My Diet Book (SNEAK PREVIEW)

June 17, 2020 By

Last week someone asked me if I’ve written a book.

I can’t tell you how good that made me feel.

It meant they felt what I wrote. That it helped them in some way. They could relate to it.

That’s special to me.

It’s special because my guiding beliefs on fitness and nutrition are very simple. As a matter of fact one of those beliefs is that fitness and nutrition SHOULD BE simple.

When I look in the nutrition section at the book store and I see “The Blood Type Diet” or the “Drop 20 Pounds in A Month Diet” or  the “Grapefruit Diet” my heart kind of sinks.

I’ve said this many times, but there are a lot of people who have a lot invested in making this all seem really complicated. They do that because they want you to believe

  1. You can’t do it without them, and most importantly
  2. If it doesn’t work for you, it’s your fault.

Imagine if there were a surgery that didn’t work 95% of the time and your doctor wanted you to get it and then would blame you if it failed.

The diet industry in a nutshell

OK. So this is what you’ve waited for.

My diet book.

I’m going to give you an exclusive sneak peek before it gets released to the general public.

Here it is!

The Castro Valley Fitness Diet Plan

“Eat good protein, plenty of fruits of vegetables, plenty of water, some healthy fats, and a good amount of carbohydrates to support your activity, energy and brain function. 

Eat snacks when you want them (ice cream is delicious!) and don’t stress out about all the details. 

If the above is difficult, and it may be if you’ve spent a lot of time overthinking your food choices and dieting, work with someone who can help you rediscover what your body really feels like and do your best to improve your thought process and values around food and your body image.”

That’s it! What do you think? It’s a good read, huh?

You think it’ll be an Amazon best seller?

You think Dr. Oz is going to invite me on his show?

Yeah, probably not.

I know I’m being a little facetious here. That’s kind of the point. You see, the first two paragraphs really are just about everything you need to know about nutrition. No kidding.

We do not have a knowledge problem on this issue.

The third paragraph is where the rubber really hits the road. We’ve been so messed up emotionally around food that we just don’t trust ourselves. You know this applies to you if what I wrote in the second paragraph caused you to shudder a little bit.

I believe, and there is a lot of research to back me up, that by letting go of all the overthinking and stressing we start to allow ourselves to feel what our body wants and needs and therefore start to actually trust ourselves around food once again.

In other words, by letting go we actually gain more control!

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, Egoscue PAS, Pn2
Castro Valley Fitness
2861 Grove Way
510-755-9191
Mitch@CastroValleyFitness.com

 

 

 

 

 

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3 Exercises You Shouldn’t Do After 50

October 8, 2019 By

I know what you’re saying.

“I thought Mitch hated these kinds of articles!”

You’re right. I do. I even wrote a post about how much I hate them just two weeks ago:

3 Exercises (Almost) Everyone Should Do

I got you curious, though!

The truth is there ARE some exercises that you shouldn’t do after 50. It’s just that they’re not the kinds of exercises you might normally think of.

The kinds of exercises I’m talking about are ones that really do some long-term damage. In some cases  it may be irreparable unless some pretty strong action is taken.

Let’s get to it.

1- Complaining about your age. 

Do you know how often I hear someone tell me that some ache or pain is because of their age? All the time.

I rarely hear anything so deflating and disempowering. It would be one thing if it were correct, but it almost never is.

I’ll say it again:

It would be silly of me to say that age has no physical effect on our body, but that effect is incredibly overstated the vast majority of the time.

Here’s the deal: If you take care of your body it will take care of you. End of story.

Train to get stronger (yes, stronger) and get your mindset right and you’ll find it amazing how little age matters anymore. (I’m talking to you backs, knees and shoulders!)

Don’t be like Abe

2- Worrying about what you ate last night/weekend.

Why is it that people seem to think it’s not ok to enjoy what you eat? All we hear from the media is how overweight we are as a society and I hear from people all the time that stress big-time over what they should and do put in their mouths.

Let me suggest something a little crazy here.

All that stress is worse for you than eating a cookie. Or a little ice cream. Or a piece of bread.

Let me suggest something even crazier.

If you continue to deny and demonize these foods you are much likelier to experience a pretty big backlash from yourself when you inevitably eat 1 or, more likely, 10 of them.

That backlash is going to be mainly mental and, like number 1 on our list, very disempowering and mentally damaging.

If you want to read more about this, get this book yesterday!

Castro Valley Fitness

Click on the picture for the Amazon link.

3- Not strength training.

What do people really fear about aging? Becoming fragile. Losing their independance. Becoming feeble. Losing their mental faculties.

Strength training helps all of this.

ALL OF IT!!!

Too many people don’t strength train or really give it their all in the gym when they do, because they’re afraid of getting hurt. The truth is that if your form is good, proper strength training is extremely safe and effective and very empowering.

More than that it’s the most important thing you can do as you get older!

You want to be able to get right back up when you fall with no injuries or worries?

Start strength training.

I know it can be a little intimidating to get started but I know someone who can help.

I hope that you get the point I’m trying to get across here. In case you didn’t, here it is:

Do things that are empowering and mentally positive and you’ll find that you’ll tend not to care about your age very much.

Can I be any clearer about that?

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Level 2 Lean Eating Coach, PAS
Castro Valley Fitness
2861 Grove Way
510-755-9191
Mitch@CastroValleyFitness.com

 

 

 

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What’s More Important, Losing Weight or Adding Muscle?

October 17, 2018 By

I overheard a question the other day.

“What’s more important, losing weight or adding muscle?”

HMMM…

If I know one thing, it’s that there is a ton of information out there. Some of it good and helpful, but much of it pretty crummy and confusing. This question is an opportunity to hopefully sort some of that out.

Obviously this question is very general, so I’m going to put some parameters on it. We’re going to assume the following:

  • The person’s overall goal is weight loss for general reasons such as overall health and appearance
  • The person is generally healthy, meaning no serious injuries or illnesses
  • The person does not have a long history with intense resistance training

Also, it’s important to understand that when we say adding muscle, we are NOT talking about becoming a huge bodybuilder. We are talking about adding some lean body, and if you want more definition to your body YOU MUST ADD LEAN BODY!! The assumption with someone with these goals is that as you add lean body you are also decreasing body fat, thereby making you smaller. Take a look at this picture if you need a little clarification on that.

Muscle is denser than fat making the same weight much smaller!

OK. Let’s start with this.

Adding muscle and losing fat are done mostly with two different processes. Losing fat is done largely with diet and adding muscle is done largely in the gym. Now this doesn’t mean that the gym and diet aren’t involved with both to varying degrees, but for the most part losing fat is done with diet and adding muscle is done in the gym.

What does that mean? Well, it means that these things are not necessarily mutually exclusive. You can do both, to some extent. Note that the person we’re talking about does not have a long history with intense resistance training.

At home you can work on your diet and in the gym you can exercise with purpose and intensity and try hard to get stronger. Both of these things should be done if you’re trying to lose weight.

As to which is more important this is a tougher question. Here’s the thing, when you are trying to lose weight it would still be very helpful to include resistance training in your routine. Although you might not have a goal to build muscle per se, this can be a big help in a couple of different ways:

  1. More muscle means a higher metabolism. This means that instead of our metabolism slowing down as we lose weight (which it will) the muscle allows it to stay as high as possible which makes it easier and more manageable to either continue with weight loss or maintain it.
  2. More muscle gives us better nutrient partitioning. This is the process where your body decides what to do with the food you’re eating. The more muscle you have and the more resistance training you do, the more your body will take that food and use it to maintain and build muscle as opposed to adding fat.

What does this all mean when it comes to the original question?

“What’s more important, losing weight or adding muscle?”

Well, here is my answer:

I think that whatever your goal is, that is what’s most important. If you want to lose weight, then that is most important (by the way, figuring out WHY you want to lose weight is a huge key to this whole thing). Having said that, adding muscle would be a huge advantage to this whole process, especially in the long term.

I hope this gets you thinking a little differently about what you’re doing. Please let me know if you have any questions about how to make this all work for you.

Thanks!

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Level 2 Lean Eating Coach, FMS
Castro Valley Fitness
2861 Grove Way
510-755-9191
Mitch@CastroValleyFitness.com

 

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Do Carbs Make You Fat?

September 27, 2018 By

I help one of our members who runs a preschool with the wellness program for her employees. I received a question from one of them that, I think, is a common source of confusion for many people. Here it is, along with my answer.

If you’re trying to lose weight as an older woman should you eat carbs at dinner or only have protein and vegetables? Also, is whole wheat making us fat? Should we avoid it to be slim?

This is a very common question and one that creates a lot of confusion for many people.

First I want to go over some basic facts.

  1. Weight loss is determined by calories. In other words, to lose weight you must eat fewer calories than you burn.
  2. Many studies have shown that the macronutrient (carbs, proteins and fats) makeup of someone’s diet doesn’t really matter for weight loss.
  3. It really doesn’t matter when you eat  for weight loss. The only thing that matters is calorie intake. In other words having carbs at breakfast or dinner makes no difference.

In other words eating carbs at dinner is perfectly fine as long as the overall amount of calories you are taking in is less than what you are burning.

Having said that, cutting down on carbs can be a perfectly legitimate and simple way to achieve the caloric deficit necessary for weight loss. The main issue with this, however, is that a low carb approach can be difficult to sustain for people. In fact, many studies have shown that people who resort to low carb diets don’t stay on them for very long, even if they have success with the diet!

My opinion is always that the most important thing to consider when dieting is sustainability. Simply put, you should not go on any diet that you can’t see yourself on for a long time. That is the only way to truly achieve and sustain weight loss.

Lastly, whole wheat is not making us fat unless it’s eaten at a caloric surplus. Really, any food eaten at a surplus will make us gain weight.

Mitch Rothbardt, PN Level 2 Lean Eating Coach
Castro Valley Fitness
2861 Grove Way in Castro Valley
510-755-9191

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2 Things You Might Not Realize About Weight Loss

September 12, 2018 By

Hello! I hope you’re having a great day. I’m going to make this one pretty short today so let ‘s get started.

When it comes to losing weight I’ve found that there are a few things that typically get people’s way. Let’s talk about two of them.

1 – It’s not about the food. I can feel your eyes glazing over right now. “What do you mean?” you’re asking. “Aren’t you the one who’s always saying that losing weight is all about the nutrition?” Well yes, but let me explain. You don’t need me to tell you to eat your vegetables, right? You don’t need me to tell you that an apple is healthier than a candy bar, right? At least 5 times a week I hear some version of “I know what to do but I just can’t do it.” We all know what we need to know about nutrition. It’s really very simple. The issue is what is getting in our way of doing it.

Creating Healthy Lives

You don’t need me to tell you to eat this

2 – The most important skill for weight loss is emotional regulation. The truth is that the real reason most people can’t do what they know they should do has to do with emotions. When we’re emotional that’s when we have trouble making the decisions we know, deep down, that we should make.

I hope this helps clear some things up for you. I know this is tough. If it does help, I want to let you know about a program we are starting up. It’s a nutrition program that we’ve put together that we believe covers what REALLY MATTERS about weight loss. (remember it’s not about the food!) Its starts up on the 24th and you can get all the information right here:

Creating Healthy Nutrition 

Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great day!

Mitch Rothbardt

 

 

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I Know What To Do But I Just Can’t Do It

August 29, 2018 By

I heard it again today. “I know what to do but I just can’t do it.”

If I’ve heard this once I’ve heard it a thousand (million) times.

I know what to do but I just can’t do it.

At Castro Valley Fitness we believe that, for the most part, people know just about everything they need to know about nutrition. You don’t need me to tell you that an apple is healthier than a candy bar and that you should eat your vegetables, right?

You may be asking yourself, if people know all they need to know, then what’s the problem?

Well, that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? If we answer that, we can pretty much solve everyone’s food issues, right? The problem is that this isn’t as easy as it sounds.

It requires work that really has very little to do with food itself.

It requires an approach that is both honest and unemotional. Both of these qualities tend to get lost when we think about how and why we eat.

Let me give you a few things that have worked for some of our members when they’ve been tying to figure some things out.

  • Slow down. Sometimes I’ll ask someone how fast they eat. Usually they just laugh. Slowing down allows your stomach to let your brain know it’s full. That can take 10-15 minutes. How much food can you eat in that time? It also gets you out of GO-GO-GO-GO mode which is when so many of us wind up eating whatever is easy and fast. That’s not usually conducive to making good decisions.
  • Keep a journal. Just reading that might have given you a chill.
    Holiday Season

    An actual person when asked to keep a food journal.

    If it did frighten you, you should ask yourself why. You just might figure out something that’s been holding you back. Journaling keeps us honest and accountable. It also can reveal things that we didn’t know. You might not have realized how much you actually snack in a given day, for instance.

  • Aim for progress not perfection. One of the biggest problems I see is all-or-nothing thinking. This is when people think that one slight slip counteracts all the good they’ve done or they feel like they the “perfect” plan to get started. The truth is that there is no such thing as perfect. No perfect diet or perfect workout. The closest thing we have to perfection is in this picture right here.

    The Closest Thing To Perfection

                      All we need to aim for is progress in whatever form it takes.

Listen, we all have crazy lives. Kids, work, family. We sit in traffic for hours each week. The more we can figure out the REAL issues behind our diet the better off we will be.

Let me know what you think. Have a great day!

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Level 2 Lean Eating Coach, FMS
Castro Valley Fitness
2861 Grove Way in Castro Valley
510-755-9191

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4 Ways To Feel Good About Your Diet

August 8, 2018 By

We know that feeling good about what you’re doing can make a HUGE difference when it comes to doing it. We also know that consistency over time is the absolute key to making your diet work for you.

In todays video let’s talk about 4 ways you can actually feel good about what you’re doing with your diet instead of angry and resentful.


Mitch Rothbardt
Castro Valley Fitness
2861 Grove Way
510-755-9191
Mitch@CastroValleyFitness.com

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Are You Hungry? Deciphering the Clues for Weight Loss.

July 31, 2018 By

Don’t let them lie to you. You will be hungry if you are trying to lose weight. The thing is that it might not be physical hunger you feel. How you deal with this the the ABSOLUTE KEY to your weight loss journey.

In this video I go over:
– The 4 different kinds of hunger
– How to figure out which one you are experiencing
– How to deal with it so that you can reach your goal

Let me know what you think!

Mitch Rothbardt
Castro Valley Fitness
Mitch@CastroValleyFitness.com

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5 Ways To Combat Emotional Eating

July 9, 2018 By

If I had to pick one thing that it seems gets in people’s way the most when it comes to their diet, it is definitely emotional eating. You can call it stress eating, too. I found a great definition of emotional eating at medicinenet.com. It says:

“Emotional Eating is the practice of consuming large quantities of food — usually “comfort” or junk foods — in response to feelings instead of hunger. Experts estimate that 75% of overeating is caused by emotions.”

I don’t want to get super deep today but I do want you to notice the last sentence of that definition:

“Experts estimate that 75% of overeating is caused by emotions.”

emotional eating

I’ve said many times that emotional regulation is actually the most important part of weight loss.

What I’d like to do today is just give you a few different strategies you can use when you feel like the emotional and stress eating bug is about to bite you.

  1. Know that you are not alone. I’ve talked to many people that swear that they are the only ones who have this problem and that everyone else has it all together. Let me assure you, this is not the case. This is a huge issue for so many people. I refer again to the above sentence: “Experts estimate that 75% of overeating is caused by emotions.”
  2. Where does this happen? Try to figure out where these issues occur and get your trigger foods out of there. The old rule is this: If it’s there, you will eventually eat it.
  3. Be honest and prepare. A common version of this is when your schedule just gets in the way and you wind up eating whatever is easy and quick instead of something healthy and nourishing. Take an honest look at your schedule, figure out when eating good meals will be a problem and take some time to make something healthy that will be ready for you.
  4. Take a step back. I know this is hard. If it wasn’t this wouldn’t be a problem in the first place. Having said that, if you don’t take a step back when things are going a little crazy this is just not going to get better. I know that emotional eating feels good when you’re doing it. That’s why people do it. I also know that most people don’t feel very good physically or emotionally when they’re done.
  5. Understand that it’s OK. One piece of cake or one bowl of ice cream is never the reason someone is overweight. Just like one apple or piece of broccoli is never the reason someone is in shape. The worst thing about emotional eating is that for some people it triggers a whole host of negativity. These thoughts usually go something like, “I just blew it. I might as well eat the rest of the carton” or “I knew it. I can’t do this. I might as well give up.” No, emotional eating isn’t good, but it’s understandable. What’s a whole lot worse is letting one episode extend to an emotional black hole that takes days or weeks to escape from.

emotional eating

I know that this is a pretty simplistic view of this. I also know that this is incredibly hard for so many people (again, you are not alone). I just want to try and get you thinking a little bit about some ways that you might be able to combat this a little bit. Also, I want you to notice that I didn’t say defeat this or beat it.

