Thank God Fiestas Over!!! Im all for fiesta but its just been a crazy week this year.

Fiesta was actually better this year than last year. Granted we went just once last year. This year we went a few times and went to both parades. Note to self next year listen to Jen about putting sunblock, I left the day parade looking like larry the lobster.

This is an actual pic of me working out the next day.

Anyways now that its over with heres 15 fat loss tips thatll help you revamp and try to get the normal back in your life.

Tip #1  Learn a good exercise called half plate. Take a look at your plate, then cut it in half.

Tip #2  Push a prowler a few times a week.

Tip #3  Use full body exercises and workouts since they create a higher metabolic demand.

Tip #4  Use complexes. This complex is one of my favorites on off days or for fat lass. Pick up a barbell and without putting it down do:

6 deadlifts

6 stiff leg deadlifts

6 rows

6 power cleans

6 front squats

6 push presses

6 back squats

6 good mornings

rest 60 sec then do it again with 5 reps. Same rest then do 4 reps. And so on till you hit 1 rep.

use enough weight to where youll feel like you wont wanna do that for awhile again. But not enough to kill you, trust me itll feel like you might.

Tip #5  Cut your rest periods in half.  That’ll trigger a greater growth hormone (gh is awesome because of its fat burning powers) response and a big metabolic push.

Tip #6  Favor Resistance training over cardio. SERIOUSLY, work on building muscle. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn. The more metabolic your body is. Lean muscle is metabolically active so SERIOUSLY work on building muscle.

Tip #7  Dont take advice from your kids. Dont let them rule your pantry. Keeping things in the house cause the kids want it only leaves you more opportunity to eat it. Rule #1 at my house-if its in the house im eating it. Good or bad.

Tip #8  Eat more protein. Its the most thermogenic of the macro’s (protein, fat, carbs). Due to the high metabolic costs of processing it, protein provides fewer storable calories. The thermic effect of a mixed meal is about 10% of intake, while the thermic effect of protein is more like 25-30%. That could mean revving up your metabolism by 200 calories just from your 200 gram protein intake.

Tip#9  SERIOUSLY eat more protein!If your a vegan or follow a vegetarian lifestyle then itll be harder for you get the right amount of protein in. But not impossible. Legumes like lentils and black beans help. So does plant based protein powders like rice protein, pea protein, hemp protein. Stay away from soy.

Tip #10  Take fish oil. I go with 1 gram (1000mg) per percent bodyfat. So for someone with 20%bodyfat should have 20 grams. If its capsules depending on the servings thats usually 24 pills a day. Thats why liquids are much easier. Its easier to take 1 tbsp than 24 pills.

Tip #11  Stay away from fad or “detox” diets.  Most of them are just low low low calorie starvation type diets. Starving doesnt always lead to fat loss. One of my favorite quotes is from Dr. John Berardi- “An intense negative energy balance does lead to weight loss. But so does getting thrown in a prison camp in a poor African village without adequate food. And that’s exactly what our bodies think when we impose a large negative energy balance: I’m starving. All non-survival functions including reproductive function, metabolic function, and brain function slow or shut down.”

Tip #12  Cut back on starchy carbs. Use the starchy carbs when your body needs it like post workout. The rest of the time should be veggies.

Tip #13  Stay away from cheap supplements. Crappy quality equals crappy results. Now with all the heavy metals and pollutants were finding in cheap supps theyre actually doing more harm then good. Do yourself a favor and go with the good stuff.

Tip #14  Speaking of supps. These are some of my favorite fat loss supplements.
Ltyrosine

Yohimbine hcl(synthetic version)

L cartinine.

A supplement with all these minus the yohimbine is Cardio Cuts. Its awesome alone, but stacked with Yohimbine HCL is a good combo.

Tip #15  Plan to fail. Yup one way or another life gets in the way. So why not expect it. Expect to forget your lunch so have a replacement already in your office. Expect to not have time to always cook so always have most of your meals ready or almost ready. ect.

I know I said 15 only but this last one is more of a bonus.

