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Ready to work of Holiday pounds or prevent them altogether?  Check it out:

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Recently we talked about working out on the Commercial Break!  We also got into a special technique borrowed from ol’ Charles Atlas.  If you aren’t currently in Portland Adventure Boot Camp, you can do these exercise in the comfort of your own home while watching television.

Here it is:

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It was a family place in the Upper Peninsula. Everyone there sounds a little Canadian, eh?

Anyway…I had this cousin who always seemed to be there.  He was an avid angler. A fisherman.

Well…actually he was probably more of a lazy bum who liked to fish.  A lot.

Right.   Really, I think fishing was his clever way to avoid being productive.   At any rate, he was fond of telling us (over and over again) about the time he caught a fish “THIS BIG”.  And for whatever reason, I remembered him and his stories today.

Well, yesterday I was thinking fondly of the summers up north.  And my  cousins fishing fables, when suddenly realized: tall fish stories are like the fat loss fibs people tell about losing weight on commercials.

Think about it.

When you watch a commercial for a weight loss product on TV you hear exaggerated claims of weight loss. Just like how fisher-folk like to spin yarns about giant fish that got away…   Seems to be human nature.

Which begs the question: what is reasonable?  What is realistic?  What is the truth?  Well…

If you are on a fad diet where you eat only 800 calories a day, your body will drop water and muscle like crazy.  At the end of your first week of starvation, your body can lose dramatic amounts of weight.  The scale will seem to show the most amazing success in the world.   The scale, if it could talk, would say, “WOW!” .

Now, at this moment of psychological triumph… it  is the perfect time for an unscrupulous marketer to swoop in and grab a video testimonial.  Which usually goes something like this: “My name is Jenny Lostalot.  In my first week on Super Fat Incinerator I lost 25lbs!  Friends all think I look the best I ever have. Blahbiddity fib-diddly fib.”.

And then 50,000 people rush to buy a bottle of Super Fat Incinerator and  the thigh master to sculpt their inner thighs. (Impossible to spot reduce…but that’s another post for another time)  All the while, knowing somewhere deep inside, that it is all a fabrication.

A hoax.

A bamboozle.

A fable.

Sigh.

It makes my job of being honest about body fat loss tougher.  And a lot less glamorous.  After all, I have to fight the colorful tales in the media and tell the truth.

You say you want the unvarnished truth?

Yay!  OK, then here it is.  Or at least this is what data says:

A good rate of body fat loss for permanent change is about 1 percent of your current weight per week or so.  So if you currently weigh 180lbs, you might expect–by following a properly constructed food plan, tracking calories with a food journal,  performing regular metabolic conditioning workouts (like boot camp), getting lots of motivation, accountability, and proper guidance –to lose approximately 1.8lbs per week.  Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less since body fat loss is never like clockwork.

Gee whiz.  I wish it were as easy as creating a pill or radical fad diet plan which would magically cause 25lbs of body fat loss the first week.  I’d be a billionaire overnight.  Because I’d patent that shinola.

But alas.  The only way I know to lose 25lbs in a week legitimately, is to amputate your leg.

Or throw back that giant tall-tale trout.

Coach D

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Chili Cheese Fries... oh boy. Photo by Robyn Lee

Every day he wakes up to the same day.

Ever feel like that?

If you find yourself waking up every day for months or years and don’t see any fat loss in the mirror, it’s might feel like that movie.

But there’s a shortcut to ending that cycle…

What is it?

It’s the one thing that separates the uber successful boot campers from the ones who just meander around.  It divides those who see body fat literally melt off their bones and those who lose a couple pounds here and there.

And it makes the difference between staying in boot camp for a year or more with little fat loss to show for it, or losing as much as 20lbs in a months time.

What is this miracle?

Writing down what you eat in your food journal.

Yes.

Once again, I’m here to say: “A food journal is the most valuable tool  you will ever use for fat loss.”

Why?

Because it is brutally honest mirror.  It’s your true friend who isn’t afraid to tell you the truth. It’s your spotlight in the fog.

Really.

Want proof?

Glad you asked!

A few years back, while training at 24 Hour, I had a client who was with me for 2 years.  She got ridiculously strong.  Very flexible.  Fast.  You name it.

But that wasn’t her goal.  Her goal was to SLIM DOWN.  She wanted to lose a meager 10lbs.

