Healthy High Achiever Blog

I was reading a post by my good friend Scott Tousignant, who publishes the sites, Unstoppable Fat Loss and The Fit Bastard.

He titled his post, "The Lifestyle Approach To Fat Loss Is A Bunch Of Crap!"

He is a very passionate guy and when it comes to fat loss and fitness challenges, I pay attention to what he has to say. That said, I don’t always agree with everything he has to say. To that end we are going to debate this via webcast in early August.

Go there and read it…

Here is the post that he made recently on the Unstoppable fat loss blog.

My initial thoughts to you, then my response to his article…

The funny thing is, we are saying something similar. Maybe even the same thing at times, and this opens up the debate… it’s not one or the other… a Lifestyle plan or fat loss, fitness program, I think it’s both. Particularly because if your lifestyle has gone awry, you must get your lifestyle back on track, before you’re going to be successful in any fat loss or fitness challenge or sustain the results.

We need a lifestyle plan for optimal health, energy and fitness and to live at or near our ideal weight all year round. Once you get really masterful about lifestyle, and have been through enough diet, fat loss and fitness programs, you eventually can change your lifestyle and create new routines for yourself, on the fly, as you get feedback on your ability to perform. Symptoms like weight gain, after all, are the result of overwhelm and exhaustion, for some, fatigue.

But until that point, a lifestyle plan AND either a fat loss or fitness program to challenge yourself will serve your needs. One reinforces the other.

Keep in mind, that Healthy High Achievers don’t view lifestyle in terms of fat loss or fitness "goals". We see our goals as those things we want to achieve in life, business and sport in a healthy way (at or near our ideal weight) and most everything else as an objective in the process. That way, we don’t make more out of fitness and fat loss than they need to be, or obsess. This is a powerful point of view that makes a big difference.

When fat loss and fitness become the goals themselves, this changes.

Here is my response….

I would love to debate this publicly Scott, as I think everyone would benefit from the lifestyle plan / fat loss - fitness program debate, if you are up for it and think it would benefit others as much as I do. By the sound of your article and interview, it sounds like you are.

Hey Scott,

As you may have suspected, it was inevitable that you were going to prompt a debate from me on this one. I think this lifestyle / fat loss program debate is one of THE most important subjects when it comes to developing an elite body… fat loss and fitness, health and success

Glad you got the conversation started here. As a Fit Bastard reader, I wanted to share my thoughts and in the end, what being "unstoppable" means to me.  

"The Lifestyle approach to "fat loss" is a bunch a crap!"

I agree BIG time, and disagree BIG time with that statement, but I think I know where you are going with it…

The truth we share; if you are going to take charge of an out-of-shape body, you have to take things to the next level. You have to challenge yourself to create a new "set point" and go into a period where you raise the bar on the quality of the food you are eating, your activity and training levels. This promotes personal growth and development, fitness and… fat loss. 

Scott, you are one of the best in the business of helping people with fat loss. 

I am the best in the business when it comes developing a health and success promoting lifestyle… getting your lifestyle working for you, not against you by making the lifestyle shifts that make the difference. 

In a Performance Lifestyle, we refer to "Challenge Periods"; if you want to loss weight and significant amounts of it, YOU WILL during a challenge period, not to mention develop new levels of personally powerful, confidence building fitness. It only happens when you challenge yourself.

To that end, that’s why I promote the Fit Bastard, and other select fat loss and fitness programs. I agree with you; as you said we have to mix it up to "challenge our bodies in new and unique ways."   

But you know, overweight is the most obvious symptom of a poor lifestyle so we have to be careful not to discount or cloud the subject of lifestyle one iota.

A poor "Lifestyle" is the reason why someone has to lose significant amounts of weight to begin with.

It depends on what kind of lifestyle you have.

A "traditional lifestyle" causes the overweight condition. If, for example, you are living a life of moderation in everything (which is a failing proposition), you ARE coping out.

