A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that I had gotten sick. I’m pretty sure I shook someones hand at a funeral I attended and of course the AC was on, which caused my nose to slightly run. This was the kind of head cold that caused a severe burning sensation to run through my nose, mouth and throat like race cars with hot wheels. Not only did those pains take place, but I felt like I had led weights resting on my cheek bones and temples. It was miserable. Thing is, it was my fault and I knew it. It made me think, I need to write on the topic of ‘Getting Up On You.’

One of the hardest (yet also easiest) things to getting into a routine that fits your lifestyle and gets you on track to the life you want to live is getting educated on you. Or as I like to call it, Getting Up On You. This may seem simple, we all are human and generally have the same body functions right? We all need to sleep, eat, drink water, go to the bathroom, etc. But what about exercise, what we eat and how much we sleep or drink? How do those areas impact our daily living?

Not Going Back To Being Sick

I know exactly what it was that set my body up to basically abandon me when I came into contact with that nasty head cold. Tuesday afternoon is when the head cold hit hard. Going back a few days before, I overate on Sunday night due to stress from the week prior. My wife and I also stayed up later than usual, which left with with about 5 hours and 13 minutes of rest… approximately. My first class on Monday starts at 6:00AM, a HIIT Bootcamp class. The rest of that day was busy, no nap or time to catch up after a short night’s rest.

Coming into Tuesday, my wife wanted to get a workout in early morning because she had a 15-hour day at work coming up. That meant getting up at 4:30AM and getting to the gym when it opened at 5:00AM. After a warmup and sit in the sauna, 1 minute sprints on the treadmill was first. I finished up with some roundhouse kicks into a heavy bag 30 seconds per leg with 30 seconds rest. I finished with heavy bag sit-ups (if you aren’t familiar, this is how they look). By the time I hit the funeral, by body’s immunity was completely gone and basically told me, “Good luck dude!” By 6:00PM, my nose was an open faucet, burning tires started running their laps in my throat and nose and I was cancelling clients and classes.

Should’ve, Would’ve, Could’ve

If it wasn’t clear, this head cold wasn’t fun! I haven’t been sick like that since college which was 5+ years ago. Based on how my body works, if I had spent some additional time sleeping and eating sooner before bedtime plus eating more carbs to keep my energy up, my immunity would have been better. I probably should have dialing down my workout a bit as well (apparently my heavy bag sit-ups were intense enough to draw some attention at the gym according to my wife… do people not do these?).

Have You Been Here Before?

So, have you ever found yourself in a situation like me where you pushed so hard you got sick or injured? Were you trying as hard as you could and still broke down? Want to know how to get past that hurdle? I’ll tell you what I’m currently working on and why I’m so excited about it! It’s a program that is going to help you get the body of your dreams, live the lifestyle you desire to live and help you keep your schedule the same, if not more simple.

It’s Important to Know The Details

I could go on and on about macros and micros and how important it is to keep track of these… and it definitely is! In fact, here are my stats (pictured below) from yesterday. Looks like I need to get some more carbs in, and definitely more protein! I covered this topic a bit in a previous post, but stay tuned, I’ll get into this further down the road. We could get into the specifics, but let’s keep it simple today!

Details, Details, Details

I’ll share with you a piece of this program that I’m putting together and testing on myself. It deals with that nutrition component I mentioned earlier. I call it the ‘Chill Out and Eat!‘ plan. ‘Chill Out and Eat!‘ may be used by someone else (I’m not sure) but is kinda like being in a 7th grade chemistry class experiment. You remember how your teacher had the Bunsen burners set up on the chem lab tables with several trays of different elements? It was your goal to identify each element based on how it interacted when you set it on fire (the fun part!). For example, when you light calcium on fire, it produces a orange flame; sodium produces a yellow flame, and Copper produces a blue flame (my favorite). Well, when we eat certain things or sleep certain ways or drink however we like, each decision produces different results. This program is centered around that idea!

Getting Up On You

It’s quite simple, you can actually start on yourself right now! You are a walking, talking experiment and what goes into you is what is going to come out. Remember, kinda like the fire burning those elements producing a reaction, what you eat & drink plus how you sleep & burn energy causes a reaction. That reaction will provide you more energy or it will make you really sick and tired. Does the 2:00PM work slump ring a bell? So I’m sure you already have a pretty solid understanding of what your body does and does not like, right?

Keep Track

Good, time to keep track! How much water is too little or too much? Was that greasy burger ok or did it make me fall asleep at work and give me an upset stomach? I don’t want you to get caught up on what everyone else is saying to eat or not eat. I want you to stay focused on what your body is saying to eat or not eat! Trust yourself, it will tell you. I’m keeping this VERY simple because without this being the first step, it gets too complex too fast. Next, keep track by logging it into a food tracker or journal. I use MyFitnessPal. It’s simple, free and allows you to keep notes. In fact, my notes last night were, “eat more protein, take in less sodium and keep working on the carbs.” Also “overall, I feel strong in lifting weights and pushing through on HIIT.” Submit and done! If you’d like to keep up with me or need a partner to help you start this Getting Up On On process, shoot me a friend request on MyFitnessPal!

Blogger Bio

Oliana & I @ Bigsby Bridge

Ryan lives in the East Bay with his wife Oliana. He works diligently to bring all the resources and tools necessary to provide a complete package to his clients. His focus is on personal training in fitness, nutrition, time management and other key areas of lifestyle. Outside of the private training/group fitness classes, Ryan & Oliana work on their walk with Christ, personal fitness and lifestyle goals together. They would like to one day have 2-3 dogs and work w/out having to report to a job. They both love movies, getting outdoors (especially camping), and eating food!