Martial Art Warmup
MB Chop & Lift Warmup
DB Hammer Curls to OH Press
50lb Versafit Bag Cleans and Shouldering
5lb Exercise Ball Circuit
135lb Barbell Arm Curls
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
New Year's Eve Workout
Today I did a quick killer workout. I did a bunch of exercises with no rest in between sets and it took less than 45 minutes. I warmed up outside using stones and tires followed by a martial art and medicine ball workout. Then I moved to the dumbbell overhead press with hammer curls, followed by a quick shoulder and forearm cicuit with 5lb orange exercise balls and then the 50lbs versafit sand bag cleans and shouldering. It was a good cardio workout as well as a total body resistance workout. I finished the workout with heavy arm curls using 135lbs on the barbell. Honestly, I didn't even plan this workout, I just did it. So when the urge to do something happens, just do it!!
Martial Art Warmup
MB Chop & Lift Warmup
Martial Art Warmup
MB Chop & Lift Warmup
Monday, December 29, 2008
Car Rant Episode 6
The long drive continues as the rant goes into calorie reduction and metabolic effects.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Holiday Redemption
I had to punish myself today after the holiday rest period. I redeemed myself by doing a heavy upper body and core workout. I did some heavy bench press, climbing the ladder with singles and culminating with 300lbs for 3 reps and 225lbs for 12 reps (135-12,225-1,245-1,275-1,285-1,295-1,300-3,225-12), after that I did a superset of pushup variations with stabilization on the Stability Ball, Bosu and Equalizer. I finished crushing myself with a set of AB Roller rollouts going all the way out touching my forehead to the floor. Needless to say, I could barely move afterwards. But I felt better about myself taking the holiday break. What have you done or what are you planning to do to redeem yourself? I'm here to help you get back on track when the holiday vacation is over. http://www.dempseysresolution.com/
300LBS X 3 REPS
300LBS X 3 REPS
225LBS X 12 REPS
Pushups with Stabilization
Ab Roller- all the way out - no slacking
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Car Rant Episode 5
The rant continues as I go on about portion control, surgery for profit and calorie intake.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Meal of the Week 22 Dec 08
This meal of the week has lean turkey slices, broccoli, cauliflower, red seedless grapes, and mixed unsalted nuts. Quick, no preparation time, ready to eat. Keep looking for different foods that you like, that can be prepared easily when you get hungry. By having many different choices, you won't get burned out and can stay away from the bad foods. High protein, good fats and fibrous carbs are the staples of a good nutrition plan.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
This is how someone can eat too many calories in a day
This is how someone could actually eat too many calories in a day. This is my cheat meal that I had today and it is horrendous although it tasted great. All of the worst stuff usually is real good tasting which is why people have such a hard time giving it up. I have been eating real clean for most of the week and this was my 90/10 rule example. 90% of the time you eat good and clean and then you can get away with a cheat meal once in awhile.
This one meal had over 1660 calories. You can see how if you ate fast food a few times a day, you could quickly exceed your deficit calorie requirements and be in the red in the wrong direction. This could quickly lead to Jabba the Hut status as the massive calories, huge amount of carbs (over 133g), massive sodium (2690mg), Cholesterol (230mg) and fat (90g) would doom your numbers for the day. On the plus side there was 77g of protein. These numbers would be catastrophic to a fat loss program if someone ate this stuff everyday for multiple meals. No amount of cardio would be able to reverse the negative effects of multiple meals like this.
If you eat clean, it would be near impossible to duplicate these numbers in a meal due to the fact that good whole foods are so much lower in calories. You would have to eat a ton of good food to duplicate the calories in one fast food meal. You probably couldn't eat the same calorie amount of broccoli, nuts, fruits and lean protein without exploding. So don't fear eating alot of clean whole foods.
Minimize or eliminate the fast food and processed meals and you won't have to worry about eating too much.
How can I get away with a cheat meal like this you may ask? Even though the calories for this meal are huge, my calorie requirements are over 3000 a day so the rest of my calories came from multiple smaller meals of good, clean, whole foods. That is how I minimize the damage and get away with a cheat meal.
So strive to reach 90% of your meals from good stuff and you can survive a cheat meal once in
awhile. Remember to exercise and follow the basics and minimize the bad stuff in your nutrition plan and you can't go wrong.
