life is always going to be busy. What can you do today that is slightly better choice than what you did yesterday. How can you improve an inch?

If you ate your meal too fast but afterwards thought about how you ate your meal too fast, I call that a win. It shows your awareness is improving. In the past you weren't even aware you were eating too fast. This is a step in the right direction. Recognizing our behaviors is the first step to changing them.

I know it doesn't seem like much, but the little things add up over time. The most successful people make changes slowly over time. You can try to do everything all at once and beat yourself up when it doesn't work out, or you can make small changes that are sustainable over the long term. You can try and fail and try and fail again. I do. It's all part of the process.

FAILURE IS FEEDBACK

Failure is feedback. When you fail, you have an opportunity to improve. When you don't do what you thought you wanted to do, look at it as a learning experience. Ask yourself, what went wrong? Why didn't this go as planned? What stopped me from doing what I thought I wanted to do? What can I do next time this happens to make a better decision? What's one thing I can focus on in order to do better? 

You could beat yourself over it and feel bad about it, but that's not productive. When things didn't go as planned, you now know what doesn't work. What you can try next time?

It's also taking responsibility for what went wrong. You can blame your kids or your husband or your boss or your coach for what went wrong, but really thinking about how you could have handled the situation better and what you could have done differently is the path to improvement. Life will always have obstacles.

It was life changing for me to realize that healthy living isn't all-or-nothing. I used to think if I wasn't perfect, then what's the point of doing anything? If I messed up and missed a workout, I already failed, I might as well eat the ice-cream. If I brought my healthy lunch to work, but then was tempted to dine out with co-workers instead, then I might as well order pizza for dinner that day too, since I already messed up. When I missed too many workouts, I should just quit the program, I'm already too far behind.

That kind of thinking doesn't move us forward. It teaches us to make good decisions only when everything goes perfectly, instead of teaching us how to make healthier choices inside our messy lives. When you make a choice that doesn't fit your goals, move on and try to make a better choice at the next opportunity. When you miss a workout, maybe can you do 5-10 minutes of bodyweight exercises before bed instead. When you eat an unhealthy lunch, you can make sure you get your lean protein, smart carbs and healthy fats at dinner. Every small healthy decision moves you forward. Every failure is a learning opportunity. 

The people that are the most successful are the people who have failed the most, because they keep trying, moving forward and learning when faced with setbacks. Failure is only truly failure if you give up on your goals all together. 

Set your expectations. Failure is part of the process. Plan to fail in order to succeed.

Have questions? I'd love to help. Want to jump in on my nutrition habits program to learn to how to make healthier choices that fit into your busy life? 

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How To Break Through a Running Plateau

When you first start running, just making it around the block feels like a big accomplishment...and it is one. Then you successfully make it around the block a few times, build up to a mile without stopping, then three, then six miles and maybe even achieve a half or full marathon (or beyond)! It's just amazing what our bodies can do. What once seemed impossible has become a reality.

But sometimes once you build up your endurance to run longer distances, your progress can stall. Maybe you're not getting any faster anymore. It seems you run the same distances at the same paces and are not improving. You want to qualify for a big race, achieve a new PR, beat your husband (just sayin') or just improve your running for your own satisfaction, but it seems you have hit a running plateau.

It happens to the best of us. Why does it happen? Because we are human. Our bodies are adaptation machines. They are built to adapt to the stresses we place upon them. That is why it seemed impossible to run three miles when you started, but now you can run 13. If you challenge your body (in a safe and predictable manner) it will improve, grow stronger and faster. Once your body adapts to the work you are currently doing, if you don't continue to challenge your body in new ways, your progress will stall.

HOW TO BREAK THROUGH A RUNNING PLATEAU

RUN CONSISTENTLY

If you hit a running plateau the first thing to look at is if you are running consistently. It is hard to improve if you aren't running enough to adapt. To continue to improve you need to run regularly over the long term. That means week after week you are putting in the miles. If you run for two weeks, then take a week off, then run for a week before taking another two weeks off, you won't see much improvement over time. Consistency is the key to success (in everything, not just running!). Before you follow any of the other tips in this post, make sure you have built up a solid running base by running on a regular basis for four to six weeks. If you haven't been doing this, you'll likely see improvements by just running more consistently.