Use your common sense……your fitness common sense. A fat loss pill or special fatloss diet that makes you drop fat quickly while making your hair stronger, nails stronger, and bank account bigger will never exist. Instead your stuck with hard work and commitment. So when you hear about these gimmicks take a step back and think about it. Sometimes one of the biggest lessons to learn is patience. If so and so is doing a certain pill or diet and has lost so and so much weight while you steadily and properly are on your fitness journey doing it the right way. Before you think about jumping on board with them think about 6 months from now. When you are at your goal or on the right path closer to it while so and so has rebounded and gained everything back. Learn to be patient, itll come.

Ok one more.

Limit fruits. Your body processes fruits differently. Dont eat them especially before workouts because it blunts fat burning.

Before I get into anything im gonna let my ADD take over and show you this baby! This babys doing pullups!!!

Without noticing you probably have some rituals you do. I dont mean like voodoo kinda rituals (I hope not). I mean certain things that you stick to almost religiously. And you should, cause they work.

Like for example Jen loves watching those housewife shows and practically every show on bravo. So every sunday she’ll do everything she needs to do early so she can watch the new episodes. If she doesnt finish stuff it doesnt matter its time for the shows. So you can say thats a ritual.

You could say theyre like habits. But habits doesnt seem hardcore enough, and anytime you mention habits to anyone for some reason its hard wired already in our brains that its gonna be a pain in the ass.

Take mornings for example. Everyone always says they have no time in the morning for anything. I ask if you have 15-20 min in the morning most of the time ill get a yes. The other times ill get a no. Where I will then say then wake up earlier so you  have 20 min and that is usually followed by the person making a face as if I cussed at church.

Do yourself a favor and give your self some time in the mornings.

Heres an example of my morning ritual.

Ill wake up to a harp alarm. Yes a harp alarm. If I woke up to an annoying alarm that I hated Id wake up like the second pic. I use a gentle one. Call me a wuss but its loud and gets the job done. Ill wake up with a smile instead of a panic.

After my alarm wakes me up ill go brush my teeth and wash my face.

Ill knock out a cup of water and start getting my shake ready.

Ill usually put 2 scoops of protein, a scoop of super greens, and a tbsp of carlsons lemon fish oil. Dont ask me why but mixing those together makes it taste like im eating fruity pebbles. And my burps taste like that too. Cool huh!

If the day before was a rough day training and work wise then ill start steeping some tea.

While my tea is steaping ill do what I call releasing the handbrake.

Just some little exercises and stretches to wake up my nervous system. It does wonders because without doing that ill still have some of the aches and pains from yesterdays workout. Without it ill feel like…well like im driving around with my handbrake on.

These are a few things I do.

Frankenstein kicks-10 each leg

quad stretch 30 each leg

pushup-10

hip extensions-15

squats-10

plank-30 sec

It literally takes me only 3 min.

By then my tea and stuff is ready and ill put some ice on it and start sipping on it. I have all the patience in the world for most things. Waiting for my tea and food to cool is not one of them.

While im sipping my tea I start reading my to do list for the day and planning in my head on how im gonna do it and which things are gonna take me forever in which ill usually push that aside and waste time on facebook or looking at funny pics.

Then ill be off and ready for the day. All in all it takes about 20 min. It happens every morning. Even on weekends minus the to do list.

So what kind of rituals can you make or have that can get you closer to your goal?

What about nutrition? Can you make most of your meals on sunday and have it ready for the week. That way if anything happens youll have backup meals so theres no need for a fast food run. Would that ritual help?

What about nutrition around workout times? some sort of protein before your workout and protein carbs after your workout. Everytime you workout. EVERYTIME.

I cut off my phone 15 min before a workout. I brain dump everything I need to think about on a paper so my mind is blank and listen to some music that gets me ready for whatever im training that day. Its helped keep my mind off of daily things and on what I need to do. Ill look at pics like these 2 to get me in the “zone”.

Creating rituals allows you stick to things easier without having to feel like a task. Make sure it happens no matter what.

Funny thing when I recommend this Ill usually have someone reply saying yea thats exactly how I am. Im very anal about things……

This is usually their face while saying it.

And this is my face laughing at the word anal.

And this is usually their face after me laughing in their face

Moral of that story, make rituals and habits. Dont be anal.

Create a ritual and let it stick. Plus creating cool rituals basically puts you on autopilot and frees up your brain energy to do other cool things.

The End.

Time for another installment of Motivational monday! This time with new pics. Print some of these out and take them with you or put them everywhere.

Make it a year long commitment

Try it!

2 thumbs up!

Pullups nuff said!

Whats your excuse?

This weeks motto!

Im not much of a runner but this was funny!

MONDAY!!!!

INDEED!

One of my favorite pics!

Exactly what happens!!

One of my baby pics

Which meal do you think she chooses?

Theres alot of these people around. Ignore it and move on.

See im not the only one that sais it.

One of my favorites!

Almost there!

Because nobody wants to have a kid say this when you hug them!

I posted that last one on my Facebook a while back. Your mindset and attitude determine your week.  Is it positive or negative?

This past weekend we headed down to our hometown for some family time. Easter eggs and food was fun. The kids are savages though, I got an easter egg to the face while bending down to let a little girl get me with an easter egg.

Well played kid. I did end up tripping him after a while and put a stick to make it seem like thats what he tripped over so we were even.

At least if anyone asks about the scratch on my face I get to blame it on something cool like a barfight or something.

Anyway I got to hang out with some family and friends. I have 2 friends that I help out with nutrition and training. Both of them called me up to talk about some trouble theyve been running into.

One of them is trying to gain some weight for next season so operation get huge as duck (yes like in the duck yea pic) is full speed with him.

The other is trying to lean out and drop some fat. So operation more shredded than my wheaties is well underway with him.

The thing is both of them were complaining about similar issues.

The gain weight guy was saying how its hard to eat alot and how he always feels stronger during the workouts and is getting bigger hes also feeling bloated and is stuck on the toilet when hes not eating or lifting.

It actually happens alot. Ill explain that in a bit.

Now the wheaties guy is doing great and his fat is melting off but hes starting to feel bloated and lately hes felt as if his fat loss is slowing down alot.

First I 3 strooges slapped both of them and told them theyre doing it wrong!

add 3 stooges pic.

After apologizing for the slap I explained to them that theyre both experiencing gut health problems.  I wasnt being lazy and just telling them both the same thing so I could leave and get back to family time (food time). I was serious. Aside from possible food allergies this is what we fixed up.

Heres what was happening with the gain weight guy.

With most hardgainers one of the main problems is they dont eat enough. If you have an ultra high metabolsim then your gonna have to have a surplus of calories. Problem is most guys just dont eat enough.

Theyll say yea I eat alot bro I eat some cereal and stuff.

Some cereal and stuff does not mean you eat alot.

Then we have those who actually pick all the right foods and amount but still dont eat it. General rule, if you still have food left on your plate then your not eating enough. REMEMBER this is for hard gainers, not an excuse to say Jonathan told me to fill my plate and eat all of it. Go big or go home!!!

Then we have the ones that actually do eat alot but not the right things so even though theyre eating and lifting like the hulk

Theyre stomach and digestive system is just as angry as the hulk

And thats exactly what was happening with our dude.

First after a closer look at certain things in his nutrition I found out he switched protein powders to a crappy generic one because it was cheaper.

Im all for saving a few bucks but protein is something you dont wanna skimp out on. So we switched him to a better quality whey isolate.

one world whey is one of my favorites for taste and best digestion.

But price was one of the main issues for him and one world whey can get pretty pricey so we got him All pro science grass fed whey. Really good stuff for about the same price you would get for a normal protein powder.

If you are allergic to dairy gluten or soy (which I would still avoid). Then sun warrior protein would be another great addition.

Moving on. Since his goal is gaining weight his diet is higher than my norm in protein. So we added in some digestive enzymes for protein like protease and aminogen.

In addition we added some probiotic rich fermented food like Kimchi and sauerkraut. I like to add in the food version before any of the supplement version first. Most of the time it will help a great deal and a probiotic supplement isnt necessary.

If it is necessary we’ll add Jarrows formula probiotics

Now moving on the wheaties guy.

After looking at his nutrition turns out the guys just like me and 80% of the population who just dont like veggies. So he’d take 1 bite and consider that his serving.

So 1. Hes not getting all the cool nutrients from the veggies. And 2. Hes not getting all the fiber from them.

So we added some supergreens superfood and some psyllium husk fiber.

The supergreens superfood we added so he can get all the nutrients he needs from alot of the veggies hes missing. And the husk fiber is to add in some fiber to his diet to keep him ‘REGULAR” since that was one of the things he was complaining about.

We didnt need to add any digestive enzymes but we did add the Jarrows formula probiotics. His situation was easier to fix.

So why all this fuss over gut health?  2 completely different people with completely different goals needing to fix similar issues. Heres some cool facts by Dr. Bryan Walsh on why your gut health is important no matter what goal you have.

• The gastrointestinal system comprises 75% of the body’s immune system.
• There are over 400 species of microbes living in your gut, totaling over 15 pounds of mass and containing more bacteria than there are known stars in the sky.
• Gut exposure to any type of antigen (foreign substance leading to antibody production) leads to cytokine production (inflammatory protein messenger), which leads to an increase in ACTH and cortisol production.This can lead to pituitary suppression (lowered Testosterone!), overload of hormone detoxification in the liver, underconversion of T4 to T3, and suppression of secretory IgA, which ultimately leads to an increased sensitivity to antigens, creating a vicious cycle.   (guys trying to build muscle and strength could be missing out on the #1 hormone for muscle building)
• There are more neurons in the small intestine than in the entire spinal cord.
•  An increase in inflammatory cytokines has been shown to increase lipogenesis (fat storage) and decrease lipolysis (fat breakdown) via a decrease in hormone sensitive lipase. (More fat storage instead of breakdown)
• Twenty percent of inactive thyroid hormone is converted to active T3 by healthy gut bacterial. Without healthy gut bacteria, you may be missing out on the fat-burning effects of optimal T3 levels.  (most people immediately get prescribed thyroid medication when its not needed)
• 5% of seratonin is located in your brain. The other 95% is located in your gut! Say hello to healthier mentall stability, less anxiety and less depression.

So why are probiotics awesome and a useful tool?

•       Probiotics affect overall health, digestion, body composition, and metabolism.

•       female clients with excess estrogen often benefit from probiotics due to a probiotic strain decreasing activity of enzymes known to disrupt estrogen conversion.
• Better nutritient absorption and digestion
• Helps with common digestive issues
• Healthier gut and lower cortisol equals fat loss on midsection

Moral of the story: TAKE CARE OF YOUR TUMMY!!!!

Both men and women benefit from a healthier gut.

Im a real visual kind of guy. I still love pictures in my books. I mean ill still read them if they dont have pictures but plus 10 points if it does.

Anyway for this motivational monday I thought id show you some of the pics that me and Jen have on our phones or computers. I have alot of cool different pictures but these are one the ones that get me and Jen pumped up.

Most of these are just random pics that weve found while surfing the pinterest wave. Pinterest if you havent heard of it is an amazingly addicting website with tons of cool pictures. Its also an amazing procrastinator/time waster/productivity killer, so use it sparingly. First time I saw it my eyes were glued to the screen then I realized 3 hours had passed.

Before I show the pics to you I thought id show you, this is what my face looked like when i saw…….

This pic

Without further ado here they are.

True

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable

As long as your moving.

Puts things into perspective

Some fitness bucket list stuff right there.

Awesome movie by the way

One of the best pics of all time! Really puts the scale in its place. Doesnt matter what the scale sais. Pics dont lie.

True story

See what happens when you replace 1lb of fat with 1lb of muscle. Again, still mad  you only lost 1lb or 1 inch?

Attention please!

Remeber when you said you dont have time to workout cause your kids?

Ever wonder why your muscles are the first thing your body breaks down when your starving (low calorie diets)? Because of this.  Nuff said!

leave the shadow of your former self behind.

Stop trying to look pretty after you workout. lookey here.

Just reminding you again.

ANOTHER REMINDER!!!

Jens favorite

Nemo style!

When you say ill start monday.

Turn this on everyday

my favorite kind of math

What sprinting does for you.

Tomorrow doesnt look likely either.

Someone should tell her those heavy weights makes her look bulky…..

My bed

Say this everymorning.

and end it with this promise

One of the biggest lessons ive ever learned came from this one sentence from an old nutrition mentor of mine.

THE BEST NUTRITION COACHES ARE THE BEST PSYCHOLOGISTS

When he said it my light bulb just turned on! Not just like an on but like a power of the sun x100 kinda on!!!

You see one thing I hear all the time is, “Jonathan I start good and everything is awesome then I fall off the wagon I cant do it. Its so hard to change”. Its hard to change things like habits.

One of the biggest obstacles in your fitness transformations is change.

As humans we fear change. We have a hardwired fear of the unknown. The bigger the change the scarier it is.

One of the best books ive ever read on this topic is this one.

The best take away was how they put together an analogy of our brain.

Basically our brain is separated into 2 parts. The emotional side and the rational side. Itll look like this.

When it comes to fitness, our goals or habits  will be our path. With all the stuff we have going on nowadays from kids, school, work, projects due, events, birthdays ect. Now more than ever its easier to exhaust our “rider”. So many tasks to do that our rider cannot control the elephant after so many tasks. No matter how hard he whips or how hard he pulls eventually he’ll get exhausted and the elephant will go wherever it wants. Remember the elephant is the emotional one so of course it goes back to its comfort zone (not good) and away from the path never reaching the destination.

So again our rider can only control the elephant for so long and its exhausting to do. As humans we think willpower is limited and we only have a limited amount per day. Thats why if someone gets all these tasks to do early on the day its hard to use will at night when we say dont eat those cookies. How many of you had a crazy day at work and with the kids that all else went down the drain?

How do we fix this? I mean the elephant is really the one thats taking us there. So how do we get the elephants help?

Ah ha! Now were getting somewhere.

• Step 1- Have the rider give clear instructions.
• Step 2- Get the elephant on board and show him how this change is good, make it less frightening.
• Step 3- Shape the path. Make it less scary for the elephant and easier to walk through.

Lets put it into your fitness goals.

Lets give the rider some clear instructions. Choose a habit or goal to work on and make it clear.

WAIT! Before I go any further, try to find the key word in that last sentence I made. Go ahead ill wait……

Choose A habit or goal to work on and make it clear. Yes choose one and only one. Your 85% more likely to stick to a change if its only one habit or goal at a time. More than one and our fitness A.D.D kicks in and that goal probably will be kicked to the backburner.

Take a look at all the stuff in this pic. Nothing new right? In order to get amazing results you have to do them. But why arent you? maybe because youre looking at it as a whole. You cant do all of them at once unless theyre all habits. So start by going one by one and making them habits.

So choose a goal or a habit and make it clear. Dont just say I wanna be fit. Thats like saying I want a million dollars. Theres tons of ways to get a million dollars. You can rob a bank, work and save every dollar, Make a bathrobe and put it backwards and call it a snuggie and make millions ect.

So lets pick something small and something that can be done daily. Ok I wanna exercise more, thats a good one right.

Well……thats better but we can make it even smaller and clearer. How about 5 hill sprints a day.

Bingo!!!! Thats perfect. Its small, clear and easy. If youre not at least 80% confident you can do this than make it easier.

(If you make it so easy, like I will walk to my car easy,than this is for you)

Alright so now that weve given the rider some clear instructions lets work on the elephant and the path.

Lets shape the path real quick. You wanna make the path easy and less frightening. So with our goal of hill sprints what if we choose to do them in the am before youre exhausted from all the days tasks.

Thats one way to make the path easier. Now what if we lay out our running shoes and clothes on the bed the night before. Now the excuse of I have to wake up and change is gone. What if we set up our protein shake or breakfast the night before so its waiting for you so you wont have to come up with the excuse that I still have to make it. You can even go as far as putting a picture of someone sprinting on your wall or ceiling and thatll be the first thing you see when your alarm goes off.

Pretty extreme with the picture thing but how much of a loser would you feel like if you woke up seeing that and go back to bed or skip it. YES you better believe your picture is laughing at you.

The shaping the path thing can be used in a elimination way too. One of the best ones is the food you have at  your house. If you dont have any then how much likely are you to go eat out??? Or if you have nothing but junk food how likely are you to eat it???

What about making the elephant feel more comfortable. Now this might sound mean at first but really think about it. If all your friends are eating out for lunch at mcdonalds (eww) then what are you more likely to do? The first few times you skip lunch with them or go and dont order are easy. After awhile the support of your friends might not be there and itll make you sad and majority of the time eventually give in.

Let me tell you something you might not know. NOT EVERYONE WILL BE ON BOARD WITH YOU AND YOUR GOAL. This isnt because they dont care about you its just about them and theyre elephant so dont take it personal.

Part of making the elephant feel more comfortable towards the path is knowing this and knowing it will happen one day. The earlier you know this the better and easier to cope with rather than relapsing.

I was talking to a friend of mine about this the other day. He was telling me his friend (well call him doug) gave up alcohol for lent. So when his friends call him on the weekend the conversation sounds like this.

friend-hey doug what are you doing this weekend wanna shoot some pool?

doug-sure but I gave up alcohol for lent so I probably wont drink.

friend- ok nevermind bye. hangup…..

doug-hello?

It will happen, understand it and let the elephant keep going on the path. The more comfortable the elephant is the more likely your gonna go in the right direction.

Getting the rider and elephant together on the right path makes everything smoother. Teamwork makes the dream work.

So with all that being said. How can you shape your path and get your elephant on board this week?

Picture this with me for a second. While at a seminar a while back I went into a local gym to workout. There was this pretty fit guy there that everyone was asking questions. Turns out he was a fitness model that some of you have seen on some magazines.

After his workout he starts drinking this new supplement that I had seen and researched and was thinking about adding it in. So I asked him how his experience on it has been.

He was excited to tell me all the benefits he’s felt about more energy, better focus, recovery, ect. Then he goes on to take out about 6 more supplements and down them all at once. So asked him how long has he been taking those? He said he started taking the other 6 the same time he started taking the new one I had asked about.

I asked him so how do you know which one is REALLY working? He gave me a face as if I had asked him to explain rocket science.

Another guy I asked at least answered me honest. ” Honestly dude Im taking so much crap I dont know whats working”.

Sounds crazy but it happens all the time.

Not only with supplements but with anything. Someone that hasnt worked out in years decides to jump into some running, zumba, weight training, bootcamp, yoga, and pilates at the same time. Whats your goal and whats working for you?

I love experimenting!!! Wether the result is good or bad Ive learned something in the process and learned when I can and cant add it in.

Seriously theres been good experiments where ive gotten 10x stronger in 1 month and dont feel like an old man like I did when I was a powerlifter. Then ive had experiments where im heeled over a trash can puking my guts out from a nicotine gum for energy and fat loss (true story, interesting experiment with pretty decent results, remind me never to do again).

This is the way I looked after trying out a new preworkout that made superfocused. Too focused.

But what baffles me is when some throws in 30 things at once and wonders what works.

Here’s an example of how I set up an experiment.

Say for example a new supplement or food added. I have this workout template I usually use that keeps all the variables the same and same thing for nutrition. I keep everything the same without any changes for a week or 2. Then ill add in the new food or supplement for 4 weeks and log in how I feel during and after the 4 weeks. If I like it then itll stay if its ok or decent ill put it on my throw in once in a while file. If it sucks it goes.

If I have 6 new things I wanna try I go through that process with each of them. Yea itll take longer, but at least I know what really works and how it affects me. Theres nothing worse then having 5 things added and have 1 thing working and the rest being poison.

I have years of my own experiments written down and more on my Evernote. I love Evernote its the only thing that keeps me organized. Not sure if its just the process of actually writing or being frustrated that I write shitty and cant read my own handwriting. But id rather use stuff like Evernote.

Take the time to learn about yourself and how you do with certain things. I get asked by clients all the time, how come you didnt tell me about this or that. Or how come you dont have me drinking that stuff like them.

One step at a time. As you progress so will everything else and well add as needed.

If youve worked with me or work with me now think about how youve progressed.

You start with a post workout drink. Then as the workouts get harder youll add in a preworkout drink. Then as the workouts get even heavier and harder, well add in some bcaa’s during. And so on and so forth as needed. If we would have added all at the same time, how would we know whats worked or whats not working?

Same thing with workouts. We add a certain type of exercise or method and bam all of a sudden your starving like a caveman. Hmm what could it be?

Ive been experimenting for years and as every year passes I learn more and more about what works for me and what doesnt. Because of those experiments I know how to get out of a plateau if I hit one, how I can drop a bunch of fat in 4 weeks vs 12 like before and a ton of other goodies.

So again take the time to learn about yourself and youll be surprised how easier everthing falls into place. Your education doesnt have to end in school. Self education is some of the best way to learn anything. Have fun with it.You never know what kinda genius can come out of it

My recent experiments have been with the whole intermittent fasting craze. One of my nutrition mentors and a friend of mine thats a writer convinced me to try it out. But ill save that for another blog post

Its quality control time. How is it that one of the most effective fat loss tools is out there and being done yet most people are doing it wrong?

Its time to reflect, revamp, and refocus. Ill explain

One of my favorite movie lines is from the movie There’s Something About Mary. You know the part where hes talking about 7 min abs.

If you havent seen it here it is.

 
Anyways the whole 8 min abs or 7 min abs craze was just that, crazy! If someone told you to workout for only 5 min and get amazing results what would you say? Hell yea!!!! Has anyone ever promised something crazy like that? Probably. Howd that workout for ya?

I thought so.

Thats exactly how reluctant I was when I found out about Tabatas. My first encounter with them was back at a gym I used to work at. A friend of mine that was a master trainer there called me and another friend over there to try these easy exercises.

All it was was 20 seconds of squats and 10 seconds holding it at the bottom. 8 rounds and thats it.

Easy right. I laughed and said thats it!! Psshhh I got this. He had a huge grin on (which is why you see me grinning when I explain it at camp).

Ok so 20 seconds squats as many as you can and 10 seconds hold at the bottom heels to the butt.

Now as many as you can means AS MANY AS YOU CAN! Majority of people can get about 10-15 squats in 20 seconds. Wait let me rephrase that, majority of people can do about 10-15 REAL squats in 20 seconds. At least parallel all the way down all the way up.

Lets recap 20 seconds as many as you can full rep. 10 second rest. Not 20 sec of a few before it starts hurting. Oh and 10 seconds rest isnt going to get water, checking out that girl or guy, tying your shoe and then starting the next set. Its just 10 seconds.

So the timer started and I counted and got 21 the first round. Then the 10 sec hold at the bottom was easy. I felt pretty good. Then came the second round I got 18. Then came the 3rd round. The moment I got up after the second round my lungs and legs were on fire!!!! I couldnt let anyone see how bad I was in pain so I just had a fake smile on and pushed through. I smile all the time, this was the first time I had to fake it.

Looked something like this.

 
Fast forward to after the 8th round and my legs locked on the floor and I collapsed. I still didnt want my friend to see how hard it was. I guess I didnt wanna give him the satisfaction that it was pretty bad. Its a guy thing.

So I ran to the restroom and waited there till my legs were able to bend and they stopped feeling like a blowtorch was at them for hours. After my gasping for air turned to somewhat normal breathing and sweating went from I look like I just showered to I kinda broke a sweat. I headed straight home and researched these TABATAS.

How could 4 minutes knock me on my ass so bad?!?!?!

Ive probably written about tabatas before but heres a quick history lesson about them.

Izumi Tabata was the name of the Japanese researcher created these. It was a way to increase anaerobic and aerobic pathways at the same time so its one of the few things that helps almost any goal from cyclists, to olympic lifters, to athletes, or just anyone looking for fat loss.

One of my favorite things about this protocol is the flexibility of it. Youll get some people thatll argue on which exercises are real tabata method. But this setup can go with any exercise.

2 of my favorite bodweight ones are-

20sec squats 10sec holds at the bottom

and

20 sec burpee 10 sec rest

My favorite weighted exercise that goes good with these is-

20sec squat press 10 sec rest

All 3 of those are killer. Give them a try.

What surprises me most is how once someone finally does them the right way, they rarely ever wanna do it again. Even though it literally is 4 min to fat loss.

Now we can scratch “I dont have time to workout” off the excuse list. It only takes 4 min………

4 painful, exhausting, vomit inducing, nerve twitching, fat scorching, pee your pants minutes!

If they dont feel that way……….youre doing it wrong.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

I thought id stop by real quick to share a cool recipe that works perfect for today.

One day our friend and client Michele brought in these healthy brownies that we couldnt stop eating. So she sent us where she got the recipe and I decided to make them last night for Jen

This is what Jen woke up to this AM

Anyways before Jen finds out im online here’s the recipe and the link to where its from

http://carriea81.blogspot.com/2011/02/j-protein-bars.html

J&J (Jim and Jamie) Protein Bars
Ingredients:

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour (or Oat flour)
4 Egg Whites
2 scoops Chocolate Whey Protein Powder
½ cup Splenda, Truvia, or Ideal
½ tsp Baking Soda
¼ tsp Salt
8oz Gerber’s Organic Berry and Banana Blend baby food
3 tbsp unsweetened baking Cocoa
1/2 cup Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal oats
1/3 cup slivered almonds
4oz Water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix dry ingredients (oat flower, vanilla whey protein, baking soda, salt, baking cocoa) together in a large bowl.
3. Mix wet ingredients (egg whites, Splenda, Truvia, or Ideal, Berry flavored Baby Food,Water) together in a medium sized bowl.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix together.  Add oats, chocolate, and almonds.
5. Spray cooking dish with a non stick butter spray and add batter to dish.
6. Bake 20-30 minutes in oven.

Makes 16 squares, serving size is 2 bars.

Calories per 2 bars: 200
Carbs: 28 grams
Fat: 6 grams
Protein: 14 grams
Fiber: 6 grams

It came out awesome. Next time I make them Im gonna try and use Almond meal instead of oat flour to bring the carb count lower and make it more of anytime of the day snack rather than just around your workout time.

Have fun and enjoy today

There has been a search ever since junk food was invented. A search for something that would make that junk food not so bad. Im willing to bet that even you have wished for something you can eat or take after you eat something bad to counteract it or take it away. Like a morning after pill.

This “morning after pill”  has been searched for more than Osama was ever searched for.

When people read Ponce Deleon’s diary they read it wrong, he wasnt looking for the fountain of youth he was looking for CQ.

I see ive got your attention now.

So what is CQ?

Cissus Quadrangularis has been around for a while. Its usually used for joint repair so why would this help you when you eat bad stuff?

We’ll just call it a side effect. Since its fairly new there hasnt been tons of research, but the studies that have been done show some cool stuff!

Heres what one study said: “Cissus quadrangularis phytosterols and fiber extracts have been shown to have anti-lipase, and anorexiant properties that reduce the absorption of dietary fats and enhance satiation by increasing serum serotonin levels”

What!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Reduce the absorption of dietary fats!

Theres been studies of its anti obesity effects. But what if you could go into the holidays (thanksgiving and christmas) and eat the stuff you want and pop one of these bad boys in and still keep your progress?

Ive played around with CQ around vacation times and have seen that all the vacation food didnt put as much of a dent as it normally would. I have to mention I usually use green tea and ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid) around unplanned eating times.

We’ll leave ALA for another post.

Maybe santa would look like this after the holidays instead.

Theres still more studies to made about this so for now ill classify it as a luxory supplement instead of a mandatory supplement.

Still pretty awesome though.

I would take about 5-7 grams split between 3-4 times a day. 45-min to an hour before meals.

Like I said its not a mandatory one, maybe one you can take while on vacation or holidays when you know you cant be clean. Pair it up with some green tea extract for better results.

If all the right studies are made and show even more awesome results. The only thing I worry about is CQ becoming a crutch and an excuse to eat crap.

But you wont do that right?