Driving through the back roads of southeast Michigan, I get a warm feeling from Sheila, the Australian voice on my GPS device. The goal is to get to work on time and Sheila is providing the guidance.

If you would have told me ten years ago that a little screen on your dash board would have the technology to guide you any where, I would have said you were crazy. But also if you told me ten years ago that I would be in better shape at 44 than I was at 34, I also would have suggested the padded room in the funny farm.

But thanks to goals and guidance I weigh ten pounds less, can lift more weight, and can run much farther. No matter how modest the goal, I have always gotten better results if I was shooting for a target weight, distance, or number of pounds lifted. Without that goal, it’s easy to stop at an arbitrary point.

Same can be said of the guidance of a trainer.  A certified trainer has the kind of ideas and encouragement that makes them well worth the time and money. I would be the first to stop after eight reps. But having the trainer standing there I found myself going for ten, and sometimes beyond.

I also fell into the “routine” trap. Only training certain muscle groups with certain exercises. That put me into a rut and not only was I wasting time but a trip to the gym was becoming very boring. The first trainer I ever worked with showed me a variety of movements that kept the workouts fresh and fun.

So today I’m going to set a modest goal, five pounds off by the fourth of July. And first thing Monday I will consult with my trainer for the guidance, and with the help of Designer Whey, make sure I get the right amount of protein.

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A few months back one of my employees at Elite Fitness made a derogatory comment about a certain part of my anatomy. And quite frankly, he was the last person who should be talking about where a “mature” male gains weight.

So I said “put your money where your mouth, or excess weight is!” And the bet was on. We both set weight and bench press goals, but had to decide what the wager was going to be and didn’t want to make it anything monetary or material. Embarrassment was much better.

We decided that whoever lost the bet would put on an inflatable muscleman suit and stand out in front of the gym for one hour in rush hour traffic. And then, it was game on.

After six weeks of regular workouts, and high protein low fat diets, we both made our weight goals. Designer Whey products before and after all workouts clearly made the major difference for me.  I lost fifteen pounds and felt really great.

Now it was time to hit the bench press. Although I had a career best bench, I only made eighty percent of my goal, and my competition made eighty three percent of his goal.  So, I lose. Next week I’ll be out front waving to cars in the suit.

Why, you may ask, is this good.  Well, to start, I have been able to move two notches smaller on my belt. I’m trying on clothes that actually fit, and I can run farther and faster than I have been able to in years.

As we head into Memorial Day Weekend, I am ready to go for a few days of Turkey Burgers, Lobster Bisque, and a little French wine.  And there will be just a little less guilt about the whole thing.  If you start one of these holiday weekends ahead of the game, you can have a little more “guilt free” fun on vacation.

Just remember, have your fun this Memorial Day weekend. Don’t go too far. And be ready to get back at it Tuesday. And it can be a vacation from reality that won’t put you too far behind on your personal fight against the fat! Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

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Some time has passed since I finished my diet with remarkable success. What has happened since then? Well my weight loss has certainly slowed, and I’m sure a lot of that is due to the fact that I now eat fast food when I please (which still isn’t very often, but more often then never), and drink soda, and for a short while there I was drinking alcohol again, which is fine, except that alcohol contains a lot of empty calories that I really don’t need in my diet. However, an interesting thing happened during my diet. I learned that it’s possible to have fun without alcohol. So, because of that realization, and the fact that alcohol is a primary suspect in making me fat, I am no longer going to drink. It’s time once and for all to focus much, much more on my health, and that is one of the best ways to do it. But it’s not the only thing I need to do.

So basically, although I’m still wanting to lose weight, I haven’t been putting in the work to do so. I’ve been hoping that it would just magically happen because it was looking so easy before when I was on my diet. Nothing comes easy, and nothing is given to you. If you want to lose weight, you have to make it a serious priority, something that I had forgotten. Re-evaluate how important losing those pounds is to you, and if you still want to lose weight then push it up the hierarchy and make sure you dedicate some time as often as possible. Things like an hour-long walk can really help out, though not nearly as much as a half-hour long run. The harder you work, the bigger the benefits will be, and the more weight you’ll lose. But if you won’t put in the work, then you won’t receive the results.