Mikey and I got our Christmas Tree up
Today, Mikey and I finally completed our annual Christmas task of setting up the tree.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Everyone !!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Everyone !!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Lose Fat Not Muscle
Here is another example of weight loss vs. fat loss:
Latonya lost 3.4 % bodyfat and an inch off of her waist this week while her bodyweight basically remained the same. Great Job Latonya !!! She has been working hard on the nutrition plan and working out hard too. In spite of knee problems, she is able to squat properly without pain. This is just another excellent example of how the program works. You just have to follow it.
Following the mainstream wisdom, How could she have lost bodyfat and an inch off of her waist while maintaining her weight? Doesn't that require weightloss? - No, it doesn't. Had she lost weight, it would have been mostly lean body mass and her bodyfat would have gone up. If you are not tracking lean body mass and bodyfat along with tape measurements and a food journal, you have no clue what you are doing. I call it aimlessly wandering the halls of the adipose jungle. Don't be a catabolic commando. Lose fat not muscle.
The holidays are no excuse to lose all of the progress that you have made. Enjoy yourself and continue to follow the basics of the program. Remember the 3 basic rules - frequency(5-6 meals), amount ( calories per meal and total caloires per day) and type (macronutrient ratio of lean proteins, good fats and fibrous carbs) and you can't go wrong.
Latonya did a great job this week and once again showed that following the program provides fast, effective and safe fatloss while preserving critical lean body mass.
If you aren't currently following an effective fat loss program, visit Dempsey's Resolution Fitness to begin your fat loss journey to achieve the body of your dreams.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Meal of the week 15 DEC 08
This week's meal consists of tuna, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, baby tomatoes, radish, onions, flax seed meal, pecan meal, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. It only took 5-10 minutes to prepare. No cooking involved. Fast, tastes good and full of protein, essential fatty acids (good fats) and fibrous carbs. Keep looking for different combinations of what you like and have the food readily available. Make food in bulk when possible. Train hard and eat right and you will blast the fat off and build lean, toned muscle for the body of your dreams.
Trick Your Body Into Losing Weight Faster
Trick Your Body Into Losing Weight Faster
By Mike Roussell
Dieting can be slow and frustrating but what if you could trick your body into losing weight faster? Would you be interested? In this article I’ll lay out for you 3 simple ‘tricks’ that are safe, effective, and will help you lose fat faster.
1. Trick Your Body Into Thinking It is Starving – This sounds a little outrageous but it is essential to faster fat loss. By cutting your carbs you will signal your body to start producing ’starvation’ hormones. These hormones are responsible freeing stored body fat and shuttling it to your liver and muscles so that it can be used as energy. You don’t need to starve yourself (that’s a bad idea). Just trick your body by reducing your carbohydrate intake to 50-100g per day to trick your system and crank up your fat loss.
2. Trick Your Mind and Stomach Into Thinking That You Are Eating More – One major problem with dieting is hunger. The inability to deal with hunger while dieting is one of the biggest reasons why many people fail on their diets and can’t lose weight. This is an easy fix – just trick your body into thinking that it is eating more food than it really is. How can you do this? Eat more green leafy (spinach, kale, lettuce) and/or fibrous vegetables (broccoli, asparagus, brussels sprouts, etc). These kinds of vegetables have a lot of ‘bulk’ to them but not a lot of calories. This means you can eat a lot more food without consuming extra calories. You actually trick your body in two different ways. The first is visually. There is a big difference from a psychological perspective when you sit down to eat a plate overflowing with food vs. a plate that just has a few pieces scattered on it. The second trick occurs in your stomach. Your stomach has stretch receptors that signal the brain, letting it know your stomach is full and that you should stop eating. These receptors don’t sense calories, they sense volume. Eating lots of green leafy and fibrous vegetables will activate these stretch receptors and you’ll feel full even on less calories.