VARY YOUR PACE

Once you are running on a regular basis for a period of time, most people will be ready to start varying their paces. If you run the same paces at every workout, your body will adapt and you will cease to improve. There are two ways I recommend my runners to add in faster paces into their routine. Varying your paces during your workouts can help you break through a plateau.

1. TEMPO RUNS

Tempos are run at a pace often described as "comfortably hard." Notice I am not telling you what pace you should run. Only you know (and your coach if you are working with one) knows what a comfortably hard pace feels like to you. It is just what it sounds like, it should feel hard, but not so hard that you can't maintain it over 3-5 miles. Most people are not able to hold ongoing conversations at this pace (maybe just a few words or a sentence between breaths). It is not a sprint. It is a faster pace than a comfortable pace, not so fast that you are gassed after 500 meters. Play with it. Experiment. Find the pace for you. You may find that you go out too fast and can't maintain it. Slow down, catch your breath and try again. Tempo runs help train your body to run faster with less effort. 

2. FARTLEKS

Fart...what? Fartlek is a swedish word that means speed play. I like Fartleks because they are unstructured and fun! You don't have to try to hit certain paces for a predetermined amount of time. Leave the GPS watch at home at hit the streets for a fun and unstructured interval session. Always warm up before your workout, run at an easy pace for five or ten minutes, then pick up the pace when you hit a landmark, choose another landmark ahead and sprint until you get there.

For example, you may increase your pace as you run from the bottom to the top of a hill. You may start running faster at the park bench and keep going until you reach the red truck. You'll speed up at the brick mailbox and slow down to recover once you hit the stop sign. See how that works? It's unstructured, you pick up the pace based on what feels good, you run slower to recover for as long as you need. You work within your own limits and abilities without trying to hit predetermined paces or distances. It is an ideal for a runner who wants to introduce running intervals into their training plan.

HILL REPEATS

Hill repeats are an excellent way to build running strength and break through a plateau. Find a hill on a moderate incline for about 1/4 mile or one that takes about one minute to climb. Warm up before your begin your workout and run on a flat surface for 5-10 minutes before beginning your hill repeats.

Start at a relaxed pace slowly increasing speed as you crest the hill. Be sure to keep your chest and head up with your shoulders back, eyes looking forward (not at the ground). Lead with your hips as if a rope was tied around your waist pulling you forward. Once you reach the top of the hill, slow to a jog or walk and return to the bottom. Start with 3-4 repeats and increase the reps over time.

In the beginning, it may be enough to just jog up the hill on repeats to break through a plateau. You can run them faster as you get stronger. Always leave yourself room for improvement. Most athletes will thrive on just one or two hill repeat sessions a week.

STRENGTH TRAINING

Have you been running and not getting faster? Strength training can help. Runners who strength train are stronger, faster and less prone to injury. Just 2-3 full body runner-specific strength training sessions a week or 10 minutes a day after your run will make you a more well-rounded athlete. I saw my biggest running PRs after I started strength training.

REST/RECOVERY/STRESS MANAGEMENT

We don't get stronger and faster during those hard workouts. Our bodies actually adapt and get stronger during rest. If you don't rest, you don't allow your body the time it needs to recover so you can run stronger and faster in your next workout. If you are not seeing improvements in your running, take a good hard look at your rest protocol. Are you resting after hard workouts? Are you allowing your body the time it needs to recover? If you push your body too hard without adequate rest, it will eventually break down on you.

We don't train in a bubble, which just means our whole lifestyle affects our running. Are you getting enough sleep (7-8 hours a night), are you managing stress, keeping alcohol and nutrition under control? If you're not sleeping and fueling properly, your body won't have the resources available to make you stronger and faster. 

HIRE A COACH

Are you still stuck? A running coach can help determine your current fitness level and create the best programming to improve your running and smash through that plateau. They can help make sure you progressing properly (not too soon, not too slow) to avoid injuries and make the most effective use of your training time. A coach will incorporate the above strategies tailored to your unique needs to help you meet your goals. Need help? Have questions? I'd love to help. 

