One of the main reasons I got into the personal training industry was to help people see through all the confusing information there is about food and weight loss.  Around every corner there’s another diet and extreme way to think about food.  It drives me crazy, it drives you crazy, and now it’s time to stop with all the bad information and bizarre ideas of how to lose weight. 

Is weight loss the only problem?  Is that the only thing on your mind?  How about heart disease, strokes, diabetes, or cancer?  Are any of those things a concern?  The second biggest reason I got into this business was seeing my Grandfather suffer a stroke and the effects it had on him as well as the rest of the family.  Strokes are preventable! 

I am a personal trainer and it is my job to formulate a fitness program that will help my clients reach their goals.  If it were that easy we’d all be skinny and as healthy as possible.  But it’s not that easy, there’s more to it.  Diet plays a huge role in overall health.  If the diet is junk you’ll get junk results.  Period!!

Issue #1:  The United States Government is not to be trusted with nutritional recommendations.  Although the USDA hires the worlds’ best nutritionist and scientist to be on the board there are also special interest groups on that some board such as dairy and meat companies.  Those special interest groups are paying big bucks to make sure that our schools, military, and every other government-run group abide by the USDA nutritional “recommendations” so we’ll buy their products.  Money is the bottom line and in return we are experiencing the greatest rise of cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes in children ever seen in history.  Something is very wrong and it starts with our diet.  The United States is known around the globe for having the worst diet on the planet.  We are paying the price for holding that title with human lives.  It’s ridiculous and it has to stop!

Harvard School of Public Health shares my exact thoughts and concerns.  Here is a report that they put out 3 years ago.  Read over it and make your own decision.   

Issue #2:  Ourselves. 

Stop fooling yourself.  We try to fool ourselves into thinking that junk food is not really that bad because the box said “all natural” or that we’re eating chicken because that’s what the box said it was.  If it’s in a box you really don’t know what it is.  The chicken McNugget is only 50% meat.  What’s the other 50%?  The vast majority of processed foods are just that, 50% recognizable and 50% God knows what.  It’s criminal that this stuff is actually legal to sell to the public. 

It’s not that good.  We seem to not want to give up this or that.  We want to hold onto something that’s familiar, something that’s gotten us into the situation we’re in now and for some reason we can’t let it go.  Maybe its sweets, sodas, creamers (that’s a big one), or TV dinners.  It’s as if living without these things will make our lives somehow less fulfilling, pleasurable, or suddenly everything will become bland and pointless.  Well, trust me when I say that giving up those truly meaningless things will not kill you, leave you short of breath, or make you gain weight. 

Addiction.  There just may be a greater problem and it’s called addiction.  Food addiction is very real and is the reason why those terrible for you foods keep calling your name.  Get help and change your life not only for you but for those in your life as well.

The message is simple…eat whole foods not processed foods that are made by people and you’ll live a much healthier disease free life.

How to lose weight?  I have people come to me all the time and want to know how to lose weight.  Not only loosing weight but then keeping it off is always at the top of everyone’s mind.  I won’t get into too much detail in this blog post but I will tell you what you need to know to get started and some action steps to take today.

Have a Goal 

Goal setting is one of the best ways to get and stay motivated.  Motivation, without a personal trainer there to help you out, is hard to come by sometimes.  Having a goal to reach has helped a lot of my clients get on track and stay on track.  Goals such as running a 5k, hiking a particular trail, doing 10 push ups in a row, or seeing more definition in your arms or legs are all great goals to shoot for.  You want something attainable that you can accomplish in a relatively short period of time.  For example you don’t want set a goal of running marathon (26.2 miles) when you have never run once in your whole life.  Running a 5k is something more realistic for a beginner.  If you need help finding a goal talk with a personal trainer for some advise.

Be consistent

The only way I’ve moved from a size 14 to a size 8 and stayed there for the last 17 years is from being consistent.  I am always thinking about my next work out series or goal and have been very consistent in those workouts for all these years.  Let me clarify, being consistent does not mean finding a routine and doing that same routine over and over again for the next 17 years.  Your workouts MUST get harder as you get stronger and more amazing (which you will).  Consistently change your workouts every 6-8 weeks.  Challenge your body more and more each time.  Learn new exercises, try new things, lifter heavier weights, run a little faster and a little longer.  Keeping your body guessing is the only way to keep it changing and that’s how you see results.  If you need help being consistent talk with a personal trainer and find out how they can help you.

Eat for Life

Food is an essential part to your success.  In fact it’s 80% of your success.  Rediscover the purpose of food and use it to your advantage for a fit body.  Food is not meant as a reward.  It is not there for you to punish yourself with either.  Its sole purpose is to fuel your muscles with nutrients and keep your metabolism up.  That’s it!  Please understand, just because that’s it’s only purpose doesn’t mean that it can’t be exciting, enjoyable, fun and social like it’s always been.  Healthy, nutrient full, good for you food is tasty and amazing and makes you amazing.  Fake food, as I like to call it, i.e. fast food and baked junk does nothing for you but fill a temporary void, make you feel lousy, and make you fat.  Learn what’s right, make those right choices and get the body and self-esteem that you desire!!  If you need help with a diet plan talk with a personal trainer that can make some nutritional recommendations for you.