3. Trick Your Body Into Thinking That It is Time to Build Muscle – Successful long term weight loss hinges on your ability to maintain and stimulate your metabolism. The major driving force behind your metabolism is your muscle. Muscle is a metabolic powerhouse that burns massive amounts of calories allowing you to peel off the pounds. The people that lose muscle when dieting are doomed to not only slow weight loss but also being stuck with the ’skinny fat’ look once they are done dieting. Increasing your protein intake while dieting will help prevent muscle loss because certain amino acids found in the protein you eat work on the DNA level to stimulate protein synthesis (i.e. muscle building). Your body is smart (well not too smart as this article is dedicated to tricking it) and doesn’t like to waste resources so if it is building muscle then it won’t at the same time start breaking it down. This little trick will spare your hard earned muscle from destruction when you are dieting and allow you to keep your metabolism cranking.
There you go. Pretty simple…Eat more protein, less carbs, and more green vegetables to trick your body into losing weight fast. Put these tricks into action and you’ll be losing weight 2x faster than all your friends.
About the Author: Mike Roussell is an author and nutrition doctoral student at Pennsylvania State University. Mike writings can be found in Men’s Health and Men’s Fitness and Ironman Magazines in addition to the internet’s largest bodybuilding and fitness website - T-Nation.com
His Warp Speed Fat Loss system is a complete Done-for-You A-Z Fat Loss Blueprint. You can learn more at WarpSpeedFatLoss.com Warp Speed Fat Loss is a complete 28 day diet and training system crafted to help you lose 10,15, or 20lbs of body fat in just 28 day. To start losing weight fast visit Warp Speed Fat Loss.
By Mike Roussell
Dieting can be slow and frustrating but what if you could trick your body into losing weight faster? Would you be interested? In this article I’ll lay out for you 3 simple ‘tricks’ that are safe, effective, and will help you lose fat faster.
1. Trick Your Body Into Thinking It is Starving – This sounds a little outrageous but it is essential to faster fat loss. By cutting your carbs you will signal your body to start producing ’starvation’ hormones. These hormones are responsible freeing stored body fat and shuttling it to your liver and muscles so that it can be used as energy. You don’t need to starve yourself (that’s a bad idea). Just trick your body by reducing your carbohydrate intake to 50-100g per day to trick your system and crank up your fat loss.
2. Trick Your Mind and Stomach Into Thinking That You Are Eating More – One major problem with dieting is hunger. The inability to deal with hunger while dieting is one of the biggest reasons why many people fail on their diets and can’t lose weight. This is an easy fix – just trick your body into thinking that it is eating more food than it really is. How can you do this? Eat more green leafy (spinach, kale, lettuce) and/or fibrous vegetables (broccoli, asparagus, brussels sprouts, etc). These kinds of vegetables have a lot of ‘bulk’ to them but not a lot of calories. This means you can eat a lot more food without consuming extra calories. You actually trick your body in two different ways. The first is visually. There is a big difference from a psychological perspective when you sit down to eat a plate overflowing with food vs. a plate that just has a few pieces scattered on it. The second trick occurs in your stomach. Your stomach has stretch receptors that signal the brain, letting it know your stomach is full and that you should stop eating. These receptors don’t sense calories, they sense volume. Eating lots of green leafy and fibrous vegetables will activate these stretch receptors and you’ll feel full even on less calories.
3. Trick Your Body Into Thinking That It is Time to Build Muscle – Successful long term weight loss hinges on your ability to maintain and stimulate your metabolism. The major driving force behind your metabolism is your muscle. Muscle is a metabolic powerhouse that burns massive amounts of calories allowing you to peel off the pounds. The people that lose muscle when dieting are doomed to not only slow weight loss but also being stuck with the ’skinny fat’ look once they are done dieting. Increasing your protein intake while dieting will help prevent muscle loss because certain amino acids found in the protein you eat work on the DNA level to stimulate protein synthesis (i.e. muscle building). Your body is smart (well not too smart as this article is dedicated to tricking it) and doesn’t like to waste resources so if it is building muscle then it won’t at the same time start breaking it down. This little trick will spare your hard earned muscle from destruction when you are dieting and allow you to keep your metabolism cranking.
There you go. Pretty simple…Eat more protein, less carbs, and more green vegetables to trick your body into losing weight fast. Put these tricks into action and you’ll be losing weight 2x faster than all your friends.
About the Author: Mike Roussell is an author and nutrition doctoral student at Pennsylvania State University. Mike writings can be found in Men’s Health and Men’s Fitness and Ironman Magazines in addition to the internet’s largest bodybuilding and fitness website - T-Nation.com
His Warp Speed Fat Loss system is a complete Done-for-You A-Z Fat Loss Blueprint. You can learn more at WarpSpeedFatLoss.com Warp Speed Fat Loss is a complete 28 day diet and training system crafted to help you lose 10,15, or 20lbs of body fat in just 28 day. To start losing weight fast visit Warp Speed Fat Loss.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
My Holiday Fitness Challenge to You by Tom Venuto
My Holiday Fitness Challenge to You
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
www.BurnTheFat.com
Media reports say that most people gain between 5 and 10 pounds of body fat in the six weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. According to research from the New England Journal of Medicine, the average amount is much more modest - just over a pound. However, even modest holiday weight gain may be cause for concern: A study by the National Institutes of Health found that this seasonal weight gain - even just a pound - is usually not lost after the holidays; it simply adds to the “weight creep” that sneaks up on us as we get older.
Whether the weight gain is a pound or ten pounds, did you ever ask yourself why does holiday weight gain happen at all?
Here are some common answers I’ve heard:
“I’m too busy over the holidays to work out as often as usual.”
“I’m more stressed over the holidays, and the food is there, so I eat more.”
“I have at least three parties to attend and then there’s Christmas and New Year’s, so it’s impossible to stay on a diet.”
“No one can tell me not to enjoy myself over the holidays, so I’m just going to eat whatever I want.”
These answers all have a few things in common.
First, they assume that it’s an either/or proposition: You can either get in better shape or enjoy yourself, but not both. Stated in reverse: You can either deprive yourself of holiday enjoyments or gain weight, but it has to be one or the other. The truth is, “either/or thinking” is a very limiting form of thought.
Second, these are all excuses or rationalizations. “I’m too busy” for example, is always an excuse, because I have never known someone who was too busy to make time for his or her highest life priorities. The problem then, is not lack of time, but that most people do not make exercise or eating healthy a priority. We all have the same amount of time - 24 hours a day - but the way people prioritize the use of time is the difference between success and mediocrity. And remember, words mean little. Actions reveal a person’s true priorities.
Third, none of these are the real reasons most people gain weight over the holidays to begin with. The real reason is because an intention was never set for the opposite: To get in BETTER shape over the holidays.
Most people set a “goal” to get in worse shape over the holidays!
It’s not consciously set, of course, as few people would intentionally set out to gain fat. They simply do it by default. In their minds, they accept that it must be just about impossible to stay in shape with everything going on over the holiday season, so why bother?
Once the decision has been made, then the rationalizing (“rationing lies”) continues:
“Why should I deprive myself?”
“Family is more important”
“Worrying about diet and exercise during the holidays is neurotic”
“I don’t care if I gain a few pounds, I’m going to enjoy myself anyway”
“It’s only these two or three weeks that I let myself go wild”
“I’ll start the first week in January and lose the weight then.”
As a result of this “negative goal-setting,” they expect to work out less, eat more and gain a few pounds, and they don’t seem to even consider alternatives.
But what would happen if you set an intention and a goal to get in better shape between now and New Years’s Day?
What would happen if you decided that it was not an all or nothing proposition and that you could enjoy the holidays and all it has to offer and get in better shape at the same time?
And what if you decided that your health and your body were the highest priorities in your life, because you realized that can’t enjoy anything else in life, including family or holidays, if you don’t have your health?
Here’s what would happen: You would get in better shape!
I’m not all that different from you just because I’m a bodybuilder and a fitness professional. I have many of the same problems, concerns and struggles as you do. Although today I always get in better shape between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, that’s a result of a conscious choice, a close examination of my old belief systems and a lot of action. For me, it all started about six years ago.
For most of my adult life, I wasn’t much of a traveller and I didn’t enjoy flying or staying in hotels. I had a belief that if I traveled, my workouts and nutrition would suffer. After all, “it would be hard to stick with my usual bodybuilding diet, and I wouldn’t have access to my usual gyms.” Because of these reasons (excuses), I never did much travel back in those days.
