I remember in elementary school when we would create collages in class with all the stuff that we liked and represented.  The teacher would bring in stacks and stacks of magazines and we would go away cutting out all the cool stuff and organizing it on a huge piece of poster paper.

I wish I knew more about why we were creating these vision boards but at the time it seemed like a lot of fun and got us out of doing math for a couple hours.  I wish I still had the same vision board I made back in my school days but at least I never forgot the concept.

Having a great vision board will not only be a natural fat loss tool but it will also allow you to take a step back and see what you actually want to do with your life.  It doesn’t all have to be about losing weight and looking fabulous.

Maybe you also want to find your soul mate, travel, buy shiny and cool things, learn to play the guitar, have a family, find happiness, own your own business, etc.  All of these dreams can be made into a vision board, and this will help keep you motivated to reach your goals.

All you really need to do is get a huge piece of paper and start checking out magazines or online images of stuff you want to achieve.  Make a list beforehand so you know what you’re looking for.

Hang your vision board somewhere you’ll see it everyday, especially in the morning and times of temptations (such as the refrigerator!).

When you get up in the morning just stare at your vision board for a few minutes and picture yourself doing these things.  This will help get your inspirational engines going and it will also remind you of why you’re getting out of bed to get your hustle on.

If you feel comfortable enough, be sure to share your vision board with somebody close and you can even encourage them to do a vision board too.

When you start to visualize yourself actually doing these things your mind will automatically believe that it’s real.  Your mind can’t tell the difference between a thought and reality so choose your thoughts wisely.  Most people think about negative stuff all day and wonder why they’re depressed and not going anywhere with their lives.  Be different.

Doing this has helped give me a much more positive outlook on life, along with taking my natural fat loss journey to another level.  But don’t think just staring at it everyday is going to do all the work for you, you still have to work your butt off to get there, but at least you’ll have the motivation to do it.  Which is what 97% of people in the world lack.

Also going along with vision boards I would recommend getting going on a consistent mediation program.  Meditating can do wonders for your stress levels and can help you refocus on the things you really want to achieve in life.

The biggest problem with meditating I’ve found is being consistent with it.  It’s great at the beginning when you’re really fired up and you’ve meditated a few days in a row, but when you start getting a little lazy and would rather sleep that extra 10 minutes is where you get in trouble.

I really recommend meditating first thing in the morning and right before you go to bed.  This will help you get your day started right and not filled with a bunch of negative stuff and you’ll sleep a lot better when you’re not dumping all the days junk into your thoughts.  Ever lay in your bed for hours with your mind constantly talking to you?  This is where meditating comes in.

All I do is mediate for 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at night.  It doesn’t have to be a huge thing, just make the extra 20 minutes in the day to do this and the rest of your day will reap the benefits.

If you’re looking to burn fat naturally then these are two awesome techniques that don’t use any fancy schmancy supplements that don’t even work.  When you do these 2 things consistently you’ll find yourself losing more fat, happier and with much more success than before.

To your success,

Josh

P.S. if you need some extra help detoxing from all the negative junk in your head and want to change your outlook on life then check out this book, it changed mine!

So I got the new iPhone 4 on the day it launched last month and have to say it’s one of the coolest things out there.  And yes I do experience some of the antenna issues that everybody’s talking about.

But I did also buy one of Apples Bumpers for the iPhone 4 and the issues don’t seem to be as bad.  Hopefully Apple will give us an update soon.

I use the iPhone for a lot of things and one of those things is health and fitness…they have some pretty awesome apps to help organize and motivate you to pushing your goals.

Some people like writing things down on paper and keeping track that way but honestly I like it a lot more when I can write down what I want initially on paper and then use my iPhone apps to keep track of my progress.

I mean I’m carrying the thing around with me most of the time anyway and I hate having to hold on to little pieces of paper all the time, but hey that’s just me.

I’m also the kind of iPhone user who doesn’t want to pay $20 bucks for an app so most of these are either free or pretty darn inexpensive.  (God knows how much you pay for the iPhone!)

So here’s my list of my favorite iPhone apps for health and fitness…

#1  DailyBurn

The DailyBurn app is one that I’m always using and really recommend it to just about all of my clients.  Even if you don’t have the iPhone you can use the web-based program for free, which gives it many awesome points.  The most important feature on the DailyBurn iPhone app is that you can put in your daily nutrition and see the breakdown of macronutrients in your diet.  I’ve looked a long time to find a program that does this and DailyBurn does it really well.  You can also record your workouts, add motivational stuff, make workout friends and a bunch of other great stuff to take your fitness game to the next level.  Click here to get the DailyBurn App.

