There are a few goals we have for everyone we work with. It doesn't matter if the individual's goal is performance, weight loss or rehab we look to achieve this with all of them?Do you know what 'it' is?What we're looking to achieve with all these clients is help them be as lean as possible. And here's why.For a movement, non-collision sport athlete one of the goals is to generate as much strength and power per unit of body weight. In cycling, the unit of interest is watts/kilo. And to improve is to increase our power, decrease our mass or both. Sometimes an athlete has maxed out on the power they can produce but they are carrying a few extra pounds. Leaning up a little bit can be the difference to increased performance.Obviously for the weight loss client we want to shed as much unnecessary mass as possible while keeping as much muscle as possible.And for the rehab client a leaner physique helps in a number of ways. A leaner indivudual can move better than an overweight one. They will have more energy to do more. And a leaner frame takes stress on load-bearing joints. With the knees for example, every pound that is shed takes four pounds off the knees.With my own training and goals I'm looking to be as lean and strong as possible. With the fondo coming up in a little over a week all the hard training should be done or wrapping up soon. And now it's just a matter of dialing in the nutrition and resting up.Obviously a lighter bike helps, especially when climbing hills. But instead of looking to save grams by upgrading seat posts, wheels and bottle cage holders, it would make more sense to shed pounds on the scale.For example, going from an...

The other night we finished everything that needed to be done for the day. We had cleaned up from dinner. We bathed the kids, brushed teeth and read some stories. As it wasn't too late there was an opportunity for mom and dad to watch a show. Alexandra wanted to get started on some preparations for a 4 year old birthday party. I didn't really want to make popcorn or some other snack from just one. So I headed off to the bedroom to read. During lent I'm trying to stay off my phone after 7 pm.I got a chapter or two deep into 12 Rules for Life before I drifted off to sleep. Since I didn't have a snack before bed and didn't have any exposure to the light from my phone I had a great sleep. Add to this the fact that I didn't have to set an alarm for the morning and this set the stage for a great day.But this very easily could have gone the other way.You see most evenings I do a sweep through the kitchen before bed. I'll have a quick poke in the pantry to see what grabs my interest. It might be some chocolate. Maybe I'll have some cereal. It could be a handful of Veggie Snacks.[caption id="attachment_5699" align="aligncenter" width="225"] These come in pillowcase size bags and the bag size is appropriately named 'Sensible Portions'. (see top left)Anyways, this got me thinking how our habits can be slippery or sticky. Here's what I mean by this.Our indulgences, treats, snacks and cravings can be thought of as sticky. Once we start it's hard to stop. We tend to back to our old, less than optimal, ways. It can be really tough to shake a bad habit.And on the flip side all of the positive things we...

So I have to ask...do you crave salt or sweet?For me it's salt. I like artichoke hearts, some cheese and peppers on stoned wheat thin crackers.Lame! You're probably thinking. What about the nachos, wings, pizza and burgers? Yeah I like those too but I don't really crave them.And once in a while I might have a diet coke with lunch or some chocolate when we go to a movie.Ok now I've got half of drooling thinking about all these snacks. So how do we deal with cravings? How do take foods that should be once in a while and make sure they don't become daily rituals? Well below are the Best Ways to Deal with Cravings.#1 - Get it off-siteIf something is bad for you don't want it anywhere near you. Think about the fuss people make about nuclear reactors, power lines or any other type of waste or contaminant. NIMBY is the common response.So how come we are so casual about the poisons we stock in our fridge and pantry? I'm talking about the high sugar, high fructose corn syrup and processed foods that we buy and stock at home.Make it a lot harder to resist the urge and indulge but refusing to have the stuff in the home. On the rare occassions you are going to indulge, go out for a treat.#2 - Put delays in placeUsually there is a time factor to our cravings. And these can be more psychological than physical. With a bit of a delay there is the chance the craving will pass.Smokers trying to quit are told to store their papers, tabacco, cigarettes and lighters in different locations. Chronic shoppers put their credit cards in a glass of water in the freezer.By creating a diversion or delay in satisfying the craving there is the possibility...