As I tackle the belly must go challenge I set for myself I’ve been getting exposed to a bunch of lies and misleading information. Sponsored ads in the form of ‘shortcut to a 6 pack’ or ‘5 minute abs’ plaster my social media feeds constantly. Listen, if you see ANYONE with amazing abs, arms, chest and virtually any other admirable/developed body part, they didn’t get it on 5 minutes of training a day😐. Other ads even feature some unscrupulous characters that go as far as recommending a whole cocktail of dubious belly fat burners in addition to bogus training advice 👉🏾Swallow the pills today after 5 minutes of push ups and wake up a Spartan warrior tomorrow! These people that peddle this nonsense are professional conmen. Don’t believe the marketing and don’t get caught up in the hype.
Unless you prefer to chase your tail all day, I strongly encourage you to stick to the basic fundamentals of optimized training, nutrition & lifestyle outlined below:
5 minute abs? 😂hmmm. There's no such thing. Be ready to work and stay patient. With consistency the results will come. You can't jump the fence with these things, palibe ma shortcut.
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Weekends often offer events and significant moments that we reflect on during the week. This past weekend did exactly that. Here's what happened... I went to bed early on Friday night because I had a long run🏃🏿♂️planned for Saturday morning. I was on the road by 5 sharp and barely 5 minutes into my run I had an encounter with club goers returning home. Hmmm. Ndipo bantu bakamba kuipa. “Iwe (insert expletives) utamanga kuti? Ukazi kumwa moba!” 😡 I don’t know about you but I don’t quite like being heckled so early in the morning! I was very tempted to respond but I resisted this impulse and kept it moving. So should you. I have no doubt that others have had unpleasant experiences with strangers on the road and in the gym. Ladies, you must be all too familiar with cat calling and unsavory commentary just because you walked out of your gate and started doing something. Gents, you likely have experienced being the butt of a joke and being openly provoked just because you’re trying to better yourself. I want to encourage everyone that has ever been discouraged to ignore the noise and keep getting after it.
I encourage you to proceed as follows when confronted with such situations:
Hecklers, harassers, and cat callers are deeply insecure individuals. Don’t mind them and always remember, “you will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” Covid-19 isn't showing any signs of slowing down and it's really starting to feel like it's a matter of when, and not if you contract the deadly virus. It's up to you to be ready for the fight when it comes to your doorstep. A few basic lifestyle adjustments and adopted health habits can be very beneficial in keeping your immune system in optimal condition. I want to share some actionable practices that I believe will be useful to you.
General guidelines for health habits: Sleep for a minimum of 8 hours per day Sleeping is your body's auto-repair and revive process. If you skimp out on sleep then your hormones will be thrown off balance and your immunity will fall. Distance yourself from an 'I'll sleep when I'm dead' attitude. Sleep is very important for your health and neglecting to prioritize it can suppress your immunity and leave you vulnerable to the destructive nature of Covid-19. Eat your fruit and vegetables Many of us know that this is good for us but so few go out of their way to ensure adequate intake. In times like these it's crucial that you prioritize its intake. Check out a previous blog detailing immunity boosting nutrition with a sample meal plan here. Manage your stress Stress releases a hormone called cortisol, that if elevated for a sustained period wreaks havoc in your immune system. It's particularly damaging to individuals with high blood pressure. If you don't control life's 'pressure' your body may very well start quitting on you. Get your state of mind under control to protect your immunity. Ma ganizo daily = health problems. I recommend the consistent practice of prayer to allay any fears and help calm your spirit. Whatever it is, whatever you're going through just trust that 'it shall be well'. Consume warm beverages and 30-40mls of fluid per kilogram Drink warm fluids to protect your throat and calculate your daily fluid intake target of 30-40 mls multiplied by your bodyweight in kilograms. For example, if you weigh 100kgs then you should target a daily fluid intake of 3 - 4 liters. Exercise (run) for at least 30 minutes, 5 times per week Exercise, in general, and among many other things strengthens your immune and respiratory system. During times like these I can understand your reluctance to do so from a gym facility or even out in the open on a road run so I wrote another blog post to help you exercise from home. Drink alcohol in moderation Moderation as a general guideline means no more than 3 beers, 3 shots of any spirit, and 3 glasses of wine on a daily basis. Stop or reduce how much you smoke If you smoke, stop. It's not cool and neither are you for doing it. If you can't, try to reduce how many cigarettes you smoke a day until such a time (hopefully) that you get to zero a day. Another thing: steer clear of shisha. It's no healthy alternative, in fact it's worse than regular cigarettes. Again, it's not cool and neither are you for doing it. You shouldn't wait for a ventilator to remind you of how important your respiratory system is. Protect yours. Steaming If you experience any unpleasant Covid-19 like symptoms then it's prudent to incorporate a daily practice of steaming. This involves the inhalation of water vapor coming from boiled substances. The warm, moist air will loosen the mucus in the nasal passages, throat and lungs. My wife prepares eucalyptus in a bowl of boiling water for us to inhale the vapor whenever either one of us starts to feel a bit off. We both feel great after doing this and there's a greater sense of wellbeing. You should try this yourself. Wash your hands (or sanitize) as frequently as possible If provisions are made for handwashing and sanitizing then you should make full use of them as often as possible. If not, take charge of your own hygiene and carry a bottle of hand sanitizer with you everywhere you go and be sure to use it often. As always, mask up, maintain the social distance and don't move about chimbwi no plan unnecessarily. It’s the festive season and that means a whole lot of food and liquor for many households. If you mismanage the situation and overindulge ma New Years resolution ya za vutako. I want to help you avoid entering the new year looking swollen while maintaining a decent baseline of fitness.
