Here are some tips to help you stay on track with your fitness over the holidays. And in case any of you are wondering, I’ll be doing every single one of these tips this Thanksgiving. Not just whistling Dixie over here!
Go for Walks – First thing in the morning and after meals. This is one of the easiest ways to combat overeating and put those extra calories to good use! Walking offers so many health benefits like promoting digestion and helping send a signal to your body that you’re done eating. It also gives you the opportunity to connect with loved ones and get some exercise in the process.
Lift Weights – A good weight training session will ensure that your Thanksgiving calories are put to good use by increasing your strength and boosting your metabolism! I’ll be lifting intensely in the days and minutes leading up to Thanksgiving for sure! Before you decide to do a bunch of cardio to make up for your Thanksgiving celebration, I recommend that you lift some weights instead, which will put those calories to much better use!
Get Good Sleep – Sleeping well the night before can help reduce cravings and keep your metabolism firing on all cylinders.
Reduce Stress – Hopefully, the holidays are a time for fun and relaxation for you, but if they just leave you feeling stressed, I get it! Do some journaling, deep breathing, meditation to keep your emotions controlled and set your intentions for the day by focusing on gratitude and all the positive things about the holiday experience.
Eat Breakfast – Starving yourself leading up to the big meal can lead to binging. Keep your energy levels stable by having a healthy breakfast and then portioning your Thanksgiving meal appropriately.
Bring a Health Dish to Pass – This guarantees you will have healthy options at the dinner table to choose from.
Pick Protein over Fats – Eat more lean meat and veggies and have less gravies, casseroles, snacks, and desserts.
Eat Slowly & Thoughtfully – Enjoy your food, don’t just gobble it down. Take time to enjoy the people around you. Avoid the area where the food is after you’ve eaten so you’re less likely to overeat. Watch your portions and try to avoid going for seconds – I know, easier said than done! 8 in 10 Americans agree that they enjoy leftovers more than the actual meal itself.
Stay Hydrated – One of the best tactics you can use to avoid overeating. I drink water with every meal to help bring on the feeling of fullness.
Avoid Liquid Calories – Alcohol used to be a staple of every holiday for me, and I’m not alone. A survey of Americans found that 63% plan to drink wine with their Thanksgiving dinner, 19% plan to drink beer, and 10% plan to have mixed drinks. That means 92% of Americans will consume alcohol on Thanksgiving! I find that stat hard to believe, but maybe I’m living in a fantasy world. Alcohol, Egg Nog, Soda should be off limits! Stick with water and coffee! You’re far more likely to retain your calories as body fat when you’re throwing in alcohol on top of the food.
Here’s a bonus tip: Enjoy the holiday! – Don’t
get too worked up about your fitness goals. It’s a special time, so enjoy it! Keep
your goals in mind, but don’t obsess over them. Let loose and enjoy yourself.
Submit questions, comments, feedback to WiseEatsPodcast@gmail.com or to @weswisefitness on Instagram. Thanks for reading, Happy Thanksgiving, and make wise choices!
In October 2019, I drove 10.5 hours from my home in Mount Clemens, Michigan to Belmar, NJ, for the 3-day Dolce Diet Certification. The purpose of the trip was two-fold. First, to meet one of my long-time mentors, Mike Dolce. Second, to become a Dolce Diet Certified Coach.
The Location
This was my first time to the east coast and I loved the area! Belmar, NJ is a beautiful beach town and I couldn’t resist jumping in the ocean even though it was freezing! Bradley Beach has a vast boardwalk where you can sip coffee and go for a nice, long walk on the beach. I absolutely took advantage of this!
Stay Gold Cafe
I packed a weekend’s worth of food to have on the trip so I didn’t eat out at all, but Dolce did treat the entire class to a lunch at the Stay Gold Café, which had amazing coffee and delicious, healthy food options. Shout out to Stay Gold!
How I Found Mike Dolce
I originally lost 90lbs back in 2009 and didn’t even know who Dolce was at that point. I simply found a fitness website, got off the junk food, started exercising, and calorie restricted myself down to 180lbs from 270. Long story short, I got super sick after that from eating junk food and yo-yo dieting. Eventually, I had to turn to real, natural foods to heal my body, finally start feeling good, and eventually start building muscle. Losing weight had mistakenly been my focus for too long. Now, it was time to start getting strong, healthy, and building a physique that I desired, and Mike Dolce was a huge part of that process.