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Before I go into some of the responses that I received and the playlist that they have submitted, I would like to try and offer up a debate regarding the playlist (of any sort) and the work out. Is it beneficial to listen to a playlist or does it serve as more of a distraction? Is it fueling your fire or draining your efficiency? Does the playlist keep you focused or does it create yet another distraction for you? I only ask these questions because I myself constantly face these crossroad like conundrums.   And for the most part it really comes down to inconsequential factors for me, such as time I want to physically spend at the gym, the mood I am in, the muscle/muscles I am trying to target on that given day, the type of day I have had, the means by which I am getting to the gym and the amount of people at the gym, just to name a few.

                Most days I will take my iPod to the gym with me, but it is about a 50/50 crap shoot to whether or not I will actually put in the head phones and use it and it really has to do with running down the list above. If I get to the gym on a day where I am doing chest or back, I will most likely use a playlist, for three main reasons. One, those are usually Mondays and Tuesdays so I typically just need that extra “umf” to power me through my workouts – and believe me the playlists that I made for both days are more than enough to get the blood going. Two, I know that I will easily eat up an hour at the gym for either of these days, so I budget my work day and week out so that I take an hour lunch on both days and stay that extra ½ hour  (assuming I work an eight hour day which doesn’t really ever happen –usually 9-11hrs). So with that being said I have the luxury of listening to music while I work out because I can get caught up in a song and space out for a couple minutes here and there and it’s no big deal, because I have already allotted that time for my workout. But on bicep and tricep days I can usually crank out a 35 minute full workout and typically don’t listen to music if I am trying to get my workout in during lunch, because often times music distracts me because I love it and find myself more attuned to the songs I am listening to than to my workouts themselves. Three, my mood is always a factor. If I am in one of those, I can’t live without the new music I just got, then it doesn’t matter about anything else, I will definitely listen to my playlist. But if I have spent most of the day listening to music while I crunch numbers at my desk all day, I will take a break from it while I am at the gym and just enjoy the cluttered silence of my thoughts while I find some solace within my workout. And typically on Mondays and Tuesdays I have days of reporting that require my utmost attention, so I usually won’t be listening to music while I process them so I will plug in the phones at the gym and drown out the world for an hour while I work out. Another factor that comes into play is the mode in which I travel to the gym. Usually it is by car, but about once a week I will run to the gym and anytime I run I have to listen to music because it distracts me from all the elements that want to work against me when I run.  Then when I arrive at the gym I typically just leave them in and go about my work out.

                As you can see I have created this complicated mental equation for using or not listening or listening to music while I work out. I was just really curious if most people preferred to listen to music while exercising or preferred to just go without. I ask this question not only based on my own antics but also on those of others I see at the gym. I see about 20 of the same people at the gym every time I go at lunch, of those people I see about three who always have headphones in about four that never have headphones in and the rest have them some days and some days they don’t.   So as usual this peaked my curiosity. I am sitting here talking about how music distracts me but as I am writing this I can see that I am often distracted by the practice of others – sheesh I got to get it together here.  Like I have said my mind is constantly going it is what space mountain would like if you turned the lights on. Anyways please, if you have any opinions on this one let me know, because I am genuinely curious.

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Hey Friends,

It’s hot in Michigan, we are filling our pool up, we bought a fire pit thing for our back yard….all is good.

My weight stayed the same this week but I m ok with that cuz my pants are not so tight. I was at the tightest stage for my jeans almost having it get another size up but now I am just at the tight stage…next will be the perfect fit, the loose then will have to buy a smaller size..whoohooo!

I am feeling good and excited to start a 12 week challenge in my group at fast track to fat loss site. I am excited Kim Lyons one of the pass Biggest Loser runs this site. I joined and loving the meal planners, challenges, exercise planner and meeting lots of new friends…awwww don’t fret Designer Whey friends are still my favs! Coolest of all…I could win a trip to Loreto Mexico on the Fast Track Vacation Home! FREE! I have to get the most votes and be the most improved in the 12 week challenge… what an incentive! So I expect my Designer Whey followers to vote for me when the time comes to vote. Deal?

So who you going to vote for to be one of the 3 finalist on the Biggest Loser? I feel for Darris…I have the same problem…I do excellent all day right on target but as soon as the sun goes down the wolf fangs come out and it is very difficult to control myself. Not sure why that is, something I have to work on. Then Koli he really deserves it he did not mess up and did an amazing job at home. I am torn on who to choose. Final show is Tuesday be sure to watch! I am excited to see all the players and how they did.

Well I am off to mow the lawn in 85 degree weather…that should muster up some sweat! My last weigh in is Wednesday for the 8 week challenge I am in right now so we shall see the fruits of my labor and I will blog about it right after cuz I know you all are there with me.

I love my Designer Whey!

Have a great one.

Camille

Ps I love these 90 calorie buns! Put a hunk of chicken along with some fruit on the side then a glass of ice water with a 2GO pack in it… there ya go a complete meal. Be sure to sit outside and enjoy your meal.

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This is the final thought of helpful tips and methods on “defeating the Itis” pertaining to the daily fitness routines that many go through.

Well once again I am coming to the close of another segment and with that I wanted to offer some final thoughts on the underlining message behind this last series of blogs, which is “it doesn’t matter how you get yourself into the gym, it’s just important that you do.” I say getting yourself into the gym but what I am really talking about here is following through in general when it comes to fitness resolutions. It can be as simple as doing pushups and sit ups in front of the TV or running a mile or two around the block every day or making sure that you stick to a certain caloric value on a daily level. Whatever your fitness goals are it is important that you follow through with them, and in order to do so you have to create some sort of routine or regimen that keeps you on the right path to achieving these goals.  That is what I was trying to do with this set of blogs, offer up some helpful tips and tactics to make staying on whatever path you set for yourself a little less trifling.

Staying on these paths that we make for ourselves is much easier if we make our goals realistically obtainable. Creating goals like seeing a drastic change in your body figure or a major decrease in your weight or wanting to be in the top ten for a marathon are all perfectly fine goals, and yes it is true that anyone can achieve them. But what is unrealistic are some of the timelines that people put forth to reach these destinations. If you are a hundred pounds overweight and in really bad physical health, you are not going see results over night in trying to be in the top ten places of a marathon. But you will see significant improvement and over time if you keep on a realistic schedule you will arrive at that goal. I read stories all of the time about something like this happening, so it is absolutely reachable. But within all of these stories that I read, there are always depictions of the (in most cases) long road that it takes to get there. Which is why it is important to set bench marks for these physical aspirations because while it is in fact important to always keep the main goal in sight it is even more important to mark your progression in reaching it. Lots of time we burn out on our habitual fitness routines because we are not seeing the results we want and we are not receiving that notion of self gratification that we feel when we accomplish our goals.  In this day and age with convenience in technology, schooling, and infrastructure break down, as a society we want immediate results. We loved this “internet thing” when it was brand new even though it took 15 min to change the page we were on. But now we spit at our computer when it takes more than ten seconds load. Don’t get me wrong this progression in life is amazing and I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but it has enabled us as a society in many ways. And part of that enablement is how we handle situations when the going gets tough.

We all hit walls in every aspect of life, there is no avoiding them. But it is what we do when we hit those walls that makes or breaks us. I for one spent a lot of my life getting to these walls and trying to find a way around them instead of a way over them.  I would set goals with unrealistic timelines to achieve them and when I would hit one of these walls I would just create a new goal with a new path, instead. And I would keep doing this over and over again every time a wall popped up.  This just creates a labyrinth where we often find ourselves circling back to where we started and losing a lot of ground and time in the process.  Sometimes when we get to these walls it is in fact good to try and go around them, but in doing so it’s imperative that you remember to find your way back to that original path or you will slowly progress away from your true objective until it is completely out of reach for you.

With the right goals and timelines, it is much more accessible to stick to your routines to help you acquire what you truly want. And when you hit these so called walls try and climb them, use some of the techniques that I have shared with you or create your own to keep you on that mental and physical corridor that is needed for you to reach your overall goals. Once again, these are simply the opinions of a guy who has opinions about anything and everything, take it or leave it as you will.

