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Previously I have talked about PLANNING, OWNING IT and putting in the WORK. OK I am a food guy who owns a meal prep company so talking about this aspect of the P.O.W.E.R. formula for personal wellness success should be easy right?

Ha-ha, it is easy to talk about, but so much information and misinformation is out there, and everyone has an opinion and is an expert. The E stands for EAT WELL but what does that mean? I think the one thing we can all agree on is that eating and proper nutrition are the keys to getting the physical results you want. You can work out forever but if you don’t adopt the proper eating habits you are like a dragster trying to get traction on bicycle tires!

Our team @fitkitchenyyc have always tried to keep our approach pretty simple and straight forward. Learning from some of the best minds in nutrition and athletic performance we stick with balanced macros, real, tasty, desirable, food with quality ingredients. Also, for the most part we stay away from gimmick diets and trends. We aim to make it easy for people to shift how they eat on an ongoing basis not a “diet”.

Here are some interesting facts:

• Diet accounts for roughly 80% of your success in achieving your desired health goals!
• Food definitely effects your mood, energy level and mental sharpness
• Extreme diets and under eating can be a big problem in maximizing your personal well being
• Daily brain function alone requires 20% of your base metabolic rate
• People eat too many fast burning carbohydrates and not enough slow digesting complex carbohydrates
• Highly processed foods, refined sugars = inflammation, diabetes
• Stress prompts cortisol release which for a prolonged period of time can promote poor eating cravings
• Most people don’t consume enough water – hydration helps with energy, fatigue, our brain is mostly water so it helps with focus and concentration
• Food is more than calories; macro and micro nutrients play a major role in physical and mental health (think protein, carbs, fats, vitamins and minerals your body needs)
• Feed yourself high performance fuel – like you would put in a fighter plane!
• Exercise and sleep are important factors combined with nutrition (and can reduce cortisol levels)

Proper nutrition and wellness habits play an important role in various aspects of our everyday health and thus what we can contribute to our family, community and work.

What does this mean for your daily eating habits?

• KICK START THE DAY – start the day with hydration, greens drink and a nutritious breakfast or snack
• ELIMINATE LOW ENERGY/MOOD SWINGS – eat nutrient dense meals and snacks throughout the day, hydration
• DIAL IN YOUR FOCUS – eat the right amount of calories and macronutrients for your body and activity level
• FORGET THE MID DAY CRASH – avoid large meals, avoid carb heavy meals
• NEXT LEVEL MENTAL ACUITY – feed the brain high quality fuel throughout the day, hydration
• STOP INFLAMMATION – no eating of processed food and refined sugars
• FEEL GREAT WITH A HEALTHY GUT – eat nutrient rich foods, micronutrients and probiotics
• WHEN DID YOU LAST EAT? – If it’s been longer than 2 – 4 hours its time to eat!
• WHERE IS THE COMPLETE PROTEIN? – Make sure you are eating at least 1 serving of complete protein (20-30g for women, 40-60g for men)
• WHERE ARE THE VEGGIES? – Make sure you are eating at least 2 – 3 servings of veggies. One serving is about ½ cup.
• WHERE ARE THE CARBS? – If you have fat to lose but haven’t worked out or done activity stick with a lower carb option. Need to refuel post workout? Include whole grains/complex carbs with your meal!
• WHERE ARE THE FATS? – Get your healthy fats from animal based sources, avocados, olive oil, or mixed nuts. Fish oil capsules are also a great way to get in your fats
• DRINK YOUR WATER OR GREEN TEA – Avoid the calorie filled drinks like soda, fruit juice, and anything else with more than zero calories
• DAILY ACTIVITY – Engage in physical activity. Mix it up with resistance training, cardio, stretching and mobility.
• NEVER MISS TWICE RULE – are you breaking any of the rules above? If so, do not let it happen twice in a row, get back on track with your next eating occasion or workout!

In summary there really is no P.O.W.E.R. without proper nutrition and EATING WELL!

Eat Fit and Feel Great!

I am back talking about the P.O.W.E.R. formula for personal wellness success. The W stands for putting in the WORK or working out. Bottom line is that any kind of success in life is going to take some sweat equity as they call it, and this program isn’t any different.

