Lack of motivation is one of the most cited challenges I heard over and over again when consulting my fitness training prospects,” says Carey Yang, Founder and Master Trainer of Denville, NJ-based Beyond Fitness Solutions, LLC.
“Sometimes, a dream vacation could be the motivation to ‘get kicked in the butt’ in order to get in shape,” Yang says. “This time I’m going to kick my own butt and get in top shape before vacation in Hawaii. I’m already lean and fit. But I’m going to get my beach-ready body for photoshoot just like every summer or even better.”
“As the leading in-home personal fitness trainer and boot camp instructor, I walk the talk and want to set a good example for my clients and for myself. So I’m announcing my own 90 day fitness challenge before my summer vacation in Hawaii.” Yang says.
Accountability means doing whatever you promise yourself to do for your personal reasons. Yang will post his daily workout, nutrition, challenges and journals through his website, blog and social media network. All is welcome to follow him in the following 90 days via:
According to a study just published in Journal of the American Medical Association, middle-aged American women need to exercise in a moderate intensity an hour a day, every single day, just to avoid weight gain.
The study followed 34,079 women over 13 years. In that time, they gained an average of about 6 pounds each. Don't let the word “average” fool you into thinking that a handful of really heavy women skewed the average. Some 87 percent of the women gained weight.
An hour a day, every single day?! Is this even a possible goal to set and reach?
The answer is Yes. But take one baby step at a time before you get frustrated, burnt out and quit.
Know where you are. You got to know your numbers - weigh, body mass index (BMI), body fat, and waist measurement. User-friendly calculators can be found www.cdc.gov/healthy weight/assessing. If you are not sure, find a fitness trainer in the gym and hire one to your home for consultation.
Exercise. The study refers to an hour of moderate exercise. It doesn't mean you have to gym every day or run on treadmill or bike. Other activites such as walking, hiking, golfing all help 300 to 400 calories. If you increase the activity level and intensity, you can even burn more calories by running, aerobics or swimming.
Watch your calories. The truth is that you can't outtrain a bad diet. You can train all day, every day, but eat all night and more than you can burn off, you will gain weight.
Portion control. Most people are overweight for one simple reason: They eat too much. You have to learn what a serving size is. It varies depending on the type of food, form and measuring unit. You'll find calorie counting isn't that hard. It may be tough at first, but in time you'll find that you don't have to be stuffed to be satisfied. The American Dietetic Association offers good advice at http://www.eatright.org/.
As a personal trainer helping many busy people from all walks of life to lose weight, build muscle and get in shape, the most common problem is time - - lack of time or not enough time.
The truth is that if you ask the general public to exercise 5 days a week, one hour each time (just from government agency or other medical research institutions) to stay healthy, you're really ask for frustrations.
Many people can't even find good time block to exercise twice a week, not to mention 5 times or more. Even they do, they either don't know what to do or just read papers or watch TV while on the bike for 30 minutes.
Superset is an excellent, efficient and effective resistance training protocol to incorporate into your fitness training program.
You basically work two different exercises or muscle groups back to back with little or no rest. You only rest after completing the two exercises.
Superset workout has a metabloic, anabolic and nervous system advantages in getting you in shape faster in less time.
Here are 3 superset workout routines for you to give it a try.
Here is a workout routine to help you tone your arms, butt and thighs. Enjoy the sweat and joy!
Follow the exercise the sequence. Perform the workout routine in a circuit training fashion. Take a water break of 2 minutes after each set or circuit. Repeat for a total of 3 to 5 sets or circuits.
1. Dumbbell Squat and Biceps Curl x 12 rep
2. Dumbell Lunges and Shoulder Press x 12 reps each side
3. Band Low Rows and Wrist Rotation x 12 reps
4. Back Kick and Punch x 12 reps each side
5. Dumbbell Deadlift and Triceps Kick x 12 reps
I started working out with Carey a few weeks ago. I wanted to gain muscle, flexibility and work on my posture. I never thought that I would enjoy doing exercises but I look forward to our sessions. Carey is very knowledgeable about the mechanics of the body and uses this knowledge to make each exercise the most effective it can be, and by making sure that it is done properly, reaping the maximum benefit from
the exercise. We do different exercises each time and it is never boring or repetitive, a problem that in the past, would have made me not want to exercise. He targets the areas that I needed the most, while still working the core with each exercise. I would highly recommend him as a trainer and am looking forward to becoming a stronger person through his guidance. I will continue to train with him and to recommend him to my friends who are tired of the whole “gym” thing.
I have received an email from one of my private training clients. Mary shares her success story after training with me for just 2 months. Her words are powerful and inspirational to share with the world.
"I have been working out on my own for over 15 years. In the past, I have joined aerobics classes, spin classes, step classes, etc. but have never been able to achieve the results I was looking for. For the last 8 weeks, my husband and I have been working out with Carey. Carey’s knowledge and guidance is extremely helpful. With his help, I have been able to achieve results that I was not able to do on my own. He keeps changing up the routines so we don’t get bored with what we are doing. He always has something new up his sleeve, and his knowledge of the muscle structure of the body is impressive. I suffer from tendonitis and Carey showed me ways I could continue to work out without irritating my elbow. My tendonitis is almost 100% gone. Each week, Carey knows how far to push us to continue our progress but not overdo it. I am very happy with the results I am achieving, and look forward to continuing our workout program with Carey." -- Mary M., Succasunna, NJ
It’s pretty teriffying to think how short our attention spans have become because of those text messages, tweets, status updates etc. Nowadays we all look for shortcuts, the easy and quick fix. And when it comes to weight loss, it gets worse because the market today is riddled with millions of ‘fast solutions’.
I’m telling you this because almost everyone I talk about fat loss related topics is pretty confused. They are even unsure about what is that they want from losing the weight. If you don’t understand your own motivation, how are you supposed to maintain your will power?
Aren’t you tired of spinning your wheels already? Do you want to be in bad shape for the rest of your life?
Actually, I’m so sure about my basic motivation. For me, keeping the weight off is a necessity, not a luxury.
That means I NEED to keep the weight off, not I WANT to keep the weight off. It’s a ‘need’ issue. I need to uncover my best physique because I hate it when I dislike what I see in the mirror. Yes, the mirror is more important than the scale for some people and it’s ok! Let me tell you what is not ok. It’s not ok if…
You hate taking your shirt off in front of people in places like your local pool or on the beach.
You don’t even bother wearing make-up as you feel ‘what’s the use’.
You feel like you are trapped into ‘what the hell I’m doing’ kind of exercises.
You are becoming extremely discouraged and depressed and feel like giving up.
I have to confess… My number one motivation is to look hot. If you have decided to lose weight due to health concerns, I truly respect you. But most of the time, it is the case that people want to lose weight for the purposes of getting a partner.
This is obviously a fairly basic motivation and not the bad motivator that some may claim. It is a fact that you are more likely to attract more potential partners the closer you are to the stereotype of physical beauty.
Let’s say you’ve found your love already and been having a great relationship… Don’t you sometimes wonder how to keep your spouse interested and happy?
Of all the reasons for weight loss my favourite has to be revenge. Let me explain: A man leaves a woman and runs off with a girl several pounds lighter. There is simply no better revenge then to turn up in his local bar several months later looking like the bomb.
Look at all those topics being discussed for years: How to lose weight quickly, how to burn stubborn fat, how to gain muscle, how to lose man boobs, how to get rid of baby weight…
You see, as well as the host of popular topics being discussed in the ‘weight loss’ media, the old favorites are still there. Some may sound dramatic but the point is that you need to let your subconscious know you’re serious about getting fit and keeping the weight off.
First of all, do what people like me, some of my friends and John Romaniello did. Confess to yourself what your number one fat loss motivation is.
If you are sure about your motivations and certain that you NEED to get rid of those extra pounds, take action right now! Click below and get a chance to grab a copy of John Romaniello’s Final Phase Fat Loss program.
In mylast post, we’ve established that there are three specific hormones that cause the three most common types of regional fat storage.
As a quick recap:
1. Estrogen - the female sex hormone responsible for lower body fat storage patterns.
2. Insulin - Or rather, insulin resistance; this nasty little dude heavily influences fat storage in the love handle and lower back area.
3. Cortisol - the appropriately dubbed stress hormone is part of the reason you’ve got more flab than ab.
Those are your enemies.
Now, I want to talk to you about how you can actually increase the production of other hormones that offset the above "bad" hormones--through the manipulation of training methods.
Estrogen vs. Testosterone
Now that we’ve established (again, with apologies to the ladies) that estrogen is the main reason lower body fat storage occurs, we need to know how to work around that.
Well, how else would you combat estrogen but with testosterone? In all honesty, when if comes to fat loss and muscle gain, testosterone good, estrogen bad.
It’s for that reason that professional athletes, bodybuilders and the juicers down at the Jersey Shore use illicit steroids that are derivatives of testosterone.
Of course, that’s not an option for us--and certainly not desirable. Instead, we are going to increase testosterone levels naturally, through training. Not only will this increase the net fat-burning effect of all exercises, but more appropriate to our purposes here, it will also facilitate in getting rid of lower body fat.
I should mention something here to alleviate any concerns: it is NOT possible to produce a detrimental amount of testosterone through training. So ladies, you don’t have to worry about any masculinizing effects.
Instead, training produces what we would term a ‘high’ amount of testosterone from a physiological perspective, relative to what your body normally produces. For the guys, this means that such training will help you put on a bit more muscle--just not steroid muscle.