It is incredibly important that you understand that this is a process. This is not about winning or losing, it’s about getting better. I know that doesn’t sound nearly as sexy as “Lose 20 Pounds In 4 Weeks” but getting your mind around this process is the only way to make this really work in a way to make your life better, and that’s what we are all really looking for. Right?

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Level 2 Lean Eating Coach, FMS
Castro Valley Fitness at 2861 Grove Way
We Help People Discover Their Strength
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Fitness Starter Pack: Nutrition

April 10, 2018 By

Every day at Castro Valley Fitness we talk to our members and many times the conversations are about the same types of things. We have certain foundational beliefs at our gym and we’ve seen the truths of those things play out time and again over the years and with hundreds of our members.

I thought I’d do a series on these things so that maybe we can help you understand what our foundational beliefs are when it comes to fitness and nutrition.

Last time we talked about Posture and Pain. (Click if you missed it.)

Today I want to talk about nutrition.

Let’s face it. Nutriton can be hard. Now when I say that, what I mean is that nutrition is actually pretty easy.

I know that doesn’t seem to make much sense. This is what I mean and here is where our foundational beliefs about it come in.

  1. Nutrition is, and should be, simple.
  2. People, for the most part, already know what they need to know about nutrition and what they should do.
  3. Figuring out why they aren’t doing those things is the real issue.

Again, what am I talking about?

Let me ask you a couple of questions.

  1. What’s healthier? An apple or a candy bar?
  2. Should you eat fruits and vegetables?

I’m guessing you know the answers to those questions. Let me tell you that if you do, you really do know most of what you need to know about nutrition. It really is that simple.

nutrition

What’s more, it should be! After all, if something is simple that makes it more sustainable, and sustainability is the number one thing we should be looking at when it comes to nutrition. That’s why crazy fad diets never work long-term. They’re unsustainable.

As for our second point, it’s rare that when I talk to one of our members about their nutrition they don’t have a pretty good idea of what they need to work on. Most of the time it’s just a matter of figuring out a plan that can work sustainably within their life. An easy example is when someone has trouble eating healthy dinners because of a crazy schedule. Many times taking a little food prep time over the weekend can improve that issue so that there is something easy and healthy to eat when someone gets home after a busy day.

Going through that process is point number three and where the real gold is. Once someone figures out their roadblocks things can just start rolling in the right direction.

Why do people have so much trouble figuring out their roadblocks? There are lots of reasons but I think the main one is all-or-nothing thinking. There are lots of versions of this but one version of it is when someone looks for what they consider the “perfect” plan. What usually happens is that people spend so much time looking for that perfect plan that they wind up doing nothing. Let me assure you of this:

There is no perfect plan.

Really, there is no perfect anything. There is no perfect workout, either.

The closest thing we have to perfection on this earth is in this picture right here:

True Perfection!

We always talk about “Progress, Not Perfection” and that really is the most important thing. As long as you are making progress you are on the right track, so KEEP GOING! Pick something to do and just do it.

OK. So let’s put it simply. Our foundational beliefs when it comes to nutrition are:

  1. Just about everyone knows what they need to know for the most part. Even if they don’t realize it.
  2. Most people’s nutritional problems are about figuring out why they have trouble doing what they know they should be doing.
  3. Sustainability is the key to long-term success. Not restrictive fad diets.
  4. Cottage cheese is awesome.

Inexpensive. High quality pure protein. Easy to prepare. Versatile. Delicious!

 

I hope this helps. I understand how confusing this can all be, but keep in mind that simplicity and sustainability are what really matters.

Let me know how I can help!

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Level 2 Lean Eating Coach, FMS
Castro Valley Fitness
2861 Grove Way
510-754-7113
Mitch@CastroValleyFitness.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

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