Moderators: JeffN, carolve, Heather McDougall
Birdy wrote:Jeff, I recently saw video footage of you at a McDougall event (I think it was) where you and Rip Esselstyn were goofing around walking on your hands and then he scooped you up and ran out of the room. It was hilarious, but I was impressed that the two of you were walking on your hands! How do you stay in shape? P.S. I recently bought a copy of your DVD Lighten Up from the McDougall Store and really enjoyed it. It's so helpful to have educational products like this. Thanks!
JeffN wrote:Birdy wrote:Jeff, I recently saw video footage of you at a McDougall event (I think it was) where you and Rip Esselstyn were goofing around walking on your hands and then he scooped you up and ran out of the room. It was hilarious, but I was impressed that the two of you were walking on your hands! How do you stay in shape? P.S. I recently bought a copy of your DVD Lighten Up from the McDougall Store and really enjoyed it. It's so helpful to have educational products like this. Thanks!
Thank you!
To me, staying in shape is fun and just part of everyday life. I do not look at fitness as something outside my life that I partake in on occasion but just a way of life.
I used to run marathons and put in countless hours of formal exercise at the gym and in my home gyms, owned all types of fancy equipment and then just realized is was not necessary to achieve the goals I wanted.
So, like with my diet, I eliminated all the "extras" and wanted to make this as simple and easy as possible.
Informally, I try to walk everywhere I can, always use the steps, etc etc. I carry a backpack with me that usually has about 5-10# of "stuff" in it. I go for long walks and bicycle rides on the boardwalk just for fun. I probably get in more "informal" activity/exercise a day than most Americans get in a day as "formal" exercise.
Formally, on most days I spend about 20-30 minutes a day doing a very brief set of fairly intense exercise which includes about 5-10 minutes of jumping rope or sprinting, 5-10 minutes of body weight exercises (squats, push ups, sit ups, pull ups, burpees), and about 5-10 minutes of a mixture of yoga, calisthenics, tai chi movements that I put together. I can do this routine anywhere, whether at home or on the road traveling.
In Health
Jeff
JeffN wrote:Birdy wrote:
So, like with my diet, I eliminated all the "extras" and wanted to make this as simple and easy as possible.
In Health
Jeff
pinkrose wrote:To me, staying in shape is fun and just part of everyday life. I do not look at fitness as something outside my life that I partake in on occasion but just a way of life
Veganmothering wrote:I cannot tell you how much you inspire me!
Veganmothering wrote:You have really helped me to reallign my life, so that my approach to health and fitness is much more streamlined, simple, and makes sense!
Veganmothering wrote:Having been in the fitness world for awhile as an instructor of all types of exercise, I see far too often that we're missing the mark with exercise--
Veganmothering wrote:we shouldn't do it just to burn calories (because not burning "enough" calories isn't the reason for our weight problems), we should do it because we are made to move. Humans are made to move, and movement should be a part of our daily activities.
Veganmothering wrote: So thank you for sharing your viewpoint on exercise, it's one that I wholeheartedly agree with (in fact, there are times during the year when I teach over a dozen classes a week, and I can say that type of strenuous activity is not natural or good for the body).
Veganmothering wrote:Also, I was getting your recipes off of your facebook page and you stated that we should be able to eat of food freely, without worrying about portion sizes. I wanted to cry! This makes so much sense, is so simple and it allows us to no longer be slaves to weighing, measuring and calculating. Extremely liberating.
Veganmothering wrote:Is your take on the MWL program should be 1/2-2/3 green yellow veggies and the other portion be intact starches OR fruit?
Veganmothering wrote:I know McDougall suggests no more than 2 servings a day because of how easy it is to overconsume, but as you've said, you'd be a little more lenient with fruit.
Veganmothering wrote: I've read several threads discussing calorie density and since fruit can be much lower than starches (strawberries, for example, being 150 calories per pound as opposed to carrots at 200 calories per pound) it would seem logical to say starches and/or fruit, just as long as that ratio of green/yellow veggies is at least 1/2 or more of your diet and the other is coming from intact starches and fruit. Does this make sense?
Veganmothering wrote:Sorry for the long post. I just wanted to let you know how much you've influenced and helped me (I made your Longevity soup last night for the first time and LOVED it! Tasty, easy, and QUICK--my kinda recipe!).
JeffN wrote:Birdy wrote:I used to run marathons and put in countless hours of formal exercise at the gym and in my home gyms, owned all types of fancy equipment and then just realized is was not necessary to achieve the goals I wanted.
In Health
Jeff
Marcia wrote:....I really enjoyed reading your post here. Simplicity is great. I have a handful of meals I prepare and our family loves them - mostly variations of potatoes and veg or rice and veg or soups - my daughter asks for split pea soup nearly every evening!
The "exercise" thing though really struck a chord for me. I have always not liked gymn type things, equipment nor organised "classes". I am always telling my husband to use his own strength and weight for resistance too. We garden, I walk, he cycles and my 4 and half and 6 and a half year old daughters body surf on boards and do anything their bodies will let them. I often just look away if they are too high up a tree or doing something many other parents are cautioning their children about. I felt as virtuous as buying them books when just recently we bought them wetsuits for our Australian Autumn waters at the beach.
But the greatest pleasure I have had in recent times was an Autumn afternoon with our whole family doing handstands on an isolated beach. My 6 year daughter was doing cartwheel after cartwheel like a circus clown and handstands and 'walkovers', my 4 year old was performing handstands. At 40 and 38, my husband was walking on his hands and I was doing handstands, cartwheels and 'walkovers'. The four of us looked a little mad, but it was great. When people ask me how I stay healthy and trim I am too reserved to say I do handstands around the house and eat alot of potatoes and veg! - if I said it I don't think they'd believe me anyway.
thank you for sharing your experience of the ease and enjoyment of simplicity - I understand all that you say from an experiential point of view. By the way I have been reading " The Power of Now " and interestingly when Eckhart Tolle writes some things I am instantly reminded of things you have written (albeit perhaps in a different context) - a great compliment to you.
Thanks again,
Marcia
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