Insulin Resistance vs. IGF-1
As I mentioned in the video above, insulin resistance is combatted very nicely by a hormones called IGF-1, or Insulin-like Growth Factor one.
Producing extra IGF-1 via training will help you (and me!) improve insulin sensitivity and begin to rid ourselves of love handle and lower back fat.
Insulin resistance is very common, particular in people who were previously overweight; so if you have lost some fat and you’re now struggling to lose a bit more, and that fat happens to be in your love handles, I’m willing to bet you’re suffering from some degree of insulin resistance.
In order to get rid of that fat, we have to do fat burning workouts (obviously) and increase insulin sensitivity to the greatest degree that we can through the training effect. To that end, we need to employ what I call Dynamic Training.
Dynamic training is pretty much the over-arching concept of how I design fat loss training programs--it consists of using fast-paced movements to teach the body how to move more efficiently such as combination movements, like the squat-to-press or "thruster" I demonstrated below.
Because this style of training is extremely expensive in terms of energy (Calorie) demand, by and large dynamic training is excellent as a general fat loss modality.
Perhaps more importantly, however, is the fact that utilizing these types exercises and setting them up in a non-competing circuit fashion under the dynamic training umbrella is an incredible way to produce IGF-1--and that is one of the most effective methods to mitigate insulin sensitivity.
Cortisol vs. Growth Hormone
We have touched on cortisol a bit, so I won’t rehash that too much. Suffice it to say that the higher your cortisol levels are, the more fat you’re going to be storing on your belly. Given that fact, it stands to reason that if you store fat primarily in the abdominal region, you’re a victim of high cortisol.
Never fear, though: Growth Hormone is here.
Also known as the “fountain of youth”, growth hormone is the single most effective compound your body can produce to affect both fat loss and muscle gain. The more you produce, the faster you’ll lose fat and build muscle. It’s just as simple as that. Now, in addition to that awesome little fact, growth hormone is going to whoop cortisol’s ass and help you burn belly fat.
Also, you’ve probably heard that one of the ways to reduce your cortisol levels is to get more sleep. That’s something you hear on nearly all the medical TV shows. What you don’t hear is the reason.
You see, sleeping is one of the main ways by which your body produces growth hormone. Or, saying it another way, while you're asleep is your body’s primary opportunity to produce growth hormone.
And, as I stated previously, growth hormone is one of the main hormones that reduces the effects of cortisol.
Sleep more and you’ll produce more GH. Produce more GH and you’ll have less cortisol. Therefore, sleeping more results in lower cortisol levels. Got it?
Of course, I’m not suggesting you can just sleep your way past a fat loss plateau; although getting more sleep does help. I’m merely illustrating the relationship between cortisol and growth hormone.
Which leads us to the production of growth hormone as it relates to training.
While nearly all forms of exercise produce both growth hormone and cortisol, some types are better than others. Cortisol, as I mentioned in the previous article, is produced heavily in long duration cardio sessions--so let’s not do that.
Instead, we’re going to utilize a style of training that produces more growth hormone.
To do that, we’re going to employ a training method known as Lactic Acid Training.
In order to get to the growth hormone, you must first produce lactic acid.
Lactic acid, by way of a definition, is a byproduct of the chemical reactions that take place during exercise. This substance is wildly irritating to the nerves, and your body responds.
Think of lactic acid as sort of a type of oil igniting fires as it flows through you--your body will call the fire department to put those fires out.
And your body will do that by dousing them with soothing, cooling growth hormone.
Okay, maybe I’m being a little simplistic with my metaphor, but it gives you a general idea.
In any event, we must structure training to produce the most lactic acid possible. And, because lactic acid is primarily produce in the concentric (positive) phase of anaerobic exercise, we extend that period, and decrease the eccentric period.
What that means is that we lift the weight very very slowly, and lower it very very quickly so that we can have a fast turn around.
As an example, if you’re doing a squat, you’ll descend to the bottom the squat very quickly (drop down fast, but still controlling the weight somewhat) and then lift the weight sloooowly, oh so sloooowly--over a period of 4-6 seconds.
This will create tremendous amounts of lactic acid, which will intern send GH production into overdrive. I must mention that training in this way necessitates the use of lighter weights than you normally would on any given exercise. Therefore, if you’re interested in lactic acid training, I suggest you reduce the weight you’d use on any exercise by about 30% in order to be both safe and effective.
With traditional training methods, you’d lift the weight pretty quickly and lower it slowly. Here, we’re doing the opposite, in order to produce the most lactic acid possible, which will then lead to a corresponding increase in the production of growth hormone.
This will result in not only reducing cortisol, but also reducing cortisol related fat storage in your belly. On top of it all, it’s great for fat loss in general!
In my last post, I shared with you the reasons why you aren't losing fat, particularly in the LAST few pounds. It seems that everything stops working the way it was for the FIRST few pounds.
As promised, I'm going to share with you the 3 hormones causing fat stoage. Read on.
Back Got Back: Low Body Fat Storage
One of the most common types of fat storage that we see in women is the “pear shape” –fairly thin on top but heavy on the bottom (and IN the bottom, if you know what I mean).
This is so common that we often refer to a “pear shape” as a body type. This is true to an extent, but this type of fat storage is also heavily dependent on the female sex hormone estrogen. This is one reason why you see this type of fat storage primarily in women.
High levels of estrogen are awesome for enjoying Grey’s Anatomy and makin’ babies, but terrible for fat loss, which makes it obvious that women usually have more trouble losing fat than men.
However, anyone—male or female—with high estrogen levels will have trouble losing fat, especially from the lower body. In essence, the higher your estrogen levels, the greater the likelihood you’ll store fat in your lower body; mainly in the hips and thighs.
And yes, it IS possible for men to have high estrogen levels. Unfortunately, outside of having to deal with a declined rate of fat loss and lower body fat, these guys ALSO have to deal with the ignominy of man-boobs.
On the whole, estrogen related fat storage is a pain in the ass (get it!?) but it is not completely unmanageable. You see, you can offset this phenomenon with certain types of training.
In addition to helping you lose fat stored in the lower body, these specifically designed workouts will also be great for fat loss in general. Essentially, they’re great for burning calories and for shedding lower body fat through estrogen management—combine the two and the result is rapid fat loss, with a heavy concentration on lower body fat stores.
Muffin Tops: No Love for the Love Handles
Probably my least favorite incarnation of regional fat storage is love handle and lower back fat. On top of making me fat in that immediacy, it also completely had a pretty negative effect on the way my body processes and handles insulin period.
The degree to which you ae able to process and respond to glucose (sugar) in your body is called insulin sensitivity. The higher this is, the easier and more efficiently your body utilizes carbohydrates for energy, and the less like you are to store carbs as fat.
On the other hand, insulin resistance is the opposite: you don’t deal well with carbs, and anything other than a low carb diet pretty much means you’re gonna hang on to some fat.
And, to make matters worse, as I mentioned previously, there are regional effects. It’s been shown that people who store fat in the love handles are generally very insulin resistant—and therefore it can be reasoned that insulin resistance leads to love handle and lower back fat storage.
Which means, of course, that insulin resistance makes it very hard to lose fat from that area as well.
I’m sure many of you out there who have been heavy before are experiencing much the same problems that I used to have.
The good news is that insulin resistance (and the resulting regional fatness) can be mitigated with certain types of training. For example, with careful planning and selection of exercises, you can start to whittle away at love handle and lower back fat while you increase insulin sensitivity.
The better news is that I’ve figured out a specific series of training sessions that will do just that.
The One, The Only: Belly Fat
Without question, the most common type of regional fat storage is belly fat. If this isn’t you, it’s someone you know.
Abdominal fat storage obviously has a lot to do with your diet and overall body fat level; that should be obvious but it never hurts to touch on it.
Outside of that, it’s hormones baby, hormones.
The one we’re talking about here is cortisol. This hormone has been in the media a lot the past few years, and I’ve talked about it a bit, so by now you know that cortisol is sometimes called a “stress” hormone.
Basically, that means your body will produce cortisol (and encourage belly fat storage) under conditions of nearly any type of stress—both emotional and physical. Instead, it is of far greater effect to combat cortisol through resistance training.
Now, if you’re observant, you may have noticed what seems to be a contradiction.
As I said, cortisol is also produced through physical stress. In fact, training is actually one of the primary means through which your body will produce this sneaky little hormone. Additionally, because cortisol has been linked to overtraining and has a catabolic (muscle wasting) effect, producing too much of it through training is certainly counterproductive.
It’s important to note, however, that long duration cardio and extended lifting sessions are what produce the most cortisol, and I always recommend against those.
Instead, short, intense training sessions using a particular type of training modality will help to counteract the effects of cortisol; both the muscle-wasting effect, and the cortisol related belly fat storage.
In the next post, I'm going to teach you how to fight hormones with hormones. I’ll show you how to use specific types of training to combat the nefarious three hormonal nemeses by producing hormones that offset the effects of estrogen, insulin and cortisol.
One of my fitness colleagues John Roman is launching his final fat loss program.
There has been a discussion going around in the fitness community about fat loss.
It seems like most fat loss programs focus on one main thing: to burn fat, you have to expend more energy than you take in.
Such a focus makes sense, of course, because if there is a universal truth to fat loss, that’s it.
This is what we call “energy balance.” In order to lose fat, you have to create what we call “energy debt” or “energy deficit” –that is, eliminate the balance and instead be on the negative side of the balance scales.
That works very well for “beginning” fat, of course. However, success doesn’t last forever.
As anyone who’s ever been on a diet and exercise program of any kind can tell you, at first it’s pretty smooth sailing. Eat less, do more, lose fat.
And then it stops—and usually, stops suddenly, as those same people can also tell you.
Of course, the first instinct people have is a very natural one: to simply do more of what was bringing them success in the first place.
So they eat even less and do even more.
And…have no results.
You see, what these people fail to realize (and what most fat loss programs fail to address) is that:
After a certain point, simple energy deficit no longer covers the tab.
It becomes more about what type of deficit. Speaking generally, you actually have to eat closer to maintenance calorie levels (instead of far below) and expend more Calories through exercise.
Even then, things don’t always happen as quickly as you want.
You see, once you’ve hit a fat loss plateau—or when you’re trying to lose the last few pounds, like I was when I was dieting for the beach house—fat loss becomes a bit less about energy balance a lot more about hormones.
Some hormones, such as leptin, actually control the majority of your general fat loss efforts and all the factors thereof: appetite, satiety, “starvation mode.” However, assuming you’re eating enough and trying to create an energy deficit through training, leptin isn’t the issue.
There are other hormones which are a bit more insidious in their effects on your physique. They don’t just determine IF you gain fat—they determine where you gain it, and whether you’re able to lose it from those areas.
Those “problem” areas on your body are there for a reason.
“Problem areas” are created by your hormonal environment, and it’s your hormones that force your body to have particular fat storage patterns.
It becomes more about what type of deficit. Speaking generally, you actually have to eat closer to maintenance calorie levels (instead of far below) and expend more Calories through exercise.
Even then, things don’t always happen as quickly as you want.
We'll discuss three most common types of regional fat storage, and the hormones that cause them.
Morris County Certified Personal Trainer Carey Yang shares his top 7 strategies to beating the holiday bulge.
Visit http://bit.ly/8hl8by to sign up for free 5-Part e-Course 'Jump-Start Your Body!' to help you burn fat, build muscle and get in great shape really fast!
Sign up for the 5-Part 'Jump-Start Your Body!' e-Course to help you burn fat, build muscle and get in shape really fast!
Ever hit a "wall" in your fat loss program where your progress just seemed to come to a screeching halt?
Perhaps you're experiencing it now...
Well, good news -- scratch that, GREAT news.
Fitness model and author John Romaniello is offering a complimentary download of his new fat loss report "Why You've STOPPED Losing Body Fat...And How to Fix It" over at his website.
I've read the report, and John really went over the top here -- more than 25 pages of pure, actionable content that will absolutely help you immediately begin losing fat FASTER.
I recently conducted a Fitness Seminar titled "New Year, New Body, New YOU! 7 Steps to Jump-Start New Year's Resolutions."
"Lose weight" and "get fit" are two of the top 10 New Year's resolutions. Unfortunately, these are two of the resolutions that most people cannot stick to.
In the beginning of the seminar, I asked the audience their #1 challenge that stopped them from achieving their goals in fitness and weight loss.
Lack of motivation is near the top of that challenge list. It's also one of reasons why my clients hire me as a personal trainer to inject a dose of motivation into them and hold them accountable to their goals.
People know "what" to do in general to stay healthy and lose weight. It's the "how" part that makes all the difference.
You can say and resolve whatever you want to do. Having a action plan and actually doing it is the key to success to anything in this world. Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder.
Here are 3 quick tips that may keep you motivated.
Begin with the end. Start your weight loss journey with the end results in mind. It's not only about the number of pounds you want to lose, but the shape of your body you want, how would you feel. What are emotions associated with that feelings when you finally get it. This is the first part of my Dream Body Blueprint(TM) body transformation system. An easy way to keep your dream body picture anywhere, particularly in kitchen and workout area, to remind you and keep you on track.
Bring out the why. It's the burning desire, emotions about your resolutions that keep you going. It's easy to sidetracked with so many things to juggle. You've got to set your priority straight. So ask youself, "Why" do I want to lose weight? Dig in deep for the real reason for what you want to achieve. Then your goal is more meaningful, has some value and sense of achievement and satisfaction when you finally accomplish. It provides the real source of power and motivation when you hit the inevitable roadblocks.
Write them down. I know. I know. I know. Knowing is one thing. To do is another. Words are powerful. A picture is worth thousand words. That's why it's important to write whatever your goal and plan it. Also write down your daily tasks. What do you plan to do today so that you're a step closer to your goal? Look at your dream body picture. Start your day in the right mindset and action.
Sign up for the 5-Part 'Jump-Start Your Body!' e-Course to help you burn fat, build muscle and get in shape really fast!
Today is January 22. Six percent of year 2010 (3 weeks) is almost gone that you can't take back. Are you on track achieving 6% of your goals for this year?
I have a great opportunity giving a Fitness and Wellness Seminar a few days ago. The title of my talk is "New Year, New Body, New You! - 7 Steps to Jump-Start Your New Year's Resolutions." It certainly attracted many people who wanted to lose weight and get fit. In fact, "lose weight" and "get fit" are two of the top 10 most popular New Year's resolutions of all times.
The #1 Challenge
At the very beginning of the seminar, I asked the audience to write down and share their expectations coming to this seminar and their #1 challenge that stops them from achieving their goals (lose weight and get fit) in the past. Here are some of the challenges in random order:
Late night eating
Junk food snacking
Lack of time
Lack of discipline
Just being lazy, lack of motivation
Age
Genetics
Information (lack thereof or too much)
Lack of accountability
Does any of these sound similar to you? You're not alone. They share many of the same challenges as you may have.
The numbers won't lie
According to a University of Scranton study on New Year's resolutions, a quarter of people who resolve to lose weight and change their eating habits on January 1st will go back to their old ways within a week!
So if you're still on doing something, you're better than 25% of other people. Give yourself a pat on the back. But don't get too complacent too soon. The study showed the following statistics past various milestones for the percent of people still on track.
Past the first week: 75%
Past two weeks 71%
Past one month: 64%
After 6 months: 46%
As time goes along, more and more people are falling off the "lose-weight-get-fit" bandwagon.
WHY??
Information is useful, or is it?
In the seminar, I shared my experiences, explained the Vicious Yo-Yo Diet Cycle and other pitfalls, presented my step-by-step strategies, provided tips to help them overcome their challenges. Some audience chimed in their answers. There were several great discussions as well.
Judging from the audience, I have this sense of feeling that 'lack of informatoin' or 'more new information' is NOT what stops people. It is the 'doing' part that keeps them from achieving the results. Far too many people spend time in searching, planning and getting ready. They never get to implement and actually take actions doing them.
In this age of information explosion and overload, I think we have more than enough information or too much information to keep us moving forward. Too much information can be too confusing to choose from.
Information without digestion is useless. Knowledge without actions is not power and won't give you results.
Your new resolution: 100 workouts, 100 reps!
The only 'trick' I know that will work is control what you can do and do what you can control.
If you understand this simple yet powerful concept, most of the #1 challenges listed above are no longer there. Agree?
As I said it all the time, everywhere, "losing 20 pounds' is not a healthy goal. It's an 'outcome' goal at most. It's a symptom from the outside. There's no power, compassion, desire or any emotion attached to that statement. Even if you get it, you'll lose it again. Fixing the symptom doesn't address the root causes. It will show up and repeat itself over and over again.
When you set a 'outcome' goal, you have to immediately set 'action' goal to support it. It's easy to say "I want to lose 20 pounds." What course of actions and corrections do you plan to take?
I issue a new resolution for you: 100 workouts, 100 reps! Pull out your calendar. Plan and mark 100 workouts for the year. That's just 2 workouts a week, not so much a demand, huh?! Choose 3 exercises in each workout. Perform 10 to 15 reps in each exercise and repeat for a total of 3 sets.
Sounds simple, right?!
One of the pitfalls most fitness and nutrition program fails is that people push too hard, too soon in the beginning and then quit the first sign of obstacle.
Keep it simple. Pick up the weights and start moving!
We have a very cold winter weather in the U.S. for the past month. No wonder the 2010 farmer's almanc predicted a frigid winter. It's no coincident that it's the time of the year for making New Year's resolutions.
Is it true that cold weather makes you less likely to move and store more fat?
A Pedometer research published in the journal Medicine and Science and Sports And Exercise uncovered a huge difference in the number of steps taken between the summer and winter:
7616 steps per day in summer
6293 steps per day in fall
5304 steps per day in winter
5850 steps in spring
Foods by themselves are not to blame for gainig weight. Properly supported nutrition is critical in fueling your body and making your body function the way it's designed for. Most people blame winter weight gain on the food. It's not just the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's celebration feasts. It's less winter activity that also contributes to the holiday pounds.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) has been studied at length by psychologists. SAD occurs during the short days and long nights of winter and fall, when there's less sunlight and colder temperatures. Symptoms include depression, cravings for specific foods, loss of energy, hopelessness and oversleeping. These types of symptoms can contribute to weight gain.
In warm weather, people are wearing less and enjoying the outdoors more often. People want to look good. In cold weather, you're covered up. There's less self or body-image consciousness. Also most people tend to stay on a diet more diligently and train harder when summer is coming around.
So you have to keep training hard and eating properly even in cold winter season. Seasonal weight gain is usually very small. It's the type of slow weight creep that goes unnoticed. Over a period of 10, 15 or 20 years, it's enough to accumulate into overweight or obesity. One day you wake up the morning, look in the mirror and ask themselves, "How did I get so heavy?"
You have to be conscious and diligent to stay lean all year round. Watch out for the increases in your appetite and decreases in your activity. This is a year-round style, not a seasonal resolution for quick-fix.
When you make your New Year's resolutions for losing 20 pounds by summer, you'll need to make monthly, weekly goals. These are "outcome" goals that you receive as a result of the actions you've taken. In other words, you'll need to make your "action" goals to support your outcome goals.
You can't really control how much weight you can lose, really. What you can control is the exercises -- how long, how often, what kind and how intense. You can control the type of foods, how much, how often that you eat. In the end, your body responds to these training effect and nutrition. Then you adjust your exercise and nutrition program based on your ACTUAL results.
This is the time of the season again when people are stressed out with holiday shopping. The economic downtime (albeit on the way of recovering) has added salt to the wound - pushing many people out of jobs.
One of the biggest traps for people wanting to lose weight is to use foods as a way of comforting themselves or soothing their stress and anxiety and make them feel good.
Many people eat even when they are physically hungry. When eating food is nothing to do with fulfilling basic survival needs and fueling your body, it becomes emotional eating - from stress, boredom, anxiety, frustation, loneliness, sadness, etc.
Holidays, parties, social functions, weather are all triggers to binge eating or emotional eating. If you feel guility after eating, that's unhealthy eating behavior. You should feel satisfied after eating for physical hungry
On the New Year's Eve, almost everyone is reflecting the past year and looking forward to the coming year. The New Year's resolutions seem to become cliche. Many people stop making them since one-third of them quit in the first month. Half of them will be gone after six months.
Starting a new page for the New Year requires letting go of some of the bad habits and beliefs that didn't serve you. Here are the top 7 holiday diet traps and some strategies to beat them before making a clean start for your New Year's resolutions.
1. Dinner buffet and cocktail party. The social and family gatherings are inevitable. We're in the world of abundance - plenty of food selections and feasts. No wonder two-third of Americans are either overweight or obese. To avoid social overeating and binge, you can eat a light meal or snack packed with lean protein and fiber about one to two hours before the event. When you're not that hungry, you're less likely to make poor unhealthy choices.
2. Eat while you cook. Have you been wondering why it's rare to see a fit chef? When you cook, you're likely to taste a little here and there. These calories do add up. You can try to chew mint-flavored gum to keep your mouth busy. You can try to sniff peppermint oil. It helps depress appetite by stimulating the area of the brain to make you feel full. So you'll eat less even you do.
3. Eat everything on the table. This is the one you want to be picky eater. Before you sit down to chow, "survey" the foods to be served including drinks, appetiziers, entries, deserts, etc. Instead of eating everything, choose a few (hopefully balanced out with good carb, vegetables, lean protein and essential fats) that you really like and enjoy them. Leave some room (discretionary calories) for special dishes that you can only have during the holidays.
4. Portion, portion, portion! This is a no-brainer. But most people are still side-tracked or put themselves in situations that they don't have control. If you use a smaller plate or bowl, you'll fill up less amount of food at every meal. It will help you eat less (or the right amount). Pay attention to the recommended porition size. For example, one serving of rice is half a cup; not a full cup. That's 100 calorie difference!
5. Mindless eating. Notice that how much more you eat when you watch TV, read magazine or listen to a CD or tape than eating alone or in silence? When your mind is busy with something else while eating, you don't fully savor the taste and tend to overeat. So start practicing 'mindful' eating.
6. Winter domance or hibernation. The bitterly cold weather in winter makes many people become dormant or go into hibernation. They don't move much at all and certainly are less likely to burn enough calories to maintain their weight. Stay active. Do short 10 to 15 minutes of exercises using bodyweight or simple free weights at home even if you can't go to gym.
7. Lack of quality sleep and rest. We're already a sleep-deprived nation. The hustle and bustle over the holidays just make it worse for many people to get enough 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep. When you sleep less than 5 hours, your body produces lower level of leptin, a hormone that controls how full you feel. You also have higher level of ghrelin that stimulate appetite. In the end, you tend to eat more and gain weight.
It's your decision now to release the old bad habits and make room for the new healthy positive changes.
My best wishes for the New Year!
Sign up for the 5-Part 'Jump-Start Your Body!' e-Course to help you burn fat, build muscle and get in shape really fast!
Morris County Personal Trainer Carey Yang to Speak on 7 Steps to Jump-Start New Year’s Resolutions on Fitness and Weight Loss
Morris County Personal Trainer Carey Yang will present a Fitness Seminar titled “New Year, New Body, New You: 7 Easy Steps to Jump-Start Your New Year’s Resolutions” on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 7:00 pm. This will take place at Rockaway Township Free Public Library in Rockaway, New Jersey.
DENVILLE, NJ -- December 21, 2009 – After busy holiday shopping and feeling stressed out over the year, the average Americans who struggle with the challenge of weight gain and eating healthy would soon realize that it’s the time of the year again – making New Year’s resolutions.