The traditional "moderation in everything" lifestyle is an impotent approach to life… when you are all caught up consuming stuff that’s really consuming you and your energy, like junk food and junk TV and so much "convenience" that you don’t have to move your deconditioned body… you look around and you think it’s normal to be that way; it’s not. Don’t get me started! 

But if you live like athletes do, this a very different deal; not to mention a better quality of life.

YOU, already have a great "athletic" lifestyle so when you challenge yourself, you’re going from great to even better. That you don’t have to strip off mounds of pounds is because you have a "Lifestyle plan"; a lifestyle approach to fitness… I would think that’s why you are successful at challenging yourself!

So let’s clarify… I think your point is, if you think your going to push to new heights living on a never-ending fat loss or fitness program "for life", that idea IS a bunch of crap. Amen brother! 

That is NOT a successful lifestyle.

But to say that a lifestyle plan or lifestyle approach to fat loss is a bunch of crap, is where I take debate; it depends on what kind of lifestyle you’re living.

BTW, the "purpose" of our lifestyle is not to lose weight. When we change our lifestyle, fat loss is usually a benefit because we’re living better, and this symptom lessens. The point of changing our lifestyle is to achieve our goals more successfully, in a healthier way.  

I for one, do the same thing that you do, which is to challenge myself with a new fitness routine or "program" that raises the bar every couple of months; but "for me" those challenge periods are not back to back, they take place when I’m ready to go to the next level.

Like you, I have a lot more going on in my life than fitness and I don’t need to be ready for the beach all year round or the Olympics for that matter.

My lifestyle is optimized, it is athletic, health and fitness promoting so I can sustain success. It also enables me to maximize the results I can achieve in any challenge period.

I think the reason most people are unsuccessful with  fat loss or fitness programs, of any kind, is because they have poor lifestyles underlying their attempt.  Suffering from overwhelm and exhaustion, for some fatigue, will STOP you in your tracks despite your good intentions and desire to succeed.

No lifestyle plan, means you are STOPPABLE! 

Living non stop on weight loss or fitness program’s and without a successful lifestyle to fall back on, is very challenging.

I know you are not saying don’t have a healthy or successful lifestyle, but I have to debate the "Lifestyle approach" "Lifestyle Plan" semantics in your article, because a lifestyle fitness plan is required if you are going to be successful with fat loss and fitness.

When we don’t have a lifestyle plan or strategy, we ARE relegated to weight loss programs for the rest of our life, which I know is not something you do or advise anyone else does; but that IS what most people are doing.

Our lifestyles, over time, enable us to live at or near our ideal weight… all the time, but the "challenge period" is required to take things to the next level, and we need this from time to time. If getting closer to elite fitness, and a beach body is your objective, bottom line, you have to challenge yourself.

I think that is what you are saying.  Is that right?

I’m saying that if you don’t have a lifestyle reinforcing your health (energy and fitness) and your success, you will hop from program to program and this is a chaise-your-tail way to live and not a true lifestyle, maybe not even an enjoyable one for many. Depending on your lifestyle it can be down right crappy.

What I know to be true about you is different. Let’s clarify.

I for one, even though I live a Performance Lifestyle, don’t want to be challenged non stop. I sometimes need extended periods of the status quo, but because my lifestyle is naturally athletic and based on sound fundamentals, the status quo doesn’t promote significant weight gain.

Sure I’ll gain a few, when I’m not challenging myself, but that’s normal. Weight fluctuates, especially if you factor in time periods of great stress. Stress of the wrong kind, has that affect. I am going through one of those periods right now and I’ve gained some weight, even though I live incredibly well.  

The funny thing is, we are saying something similar. Maybe even the same thing, and this my friend opens up the debate… it’s not one or the other, I think it’s both!

We need a lifestyle plan and fitness / fat loss programs to take things to the next level, that’s what being truly "unstoppable" means to me. 

I would love to debate this publicly Scott, as I think everyone would benefit from the lifestyle plan / fat loss - fitness program debate, if you are up for it and think it would benefit others as much as I do. By the sound of your article and interview, it sounds like you are. 

PS, I could lose a few pounds, so as soon as I’m ready, I think I’m going to challenge myself.

