No-Guilt Turkey Dinner

Thanksgiving is on its way. You have much to be thankful for this, and every, year. I will address gratitude and blessings in another post. Today, I want to help you avoid the post-Thanksgiving glut-guilt. You will like this plan! It lets you eat a real dinner (and dessert) without the feelings of regret. How can this be done? I’ll show you how I have done it for many, many years.

The problem most of us fall into during the holidays is, poor planning. I’m not talking about shopping, invitations, decorations or cooking. I mean, we don’t do proper calorie-prep. Think about your typical approach to holiday celebrations. You plan your schedule, your outfits, what to do with the kids, pets, work, bills, etc. Yet we typically forget about the calories.

Oh yes, we think about the calories. We think about how poor our nutritional habits will be during this time. We make promises to ourselves. We claim that we will start exercising and eating right in the coming new year. It will be our “New Year’s Resolution”. I have a question. Has that plan worked for you? If not, try this instead.

You have nearly two weeks until Thanksgiving. (If you read this later, use it for the next food-filled event you will attend.) Try starting now. Rather than wasting the time until your feast, then eating like a Viking at that feast, and attempting to repair the damage, try a preemptive strike!

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This time, burn as many calories as possible between now and that big day. Get to the gym, run, eat light. Start trimming-down and creating good habits BEFORE the Thanksgiving feast. (Come on. You can do this for a couple of weeks!) Then, enjoy! You know you will overdo it on that day. Everyone does. That’s OK, once in a while.

This time, you will have done all the right things before-hand. You will feel good, not only about the work you have done, but the good habits you have begun. You will enjoy the same meal as everyone else but, as they slip backward, you will only move (slightly) toward where you were weeks before. Yet you will have one amazing advantage over everyone else!

You have begun your New Year’s Resolution more than a month early! By the beginning of the new year, as your friends and coworkers are trying on their brand-new running shoes for the first time, you will be in full swing. Heck, keep going!

Try this method this year. I promise you, if you start today and stay consistent for the next couple of weeks, you will be glad you did. In fact, many of you will have successfully made a permanent and wonderful, life change.

Get to it!!!

Women are KILLING it in the Gym!

Every day, when I go to the gym, I am inspired. This is a great thing, because it keeps me motivated to work hard, and stay consistent with my training. You see, I am a 54-year-old man, and I am recovering from some serious sports-related injuries. My time away from the gym has cost me the 5% body-fat physique I had in my 40’s. I will get it back!

As I continue my journey, it is going well, I noticed something. The landscape of the gym has changed. Things are different now. Yes, there are more people, which creates challenges, and too many of them think the gym is a place to sit on equipment and text, but there is more. The make-up of the athletes in the free-weight area has taken on a brand-new look.

What looks different? Well, the ubiquitous headphones for one, but they were showing up years ago. No. It’s not that. What I have noticed is that women are now taking full advantage of the free weights. This is AWESOME!!!

You have no idea how happy this makes me! For years I tried to convince women that they could achieve whatever results they wanted, working with free-weights. I met great resistance. Women, only a few years ago, seemed to have an aversion to training with free-weights.

• Learn all necessary exercises
• Nutrition for training
• Fitness philosophies
• How to begin and stay consistent
• How to progress in training and diet
• How to cheat
• Avoid binging

The women I talked too, had certain ideas about the effects that this type of training would have. They didn’t believe in the true versatility that this kind of training could offer them. But that is all changing, and it is awesome to see!

Every day I see strong, motivated women absolutely attacking their workouts and achieving mind-blowing results. I am so inspired, and often jealous. I’ll get over the jealousy. I realize that they have paid their dues and earned their great physiques. I also realize that I can do the same. There's no reason for me to doubt my abilities.

Age makes no difference, neither does my hip-replacement. There are NO valid excuses. I will succeed at achieving my ideal physique. I am already well on my way.

For the women reading this who wonder what kinds of results I am talking about, let me explain. I mean . . . ALL of them!

What?

I mean, women are creating any type of physique they want, and accomplishing any type of fitness goals they set. The results are often dramatic. From my nurse friend (in her 40’s) who is, in a few days, about to complete her 5^th Ironman competition in only a few years, to amateur bodybuilding champions, professional IFBB bikini competitors, to working moms who want to create their best physiques ever, these women are absolutely KILLING IT!

