Authors: Miki Agrawal

Do Cool Sh*t (21 page)

“I’ve gotten to the point of no return. It would take a miracle for me to lose this much weight.”

I could go on
and on and on listing the excuses people give not to work out and eat better, but keeping it tight when you’re busy with work is not rocket science.

You may be looking for an easy answer, like wearing more Spanx, but at some point, your clothes are going to come off.

How many books and blogs have been written about this? Probably tens of thousands, and the problem with many of them is that they contain way too much detailed and unnecessary information, intimidating readers. It’s just about the fundamentals!

Let’s solve this issue right here, right now. I will tell you the simple and practical things I do and show you how I’ve helped so many of my friends get to their ideal weight, stay healthy, and do it all while working the sometimes crazy hours it takes to keep their businesses successful.

Case in point: Mary. I met Mary through Rads. She worked in publishing and was always sitting at her desk working and leading a very sedentary life. Mary had tried diet books, trainers, starvation—and nothing worked. She would start off strong and would fall off. She was so frustrated, she finally gave up. She knew I was able to stay healthy and work out, even though I had a crazy work and social life. She asked me how I did it, and this is what I told her.

Most people know about the two important components to staying in shape: diet and exercise. And, yes, those are the two key components, but there is a third
most
important one:

MENTAL REFRAME

Mental reframing means thinking of diet and exercise in a new way.

Reframe the word
diet
and use the word
power
instead. How are you powering your body up? What will make your body power itself up better?

Reframe the word
exercise
and use the word
release
instead. Working out is amazing; it releases endorphins in your brain, which are natural uppers. It allows you to work things out in your mind from the days’ happenings and clears your head meditatively. Moving your body releases stress and tension and is the best way to improve your mood. Moving and releasing your body of stress actually gives you
more
energy, even if you work a twelve-hour day. It’s counterintuitive, but it’s true!

More than anything else, being physically fit is a confidence booster, there is no makeup or outfit or costume that will make you feel better about yourself than feeling good under your clothes. Working out will improve your perception of yourself.

OK! Let’s dig into the
how
. It’s not that complicated, I promise.

Let’s start with
power
, the bigger challenge for most people. Within power, there’s the food and drink. Let’s attack drink first.

Reframe in your mind that nothing will quench your thirst more than a glass of water, no matter where you are.

Your goal should be to replace
all
drinks with water. Everything. No more juices (juices have empty calories and are very high in sugar—if you want juice, eat an orange or apple) and no more sodas, even diet sodas (those are worse for other reasons than calories, and in some cases, have been linked to some types of cancer).

Let’s do the math real quick.

A can of soda, a juice, a bottle of beer, or a glass of wine is approximately 150 calories. If you drink two drinks in a day, you’re at 300 calories: 300 calories × 7 days/week is 2,100 calories. So by drinking only two little (in your mind, harmless) drinks per day, you’re ingesting an entire extra day’s worth of calories. Don’t do it!

So if you simply replace these drinks with water, all of a sudden you’re dropping a TON of calories, and weight will just start falling right off, it’s incredible. And, your thirst will be quenched.

If you are ordering alcohol at a party, order vodka and soda (not tonic, which is full of sugar) or vodka water; that has minimal calories and you can flavor it with a lime twist.

That’s it!

That’s my drink secret. It’s so basic and it works. It’s
up to you
to reframe this in your mind!

Drinking = Quenching thirst.

Try it for sixty days and see what happens to you. Come and post on docoolshit.org about your experience.

Now, on to food:

This is the important power that gives you energy to continue to work on your business with as much energy and pep in your step. Pick what you put inside you wisely!

My mental reframe came from an interview I saw featuring Natalie Portman.

She said: “I feel powerful when I choose
not
to eat something bad. It’s a true test in willpower.”

I live in New York City. I barely have time to cook. I’ve been lucky enough to date guys who have been amazing cooks, so I’ve never really had to cook. Opening a restaurant has been great because I can get fed there too!

My point is: I eat out almost all the time and most of my friends do too. It’s New York City after all!

Here are my simple tips to keeping it tight when you eat out.

When you order a meal, simply try and order the healthiest item on the menu. Choose fish over red meat as much as possible, and choose greens over potatoes most of the time. You know where it is on the menu. Have the will to choose that kind of nourishing power to give you the most energy possible.

Next,
share your entrée
with someone.

Rads and I still share most of our meals. In fact, when we lived in Brooklyn together for five years, we used to do Dinner and a Movie Twin Date Night, where we’d go to see a new movie that was released at the local cinema and eat dinner at our favorite Thai place. On Tuesdays, new releases were only five dollars and at the Thai place, a big plate of pad thai was only ten dollars with tip and tax. So we had a full, fabulous dinner and a movie for ten dollars each. It was the best ever.

If you are alone or want to order your own meal (or if you are feeling the peer pressure to order your own meal), eat half of it for dinner and save the other half for lunch the next day. When your meal comes,
split it in half
right away and eat only the left side. It’s a game and you will win!