PPS, I’m soon going to put myself through 8 weeks of your  Fit Bastard workouts. Yeah.

John Allen Mollenhauer is the founder Performance Lifestyle Solutions, the better healthier ways to achieve your goals in life, business and sport. As a former worn down workaholic turned healthy high achiever John Allen (aka “JAM”) will teach you how to Live Like a Pro, optimizing your lifestyle the way athletes do. He is the creator of the Healthy High Achiever - Unleash the Full Potential of Your Lifestyle to Perform, Look and Feel Better!

Note: This is not a political email.

If you are following the Presidential Election at all these days, and regardless of your political persuasion, you have to admit that Barack Obama, is pretty impressive. Even John McCain admits that.

Well in the spirit of the Healthy High Achiever I thought you might like to read a recent post I found on the the campaign site. Its notice to me that the idea of the living like a pro (like an athlete) is here to stay.

By Leo - Apr 18th, 2008 at 9:39 pm EDT

Perhaps many of you are not into sports, but have you ever watched a great athlete in action, at his or her peak? Textbooks call it the ‘out of body’ experience. The athlete is so focused on the task at hand that he is literally unaware of his surroundings (outside of the game at hand). It’s like he already knows the moves of his opponent. It’s almost like he can read minds and leap or jump beyond the abilities of a normal human being … and gracefully, like it takes no effort at all. Everything clicks. Everything flows. It took many years of muscle repetition, many years of studying the game, many years of training the mind. The head game every bit as important as the physical game. Many athletes spend their entire lives only dreaming of this ability. They work hard all their lives until at some point their abilities begin to fade … how depressing … never being able to reach the ultimate plateau. Never becoming the professional they dreamed of. How many of us, while watching a professional athlete on TV, really sit there and think; for every one that makes it, there are countless thousands that have tried and tried. They spent the better part of their life as a slave to the sport; to the dream, only to fail. They remain poor financially, but what’s so depressing to them is not the money, but the failure to reach the dream. It creates a sick feeling in the pit of their gut … one that never goes away.  

Mr. Barack Obama has a gift for leading the people of this country. Like a professional athlete at the peak of his career, I believe Barack Obama can achieve a similar state, one like the athlete achieving the ‘out of body’ experience. Not thousands but millions of people supporting him and backing his every move. Other nations across the world watching with starry eyes and saying, “Wow … what an amazing leader the United States of America has! He utilizes his great speaking skills to build camaraderie with other nations, like never before. More and more the people of the United States realize not only have they made the right decision, they have made the ONLY DECISION! Destiny! The same feeling of a great athlete performing at his or her peak …

The point that I think stands out so strongly here was also reinforced by a recent post by actor and activist Alex Baldwin in an article at the Huffington Post who points out that the real difference between McCain and Obama is not one of age, but of "condition".

The problem with John McCain is not his age, it’s his condition. McCain’s true lack of the abundant energy required to function as president, even performing the job on the most basic level, is what must be questioned. Perhaps McCain could have served in the 1950s, back in a time when the job was significantly less complicated than it is today.

However, the world has grown far more dangerous and complicated in the last decade. (I know this because the Bush administration has worked incredibly hard for eight years to convince me of this.) The world today requires that we have a president who has the mental and physical capability and stamina to face issues such as terrorism, global warming and the energy crisis we are currently steeped in, not to mention the link between all three…

The ideas of energy and condition are not usually points to consider when electing a present, but they are today. We do need a president that is vital and powerful!

John Allen Mollenhauer is the founder Performance Lifestyle Solutions, the better healthier ways to achieve your goals in life, business and sport. As a former worn down workaholic turned healthy high achiever John Allen (aka “JAM”) will teach you how to Live Like a Pro, optimizing your lifestyle the way athletes do. He is the creator of the Healthy High Achiever - Unleash the Full Potential of Your Lifestyle to Perform, Look and Feel Better!

Actually, is telling someone to live a “healthier lifestyle” really effective?