I found the Dolce Diet years after my initial weight loss and it was a game changer. His philosophies are simple but spot on: Eat real food based on activity levels, get plenty of exercise, stop poisoning yourself, stay hydrated, etc. It’s all just simple stuff that you’re not gonna see sitting on a store shelf or advertised on TV. It’s the basic fundamentals that we should all be doing, and it’s the things that I try to preach with Wise Eats.
Dolce is the real deal. I believe in his philosophies wholeheartedly because they 100% worked for me and they will work for you too. He’s been an inspiration for me to start Wise Eats and try to help others, as well.
Meeting the Man
It was a thrill to meet Mike Dolce and taking his certification course. His mentorship has been very influential in my own health journey. Not only did his principles influence my diet habits, but he also created the workout program that got me to finally fall in love with exercise many years ago: UFC Fit.
Dolce’s philosophy is based on principles to increase longevity and prevent disease, and hisresults speak for themselves. He’s one of the most successful fitness coaches in the world. He knows his stuff and I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. He’s also a super nice guy, energetic, knowledgeable, and eager to help. Nothing but good things to say about Dolce. He’s the man!
The
class itself was run similar to a college-level nutrition course and Q&A
with Dolce. Tons of amazing information. It covered nutrition, principles,
business, branding, monetization, and more. Plenty of open and honest
communication. He encouraged everyone to ask anything and everything.
As
far my classmates, it was a very diverse group of about 14 individuals: gym
owners, fighters, a podcast host, a lawyer, physical therapist, veterans,
coffee barista, and even a pest control technician. All highly motivated and
successful in their own respects.
The Dolce Diet Principles
Before
I get to my biggest takeaways from the experience, I’ll just share with
everyone, for those who don’t know, exactly what the Dolce Diet principles are.
I’ve been following these myself as closely as possible for many years.
Eat real foods in wide varieties from fresh
and natural sources
Eat every 2-4 hours based upon activity
Eat until satisfied, not until full
Drink mostly water, fresh brewed tea, and
black coffee
Exercise 30-60 minutes, 3-5 days per week
doing something you enjoy
Sleep 7.5-9 hours per night
Minimize stress by simplifying your life and
relations
Laugh often with friends and family
Love deeply and unconditionally
Mind your neighbor’s space and help those in
need
Biggest
Takeaways
Goal Setting
Dolce calls goal setting “the end to which all efforts are focused”. Time to eliminate distractions and put all effort into this one thing!
Mike Dolce’s “5Fs”: Fitness, Family, Finance, Future, For Me
Set goals in each of these categories every day and physically write them down.
I’ve kept a journal for the last 10 years, but about 6 months ago started a journal that is specifically geared toward goal setting.
My wife and I are now meeting each week to go over our 5F’s, compare, support one another, create joint goals, and get better together. This has already been a huge game changer in our relationship!
2. Networking
I made some terrific connections with people I hope to stay in contact with for a long time. I relish the opportunity to do more of this in the future. You’re the average of the people you surround yourself with!
Being surrounded by a group of like minded people was highly motivating and forced me to step my game up, think critically, and reflect on my own performance.
3. Integrity
Dolce preached that integrity is crucial to your success. Deliver results on time every single time. Over deliver whenever possible. And basically don’t be a scumbag, which I think I have nailed down already, I hope.
Mike declined a shirtless pose off, but I don’t blame him. Wouldn’t want to make him look bad on his home turf 🙂
Final Thoughts
I came away from the certification highly motivated and energized.
Day 1 was intense for me. Feeling lots of adrenaline. Meeting Dolce in his own gym, getting a feel for the course, meeting classmates.
Day 2 was absorbing information, Q&A, networking.
Day 3 was exam day, self-reflection, pictures, Q&A.
Attending this event developed a whole new sense of accountability within myself to get moving on my passions. I love to read books, listen to podcasts, write, create videos/articles, but I got something from this that you can’t get from doing any of that stuff. A truly unique event.
For anyone considering taking the course, I highly recommend it! It can help you further your business, but best of all, it will be an experience you’ll never forget!
Now,
I’m a Dolce Diet Coach!
So,
at the end of it all, I am officially a Dolce Diet certified coach! Does that
mean that overnight I have become an expert in fitness and nutrition? No, it
doesn’t. What it does mean, however, is that I now have the backing of a
globally recognized, world class health and fitness brand and have put myself
in a better position to help other people, which is exactly what my goal is.
If
I can help someone change one thing about their life that improves their
situation going forward, that’s amazing because their life will forever be transformed.
