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

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GT 10day Food Challenge (First 7 days)

our GT 10day Food Challenge is working out well, through 7days and the holiday weekend I have dropped -4lbs and 2% Fat

(no diet, no pills, no powders, no gimmicks)

last supper

my last supper tonight before the food challenge is my favorite mashed potatoes – with baked spicy chicken and asparagus

I will be using the “lose it” app and “food burner” app to track my calories

I’m weighing In at 161 and 13% body fat – my goal in 10 days is 155 and 8-10% body fat

We have 25 people signed in and ready to go – I am very excited to get the results – I will post them soon

Any suggestions or questions please let me know, the 10 day food challenge is a great place for anybody to help start burning body fat

GT Get Fit Tip: Release Cortisol – Increase Body Fat

While cortisol is an important and helpful part of the body’s response to stress, it’s important that the body’s relaxation response to be activated so the body’s functions can return to normal following a stressful event. Unfortunately, in our current high-stress culture, the body’s stress response is activated so often that the body doesn’t always have a chance to return to normal, resulting in a state of chronic stress.

Higher and more prolonged levels of cortisol in the bloodstream (like those associated with chronic stress) have been shown to have negative effects, such as:

 

• Impaired cognitive performance
• Suppressed thyroid function
• Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
• Decreased bone density
• Decrease in muscle tissue
• Higher blood pressure
• Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing, and other health consequences
• Increased abdominal fat, which is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat are heart attacks, strokes, the development of metabolic syndrome, higher levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), which can lead to other health problems!

To keep cortisol levels healthy and under control, the body’s relaxation response should be activated after the fight or flight response occurs. You can learn to relax your body with various stress management techniques, and you can make lifestyle changes in order to keep your body from reacting to stress in the first place.    http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm

 

 

WHY I do Personal Training

There is a wonderful group of various people that come together almost like family everyday to my studio and through a habitude  of nutrition and fitness they motivate themselves from what they once were, to go out and inspire to help make change in the lives of others, friends and loved ones.

These people have a loyalty and respect for themselves and what it means to be a productive piece of  society for the betterment of our human kind.  People like these are looked up too and set apart to be made examples for others to follow, for that I commend them.

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GT Get Fit Tip: Beat these Bad Habits to Help You Get Toned

Re-post from BG Daily News Amplifier

Summer is near and more people will be dressing less to go out and do their daily deeds.  How you feel about yourself will determine what you wear that day and all the decisions you made prior to that could effect how your feeling.

Keeping and maintaining a healthy weight is a lifestyle choice that people make while others make it hard for themselves because of what choices they have made over the past years and months.  Take into consideration your daily activites and what you spend time doing during the day.  The habits you have and the tasks you perform may be keeping those unwanted pounds on your body and causing you to feel and look FAT.

Beat these BAD  habits to help you get toned this summer:

1.  Smoking – if your smoking stop!! Bowling Green just recently passed the “no smoking” ordinance and we should all be thankful.  Smoking decreases blood flow to the extremities and studies show that smokers have a higher waist to hip fat ratio than non smokers.  That means that smokers tend to store more fat around the mid section and look pudgy.  Fat around the chest and abs is the worst kind because it impedes organ function.

2.  Drinking – Taking yourself down town to get 2 or 3 drinks after work adds more than 500 calories to your daily calorie intake and can add up to more than 5lbs a month in fat gains.  Instead of meeting work collegues for drinks, meet for a workout or walk in the park, it will do the your body some good.  Alcohol slows the bodies metabolism and increases the bodies signal to store fat.

3.  Stress - figure out what causes stress in your life and DEAL with it.  When you stress out your body releases cortisol in the blood stream and that also signals your body to store fat.  Stress not only adds body fat to your midsection but can also kill you by contributing to stroke and heart attack.  Take a walk or count sheep if need be, you have to decrease stress to be healthy.

4.  Skipping Fruits and Vegetables - eat more fruits and veggies to lose more body fat.  Getting your daily servings increases your fiber consumption which aids in digestion and prevents constipation.  If your eating more fruits and vegetables then you are less likely to eat too many carbohydrates and starch.  Carbs and starch are easily converted to fat when not utilized by the body shortly after eating.

5.  Too much Cardio or none at all – just walking and jogging isn’t enough to reduce body fat.  I tell people all the time its hard to “get in shape” without doing exercises that actually shape and contour the body.  My suggestion is lift more weights.  Proper weight training adds more lean muscle tissue which burns more calories when you are not working out, plus its good for your heart.

6.  Not getting H2O - if your thirsty you are already dehydrated.  Drinking water is vital to good health because your body can’t function without it.  Knee joints, hip joints, and the spine all need fluid to operate smoothly, without proper hydration your joints can ache and cause irritation.  If you feel bloated all the time, drink more water.  The best diuretic is water.

7.  Watching too much TV - turn off the tube, especially at night.  People who sleep less than 8 hrs have an increased risk for storing more body fat.  When the body is tired it will conserve energy throughout the day in order to have energy when and if its needed.  If you don’t get enough sleep or exercise your body never releases stored energy (fat) so it just collects on our body and looks terrible

These are just 7 bad habits that could be wrecking your midsection and the propensity of unhappiness you have about yourself.  The first step to looking good and being healthy is body awareness, without knowing your body and being mindful of what your doing you don’t stand a chance in this life.

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GT Get Fit Tip: Break the Fast (Breakfast)

Image via Wikipedia

Breakfast – break / fast

Essentially the word breakfast means break the fast from a night or about 8hrs of not eating and drinking.

If you have more fat stored on your body than you want and you skip breakfast regularly, read this:

Eating supper at 7pm and not eating lunch till 12pm is 17hrs WITHOUT food!!  That’s way to long to force your body without nutrition, a body that is malnourished will be starved.  When your body goes into starvation mode it will gear up to store body fat so anything you eat your body works hard to convert it to fat and stored somewhere (maybe your abs, hips, or thighs) for later use.

If you are trying to lose body fat and don’t break the fast from night, then you’re not getting the metabolism going for the day and you’re not going to burn as many calories as you need to make a difference.  You have to have energy or nutrition to burn fat and here is a list of 100 foods that add energy and productivity to your day.

I know you will find something you like, if not send me yours and I will add it to my list.

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Bulky Women: Say it Ain’t So

Have you ever seen a bulky woman?

I believe these to be bulky women, these are not soccer moms.

They lift weights, they EAT.

They lift weights, they EAT.

They lift weights, they EAT.

(On the 4th day they take steroid injections)

Woman are not naturally made to have “BULKY” muscles

Some men aren’t either.

The only way a human body can grow muscle tissue and become “BULKY” is to workout and provide that muscle with calories and nutrition so it can grow.  There is no other way it can or will happen.

If you are male or female and want to look/feel bulky then you have to evaluate your training and nutrition program.  Muscles need the surplus of calories plus a proper physical stimulation to hypertrophy.

People who eat too many calories and do not workout properly will store more body fat and become Obese.

Muscle is your metabolism and the main way to burn calories and lose body fat, without muscle you have no metabolism.

On the flip side a muscle will atrophy or get smaller if you malnourish it and reduce the amount of calories it recieves.  A strong healthy muscle will lose density if you starve yourself and don’t eat.

Skinny people don’t eat enough, Obese people eat too much.

If you have any questions about burning more body fat or what exercises you need let me know, I can help.

GT Get Fit Tip: When to Give Up Your Training Program

Making a little run of video posts – I like them because

1. visual (I am a visual learner)

2. easy to post

3. short and to the point

That’s also how I like my workouts – I set them up so we can see what exercises we are doing next, the trainers shadow you correcting form and maximizing results, after 30-50 mins we are done and ready to go home or on with our day.

If you’re struggling with your training & workouts or finding the right combination of nutrition and exercise then it may be time to quit your current training program but

YOU NEVER QUIT ON YOURSELF

It all comes down to how you run THE RACE?

this how Heather Dorniden rolls ( worth 2.5mins of your time)

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

Spring Clean this week and lose more body fat by trying these 5 (body) cleaning tips

If you’re looking for another BOOST or trick to start losing fat again here’s my Hi-5 to that

1. Soda – clean out all “regular” sodas and start drinking less “diets” (aspartame)
2. Cut Dairy and cheese consumption – good for calcium & protein but adds extra calories
3. Don’t keep extra Juices – good for vitamins but adds extra sugar calories to your diet
4. Frozen Foods (tv dinners, “health choice” meals) – easy to fix but pack extra sodium and carbs
5. Sauces/dressings – awesome assortment of flavors out there but most are loaded with sugar and sodium to add taste

If you spring clean your fridge I am most certain your body, your mind and overall well-being will follow.  When you rid yourself of all those extra carbs, starches and sugars, your body will start to take shape by utilizing its natural fat stores from the winter for energy and you will see it all come together as the Summer months approach.  You have to have a balanced approach in your nutrition and physical activity focusing on both aspects because you can’t have too much of one without the other and expect great results.

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