#2  iWorkout Muse

iWorkout Muse is a an incredible app for interval training so you can literally just set it and forget it.  I’ve used the old school form of Workout Muse before but the biggest complaint is that I couldn’t make custom intervals and had to listen to the awful copyright-free music.  But with the iWorkout Muse you can use your own music from a playlist and create whatever custom interval times you want.  I use this app daily!  Click here to get the iWorkout Muse app.

#3  RunKeeper Pro

OK, this app is terrific if you’re an outdoor runner and it does all the stuff that fancy and expensive GPS monitors do.  When I was training for my marathon about a year and a half ago I bought this really expensive GPS tracking watch that I used a lot when I was training, but not so much any more.  I wish this $10 app was around instead!  If you’re not up for paying the $10 for it then there’s a lite version of it that’s free.  Click here to get the RunKeeper Pro app.

#4  DailyBurn FoodScanner

I know I already talked about the DailyBurn app but this is another app by the same company that takes things to the next level and actually lets you use the built-in iPhone camera to scan foods and see the nutrients that are inside them.  You can quickly see the full nutrition contents so if you’re at the store you can just take a quick pic and see everything that’s inside it.  You can also of course sync everything with your DailyBurn account so you don’t have to go through the hassle of switching apps.  Click here to get the DailyBurn FoodScanner app.

#5  Durkin

Todd Durkin is one of the biggest personal trainers on the planet.  He owns and operates Fitness Quest 10 down in San Diego and trains a bunch of professional athletes as well as everyday Joe’s.  He’s a motivational speaker and also head of the Under Armour Performance Council and gives away a lot of free health tips on his iPhone app.  It’s free and I would easily pay for access to all the information on this iPhone app.  Click here to get the Durkin app.

That’s it guys, let me know what you would like to see on the TrainerJosh.com app!

Let’s get real here.

You don’t want to get healthy, you want to get hotter.

Most of the people I meet just want to look better and become more attractive to the opposite sex.  And to be honest I’m not above this neither.

Whatever your motivation is you really have to blow it up to make sure you stick with your journey and stay consistent.

Healthy is a just a positive byproduct of the fitness journey, but I’ll go out and say 99% of people care more about getting hotter than getting healthier.

So let’s stop all the B.S. right here and be frank with ourselves.  Because it’s OK.

Whatever your motivation is you have to find it and exploit the hell out of it.  Because there are going to be times when you don’t want to workout and you’d rather cheat and go slam some Taco Bell for dinner instead of your veggies.

When those thoughts start popping into your head, you’ll help yourself out a lot if you can go back to why you’re training and what you want out of it.

I bet you’ll turn that car around from the fast food joint when you start picturing your butt getting bigger and your belly getting more bulgy.

One of my secrets for staying motivated is to know my WHY and whenever I want to deviate from it I tell myself that doing that is not something I would do.

I just tell that to myself and it gives me instant motivation to stick on my journey.  This doesn’t mean I don’t splurge every once in a while, but maintaining at least 90% compliance is going to be vital for success.

And start surrounding yourself with people who are like what you want to be and only give you positive energy 90% of the time.  If the people you hang out with want to drink Boiler Makers and chase it with some Jack In The Box then it’s time to start looking for some new friends.

And stop watching Jersey Shore and get off the Snooki cookie diet!

Unless you’re comfortable where you are and don’t want to achieve your dreams.

You always have to protect your energy and time because they’re very valuable resources.  Don’t let anybody take them away from you and TRUST ME, people will try to take your energy and time from you without hesitation.

I used to want to please everybody and go completely out of my way for someone that wouldn’t give me the time of the day.  But now I’ve decided to protect my time and energy and I don’t feel very bad about telling people, “No.”

What I’m basically saying is that you have to have core values.  When you actually sit down and write down your core values it’ll be a heck of a lot easier to stick to them.

That’s an exercise I want you to do right now, get out a pen and paper and write down your 5-10 core values that you want to live by.

Here are mine.

1.  I’m the best part of my clients day (thanks Alwyn!)

2.  The way I do anything is how I do everything.

3.  Everything speaks.

4.  Spread positive and fun energy.

5.  Choose love above work.

6.  Inspire people to have a better life.

7.  Be fully present in the moment and give 100%

8.  It’s all about the team and not individuals

Go ahead and just start writing, if you feel like sharing go ahead and post them below!