Just like I was 90 pounds overweight and got my health in order and completely
changed my life, maybe one little thing that someone sees or hears on this
podcast could be the catalyst that gets them to make a positive change in their
own life and that’s exactly why I’m doing it.
So,
I’m here to help. If you’re interested in getting healthy and improving your
physique, definitely send me your info and I’d be happy to share some tips and
advice based on my personal experience. But if you’re really ready to make a
serious commitment and have the backing of the world-class Dolce Diet team and
me as your coach, we can look at putting you into the 8-week personalized diet
program. If that’s something you’re interested in, hit me up at wiseeatspodcast@gmail.com
and we’ll discuss further.
Here is one of my favorite quotes from the course:
“When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use; when diet is correct, medicine is of no need.” – Ayurvedic Medicine
Thanks for reading this article. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me below. Be good to yourself, be good to others, and make wise choices!
Well, hello there, Wise Guys & Ghouls, and welcome to a special Halloween edition of Wise Eats! Halloween has always been one of my very favorite times of year, so we’re going to celebrate in style in today’s article. Let’s get the party started with some fun facts and history about Halloween. This info comes courtesy of Good Housekeeping and FactRetriever.com:
Halloween, also known as All Hallows’ Eve or Witches Night, goes back more than 2,000 years. It started as a pre-Christian Celtic festival called Samhain (which means “summer’s end”). It celebrated the final day of the harvest and the crossing of spirits over into the other world. People in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Northern France would ward off ghosts by lighting sacrificial bonfires and wearing costumes, according to History.com.
Halloween is the second highest grossing commercial holiday after Christmas. Consumers spent about $9 billion on Halloween in 2018. The average American spends about $86.79 on Halloween every year, including decorations, costumes, candy, and cards.
New York City throws the biggest Halloween parade in the U.S.
The largest pumpkin ever measured was grown by Norm Craven, who broke the world record in 1993 with an 836 lb. pumpkin.
Speaking of pumpkins, they’re actually classified as a fruit, not as a vegetable. In 2006, New Hampshire actually declared that its state fruit is the pumpkin.
Illinois produces up to 5 times more pumpkins than any other state.
The record for the most lit pumpkins on display belongs to Keene, New Hampshire with 30,581.
The fastest pumpkin carving record belongs to Stephen Clarke, who did it in 16.47 seconds. The pumpkin was required to have a complete face, including eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.
The most popular costumes among children are superheroes and princesses., The most popular costume for a dog in 2018 was a pumpkin, and he most popular adult costume is a witch.
The word “witch” comes from the Old English wicce, meaning “wise woman.”
My History
with Halloween
As a kid, Halloween was one of my favorite holidays. Each year, I made it a goal to stock up on as much candy as I possibly could and then hoard all of it before any of my brothers could steal it. I couldn’t wait to dress up as my favorite scary movie character and go trick-or-treating so I could get my pillowcase full of candy. Haunted houses, scary movies, you name it, if it was scary, I was all about it. These days, I don’t get to celebrate like I used to, but it’s still one of my favorites. I still love all the decorations, atmosphere, and the spirit of the holiday.
Colman St in Clinton Township, MI
Why Do We
Love Scary Stuff So Much?
One of my favorite aspects of Halloween is watching scary movies.
I grew up adoring horror movies and it was by far my favorite genre. I
literally rented every single scary movie my local video store carried. I even
started a “40-year old virgin”-style horror figure collection that I still have
today.
I’m not as much of a movie buff these days, but still love the
horror genre, which is funny because my wife is the total opposite. She does
not like horror movies and doesn’t watch them, and can’t understand why anyone
would want to put such scary or evil things in their eyes. I’ve tried to
explain it to her, but it’s difficult to put into words, which got me thinking,
why do we love horror movies so much?
It’s a great question, so I did some searching and found this answer in an
article from ScienceNordic.com:
“When we watch a horror film, we respond to the dangerous and horrifying situations that are being depicted. We identify with the fictional characters who confront terrifying threats. We feel revulsion and terror. We go through a range of emotions as we’re watching, and through that experience we learn something about our own responses. Horror provides us with insights into ourselves and into the dark corners of the world, and it lets us develop and refine coping skills that may be critical later in life.”
I think that does a good job of describing it. In a way, horror is
almost a survival mechanism. By paying close attention to tragedy, we help
maximize our own chance for survival. It’s the same reason we can’t help but
stare when we see a car wreck on the side of the road. We’re nosy and want to
know what happened. We sympathize with the victims but at the same time feel
thankful we’re not in their place. But the difference with horror movies is, no
one actually has to get hurt.
