New Location

I've moved.

Having several blogs is a lot of work to keep up with. So now I am in one place.

A one-stop shop of motivation, inspiration and tons of great information blog can now be found at the Croix Sather blog.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

BTW, Have you heard that I am running from San Diego to New York City? Seriously. It is called Dream Big, Act Big - Coast to Coast inspirational tour. A 3,000 mile run and speaking tour to prove that anything is possible with a big dream and big action.

Check it out here at the Croix Sather Dream Big, Act Big official website.

What can you do in 100 days?

Stop calling me a Vegetarian.

Please stop calling me a vegetarian and don’t say “whatever.” It is rude and you obviously don’t care or understand healthy living. We need a new term or phrase to capture the trend happening in this country and starting across the globe.

I am not a vegetarian and I am not a vegan even though most people say that about me. While both sound appealing to me, neither one is accurate. I eat a plant-based diet. This means I occasionally have steak, chicken, eggs or fish. Occasionally means about once a week on average. I regularly eat dairy products such as butter and cheese, but also limit those to a minimum. A lot of people I know do the same. This is very healthy and probably the most realistic for most people. There are times when you cannot avoid meat, eggs or dairy without offending the host, especially when in company of other cultures.

So why do I choose a plant based diet? Three reasons.

1 - We don't need nearly as much protein as it had been previously believed. Not even bodybuilders. Here is my reasoning. If an infant gets only 3 -5% protein in a breast milk diet (the perfect meal), and this is the stage where we grow at the fastest rate and therefore need the most protein of any time in our life, why would we need 20-40% as adults?

2 – Meat is nasty. I didn’t always think this way. I ate meat at every single meal and even my snacks were beef jerky. The more you learn about the meat, poultry, and fish industry, the less appealing it is to eat it. Watch some PETA videos. Or read this brilliant article by the New York Times or watch this video. If that is not enough, make a dish of beef gravy and then put it in the fridge to chill. The next day there will be a disgusting, artery clogging, thick gelatinous layer of fat. This is what causes blocked arteries leading to heart attacks and also a reason for premature death.

3 - It is a personal belief choice, a philosophical choice, and even a spiritual choice. I don't believe that it is right that we take an animal's life for our own selfish and egotistical reasons. We don't need meat to live healthy, in fact we should NOT have it often to live healthy. So why raise hundreds of thousands of animals each year to send to the slaughterhouses? Why over-fish our oceans to the point of extinction for many species? And lastly, is it really in the spirit of God or the Universe (or whoever is your higher power) to take another life be it a person or animal when it is not necessary?

So what to call the plant based diet?
Healthy American diet?
Healthy plant based diet?
The Spiritual diet?
The Right diet?

Hmmm.... any ideas? Comment below and let me know what you’re thinking.

Getting healthy and fit is easier than it seems

Becoming healthy and fit is a lot easier than it seems. You will think it is a difficult thing to do if you listen to the media and if you take advice from friends. The reason that most people cannot lose weight and become fit is because they are doing the wrong things. Obviously right?

Doing the wrong things also includes listening to the majority. If most people cannot successfully stay healthy and fit then why would you do what they do? Most people go out and buy the latest and most popular diet book expecting to lose weight plus shed fat and they fail at their goal. Why? Because the information is wrong OR it only answers part of the question.

Losing weight and becoming fit and healthy is easy to do if you do jus one thing… “Act as if.” That’s it. Act as if you are healthy and fit and you will become healthy and fit. It sounds too simple right? Yes and no. It is that simple if you do what fit and healthy people do. It is not simple if you do what most people do and make excuses instead of taking action.

ACT AS IF means:
Modeling healthy people (do what they do)
Eating the right foods
Doing the right exercise
Creating an active lifestyle
Staying away from the bad stuff
And maybe even staying away from “bad habit” people

The fact is, this is simple when you stop trying to be something you are not and start being someone who you will be ... who you already are. Act as if means you take on the belief that you are already there and the results have yet to appear. If you act as if you are already healthy and fit and do what a healthy and fit person does, then you will become healthy and fit as an effect of your lifestyle.

Give yourself the gift of health.

Let me know you’re alive. Love the post or hate it, please comment below. We give out random gifts to random comment posts.

Want to learn more ways to act and think like a fit person? Sign up for Croix’s free posts and videos. Look to your right. No the other right. lol

Your Children Are What You Eat

Children are amazing little recording devices. My little girl is almost three and it constantly surprises me how much she retains. The problem is that she retains nearly everything – even the things we don’t want her to. The bigger problem is that she is at the age that you cannot necessarily rationalize and explain things. She wants to do everything that we do. Most of the time that is good, but sometimes that is not so good.

It is not enough to say, “Because I said so!” How many times did you hear that as a child? Did it ever work? Only if you were threatened with capital punishment. Since capital punishment is not longer accepted in today’s society we need to find a smarter and better way.

It seems to me that the most effective way to get your children to do what you want, is to do it yourself. We have to lead by example. Preach, yell, or lecture is not nearly as effective as being the example. And sometimes this is very difficult.

If you want your children to be healthy, lean, and fit with the healthiest eating habits – then you have live that way to show them. That is a pretty good deal. You lose weight, you get healthy, you get fit, your exercise regularly, and your children grow up living, learning and breathing that environment. Wow, A reward that pays back dividends for a lifetime – yours and your children.


If:
You eat healthy – they eat healthy
You are active – they are active
You are fit – they will be fit
You exercise regularly – they will exercise too

My children are way to young to go running with me, but I can take them with me in a jogging stroller as I train for My next Ironman triathlon. I have run as far as seven miles pushing my daughter up and down the hills of Connecticut, and four miles pushing both kids in a double stroller. Is it tough? You better believe it. But they love it. I get a tougher workout and they get to see the world. More importantly, they will only know a life of activity, health and exercise.

If you are new to exercise, then take them with you for a walk around the block or the high school track. Let them play in the room that you keep the treadmill while you exercise (you know, that thing that most use for a clothes hanger). Do this and even the youngest child will absorb the memory of you taking care of your health as a typical part of life and they will follow your lead.

Be the change you want to see in the world – Mahatma Gandhi

You are eating 100 pounds of “added” sugars a year.

You know that added sugars are bad for you, but did you know that you could be eating 100 pounds of it a year? And adding up to 50 pounds of body fat in a year?

It sounds unbelievable, but this is the case with the average American diet. Added sugars are in most packaged products you buy at the supermarket. Even ones you would not expect such as yogurt smoothies, frozen entrees, healthy cereals, pasta sauce, and salad dressing. This can add up to 30 teaspoons of added sugar a day (just “added sugar”, not including natural sugars in fruit or milk) and 500 calories a day. This totals almost 100 pounds of added sugar a year per person.

How do you know if a food has a lot of sugar?

On the label in the ingredients list look for 2 things:
1 – the first 3 or 4 ingredients are a sugar, any sugar.
2 – there are many sugars forms hidden throughout the ingredient list.

Sugar comes in so many names. High-fructose corn syrup may be the most known but the list is much longer. How many of these are in the foods in your cupboard and fridge?

• Brown sugar
• Corn sweeteners
• Corn Syrup
• Crystalline fructose
• Dextrose
• Fructose
• Fruit juice concentrates
• Glucose
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Honey syrup
• Invert sugar
• Malt syrup
• Maltodextrin
• Maltose
• Maltose
• Molasses
• Raw sugar
• Rice sugar
• Rice syrup
• Sucrose
• Sugar

Do you want to lose up to 50 pounds in a year? Cut out the added sugars and you may.
More about sugars in the next post … stay tuned.

Live Fit and Healthy.

Your Attitude Determines if You Succeed

Everything in life worth achieving is difficult. Think about the times when you are most proud of what you accomplished – weren’t they also the most difficult to achieve? Didn’t they require everything you had at that moment? Your attitude kept you going even when there were moments when you wanted to give up?

