» 2009 » November

Do you ever get sick of running on a treadmill for a long time?

If I’m like you then I have a great way for you to keep burning fat AFTER you work out.  Metabolic Finishers AKA Afterburners are a great way to not have to do cardio after your workout and can be done much quicker too.

Metabolic finishers are fantastic for creating cranking up your heart rate and it’ll have you burning calories WAY after you work out.  In fact, science has found that it will keep burning calories up to 38 hours after you finish working out.

In today’s video I’m giving you 3 awesome ways to do this and if once you take the principle away from the video you’ll be able to create your own in no time.

I got this idea from Alwyn Cosgrove and I highly recommend you incorporate one of these at the end of your next work out.  If it looks WAY to intense then you may want to lower its difficulty, but if you can hang then go for it!

So you’re all pumped up to start working out and losing some weight but you’re not sure where to start?

Today I want to give you some great ideas on where you can start your weight loss journey.  This post may be more appreciated by the beginners but even if you’re a fitness vet you can still find some great ideas to expand your fat burning horizons.

Now some things work better for others and some things work horrible for others. The goal of today is to find the one that you think would be the best fit for you (NOT the easiest!) so you can get started burning fat fast.

Here are my 10 best ways to start losing wieght fast and today!

1.  Get Your Nutrition Right. This is probably the hardest out of all the ones I’m going to talk about today but it’s easily the best one for you.  If you can’t get your nutrition so it’s good at least 90% of the time then it’s going to be hard for you to achieve great success.  This doesn’t mean starve yourself or go on the grapefruit diet… instead focus on eating lean protein, fruits and vegetables along with drinking only water for 3 meals and 3 snacks a day.

2.  Join a Boot Camp program. Boot camp programs are quickly becoming one of the most desirable options for people getting started losing weight and for those who want to take their workouts to the next level.  The best part about boot camp programs is that they are way more affordable than hiring a personal trainer and they also give you a great environment filled with a lot of social support.

3.  Hire a personal trainer. The next best thing is to hire a personal trainer who can take your hand and put you on the path for success.  Beware though, all personal trainers aren’t created equal and finding the right one who will over-deliver is rare.  But a great personal trainer will motivate you and give you all the keys for success.

4.  Get a buddy to work out with you. They found that having a social support system in place in losing weight was INCREDIBLY more effective than just going in it alone or feeling like people are being really negative about you wanting to lose weight (usually people who are trying to hold you down).  Find an awesome and reliable workout partner to keep you going when you don’t feel like going any farther.

5. Start going to fitness classes at the gym. Fitness classes are another option for wanting to lose weight but they aren’t the best because most are based around a cookie cutter program that borders a Jazzercise class.  Not the best option for consistent weight loss but if you’re lacking motivation then getting somebody to tell you what to do can help a lot.

6.  Get in a group training deal with a personal trainer. I’m starting to go more towards the group training aspect over individual 1-on-1 sessions that have been the staple of personal training for decades.  In a group training environment you’re able to quickly get a great fat loss workout going with much less money out of your pocket and you get a social support system going as well.  The best bang for your buck option besides boot camps.

7.  Get some great weight loss DVDs.  Sometimes you don’t have all the time in the world to workout but you still want to get a great workout in your home.  Finding some great weight loss DVDs can help you a lot by showing you what to do and getting a little motivation going.  This is hardly the best option because it’s going to be WAY harder to keep yourself motivated doing the same cookie cutter workout program every time when it’ll be easier to plop your butt down and watch The Simpsons.

8.  Live an active lifestyle. This is more important then it seems.  Just going for a walk for your entire workout is like eating sugar packets down at Dunkin’ Donuts Mike Boyle would say.  But incorporating active elements into your lifestyle is imperative to permanent weight loss and happiness.  Weight loss extends beyond the workouts and nutrition…it goes into your whole life.

9.  Write down your goals, measurements and smaller goals with a deadline. Yep this is probably one of the hardest to get people to do but you have to stand up and face the music.  Having goals with a deadline is great as well as knowing where you are now and where you want to go.  Just think of it as your trophy when you lose all that weight you’ll look back at those pictures and measurements and feel an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment.

10.  Join a gym and actually go! You’ll be surprised how many people sign up for a membership at the gym with all intentions to go but they never set foot again in the place.  Just buying the membership isn’t going to make you lose weight.  You have to go and put in the work!