If I ask 100 or 1000 people, almost 90% or more will tell me they are living a "healthier lifestyle"; that they are eating better, or less, exercising more, going to bed a little earlier, taking vitamins, drinking purified water, nurturing their spirit etc; some combination of "better" steps they are taking to improve their lifestyle.  

This is good, particularly in light of the massive downward trend to overweight and health complications, on a population basis, that is going on right now. This trend to overweight is the root cause of all the poor health statistics you are hearing about in the news.

Now I will always be first in line to applaud even the smallest efforts to improve. I myself take small steps to improve my lifestyle all the time. That’s the way it’s done successfully, with a view on where you want to or need to get to for reasons that inspire you.

But guess what…

Most people are still overwhelmed, exhausted and overweight, and candidates for health complications.  Why? Because they are doing all of this on top of an iceberg of other stuff that has the opposite effect, or they are making changes but simply not at a high enough level to be effective or experience the results they seek…  

"Better" and "healthier" are uniquely relative, border line ambiguous terms with countless meanings depending on who you talk with.

I have been promoting "healthy lifestyle" for a long time and still do. But today, I promote the healthiest, most successful lifestyle approach on the planet. It’s called Performance Lifestyle and it is based on the defined fundamentals of successful living that healthy, high achieving people know and live by.

Its a natural system…

Why do I call Performance Lifestyle the healthiest most successful lifestyle approach on the planet? That’s pretty bold. I answer the question below.

The main reason it’s called "performance" lifestyle and not a healthy lifestyle, is because all wellness, health and fitness concepts are taught in the context of quality of life (our ability to function and perform well) and success (the real goals we want to achieve in life, business and or sport).

A Performance Lifestyle is a healthy lifestyle, but a healthy lifestyle is not necessarily a Performance Lifestyle or going to promote your success at the same level.

Simply put, Performance Lifestyle brings the never-before-assembled fundamentals of a health and success promoting lifestyle together into a natural system you can act on. Your ability to perform well bridging the gap between health and success, it clears up the ambiguity of what it means to truly live "healthy".

Your ability to perform "well", will let you know how healthy you really are.

Hint: your ability to perform well requires lifestyle skills that go beyond sleep, food and fitness.

The problem with simply living healthier is this…

How do you gauge success on an hour to hour, day to day, week to week basis?

And what’s your motivation to really live better, besides prevention, or weight loss, neither of which are natural goals? Of course, if you are in a health crisis, you will be motivated, but for purposes of this article, I’m assuming you are not in crisis. 

In a Performance Lifestyle your reasons for living better are stronger and your understanding of successful living is broader simply because it’s about sustainability and success for you.

It’s the way athletes live.

In a performance lifestyle "better" and "healthier" are relatively defined. These terms still apply, but now in the context of where you’re headed, whats possible and what may need to happen for you to get the results you want.

A good deal of the ambiguity is taken out of the equation, particularly because you are focused on your real goals and again you measure success by your ability to perform "well" versus your weight for example, which is an "effect" of how you live, not the "goal" of how you live.

Here’s what the Washington post had to say about this shift in mindset that makes all the difference in the world.

You, an Athlete?
It’s Not Such a Strange Concept; Think Like One and See What Happens

By Laura S. Jones
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, April 17, 2007; Page HE07

Calling all athletes. Yes, you. Who did you think? Stop laughing — you’ll snort coffee all over the paper…

Performance Lifestyle is a completely different mindset than simply living healthier.

Action Tip: As you go through your day today what thoughts and feelings kick in when you know you need to take care of yourself in some unique way, but you’re focused on a task, or a goal?

Journal this and share your comment below.  

In my upcoming posts let’s discuss the differences between a healthy lifestyle and the healthiest most successful way to live. If you want to perform, look and feel better without the struggle, this is a conversation you want to be part of.

I look forward to your comments.

Live like a pro!

John Allen Mollenhauer is the founder Performance Lifestyle Solutions, the better healthier ways to achieve your goals in life, business and sport. As a former worn down workaholic turned healthy high achiever John Allen (aka “JAM”) will teach you how to Live Like a Pro, optimizing your lifestyle the way athletes do. He is the creator of the Healthy High Achiever - Unleash the Full Potential of Your Lifestyle to Perform, Look and Feel Better! 