Get a goal, be consistent, and eat for life.  Get started today.  Happy New Year!!

Here’s the workout in written form.  Print it out and be awesome!!!
Printable Version
Happy Thanksgiving!

You now have the best butt workout in history!!!  Make sure you’re warmed up before doing these exercises.  Perform 12-15 reps of each exercises and try to go through the circuit three times.  Use enough weight so that it’s difficult to get 12 reps and heavy enough so that the 15th rep is near impossible.  Integrate this circuit into two of your weekly workouts for the next six weeks and report back to me on how toned, lean, and lifted your buns have become.

Romanian Deadlift:

Tips:  Keep your knees soft, Push your hips back, Keep the natural curve in your low back, Lift with your Hamstrings NOT your back

Bulgarian Split Squat:

Tips:  Position front foot so that knee is directly over it, Maintain a straight back throughout the move, Don’t lean too far forward, Try to get bar to middle of the shin

Forward Lean Lunge:

Tips: Bend over at the waist, Keep the back straight, Lunge down keeping the hips and back exactly the same

One Leg Deadlift:

Tips: Keep the back straight, Bend at the knee not at the spine, Aim to touch and floor with your hands

(An Amazing Workout Is At The Bottom Of The Blog)

Asheville is big on its outdoor activities.  Whether you’re trail running, hiking, or just strolling around our beautiful downtown being in shape will make those experiences more enjoyable.  A number of my clients talk about how they don’t get winded any more when walking up hills (which are abundant around here) or how they want to train for trail running races.  Both of those examples are great ones to highlight the diversity of personal training and how it can be applied to anyone no matter the goal.

If you’ve got weight to lose, muscle to reveal, or want to be better at your sport then get started today with personal training and experience more of what Asheville has to offer.

One of the great things about having a personal trainer is that don’t have to come up with all the workouts all the time.  Try this workout; do the whole workout straight through and then repeat one or two more times.

 Sumo Highpull

Incline Dumbbell Presses

Chin Up

Front Deltoid Raises

Deadlift

Push Press

Tricep Pressdown

Ok, so you got the gym membership; check.  You’ve taken courses on nutrition and bought tons of cooking light cookbooks; check.  You’ve got a library of workout DVDs for those days you just want something different; check.  Then why is it that you’re still not seeing the results you’ve been longing for?  Why can’t you lose weight!!??

Perhaps it’s time to stop wasting time and energy in the wrong direction or at the very least get some new direction from a personal trainer. 

• Personal trainer help you perform exercises correctly to avoid injury. 
• They will be there to motivate you throughout your week so you don’t lose focus on your goals and hold you accountable for your actions so you don’t go back to being the heaviest you ever were. 
• Also personal trainers study and experiment all the time with exercises and know cutting edge ways to safely tax the muscles to demand change and weight lose.  They’ve got workouts that won’t bore you and that are as effective as they are fun.
• There’s more to getting fit than just exercise.  Let a personal trainer talk and council you about nutrition and make sure you’re feeding your body everything it needs to see optimal results every week!

If you’ve been at the weight loss thing for a while then all you may need it a boost in a different direction.  Call a national certified personal trainer today and see how your weight lose track and be elevated to the next level.

The annual O3 charity event for St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital was a great success.  Collectively we raised over $1,000!!  Thank you to everyone that came out on Saturday and everyone that gave.  We had five tire flippers this year flipping a tractor tire for five minutes to see how many flips they could get and the results are in:  Wendy (me) 119, Darin 107, Keith 103, Elizabeth 90, and Abe 81. 

We’ll have this event again next year so if you want to try your hand at beating me or if you want to raise some money for St Jude’s in an unconvential way give us call.

Our annual Workout For St Jude is this Saturday at 9:30am.  This is a fun event where the participates flip a 250lb trackor tire for 5 minutes to see how many flips they can get.  Participants get people to sponsor them and donate money per flip.  You can donate $.25 or $10 per flip if you like.

I am currently the record holder for the gym at 114 flips in 5 minutes.  I plan to beat my own record this year but time will tell.  I’ve got some pretty steep competition.  Keith, owner of O3, will flip again as well as our newest trainer here at O3, Darin.  It is particularly exciting for my this year because I’ve got two of my clients doing the tire flip for St Jude and it will be their great joy to beat me so I better get plenty of sleep for this one.

Come down to the gym and join us for some tire flipping fun this Saturday at 9:30am and if you haven’t sponsored anyone yet you still have time.  Remember this is a charity event for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and all the money goes to them so donate BIG!!  Be well, flip a tire.