Newsflash! Getting in shape, looking better and feeling great is going to take some hard work, doing things you probably don’t want to do and sweating – a lot!

That’s OK though because after the workout, once you get that taste of feeling great and unstoppable, you will embrace the “suck” as they say.

I am a big believer that the key to longevity is building and maintaining muscle and strength, especially as you get older (we lose muscle at a tremendous rate after 40 years old). Resistance training as a component of your entire program will help to move your body composition to more muscle than fat. Add in cardio to supplement weight loss but don’t make cardio the primary or only activity you do. Most importantly, it is about being active and building it into your daily routine.

Exercise controls weight combats poor health conditions, aids with longevity, improves mood, helps self esteem, boosts energy, promotes better sleep and can put spark in your love life! If there was an elixir that could deliver all these things, people would pay lots of money for it! Exercise is free (or it can be if you choose) so what a deal! The only cost is getting out of your comfort zone and putting in the work.

So here are some great exercise options to start with:

• Establish a morning ritual of meditation and activity – start your day like a champion
• Stretching – get some of this in daily if possible
• Mobility -and this too
• Strength training – just got to do it!
• Cardio – set a reasonable pace (for example you should be to carry on a conversation)
• Workouts should be hard and make you sweat, if they aren’t , work harder!
• Embrace the suck!
• At the end of the day record what you did and give yourself a high five

Let’s do this!

Jason

@fitkitchenyyc #yycfitness #yycfitfam #yycmealprep #healthyeating #mindset #workingout #exercise #accountability #owningit #activity #goals #challenge #habits #visualization #vitality #health #mentalhealth #energy #prodcutivity #eatfitfeelgreat

It has been a few weeks since my last post about implementing the actions behind my acronym P.O.W.E.R..
Last time I talked about Planning and this time it is the letter “O” for Own It.

Over the past 12+ months of COVID restrictions and lockdowns, we have all had so much time in our own heads. At least it seems to me like more and more of my friends are engaging in meditation, journaling, listening to audiobooks and podcasts or practicing other means of mindfulness.

If you are like me there is much reflection of how I got to this point of my life and an even greater amount of thought to where I am going. The one thing is for sure; I 100% own the journey to date and the road ahead.

No matter what it is we decide we are going to adopt or change moving forward, it is up to us to do the work and show up. It is important to own our stuff, good or bad and realize that it is the person in the mirror that we are accountable to. It isn’t going to come from your friend or partner or a motivational video or a blog.

If we have done our planning well and established smaller habits and bite sized actions to get momentum, owning the experience is certainly easier. The wellness journey is a collection of daily decisions that are all aligned to deliver your desired result. If we can get the first few big ones done, the remaining actions fall in place as they are congruent with the earlier empowering decisions you have made.

At the end of the day we own our attitude and our actions (or inaction), it is a personal decision how we show up. I am always amazed at the degree of personal power we all have. If we put our minds to something the sky can truly be the limit. When we accept this and take ownership it makes our growth mindset so much simpler.

WHAT CAN WE DO:

• Implement a growth mindset
• Hold yourself accountable to your objectives and commitments
• Re-set your objectives as you achieve them
• Take control of your day from the start
• Get out of your comfort zone daily
• Be proud of achieving even the smallest goals
• Great reads – Own the Day by Aubrey Marcus, Atomic Habits by James Clear, Mindset by Carol Dweck, Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins

Jason Zaran, Fit Kitchen Owner

I have been thinking a lot lately about the P.O.W.E.R of personal decision as it pertains to feeling great. The wellness cocktail so to speak, that can help people maximize their energy, mindset and productivity.

YOUR PERSONAL P.O.W.E.R PLAN FOR FEELING GREAT!

P lan ahead

O wn it

W orkout daily

E at well

R eward yourself

Lets tackle the letter P

PLAN AHEAD – Fail to plan, plan to fail

• Passionate – tap into why taking care of yourself and feeling great is important to you
• Pro-active – establish your goals and commitment, sign up for a race or competition
• Visualize – see yourself as the healthy and fit person you want to be
• Traction – establish empowering smaller habits to gain momentum
• Prepare – set your daily objectives and intentions the night before
• Purposeful – lock in your success by journaling daily

Jason, Fit Kitchen Owner

Whether your goal is to live a healthier life, lose weight, gain muscle, or save time in your week…Fit Kitchen is your all in meal prep partner!

