Keep a Workout Journal

Today I want to tell you about the importance of keeping a journal when you do your workout training. By keeping track of your workouts, it’s easy to see your progress or if you plateau.

You can always go back through your old workouts and see your progression. This is one of the best motivators for you. I still write down each of my workouts in my log book. I think it is essential to a good fitness program.

It’s easy to see if I am making progress. You can also write some notes on the side. For example, if you did not have the usual energy for a workout and what the reason is: did you sleep well the night before, or perhaps it’s your nutrition.

By keeping a journal you will reach your goals faster. Do not skip this part. It’s important for you. I always found mine at the dollar store – composition book- and it’s work well for me and it’s cheap.

Write your program in your book and keep track of  the weight you use and number of sets and for how many reps.  Next workout try to do better. Don’t forget to write down  what time you start your workout and what time you finish it. It’s another key to keep your workout not too long and the next day or next week try to beat the time.  Keep your heart rate high.

Another great tips from ExpressFatLoss.com

Do This for a Big Difference in Your Life

Today you will see something can make a BIG difference in your life.
Do you have an idea? Not yet? Ok I will tell you!

SMALL CHANGES will make a big difference. Yes, you read right – if you start to make some small changes and you stick with them, then slowly you can make some more small changes after few weeks.  Keep going, and you will be surprised by the difference they can make to your life.

Don’t try to change everything all at once.  This is the worst you can do. It’s too hard, and you will not keep it up for very long. But if you learn to change your bad habits slowly, and replace them  with some good ones you are on the right way, my friend! Remember my first tip: JUST DO IT!

Make sure you get your F.R.E.E E-book on Nutrition and Weight Loss From ExpressFatLoss.com

Why am I sometimes weaker during my workout?

I received an interesting question by email this week – from Dave in Tennessee, USA.  Dave asked about how I design my clients’ programs, or even my own. Yes  I am still working out too!  Honestly if I don’t train at least 3 or 4 times a week I don’t feel good. It’s my lifestyle now for more than 20 years, and I feel great!

Dave’s question is:

I would like to know why sometime I feel very strong for my chest workout and the next program I’m not able to lift the same weight. This thing happened almost for every body part (chest, back, shoulders and arms).

My answer:

You have to take a few factors into consideration when you design your own program.

First, make sure you have enough rest in between workouts. You cannot train the same muscles group two days in a row. Your muscles need to rest at least 48 hours to be able to fully work the same muscle again. This is why if you like to do circuit training for a full-body workout, you are better off training every other day. On the days you do not do any strength training, you can do your cardio.

Now that you understand the importance of rest, we can take a look at how you introduce each body part into your program. Here’s an example.

If you train your chest on Monday,  and Tuesday – the next day- you are planning to train your shoulders, this is not a good program design.

Do you know why?  When you work your chest, your shoulders and triceps are also involved and getting a workout. Trust me, you will not be able to push too much weight with your shoulders the next day with this program because your shoulders don’t have enough time to recuperate from the chest workout. It’s that simple.

So you really need to understand body anatomy, and when you perform an exercise you need to know and understand which muscles are involved with the exercise.

To help you with your program design, here’s a few recommendations for you:

• Ÿ  When you perform a chest workout you also target your triceps and your shoulders.
• Ÿ  When you perform a back workout you also target your biceps.
• Ÿ  When you work your shoulders you also work your triceps.

Next time you design your program make sure to pay attention to those muscle groups, and really think about how the muscles work together.

For your program design, try to follow these different split workouts for 3, 4 or 5 workouts per week.

5-Day Split

Monday: Chest & Abs (Hit Shoulders and Triceps indirectly)

Tuesday: Back (Hit Biceps indirectly)

Wednesday: Shoulders & Abs (Hit Triceps indirectly)

Thursday: Quads, Hamstring & Calf

Friday: Arms & Abs

4-Day Split

Monday: Back, Biceps & Abs

Tuesday: Shoulders & Hamstring (Hit your Triceps indirectly)

Wednesday: Off – Give a break at your Triceps for the next workout

Thursday: Chest, Triceps & Abs (Hit your shoulders indirectly)

Friday: Quads & Calf

3-Day Split

Monday: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps & Abs

Tuesday: Off

Wednesday: Back, Biceps & Abs

Thursday: Off

Friday: Quads, Hamstring & Calf

Try out one of these plans, and I bet you’ll see a difference.  With enough rest in between, and alternating muscle groups, you’ll be more energetic, able to lift more weight or do more reps, and your technique will be better.  It all adds up to a better workout and better results!