Listen, I enjoy a pint just as much as the next man but I still haul my butt out of bed and get ready to rumble when it’s time to get a workout in. During the festive season I switch to Castle Lite and embrace a ‘nutty lifestyle’🥜 where I keep nuts on hand. Castle Lite represents a low calorie beer option and various nuts offer a filling snack option to prevent overeating junk food (hello cake🎂). With nuts I eat the most readily available options such as groundnuts, walnuts, cashew nuts, almond nuts etc in short intervals. This practice helps suppress my appetite and as a man it helps with other obvious things that I won’t explicitly mention but just know it’s beneficial. Women can benefit greatly from nuts as well, and nuts may very well be the answer to “How can I fight off cravings?” 👉🏾eat nuts. You’ve heard. Advice for beer benders🍻 Embrace the ever popular Castle Lite beers or any other ‘Lite’ beers such as Windhoek Lite, Bud Light, Amstel Lite, Heineken Light to keep your caloric intake from alcohol relatively low. For the uninitiated, Lite/Light beers are essentially a diet beer with less sugar and fewer calories than regular beer. Advice for wine drinkers🥂 Look to consume dry wines (both white and red) because the drier the wine, the fewer calories and sugar it contains. Alcohol/wine has 7 calories per gram, so higher alcohol wines are higher in calories. You can test this by checking for the alcohol by volume (ABV) listed on the label and only consume those with an alcohol by volume of less than or equal to 13%. The lower the percentage, the better. So, dry wine with a low ABV should be your first choice if you’re a wine drinker. Love sweet wine? It loves you back and tends to display it’s love on your thighs, hips & bellies - Lobe! Advice for Whiskey (and other spirits) lovers🥃 Mixing - Mix your preferred spirits with plain old water, soda water or Coke Zero only. Ngati ndiwe chikali drink your spirits neat. Avoid mixing with soft drinks, ginger ale, lemonade, Red Bull and tonic water. Take the time to read the nutrition labels on your favorite mixers and your jaw will drop! Specifically look at the carbohydrates coming from simple sugar per can/per 100ml. Take tonic water for instance, despite its bitter taste it contains a whooping 10 grams of sugar per small can on average. Spirit type - Where possible, consider opting for clear colored spirits such as Vodka, Gin or Tequila (shots anyone?). They’re lower calorie options and will do less cosmetic damage to your bodies. Lastly, avoid cocktails🍸 except maybe Martini’s and Bloody Mary’s. The rest are meshed sugar bombs. Other tips:
For more general guidelines & tips, check out my alcohol and fitness playbook here. Alternatively, call me and let’s talk about it. Drink responsibly and eat in line with how you want to look. Happy drinking! Running can be therapeutic and serve as a means to care for yourself if you set it up right. I walk and run to enhance my life spiritually, physically and mentally and I'd love for you to do the same. I want to share my personal evolution through conscious efforts of using running as a self-care tool in the hope that it inspires you to care for yourself the same.