We are limited, to a point, by our genetics. Some of those genetic freaks will out-perform us mere mortals no matter how hard we work. However, there is almost always room for improvement unless you are already performing at the highest level (most of us are not). It's just important not to compare our progress and performance with other runners. That's how runners get injured. Go at your own pace. Push your own limits. Don't compare yourself to anyone else except who you were yesterday.

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20 Minutes a Day Workout Schedule

For workout Wednesday, this week I thought I would share what my workouts look like in a week. You may be surprised to learn that I don't spend hours in gym or obsess over my workouts. I want to stay healthy and fit, I enjoy running and sometimes I am training for a race.

I do the workouts that support my lifestyle, preferences and goals. I want to avoid injury, keep improving and stay healthy. For me sometimes that just looks like 20 minutes a day (excluding an endurance run if I am training for a race, which of course, is longer than 20 minutes). I don't kill myself in the gym. I try to stay active and healthy. 

I am a fan of the 20 second work/10 second rest then repeat for four minutes protocol. I group two exercises together and alternate between them for four minutes. I'll do five of these mini circuits for a total of 20 minutes. I often switch up the exercises depending on how I am progressing, my goals and just to keep things interesting. This is just an example. Any good program will vary, progress and grow as you do. 

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Outsmart the Food Companies to Make Healthier Choices

Most food marketers want to trick and deceive you. They don't care about your health, they just want you to buy their food. It's their job, of course, to sell and market food. I would say you can't blame the food companies for wanting to make money if it wasn't so blatantly deceiving and actively hurting people. It is just wrong.

Well-meaning people make nutrition decisions based on food marketing packaging and are deceived into buying less-than healthy food that they believe to be healthy. Most of the time these people are just trying to make the best decisions for their families, they don't have a lot of time or resources to dig deeper into nutrition, so they take it at face value. Food marketers are two-faced. Their marketing says one thing, but the nutrition label and ingredients list usually reveals the truth.

If we wonder why so many people are having trouble meeting their health and fitness goals one factor could be misleading food labels. People think they are making healthier choices, when they are not.

Here are a few marketing labels to look out for in the grocery store to make sure you are making smart healthy choices. I'm not suggesting that you should never eat a morsel of unhealthy food again (balance is important), I just want you to be aware that food labels can be misleading. The good news is that the truth of these deceiving labels can be uncovered by reading the nutrition label and ingredient list.
 

OUTSMART THE FOOD COMPANIES TO MAKE HEALTHIER CHOICES

Fat-Free

When a package has a fat free label, it may be true that the product is free of fat, but it doesn't mean it is any healthier than a product containing fat. Most of the time, when fat is removed they add sugar so it still tastes good. Replacing fat with sugar is not a healthy choice. It's often a better choice to eat the full fat version of the product. Read the nutrition label and consider the calorie, sugar and fat intake the make the best decision.

Organic

It can be a healthy choice to buy organic vegetables, but just because a product boasts an organic label does not automatically make it healthy. Organic processed foods can be packed with fat, sugar and a ton of unhealthy calories. Processed organic foods are still unhealthy processed foods. For best results choose whole foods whenever possible.

Gluten-Free

Unless you are allergic to gluten, there is no benefit to eating gluten-free foods. They will not magically help you lose weight and they are not healthier than their gluten counterparts. In fact they often have less fiber, making them a bit unhealthier. Gluten-free has turned into a buzz word that marketers slap on their products to make them seem healthier. When I see a gluten-free label on a bag of marshmallows, I shake my head. Marshmallows are pure sugar and sugar never had gluten. My Celiac friend told me she appreciates gluten-free labels on foods, even ones that may seem obvious, because it gives her a level of comfort, but if you don't have a gluten allergy these labels don't mean much to you.

Low-Carb

Low-carb is not a definition of health. If you are trying to reduce carbohydrates, replacing them with processed low-carb options won't benefit you. Check the calorie content. Check the ingredients. In fact, a low-carb label on packaged foods may just be a red flag that the food is not healthy at all. If you want to reduce carbs, a better strategy would be to reduce processed foods all together, it will take you much further than replacing all carbohydrates with processed low-carb foods.

