Get Skinny and Be Successful

“There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

This morning I found myself lying around, enjoying a lazy weekend with my wife and kids, basking in the peaceful simplicity of today.

It’s in these moments that I find not only my greatest happiness, but my purpose in life.

I am here not to achieve or even to change the world, but simply to live. Life is a gift, and I’m happy to accept every moment of it.

And so, in this spirit, I thought I’d dig through my archives and share a few favorite posts, to help others find this peace.

A lot of Zen Habits readers are new, and haven’t taken the time to peruse the 800+ posts I’ve written. Shame on you!

Here’s a good way to get started. If you want more, check out the Beginner’s Guide to Zen Habits, or see the newly revamped Zen Habits archives for every post ever published here.

12 Classic Posts You Might Not Have Read
Don’t read these all at once:

1. Peaceful Simplicity: How to Live a Life of Contentment
2. The Four Laws of Simplicity, and How to Apply Them to Life
3. The Cure for What Ails You: How to Beat the Misery of Discontentment
4. 30 Things to Do to Keep From Getting Bored Out of Your Skull at Work
5. A Guide to Cultivating Compassion in Your Life, With 7 Practices
6. 9 Steps to Achieving Flow (and Happiness) in Your Work
7. 10 Simple Ways to Live a Less Stressful Life
8. 15 Tips for Becoming as Patient as Job
9. 12 Practical Steps for Learning to Go With the Flow
10. Calm as a Monk: How Equanimity Can Save Your Sanity
11. The Many Paths to Simplicity
12. The Magical Power of Focus

“Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” ~Lao Tzu

If you liked this post, please bookmark it on Delicious or share on Twitter. Thanks, my friends.

Sometimes in life you only get so many choices and if you don’t take advantage of the opportunity before you to achieve your dream the bubble bursts before your eyes and you never get another chance to fulfill your dreams. Taking advantage of the opportunities that come your way can be of the utmost importance to fulfilling a destiny and sometimes that opportunity becomes available due to an unfortunate situation.

Kamui looks a little sleepy here

Kamui Kobayashi’s opportunity to achieve his dream of Formula One glory appeared on the horizon of his life in 2009, after an unfortunate accident to Timo Glock. Kobayashi would go on to race two Formula One races for Toyota in 2009, the last two races as it happens and he showed in these two races that he’s more than capable of competing with the big boys on the track and didn’t look out of place at all when next to the likes of Lewis Hamilton or Jenson Button. In his first race in Brazil, Kamui looked confident and competent in his debut race, but finished at the back of the pack, which isn’t a surprize. In his second race in Abu Dhabi, Kobayashi did even better by grabbing three points for the team. This finish in the last race of the season is probably the reason he almost had a fulltime ride with Toyota for the 2010 season. Unfortunately, Toyota would make a sudden disappearance from Formula One and his fulltime ride with Toyota would dissipate into air, but hopes would reappear in the form of a deal with BMW Sauber.

Kobayashi was very professional in his debut appearances and according to sources shows sign of being an outstanding professional driver. He obviously has a lot to learn, but he has a good teacher and team mate in Pedro de la Rossa and they should be able to learn from each other as they go forward. These two gentlemen and the rest of the team need to be tight and on the same wavelength during the season, if they want to do well. It will be a difficult year, no matter how it turns out and the work ahead of them is going to be monumental.

The car and team as kind of in chaos at the moment, but then all of the teams are kind of in a flux and things aren’t quite as chaotic as they look and feel when your down in the garage. At the moment, the car is in development and will be for quite awhile, but hopefully they can get the car running fast and quick.
Japan still has millions of Formula One fans, despite the plans for Honda, Toyota and Bridgestone to leave Formula One completely. Hopefully, Kobayashi is able to revive the energy for Formula One and these three Japanese companies are back in Formula One, sometime in the future. Kamui has talent and drive and these are two of the ingredients of a champion and Japan could use a hero at this time in its history.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

Kobayashi Ready to Ride

I wonder, is the Super Bowl as popular in Canada as it is here? All week I’ve posted healthy Super Bowl grub on my site but then I started thinking….if we happen to fall off the wagon a bit and chug a few unexpected beers, shouldn’t I have a ‘make-up’ recipe ready to rock for Monday? Being healthy is all about balance and planning ahead, right?

I’m still new to the Paleo way of eating but I think I’ve a good idea here. What I really try to do with food, besides creating easy healthy recipes, is to shop and eat sustainably and seasonally. With all my recipes you are encouraged to use what ever is in season in your area, which might be different than my area especially because I’m planted in sunny Southern California, as I often like to remind DR. (Better not make him too jealous or my next workout session might be brutal!)

Since the Paleo diet does not include potatoes (ouch says the Irishman) I wanted to show you an easy substitute using what I know as Celeriac, often called Celery Root. It is a kind of celery grown as a root vegetable that tastes like celery with a potato-like consistency. Common across the pond, we use as mash, in mash or even raw, grated in salads. Here’s how it stacks up against the potato:

In California we can get celeriac all year round but the season runs about October through April. As for the tomatoes, I didn’t think it was tomato season yet we received these lovelies in our CSA box. Feel free to substitute any in-season veg for the tomatoes if you can’t get locally grown tomatoes this time of year.

RECIPE:
Serves 2

2 x 4-6 oz organic/grass fed chicken breasts

1 tbsp fresh marjoram
1 tbsp fresh oregano
1 large garlic clove – minced
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 lemon – zested

2 medium celery roots (you’ll probably have some left overs but that’s grand!)
low-sodium chicken broth
S&P to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Begin by mixing all the marinade ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Add chicken breasts and coat. To store, either place in a Zilpoc bag or cover in a bowl in the fridge. Turn occasionally to make sure all sides are marinating.
NOTE: This can and should be done ahead of time to get maximum flavor. I would suggest marinating for at least 4 – 24 hours.

To cook celeriac:

Top and tail celery root and using a small kitchen knife carefully peel the outer layer. (Top & tail is common chef lingo, which means trim the top and bottom.)

Once all peeled roughly chop root in equal size pieces and boil in salted water (maybe a couple of teaspoons) until fork tender. Drain and return to same pot. Mash, add broth, taste & season.

I made the little blistered cherry tomato thingy by sauteing some cherry tomatoes on medium heat in olive oil under they begin to break down. Once they soften add a drizzle of red wine vinegar and a pinch of S&P. These will add a nice contrast and burst of flavor with the chicken and celeriac.

Preheat grill pan or outdoor bbq and when hot sear chicken on both sides. Cook to internal temp. 160F, 8-12 minutes approx. Let rest for 3-4 minutes after cooking before cutting.

Tasty and easy! Let me know how you got on with the celeriac. Cheers!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

Be sure to sign up for my newsletter. When you do you’ll receive a FREE Entertainment Booklet with recipes and tips for your next dinner party.

If you are just getting started on your journey to fitness and wellness, exercise may be a little difficult. In fact, many people become so discouraged at their lack of overall fitness and stamina that they give up. Instead of taking this route, it is important to find an exercise routine that will work for your body, allowing you the ability to gradually build up your stamina and still reap the benefits that healthy exercise can bring.

The key to finding this exercise is first and foremost, impact. If you are overweight and out of shape your joints are not going to be able to hold up to a lot of impact. Each step may be agony and it is all too easy to call it quits when you are in pain. Even walking may be too much for some people, especially if you have mobility issues.

There are many different low impact workouts, and many are beneficial. However, for those that are in really bad shape physically, this still may be too much. In this instance, water aerobics may be the best answer. If you have any injuries or mobility issues, the benefits gained from doing water aerobics are significant.

Benefits of Water Aerobics

1. No stress on joints.

When you’re in the water, you’re pretty much weightless, and your joints won’t have to be working very hard. This is ideal for those that are not able to withstand high impact or even low impact stress on their joints.

2. Better burn rate.

Water aerobics can actually help you burn more calories than you would normally burn on land. As an example, depending on the class and your physical condition, you can burn up to 750 calories in a single hour. It would take hours of traditional aerobics to get to that level.

3. Great for your heart.

Water aerobics is very beneficial to your cardiovascular health. You’ll get all the benefits of a traditional aerobic class, without having to worry about your joints. This is actually a very sound way to get in your recommended amount of cardio training.

4. Increase endurance.

As we mentioned above, if you’re just getting started on an exercise plan, your endurance level may be pretty low. Water aerobics is the perfect way to gradually build up your endurance levels safely. Most classes last around 45 minutes to 1 hour, but since you don’t have the impact effect, it won’t seem as difficult.

5. Increase your metabolism.

Water aerobics help your body build lean muscle mass, which in turn, ramps up your metabolism. This is an easy way to start burning more calories all day long and will carry major health benefits.

These are just a few reasons why water aerobics can be so beneficial. Even if you’re already well on your way to fitness, adding a class or two a week can take your workout routine to the next level and you can start reaping the benefits right away.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-09-18 05:46:54. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Related Posts

• Is Your Exercise Routine Giving You A Headache? If you are finding that you develop consistent headaches or migraines, the answer may be in your workout, or more importantly, how you are working out. It is actually quite common to get a headache a few hours after exercising. This is due to the fact that sudden stress on……
• Targeting Problem Areas Most of us have at least one spot on our bodies that we would like to change. Commonly referred to as “problem areas,” if you are serious about making a change, you’ve got to find a way to target that area. While full body exercise is vital, there are many……
• Review: Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes Good Calories, Bad Calories took the author five years to write, and it contains some groundbreaking information that will undoubtedly be the cause of much controversy. Whether or not you agree with Taubes assertions, the book is certainly well worth the read and it is obvious that he did put……
• Saint Tropez Diet By Apostolos Pappas, PhD. The Saint Tropez diet has gotten it’s fair share of press, most likely due to the fact that it’s another one of the diets that claims that eating the right food will make your body do all the work so you don’t have to. But is that claim rooted in……
• Assessing Your Wellness Part of losing weight and getting healthy is to assess your own personal well being. You may be committed to living a healthy lifestyle, hitting the gym every single day, keeping yourself hydrated and leading a balanced and nutritional lifestyle, but if you’re not losing any weight it may be……

Online Stores

• Men Clothing Running Exercise Fitness
• Shoes Running Exercise Fitness
• Hydration Running Exercise Fitness
• Fitness Exercise Equipment
• Men Shoes Running Exercise Fitness

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Chris Guillebeau of The Art of Non-Conformity.

For more than ten years I’ve operated a string of one-man businesses. My model is: keep it lean, hire no one, and outsource very little. I’ve made my share of mistakes (a long list!), but one thing has remained constant—I want to add extreme value to my customers, and I want to make a good living without simply creating a job for myself.

Here’s what I’ve learned.

1. Hire no one. My Unconventional Guides business took off in early 2009, and for a while I felt an internal pressure to hire some kind of virtual assistant—mostly because that’s what everyone in the internet world seems to advise these days. “Get someone to do the things you don’t want to do,” is how the idea is usually sold.

I finally realized that another answer to dealing with “the things you don’t want to do” is to just not worry about doing them at all. If I have to supervise someone else doing boring work, it’s not that different from doing it to begin with. The things are still on my mind one way or another. Therefore, it’s just me in the virtual shop, working from more than 20 countries a year.

2. Outsource very little. The conventional alternative to hiring employees is to outsource your life through overseas agencies or virtual assistants. But instead of outsourcing, you can just stop doing stuff. I don’t want employees, assistants, or clones in India to answer my email. I actually like hearing from my customers and don’t want to create a barricade between them and me.

3. Offer no customization. As Henry Ford famously said about his Model-T automobile, “They can have any color they want, as long as it’s black.” Once you start providing options, color, sizes, and so on, things get complicated. If you want to stay deliberately small, don’t customize.

(I also offer no shipping services, since everything I sell is digital. Therefore I have no need for inventory, trips to the post office, or worries about lost orders.)

4. Pursue a lot of opportunities, but don’t be afraid to cancel. Last year I developed four new products, but I almost developed two others. No one heard about them, because they ended up not being a good fit for the mission. Failing quickly is OK; dying a slow death is not. Don’t worry about what you’ve spent to get to the point where you are. In the words of Seth Godin, “The only cost that matters is the one in front of you.”

5. Offer more to the right people. Properly set up, the creative use of cross-selling and upselling can rock your business world. Most businesses earn much more money from existing customers than from new ones. When I first set up a very basic cross-sell – “Would you like fries with that?” – I increased sales by 23% immediately, without increasing the workload. Then I set up a simple upsell – “If you bought x, you’ll love y” – and increased sales a further 12%.

6. Set a clear, non-ambiguous goal. Most businesses have the goal of “maximizing shareholder value.” There’s nothing wrong with making money, but an unclear goal is hard to achieve. How will you know when shareholder value has been “maximized”?

Therefore, my goal is basic: happy customers who benefit from my work, and a good living for myself. I don’t need seven-figures or an overseas call center to achieve either of those objectives. Instead, I need to be able to travel and work from anywhere without worrying about money.

7. Provide the strongest possible guarantee, and stop worrying. I don’t mess around with guarantees. My Frequent Flyer guide guarantees that customers will receive at least one free plane ticket (25,000 miles) in exchange for $49, or I don’t get to keep their money. Everything else is guaranteed for life, or for as long as the bank that processes my Visa transactions will allow me.

Some people ask, With such a generous guarantee, what’s the refund rate? Answer: less than 1%.

But don’t people take advantage of you? Answer: most people are honest, so why worry about the dishonest ones? Life is too short.

8. Focus entirely on relationship building and cash flow. That’s it. This is what your very small business will live or die by, so avoid getting sidetracked by anything else. Relationship building activities include talking to customers and creating new products based on their feedback; cash flow activities include joint venture promotions, sales, and offers to existing customers.

9. Track two key metrics and ignore the rest. For my blog I want to know: how many new readers did we add today? For my business I want to know: what was the total revenue that came in today? Everything is evaluated according to those figures. At the end of the month I also quickly look at a few other metrics like visitor value, sales from affiliates, and a few social media stats. But it’s all very simple; it takes fifteen minutes to update monthly, and I ignore everything else.

As Zen Habits readers know well, you can often do more by doing less. What you give up is just as important as what you hang on to—and besides, choosing to be very small in business is fun.

Chris Guillebeau writes for a small army of remarkable people at The Art of Non-Conformity. Follow him on Twitter here.

—
If you liked this guide, please bookmark it on Delicious or share on Twitter. Thanks, my friends.

Like most personal trainers, my business has been built on word of mouth.

When my clients lose weight and get fit, their friends notice and I pick up a new client.

And, considering that most of my clients are interested in melting off body-fat, diet & weight loss has become a bit of an obsession for me.

So, when it comes to dietary recommendations, I need to get it right.

That’s why, at it’s core, the Health Habits Diet is a modified Paleo-style diet.

Apple Glazed Turkey Breast

Because based upon the scientific research and my first hand experience, there is no better way of eating for general health and gradual weight loss than Paleo.

You’re eating foods that are high in nutrients and relatively low in calories

And while, it’s always a big transition for new clients, the ones who buy into the concept and trust me (even for a month or so) always see great results….always.

But, we’re not done yet.

As much as I love the Paleo Diet, it’s not perfect. As much as some Paleos want to believe that everything Paleo is good and everything modern is bad, they’re wrong.

1. Certain foods enjoyed by some Paleo Dieters make weight loss difficult. For that reason, during a weight loss phase, they are eliminated.
2. And as I said in this post, it’s not only what you eat, it’s when you eat it, and the Health Habits Diet makes use of precise peri-workout nutrition to allow my clients to:

• Perform better during their workouts
• Maintain muscle mass while dieting
• Gain muscle mass if desired
• Boost their metabolism and
• Speed up fat loss

But, we’re still not done yet.

Depending upon the goals of my clients, nighttime eating and meal size must also addressed.

• Clients interested primarily in fat loss eat nothing for the 4 hours before sleep (except for a tbsp of fish oil)
• Clients interested in gaining muscle mass while losing fat will eat a solid meal before bed.

• As well, there are never any seconds on the Health Habits. One serving per meal…and don’t try getting around that by buying gigantic bowls or plates.

.

So, to recap, these are the basics of my Health Habits Diet

1. A modified Paleo Diet makes up the majority of your meals
2. Peri-workout nutrition for better workouts and a metabolism boost
3. Nighttime eating geared to specific weight loss goals
4. Portion control

.

So, where do you go from here?

In my next few post, I will outline the specific menus I recommend for the following “types” of Health Habits dieters.

If you don’t find yourself in one of these archetypes, shoot me an email and we can whip up something specific to your needs.

Dieter Archetypes

1. Rapid weight loss with no concern for muscle mass
2. Just wants to get healthy
3. Wants to gain muscle and/or get really strong without getting fat
4. Wants to maintain / gain muscle while losing as much body-fat as possible

.

Just a reminder, tomorrow is my birthday, so I won’t be posting.

In the meantime, look through these archives to get a better idea of what to expect with the next post.

• Diet Compliance Chart
  
• Caveman Diet
• Paleo Recipe Resource Page
  
• What Kind of Paleo are You?
• Is Paleo Eating the Cure for Diabetes?
• News Flash! Caveman Diet Good…Your Diet Bad
• Peri-Workout Nutrition

.

And, if you like what you see here, click here for updates or Share this Post with the rest of the world.

Jogging injuries are very common and can strike everyone from beginners to seasoned pros. One area of the body that is frequently injured during jogging are ankles. Few of us think about our ankles until we’re hobbling around, incapacitated due to a strain, sprain or crack. You rely on your ankles every day and you owe it to them to practice sound techniques to avoid injury. Here are some tips on how to protect those ankles while you’re jogging. Before you even start running, focus on lower leg stretches. A lot of runners make the mistake of focusing more on their quads and upper legs, but your lower legs and ankles will need some time as well. You can also work on stretches outside of your workouts to increase ankle strength and mobility. One of the best stretches to try involves standing a on a slightly raised surface, with one foot on the ground and one up on the surface.

Raise yourself up on the higher leg and then slowly lower yourself back down. Repeat this a few times and then switch legs. You can also ask your personal trainer or coach for more stretches that will target the ankle area.

Proper footwear also plays an important part in keeping your ankles free from injury. Make sure that you are using a shoe that is made for running, and not other sports. These shoes will have more padding and will be manufactured to handle the stress of repeated impact. If you are running in just any old shoe, you are greatly increasing your risks for an ankle injury.

Where you jog can also have a big effect on your chances for injury. For example, if you are jogging on a nature path that is not paved, chances are you are going to come across different terrain that may be uneven. If you’re not prepared for sudden rises or dips on a path, you can easily twist an ankle. It’s best to walk a path for the first time, before you run it. Take note of terrain changes and build a mental map of where you should be running.

Jogging on pavement can also be stressful for your ankles, especially if you have injured them in the past. For this type of running, you may benefit from wrapping your ankles or wearing specific braces that will help absorb impact. The key is doing all that you can to protect your ankles from injury. Handling them later on is painful and once an ankle is injured, it may be predisposed to future injury, regardless of how careful you may be.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-08-04 05:14:09. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Related Posts

• Do You Need to Lose Weight on the Inside? So many of us focus on losing weight externally that we forget that there is an entire mentality that goes with being overweight. This is perhaps one of the biggest reasons that permanent weight loss is so elusive for many people, and it may be keeping you from success. Before……
• 3 Apple a Day Diet Review Three apples a day is a creation of Tammi Flynn, who is a registered dietitian and a group training instructor at a well know gym establishment. Flynn found out that one of her clients was eating an apple before each meal, and not changing any of the other dietary or……
• 5 Ways to Prevent Knee Injuries During Your Workouts Our knees have to handle a lot of stress, and if you’re exercising vigorously or doing weight training, you’re asking a lot out of them. If you already have knee problems, the situation can be a bit tricky at times and it is very easy to reinjure yourself if you……
• 5 More Tips for Beginning a Wellness Program It is never too late for you to begin a journey in health and wellness. Here is five of ten tips that you can begin today in order to build a foundation for your health and wellness program. 1 - Take Every Step One At a Time - What happens……
• Get Your Doctor Involved In Your Weight Loss One of the first steps that you are going to want to deal with when it comes to beginning any healthy weight loss journey is going to be to actually schedule an appointment with your normal family doctor or health care provider. You are going to want to let the……

Online Stores

• Path Lighting Outdoor Lighting Yard, Garden Outdoor Living
• SPF 24 and Lower Sunscreen Sun Care Skin Care Store
• Shoe Spikes Accessories Golf
• Card Dealer Shoe Casino Collectibles

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

I get asked a lot of questions, many of them repeatedly, and I figured instead of answering them all over and over, I’d compile my answers for everyone here.

Of course, there’s a lot more about me and this site on the About page, and I’d always love it if you checked out the Books page.

I hope you find this useful!

1. Why did you turn off comments on Zen Habits?
This has been the most difficult decision I’ve made since starting Zen Habits, as I truly loved comments here. I love hearing from readers, and it was my opinion that the comments often held better tips than the posts themselves. I learned (and still learn) a lot from my readers.

So why did I turn off comments? There was too much comment spam, resulting in huge headaches for me. Seriously, it took up a lot of my time — time I wanted to spend creating, or with my family. And the tiny minority of legitimate comments were mostly bloggers trying to get noticed — not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I just don’t want to spend my life moderating spam for this reason alone.

Edit: Yes, I’ve tried several different software solutions for comment spam, and they don’t really solve the problem of humans leaving comment spam. Even things like Askimet (and numerous other such filters) and CAPTCHA let a lot of spam through. Trust me, I’ve done a lot of research, and when spammers are motivated, they’ll find a way through for a site with this kind of traffic.

People can still give me feedback via Twitter, and if I don’t always respond I do listen. Getting rid of comments has been regrettable, but they don’t scale, and it has brought peace to my life.

2. When and why are you moving to San Francisco?
We’re moving to San Francisco this summer – in late June 2010.

And we’re super excited.

We’ve bought our plane tickets but haven’t reserved a house or apartment yet. We’ll be living in the city, going carless.

We’re selling all our stuff but a handful of clothes and my laptop, and a few pieces of artwork. Read more about selling all our stuff on our “yardsale” site (if you don’t live on Guam, you can’t buy anything).

I know the burning question is why. The reasons are manifold, but here are a few:

• Guam will always be home, but we’d like to experience more of the world, and we’d love our kids to see more than this tiny little slice of life, however wonderful it is.
• San Francisco is one of my favorite places in the world – I lived there as a teen-ager, and I fell in love with it. It’s beautiful, the people are diverse and crazy and awesome, there’s no shortage of things for kids and teens and adults to do, the food is great, the weather is superb, and the areas around it are varied and gorgeous, from the California coastline to the mountains to the redwoods to wine country to Oregon to the north to Disneyland to the south (I know, but we have six kids, so.).
• As a blogger, I can work anywhere in the world, and I’d love to meet online blogging friends and readers in real life from time to time.
• As homeschooling parents, my wife and I want to expose our children to more opportunities to learn from the world around them. Guam is a great place for that, but San Francisco offers more. It’ll be an incredible learning experience for our kids.
• We hope to go carless, and San Francisco is a good place to do that, with muni and BART and a cycling friendly city and the ability to walk and things like Zipcar and City CarShare if we need them. Guam is a very bad place to go carless if you have kids.
• I’m vegan, and Guam is also a bad place for that. There’s exactly two vegan/vegetarian restaurants on Guam, and great as they are, I’d love to be in a place with more options. I can’t wait to try veggie restaurants in S.F., or at least restaurants with more veggie options than, you know, salad. Farmers markets and natural food co-ops and leftist bookshops and such are also attractive to a person like me. We also considered Portland and Eugene, OR as options, for these same reasons, but for complicated reasons S.F. is our choice.
• We have awesome family in the Bay Area, and I can’t wait to spend time with them. Seriously, other than the family I have here on Guam, the ones in S.F. are among the rockingest I have (well, there’s also the ones in Eugene and Austin and Vegas and Scottsdale and Chicago and a couple other places, but I digress).
• My oldest daughter will be a senior in high school next school year, and being in California will help her visit and apply to colleges and even establish residency should she decide to go to college in CA.
• I really like to buy used things, when I need to buy stuff, and Guam’s options are, shall we say, limited.

Again, these are just a few. I could go on all day.

I love Guam, but it’s time for a change. We’ll always come back to Guam. We just want some new experiences, and we can’t wait.

I hope to see some of you there!

3. What’s your current workout/running routine?
At the moment, I run 3-4 times a week (training for a half marathon), and I go to the gym 3 times a week, and bike a couple times a week. You can see my training plan on this spreadsheet, but be aware that it changes from month to month, depending on my goals.

I like to mix things up. I don’t often train for races anymore, but I still love running. I’m trying to build a little muscle, which is why I’m lifting weights right now, but in a few months I’ll probably stick to bodyweight exercises and the like.

I’m riding my bike right now to get in better bike shape — I hope to make it my main form of transportation when I move to San Francisco.

I also eat fairly clean, about 90% of the time. You can take a look at my Daytum to see how often I’ve been eating clean this week. Diet has been the biggest part of my weight loss, actually — I’ve lost 30 lbs. in the last year on my Bellyfat Challenge.

4. Cool. But can’t you give us a sample of what you typically eat during a day?
Um, sure. But before I do that, a couple of caveats:

1. Obviously I don’t eat exactly the same thing every day. It varies.
2. I usually have a “cheat meal” each week, and sometimes two.
3. I don’t recommend my diet for everyone — pick the eating style that works for you, your goals, your health situation, etc.

That said, here’s a typical day (lately):

• 7 a.m. 1/2 cup cooked rolled organic oats w/ berries, raw almonds, cinnamon, raisins, ground flaxseed.
• 10 a.m. Unsweetened coconut flakes w/ berries, almonds, soymilk.
• 1 p.m. Quinoa, steamed veggies, and some kind of protein — usually black bean chili or lentil curry or a veggie burger.
• 4 p.m. Soy yogurt w/ almonds, berries, some other fruit, ground flaxseed.
• 7 p.m. Quinoa, steamed veggies, and some kind of protein — usually black bean chili or lentil curry or a veggie burger.

I don’t eat many grains other than the rolled oats (quinoa isn’t a grain). I am vegan. I get more than enough protein. This diet is about 400 cals per meal, or 2,000 cals daily — which will net me a 500-1000 cal deficit depending on exercise and activity during the day.

5. What time do you go to sleep/wake up?
This question arises as I’ve written in the past about waking up early and becoming an early riser. One thing to realize is that those posts were written in 2007, so things have changed in the last few years.

At various times in 2007, I was waking at 5:30 a.m., 5 a.m., 4:30 a.m., and 4 a.m. Part of that depended on where I was in my marathon training — when I was doing long runs, I’d wake up at 4 a.m. so that I could leave by 4:30 or 4:45 for a 2 or 2.5 hour run. On days when I wasn’t doing the long run, I’d use the extra time early in the morning to write my blog before I had to go to work.

Or sometimes I’d sleep in. And these days, I sleep in half the time, as I don’t have a day job so I can blog any time in the morning. I still get up early many days — 4:30 or 4:45 usually — but on other days I’ll sleep in until 6 or even 7 a.m. and let my body recover from the previous day’s workout.

When do I go to sleep? I prefer to go to sleep by 9:30 or 10 p.m., but my wife likes to watch a little late-night TV (not cable TV but one of our favorite shows on the Apple TV), and I stay up with her, usually until 10:30 p.m.

6. Can you provide a sample “schedule” of your day?
Hoo boy. That’s a bit difficult, as I don’t follow a set schedule anymore. I prefer to live moment by moment and go with the flow of life. That’s a bit vague for most of you, so here’s an attempt:

1. 4:45 to 6 a.m.: Wake up, have coffee, read. The time I wake depends on whether I’m going for a morning run.
2. 6 a.m.: Run (Mon, Wed, Fri and sometimes Saturday)
3. 7-9 or 10 a.m.: Write, do other most important tasks.
4. 10 a.m. to mid-afternoon: Smaller tasks, catch up on RSS feed reading, research various things I’m interested in (and will often blog about later). This really varies.
5. Late afternoon – evening: Spend time with kids. Sometimes get a gym workout in. Or read. Also varies from day to day.
6. Evening until 10 or 10:30 p.m.: Eat dinner, spend some time with wife and kids. Watch one of our favorite TV shows (The Office, Community, How I Met Your Mother, Mad Men, Lost, 30 Rock, not in that order). Once a week Eva and I will go on a date.

Again, this is a rough sketch, but in general:

• I go for runs early and do other exercise later in the afternoon.
• I write and do other important tasks next.
• I do less important stuff later.
• Always try to find time for Eva and the kids.

7. What happened to the Search function on Zen Habits?
I took it off as part of my simplification of this site’s design. I took off a lot of things, including links to the Zen Habits Forums (which are still running, btw, and a great way to form habits), a lot of ads, and a crapload of links.

I know this is a little less convenient for some folks, but in my experience not many people used these links. And if you want to do a search, I suggest a Google search of Zen Habits — it works better than the old search box I had.

8. What theme are you using on Zen Habits? Is it available for download?
The theme is custom designed by a professional designer. It’s based on a premium theme that I am not able to share, but I plan to switch it over to another theme that I can share. I’ll let you all know when that happens.

9. What’s your story, buddy?
Hey there, friend! You can read my story here.

10. Can I use a post you’ve written here for my blog, my book, my magazine, etc.?
Yes, please do! Read my Uncopyright.

There is no need to email me for permission. You already have my blessing.

11. I’d like to do a guest post. What’s the deal there, buddy?
I don’t take guest posts. I run about a guest post a week, by invitation only, and at the moment I have enough for the next couple of months.

12. Why does Zen Habits have the word “Zen” in its title? Are you a Zen Master or Zen Buddhist?
No, I’m not. Read more about all of that here: Why Zen Habits.

13. How do I contact you via email?
I’m a bit of an email recluse, sorry. Here’s why I ditched my email inbox. You can always contact me via Twitter, though I don’t guarantee a response.

My focus is on creating, and spending time doing the things I love most. Email gets in the way of that.

14. But … I’d like to share my new book/blog post/product/seminar with you!
Thanks, but no. Please don’t ask me to promote your product, book, website, service, or blog post, or I will karate chop you to death.

15. Do you still wear Asics? Also, have you tried barefoot running?
Yep, still use Asics. Love em.

I’ve been trying barefoot running lately, a little at a time, at the recommendation of several readers. In fact, I ordered a pair of Vibram Fivefingers KSO and will be giving these a try. Basically, there have been a few studies done on barefoot running (including a couple of recent ones), but even those acknowledge that there are many questions and lots of other research needs to be done.

16. How can I follow Zen Habits? How can I thank you with a donation? Where else can I read your brilliant stuff?
OK, I’ll admit these aren’t really common questions, but hey, any opportunity for a shameless plug (or three), right?

I’d love it if you subscribed to Zen Habits via email or RSS subscription. It’s completely free (and always will be), and you get about three posts a week, all quality posts without the fat.

If you’d like to support Zen Habits, I’d love it if you bought my print book, The Power of Less, or one of my ebooks. Or you can make a donation if you have some extra cash lying around, Mr. Moneybags.

Other than my books, you can read more of my writing at my other blog, mnmlist, or little tips & brilliant insights on Twitter, or occasional thoughts on Zen Habits Offloaded, or links that I like to share on the Zen Habits tumblr. I also co-own and often contribute to Write To Done (for writers & bloggers) and Zen Family Habits. And then there’s my new site on changing habits: 6 Changes.

Other questions that I should add to this list? Ask via Twitter, & I’ll do my best to answer the most common ones. And feel free to share this post via Twitter.

Tomorrow, I will be sharing with the Health Habits Facebook Group one of the most effective fat-burning, muscle building, health improving diets I have ever designed.

But, before I do that, I thought I would show everybody the 3 pillars that I used to create the Health Habits Diet.

1. It’s Not Only What You Eat
2. It’s When You Eat It
3. And How Much Of It That You Eat

Simple, right?