I have been preaching the benefits of free-weights to women for decades. Many have listened and many have worked with me when I was a personal trainer. I will tell you this, those who embraced these methods, had spectacular success, more than they ever thought possible, and more quickly than expected. Plus, they fell in love with the process! They got hooked, very quickly!

So, when you feel that you are ready to attack the gym, as other women have, keep an open mind. Don’t worry, YOU WON’T GET BULKY! You can build as much or as little muscle as you choose. But, you will love the way you look and feel. You will love how much control you have over your fitness and appearance.

If you want some help getting started and getting acclimated to the gym, or if you are ready to take things to the next level, Click on the image below. One click, and you will have the tools you need to create the physique you truly want and deserve.

More Power for Women - Click HERE

Now, get to the gym and . . . KILL IT!

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Making Fitness Easy

Alright, this is going to be a tricky post. I knew I had to write this because, well, this is what everyone wants. I listen to the questions and comments in the gym, and on social media. I watch ads for gyms and diet plans and workout videos. A common thread ties all of these together. Everyone wants the same thing. Fast and easy. So, let’s get to it!

To be honest, I don’t like catering to this idea. Fast and easy is typically the best way to fail at anything you attempt to accomplish. I will tell you that I have found fast ways to get fit, and I have found easy ways to get fit. I have not found a way that is both fast and easy. Fast is brutal, and dangerous. I will not share that method with you. Easy? Yes, easy is doable.

Most people will tell you that there is no easy way to get fit. I understand where they are coming from. They have been dedicated, and they have worked hard to get the physique that they desired. They were smart about their training. The have succeeded.

They have seen so many fail. They may have failed in the past as well. So, they do not see an easy path. It seems like hard work. It seems hard, because they suffered to get there. I have done this before too. But I have found a better way.

Here’s the thing, the easy way requires patience. I’m sorry, but it's true, and I want you to succeed. The good news is, this patience will pay-off in true, and lasting, success. You will reach your goals and you will enjoy the journey. Not only will you enjoy the journey, but you will find it far easier to maintain the results.

Are you ready to learn this process? Are you ready to make a commitment to an enjoyable trip to physical improvement? Are you ready to take the first step to reaching whatever fitness goal you set? Are you ready to learn how I lost 30 pounds and kept it off for over a decade? Are you ready to learn how I lived at 5% body-fat into my 40’s? If so, read on!!!

There is no “secret” here. This is just a simple way of approaching your fitness journey. Rather than “forcing” yourself to do something you hate just to reach a “temporary” goal, you will focus on consistency. You will develop a new routine. This new routine will become second nature to you. I know, because it worked for me. It also worked for everyone I taught this method to.

Like success in anything you wish to accomplish, getting fit and creating the physique you truly want, is all about consistency. If you are consistent with your training and nutrition, over time, you will experience tremendous results. However, most people struggle with consistency. Let’s cure that problem for you right now.

All you have to do is create new habits. You need the right habits with your training, and you need the right habits with your nutrition. Once you create the habits, you will become consistent, and it will not feel like work. Training and eating right will become . . . effortless. I know. It worked for me. It was so simple.

What you need to do is set your goal. Then, you need to decide what you need to do to achieve your goal. For instance, if you want to bulk up, you need to train for strength and eat foods that help build muscle. If you want to lose weight, you will need to train to burn calories as efficiently as possible and eat fewer calories. Keep this simple. Don’t try anything fancy or exotic here.

Once you have decided on your path, you can begin. Make it easy on yourself. Start slowly. Let’s start with your workouts, then we will move to your diet.

Working Out

1. Make the commitment to go to the gym, directly from work, every day for two weeks. The reason you need to go directly from work is that it will keep you on schedule and because you can get distracted at home. I found that the gravitational pull of my sofa would only let me get as far as the refrigerator.

2. You must go to the gym every day, Mon. – Fri. for those two weeks, no matter what. No excuses. Go even if you are sick or hurt. When you get to the gym, you must stay for 1 hour, no matter what. I don’t care if you can't train for the whole hour, stay.

If you do the above for two weeks, you will have created the “habit” of going to the gym. I did this for those first two weeks, and I didn’t miss for the next 11 years.

3. Start slowly. Do basic exercises, nothing fancy. Learn proper form. Get used to your routine. Train each body part once per week. Try this:

a. Monday: Legs

b. Tuesday: Chest

c. Wednesday: Shoulders

d. Thursday: Arms

e. Friday: Abs and some light cardio.