But you didn’t give up and you prevailed. You graduated college. You finished a 5k run. You completed that project on time. You stepped out of your comfort zone and tried something new. You lost 20 pounds.

It is no different when it comes to your health. You must do what seems too difficult in the moment. Say no to a second helping. Don’t buy the junk food. Go to the fitness center when you rather watch TV. Jog one more mile. Choose the healthy food over the garbage.

In the moment some choices are hard, but when you do you grow past your previous perceived limitations the next time is easier. And the next time – even easier. Soon what was once difficult becomes a habit and there is no effort at all.

Check out this video clip from Facing the Giants. Don’t let the negative voice of attitude in your head keep you from doing what you can easily do. What you thought was impossible becomes reality.



You CAN Do It!

I will send a FREE autographed copy of BetterBody BetterLife to the most inspiration comment I receive to this post in February. Extra credit if it relates to health or fitness, but every story counts

Would you like to have more energy? Feel better? And live longer?
Of course everyone would answer yes to all of these questions. Unfortunately most people don't take care of themselves with these questions in mind. The food and pharmaceutical companies have their motivations and it is not for you to live healthy and well because it means a smaller financial bottom line for them. You must control your life or others will control it for you.

I came across this video today from Food Matters. It will make you think.



Namaste

Study Links Obesity to Ovarian Cancer

Here is another reason to get healthy and fit.

World-class runner without legs

We all have challenges in life, but few of us go through life without our legs. Only Oscar Pistorius became a world-class runner without his legs. An unimaginable story of a boy that lost his legs when he was just one-year old. Fitted with artificial blade like legs Oscar tried-out to compete against world-class sprinters in the Olympics. He was initially rejected from the Olympics as having an unfair advantage.



Oscar is an inspiration to us all and an example of what you can achieve when you decide who you will be and what you will achieve. Next time you come up with an excuse not to work toward your goal think of Oscar and tell yourself, “Get over it!” Then go become who you are meant to be.

“The act of taking the first step is what
separates the winners from the losers.”
- Brian Tracy

The Rich were Fat

“When the world was a simpler place, the rich were fat, the poor were thin, and the right-thinking people worried about how to feed the hungry. Now the rich are thin, the poor are fat, and the right-thinking people are worried about obesity.”
- The Economist

December 13, 2003

How much protein is enough?

If you are concerned about your health then you have probably wondered, “how much protein do I need?” You may also wonder “what is the best source of protein?”

Protein is not as mysterious as many make it out to be. You don’t need as much protein as many claim you do, such as the USDA and the beef or poultry industry. Most people think of protein and think of beef or poultry. Here are some things you should know about the meat you eat.

The aim of the beef and poultry industry is to get you to eat as much beef and chicken as possible. Why? Because they make money every time you buy their products. They have lobbyists that pressure the government for less regulations and more subsides. They use tons of money and arm twisting to shape the food pyramid guide in a way that promotes eating a lot of meat. If the government says it is okay to eat meat three times a day, then most people will. Does the government or the meat industry care that excessive animal consumption leads to cholesterol and heart issues, as well increasing your risk for cancers and causing mutations in DNA . The beef and poultry industries care more about the bottom line than your safety. For example, hormones, chemicals, pesticides, and vaccines that get pumped into the animals at the typical meat mill farm is absorbed and ingested by you when you eat the burger and chicken cutlet. This is the same meat you buy in the supermarket under brand and store labels.

Where does this leave you? Do you stop eating meat and become a vegetarian? This is certainly a great option. But what if you don’t want to become a vegetarian? What if you like to eat burgers and wings? First I recommend learning more about the meat that you are eating. Take a peak around sites like People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. Yes, this group is a bit extreme, but they also have great information and eye opening videos to learn in the inside scoop on the meat industry. Need more insight, try this, or this story from Cornell University, US Could Feed 800 Million People with the Grain that Livestock Eat.

If you still want to eat burgers and Turkey at Thanksgiving here are the rules I recommend to my clients. No more than one serving of meat a day. This includes beef, poultry, pork and fish. Are you concerned you won’t get enough protein eating little or no meat, then consider this.

Does this guy look like he needs to eat more protein?
He is a vegan eating only plants.

What about this lady?

She eats only plants too.

What about a baby?

A breast feed human infant gets between 3% and 9% of her diet from protein. This is the point with more rapid and substantial growth and development than at any other time in our lives. If an infant in her critical stage of development needs such little protein, than why would we need more as adults?

Hmmmm, something to think about!

The bottom line.
Eat no more than 4 ounces of meat a day. Less is better. Eat more veggies, fruits, nuts, grains, seeds, and other quality foods. If you are eating healthy balanced meals with lots of plant foods you will get plenty of protein. You will live longer, healthier, and feel better for it.
Bon Appetite

Get healthy! Easier and Faster!

What do you think is involved with getting healthy? Eating right and exercising, right? That is part of it, but there is a greater picture.

The fundamental foundation of weight loss and living healthy is burning more calories than you use. You probably already know that. But have you considered that you can be (and should be) burning more calories throughout the day even when you are not exercising? Simple events can change your life, improve your health and increase the speed while making it easier.

Here’s how to do it. Burn more calories by doing these same things you are doing now, but in a better way.

• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Park in the back of the lot instead of circling until you get the closest spot.
• Walk at a faster pace.
• Swing your arms while walking.
• Get happy! Laughing burns more calories.
• Walk to the mailbox instead of getting it from your car window.
• Play outdoor activities with your children.
• Print at the copier at the other end of the office.
• Walk to the bathroom on the other side of the office.
• Walk to the printer or bathroom like you are on a mission!
• Take a brisk walk at lunch. You will also be more awake in the afternoon.
• Un-automate part of your life.

Obviously this won’t replace your exercise program, but this will boost your success. Each little change will burn 10-50 additional calories. Add several of these each day and you can loose an additional pound or too a week.

Small changes can equal outstanding success!

Weight Loss Shock

As I looked out into the audience this past Saturday during my seminar, I shocked some of the audience when I began talking about weight loss and getting into peak health. The speech was promoted as “Success Without Limits” and the description included information about achieving success, as well as including my coaching and fitness information. Everyone should have expected some discussion about heath and fitness. But nonetheless, I got some surprised looks and a few rolled eyes when I began my closing segment about getting into peak physical shape.

Would it matter how much success you had if your heart stopped after 58 years?
Do want to spend your retirement years propped up by a little day-of-the-week pill box?

Staying is peak physical shape is paramount to anything you do in life. It must be the foundation of your life if you want to experience the vitality and energy in the way you were designed. Don’t grow old ... Grow better.

It takes only a few minutes a day to get into and stay in peak physical condition. These few minutes each day has a return on investment approaching infinity. What is it worth to live an extra 20 healthy active years? More birthdays, graduations, weddings, smiles, laughter, and tender moments.

Make the best investment you can.
Invest in yourself and your health.

Altitude of Attitude

I recently gave a keynote speech in Western Massachusetts titled, “Altitude of Attitude.” The purpose was to entertain, motivate, and most importantly help create an emotional shift in the audience. I shared a story about my experience with a horrific auto accident that nearly took my life when I was just beginning my teenage years. Then I talked about how that event shaped my life, but even with this perspective I am always growing and nurturing my attitude.

Life is incredibly fragile and precious. Every hug, thank you, and handshake must be cherished and shared with your complete attention and soul. We get so caught up in keeping up with the speed of life that we forget to do the most fundamental and important things.

If today were your last day, would it matter that yesterday you argued over dishes in the sink, you were late to an engagement, or your son misbehaved? What matters most is that you gave your all to your family, friends and work.