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Well, I’ve completed my “Lent” diet.  46 days without fast food, soda, alcohol, and minimal burgers and other things not so great for me.  And more exercise, mostly in the form of walking everywhere since I no longer own a car.  And where am I at now? Well, Sunday morning I surpassed the 250lb point to 249.5 pounds, which is pretty remarkable for me.  Granted, it’s just a number, but it’s a significant number, nice and round.  Also, it’s only a few pounds away from my monthly goal of 245lbs.  So I can honestly say that my diet worked, and worked way better than I expected.  I’m really proud of the weight loss I accomplished; having said that the diet is over and I’m going to begin to allow myself some fast foods and alcohol again.  However, not nearly in the capacity that I had been consuming before.  Seeing the results, and how astonishing they were, I’m going to only eat fast food and drink alcohol on weekends.  During the week it’s going to be healthy only.  I’m going to continue to walk everywhere, and in fact now that I bought new running shoes I’ve started running again, which will help out even more.  Today I ran 3 times further than yesterday (which was the first time I had run in quite some time), and I’m hoping that tomorrow I’ll run even farther.  If I keep at it, I know that I’ll get back into my runner’s lungs before I know it, and then I’ll really start stripping the weight off.  Combine that with some weight training, healthy eating and good friends to keep me at it, and I’ll be nearing my goal much faster than I had planned, maybe I’ll even make my goal that I had set for myself on January 1: to be at 170 pounds by Dec 31.  I think I may be able to do it, but we’ll see.  One step at a time.

So for the rest of you, how is your “new” New Year’s resolutions going? Are you still working out? Are you still dieting?  If so, then good on ya.  I’m living proof that it’s never too late to start (or restart).  If not, then I urge you again to finally make that promise and stick to it.  It can be difficult, sure.  But nothing worth doing is ever easy.  If you put in the effort, the results will not be far behind.  I personally promise.  And if you need motivation, or advice, or have questions, by all means contact me and I’ll help you out the best I can.  Because we’re all in this together, and together we’re strong enough to succeed! Until next time, keep at it!

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This week, I want to touch on two subjects.  The first, and foremost, is that having good friends to watch my back while my relatively strict diet has been crucial to my success.  Just last night I was tempted to cheat by eating a Philly Cheesesteak, because technically I hadn’t declared Jersey Mike’s as fast food.  My friend Bruce refused to stop nagging me on how I was quitting my diet and my pledge to not eat fast food.  His dedication to my diet reminded me that I’m in this for more than just the thrills of dieting, I’m in this to prove to myself and to everyone that it’s possible for me to lose the weight.  Even though my weight loss has been good thus far, I have to keep focused, and he reminded me of that.  So instead I got a much healthier sandwich at Jersey Mike’s, and I was very proud of both myself and him for demanding such perfection.  Likewise, my friend Jessi is constantly making sure that I’m working out, even if I’m just watching TV at home.  Her dedication to my weight loss reminds me of why I’m doing this in the first place, to be a healthier person.  It’s great to know that I have friends that care this much about me.

The other thing I wanted to talk about today was the constant standing on the scale.  For years I’ve been told not to weigh myself every day because weight loss isn’t instant, and that it could be discouraging to stand on the scale and see that I’d only lost a half a pound over a couple of days, or worse, gained weight.  While it is certainly true that your weight can fluctuate quite a bit, I’ve found that keeping a month-long calendar in my bathroom, and weighing myself the first thing in the morning EVERY morning has been quite wonderful.  I’ve talked about this before, but it’s never been more evident than now.  In the course of a month I lost 20 pounds, and on the days that my weight went up from the day before I made sure to double my weight loss efforts.  On the days that my weight went down, I patted myself on the back and thought about what it was that I had been doing to help me lose that weight, like walking to school and working out, and I made sure to do it more often.  Basically, so long as you take the positive look at your weight, no matter which direction it went, you can’t be defeated! So I challenge everyone that’s trying to lose weight to start stepping on a scale every day for a month.  I prefer to do it in the morning, because you don’t have the fluctuation of what you ate that day to affect the outcome.  Yes, some days you’ll weigh more than the day before, that’s normal.  But watch your weight loss over the course of that month, and if you’re honest with yourself and work hard you can see a downward trend that will have you grinning from ear to ear by the end of May, just in time for beach season!  So until next time, keep at it people!

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This is part 7b of helpful tips and methods on “defeating the Itis” pertaining to the daily fitness routines that many go through.