Multi-grain

If your bread is brown make sure it says 100% whole wheat as the first ingredient, otherwise you may be falling for marketing hype. A multi-grain label on breads, cereals and other packaged foods, like taco shells and granola bars, doesn’t equal healthy. It just means it is made with several types grains, which may include refined grains, which are not the healthiest choice. 

Enriched means that the nutrients that were removed during processing were added back in. These marketing buzzwords tell us very little about the health-status of the product. If anything the word enriched reveals that it is a processed food and maybe should be reduced or avoided. 

NON-GMO

I am not interested into getting into a GMO debate because people get fired up about this topic and I am middle child and my personality leans more towards making peace than inciting conflict. If you don't want to eat GMOs, then of course, you are free to make the food choices you think are best for you and your family.

However, food marketers manipulate the public by putting non-GMO labels on all kinds of products, all willy-nilly, even products that don't have a GMO alternative. They are hoping you don't know any better and will choose the the (usually) more expensive product labeled as non-GMO even though the product without the non-GMO label doesn't have GMOs either, because a GMO version doesn't even exist for that product type. They are preying on people's ignorance on the topic. 

Now excuse me while I enjoy my fat-free, organic, Gluten-free, low-carb, grain-free, non-GMO meal. Hah.

Outsmart by the food companies by ignoring all marketing on the package and reading the nutrition label and the ingredient list for the truth about what is in a product. The ingredients are listed from highest content to lowest, so if the first ingredient is sugar, you know the product has more sugar than any of the other ingredient. This information can help you make a more informed decision regardless of marketing. Strive to eat whole foods from nature most of the time and make food decisions based on facts rather than marketing or fear tactics. 

Make sense? Need help with your nutrition strategy and developing healthier habits? Join my online nutrition program to lose weight and feel great for once and for all. It's not a quick fix, it's a lifestyle strategy for sustainable weight loss.

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BAD RUNNING ADVICE YOU CAN SAFELY IGNORE

We live in a wonderful time when all the answers to our questions are at our fingertips. Who was that actor with the face in the movie with the car? You know, that guy. These days we don't have to know or remember much. We can look up anything we need to know in mere seconds. A far cry from the days when my parents had a 20-book encyclopedia set as our only source of information inside the house. Today, we don't even have to type, our BFF Siri has all the answers. I imagine in the future, we will be able to just ask our questions into the open air as we walk down the street and the answers will be delivered instantly to our brains. 

The problem with so much readily available information is that it is left up to us to determine what is valuable and what is garbage. We all know that there's a lot of bad information out there. Some of it is well-meaning but misguided, some it outdated and some of it outright lies designed to mislead us. I'm here to help you sort through some of the bad running advice. Here is my list of bad running advice that you safely ignore. 

GO HARD OR GO HOME

There seems to be a push lately for hard-core training. Go hard or go home. While hard-core determination or hard-core commitment is to be admired, don't confuse it with the intensity of your training. Your training program should be a mix of high intensity and low intensity workouts. In fact, a schedule of nothing but high intensity workouts will quickly lead to overtraining, burnout or worse, injury. Rest and recovery is as important in your training schedule as those high intensity days. In fact, most athletes will thrive on just one to two high intensity days per week. Be sure to schedule easier, enjoyable, lower intensity runs into your training cycle. A better piece of advice is to run hard on your hard days and run easy on your easy days. Runners often make the mistake of running too hard on easy days and not hard enough on hard days. 

PUSH PAST PAIN

Never ever (ever!) push through physical pain. Physical pain is your body's way of communicating to you that something is wrong. If something hurts, stop running before you make it worse. Sometimes we just need rest to heal, but if you keep pushing through physical pain, you can make it worse and put yourself out of commission for even longer. The important thing is to learn the difference between physical pain and discomfort. Better advice is to push through feeling tired, push through the burning sensation in your muscles, push through heavy breathing and mental discomfort, but never push through physical pain. I wrote a post on how to tell the difference between pain and discomfort. 

