Training inpiration from Yvonne

Tell me, why do you exercise, work-out? Why do you spend endless hours at the gym,

or beat yourself up for not going enough. Why do you eat healthy, or scowl at the empty bowl of

ice-cream in front of you?


Actually don’t tell me. It doesn’t matter why. Everyone has their own reasons. What

matters is that you get to where you want to be. Who you want to be.

Who are you setting goals for? Not your friends, your co-worker, the neighbor down the

street, or your trainer :)

You are doing it for YOU.

Do what it takes and go all the way. Don’t

give in, just watch the transformation unfold. Watch how empowered you will feel once you’ve

reached your goal/s. Start with small ones and then challenge yourself.

Go where you want to go, because you want, you can and you will. Because, you are:

poised, driven, fired-up, sick-of-it, determined, inspired, encouraged, positive and you are tough!


“The whole idea of motivation is a trap.

Forget motivation.

Just do it.

Exercise, lose weight, test your blood sugar, or whatever. Do it

without motivation. And then, guess what?

"After you start doing the

thing, that's when the motivation comes and makes it easy for you to

keep on doing it.” (J.C.Maxwell)

Come on, do what it takes. For you.

Yvonne

Lose Those Last 10 Pounds With This Simple Diet "Trick"

Everyone faces it at one time or another...



The dreaded fat-loss plateau. That's when things are going great, you're making progress and then BAM! -- your body leaves you scratching your head, wondering why it won't budge that last little bit.



Today, I'd like to give you a fun little "trick" that works with your body's biochemistry. This trick helps get your body moving in the direction you want it to... a fitter, trimmer YOU!



Ready to say goodbye to those last 10 or so stubborn pounds that won't come off?



Great. Let's get started...



The key to losing that last bit of fat has to do with a hormone called leptin.



Right now, you're probably thinking, "lepti-what?"



Let me explain.



Leptin is a fairly recent discovery as far as hormones go (it was first discovered in 1994).



It's main job function is as a "starvation hormone."



Basically, when you're body senses it's starving, leptin kicks in. It sends a signal to your brain that tells your body to be VERY hungry and start eating like a bear.



It also lets your body know that it needs to hang on to fat at ANY cost. So the majority of the calories you eat are then programmed to go to fat storage during this "starvation" phase.



Once your body reaches what it thinks is equilibrium, leptin tells your brain to stop eating and stop storing fat. Then it shuts off -- only to be awakened once starvation mode kicks in again.



So leptin acts kind of like a fat "thermostat."



When your body senses it's starving and it's not getting enough calories like it's used to getting, leptin kicks in to make you hungry and get you to eat. Once you've had enough, it shuts off and tells your brain to give you the "full" feeling.



Now here is how it's responsible for stalling your fat loss efforts...



When you're dieting, the calorie deficit causes your body's leptin levels to plummet, triggering the starvation mode. It then sends the signal to your brain to be hungry and hang on to fat at all cost... (do you see where this is going)?



So your own body is working against you -- especially if you've been dieting for a while and reached a plateau.



How do you break it?



You have a cheat meal, once a week. Eat ANYTHING you want for this meal. Hamburgers, fries, pizza, ice cream... whatever you're craving.



Now, don't make yourself sick. Don't binge eat. Eat plenty, but when you're full, stop.



Cheating like this raises your leptin levels naturally. Leptin then sends the signal to your brain that everything is "a-okay" and allows your body to start burning fat freely again.



Also, make sure your cheat meal includes plenty of carbs. Research suggests that leptin levels and carb intake are somehow closely linked together.



By eating plenty of carbs, you ensure that your leptin levels rise naturally.



So there you go. The simple act of cheating and having whatever you want once a week could be just what you need to lose that last little bit of stubborn fat!



And stay tuned, because later this month I'll be sending you ANOTHER diet tip that'll raise your leptin levels so you can melt fat off like butter. In fact, it's the secret behind how many top fitness models and bodybuilders are able to get such fantastic results.

Two steps forward one step back

Many times in fitness we find ourselves motivated and in the zone. We get to the gym , we watch what we eat and everything is hunky dory. Then something happens good or bad to throw us out of our routine.  Sometimes it's a vacation which gets us out of our routine and we eat too much and lay around. Other times it might be an injury, sickness or stressful event such as a death in the family.

I've been involved with fitness over 25 years. It started as a skinny 15 year old kid which transformed into a 270 pound football player bulked up to the max an rebounded to a lean 205 pound bodybuilder and now a 210 pound cross training athlete. Yes I've gone through many metamorphosis and I have had some successes an failures.  

Many people think I am always on the ball. I never miss a workout, never eat bad, or drink alcohol. Nothing could be further from the truth.  I have had my workout funks just like the next guy. Ask me about my love for cake which to me is like crack.   

Yes I admit it I'm not perfect even though I'm supposed to be a personal trainer. And you know what that makes me a better trainer. You see I figure if I'm so out of touch with my clients because I never eat anything unhealthy or always make my workouts then I'm not able to relate to my clients very well.  I feel trainers like this often try to make their clients be like them versus relate to them and understand their struggles.

Bottom line is if everyone could kick ass with their fitness and nutrition than I'm unemployed.  `Fitness is not about perfection and doing everything right. It is about consistency and doing the right things regularly.

Ever heard of the 80/20 rule which basically states by doing the right 80% of the time you will see results. It is true.  The 100/0 rule is a recipe for disaster. I know personally.

You see when I did my first bodybuilding show I ate and trained perfectly for 14 weeks. No cheating. Perfect the same perfect food at the same time of day day in and day out.  Also I never missed any workouts. What happened. I got ripped and looked great for my bodybuilding show. It was a great accomplishment. 

But what happened after was I was so sick of being perfect I went on an eating binge of all the foods I had been denying myself from for a about 2 weeks. I blew up from all the water retention an felt sick. I also looked like crap.  

The second bodybuilding show I  did I gave myself some intermittent breaks in the training plan having a few cheat meals with some beer. The end result was the same I got ripped but this time there was no binge on the back end. Lesson learned.

So the next time you get mad at yourself because you fell out of the zone, missed a workout or gave into temptation and downed a box of treats. Realize this fitness, eating the whole thing is really a two steps forward one step back.

You will have your two steps forward times when you are kicking ass in gym and dialed in with your nutrition. You will also have those one step back periods where you lack motivation, are stressed out or just need to back off. This is normal and a good long term strategy. 

What happens if you continually take two steps forward and one step back you end up ahead not behind.  Life is meant to be enjoyed an that might mean having the occasional dairy queen blizzard or blowing off your workout to meet your friend you haven't seen for awhile for happy happy hour.

So be consistent not perfect and enjoy a healthy lifestyle just don't obsess over it.