How I Stay Fit: James S. Fell
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James S. Fell is a middle-aged family man with a desk job and not much free time, yet he's able to keep in shape because he loves exercise and doesn't mind eating healthy. He is the author of Body for Wife: The Family Guy's Guide to Getting in Shape. His column for That's Fit.ca focuses on weightlifting, running and exercise motivation. Q: You are a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, which begs the question, just how fit are you, James??
A: I pride myself on being pretty damn fit. I can run 10km in just over 42 minutes and bench press 315 pounds and I've only got a little bit of an ego. Plus, I can see most (but not all) of my abdominal muscles. I think this isn't bad for a family guy in his 40s. It helps that I'm married to a family doctor who keeps me on my toes.
Q: And would you say you are a healthy eater? Give us a snapshot of your daily diet.
A: As a fitness author, I feel the need to "look the part," and that means staying slim. I know that the easiest way to keep calories under control is to focus on eating healthy. Unlike most guys that are into weights I don't believe in high protein diets. I'm big into unprocessed carbohydrates, a moderate amount of healthy fats, and keeping my red meat intake down. All my grains are whole, my dairy is lean, and fruits and vegetables make up a large part of my diet. I also follow the old Chinese adage of "Eat until to you are eight-tenths full."
Q: What motivates you to exercise and be fit?
A: Love. My book may be called Body for Wife, but that's mostly a marketing gimmick. Sure, I like being in good shape for the love of my life, but the thing that gets me to lace up my runners in minus 30 is the fact that I really love exercising.
Q: Have you always been this way?
A: Not even close. Do you remember that guy who was a total spaz at every sport in junior high school? That guy was me. I sucked at everything athletic growing up and by the age of 25 was getting to be pretty chunky from a lousy diet and no exercise. Before proposing to my wife I decided it was time to get in shape, and through some luck I actually found out how to love doing it. Over time I dropped almost 50 pounds of fat and gained around 20 pounds of muscle.
Q: Do you face any challenges in maintaining a healthy lifestyle?
A: Time is always the big one, but I've gotten to be pretty creative. For example, I actually like having to taxi my kids to karate class because it gives me an hour to kill, and that hour involves running shoes and sweat. My other big challenge is beer. Mmmm... beer.
Q: What are your fitness goals for 2010?
A: I've always wanted a six pack. I've got a pretty good four-pack, but a six-pack would be awesome. The problem is that I seem to like drinking six packs more than having one on my torso.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
yoohoomissblue 2-24-2010 @ 8:58PM
Very time consuming isn't it. Thank goodness for a wife to look after the kids for you as you work out and all you need to do is taxi them around. I was a fat girl who ran 6kms with asthma in about that time.. Not bad! Almost as good as you think you are. At that I had 3 kids.. What was your excuse for being fat?
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