Then I was forced to take some trips for business reasons. Predictably enough, my nutrition and workouts suffered while I was spending time in airplanes and in hotels. With my experience having confirmed my beliefs, I re-affirmed to myself, “See, traveling is nothing but a pain. You just can’t stay on a diet and training program when you’re out of town.”
After several more trips, I noticed that something very negative happened: I surrendered. I had resigned myself to “not bother” while I was on the road. I let my expectations create my reality.
But I didn’t let it go on for long. As soon as I became aware of what was happening, I decided that I wouldn’t tolerate it, so I challenged myself and my previous limiting beliefs. I asked myself, “Why the heck not? Why let myself backslide? Why even settle for maintaining? Why not challenge myself to improve while I’m traveling?” The answer:
There was no reason, there were only excuses.
From that day forward, I set a challenge for myself: To come back from every trip or vacation in better shape than when I left. Of course there were exceptions, as when I went on a vacation for total R & R. But I never let travel get in my way again…
I prepared food that I would eat on the planes so airline food was never an excuse…
I only chose hotels that had kitchens, so I could cook my own food…
I went food shopping immediately after check-in…
And I actually found myself training harder than usual!
No matter where I was training - it could even be some “dungeon” of a gym in the middle of nowhere - it didn’t matter because my mind was focused on improving and looking better when I came home than when I left. I had a goal!
What do you think happened? It’s not hard to guess: I always came home in better shape than when I left.
Since then, my “travel challenge” has become somewhat of a ritual in my life. When I’m away from my “home-base” it becomes a “fitness road trip.” I search the Internet or yellow pages or ask locals to help me find the most hard-core gym nearby wherever I will be staying. When I get there, I train every bit as hard as if I had a competition just weeks away. I look forward to it now.
In fact, this experience is what led me to my “holiday fitness challenge.”
Like many people, I travel over the holidays, so I’m automatically in “travel challenge” mode at thanksgiving, Christmastime and New Year’s. But with the additional temptations and busyness that the holidays bring on top of the usual travel stresses, I saw fit to declare a new challenge: “The Holiday Challenge.” The difference was that for my “holiday challenge,” I pledged to not only to return home in better shape than when I left, but to enjoy the holidays to the fullest at the same time.
People who think I “deprive” myself to look the way I do would be shocked: I eat some damn good food over the holidays including Pie at Thanksgiving and my mom’s famous red and green Jell-0 Christmas cake. Then on New Year’s I’m usually toasting champagne and having a blast with friends or family. The difference is, every other meal stays right on schedule and I work out hard and consistently over the holidays; I don’t let everything fall apart just because ‘tis the season.’ In fact, I work out HARDER over the holidays!
The idea that you can either enjoy the holidays or stay in shape - but not both - is damaging and limiting. It hurts your social life, your emotional life and your physical life. Life is not an either or proposition; it’s a matter of balance. Success does not mean going to extremes. Success can be a simple matter of re-examining your beliefs, rearranging your priorities, setting goals, changing the questions you ask yourself, re-evaluating your expectations and acting in accordance with all of the above.
Your expectations will become your reality.
What are you expecting this holiday season? Are you expecting to be in better shape after holiday parties, celebrations, banquets, dinners, and desserts? If not, then why not? What’s preventing you from enjoying all of the above and still getting in better shape? Do you have a limiting belief which dictates that it’s one or the other? Could it be that you never set a goal, intention or expectation to do it? Could it be that you’re rationalizing or making excuses? If so, then I challenge you to change it this year.
I CHALLENGE YOU TO BE IN BETTER SHAPE ON JANUARY 1st THAN YOU ARE TODAY! I CHALLENGE YOU TO BE FITTER, HEALTHIER, LEANER AND MORE MUSCULAR!
There’s less than a month until the end of the year. Why not see how much you can improve your physique over the holidays, without depriving yourself of any holiday enjoyments or festivities? Just step up your expectations. Step up your standards. Step up your nutrition. Step up your training. Step up your action. Step up to the “holiday fitness challenge” the minute you finish reading this, and then just see what happens!
Eat right, train hard, and expect success,
Tom Venuto CSCS, NSCA-CPT
Fat Loss Coach
BURN THE FAT, FEED THE MUSCLE
The Classic Best-Selling e-book
——————————————————————
Discover the fat burning secrets of fitness models and bodybuilders and be 8-10 lbs LEANER by New Year’s. Visit: www.BurnTheFat.com
Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified personal trainer and freelance fitness writer. Tom is the author of "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
www.BurnTheFat.com
Media reports say that most people gain between 5 and 10 pounds of body fat in the six weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. According to research from the New England Journal of Medicine, the average amount is much more modest - just over a pound. However, even modest holiday weight gain may be cause for concern: A study by the National Institutes of Health found that this seasonal weight gain - even just a pound - is usually not lost after the holidays; it simply adds to the “weight creep” that sneaks up on us as we get older.
Whether the weight gain is a pound or ten pounds, did you ever ask yourself why does holiday weight gain happen at all?
Here are some common answers I’ve heard:
“I’m too busy over the holidays to work out as often as usual.”
“I’m more stressed over the holidays, and the food is there, so I eat more.”
“I have at least three parties to attend and then there’s Christmas and New Year’s, so it’s impossible to stay on a diet.”
“No one can tell me not to enjoy myself over the holidays, so I’m just going to eat whatever I want.”
These answers all have a few things in common.
First, they assume that it’s an either/or proposition: You can either get in better shape or enjoy yourself, but not both. Stated in reverse: You can either deprive yourself of holiday enjoyments or gain weight, but it has to be one or the other. The truth is, “either/or thinking” is a very limiting form of thought.
Second, these are all excuses or rationalizations. “I’m too busy” for example, is always an excuse, because I have never known someone who was too busy to make time for his or her highest life priorities. The problem then, is not lack of time, but that most people do not make exercise or eating healthy a priority. We all have the same amount of time - 24 hours a day - but the way people prioritize the use of time is the difference between success and mediocrity. And remember, words mean little. Actions reveal a person’s true priorities.
Third, none of these are the real reasons most people gain weight over the holidays to begin with. The real reason is because an intention was never set for the opposite: To get in BETTER shape over the holidays.
Most people set a “goal” to get in worse shape over the holidays!
It’s not consciously set, of course, as few people would intentionally set out to gain fat. They simply do it by default. In their minds, they accept that it must be just about impossible to stay in shape with everything going on over the holiday season, so why bother?
Once the decision has been made, then the rationalizing (“rationing lies”) continues:
“Why should I deprive myself?”
“Family is more important”
“Worrying about diet and exercise during the holidays is neurotic”
“I don’t care if I gain a few pounds, I’m going to enjoy myself anyway”
“It’s only these two or three weeks that I let myself go wild”
“I’ll start the first week in January and lose the weight then.”
As a result of this “negative goal-setting,” they expect to work out less, eat more and gain a few pounds, and they don’t seem to even consider alternatives.
But what would happen if you set an intention and a goal to get in better shape between now and New Years’s Day?
What would happen if you decided that it was not an all or nothing proposition and that you could enjoy the holidays and all it has to offer and get in better shape at the same time?
And what if you decided that your health and your body were the highest priorities in your life, because you realized that can’t enjoy anything else in life, including family or holidays, if you don’t have your health?
Here’s what would happen: You would get in better shape!
I’m not all that different from you just because I’m a bodybuilder and a fitness professional. I have many of the same problems, concerns and struggles as you do. Although today I always get in better shape between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, that’s a result of a conscious choice, a close examination of my old belief systems and a lot of action. For me, it all started about six years ago.
For most of my adult life, I wasn’t much of a traveller and I didn’t enjoy flying or staying in hotels. I had a belief that if I traveled, my workouts and nutrition would suffer. After all, “it would be hard to stick with my usual bodybuilding diet, and I wouldn’t have access to my usual gyms.” Because of these reasons (excuses), I never did much travel back in those days.
Then I was forced to take some trips for business reasons. Predictably enough, my nutrition and workouts suffered while I was spending time in airplanes and in hotels. With my experience having confirmed my beliefs, I re-affirmed to myself, “See, traveling is nothing but a pain. You just can’t stay on a diet and training program when you’re out of town.”
After several more trips, I noticed that something very negative happened: I surrendered. I had resigned myself to “not bother” while I was on the road. I let my expectations create my reality.
But I didn’t let it go on for long. As soon as I became aware of what was happening, I decided that I wouldn’t tolerate it, so I challenged myself and my previous limiting beliefs. I asked myself, “Why the heck not? Why let myself backslide? Why even settle for maintaining? Why not challenge myself to improve while I’m traveling?” The answer:
There was no reason, there were only excuses.
From that day forward, I set a challenge for myself: To come back from every trip or vacation in better shape than when I left. Of course there were exceptions, as when I went on a vacation for total R & R. But I never let travel get in my way again…
I prepared food that I would eat on the planes so airline food was never an excuse…
I only chose hotels that had kitchens, so I could cook my own food…
I went food shopping immediately after check-in…
And I actually found myself training harder than usual!
No matter where I was training - it could even be some “dungeon” of a gym in the middle of nowhere - it didn’t matter because my mind was focused on improving and looking better when I came home than when I left. I had a goal!
What do you think happened? It’s not hard to guess: I always came home in better shape than when I left.
Since then, my “travel challenge” has become somewhat of a ritual in my life. When I’m away from my “home-base” it becomes a “fitness road trip.” I search the Internet or yellow pages or ask locals to help me find the most hard-core gym nearby wherever I will be staying. When I get there, I train every bit as hard as if I had a competition just weeks away. I look forward to it now.
In fact, this experience is what led me to my “holiday fitness challenge.”
Like many people, I travel over the holidays, so I’m automatically in “travel challenge” mode at thanksgiving, Christmastime and New Year’s. But with the additional temptations and busyness that the holidays bring on top of the usual travel stresses, I saw fit to declare a new challenge: “The Holiday Challenge.” The difference was that for my “holiday challenge,” I pledged to not only to return home in better shape than when I left, but to enjoy the holidays to the fullest at the same time.
People who think I “deprive” myself to look the way I do would be shocked: I eat some damn good food over the holidays including Pie at Thanksgiving and my mom’s famous red and green Jell-0 Christmas cake. Then on New Year’s I’m usually toasting champagne and having a blast with friends or family. The difference is, every other meal stays right on schedule and I work out hard and consistently over the holidays; I don’t let everything fall apart just because ‘tis the season.’ In fact, I work out HARDER over the holidays!
The idea that you can either enjoy the holidays or stay in shape - but not both - is damaging and limiting. It hurts your social life, your emotional life and your physical life. Life is not an either or proposition; it’s a matter of balance. Success does not mean going to extremes. Success can be a simple matter of re-examining your beliefs, rearranging your priorities, setting goals, changing the questions you ask yourself, re-evaluating your expectations and acting in accordance with all of the above.
Your expectations will become your reality.
What are you expecting this holiday season? Are you expecting to be in better shape after holiday parties, celebrations, banquets, dinners, and desserts? If not, then why not? What’s preventing you from enjoying all of the above and still getting in better shape? Do you have a limiting belief which dictates that it’s one or the other? Could it be that you never set a goal, intention or expectation to do it? Could it be that you’re rationalizing or making excuses? If so, then I challenge you to change it this year.
I CHALLENGE YOU TO BE IN BETTER SHAPE ON JANUARY 1st THAN YOU ARE TODAY! I CHALLENGE YOU TO BE FITTER, HEALTHIER, LEANER AND MORE MUSCULAR!
There’s less than a month until the end of the year. Why not see how much you can improve your physique over the holidays, without depriving yourself of any holiday enjoyments or festivities? Just step up your expectations. Step up your standards. Step up your nutrition. Step up your training. Step up your action. Step up to the “holiday fitness challenge” the minute you finish reading this, and then just see what happens!
Eat right, train hard, and expect success,
Tom Venuto CSCS, NSCA-CPT
Fat Loss Coach
BURN THE FAT, FEED THE MUSCLE
The Classic Best-Selling e-book
——————————————————————
Discover the fat burning secrets of fitness models and bodybuilders and be 8-10 lbs LEANER by New Year’s. Visit: www.BurnTheFat.com
Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified personal trainer and freelance fitness writer. Tom is the author of "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com
Monday, December 8, 2008
Kettlebell Renegade Rows with Pushup
Today, Megan demonstrated the kettlebell renegade row with pushup. This advanced exercise requires total upper body strength, core stability & strength, wrist & forearm strength, and balance. Megan started with 15lb kettlebells and progressed to 20lb and finally 25lb kettlebells. She did a great job. Through her fitness and nutrition program, she has went down from 23% bodyfat to 16% bodyfat.
Great Job Megan !!
Great Job Megan !!
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Meal of the Week
Meal of the week: egg whites, salmon, broccoli, flaxseed meal, pecan meal, organic 100% cherry juice, minced garlic, balsamic vinaigrette and extra virgin olive oil. Minimal preparation. It only took a couple of minutes to make the egg whites and everything else was cold and mixed in. Quick, easy and tasty. Keep finding variety and easy things to add to the mix. High protein, good fats (omega 3's and EFA's) and fibrous carbs.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Disturbing Fact You Might Not Like
Fitness pros get a bad rap at times. And hey, sometimes it's well deserved. It's unfortunate, but there are still way too many "meat head" trainers who are more interested in looking at themselves in a mirror than they are in their own clients.
But we also take heat at times for being too interested in looks and appearance than health and wellness.
Well, I'm going to fill you in on a little secret. We've tried to market our businesses by educating people about the health benefits of proper nutrition and exercise. We'd love for people to care more about their health than how they look.
Unfortunately, and this holds true for the vast majority of people, they only care about their health once they've lost it.
Think about that for a little bit.
I can tell you right now the unscrupulous marketers online are making a FORTUNE promoting these Acai Berry pills right now. And they are able to do that because they are promoting it as weight loss and not the real benefit of Acai Berry.
It is the "magic pill" of the day. If you've been paying attention to the weight loss market you'll know it used to be Hoodia.
Now, you might not like it, but I'm not going to be the one to lie to you. I'm not going to be the one to tell you take this little pill and watch the weight fall off. Acai Berry is a heck of an antioxidant that can help your body fight the aging process and help boost your immune system, but it's not going to flush the excess pounds off your belly, butt, hips and thighs. Sorry.
Now my friends at http://dempseysresolution.getprograde.com have an amazing product that includes Acai Berry as one of its main ingredients. But unlike the Grade A scumbags out there lying to you, they only promote their product for what it is; a very powerful Antioxidant formula to help boost your health.
So if your health is of interest to you then definitely check out http://dempseysresolution.getprograde.com
Sorry if this ticks you off. I'm here to shed light on the truth for you. It's up to YOU to decide whether or not your health is more valuable to you than your appearance.
Yours in health,
Eric Dempsey
PS - Again, if you value your health and want help with
the aging process I can't recommend http://dempseysresolution.getprograde.com
to you enough.
But we also take heat at times for being too interested in looks and appearance than health and wellness.
Well, I'm going to fill you in on a little secret. We've tried to market our businesses by educating people about the health benefits of proper nutrition and exercise. We'd love for people to care more about their health than how they look.
Unfortunately, and this holds true for the vast majority of people, they only care about their health once they've lost it.
Think about that for a little bit.
I can tell you right now the unscrupulous marketers online are making a FORTUNE promoting these Acai Berry pills right now. And they are able to do that because they are promoting it as weight loss and not the real benefit of Acai Berry.
It is the "magic pill" of the day. If you've been paying attention to the weight loss market you'll know it used to be Hoodia.
Now, you might not like it, but I'm not going to be the one to lie to you. I'm not going to be the one to tell you take this little pill and watch the weight fall off. Acai Berry is a heck of an antioxidant that can help your body fight the aging process and help boost your immune system, but it's not going to flush the excess pounds off your belly, butt, hips and thighs. Sorry.
Now my friends at http://dempseysresolution.getprograde.com have an amazing product that includes Acai Berry as one of its main ingredients. But unlike the Grade A scumbags out there lying to you, they only promote their product for what it is; a very powerful Antioxidant formula to help boost your health.
So if your health is of interest to you then definitely check out http://dempseysresolution.getprograde.com
Sorry if this ticks you off. I'm here to shed light on the truth for you. It's up to YOU to decide whether or not your health is more valuable to you than your appearance.
Yours in health,
Eric Dempsey
PS - Again, if you value your health and want help with
the aging process I can't recommend http://dempseysresolution.getprograde.com
to you enough.
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