Continuing on with the subject of little things you can do when you are at the gym to motivate you through those tough workouts: one thing you can do is go the “easy route.” Ok now the real easy route would be to get up and walk out and be done with your workout prematurely, but the easy route here pertains to your own personal definitions of “easy.” Trying to articulate this now in my head and put it on paper at this moment would make me sound like I am blurting out non-sense (not much different from my other blogs right?), so it is better suited in this case just to go off a personal example. On Mondays I typically do “chest” and Tuesdays I typically do “back” and both of these are by far the hardest two days to work through. After the first sets on either day I am exhausted, because I am maxing out (here I’m talking about doing about 4 sets of 5-6 reps at max weight and one set at 3 where weight is increased even further) two muscles that account for the majority of my upper body.  So what I will do is put the first three exercise sets that I do as the hardest three that demand the most physical exuberance out of all the different exercises planned for that particular workout. I have about 10 other exercises that I can do at this point regarding chest or back but I know at this moment I am physically exhausted and a likely candidate to throw in the towel.  So what I will do is then pick three to four exercises that I think are easier than the other six of those ten choices. In reality they are all equally challenging and work your chest and back muscles just as hard as any other chest or back exercise, but in your mind for whatever reason they are easier. Everyone has those couple of “easier” exercises for every muscle or exercises that you find really easy but work really well. Whether it is switching to a machine instead of trying to do it with free weights or whether it is running at 6 % incline rather than doing a set on the stair master, in your mind they are easier to do than the other option. I like to save these exercises as a form of a backup plan, meaning that I typically won’t employ theses exercises when working a certain muscle because most days and weeks I have enough energy and natural motivation to power through that particular workout. But everyone has those days where energy and motivation are as hard to find as Bobbie Fisher. When those days hit I always try and power through what I can of the normal routines and then switch to my reserve drills to allow me to truly conquer those fatigue demons.

Riding the coattails of this “easier” workout scheme, I also will switch up the order of what muscle I want to work on a given day. Like I stated before I try and get the toughest two workouts finished by Tuesday because I like to keep that mentality that “the hardest part is already behind you and it is a downhill battle from here on.” But some Mondays and Tuesdays I will have just about as much enthusiasm as a zombie from a 60’s horror film, you know the ones with their hands parallel to the ground moving at a pace of 10 steps a minute. So I will scrap the Chest and Back weekly startup and go right into a Triceps and biceps workout, because I actually look forward to those two workouts every week. Or I will completely flip the script and say that I am going to go to a full upper body workout on Mon, Weds and Fri or Tues, Thurs and Sat and fill the opposite days with non resistant core and leg workouts.  Some weeks this is my saving grace, because before trying to utilize these little tricks I would just hit a half a day’s work out or miss a day completely, which in turn would throw off my entire schedule. And you know what; sometimes your body and mental capacity within the realm of the fitness world need that derailment.  For me it is not beneficial unless I plan it. It is one thing to plan a week of half workouts or plan to take a two week break, but it is another thing to come up short on your goals because you were simply just “too tired.” Every time I think I am too tired and end up finishing a work out I feel so much better about myself and every time I fail to do so I feel like I have truly let myself down. So instead of letting yourself down and succumbing to the daily fatigue factors, take the “easy” route, for once it is actually ok and beneficial to do so. Once again, these are simply the opinions of a guy who has opinions about anything and everything, take it or leave it as you will.

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Remember in high school English when we learned the concept of a euphemism?  From the Latin for beautiful, it’s basically a nice sounding word for something that sucks. And when you’re trying to lose weight the plateau definitely sucks.

It can come at any time in the weight loss process. After, say, the first ten or so pounds lost, you’re still doing the right things but can’t lose any more weight. That is the dreaded plateau but there are ways around it.

Neely Simmons trains several championship athletes at neelysimmons.com and elitefitnessnc.com. She was kind enough to offer us some of her tips for getting past the plateau:

H.I.I.T. -  High intensity interval training. Alternate high intensity activity with low intensity movements to raise and lower the heart rate to help speed up your metabolism.

Supersets - Follow one exercise up with another similar movement. That cuts down on rest between sets.

Cardio in the Morning – Do your cardio first thing in the morning, before your first meal to jump start the metabolism early in the day.

Eat more often – You don’t want to eat more, just more often. Instead of three meals try five, but definitely make sure they are smaller. Designer Whey protein shakes make great mid-morning or mid-afternoon meals. I’ve found that whey protein keeps my energy up, gets rid of hunger and helps me recover faster from my workouts. I always keep the Protein 2Go packs with me, especially when I travel.  There’s no easier whey, I mean way to get protein when I’m on the go. 

Water - Drink your weight in water. For example if you weight 230 pounds get 230 ounces of water per day.

I will be heading these tips over the next week hoping for a better Wednesday weigh in. I’ll let you know how they worked for me!

- John Roberts

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