So I’m still recovering from having dinner at the world renown “The French Laundry” and it was easily the best fine dining experience of my life.

It was all about indulging and forgetting about dieting and training.  Which is something I really need to focus on every once in a while.  It’s so hard to keep yourself fit that you can easily become obsessed about it.

But I always try to remind myself to relax every once in a while, have fun and let loose.

After I have my fun it also really motivates me to get back on the wagon and back to training.  If I didn’t have those “cheat days” then I would quickly get burned out and struggle even more to keep my training clean.

OK, and I also wanted to share with you my 21 sure fire ways to make sure you stay fat.  I like to taking a comedic view to this as I’m seeing it all the time and people never seem to “get” it.  Even if it’s staring them right in the face.

Here’s 21 ways to make sure you stay fat…

1.  Stuff your face with pie while you ask me how to lose weight.

2.  Block street traffic as you wait in a GINORMOUS line for Jack In The Box at 3:30 in the afternoon.

3.  Start working out but continue to eat whatever you want insisting you “know” how to eat right but just don’t want to do it.

4.  Pay for a gym membership or a personal training session and never take action on it.

5.  Keep insisting that you’re waiting or the “right time” to start working out and things are just too crazy right now.

6.  Saying you’re satisfied with your body even though you don’t want to wear a bathing suit in public.

7.  You work your butt off to get fit while you’re single but once you get a boyfriend/girlfriend all bets are off and nobody will see you exercising again until you break up. (I’ve seen it happen too many times!)

8.  Keep telling yourself you’re proud of your “curves.”

9.  Blame everybody else for where you’re at right now and won’t take responsibility for yourself.

10.  Claiming gym memberships and personal trainers are “too expensive.” If this is the case then you can do a lot of great stuff in home.

11.  You have an “active” job and you’re on your feet all day so that’s all you really need.

12.  You don’t have the guts to eat something else while all your friends are rooting for you to eat a Double Whopper with cheese.

13.  Your life sucks so bad that you need to come home and drink booze to escape reality.

14.  Keep telling yourself “I’m too tired to work out and it’ll only make me more tired.” Working out is a great stress release and will help you recover and rest better giving you more energy the next day.

15.  Tell yourself you want to get in better shape before you start going to the gym. (oxymoron.)

16.  ”It doesn’t work anyway.” Yeah anything done half ass will get half ass results.  Put something into your training, learn from the best and work hard.  You don’t have to devote your life to it but with some effort you can get some great results.

17.  You put everybody else before yourself.  Start taking care of yourself too so you can take better care of everybody else.  Besides how can you best help people will you’re struggling?  If you don’t have a babysitter; exercise at home, eat better and take your baby on power walks.

18.  You can’t stay motivated. Remember what Zig Ziglar said, “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”

19.  It’s too crowded at the gym so you stay home and watch The Jersey Shore.  Click here for my favorite home body weight workout.

20.  The weather isn’t right so instead of driving to the gym in the rain you’ll tell yourself that ONCE the good weather starts you’ll get serious (but this never happens).

21.  You don’t want to get bulky muscles so or look like Arnold Schwarzenegger so you hang out in the “fat burning” zone on the elliptical while reading a book.

Hope you liked these, let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.

I haven’t really posted too much on meditating but it can really be a HUGE factor in relieving stress and getting your mind right.

I want to get at least one meditation in a day, I usually prefer the morning right when I wake up or later in the afternoon.

And I can promise you that the days I make myself sit down and do some meditating TOTALLY changes my outlook on the day.

I awaken in a better mood and much of the stress and self-talk goes out the window.

Today I’m putting in a video of one of my favorite meditations.  It’s only 10 minutes but it’s completely positive and will hopefully improve your mood and stress-levels.

Take 10 minutes today and sit somewhere it’s quiet and get rid of all the distractions that could disturb you.

This means no cell phone, no electronics, find a quiet place and don’t let anyone bother you for the next 10 minutes.

Sit down with your legs crossed and take a few deep breaths and allow all of your attention to focus on your breathing.

Do everything you can to not think of anything.  This is where you want to eliminate your ego.  Don’t allow any self-talking or for your brain to wander.

Place all your focus on your breathing.  Listen to the meditation and follow along.  I promise it’ll make a world of difference.

Enjoy.