I got 99 problems and my spouse is one...

Being that Fit with Farrar is a duo....yeah, we're married (in case you missed that memo)....we often field the question of "How do I get my spouse motivated to do this with me?" or we hear "I'm trying, but my spouse isn't supportive and sabotages my progress!"
Having a spouse, partner, or significant other who isn't on-board (or worse, is completely against) with your attempt at leading a healthier lifestyle can be extremely tough. It can make it harder on you to maintain your changes and it can add stress and resentful feelings between you both.

Now, no one is saying you have to be like this...

You certainly could if you wanted, but we just want to give you a few quick tips on how to get your spouse on the healthy habits wagon with you.

• Avoid "shoulds" - we all know when someone tells you should or need, you automatically resist.
   
• Focus on their positives. Instead of criticizing when they're exhibiting unhealthy habits, put your focus into recognizing and pointing out when they exhibit a healthy habit. (Helpful side-note: this also works for children and managing behaviors!)
  
• Show them how great it can be. Let them see you work out and have that smile/endorphin rush. Talk about how delicious your healthy meal is!
  
• Focus on the benefits outside of the scale. Point out how good you feel, how much better you sleep,etc.
  
• Be consistent. For your sake and for theirs. 

It's not likely to happen overnight. I (Tim) was several months into my lifestyle change before Lindsay got on board too. Also, don't feel like you can't do anything without them. You can make a lifestyle change without your spouse....yes, it helps a million times over if they're on-board too, but it's not impossible to do without them! Just stay focused, be consistent, and use some of the tips above....we'd be willing to bet money they'll come around.

In Health,

Tim and Lindsay
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The Evolution of Our Healthy Lifestyle

People throw the phrase around a lot...

"It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change."

But for us, it is now 3-4 years later, so it clearly was a lifestyle change.

Typically, it is a healthy thing to look back once in a while, to see how far you've come and/or to see how things have changed and evolved. Our commitment to fitness and nutrition has certainly changed a lot over the last several years:

• We are much more in tune with our bodies
•  We know when to take a break before it gets to the point of an injury or exhaustion
•  Along that same line, we can see the true value of rest days
•  We are gaining a better understanding of what works bests for us nutritionally
  
• Less focus on calorie counting, more on actual nutrition
•  Initially, it was all calories in versus calories out. NO LONGER! Now, the focus is on nutritional value. Your body processes 100 calories of vegetables completely differently than a 100 calorie Chips Ahoy pack. (Sorry for the mini-rant, that's a whole other post topic!)
  
• We aren't stuck in a box and afraid to experiment
•  At first, anything that didn't involve a workout DVD (Lindsay) or a gym (Timothy), we wouldn't touch. Since then, we are constantly experimenting with all different kinds of training and can definitely say that cross-training (working out in a variety of ways) is the most effective.

Things have evolved in others ways too:

• Our inner circle of friends has changed dramatically
• This was a hard pill to swallow at first and we certainly felt lonely. But time has allowed us to let those people go and focus on connecting with those that we better relate to now that we've made this lifestyle change. BUT we are always hoping to have a positive impact on people, including those from our past, and help them become healthy with us. 
  
• Our outlook on our future has a different focus 
• At first, a lot of our healthy eating and working out was wrapped up in numbers, sizes, and looks. As our knowledge of nutrition and fitness improves, and with moving into different phases of our lives, the focus is less on sizes and looks and more on doing this to live longer and avoid chronic illnesses. Mid/Late 20's is not "old" but it is a time to be concerned about your future.  
  
• We cut ourselves way more slack
• Everything was so strict in the beginning: missing a workout was unfathomable and eating had to be on point at all times. Now, if life interferes and we miss a workout, it's okay. If our eating isn't clean or we have a food that is fried or has HFCS in it, it's okay. We know it doesn't happen often and we know we can fall right back in line immediately. *This isn't for people who are just starting. This came with time!* 

Overall, we are pretty darn pleased with the evolution of our healthy lifestyle thus far. We look forward to seeing how future life events will impact everything, particularly having a child. We'll keep you posted ;-)


In Health,

Lindsay and Timothy
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Nutrition 101, Part 1: What and How Much?

This is the first of a series of blog posts related to nutrition. It seems to be the hardest piece of the puzzle, the most difficult thing for people to make lasting, lifestyle changes with. We'll start with the basics in this post: how much to eat, what to eat, the make-up of your meals, and the timing of what you eat.

How Much to Eat: Finding Your Caloric Range

This process starts with determining your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This number is how many calories you'd burn if you stayed in bed all day; the number of calories your body uses just staying alive. Age makes your BMR go down and not eating enough food makes your BMR go down. There are tons of calculators online that you can use, like this one here. For any mathematicians or scientists out there who get off on numbers, here are the actual formulas:

BMR calculation for men (metric)	BMR = 66.5 + ( 13.75 x weight in kg ) + ( 5.003 x height in cm ) – ( 6.755 x age in years )
BMR calculation for men (imperial)	BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) – ( 6.76 x age in years )
BMR calculation for women (metric)	BMR = 655.1 + ( 9.563 x weight in kg ) + ( 1.850 x height in cm ) – ( 4.676 x age in years )
BMR calculation for women (imperial)	BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) – ( 4.7 x age in years )

As we mentioned, BMR is just what your body burns being at complete rest. Obviously, even really inactive folks do more than just stay in bed all day and night, so you need to add in an "activity factor" to your BMR. You can do that with these numbers: 

Little to no exercise	Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.2
Light exercise (1–3 days per week)	Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.375
Moderate exercise (3–5 days per week)	Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.55
Heavy exercise (6–7 days per week)	Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.725
Very heavy exercise (twice per day, extra heavy workouts)	Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.9

If you are unsure where you fall with activity factors, go with the lesser one. More often than not, you don't burn as much/aren't as active as you think you are. Once you have your BMR plus activity factor, that's the number of calories you would need to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose weight at a healthy rate of 1 pound per week, you would need to reduce your magic daily number by 500 calories, either by increased exercise or cutting it from your diet/caloric need. 

What To Eat & The Makeup of Your Meals

While how much to eat is just a simple numbers game, what to eat is a wee-bit more complicated. People choose to utilize various nutrition and dietary guidelines: some prefer vegetarian/vegan, paleo, etc. The USDA puts out this as a guideline:

This isn't "horrible" and is certainly better than the old pyramid; BUT - for our nutrition, we'd make a couple tweaks: make the grains much smaller, less dairy (or at least organic, grassfed, hormone-free dairy only) and increase the protein. Unless you have specific dietary guidelines (like vegan and the others we mentioned before), this is definitely a good place to start! 

You should try to have the makeup of your meals the same throughout the day: a good amount of protein, some wholesome carbs (vegetables are the preferred!), and a little bit of healthy fat. 

Timing of What You Eat

Hmmm....tricky. For the lay-person, someone just getting started, or someone just wanting to live a more healthy lifestyle, it can be pretty simple: eat the bulk of your carbs early in the day, eat when you are hungry, and try to have smaller meals more often rather than just one or two humongous meals. Pre and post workout nutrition is also important (Pre: slow digesting, fibrous carbs and lean protein; Post: fast digesting proteins and carbs). Now the reason we say tricky is because this is an area we are still researching ourselves, mostly about the concept of intermittent fasting. More to come on that in the future, but for now, just K.I.S.S. with the basic rules! 

Okay - how ya feelin? Don't get overwhelmed - it really is not that scary! Figure out your caloric intake for either maintaining or losing weight, eat the good stuff, and taper what you eat throughout the day. 

If you are interested in discussing this information on a more individualized level, let us know! We'd be glad to consult with you and develop a plan based around your personal goals and needs. Email: fitwithfarrar@gmail.com or message us on Facebook!

Part 1 of Nutrition 101 is done! Keep an eye out for Part 2!!

In Health, 

Timothy and Lindsay