Ten little pounds.

Really, losing 10lbs is a breeze.

Well, time went on and I kept saying “write it down”.  And she kept saying, “OK, I will.”  And then finally… I’ll never forget it.  I walked up to her while she was warming up for one of our workouts and she said…

(yes, this really happened)

she said, “You know what?  I figured out why I’m not losing body fat.”.

“Really?” I replied.

“Yeah!  I decided to write down all the little bits of food I eat while making dinner.  And you know what?  I have been eating over 200 calories of snacky bits before I even eat dinner!”

Hot Dang.

Long story short, she started journaling and lost those pesky twelve pounds  pronto. (she had actually gained a couple over the 2 years) This time she did it all in less than a month.

Crazy.

So let’s look at this for just a second.

Pop quiz.

How many calories would you burn if you ran a crazy long way… like, say, 19 miles?

Cue Jeopardy theme…

Go ahead make a guess…

The answer is shocking…

Ready?

After running all that way…

and feeling like a truck ran over you…

you would have burned a meager 1900 calories.

So what does 1900 calories look like in terms of food?  Well, if you attended a big party at a pizza joint – and while you were busy celebrating you just ate with abandon you’d need to eat something like:

• A garden salad with dressing

• 3 bread sticks while you waited for the pizza

• 3 slices of pizza while you chatted with the party

• 2 12 oz beers

And you’d probably leave feeling very full.

Now…

To burn off those 3 bread sticks alone you’d need about 2 hours of walking or an hour of jogging.  To burn off those 3 slices of pizza you’d need to jog for another hour and half or walk for almost 4 hours. Those two beers are another half hour of jogging at least. And the salad would be another 40 minutes of jogging.

Ahhhh, hold the phone…

You’d never eat that much food in a sitting you say?

Maybe not.  But take a look at this:

1 single side order of chili cheese fries at Applebee’s is 600 calories.

Now that is just the side dish.  Or appetizer.  Yet you’d have to run 6 miles to burn that off.  Well perhaps you shared that with a friend so really you only at a few bites and only need to run a mile or two to burn it off.  But what if your main dish was a Sizzling Skillet Fajita Combo?  Well, my friend, that is 1400 calories or 14 miles of running.  And don’t forget the appetizer.  Even if you just had half, you are up to 17 miles now.

Wait…

I STILL know what you are probably thinking:

“I’m telling you, I DON”T eat that much food, Coach D!”

Fine.  Maybe so.

But let’s say you’re out with family.  Outback Steakhouse.  You want to be good and set an example, so you order the Atlantic Salmon with Seasonal Veggies.  That still comes in at a whopping 760 calories… or nearly EIGHT miles of running.

WAIT!

Wait!

I hear you saying, “But Coach, I eat at home, cook my own whole, healthy food and never eat out like that.”  That is awesome! Congratulations!  You are WAAAAY ahead of the curve.  But do you KNOW how many calories you are actually eating?  Or are you “eyeballing it”?  If you are eating a more than you burn for the day, your body fat won’t budge.

So what’s the lesson here?

It’s putting ink on paper and tracking what you consume.

Because…

Those 20 almonds you like to snack on while writing emails are 139 calories.  That single glass of wine is about 140 calories.   And those little scraps of food you nosh while cooking dinner are probably 150 calories.  And that’s before you sit down to eat.  Next thing you know, you are eating, and probably quickly.   And you’ve gone over the limit before your brain had a fighting chance to register just how much you have eaten, (it take the brain about 20 minutes to catch on, so chew slowly).

Here’s the reality.

If you aren’t writing it down in your journal you might forget you ate those little bites.  And perhaps you popped those almonds just a couple at a time while talking on the phone.  You may remember it as 5-10… but you really ate 20 or more.   Or was it 30?  At 827 calories a cup, you can’t afford to munch mindlessly on almonds.  And wine…who really drinks a single glass of wine anyway… isn’t there always another half glass afterward?  Maybe a couple extra on the weekend?  Not dissing wine per se, but do you know how many calories you actually are drinking?

Folks, we can’t do it all in our heads.  Memory is faulty.  Eyeballs and hungry stomachs conspire against you.   And yummy foods whisper your name from the cabinets as you walk past.

Hold yourself up to the objective scrutiny of a good old fashioned journal and ink pen.  And reap the fat loss rewards faster than you ever dreamed possible!

Need help with this?  Just ask.  I have a food scale and it’s such a breeze to use.

The funny thing is, when you actually start doing it, it gets very easy and even a little fun.  Try it. And if you forget,or if you fall of the wagon, or, heaven forbid, the wagon actually falls on you — just write it down and get back on.

It’s the closest thing to a “shortcut to fat loss” you’ll ever see.

Coach D

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You do NOT want to be this flexible.

Remember gym class in junior high?  Nothing like Portland Boot Camp, eh?

Back then we were told to stretch before we ran so we’d be “warmed up”.  And to this day, many people still believe this is a good idea.  It increases your flexibility and mobility right?  Well, it sounds eminently logical.  But, unfortunately, it just isn’t true.  Turns out stretching before working out is not only ineffective — it might even injure you. (That’s why we stretch AFTER class)

So why did we do it?

Well our gym teachers wanted us to be flexible.  Flexibility refers solely to range of motion.  Instead, what we want…what will make us stable and ready for a proper workout… is…

Mobility.

Mobility refers to having stable joints which are ready for the demands of dynamic tasks.  Dynamic or intense moves, like we do in boot camp.  Just because a person is hyper flexible, it doesn’t mean their body is ready for intense, dynamic workouts.  In fact, without mobility, extreme flexibility can increase the risk of injury.

And that’s why we don’t stretch before boot camp.  What we do before class is mobility drills.

Here are a few basic ones we use in boot camp which you can use right now. (If you are a boot camper you probably know many of these)

1. Neck Rolls.  Roll your head side to side in slow motion – gradually increasing your range of motion.
2. Arm Circles.  Move your straight arms in slow circles alternating them.  Hands go from straight overhead to straight down your sides as you swing them in a circle.  Gradually increase your speed as the joint warms up.
3. Hip Circles.  Rotate the hips in a small circle working the hip joints and spine.
4. Knee Circles.  Rotate the knees in a small circle, clockwise for about 25 turns then counter clockwise for another 25 or so.
5. Hip Swings. Swing the knee up to the chest and then swing the leg back behind you.  Slowly at first, but then picking up speed.
6. Angry Cat/Camel:  On all fours, arch the back up into an upside-down “u” shape and then raise the hips and head as the back drops down into a “U” shape.  See the picture below.  It’s tough to describe!

The advanced moves we use, I learned from several trainers and courses.  The best one is from an amazing professional named Eric Cressey.  Eric trains Major League Baseball players and keeps them flexible, strong and most importantly, MOBILE.   About a year ago, Eric sent me a review copy of his comprehensive mobility DVD called “Magnificent Mobility”.

And let me tell you…it is awesome.

If you want to be more mobile (trust me, you do) and reduce body pain, fatigue, and stiffness… then I suggest you grab a copy for yourself.  It covers all the angles.  And you can use the moves to address your SPECIFIC needs before you start boot camp.  If you show up 15 minutes early to class and do the specific moves you need, you’ll be ready to rock.  And it will take you a bit deeper than we go in boot camp too.

And if you are not a member of Portland Boot Camp, you can use the mobility drills to increase your mobility no matter what your current condition or skill level.

I give this one my highest recommendation.

A giant double thumbs up.  It’s endorsed and used by the best and most respected trainers in the industry.  And now you can grab your OWN copy here ==> Magnificent Mobility

Now just so you know, it isn’t a slick DVD from some giant manufacturer, it’s kind of “homey” but it get straight to the point and tells you everything you need to know.

Enjoy your mobility!

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Get Rid of THESE before you eat them all!

Well, Gang,The Holidays are almost over

Time to get to work right before Portland Boot Camp gets crankin’ right?

Supposedly, the average person gains about 3-5lbs during the Holidays.  So let me get you on your way to melting off those extra pounds before the New Year really gets under way.

1.        Stop drinking liquid calories!

Yes, I mean wine, beer, wassail, hot chocolate and all the rest of the holiday libations.  It was fun to celebrate, but now it’s time to get serious about trimming down your waistline.

2.       Get rid of all your “naughty leftovers”.

You know, out of sight out of mind.  Go through your cabinets and fridges and chuck all those treats you KNOW are going to sabotage your efforts in 2011.

3.       Write out your shopping lists and food plans for the firs 4 weeks of 2011.

By writing it down and committing to paper, you make a physical and psychological decision to change.  Plus you have a blueprint for success already done… in your hands!

4.       Start getting to bed earlier.

I know, I know.  The Holiday movies, the relaxed atmosphere.  Staying up later.  But getting back to normal with sleep and shooting for 7-8 hours can make such a huge difference in your ability to lose body fat and recover from exercise.  Get started tonight!

5.       Start Keeping a Food Journal.

I know, it isn’t exactly rocket science.  But I swear, everyone who gets success has a simple food journal to hold themselves accountable.  After all, do you really want to have to write down, “Ugh.  I ate 4 sugar cookies for a snack when I should have had an apple and some almonds.”  Didn’t think so.

6.      Start drinking more water.

All that indulgence and Holiday Focus has probably stressed your system and you are likely sub optimally hydrated.  Time to step it up.  Get started now so you can get used to more water in your system by the time boot camp rolls around.

7.       Start moving NOW.

Get outside and start walking or running.  Do some push ups, bodyweight squats and planks.  Start foam rolling and working on flexibility today.  Get a head start so boot camp isn’t a total shock to your system.

Well there’s my top 7 tips for getting started.

Now…

Get movin’!

To your health,

Daniel

Portland Boot Camp

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If you have trouble staying consistent with your diet plan, find yourself eating emotionally, and need some extra willpower… then check this out…

Medical hypnosis has been shown to dramatically increase the ability for users to stay motivated and focused.

In fact, the winner from The Biggest Loser in season two used it.  But only medical hypnosis works.  Not stage “hypnosis”.

In a 9-week study of two groups, the the group using hypnosis kept getting results after two years.  The group without hypnosis did not. (Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1985).

Another study with 60 women using hypnosis got results too.  The hypnosis group lost an average of 17 pounds, while the non-hypnosis group lost an average of only .5 pounds!  That’s pretty dramatic. (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1986).

But there’s more.

I found this tidbit:

“In a meta-analysis, comparing the results of adding hypnosis to weight loss treatment across multiple studies showed that adding hypnosis increased weight loss by an average of 97% during treatment, and even more importantly increased the effectiveness POST TREATMENT by over 146%. This shows that hypnosis works even better over time (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1996).”

Anyway, I did a little poking around and here is what seems to be the best source:

http://www.hypnosisnetwork.com/hypnosis/weight_loss.php

And if you like to read, here are some of the studies:

Cochrane, Gordon; Friesen, J. (1986). Hypnotherapy in weight loss treatment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 489-492.

Kirsch, Irving (1996). Hypnotic enhancement of cognitive-behavioral weight loss treatments–Another meta-reanalysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64 (3), 517-519.

Allison, David B.; Faith, Myles S. Hypnosis as an adjunct to cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy for obesity: A meta-analytic reappraisal. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 1996 Jun Vol 64(3) 513-516

Stradling J, Roberts D, Wilson A, Lovelock F. Controlled trial of hypnotherapy for weight loss in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. International Journal of Obesity Related Metabolic Disorders. 1998 Mar;22(3):278-81.

To your success!

-D

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My Health Seeking Friend,

Imagine for a moment…

If you could make your body burn fat faster… and even STOP making new fat. Wouldn’t that be great?

You may be thinking, “What’s the catch?”

Great question.

Hold that thought, and think how you would feel for a moment…if the more you worked out, the more your body made fat.

Which would you prefer?

The answer is obvious.  Nobody wants to make MORE fat through exercise.  But that’s what happens when you perform long-duration exercise like aerobics and so –called cardio.

Here’s what I mean: when you do slow, long distance cardio, your primary fuel source is fat.  Sounds great… BUT…what happens is, your body learns that it needs fat for fuel.  So it actually makes more fat to have it ready for your next round of long duration cardio!

Now THAT”S a catch.

And it’s a vicious cycle.

This cycle of using fat as a primary source for fuel during a workout is why you see people chugging it out day after day on treadmills and getting nowhere fast.  Their bodies keep making more fat to keep up with the aerobic exercise demand for fat as a primary fuel source.

Think about it for a second…

When you lay around on the couch, your body is using almost entirely fat as fuel.  Well, after the first 4 weeks of doing slow long distance cardio or aerobics, your body adapts and what used to feel intense will just be a grind.  And your body doesn’t see it as a challenge at all.  Your body, fuel wise, doesn’t know the different.

You have to learn to see slow jogging on a treadmill, or watching Oprah on an elliptical trainer as kind of like… laying around on the couch, only you are on your feet.

And that’s also why we don’t focus on burning fat at boot camp.

Instead…

We focus on short duration, high intensity exercise.  Which burns fewer calories and fewer calories of fat during the exercise session… but burns EXTRA amounts of fat AFTER the workout is over.

In fact… in a study at Quebec’s Laval University, subjects lost NINE TIMES more fat than slow cardio exercisers for every calorie burned.

After the workouts were over the aerobics group stopped burning fat and their bodies reacted by creating more fat for fuel to use at the next session.

But the other crew took advantage of the “Afterburn effect”.  Essentially their metabolism blasted through the roof.  And the best part is: this metabolism turbo-boost can last a whole day. But as soon as you step of a long boring session of “cardio” on a treadmill, it all comes to a halt.

So let’s do the math…

So what makes it work?

Ah.  This is good:  It works because after you work at a high intensity, your body needs to burn a whole bunch of calories to restore your muscles, energy supplies, back to normal.

Short burst, high intensity exercise is a proven protocol for burning the maximum amount of fat in the minimum amount of time.

It also:

Boosts your Anti-Aging hormone: Growth Hormone.  Growth hormone incinerates fat, improves bone density, raises good cholesterol, and helps build muscle.  Aerobics has little to no Growth Hormone raising effect!

Builds a Strong Heart.  Short burst exercise needs a LOT of oxygen.  And the heart has to work harder to adapt.  The heart begins to pump MORE blood per beat and as a result, it grows stronger and actually lasts longer.  Traditional aerobics weakens the heart over time.

An hour on a treadmill and no real metabolism boost.

OR

40 Minutes (or even much less) of High Intensity training with a 10 minute warm up and cool down with a FULL DAY of high metabolism.

*Ding Ding Ding*!

Cheers,D

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My Dad used to get me so mad.

Whatever it was, I would say, “I don’t want to.” And he would say, “You don’t have to want to.”

I was just sitting here remembering that and it occurred to me…

…99 out of 100 people don’t realize — or are unwilling to accept — what it really takes to achieve a fitness goal.  Or any worthy goal for that matter.

The reality is, any goal has very specific steps and tasks that must be taken and completed.  These tasks are not “maybe tomorrow” or “when I feel like it” tasks.  Instead, they are tasks which absolutely must be done — no matter how you feel about them.

Like a child at bath time, you don’t have to feel like it.  You don’t have to want to .  You simply must.

No matter how you feel about the specific, necessary steps to reach your goal… know that by taking the steps, by completing the tasks, even when you don’t feel like it at all, you will eventually reach to your goal.

Lock step.

Think about that…

… the next time you are faced with eating a mind and body sustaining meal, or avoiding the meal and opting for junk because you “feel like it”.

Or when you don’t really “feel” like coming into boot camp and doing the work.

Or when planning your meals seems like “too much work”.

It IS work.

It DOES take time.

It IS tedious sometimes.  But choosing not to do it just because you don’t feel like it in the moment is disservice to yourself.

Avoidance of what needs to be done is rooted in the subconscious thought, “I don’t enjoy doing this particular taks, so doing it is incorrect.”.
Not so.

We often get exactly what we want by doing what we don’t feel like doing.

The results are worth it folks.

Ask yourself…

Is there some form of self-ravaging I am engaging in which is hampering my results or slowing down my performance?

Am I doing anything which is aging me faster?

What areas of my fitness lifestyle need attention and tweaking?  Food?  Boot Camp attendance?  Sleep?  Water intake?  Foam rolling?  Stretching?  Vitamins?

Take a moment to take stock and figure out the real score.

Be brutally honest with yourself and then take action doing exactly what you don’t feel like doing.

I promise, with each action you complete that you don’t feel like doing…but which brings you greater health and closer to a goal…you will grow in self-esteem and feel a supreme sense of accomplishment and earned pride.

And it all gets easier.

Before you know it, you have new goals which were invisible and psychologically untenable to you before.  But now become worthy challenges which you embrace willingly.

And then – quite suddenly — you WANT to!

Go for it.

Cheers,

D

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