Don’t worry about any great accomplishments. Just create the habit. You will do more as you get comfortable. This is how you begin. It will take just a little bit of discipline for the first two weeks, but soon, you will go to the gym without even thinking about it, it’ll just be “what you do”. Then, you will get more and more into your workouts and you will WANT to do more. It will seem . . .EASY!

Diet

This will be done a little bit differently than the training. You will start slowly. Trying to cut out everything you like, all at once, will be too much to ask.

1. Add food first. This may seem counter-intuitive, but it works. Rather than denying yourself the things you love, begin adding things you know you should be eating. Add lean, low-fat meats like chicken and turkey. Eat lots of fresh, raw or steamed vegetables.

Make sure you are eating these things every day. As you add these foods to your diet, you will slowly, and naturally, begin eating less of the bad foods.

(Note: Vegetarians and vegans, you will only adjust your diets for total calories)

2. Improve your diet in a smooth, easy-to-adjust-to manner. The first week, try eating healthy all day on Monday, then eat as normal for the rest of the week. Next week, eat healthy on Monday and Thursday. The next week, eat healthy on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The following week, eat healthy all week, with two exceptions.

3. Cheats. You will have two “cheats” per week, scheduled into your diet. For example, you can have one cheat on Wednesday, and the other, as a floater, on the weekend. Weekends can be unpredictable, so use this cheat where needed. (Party, dinner out, etc.)

4. What is a cheat? A cheat is an entrée, or a dessert, that would not normally be on your diet, but that you enjoy. Having these will keep you from binging. Denying yourself the foods you love, eternally, is too much to ask.

These tips for training and eating are only a small sample of the things you can do to reach your goals efficiently, and as painlessly as possible.

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If you are serious about reaching your fitness and physique goals, read my book:

“The Ultimate Secret Weapon of Fitness for Women: HowYou Can Create Any Physique You Choose!”

Available at amazon.com

You will learn EVERYTHING you need to know to create any physique you choose!

This works for men as well. I learned these methods by doing. I wrote this book with women in mind to answer the most frequently asked questions that women pose.

Check it out! These methods are insanely effective, and fun!!!

Burning Fat Amazingly Fast

Getting results is SO Simple!!!

Do you want to lose fat so fast that friends will be shocked?

Reaching your Fitness/Fat-loss goals is very, very simple. I learned an amazingly fast and consistent way to burn calories.

(HINT: The secret is in your legs!)
Train your largest muscles properly, to burn calories faster than you ever thought possible.

Training larger muscles, with heavier weight, hits the muscle fibers more deeply, and completely, in less time than cardiovascular (endurance) training. This creates a far greater need for calories to be burned during much shorter workouts. 

Here's a great bonus: The type of training you will learn in this book, will cause your body to continue to burn calories for hours after you have finished your workout!

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This method has worked for myself and 100% of the men and women I have personally trained using these methods. Their ages ranged from 24 to 60+, so YES, this works for everyone who commits to success. (Assuming you have no medical/injury limitations). 

These methods, and so much more, will be explained in “The Ultimate Secret Weapon of Fitness for Women”. Plus, you will learn all of the exercises you need to reach your Fitness/Fat-loss goals.

(P.S. This works for men too!!!)

Available at amazon.com in both Kindle and Paperback formats. 

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If you have other goals you would like to pursue, check out:

“PAROLE YOURSELF”:

 Free yourself from fear and self-doubt to live the life of success and abundance you deserve!

Also available at amazon.com in both Kindle and Paperback formats. Just click on the image below:

Going Head-to-Head with Father Time

If you seek great challenges, you will achieve great things. One of my favorite speakers, the great Les Brown said, “The worst thing in life is not to aim too high and miss, it’s to aim to low and hit.” He is a very smart man.

You are so strong and so capable, but if you do not challenge yourself, you will never know how powerful you really are. I have grown to love seeking ridiculous challenges. There have been many in my life. What I have noticed is, if I become single-minded of purpose, I reach whatever goal I set. This is in regard to school, athletics, career, crazy non-sequitur life-pursuits and fitness. All have enriched my life.

What limitations?

You deserve to live your fullest life. People will keep trying to stop you. Why? I don’t know, and I don’t care. I want you to understand the greatest truth in life. Your limitations are all in your head. They were put there by people you trusted, but these people simply can’t see. I am sad for them. I can see.