I have spent years helping people improve their ability to perform "well", their health (energy and fitness), essentially their quality of their life, as I have improved mine.

If there was one underlying quality I’ve identified in those who are more consistent at taking care of themselves and achieving their goals in a healthy way, that has made the difference, it is this… emotional fitness: a resilient sense of self.

I can tell you from personal experience, that it is overly challenging to live a lifestyle that works for you, if you have a "fragile" sense of self and are not resilient due to a lack of emotional fitness. Think about it… combine a fragile sense of self with even the early stages of overwhelm and exhaustion, and you could find yourself knee deep in depression, food or alcohol to numb the pain. Needless to say this is not resiliency.

Resiliency is when you are able to free yourself from emotional hangup and move forward. A resilient sense of self, means you have emotional fitness and it needs to be developed.

If your ability to express your drives, needs and feelings are bound in shame and guilt, your emotional fitness has not been developed well. If so, you will find yourself frequently stuck (the primary symptom), and your ability to endure change will be weak. Life today can be nerve wracking and chronically painful if you don’t have the ability to change.

The way to develop emotional fitness, is to embrace the discomfort you feel when doing those things (make those changes) that stress you. Basically, getting grounded in the experience you are having difficulty with is the way to develop emotional fitness and it’s not easy to do, particularly if you are a perfectionist or suffering from Performance Addiction.

Of course, I ‘m not talking about situations that are unsafe. What I’m referring to here are those situations that simply challenge your emotional capacity, those aspects of yourself or routines, or actions that you don’t have confidence in… yet.

If you don’t embrace the development of emotional fitness, simple day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute changes can be hard to make and the reality is, this can’t be if you want to live with sustainability… 

An inability to manage your emotions leads to an avoidance lifestyle which can have major consequences over time, beginning with the downward trend.

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You’ve heard me say that "your lifestyle" is the way in which you achieve your goals. If this is true, then being able to change your lifestyle is fundamental to successful living.

Just imagine the handicap you’re living with if you are not emotionally fit. Life requires that we be nimble, agile and flexible, healthy, energetic, strong and enduring, empathic with ourselves and others, and able to communicate to be successful. Each of these qualities requires strong, emotionally fit hardwiring to support it.

If you are feeling in doubt as you read this, thinking you are lacking in this area, you’re not alone. Actually you are part of a huge group of people (practically a population) who is sorting through their past as they try to cope, adapt to and thrive in the modern day endurance test we all face today.

In other words, none of us is used to the pace of life these days and we’re all building emotional fitness by default, let alone waking up the reality that a healthy high performing body is not an option - the result of your lifestyle. The question is whether or not you are embracing this process, or trying as much as possible to avoid the pain of adapting.

Hint: embracing the discomfort is the way to go.

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Performance Lifestyle training teaches us how to adapt our lifestyle to meet and exceed the demands in our lives and how to maintain quality of life, even in the face of relentless demand.

Performance Lifestyle requires emotional fitness.

Personally, despite my ability to feel the fear and do it anyway (at least a good portion of the time), I have often dealt with undue stress and struggle. I did not develop strong emotional fitness growing up. And at one time or another, it has made just about every aspect of my lifestyle and goal achievement hard.

Developing emotional fitness is still a challenge, I’m just more confident now that I have embraced the need for it and am no longer avoiding emotional experiences. Learning how to develop emotional fitness and the resilient sense of self that ensues, has been the journey of my life, and I know for fact, I’m not alone in this journey.

Share your thoughts…

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John Allen Mollenhauer is the Founder of Performance Lifestyle Solutions, the better healthier ways to achieve your goals in life, business and sport. As a former worn down workaholic turned healthy high achiever John Allen (aka “JAM”) will teach you how to Live Like a Pro,optimizing your lifestyle the way athletes do. He is the creator of the Healthy High Achiever - Unleash the Full Potential of Your Lifestyle to Perform, Look and Feel Better!