Two things happen: you save money
and
you eat half the calories.

You win twice!

Do Cool Shit Takeaway

Let peer pressure work in your favor.

If everyone at the table is ordering their own meal, ask, “Does anyone want to get beach-ready and share a meal with me?” Most likely someone else will want to be beach-ready too.

Next, chew your food twenty times. Breathe between bites. Allow your stomach to catch up to your hungry brain. It usually takes fifteen to twenty minutes for this to happen, so slow down your eating. (I know, it’s hard for me too, that’s why I started chewing a lot more per bite and it really helps a lot. Chewing a lot also really helps with digestion.)

Just don’t spoil your appetite with bread and chips. I love bread and chips at restaurants; it’s so hard to not eat them. If you work out an hour or more every day (and are at your ideal weight already), then go for it in moderation, but otherwise, stick to a salad starter and eat half your entrée. If you really like bread, eat half of a small slice or piece and savor each bite!

Try not to eat dessert, but if you must eat dessert (like I do most of the time), share one!

Literally, that’s it! That’s my eating-out secret. No big deal, right?

The rest of the
day when you are not out, try and eat small little meals. I know it’s hard to remember to pack snacks, but eating a healthy breakfast and having small snacks all day is the way to go. Then have your half dinner.

Here are some of the options I go to in the morning and for snacks:

MORNING

soy yogurt with fruit, spoonful of granola and spoonful of nuts
banana and a smoothie or fresh juice
egg whites with spinach (if you have more time for breakfast)
cereal with rice milk and fresh berries

SNACKS AND LUNCH

carrots and hummus
apples and all-natural peanut butter
nut mix
popcorn with sea salt and no butter
small salad with a few veggies, scoop of tuna salad, and sesame ginger dressing

Quenching your thirst and powering your body properly will make all the difference in how much energy you will have throughout your day to keep up with work and have energy and libido in your social life.

Do it and
no
excuses!!!

Now on to releasing (remember, the reframed word for exercise). Think about your time working out not as something new to add to your agenda but as an activity that is rewarding and fulfilling and replaces another less rewarding commitment in nature.

The best example is watching TV. TV is a time suck, and it really doesn’t improve your life. It just doesn’t. It may be hard to get rid of TV entirely, so try getting rid of cable first, if you have it. I’ve been without cable TV for the past four years and it has changed my life! I only watch movies on my television set. You have no idea how much time you waste vegging out in front of the television when you can be doing other, more productive things, like working out at the gym or outdoors or in a dance class or at the climbing wall or whatever!

I am all about unwinding and relaxing, but watching TV is just not the answer!

Here is how I mentally reframed myself to be able to hit the gym every day and make it not feel like a chore.

The first thing is that working out generally puts me in a new environment. I get to see new people and sometimes make new friends. Working out can not only relieve stress, but it can also be an engaging experience.

The second is: build romance into your workout experience.

My friend and confidant Zach loves to work out because he gets to experience the sunset every evening as he skateboards to the gym. It makes going to the gym so pleasurable for him. He experiences that dreamed about “New York moment” whenever he goes to the gym. Find your “New York moment” to get you out the door and in your running shoes!

The third is: sweating is fun.

Think about most of the fun times you have sweat: on the beach, out dancing, having sex, riding your bicycle with friends—so much fun happens when you sweat. Always use that as a motivator to get you going.

Matthew McConaughey’s workout mantra is “Sweat every day, no matter what,” and I think he’s onto something. As long as you sweat in some way every day, that will jump-start your metabolism and you will see your body start to transform.

If you don’t like going to a gym (sometimes I like to work out at home), that’s OK too, you just have to find your thing. You can do a cross-fit workout like me. All you really need is a mat and a couple of dumbbells.

Here is my workout (see the workouts in detail on docoolshit.org). It’s mostly resistance training (using my body weight to work out) and some small weights. All you need is a mat and some dumbbells and a medicine ball.

I do these in a row and then repeat three times with a one-minute break in between. You must keep your heart rate up!

Pushups × 20
Lunges × 25, holding 10-pound dumbbells
3 arm workouts (biceps/triceps/shoulders) × 25 with 5-pound dumbbells
Sit-ups × 50
Squat with medicine ball toss × 25
Mountain climbers × 25
Jumping jacks × 25
Stretching for 15 minutes at the end

Here is the best motivator to get you going: find a partner! Having a partner does a couple of key things:

It holds you accountable!
It helps establish relationships with those you want in your life. Maybe it’s a person you want to connect with in the office, a new friend you want to get to know, someone you have a crush on, etc. It’s a great way to not have to get drunk together, but get to know people the wholesome way!

Ultimately, the power lies in your hands. If you want to find power in your own willpower, it will change the way you look on the outside and how you feel on the inside. The better you feel in your skin, the better the chances that your real, most authentic self will surface.