Weeks into my new corporate job…

1. My healthy diet turned into a happy hour, heavy hors d’oeuvres diet
2. I went from actively moving and stretching every day to sitting all day, every day
3. I discontinued my running and exercise program and replaced it with running an Excel program

I was warned that maintaining a healthy routine integrated within a time and socially demanding career was near impossible. Just weeks in, with my gut expanded, hip flexors tightened, and feeling constantly fatigued – I felt that exact sentiment and knew I needed a change.

Following the honeymoon period of associate training, I had a cubicle realization:­

If I didn’t figure out how to exercise in a 12+ hour workday, move throughout the day, and eat a clean diet, my health and fitness would diminish.

So I set out to figure it out.

My hypothesis was that progression of health and career were simultaneously achievable…somehow.

FitInCorporate is the on-going story of testing that hypothesis.

The mission of FitInCorporate

• Get fit while corporate  – improve physical fitness and mental performance, within the time constraints of a demanding workweek
• Through research, trial, and error – discover, implement, and document the tactics, tools, and techniques that enable health, fitness, and a career – simultaneously

Who am I?

I’m a corporate crusader on the quest for health, a career, sanity, and a six pack.

What the hell does that mean?

I’m a management consultant who works ungodly hours and wants to stay in shape at the same time.

Is that too much to ask? Although societal norms may say otherwise, I think not…

I’m a bioengineer who loves business. Outside of the consulting world, I’m a trainer, chef, and blogger.

I believe in striving for improvement through incremental change, given the reality of circumstance. Although means to the end may seem radical or difficult, I seek do-able, long-term solutions we all can use.

Official résumé here

Let’s get FitInCorporate together

I have made lifestyle modifications, discovered resources, and developed strategies that have significantly enhanced my quality of life. These are things most can do, resources everyone has access to, and I am excited to share them.

However, this is a co-learning endeavor.

What methods have you found most effective? What questions, goals, and ideas in health, fitness, nutrition, & careers do you have?

I have many, I’m learning more every day, and I’d love to hear yours.

Let’s get started – CLICK HERE  for post #1

(seriously though – contact through the website, email, or social media, I’d love to connect)

More to the mission…

What’s the motivation behind the blog?

My former struggle with nutrition & fitness, my father’s struggle with auto-immune conditions and cancer, and my current quest to get healthy and improve the lives of busy people everywhere.

• I followed all the generally accepted rules I was supposed to in high school as I struggled to build muscle and strength
• My father followed all the generally accepted rules he was supposed to while afflicted with diabetes and arthritis, and later, lung cancer

For me, following the rules included a calorie-abundant, but a suboptimal diet for putting on ‘healthy-weight’ and improving athletic performance.  I was convinced that my breakfast of two bowls of Cheerios, skim milk, and a tall glass of orange juice was a healthy start to the day. I now realize that an >85g sugar infusion may have been the reason for my energy dip later in the day.

For my father, following the rules included steroids+biologics for arthritic inflammation and insulin+low sugar (artificially sweetened) diet for diabetes control. I realize that some outstanding doctors enabled his quality of life and modern medicine (e.g., injectable insulin) enabled his life – for that, I am eternally grateful.

Diet and exercise existed in both cases, but lacked an underlying design to achieve a biologically specific goal. A targeted application of food and fitness was not considered an essential element to transformation and treatment in either case. I wonder how functional or holistic approaches using the latest science, rooted in evolutionary biology, could have helped father control his chronic conditions and a younger me achieve past fitness goals.

Applying this topic to broader terms of busy individuals today:

Past approaches like “6 low-fat meals a day” and “5 cardio days a week” are not practical, nor effective for most.

I believe that re-examining outdated assumptions and considering empirical evidence is needed to develop actionable methods that take into account present realities. An approach built for everybody and the every day is the path to sustainable success.

What sets FitInCorporate apart?

I’m living it.

I’m a management consultant who works ungodly hours and wants to stay in shape at the same time.

Is that too much to ask? Although societal norms may say otherwise, I think not…

I adhere to 60-80 hour work weeks and am trying to continuously improve my physical and mental well-being.

It’s an experiment, in the name of health, a career, sanity, and a six-pack, and it’s working (most of it). In the end, it’s personal and it’s real.

So far it’s been a blast.