Whenever I need to give myself a good Pep talk to feel Phenomenal, I always fall back to the Power of the letter “P’. Being an entrepreneur you are always looking for that edge to keep you Positive, Prepared and Prolific.

I have come to realize that the road to Prosperity and realizing your Potential isn’t about overnight success. You have to be Patient as you work on yourself and your business Pro-actively establishing habits that allow you to Practice your craft. Yes you will need Persistence and Perseverance, and to be Purposeful and Productive, but what will carry you through this good kind of Pressure will be strong Principals along with a vision and mission that will energize you!

Use this energy to Promote your business and yourself with Presence, Passion, Pride and Persuasiveness while still being Poised, Professional and showing Posture.

We can all Profit by learning from the Possibilities of the Power of “P”.

Fit Kitchen has been touching more peoples lives than ever over the past six months and it got me thinking about why. Strangely this shouldn’t have been too difficult given why I started the business in the first place!

Anyway, so I stopped thinking about if it was Google ads or social media or an influencer or my amazing workout posts …. Ha-ha. Funny thing is that when you start “playing business” you can lose track of the driving WHY that led to the passion to start the business and send it out into the world. And the WHY often comes from some unmet need that you experience personally and then figure out that there are others that probably are dealing with the same frustration.

In my case over 16 years ago it was the fact that healthy convenient eating options were very hard to come by but yet we could all get crappy fast food just about anywhere. Why couldn’t a healthy beef stir fry be as accessible as a Big Mac and fries?

So back to my original thoughts, I think more people than ever right now understand the simple importance of feeling great physically and mentally. More importantly I believe that more people are understanding that food and how we eat plays a massive role in how we feel and how we feel about ourselves. It is the foundation of so many things along with regular activity but those in the know say diet is 80% of that formula.

When we get up, feel great and are ready to take on the day ….man that is a grateful moment, it is a blessing! We all have been through times when we don’t feel great and certainly know stories of what life can be like when someone has their health taken from them. We should be treating our bodies like a high-performance machine because it is. Many people take better care of their cars or possessions than they do themselves.

When people want to feel better, they are willing to take action, embrace new habits and chase goals and objectives. This just isn’t about meal replacement or convenient delivery of any food; this is about changing the way you think about food and committing to having food tailored to what you need to achieve your results!

Boom this is what we are all about at Fit Kitchen and have been since day 1. We are passionate about enhancing peoples lives through healthy food. We are your partner in achieving your goals and that is why we have so many great stories and relationships from helping clients be there best selves.

So, the answer has been staring me straight in the face all along and we just keep doubling down on our original promise and vision helping you “eat fit and feel great!”

Ask yourself what might you be overthinking in your business? Many times, there are more straight lines to success than we realize, and we get in our own way by overcomplicating. Look for your straight lines!

– Jason Zaran, Fit Kitchen Owner

I have some good friends doing a crazy fundraiser called “embrace the suck” where they are challenging their mental and physical toughness every day in February. 5-mile run, 100 deadlifts, 100 push-ups. Now that sucks!

It has been said many times and I am a believer ; growth, success and fulfillment come on the other side of fear, pain and being uncomfortable. Like Navy Seal and Author David Goggins says; callous your mind by doing something daily that gets you out of your comfort zone. Stress test yourself so you are ready for any challenge that life throws at you, mental or physical.

I decided to stop drinking coffee and alcohol for the whole month of February plus doing ice cold showers to start the day. This wasn’t because I had a beverage addiction problem (some close to me may disagree … haha) but I wanted to see if I had the resilience and mental toughness to do it. And it sucks as well by the way so far.

Now my version of embracing the suck is way less than the boys crushing deadlifts but none the less it is testing my ability to manage my mind and challenge my comfort zone.

What sucks that you can do every day to test yourself? Give up a bad habit? Do burpees or push-ups? Go for a run? Make cold calls for your business or do cold showers … what scares you a bit that you don’t want to do? Then go do it anyway!

Do something that sucks every day for the rest of February! It will change make you mentally tougher and change your personal and professional trajectory.

Embrace the suck!
Jason Zaran

Fit Kitchen Owner/Founder