Remember to cherish those you love by taking care of yourself first. Love yourself first and give yourself the greatest gift you can; the gift of health and vibrancy; Physical, emotional, and psychological health. Nurture all three and then you will have even more to give to those who are most important in your life.

What is the Altitude of your Attitude?

Grass Root

Sometimes you get lucky. On a recent trip to Tampa Florida I googled “vegan restaurant.” Only one location came up and it was only about 15 minutes away, so I jumped in my rented Pontiac Solstice convertible (incredibly wild car) and headed to the restaurant Grass Root.


At first I drove right past, this is not the neighborhood you would expect to find a great eatery, but I looped around and saw a line of cars parked out front. That many cars in this little restaurant, it must have something going on. I went in and was nicely surprised. The place is simple and chic and draws the kind of crowd you would expect. A wonderful mix of affluent fifty-something yuppies to the group of twenty-something back packers. Very cool crowd.

The menu was amazing. This wasn’t just a vegan restaurant, but also serves organic living raw food. For clarification, vegan means no meat or dairy products. Raw food means uncooked vegan meals consisting of vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. For most this sounds extreme, but until you have had a fabulously prepared raw food meal - you have not eaten. Grass Roots is a must if you are in the Tampa area.

What I had: The Incredible Hulk (juice bar), Wheat grass shot, Raw Sushi (no fish), and Marrakesh. My complete meal was raw and living foods. It rocked!

Since being introduced to the raw food lifestyle, I try to incorporate living raw foods as much as I can. It is often easy to prepare and there is no cook time or clean up of pots and pans. I have several raw food cook books to learn the craft. For example, last night I cut up cucumber, parsnip, yellow squash, green peppers, a peach, and put them in the food processor with olive oil and a little bit of bread crumbs (bread is not raw food, but I like the texture). I then stuffed the mix into a bell red pepper and served it. 10 minutes and I have a great meal. Fabulous! Even my 2 year old enjoyed it.

If your think veggies are boring, you need to learn a new way to prepare them. Eat at a place like Grass Root and you will have a new love for veggies.

Live raw foods will extend your life and reduce most disease risks!

Croix Sather - Ironman RI results

Have you ever made a goal so big you wondered if it was really possible? I entered the Rhode Island Ironman 70.3 with the sole intention of finishing without stopping and breaking 7 hours. Sure I would like to be in the top 10%, but I this .....

Check out my full post Ironman story at TriathlonLifestyle.

The Ultimate Challenge in New England

Imagine your wake up call at 3 am in your hotel room. You get up and head down to the lobby where there are dozens of people having an early breakfast. No this isn’t a strange breakfast group meeting, although some of the attendees may be certifiable. The groups heads down to the beach and the gun fires at 6am. The first racers are in the water and then almost two thousand athletes follow.

An Ironman 70.3 race starts with a 1.2 mile swim, then a 56 mile bicycle race, and ends with a half marathon of 13.1 miles for a total of 70.3 miles. The pros will finish in just under 4 hours, but other athletes will never finish at all. Each contestant has a 9 hour window to finish the race or you are stopped and disqualified.

This is my first Ironman race and it is also the first Ironman race in Providence, RI. I have done several shorter triathlons, but never this race of races. Some say an Ironman is the ultimate test of endurance and internal strength. I believe it is an amazing opportunity to push your physical and mental limitations further than most even dare. It is not about about the first place win for most, but one against oneself. Throughout most of the race, psychology is more important that physical strength.

I am very excited to be able to participate in this race. This event will be a growing moment for me, about 25,000 moments to be accurate. I hope to finish in about 7 hours. I believe that if you are not growing you are dying. In the end I know that I will be a champion no matter what the race clock reads when I cross the line.

More on this race next week. I may be sitting on my couch with my laptop unable to move for several days. I say this only partially tongue and cheek. My wife is coming with me not to see me cross the finish line, but to drive my Gumby like body 3 hours back home.

I plan on competing in a full Ironman (double the length of this race) within the next year, but ask me that after this Sunday and I will let you know if I am still enamored with that idea.