I have seen far too many people do things that “can’t be done” to ever believe anyone who tells me what I can’t do. The Wright brothers were told that people can’t fly. Oprah Winfrey was told she didn’t have “what it takes” to make it in television. Roger Banister was told that human beings could not run a mile in under 4 minutes. How many times do we need to be shown that we are strong enough to do what we want before we believe in ourselves?

Taking on Father Time

I was told what I couldn’t do so many times I have lost count. So, I did all of those things. More recently, my uncle told me that I could never get my 30-inch waistline back, now that I’m in my 50’s. Challenge accepted.

Here’s the deal, I have arthritic knees. Both knees have been dislocated. I have a surgically repaired bicep. It was torn completely off the bone and needed to be reattached. I separated both shoulders. One of which seems to still be off-line a bit. I have chronic back-pain, and I am about to turn 54 years old. Oh yeah, one last thing. I have a hip replacement. So, what’s the problem?

I have a gym membership, and there’s 24 hours in a day. I know what to do when I get to the gym. I know what I should and should not eat. All I have to do, is eat right and work out daily. I refuse to believe that I cannot achieve my goals. I will. I have begun my training. I have been consistent and I am improving.

Look, here’s the deal. I have made many mistakes in my life. It took me until I was 50 years old to understand the things I am writing today. That’s fine. I’m not done. I wish I had done and achieved more in my youth. Well, I can’t go back in time. So, I will move forward with everything I have and do all I can to make all of my goals a reality.

It’s a bit late in the game, but I am staging a strong 4^th-quarter comeback! I’m beat-up, I’m tired and it was looking like I was going to get blown-out. I understand too, that Father Time has the ultimate 2-minute offense and is undefeated. I don’t care. The fourth quarter is all mine!!!

The clock is ticking, for all of us. Call a play and run it to the best of your ability!

Don’t listen to weak people with no courage. Find your courage and live your best life.

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Why You Should Build Strength First

If you are new to the gym, or have returned after a long absence (Like me!), getting traction in your workouts can be challenging. What I have noticed is, this challenge is as much psychological as it is physical. No one feels great about dragging their unfit physique into a gym full of hardbodies. (By the way, thinking that everyone at the gym is fit, is all in your head. Most feel the same as you. You’re in good company.)

I know it feels like a chore to “force yourself” to go to the gym. I understand that you may feel bad about the way you look (I did, anyway). I know how hard it is to do the work when you feel out of shape. You tire easily. The weights seem heavy and foreboding. The workout seems so tough, and ineffective. After all, you look in the mirror and at the scale every day and you seem to be getting nowhere. Right?

If what I described above sounds familiar, I understand. I was sharing my own experience with you. Now, I want to share with you, how I learned to overcome these feelings to get to a place where I look forward to going to the gym. I want to show you how I went from feeling bad about myself, to getting into great shape and feeling good about the journey. You can do this too, with a simple change in your approach and perception.

The value of strength-training

I share this one concept all the time, cardio exercises are good for you, but they are not the way to go to burn fat and build a shapely body. Before anyone gets upset with me, let me say yes, cardio exercises are good for you. These exercises are good for overall health and fitness and they do burn calories.

That being said, if you want to lose more than 20 lbs. I would suggest putting cardio on the back-burner for the moment. If you want to learn more about burning calories, I discuss this in other posts. Feel free to check them out. For now, I want to concentrate on using strength-training to kick-start your new routine.

The great value of strength training for newcomers and the newly returned, is twofold. The first benefit is physical. Strength-building workouts, especially in the beginning, are not going to be long workouts. This is good when you are just getting started. You get in, do your thing and go. Also, those who are not used to working out will notice something interesting. Your strength will increase rather quickly. This brings us to our second benefit, the psychological boost.

“Hey, look what I can do!”

The psychological benefit of early strength-training is as simple as it is effective. As Tony Robbins likes to point out, “Humans are happiest when they are making progress.” I find this to be true, and the easiest way to make real and measurable progress in the gym is by building strength.

You may not see the results on the scale, right away. It may take a bit of time to see the changes in the mirror. But, if you want to see real, and measurable progress almost immediately, you will find this progress in your strength.

In short-order, if you make the effort to do so, you will see rapid improvement in your strength. Now, I realize that many of you joined the gym to lose weight, not build strength. I get that. However, in order to achieve your fitness goals, you will need to work hard, consistently, over time. This will take commitment on your part. It will also take a strong, muscle base which can pull you through the tough workouts. It will also require a positive mental attitude. Both of these elements will be improved as you see your strength grow.

Each week, as you go through your workouts, add more weight, more repetitions and even more sets. Do this a little at a time. You WILL impress yourself. You will be amazed at what you can do. Write down your exercises, weights used, and number of sets. Start this from day one. Each week you will be pleased and encouraged at your progress. After 2 months, look back at what you were capable of during the first week. You will be blown away! It happens that fast.

What happens as I get stronger?

Here’s the cool thing. At first, you may not see much movement on the scale. That’s ok. This is because, even as you burn fat, you are gaining muscle. What you WILL notice, and this surprises everyone, is how your clothes will fit.

You see, as you lose fat and gain muscle, you shrink. Yep! This is because muscle is denser than fat and therefore takes up less space. This is also why muscle doesn’t jiggle, like fat. As your body shrinks, your confidence will grow. You will begin to love the gym and want to go more often, stay longer and work harder.

I know all of this from experience. I love what the gym does for me and I want you to love it too. You will. Get there and get stronger. Everything you want to do will flow comfortably from your newfound strength, even adding cardio exercises!

Now, Go Get ‘Em!

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Your Workouts Are Misguided

Well then, that sounded harsh, didn’t it? I realize how this sounds, so let me clarify. This post is not intended for everyone. It is intended for those of you who are working hard, being dedicated, trying to lose weight and get that great mid-section, but are having little or no success. I write this because I care. I write this because I see people at the gym, every single day, doing all the wrong things. These workouts are ineffective for the task-at-hand.

When I see someone with a 60-inch waist doing crunches, I cringe. I see people who are 30, 50, 100 lbs. overweight doing “toning” exercises. These exercises are for putting the final touches on a trim, fit physique. If you have read my previous posts, you know that I discuss things repeatedly. Well, until we all get on the same page, and are ready to move on, I feel obligated to keep hounding folks with the information that they so desperately need.

WHY are these workouts ineffective?

Now, I know many of you are reading this and thinking, “Wait a minute. I read this article, book, blog post, etc. written by a successful bodybuilder, athlete, fitness model, etc. They said that this is what they do, and they look great!” Fair enough. Let me explain.

As I mentioned above, these are fine-tuning exercises. I have no doubt that the person who wrote the article, uses these exercises effectively. I have done so myself. However, you need to understand that your current situation, and the situation in which this person used these methods, may be very different.

Let’s look at it this way, all exercises are simply tools we use to do a job. Even if you have a great tool and expert advice on how to use that tool, you still need to ask yourself a very basic question. Is this the right tool for the job? There is a reason you don’t use a power drill to bang nails into wood, or a chainsaw to cut your ham sandwich. It’s not the quality of the tool, it’s the application. Always use the right tool for the job.

What are YOU doing wrong?

You may be doing nothing wrong, but if you are trying to trim your waist by doing multiple versions of crunches, or other ab-tightening exercises, you are making things far tougher than they need to be. Exercises created to “target” the abdominal muscles will strengthen those muscles. However, these exercises are extremely inefficient for stripping away the body fat which covers your abs. Also, these exercises are tough, even when you are fit.

The reason I get so upset when I see people doing these exercises is, I feel like a carpenter watching someone try to knock down a concrete wall with a ball-peen hammer. They work, and struggle and suffer, but get nowhere.

What to do

If you want to make your waist-trimming workouts more efficient and effective, there are some easy changes you can make. Stop working your abs. There is no such thing as target training. (This I discuss in many posts and I go into this more in my book as well.) Target training is an attempt to work fat off of a particular part of the body by training that body part. This doesn’t work. Nature, not you, will decide what fat will be burned for energy to fuel your workouts.

That being the case, what you need to do, is train to burn as many calories as possible. That way, you will become leaner overall. No matter where the fat is burned off of first, eventually, if you keep at it, your abs will be uncovered and revealed for the world to see!

What exercises burn the most calories?

This is the ultimate secret (although I share it constantly). The secret to burning massive amounts of calories in record time is, train your legs with heavy weight! Yes. Do this. Trust me.

The first thing women say is, “I don’t want my legs to get bulky.” I understand. If you do this right, they will NOT get bulky. In fact, most women who follow my methods, find that their legs get smaller!!!

This explanation is a bit involved. It is also the main theme of my book. If you need those extra details, and the exercises, and the routines and so much more, it’s all in the book. You can also simply keep checking back to this blog. Read over the other posts. You’ll find what you need. If there is something you would like me to address, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Thank you and happy training!

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