Residents in Morris County area now can learn valuable tips and strategies to overcome the obstacles from achieving their goals in health and fitness. Morris County personal trainer Carey Yang will present a Fitness Seminar on “New Year, New Body, New You: 7 Easy Steps to Jump-Start Your New Year’s Resolutions.”
If the history is repeating itself, the two-thirds of Americans who are already struggling with their weight are likely to put on another 10 to 15 pounds by the New Year. “This is a year-after-year vicious cycle. People gain weight during the holiday season and try to lose weight throughout the year. Most people fail in their effort for the same reason. They quit in the first month at the first sign of self-defeating setback. They end up with net weight-gain of 5 to 10 pounds a year. Gradually, they’re 10, 20, then 30 pounds, or more,” says Yang, a fitness and nutrition expert based in Denville, New Jersey.
Yang says, “The percentage of Americans who break their new year’s resolutions by the end of January is 36% according to a study by the University of Scranton. By the end of June, only about half still stays the course.” “The truth is that most people make the same old New Year’s resolutions that never worked for them. Again, they keep making the same ones but expecting different results,” says Yang. “This is really an interesting human behavior.”
“The keys to making successful New Year’s resolutions are making the right, healthy and challenging goals backed up with daily, weekly, monthly and yearly action steps,” Yang says. “Support system is very important in helping you stay on track. It could be an accountability partner, workout buddy, personal trainer or coach, mastermind group, or online community.
In this special fitness and wellness seminar revealing real secrets to weight loss, body transformation, nutrition and personal success, the attendees will learn:
• The 3 myths about the New Year’s Resolutions
• Top 10 common reasons why most fitness and nutrition programs fail
• The vicious diet cycle
• 5 keys to transforming your body in record time
• Why is this year different from the past?
An Open Forum Q&A Session will follow at the end of presentation.
This seminar will be held at Rockaway Township Free Public Library, 61 Mount Hope Road in Rockaway, New Jersey on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. Snow day is Thursday, January 21 at the same time. The seminar is free and open to the public. Registration in person or by phone is required (973-627-2344).
About C. Carey Yang
C. Carey Yang, Your Dream Body WorkoutXpertTM, is a certified personal trainer and fitness boot camp instructor based in Denville, New Jersey. He provides in-home personal fitness training, backyard boot camp, wellness and lifestyle coaching, and fitness and weight-management seminar. He specializes in helping busy, working professionals who want safe, effective workouts with maximum results in minimum time. Yang is the creator of the 6-Step Dream Body BlueprintTM Body Transformation System.
To learn more about lifestyle and wellness coaching, personal fitness training and nutritional counseling and to sign up for a free monthly e-zine, receive free fitness and fat loss e-books, and schedule a complimentary consultation, visit http://www.CareyForFitness.com.
He is also available for media interviews, providing a list of tips and articles, and presenting wellness and fitness seminar. Call 973-303-2424 or email Carey@CareyForFitness.com.
# # #
Contact Information:
C. Carey Yang
Phone: 973-303-2424
Email: Carey@CareyForFitness.com
Web: www.CareyForFitness.com
S.P.E.E.D. which stands for Sleep, Psychology, Environment, Exercise, Diet, is the comprehensive approach based on the Bio-Psycho-Social Model. What all that really means is that this book digs deep into how to reduce your body-fat and finally debunking some of the common weight loss myths. Jeff and Matt cover why proper sleep is vital to weight loss, why your mindset matters the most, why exercise is overrated and much more.
As kids growing up, we're told by our parents to eat everything and clean the plate.
This advice was meant well with good intention, considering economic situations many, many years ago. Now, we're living in a world of abundance - abundant foods and excess calories that contribute to unhealthy weight gain.
So if you're having a family get-together over the holidays, think twice of the old advice. Before you sit down to chow, "survey" the foods to be served including drinks, appetiziers, entries, deserts, etc.
Instead of eating everything, choose a few (hopefully balanced out with good carb, vegetables, lean protein and essential fats) that you really like and enjoy them.
Leave some room (discretionary calories) for special dishes that you can only have during the holidays.
Practice mindful eating. Take time to chew and bite. Engage in meaningful conversations with friends and family. You'll be likely to feel full longer.
Many people start cut their bread, pasta or potato when they want to lose weight. It may seems to have merit.
The whole weight-loss equation is not just about carb, protein or fat and their proportion. It's all about creating caloric deficit through proper nutrition, regular exercise and workout.
When you cut out carbohydrates too much, you also miss out many nutrients. It tends to backfire. It deprives your body and mind (brain) of critical energy sources.
Bread contains carbohydrates that boost brain chemicals to curb overeating.
Pasta has a high fluid content kepping you satisfied longer.
Potato forms resistant starch - fiber that burns fat.