This is what I do: Every Sunday is my long run/walk with God. It's a non-negotiable self-care and gratitude day. I find a route, plug in my favorite earphones and get going. The spirit fuels me as I express thankfulness through forward motion. I think of nothing but the good that's present in my life. I count all my blessings and give thanks to God for every single one of them. Words can't express the positive, joyful headspace this activity generates and the unbreakable state of mind it develops. To share a more specific example of this kind of experience and what I felt this last Sunday involved me going out as usual and this time around I gave thanks to God for giving me the courage to bring the Roadrunner Zambia concept to life. For helping me believe in myself when I wrestled with doubt and fear. He helped me see the value of my passion project. It really warms my heart when people reading my blogs tell me that I encouraged them to take up running or that I entertained them with a personal story and educated them with personal advice. If you run with God just once a week, then maybe on one of those days He might just show you your path. I've found purpose, peace and encouragement through this process, you might too. Here's how you can care for yourself through running:
Just because you can walk and run everyday doesn't mean you should take that gift for granted. Say "thank you." Sunday run playlist: Karen - Ni Lesa Fye, Olivia ft Pompi - Imagine, Pompi - Mulungu Samagona, Jay Rox ft Tim - Glory, Abel Chungu - Pamakufi, Excess Love - Mary Chinwo, HillaryJane - God of Always, Hillsong - What a beautiful name, Kirk Franklin - Imagine Me, MaryMary - Shackles, Jesus Culture - Your love never fails, Marvin Sapp - Never would have made it, Tasha Cobbs - Gracefully broken, Lecrae - Don't waste your life, Cece Winans - More than I wanted In my running experience I've had several very uncomfortable encounters with strangers that I felt posed a threat to my well-being. Lucky for me no danger ever materialized but I don't believe that would've been the case had I not taken precautions when I sensed danger. Other threats to my personal safety came from dogs and motorists. With regards to motorists, some were drunk, some were negligent and others were just too excited to be on the road. Despite close calls, nothing serious ever occurred and I'm thankful to God for that. As they say, God helps those who help themselves and I consider taking precautions helping myself while God does the rest.
Many runners take pride in their appearance and go out equipped with fancy looking clothes and gear. An early morning runner is likely to meet with thieves on their way back from 'work'. I recall numerous incidents that involved me meeting what I felt were unscrupulous characters. Let me tell you about the time I believe instincts saved me from a trip back home naked. This is how it went down: I got up very early one morning fired up for a planned run. I took out my gear and flashy shoes and took off into the darkness just before dawn. It was early days in my running adventures so I didn't equip myself with accessories to enhance visibility like head torches. Basically, I couldn't see further than five meters but I persisted. It didn't take long before my instincts and the fear they triggered improved my vision dramatically. Suddenly silhouettes became more pronounced 50 meters away. Initially, I was too proud to acknowledge the fear I felt on a solo run on a narrow road with what was 5 or 6 adult males headed in my direction until it happened. I saw things unfolding ahead of me. What was initially a closely grouped together clique of individuals abruptly split in two with the other group going across the road. At this point it was clear what they were up to and my big boy pride deserted me. I stopped advancing and swiftly took off in the opposite direction. In the end, I made it back home safely with the help of adrenaline. I don't know what would've happened had I continued to run towards this clique but you know what? I wasn't willing to find out. I wasn't willing to get assaulted and find myself trekking back home naked because my flashy gear had been taken from me Here's my advice to enhance personal security on a run:
Always trust your instincts and take all the necessary precautions before and during every run. Woof! Woof! The sound that stops most runners dead in their tracks. Having been a runner for a sustained period I've had my fair share of rather unpleasant encounters with dogs. I will tell you about the encounter that stopped my legs and made my heart race. People living in residential areas have baffling practices. Never in my life would I have thought that my neighbor would opt to place his vicious dogs outside his gate before he goes to bed every night. We've never discussed it but maybe it was to ensure that a thief didn't get the opportunity to get close enough to scope out the place. Anyway, while I'm sure he has his reasons for operating like this, an unsuspecting 5 am runner will be breakfast for these animals. I almost became a meal myself one morning.
Let me tell you how it went down: I went on my usual run down Great East road in the early morning and everything was just flowing; I was feeling good, running strong and I was happy to be alive. This excitement led to me extending my run and deciding to explore new routes in my neighborhood. Foolish me. I got off the highway and ran through a new street and within 100 meters I saw it. Pointy ears shot right up and then I heard it. It was unmistakable. It was "Grrrrrrrr....grrrrrrr....WOOF! WOOF!" I would've taken off had it not been for pure fear cutting off the power to my legs and paralyzing me. The dogs sensing the fear started to rapidly approach. The closer they got, the stronger my will to survive got and I decided to go out swinging! I was going to go out like a man. I made myself as wide as possible and started screaming with as much bass as I could. Perhaps I even started barking myself! I don't remember clearly. When you survive a deadly situation your memory isn't 100% accurate. I'm no psychologist but maybe the mind simply tries to preserve your dignity should you make it out alive. Woof! Woof! A sound once they hear it tends to make some runners believe that they can outrun unfriendly canines. Don't. I didn't have this wisdom before but I do now. Stop, and don't run any further. Here's my personal advice when faced with a woof! woof! situation on the run:
Anyway, after all that I've experienced, you couldn't pay me to run through a residential neighborhood. I just don't fancy myself as dog food. |
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