Colman St in Clinton Township, MI
At the end of the day, humans are curious, nosy, and we want to be entertained. We want to feel something, an emotion, whether it’s happiness, fear, or sympathy, because it energizes us. We laugh at inappropriate jokes, we cheer for our hero, and we demand justice for the villain. We find pleasure in experiencing a variety of emotions in a safe atmosphere. In that aspect, horror is just another way to experience a thrill and have a good time, but it can also train us handle negative emotions more effectively. Horror movies challenge our psychology, question our own behaviors, and allow us to feel fear and pain without actually being threatened.
The moral of the story is, scary movies just make us better people. If you want to know some of my all-time favorites, check out my Top 25 horror movies list.
Top Ranked Halloween Candies
As much as I love Halloween, one thing I can guarantee you that I
will NOT be eating this Halloween is any candy. Those days are long behind me.
I don’t even see that stuff as food anymore. When I want to treat myself, I
stick to real food. If I want something chocolatey, I’ll turn to a Fully
Charged Chocolate Smoothie. If I’m craving something sweet, I’ll have some
Greek Yogurt Madness or some frozen fruit. As much as I used to love candy,
today it’s not even an option in my mind. There’s so many other alternatives
that are delicious AND healthy.
Now, that doesn’t mean that I’m a total snob. I still appreciate
great candy, I just don’t eat it. And just for fun, here are America’s Top 10 Halloween Candies according to
CandyStore.com:
Skittles
Reese’s Cups
M&M’s
Snickers
Starburst
Candy Corn
Hot Tamales
Tootsie Pops
Sour Patch Kids
Hershey’s
I think Twix and Kit Kat are obvious snubs from this list, but
maybe they’re considered more of a cookie than a Halloween candy? I don’t know,
but those were my favorites. And here’s a
bonus fun fact: The average bag of candy that one child will collect on
Halloween contains about 11,000 calories.
For more Halloween fun, check out Episode 15 of the Wise Eats podcast, where there’s plenty more thrills and CHILLS to feast your eyes on. Thanks for reading, FRIENDS AND FIENDS, and until next time, MAKE TERRIFYING CHOICES, MWAAAHAHAHAHA.
My Squirrel Story:
Finding an Injured Squirrel in My Back Yard
Who says Wise Eats has to be about health and fitness all the time??
The night of recording Episode 14 I ran into a crazy situation that I decided to talk about on the show. I discovered an injured squirrel in my backyard. It appeared to have been hurt from falling out of a tree or something. Initially, he appeared to be seriously hurt and very scared. I waited for quite a while to see if he would move, but he didn’t, and when I walked up on him I noticed that he was frantically trying to drag himself across the grass with one arm. It looked to me like maybe one of his limbs was broken.
Instantly, my heart sank because I’m an unconditional animal lover and now had to deal with an injured squirrel in my backyard! I also had added pressure because his buddies and family were clearly concerned/observing the situation. By the way, we live in the metro Detroit area so this is a small yard right in the heart of downtown Mount Clemens, a suburb of Detroit.
After calling my Boston Terrier and Golden Retriever away from the scene, I asked my neighbor, who is fond of squirrels and feeds them often, if she had any advice. Her solution was to call the police. I called the police who informed me that they didn’t do house calls for wildlife and that I basically had 3 options:
Put the squirrel out of its misery
Find a shelter to take it to
Let nature “run its course”
After several calls, I located a shelter about 30 minutess from my house that would accept the squirrel for free, which was a relief. After some serious contemplation, I decided to leave the squirrel alone for a short time while I visited my Dad and explained the situation to him. With a heavy heart, I returned home, prepared to take the squirrel into the shelter. Oddly enough, when I got to my backyard, the squirrel was gone.
At the end of the day, nature had taken its course, one way or the other. While I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to deal with the situation any further, I wondered what actually happened to the squirrel. Was he just stunned and finally came to his senses? Did he muster the strength to power his way out of the yard despite his injury? Was he scared to move and waited until after I had left? Did his family and friends come and help him get out of there? Or did some other animal (stray cat, bird) get a nice dinner that night? I’m going to live with the idea that the squirrel lived happily ever after and that he’s out there making wise choices right now!
Submit questions, comments,
feedback to WiseEatsPodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for watching, listening,
reviewing, liking, subscribing, and sharing. Be good to yourself, be good to
others, and make wise choices!