What’s your ultimate challenge?
Live Fit, Laugh Often, Love Most .... Life is a wonderful ride!

Weight Loss Magic

Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to see motivational speaker and magician, Jim Snack. He was fabulous. The audience left the room jazzed, amazed, and motivated. Jim used a fabulous combination of magic, humor, and tricks to captivate the audience and also teach us some valuable lessons.

Lesson One: Sometimes you don’t see the obvious directly in front of you!

Using 5 pens on a desk he would arrange them in a pattern that correlated with a number. He would rearrange them and tell you the number. It was the audience’s job to figure out the pattern. I can’t tell you the solution to the game because that would ruin the surprise. The point is that the solution was so obvious, so transparent and clear, but still over 90 percent of the audience could not figure it out until it was explained. Then we all had a DOH! moment.

How does this relate to a healthy lifestyle, weight loss and a Better Body? The solution is this; sometimes you can’t see what is right in front of you even if it is obvious and in plain sight because of your conditioned patterns of problem solving. The patterns have developed all your life. The teachings of your parents, friends, teachers, and bosses have pigeonholed you into a particular way of thinking and problem solving. A way of thinking that is not always beneficial to your goals.

When someone tries to lose weight with diet after diet and she doesn’t get the long-term effect that she is looking for – this is obviously not an effective strategy. But this is exactly what people do, over and over and over. Hve you ever don this? If something doesn’t work, then try something else. Don’t do the same thing over and over and expect different results (see yesterday’s post about insanity).

When you give up dieting and decide to change your lifestyle you will begin to make permanent progress towards a healthy life and leave your weight struggles behind. You won’t always do the right thing and you won’t always find the best solutions in the beginning. Take another look and try to find the obvious that is right in front of you. What are you doing that can be tweaked or changed? What are you doing that can be taken to the next level? It is the accumulation of small changes that create BIG results!

The magic of healthy living is seeing the obvious that is right in front of you!

Live Fit, Laugh Often, Love Most! Life is a Wonderful Ride!

Insanity of Weight Loss

You have probably heard this phrase, but it is certainly worth repeating. “If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got.” In other words, insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Be brave to change your habits to a healthy and fit lifestyle. Do be brave to withstand the pain and discomfort of your current habits. If you spend your life eating garbage processed foods, you will hate life later and complain that you should have done something when you were younger.

I like to ask people, “If you could go back and do anything different in your life for your health, what would it be?” Inevitably it is some version of living a healthier lifestyle; I would eat less junk food; I would exercise more; I would be more active. Then I ask, “Why don’t you start now?” I am met with a look of dumbfoundness as if to say, “I can do that?”

It is never too late and anything improvement you do will help you in as little as a few days. It doesn’t have to be, “Stop this lazy junk food life! I am getting off!” But, it could. Small changes can make dramatic results.

Stop the insanity and create the life of your dreams.

The Best Weekend Ever

Last weekend I attended “The Best Weekend Ever” with David Wolfe and Peter Ragnar. It was a great weekend and I learned a lot from the best raw food nutritionists in the world. A raw foodist eats only veggies, fruits, nuts, legumes and basically anything that grows. This is stricter than a vegetarian or even a vegan because a raw foodist only eats raw food, never cooked.

The event was well attended with about 150 people for a 3-day seminar. David Wolfe talked about raw foods and explained the purpose and benefit of each. The most beautiful thing about David is that he is so genuine and approachable. He ate lunch and dinner with us, and answered so many question. Not to mention his incredible and depth of knowledge about nutrition. Peter Ragnar talked about his philosophies for health and balance in life via (seamless) 2-way video conferencing. Yes we even got ask Peter questions with the live video conferencing. Peter doesn’t leave his mountaintop. He is in his senior years, but you would never know it by the way he moves. His physical body is decades younger than his chronological age (which he won’t share). There were other speakers, that were also amazing and I will bring you information about them in future blog posts.

With a healthy and balanced life, every weekend can be the Best Ever!