What's Stopping You?

When I meet people in my office for the first time, I ask them one simple question, “what has stopped you from reaching your weight loss goals?”.  Most often the response is “It just costs too much to eat healthy and pay for training”

They just lied to themselves…

It is because of a lack of self-discipline.

What if I told you that for around $50 a week, you could feed yourself (and possibly your spouse or small family) a perfectly healthy set of meals 3 times a day with some snacks, lose weight?  What if I told you it would only take 30 minutes to prepare those meals a few times each week?  Guess what, plenty of people who are busier than you ever will be do it.  Here is how.

Learn to prep meals multiple days at a time!

1: Have a meal plan.  Plan the week ahead and stick to it.  Plan to prepare your meals in advance so you aren't spending 30 minutes every night cooking.  Remember, most of the time you can prepare 2-3 days worth of meals and store them in the same time it takes you to do 1 meal.  Take the time and research diets and educate yourself on what is healthy and unhealthy.  Remember, ignorance is not a valid excuse.

Tupperware is your friend!

2: Buy healthy foods.  Stick with Lean Protein, Veggies, Fruits, Nuts & Seeds.  Depending on your goals, some starches and dairy may be acceptable.  Avoid things with added sugar and high salt.  While eating healthy food from the store is a little more expensive than going and getting a Fast Food Burger every night, the healthy food pays off in the long run. 

There are 4 servings of each side dish in this picture...
all fresh, all healthy, under $5 total.

3:  Have a designated shopping day with a list.  Stick to the list…   If your list has things like “cookies” on it, tear up the list and start again.

4: Learn to cook.  If you fail at cooking, get over it and get on the internet.  There are plenty of “how to” videos on Youtube showing you how to cook food.

Healthy Meals like this can be easily prepared for around $3
and be from Kitchen to Table in 30 minutes.

5: Learn to not make excuses.  If you falter on your diet or training regiment, it is your fault... not your boss's, not your kids, not your spouse, not the junk food manufacturer...  it is all on you.  Take some responsibility for yourself.

In the end it comes down to one thing...  don't waste time thinking about why something cannot be done.  Take control, and do what needs to be done!

Gender Lines: A primer on the differences between guys and gals fitness.

First, what is the same between the genders? 

Psychologically, we all are impatient and want results yesterday.  We all want instant abs, 10 minute workouts, diets where they can eat all they want, and want a magic fat loss pill.   

Also, on the cellular level and for the most part an anatomical level males and females are pretty much the same.  Muscles and bone tissues are the same no matter what gender.  Whether guy or gal, if you train well you will develop a fit body while if you train poorly, you will be left with little to no progress. 

So how are the genders different? 

Where males and females differentiate the most is hormones, specifically Testosterone and Estrogen levels.  A healthy male can produce as much as 20 times the amount of testosterone than his female counterpart in a day.  Testosterone plays a key role in building muscles and repairing damaged tissues.  This also means that females have a hard time building up massive amounts of bodybuilder-type muscles. Hormones also play a key role in fat deposit sites so females tend to hold more fat deposits in the hips and thighs.

Anatomically, while men and women are similar there is some key differences in the hip and knee structures.  The hip and knee issues can originate in the pelvis/hip structure.  According to the authors of Women’s Health and Fitness Guide (2006), the female pelvis has a number of differences as compared to the male pelvis for the purpose of accommodating childbirth. The differences can predispose female athletes towards the femur being tilted inward compared to a male. This increased angle of the femur as compared to the vertical placement of the tibia that can be a source of injury.

Generally, as a trainer I run into men have an easier time training upper body while women prefer lower body.  This is typically because of Societal Standards of Beauty…  men focus on manual labor and don't worry about having calloused hands.  Women tend to shy away from upper body exercises out of fear of "getting too big and manly" and tend to focus on lower body thinking they will get that "toned" look everyone wants.  The psychological aspects of each gender brought on by societal norms and ideas of beauty has a profound affect on how most people train.

Also, it should be noted that from a Personal Trainer's perspective, many women are hard to deal with 1 week out of every month…  men on the other hand are always a pain to deal with.  (This is a joke...  don't spam me with hate mail!)

So what should you take from this?

No matter your gender you should give 100% if you want good results.  Your workout and nutrition plans should reflect your individual needs and limitations, but aside from some hormone balance and the knee issues the gender lines have little to do with training your muscles.  

Supplement Primer: The supplement industry

SUPPLEMENT PRIMER: The Supplement Industry

Over the next few weeks I will be covering several questions that have come up at work frequently about supplements.  Topics like Protein Sources, Performance Aids, Diet Pills, and Thermogenics will start us out.  

The Supplement Industry

First off, the supplement industry is a billion-dollar a year industry, and is full of exciting products that promise fast fat loss and massive  muscle gain.  Let me make this clear…  Even though there are several good supplements out there, THERE IS NO MAGIC PILL.  No matter which supplements you use it still takes determination and effort to get results.

It comes down to one thing... a supplement is just what it sounds like, a SUPPLEMENT to an already existing GOOD DIET. Get your nutrition plan right and make sure your exercise plan is optimal. Those alone will get you great results.  After looking into your diet, check the studies on a supplement before buying it.  Many supplements claim a great deal but fail to deliver.

So before going out and spending hundreds of dollars on what amounts to usually rice flour and caffeine, evaluate your existing program and tweak what you can.  Examine the quality of the foods you are eating, the timing of your nutrients, and what you can be doing to better yourself there.  Once you have done that, then consider where you need to supplement.

Next up: Protein