GT Food Challenge – the Last 3 Days

I wish that I could help people who struggle with Obesity more efficiently than telling them to eat more fruits and vegetables, but that’s all I did to lose -5lbs in 8days – this is not a diet, this is life

Related articles

• GT Food Challenge: Day 2 Weigh-in – still Balancing my Carbs (dnfitness.wordpress.com)
• GT Get Fit Tip: Carb Balance (dnfitness.wordpress.com)
• Are You Ready? GT 10-day Food Challenge (dnfitness.wordpress.com)

GT Food Challenge: Day 2 Weigh-in – still Balancing my Carbs

Weighed in this morning when I got to the studio and dropped 3lbs on day 2.  Mostly water but I’m still pleased bc that’s real weight.  I am still making food corrections to level out my CHO and Pro intake bc I don’t want more than 45% CHO for my daily allowance.  Too many CHO’s will make my weight go up due to water retention (8lbs a gallon)

I hope your challenge is going as well and keep tracking your food, I’m still torn between MyFitnessPal and LoseIt.  They both work great but I can’t decide which one I like best

Related articles

• GT Get Fit Tip: Weigh Yourself in the Morning (dnfitness.wordpress.com)
• Are You Ready? GT 10-day Food Challenge (dnfitness.wordpress.com)

GT Fit: Tools in your Tool bag to Progress Weight Loss

Want to progress  your weight loss?  Try adding some tools to your tool bag

1. Looking in the mirror ( yes you can flex ladies) 
2. taking pictures every week
3. measurements and re-measure
4. How your clothes fit
5. What your friends and colleagues say about you when they see you again
6. comments from strangers
7.  your total weight that is body fat lbs 
9. your total weight that is lean muscle tissue  lbs
10. Your body fat percentage (most important for women, not total weight)

You have to have a way to measure & track progress.  I personally like to see my performance go up in my workouts but some people love to look at the numbers to see change.  Doesn’t matter how you look at it but when  friends and strangers make comments about you getting in shape then you know you are doing something.

Best part about that is you will motivate them to be fit too!!!

Related articles

• GT Fit live workout: Bicep/Tricep work (dnfitness.wordpress.com)

GT Get Fit Tip: Analyzing Your Results

This spring makes my 11th year doing personal training and March is always the BEST and WORST month.  This time in early spring is a great time to analyze your results.  You want to stop now and look at your workouts, nutrition, and recovery to make sure you are on track for spring and summer break.

I track body fat for clients because that’s most important when you talk about being toned, the weight or “mass” is irrelevant when 33% of your total weight is all flabby and muffin top (you skinny bitch!!)  I preach all the time about getting stronger, faster and becoming leaner through a little working out and eating fruits and vegetables, I say it over and over and over again.  

My point today is to remind you guys that stepping on the scale and weighing is not the only way to track progress.  We all want to look respectable and some of us even want to be a bad ass about it but I want to remind you to be appreciative of your health and well-being and motivate some one else to be happy too.

 

What does it take to motivate you to lose -5lbs?

Split Training- talking workouts with Robin Shea

Coming up this Tuesday on the Robin Shea Show  we will be talking about one of my favorite workout subjects and that’s ”split training”

What is split training?  Split training is making workouts that hit different muscle groups on different days to spread out emphasis over several days instead of a 2 hour workout.  There are many ways to SPLIT a workout routine and the more advanced the training the more you can split routines into major muscle groups.

For example 

Day 1: Quads (Mon)
Day 2: Shoulders and traps (Tues)
Day 3: Back, hamstrings and biceps (Thurs)
Day 4: Chest and triceps (Fri)

The body works in 4-6wk increments so every month you should look to vary frequency, intensity, time or use the F.I.T. Principle.  With split training you can split each muscle group and train with greater intensity more than just once a week.  Also rest days or Active Recovery workouts can be implemented for greater recovery, as in the case of upper-lower body split workout performed four days a week like the one mentioned above.

The F.I.T. Principle stands for

#1 Frequency – how often you train

#2 Intensity – how hard you train

#3 Time – how long you train

People who want to lose weight need to focus on metabolism.  Metabolism essentially means “how many calories you burn in one day.”   The only way to increase the body’s metabolism is to build more lean muscle tissue (LMT).  Focusing on cardio in my opinion is the wrong way to go because cardio trains the body to store fat for long cardio sessions (the body has to have ample energy for runs longer than 20mins).

Robin has done many split routine workouts with me in the past to burn almost 1000 calories in 50mins and recently on one of her runs she had an EPIPHANY about cardio & weight lifting workouts!!

Tune in this Tuesday 10a.m. cst to hear us talk about Weight Training 101 as Robin ask questions like

1. If your desire is to lose weight focus on this type of routine…
2. If your weight is roughly where you would like it to be this is a better routine…
3. If you are seeking major weight loss perhaps this routine would serve you best…
4. How often to switch up your routine and why…
5. Incorporating Aerobic vs. An-aerobic cardio into your routine

Like I said this is one of my favorite topics and in my opinion the most important discussion for getting in shape and burning more body fat.  You can check out some other posts of mine here

The “SKINNY” on Working Out

Dieting is the worst way to Lose Weight

GT Get Fit Tip: 5 ways to “Spring Clean” Your Body and Burn More Fat

GT Get Fit Tip: Train for Your Body Type

Know Your Body Type: Measure and Re-Measure

Holiday season is here and people’s focus will shift back to how overweight they are what they’re going to do about it.  When you go to the office parties and family dinners you will see and hear everyone’s excuse for their poor physical health.

If you are currently working out alone then now is the time you want to have your body measured.  Take the time to measure hips, thighs, abs, chest and arms and if you can have a Fit Coach assess your body fat composition.  Knowing what body type you have (endomorph, ectmorph, mesomorph) and how your body fat and muscle mass is distributed is the key to formulating a workout routine that will yield RESULTS

Measuring is the time when you can critique how your training program is fairing.  You don’t know where you are going if you don’t know where you been.  You have to obtain measuring points so you can compare.  Comparisons will help you determine the course of action for the next 4-6wks.  Adjustments will have to be made to nutrition intake and workout regime in order for the body to respond and adapt the positive changes you working towards.

If you have never measured or want to be re-measured schedule a time with me Monday – Friday a.m. or p.m.

Get measured – Get results

When you go to your Christmas party, they will have lots of questions for you!!

Related articles

• GT Get Fit Tip: Your Body Type in Video (dnfitness.wordpress.com)
• GT Get Fit Tip: Be Your Best Body Type (dnfitness.wordpress.com)

GT Get Fit Tip: Your Body Type in Video

Watch this video to see your body type – these are different names to describe the same Ectomorph, Endomorph and Mesomorph bodies

Knowing what your type is can help you make better decisions on how you eat and exercise

Related articles

• GT Get Fit Tip: Be Your Best Body Type (dnfitness.wordpress.com)
• GT Get Fit Tip: Visceral Fat Picture worth 250lbs (dnfitness.wordpress.com)
• GT Get Fit Tip: Woman who take Steroids and Workout (dnfitness.wordpress.com)

GT Get Fit Tip: Visceral Fat Picture worth 250lbs

This picture is 250lb woman on the left and 120lbs woman on the right

The white stuff is fat – you can see the visceral (organ) and subcutaneous (skin) fat distribution throughout both females.

Look closely at the organs and heart.  See the fat that surrounds the vitals?  That’s visceral fat and what contributes to heart attacks and strokes.

Look close again and you can see how the lower legs on the left have “bowed” to compensate for the extra weight.

The extra white is bad news for being in shape and healthy – we can’t always see it and its a silent killer.

Related articles

• GT Get Fit Tip: Be Your Best Body Type (dnfitness.wordpress.com)
• Two Kinds of Belly Fat and How To Beat Them (donteatdirt.com)
• GT Get Fit Tip: BMR (metabolism) (dnfitness.wordpress.com)

GT Get Fit Tip: Women who take Steroids and Workout

Women have ESTROGEN – men have TESTOSTERONE

Women typically can not build muscle tissue like a man without testosterone or other steroid injections.

No female that trains in my studio will bulk up and get to muscular

UNLESS

you take drugs!! You wont be getting any drugs from me

BUT please don’t tell me your getting to big of muscles unless you look like these “ladies”

Related articles

• GT Get Fit Tip: Ectomorph Body Type (dnfitness.wordpress.com)
• GT Get Fit Tip: Be Your Best Body Type (dnfitness.wordpress.com)
• GT Get Fit Tip: Ectomorph Body Type aka “Lurch” (dnfitness.wordpress.com)

GT Get Fit Tip: Be Your Best Body Type

Image via Wikipedia

The fog was rolling this morning, the air is getting cooler.  Football season is here and the Bears started off HOT HOT first game of the year ( Bears over Falcons 30-12)

The best time of year?

Some will argue that it is, I despise the frigid temps, but will suck it up for some good football

The cooler weather also signals in our bodies that its time to eat and gain body fat for winter.  Fat, although looking terrible on our abs and hips, does serve that purpose to protect and keep us warm.

Summer time is peak season and time to enjoy the body you worked for all winter.  Once fall gets here, “hunger cues” will commence,  and you’ll be overwhelmed with propensities to eat more calories.

This is natural for warm-blooded animals, what is also natural is how your body will store that fat,  ectomorphs, endomorphs and mesomorphs will store fat in different ways and in different areas of the body.  Your genetics from parents will determine how and where you store the EXTRA fat.

Mesopmorphs:  trouble areas can be around the hips around the love handles but usually compensated by more muscle build and a “V” shape upper body with a tapered waist.  A natural muscular frame keeps the metabolism up and excess fat storage is usually not prominent.

Ectomorphs:  fat stores typically are evenly distributed throughout the body frame although the physique may appear soft and “skinny fat”.   Ecto’s are longer, taller people and won’t store much excess body fat or pack on extra muscle.  Trouble areas can vary but due to the naturally lean body the real trick is to keep your body fat % under 28% for females and 15% for male body frames

Endomorphs: these are the hardest types of bodies to deal with, they can and will store body fat at the drop of the hat, these types can walk by a buffet and gain 4 lbs.   Trouble areas tend to be around the abs, hips, and thighs.  Fat stores can be in excess and can typically give the person a “round” or “pudgy” frame.  They can have broad shoulders and hips and with the extra muscle mass and fat storage around the bones the weight or mass can pack on heavily to this powerhouse frame.

We all have some sort of combination of the three body types listed above.  You may tend to be more dominantly tall or muscular but make no mistake about it, how you eat and what exercises you do or don’t do can determine how much extra fat you store on your frame regardless of what type of body you have.

Check out these pics to get a better idea of what body type you have

Related articles

• GT Get Fit Tip: Ectomorph Body Type aka “Lurch” (dnfitness.wordpress.com)
• Ask the Diet Doctor: The Best Post-Workout Snack (fitsugar.com)
• GT Get Fit Tip: Ectomorph Body Type (dnfitness.wordpress.com)