RUNNING IS BAD FOR YOUR KNEES

Ahh, my favorite piece of bad running advice. It often comes from well-meaning people who think they are trying to help. When Grandpa or a co-worker offers up this piece of bad advice, I assure them I am taking proper precautions to avoid any problems. The truth is a bad training plan can be bad for your knees. Runners who increase their mileage too quickly, run too fast for their abilities, don't rest enough and don't strength train may have knee (or other) problems. If you train responsibly, increase your mileage and intensity at the proper rate, include strength training and listen to your favorite running coach (that's me), then running is not bad for your knees. Bad training is bad for your knees.

PERFORM STATIC STRETCHING BEFORE RUNNING

Not long ago it was common practice to recommend static stretching (holding stretch for 30 seconds) before workouts. Today we know that stretching before you workout can actually hinder performance. A more effective use of time before your workout would be to perform a dynamic warm up to move the joints through the full range of motion. Here is a quick dynamic warm up to try before your next run. Better advice is to save the static stretches for after your runs. 

RUN FAST IN THE BEGINNING TO BANK TIME IN THE END WHEN YOU'RE TIRED

This doesn't work. It doesn't work on your long run and it certainly doesn't work on race day. Even if you feel great in the beginning and running faster than usual or planned, it is good idea to slow down in the first half of your run to a sustainable pace. If you feel great after the first half, feel free to pick up the pace and finish strong. It never works the other way around. You can't bank time in the beginning to finish strong. Better advice to always work towards achieving a negative split, this means you run the second half faster than the first. Trust me on this one. 

YOU HAVE TO RUN A CERTAIN PACE TO BE A REAL RUNNER

My personal pet peeve is when someone tells you that you have to run at least a (insert arbitrary pace here) mile in order to be considered a real runner. I call BS! If you strap on a pair of running shoes and hit the road, if you're out there, you're a runner. Period. If you take walk breaks, you're still a runner. The great thing about the running community is that they are largely supportive. I find the jerks and naysayers are often on the sidelines voicing their opinions while not even doing it themselves. Better advice:

““If you run, you are a runner. It doesn’t matter how fast or how far. It doesn’t matter if today is your first day or if you’ve been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.””

— John Bingham

YOU CAN EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT, YOU'LL JUST RUN IT OFF 

We don't train in a bubble. Everything matters. Your nutrition directly affects your running performance. If you consistently eat like crap, it will catch up with you. That's not to say there isn't room in your diet for treats and indulgences, but if you want to look, feel and perform your best, nutrition matters. The old adage is true, you can't out train a bad diet. Better advice is to eat to perform. I wrote a post about why sometimes you gain weight while marathon training and how to avoid it.

YOU SHOULD CARBO-LOAD BEFORE YOUR 5K

If you're looking for an excuse to eat four servings of pasta, I'm sorry to tell you that your upcoming 5K isn't it. Carbo-loading can be a an effective tool for long distance runners who need to increase their glycogen stores before an endurance race. Even then, a more effective strategy is to slowly increase carbs in the days leading up to race day. Better advice to fuel for a 5K is to eat proper portions of a mix of high quality carbohydrates, fats and protein most of the time to look, feel and perform your best. 

YOU CAN REST WHEN YOU'RE DEAD

Rest is as important in your training cycle as your workouts. You get stronger and faster during rest, not during the workout. If you never rest, you never allow your body the time it needs to repair, recover and build. You will eventually stall your progress if you don't rest. You'll risk overtraining, burnout and injury. Resting isn't laziness, it's an important part of the plan. Better advice is to schedule rest days into your training cycle. You can walk, stretch, foam roll or do other low-intensity activities on rest days, but don't neglect them. 

SAVE MONEY BY BUYING YOUR RUNNING SHOES ONLINE

When you're a new runner your local running store is a valuable resource available to help you start your running journey. The employees at these stores are knowledgeable runners and coaches that can help you choose the correct shoe for your individual needs. You shouldn't buy shoes because of their pretty colors, you need to buy the shoes that will support you in the unique way that you run. You can test out the shoes before you buy them and have access to a coach or knowledgeable associate to ask questions. Choosing the right shoe is an important decision. You will pay a little more at a local store than buying last year's model at a discount website, but by supporting your local running store you help support your community and the businesses and families within them. 

What's the worst running advice you've ever received?

Need help with training or nutrition? I am accepting new in-person clients in Fort Worth and online nutrition clients. Let's chat about your goals and how I can help you achieve them. 

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