If you want to find 21 of my best fat loss tips enter your name and email on the upper right part of the page to get my free report, The Fat Loss Frog delivered immediately.  Trust me it’s worth it.

Hey hope you’re doing awesome…

In our boot camp workouts here in Napa we’re starting to use the Valslide as one of our weight loss tools.  It’s a great piece of exercise equipment that’s pretty darn cheap and can be taken virutally anywhere.

In today’s video I’m showing you the same fat burning exercises I use at my Napa Boot Camp with the Valslide. It may look easy on film but trust me these babies were hard!

So why is the Valslide so great?

It gives your body a much smoother and easier load putting a lot less stress on your muscles and joints compared to normal exercise equipment.  It also gives you an incredible workout and you’ll get great results from using it.

I take pride in my word and wouldn’t be telling you about some overnight weight loss gimmick.  The Valslides are the real deal and I use them with ALL of my clients.

Click Here to get more info on the Valslides

“Stay away from the dark side.”

Sometimes when we want something bad enough it doesn’t always matter how we get it. We all want to look and feel great but just like everything there is a good and a bad way to do it. Having great nutrition and exercise program is a great way of approaching weight loss but going on crazy fad diets and extreme workouts is the wrong way to go.

All too often I’m hearing somebody wants to drop 20 pounds this month and is starting a grapefruit only diet and is working on an elliptical for 2 hours at a time.

Going through such extremes can kill your body and the real secret behind permanent weight loss is lifestyle changes. Yep you gotta change your life if you want to keep those pounds off.

Now this change doesn’t have to come immediately, heck we’re all scared of such a big change. Start up a routine by going to the gym 3 times a week and do that for a month straight. Pretty soon you’ll be used to going to the gym and it’ll become a regular habit of yours.

Same goes with nutrition. For breakfast try eating some old school oatmeal every morning for 21 days and it’ll become a habit. Now I personally am not a fan of regular old oat meal but through some experiments I found it tastes much better when I put some raw honey on it and some sliced up bananas.

Keep experimenting and see what works best for you.

It would be great to actually find a magic weight loss pill that kept us looking and feeling great but the real truth is that the only way you can accomplish that is by

making some permanent changes in your life. This means no more late runs to Taco Bell and no more skipping breakfast or the gym.

If you watch what fit looking people do you’ll always hear or see them consistently doing things that keep them fit. They’re either always working out or they’re eating healthy most of the time.

I’ve heard reports saying you can only safely lose 2-3 pounds per week but I’ve seen you can safely lose around 5 pounds per week if your nutrition is on point

and your workouts are awesome. Now once you stop all this and you go back to your old ways…the fat will pack on twice as fast as it took to lose it.

Fortunately it probably won’t be as hard to lose it the second time around because of muscle memory and such but this still sets you back and the starting line.

One of the biggest reasons I’ve found more people aren’t successful at losing weight is because of fear and doubt. Fearing failure and change while doubting yourself with negative self talk is a recipe for disaster.

I recommend to all my clients in the morning before they work out is to do some deep breathing exercises and to do 5-10 minutes of positive meditation. And guess what? My most successful clients are the ones who do these exercises every morning.

Fear and doubt can paralyze you so you won’t go ask out that girl you’ve been seeing at the store every Saturday or can keep you from getting that promotion you really deserve.

When people tell me their B.S. reasons as to why they can’t lose weight I always know the underlying cause … fear and doubt. “Oh I have bad genetics” and “I don’t have the time to work out.” Yeah right!

I’ve heard every excuse in the book and seen so many people drop off on their path to success that it makes me sick. Get rid of your fear and doubt and start getting stuff done or else you’re going to stay fat.

Hey hope you’re doing awesome and killing it at your weight loss training.

Back by popular demand I’m doing the BEST 5 ab exercises I know.  These are very simple yet effective exercises that will give you the most bang for your buck.

If you want to flatten your stomach and get rid of that chub then I’ve found these to work the best. Be sure to give them a shot in your next workout and let me know how it goes!

Now this isn’t necessarily a program or routine but just the exercises I know to be the best and won’t break your back.

Be sure to check out how tired I get by the end of this video … I was sucking wind! These exercises are the real deal and I wouldn’t be posting them if they weren’t.

Here they are: