Your Inner Animal
I believe we can relate our training and eating habits to different animals. I’ve picked four creatures to which I feel the majority of our population can relate. If we study these creature’s eating and “exercise” habits we can see why they have a particular physique.
If you look at our sports teams, one of the most overlooked aspects that bonds the team is the mascot. This mascot instills a personality in the team and town.
For centuries, tribal cultures have respected the physique and spirit of various animals. By studying these animals, they were better able to motivate themselves to see success. A powerful hunter was said to have the spirit of a hulk. A conniving enemy was known as a snake. Many settlers in America renamed the natives after disrespectful words. Iroquois was really referring to the Haudenosaunee people. The settlers thought Iroquois, meaning blacksnakes, was more appropriate than their original name. This sort of behavior can affect the morale of an entire population.
I believe it is important in sports and in achievement of better health to role play and visualize yourself as the predator that is at the top of the food chain. See four different creatures who I think most people end up personifying and gain morale in your quest for better health. This will better alter your inner animal to that of a powerful, elegant and respectful spirit.
You can also apply this concept to other areas of your life. If you visualize yourself having success, or having respect, or whatever it is that you desire – find someone or something that already has attained that quality and see yourself in their shoes.
The Deer
The deer has four skinny legs with a big middle section. It jumps and frolics about the forest all day and only eats mornings and late afternoon. They graze on berries, nuts, twigs and plants. When you think of a powerful beast with an awesome physique, the deer rarely comes to mind.
Just as the deer is an herbivore and runs around the forest all day, I too often see humans mimic this fitness personality. They too, have skinny legs and large midsections. If you are the type of person to eat grains, berries and nuts as your only source of foods, then you might have a problem. If you also are running around all day and have long endurance-type workouts, then you are very likely to have a similar physique to a deer. How often do we see Runners and Bikers with an awful midsection and scrawny arms and legs!? I guarantee this isn’t the right road to success in achieving a nice physique!
This creature is the same as a muffin top and overworker. Once you visualize what you are doing to your body and that it is documented with illustrations and even your personality, it will be easier to change or at least come to a new realization.
Fixes:
- Eat more protein. We aren’t vegetarians!
- Don’t stand up all day. Only stand if you’re working out. If you have to stand for work, wear in-soles.
- Work out your chest, legs and glutes. “Core” and aerobic workouts are for wimps. Work out your largest muscle groups to fuel the flame and everything else will balance out.
- Get your sleep! Instead of vegging out in front of the TV, read a book twice a week to help you get to bed early. The light from televisions and monitors messes with our circadian rhythm, causing us to think we should stay up later than our body really needs.
- Biking and running are great workouts, but only in moderation. No more than 25% of your workouts should be endurance workouts if you want to trim body fat. No, this isn’t a typo – I’m telling you to run and bike less!
The Bear
The bear has a more well-rounded diet than the deer. He is known for gorging on food throughout the day in preparation for winter time. He also doesn’t care too much for plants. He loves meat and will eat plants if he has to, but much prefers protein. If he does eat berries or plants, he chooses those with the most nutrients possible. His only mission in life is to eat and that he does well. 
I’m sure you know someone in your life who is like this. With our super-size society, many of our males are going down this route. They are grumpy unless you give them a large portion of meat and their only satisfaction is a huge meal in front of them while having their feet propped up as they watch TV. I believe the first step in fixing the problem is awareness.
I don’t believe there is anything respectful about this type of personality. It is lethargic and lazy. When thinking of the laziest creature of all, I think of the bear. He is smart, but he uses his intelligence to be as lazy as possible.
Fixes:
- Stay out of the honey jar! Don’t glob large portions on your plate just because you’re a beast. Eat like the person you want to look like, not who you are.
- Buy smaller utensils and dishes. This will make you more conscious of how much you eat when you have to go back for seconds, thirds or even fourths before you are completely satisfied.
- Lose your storage shed. Prepare meals for the future so you don’t use your stomach as an extra storage bin. If you give your body fuel frequently, it will stop preparing to hibernate. This means to eat every 3 hours – no exceptions.
- Learn manners! When you are a slob, you don’t have proper digestion. Close your mouth when you eat, always use proper utensils and sit down when eating. All this will equate to smaller portions, believe it or not.
The Hummingbird
This fragile creature is far different than the others. Her favorite food is nectar. She zips around the air at lightning speed, likes to play and is very territorial.
I know many petite girls who remind me of hummingbirds. They are very energetic, eat sugar all day long and never gain a pound. Sounds like the best of everything, right?
Well, the life expectancy of a hummingbird is about 5 years with the longest living only 9 years. Their heart rate is an insane 1,200 beats per minute! If your fitness personality reflects that of a hummingbird you may have trouble sleeping, calming down, have heart murmurs, or anxiety. Throw some healthy fats into your diet, drink more water and eat some protein! While it’s great to be petite and able to eat sugar without gaining weight, your physique doesn’t tell what goes on from within. Remember what I said about sugar being the gasoline on your fire? You may also be cold all the time. Make sure you eat enough food with substance so you can actually heat your core. Pure sugar also can give you a hormone imbalance. The hummingbird is not known for its prowess or strength. It is a fragile creature that while beautiful to watch, has neither longevity nor strength to survive the slightest cold.
Fixes:
- Don’t use the bird feeder! Soda, juices and coffee are all ways to suppress your appetite with pure sugar. Eliminate them and replace with real food.
- Energy bars and energy drinks are for the birds! If you fuel your body appropriately, you won’t lag in energy. No, they aren’t healthy. As of publication, the Zone Impact Bar® is my ONLY recommended protein bar. The Luna®, Zone®, Think Thin® and ALL other bars are CRAP. I’ve extensively researched them and they are cheaply made and not nutritious!
- Stop getting fat-free foods! You need fat to survive and it will actually help lower your body fat if used as discussed in the meal plan in Chapter 1.
- Always jittery? You’ll stop shaking your foot, losing sleep, twitching, having back and head aches, etc. if you lose the caffeine. Yes, that means chocolate, too. Have it in the morning sparingly and you’ll be better off. I know you won’t drop it entirely, but at least eat chocolate with nuts and before 3pm.
The Puma
The Puma has a few characteristics of all other creatures. The four-legged beast is smart and powerful like the bear, nimble and as aware as the deer and playful and territorial like the hummingbird. The Puma spends most of its day lying around, cleaning itself and taking pride in its accomplishment.
It is at the top of the food chain and is a carnivore. A puma will stalk its prey and walk very quietly. In a matter of 90 seconds, it will run as fast as it can and chase down an unsuspecting deer. After catching the deer, the puma will sit down to eat its prize. Sound familiar? You got it, this is HIIT Training at its peak. Learn to run like a puma and you’ll see better success in your workouts.
The puma has only meat as its source of food. It also exhibits incredible amounts of energy in short bursts in order to catch its prey. Try to vamp up your protein intake to at least 40% of your total calories. For ladies, this means 20g of protein at every meal. Gentlemen need as much as 40g of protein at every meal.
If we mimic this lifestyle, we will end up with the same physique – a rock hard body that is lean and mean. We must let our body rest 99% of the day. Then, the 1% that we are actually working out, we need to give 100%. This makes a big difference in our strength, physique and longevity.
You see, the puma is only a few seconds faster than the deer. But that few seconds determines who is at the top of the food chain. You decide where you want to be on Mother Nature’s list.
Be careful, though. Don’t let your pride get the best of you. Pride is the Puma’s only downfall. Be humble once you’ve achieved greatness and help out the other animals.