Let’s take a closer look.

What You Eat

There are a lot of diets that restrict the types of food you can and can’t eat:

• Low-Fat Diets
• Low-Carb Diets
• Vegetarian/Vegan Diets
• High Fiber Diets
• Liquid Diets
• Organic Food Diets
• Whole Grain Diets
• and the list goes on and on and on…

The fact is, certain foods improve your health and certain foods don’t.

• Certain foods are high in nutrients and low in calories
• Other foods are high in calories and low in nutrients
• Certain foods make you hungry
• Certain foods cause inflammation (that’s bad)
• Certain foods make you fat

Based upon the most recent research, I have put together my list of the foods that improve your health and the ones that wreck your health.

When You Eat It

What makes more sense:

• Drinking all of your daily fluid intake at one sitting (think Big Gulp)?
• Or spreading it out over the course of the day?

• Skipping breakfast and lunch and then eating a huge dinner?
• Spacing your food intake out evenly over the whole day?

• Eating all of your carbs for breakfast, fats for lunch and proteins for dinner?
• Eating meals balanced in macro-nutrients (carb, fat, pro)?

It’s not just the types of food you eat that’s important, it’s when you eat those foods.

And tomorrow, I will tell the Facebook Group about two incredibly powerful meal timing techniques.

How Much You Eat

This one is a no-brainer.

10,000 calories of the healthiest health food per day is still going to make you fat.

It’s just too bad that most dieters see calories as the end-all and be-all of successful weight loss. If the weight isn’t coming off fast enough, they just drop the calories a little more. And then a little more. And then just a little bit more.

Until 1 of 2 things happens:

1. They achieve their weight loss goal and then have to maintain their skinny-fat physiques on 1000 calories per day for the rest of their miserable calorie deprived lives, or
2. Their body revolts and forces them (via hormones, brain chemicals, etc) to eat and eat and eat.

Neither scenario works.

That’s why focusing solely on calories is the worst thing you can do if you’re trying to lose weight.

Conclusion

Tomorrow, I will be sharing with the Health Habits Facebook Group my latest fat-burning, muscle building, health improving diet.

It’s based on these 3 pillars and it works better than anything I have ever seen.

Hope you like it.

.

If you like what you see here, click here for updates or Share this Post with the rest of the world.

.

Related Posts

• The Taco Bell Drive-Thru Diet….weight loss miracle or a great …
• Paleo Recipe Resource Page
  
• Diet Compliance Chart
  
• Caveman Diet
• The New Ultra-Longevity Diet
  
• Dr. Dan’s Paleo Diet Saves Christmas
  
• Hormones, Problem Areas and Your Body-Fat Map – Part 2
• Think Yourself Thin….The Complete Beck Diet for Life
  
• The New Non-Diet Mediterranean Diet
  

Last year when it was announced Michael Schumacher was preparing to return to Formula One to take the place of Felipe Massa after he was injured while competing in a Formula One race. The heart of the Formula One world skipped a beat and most Formula One fans closed their eyes and then opened them again, thinking that they were dreaming. The excitement of fans was snuffed out just as quick when it was announced that Michael had put his return to Formula One glory on hold.

Does this look like a man who is use to failing?

It wasn’t nearly as surprising for many when it was again announced that Michael Schumacher was planning to return to Formula One to drive for Ferrari, after the events of the year before. Seven time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher is preparing to once again suit up and strap himself into a Formula One car after years on the sidelines, but Michael isn’t the only Formula One World Champion to return after leaving the sport.

Four-time Formula One World Champion Alain Prost returned to Formula One in 1993 after leaving the Ferrari team under difficult circumstances in 1991. He returned to doubts that he could compete, but went on to win seven races and stand on the podium twelve times in 1993. This silenced his doubters for awhile, but he failed to return the next year and instead decided to hang up his racing gloves in favor of other interests.

It was one of the most stylish exits ever for a Formula One World Champion and he left at the top of his game, with records in almost every category. In fact, it’s ironic that it would take the arrival of Michael Schumacher on the scene for his records to be eclipsed. Michael would go on to eclipse Alain Prost’s records and put his own name in the record books in the majority of categories.

The 2010 Formula One season is going to be interesting for a number of reasons, but for me the desire to see if Michael can actually return to Formula One and show the younger drivers that he’s still the best, is going to keep me coming back. If Michael has a good start, it will be an exciting year that could go down in Formula One history as one of the most historic, ever. Can a man who is almost fourty return to the fastest sport on two wheels in the world after years on the shelf and compete against younger men who have been forged in the furner of racing? Absolutely! Age has absolutely no bearing on this affair and the younger racers, I believe, are about to find out just how competitive Michael still is.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher