Ok – it took a little longer than I’d planned (Hey! I’ve been busy 
, but I’m pretty much where I was hoping to be in plenty of time for this summer and lots of days at the pool and the beach. How did I do it? Take a look at the nutrition, fat loss and exercise tips in the index to your right above.
May 072011
Sep 192010
Every once in a while, a client surprises me. I’m not surprised about their commitment or strength of character. And I’m never surprised about their potential. What gives me a kick is that rare occasion when a client does everything I ask them to do. And when they take the principles we discuss so seriously that they want to rigorously test them in the ultimate workshop – personal experience, this may be the best job in the world.
This is Jon. He’s a great guy and a no-nonsense type who had a specific agenda when we started and was willing to do what he needed to do to make it happen. Here are the results in less than three months of training and modifying his eating habits:
- Nearly 40 lbs of fat lost
- Body fat percentage cut in half (now in the low teens)
- Strength gains between 50 – 70%
- More than double aerobic capacity compared to pre-training condition
Jon’s 62 and has a desk job. He’s also well on his way to eliminating a chronic shoulder injury as a training obstacle (his every day functionality was severely limited at the start of our training).
What’s special about Jon? What distinguishes him from some of my other clients? He’s more intent on getting everything he can out of our work together than he is vulnerable to the other distractions that could easily pull him off course (backsliding and skipping between-session solo workouts; eating impulsively). He’s simply made addressing the issues that brought him to me in the first place a top priority, and kept them as such.
Thanks Jon, for giving me one more (big) reason to love this work.
Dec 212009
Does this woman (second picture) look happy? As in “As they shouted out with …”? Yep, looks that way to me too. This is Linda, the runner up in the corporate fat loss contest I wrote about a few times over the past several months. Remember Darell? http://45yearold6pack.blogspot.com/2009/10/next-level-update-on-darell.html
Well, Linda wasn’t too far behind Darell in body fat percentage lost at the end of the three month contest, and she was a good margin ahead of everyone but Darell. What made this achievement even more extraordinary was that she did it with almost no exercise. She attended a few of the classes I taught, but maybe only got in a dozen or fewer workouts over the entire three months, if even that. So that gave me the opportunity to basically stratify the results of simply implementing the nutrition improvements (which she nailed with precision and consistency) in the fat loss equation.
The bottom line? It’s what I’ve said more times than I can count. If you want to get fit, exercise. If you want to be lean, clean up your eating (composition and volume).
As for exrecise, over the past few months, Linda has since made a commitment that is as firm as her new muscles, as you can see from the more recent picture. I’m very proud of her and thrilled to be a part of her process. She’s now in two of my weekly classes so I regularly trot her out as inspiration for fellow students. She’s a great sport about it and a great example of what you can accomplish when you finally get serious.
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Earlier this afternoon I was holed up in the bedroom wrapping presents for my kids and watching three shows on my computer (Hulu.com) I’d heard good things about but hadn’t yet had a chance to check out: Modern Family, Cougar Town and Glee. Who needs cable?
Dec 022009
Hopefully, it’s obvious from this picture which is which. Now, since my lovely daughter is covering up one of my love handles, and the other didn’t make it into the frame, you’re probably not getting the full effect. But you can clearly see that this is not the midsection I was sporting when I named this blog.
Now I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about how I feel about my body based on the title of this post. I intentionally let my body fat drift up a bit in the fall and winter for two reasons:
1. It’s difficult to be as strict with my eating habits as I am in the spring and summer (when I get down around 10% body fat), and
2. Especially since I shaved my head, I get cold too easily in the fall and winter when I’m that lean.
The reason I’m calling my belly a beast is not because I think it’s hideous, or even particularly unattractive. It’s more symbolic. So many of us have a fear/aversion about our bellies. We measure our bellies by ridiculously impractical standards, and give the idea of a belly of a certain size and shape way too much influence over our sense of security and self esteem.
As I’ve mentioned here before, fitness is about physical capacity and robustness (energy, strength, endurance, flexibility, core support, posture, coordination; stuff like that) than it is about having visibly discernible abdominal muscles. Really, who cares? What really matters is that you live better, longer.
But if you’re one of those people, who like me, doesn’t mind doing the extra work to have a particularly lean body (at least one season a year!), the same principles I’ve introduced in previous posts to lose excess body fat for those who are clearly overweight or obese work on those last five or ten pounds as well. But once you get to that point, you have to be very disciplined and consistent to get and stay at that very lean composition (between about 8 and 12% for men; between about 12 and 16% for women).
You can find all those posts in the fat loss tips section of the post index in the upper left hand corner of the blog.
For me, starting tomorrow, it’s back to the “Red Zone”. http://45yearold6pack.blogspot.com/2008/06/red-zone.html
The spring will be here before we know it. But for the time being, I’m just going to enjoy the extra warmth 
Jul 062009
Earlier this year, I got the opportunity to work with a company conducting a three-month employee weight loss contest. There was lots of enthusiasm and a surprisingly high percentage of employees (nearly 70%) signed up at the start. I visited the site weekly with nutrition and healthy lifestyle small group coaching and led weekly exercises classes. I also offered e-mail support for those who had questions along the way.
Darell (pictured above before [left] and after [right] the contest), was the one person who took advantage of everything. He showed up for all the classes. He implemented the eating changes. He asked additional questions about how to improve his workouts. He ran changes by me that he’d made to some of his eating practices for my feedback. And because his company subsidized my services, he didn’t spend a dime on that guidance.
How did Darell do in the contest?
He won – and by a pretty fair margin. He lost nearly a fifth of his body weight in fat and six inches in his waist in three short months.
So what makes Darell different than so many people out there who try and fail to lose weight over and over and then finally give up altogether? Well, I’d like to believe that the guidance and motivation I provided were critical elements in the mix. But that was available to all the employees.
Darell simply believed it was important enough to devote his time and energy to this effort. He wanted a better life now, while he was still young. He wanted to serve as an example to his friends, his family and his coworkers. But most of all, he just wanted to have control over his health and wellness.
I was glad to be a part of that.
Jul 312008
As I promised a couple of posts ago, today I’m going to touch on one of the three ways people fool themselves into thinking they should be losing weight, when, in fact, they won’t without addressing these issues. To review, here are the three ways one can self-deceive regarding weight loss and be very disappointed:
1. Thinking they know what to do when they really don’t.
2. Thinking they know how to do it (effectively) when they really don’t.
3. Thinking they are already doing what they need to do when they really aren’t.
Seems pretty simple when you look at it in those terms, doesn’t it? The problem is, more often then not, these questions aren’t really posed or held up to reasonable scrutiny. Otherwise, a lot more people would be losing weight.
Let’s start with the first one. In order to lose weight, you have to be in a continual state of energy deficit. That means more calories out than in. And not just a few if you want to lose weight at faster than a snail’s pace. If your goal is to lose six pounds or more in a month, and your current habits (eating and exercise) have you at a stabilized weight, a good plan would have you burning about 2000 calories a week (400 calories each in five workouts or 500 calories each in four workouts, for example) and trimming another 500 calories from your current daily average. But most people who want to lose weight are NOT currently at equal calories in and out, but are taking in an average surplus. That’s how the fat accumulated in the first place. And when you start exercising, you get hungrier, so the natural tendency is to eat more of the same calories-dense food you’re used to eating. So progress is minimal, if any.
That’s why a radical change in eating habits concentrating on only nutrient-dense foods – see my index on the top left for more info on that – is required. And the exercise has to be consistent, challenging and gradually progressive as well. It should be hard. All the time. And harder as you get more fit and can handle it better. Of course, your physician’s clearance is critical before starting a program like this.
Are you doing both of these things consistently? Are you sure?
I’ll expand on numbers 2 and 3 above in the next few posts.
Jul 212008
It’s incredibly frustrating to think you should be losing fat but your waistline doesn’t shrink even a little bit. In fact, many people start out on the fat loss quest only to actually increase their fat level.
How can it be that you’re working so hard but not losing any fat?
Often, the biggest problem is a distorted perspective about what you are actually doing and what you think you’re doing. Sometimes it’s a lack of clarity about what to do and how to do it.
Let’s look at both at the highest levels, and then, over the next few days, we’ll explore each in more depth.
No matter what new diets or exercise gadgets become popular, the fat loss formula always comes down to this: Burn more calories than you eat or drink over a certain period and you’ll lose body fat. How much? 3,500 calories are in a pound. So a typical fast food “value” meal for dinner is about half a pound of fat if it’s over your needs for the day. A really tough one hour workout might burn about 800 calories. You need more than four of those to burn a pound.
That’s why it’s so easy for people who start exercising to be disappointed with their speed of fat loss – it’s typical to eat just as many more calories as you burn because exercising makes you hungry. If you eat the same stuff you ate before that made you fat, guess what happens when you eat more?
