STACK THE DECK FOR WEIGHT LOSS!

Ok, as I've said before, getting lean isn't easy, but it's simple.  You have to create a calorie deficit.  Simply burn more calories than you consume.  In order to do that, you need a 2 prong approach, speed up your metabolism, and consume less calories.  So now that I have covered the "yea no shit" part of it, let's move on to something that is actually helpful - how to stack the deck for success.

Here are 20 tips.  Broken into "action," and "diet."  No single one of these will make you successful.  But, if you follow any or all of them, you will give yourself an appreciable advantage.  Every little bit counts when pursuing a calorie deficit. 

A.   Action

1. Chew 25X before swallowing.  
2. Lift weights (resistance train) 1lb of muscle burns 9x the calories as a 1lb of fat
3. Squats, pushups and jumping jacks.  These moves are serious calorie burners.  Do 10 of each everyday.
4. Park far away
5. ALWAYS take the stairs
6. NEVER take an escalator  
7. Move with purpose (walk fast etc)
8. Interval train.  It's the most effective fat melting strategy there is.
9. Break a sweat every day
10. Read fitness magazines, watch transformation shows for inspiration.

B. Diet

1. If it's white, don't eat it (flour, rice, sugar). 
2. Drink 100 oz of water per day
3. Put cayenne pepper on everything.  Improves circulation, which speeds up metabolism. 
4. Eat eggs, oatmeal, and beans.  Eggs are complete protein.  Oatmeal and beans are high in fiber and protein.  All 3 are very filling 
5. get 25-30 grams of fiber a day.  Fiber is your friend!
6. eat vegetables at EVERY meal
7. Eat lean protein at EVERY meal
8. Take a baby aspirin every day.  Good for circulation.
9. Drink green tea and or oolong tea.  Both proven to speed metabolism and burn fat.
10. Read food labels and log your meals.  You need to know what you're eating.

Daily Sweat for 12/22/11

This was a quick one.  10 2 hand kettle bell swings superseted with 10 tuck jumps.  Then 8 swings, 8 tuck jumps, following that sequence down to 2 swings and 2 jumps.  the 10-8-6-4-2 rep protocol equals 30reps of each.  I ran through it 3x, which equaled a total of 180 reps.  Afterward, I did a quick set of 10 each so that I would end with a clean 200 total reps.  Tuck jumps are plyometric move.  I power my body up in the air with y calves and then tuck my knees to my chest.  I love them. 

 Here's a clip:

Afterward I went to the heavy bag and through 10 sets of each punch as a single, double, then triple.  I.E. jab/jab-jab/ jab-jab-jab = 1set x 10 = 60 punches.  So a total of 3 different punches (jab, cross, hook, uppercut) thrown in the same fashion with both the right and left hand = 360 punches.

This was on of my favorite workouts in a long time!  done in 20 minutes.

Update on my nutrition

Ok, so, an update on my nutrition; I decided to just give a condensed version for the remainder of the challenge.  The diet details are really similar to the previous nutrition post. 

Here it is:

Tue 20th:	1396 *	38%	fat: 45.66g | protein: 136.43g | carbs: 123.28g	Add entry	-
Mon 19th:	2127 *	57%	fat: 82.78g | protein: 198.36g | carbs: 165.06g	Add entry	-
Sun 18th:	1143 *	31%	fat: 38.05g | protein: 100.84g | carbs: 110.94g	Add entry	-
Sat 17th:	2691 *	73%	fat: 123.00g | protein: 188.00g | carbs: 168.38g	Add entry	-
Fri 16th:	2572 *	70%	fat: 71.00g | protein: 226.56g | carbs: 225.49g	Add entry	-
Thu 15th:	2456 *	66%	fat: 84.95g | protein: 232.03g | carbs: 209.45g	Add entry	-
Wed 14th:	2070 *	56%	fat: 78.23g | protein: 159.07g | carbs: 205.07g	Add entry	-
Tue 13th:	2334 *	63%	fat: 72.75g | protein: 207.00g | carbs: 224.69g	Add entry	-
Mon 12th:	2357 *	64%	fat: 53.97g | protein: 221.78g | carbs: 268.90g	2620*	263
Sun 11th:	2341 *	63%	fat: 78.10g | protein: 186.74g | carbs: 231.18g	Add entry	-
Fri 9th:	2549 *	69%	fat: 67.40g | protein: 235.50g | carbs: 231.94g	Add entry	-
Thu 8th:	2636 *	71%	fat: 92.57g | protein: 215.18g | carbs: 225.09g	Add entry	-
Wed 7th:	2905 *	79%	fat: 133.35g | protein: 216.78g | carbs: 225.77g	Add entry	-
Tue 6th:	2756 *	74%	fat: 99.79g | protein: 221.64g | carbs: 209.06g	Add entry

Some days I didn't log all of my food.  Those are the days that show the calories low.   So, if the day's calories show under 2300, they don't reflect all of the food.  Basically, during this challenge, my diet consists of lean protein, veggies, fruit, whole grains, nuts and beans.  No sugar or white flour.  I eat 3-4 large meals.  Many of those days I had 1-2 bud selects.  Generally, I had 1 cheat meal per week.  And, as more people told me that they read this blog, and were interested in my progress, my cheat meals were nothing to brag about.  Maybe I would have a cookie or an extra beer or 2. 

I tell you, I'm very thankful to have done this challenge.  It gave me a reason to not eat lots of xmas crap.  Now, from the end of the challenge (12/20/11), to today (12/26/11), I ate a fair amount of crap.  Last year, I 

Week 4 Part 2, What I Learned.

 Let me start with why I did this to begin with.  One of my best clients Keri was in a funk.  I could see for weeks that she wasn't her usual bad-ass self.  She seemed to lack motivation.  It was challenging for me to get her mojo back.  Keri is one of my stars.  She excels at the 2 things that I do best, which is boxing and kettlebells.  Both require skill.  She is the type of client that if she is in the gym when I'm with someone who is struggling with their boxing or kettlebell technique, I can grab her and say "Keri, demonstrate the *blank,* and I can count on it being perfect.  Also, Keri wants to be personal trainer.  She's had a few trainers.  So, I know that I'm not the only influence.  But, I'm proud nonetheless.  She will be an excellent trainer.  So anyway Keri's special, and I wanted to light a fire under her ass.


  Every year my gym (Golds) does a body transformation challenge in January.  Last year 2 of my clients won their bracket.  I asked Keri if a transformation contest would motivate her.  She said it would.  The challenge wouldn't be for another 8 weeks, so she made up her own, "St. Louis 6-Week Health Challenge."  Since it was my idea, I wanted to show support and do it.  Also, I hoped to set a good example.


Ok, so what did I learn?  That I'm awesome.  Just kidding. 


 I learned the value of putting yourself out there.  Since I planned to log my workouts and food, I couldn't slack.  For instance, before I ate anything off diet I would say


         "If I eat this, I have to log it.  I have to figure out how to log '  
       1 toasted ravioli' on my app.  My clients will see it."  


Also, I put my picture out there.  When I wanted to have a small piece of pizza I would say


    "I have a weigh in tuesday.  I have after pics in 2 weeks.  Not only must I make my goal, I have to   
     exceed it.  I'm the TRAINER.  F* me..." 


So, I had no choice (as I saw it) but to succeed.  In my fitness career I have always been accountable to myself.  It's always been enough.  Being accountable to others takes it up a notch.  It confirmed my belief that there really is no excuse to not succeed.  Here's the other thing;  I workout everyday, my job is very physical, and I eat clean anyway.  I can easily eat a single ravioli, or a bite of this or a hunk of that everyday and burn it off.  To do so would be to use my lifestyle as an excuse to indulge.  No good.  Sets a bad example.  So I didn't.


Other than upping my fitness, the biggest benefit has been reactivating this blog.  It turns out that a few (seriously, a FEW) people are reading it.  That has been rewarding.  It motivates me to keep writing.  It's good to let your brain poop, I think.  Anyway, It's making me a better trainer.


Next post will be an update of my workouts and nutrition.

Week 4 Part 1, Final Results & Before & After Pics

Well, this has been a very short 4 weeks to say the least.  Here are my results, and my after pictures.

Week 1

• Height 6'1
• Weight 211.8
• Body fat% 10.3 
• Neck 15 1/4
• Chest  39 1/4
• Waist 35 1/2
• Hips 40 1/4
• Bicep 14 1/4
• Forearm 11 1/2
• Thigh 24
• Calf    17

Week 4

• Weight 207.8
• body fat % 7.3
• Neck 16 1/4
• chest 42
• waist 35
• Hips 42 1/5
• Bicep 15
• Forearm 12 1/2
• Thigh 24
• Calf 17

Ok so the results are as follows; 4 lbs lost, 3 % body fat lost, and some muscle gained in my upper body.  Well, I'm stoked!  I met my goal of dropping 2% BF and then some.  So, go me!  Again, I want to say, that for some reason the bio electrical impedance scale measures my bf on the low side.  In my opinion, it's about 2-3% off on me.  But, what matters, is that the same method is used for before and after.  So, at least I do know that i really did drop 3% in 4 weeks. 

In the next day or so I will post "Part 2" which will be some of my nutrition, workouts, and I'll write a little "what I learned" thing.  On a side note, I had someone else take my picture and do my measurements.  So, that's why it's not full body.  I have no good reason for my eyes being closed,

Daily Sweat Tuesday 12/13/11

It's weigh in day!

Today was an upper body emphasis.

Dumbbell Bench Press/Bent Over Row Decsending Ladder Complex.
Well that's a mouthful huh?  Simple workout, very taxing.  I take 2 35# DB's, lay down on a bench, do 10 bench presses, imediately pop up to my feet and do 10 bent over rows.  Then, I return to my back and do the same thing 9x each.  Without setting the weights down or resting, I continue this protocol until I arrive at 1 rep each.  Complexes are brutally effective, and a great time saver.

Barbel Torques and Shot Put Superset
Here's the set up:  I take a 45lb bar, set it upright, place a 25LB plate on top, and get after it.  The object here is to move fast.  That's why the weight was on the light side.  20 barbel torques, followed by 10 shot puts each arm, for 10 sets.  I rested 45 sec every 2 sets.  Love this!  It's full body, ab ripping, shoulder and back burning, glute slaughtering orgy of awesomeness!
 Enjoy the vid:

The workout ended with 15 fast round kicks each leg, 10 power kicks each leg, and 20 knees each leg on the heavy bag.  This workout took me about 40 minutes.

Daily Sweat Monday 12/12/11

Kettlebell Warmup 
20 Snatches each arm with a 50 lb Kettlebell
60 2 Hand swings same kettlebell.
For the snatches I did 2 sets of 10 reps each arm.  The 2 Hand swings were don consecutively.

Manual treadmill push. 
 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, 8 rounds.
The manual treadmill push is the hardest thing ever (that's what she said).  Basically, it's like pushing a car as fast as you can.  Simply stand on a treadmill while it is off, and manually drive the belt with your feet as fast as you can for 20 seconds.  Rest 10 seconds and do it again.  SHIT...

Heavy Bag
This was my cool down.  I set my timer for 15 solid minutes, and just casually moved around working combos.  Some speed, some power, nothing formal.  I call this "swatting around."

Done in 30-40 minutes.