So take a good look at what you’re eating and how much. That’s the “calories in” part of the equation. The amount of additional calorie burn is also important, of course. Many people think that being busy qualifies as an active lifestyle in fitness terms. It doesn’t. Activity in fitness terms is defined by intensity and volume of movement. If you garden or golf a couple of hours each week, it’s better than being completely sedentary, but you won’t lose a lot of fat. Playing a racket sport or swimming a few times a week will burn quite a bit more and will help you burn fat if you are eating to create that calorie shortfall mentioned above.
If you’re not currently losing body fat and you do have the fat to lose, it’s a pretty fair bet that you are not consistently following one of the models above, or perhaps you’re not really following either.
You owe it to yourself to look at it as objectively as you can before committing (or re-committing) to your fat loss effort.
Reality is a useful companion on this particular journey.
Jun 242008
If you’re trying to lose body fat and you’ve already implemented the major recommendations I’ve listed here (eating small, frequent meal/snacks of nutrient-dense food; following a balanced, challenging and progressive fitness program) it may come down to how you eat in the last third of the waking day.
What makes the last third of the day so important? Well, the closer you get to bed time, the more influence the calories you take in will have on your daily equation (in versus out or eaten versus burned). So, while it’s not that easy to create a 500 calorie shortfall (which equals a pound of fat loss each week), it’s very easy to consume 1500 calories too many (a few slices of pizza and a couple of beers will more than cover that margin.)
If you did the quick math in your head just now, you know that three days of being good can net out with one “whoops!” day to leave you with a big goose egg for the four days – no weight lost after more than half a week of being on your best nutrition behavior!
What’s frustrating for many people who are working out hard and eating pretty clean and light during the week, but get a little crazy over the weekend, is that you can easily counteract the effects of the week with a weekend of indulgence.
I tell my clients to have a mid or late afternoon snack with fat, fiber and protein (fruit and a cheese stick or small hand full of nuts are good choices), then have a big glass of water immediately before dinner (rather than with dinner) and keep dinner a small portion (roughly equal to about two fists) of 2/3 veggies and 1/3 lean protein. Then no more calories after dinner!
If you do that, you’ll start to see that stubborn fat finally hit the road.
Learn more about how to get and stay in great shape? Contact Dan at Tri Valley Trainer
You are not your body. You are not your mind. Bold statements, both, I know. So how can I say them with confidence? Easy – you can change both. That means you are something greater than either your body or your mind. You are your awareness, your will, your intention. That’s what allows you to change both your body and your mind. This fact, if you’re truly willing to accept it, holds enormous power for you.
Changing your mind about what fitness and nutrition means for you is a decision, pure and simple. That doesn’t mean it’s easy to do. You may have a very strong attachment and years of behavior invested in your previous habits. But nothing has determined what you’ll think or do today.
The best advice I can give you about how to view both eating and exercise if you are trying to be more fit and get leaner is to consider how a successful athlete views food and training. He doesn’t focus on comfort, expectations of others, social rituals or body image when he thinks about what and how much he’ll eat. She doesn’t view exercise as a chore to endure or a quick fix or a short-term means to an end.
The athlete considers nutrient-rich food to be the critical, high quality fuel in the machine he treasures. Training is the singular, promising road to a long dreamed of goal. The road is to be embraced and savored every step of the way.
That’s the way of it. Honor the journey, deeply and authentically. And the destination will present itself more gloriously than you can imagine.
Why is it that we want things to be fixed in a fraction of the time it took to get them in their present condition? What gives us the idea that a situation that evolved over several years can possibly be resolved in a matter of days or weeks? Any real, fundamental and lasting change usually takes a lot longer.
But I think that’s good. And there’s a reason for that. Our current situation may be difficult, or even intolerable. But that doesn’t mean the answer is a quick, drastic action. Isn’t it more important to thoroughly evaluate, as bravely and honestly as possible what habits, values or weaknesses you may have that contributed to a less-than-optimal current condition?
That’s the case with getting fit and lean. Very few overweight people, especially significantly overweight people, have an easy time dropping the habits that got them there because there is a deeper motivation or attachment at work that needs to be examined. It might be a self-esteem issue, a sense of comfort that food provides, or just fear of the hard work and upheaval that’s created by making a foundational shift in philosophy and practice with eating and exercise.
And that takes time, and emotional commitment. Then, once the habits are firmly in place, the process of drawing down the calorie bank (body fat) itself can’t really be rushed. I tell clients that if they’re doing everything right, expecting to lose, on average, about 1% of their body weight each week is reasonable. That’s what my clients Marc and Tracy did (bottom of the page) http://www.trivalleytrainer.com/. And more importantly, they’ve kept it off.
So, like the boy I saw a couple of days ago in the back seat of his car as I was walking my own son to school seemed to be doing as his car drove past me – relax and enjoy the ride.