Your Fitness Routine should continue after 12 weeks

Where are you with your program to get back into shape? When you decided to get back into shape, that was probably when you requested your F.ree E-Book or when you purchased the Express Fat Loss program.

A lot of people decide they want to make a body transformation for a special event like a New Year’s resolution, a wedding, a trip to the beach, a family reunion etc. But what happens after this is over?  Are you going to give up everything you achieved? Give up all your good work and go back to your old habits, feeling sluggish with no energy, increasing your body fat and then starting the same pattern over again for another event in a few months or next year?

Are you like that?  Can you recognize your behavior in that scenario?

Now that you have been in your routine for a few months, the trick is to keep going. So many people work hard to pass the 12 week point and after that, if something happens, they cancel their exercise time at the gym.  They think it’s probably not a big issue.  It’s only one time, but next week the same situation will come up again, and again the following week, and they end up missing more workouts.  I’m sorry to tell you that this usually signals the beginning of the end.

I have been in this business for so long that I know that at some point you will probably feel bored with your exercise program.  Maybe you will reach a plateau, and you may not see any obvious improvement in weight loss or muscle gain. You might start to lose your focus.

The other day, I read something by Mark Joyner. Mark Joyner is a 4 times best-selling author, and this phrase made a lot of sense to me. Make sure you apply this to your goals: he said, “Hit it until you hit it”. Whatever your goals are, apply this to your focus and you will ‘Hit It’ for sure.

If you have lost focus lately with your fat loss program, make sure you are still doing what you need to do to be successful. Here’s a few ways to get back on track:

Ÿ  Establish a routine – Make exercise part of your daily lifestyle. Exercise should come naturally like eating, sleeping or brushing your teeth.

Ÿ  Schedule – Make sure you set up some time in your agenda for time at the gym. Choose the best time for you and KEEP IT! This time slot is yours. It’s your time to think about your health.

Ÿ  Pay attention to your nutrition – Without monitoring your nutrition closely, it will be very difficult to achieve what you want. It’s a package deal: you need all of ‘wheels’ (Nutrition, Strength Training, Cardio/Flexibility and Rest)

Ÿ  Goals- Look back to the goal setting you did a few months ago and see if your goals were realistic.

Ÿ  Start keeping your nutrition and exercise journal again – Make sure you stay on track with both.

Ÿ  Push yourself little bit more at each workout session, perform maybe one extra rep or increase the weight of your lift.

Ÿ  Change your routine every 4 to 6 weeks to keep you interested and your muscles learning and getting fit.

Your fitness program should go beyond the first 12 weeks. First make a commitment for the first 12 weeks and then re-assess and make another commitment for another 3 months. Use a small time frame (12 weeks at a time) and aim to get fitter and stronger every time you set up fresh 12 weeks goals.  Remember what you learned about goal setting – keep it realistic, and measure your progress regularly to stay motivated!

15 Reasons to try the Express Fat Loss Program

Are you still debating if you should invest the equivalent of the price of a few coffees to be in best shape of your life? Well, if it were me, the answer would be simple.  I do everything I can to stay in good shape. Even when I was diagnosed with throat cancer, and during my chemotherapy and radiation treatment, I would still take a walk every day.  At that time it was the only thing I could do, but I still did it.

What about you?

I’ll give you 15 good reasons to adopt the Express Fat Loss Program. I’m sure after you see what my program can offer you, it will be an easy choice and you will be closer to achieving the new YOU!

15 great reasons to get your jump start with the Express Fat Loss Program

1.    Speed up your metabolism: you will burn more calories and maintain a better lean mass/body fat ratio.

2.    Improve self image and your self esteem.

3.    Increase the good cholesterol (HDL) in your blood. HDL helps to protect you against the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

4.    Increase your aerobic capacity.

5.    Develop more muscle mass. With more muscle, you will burn more calories.

6.    Decrease and control your blood pressure, reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease.

7.    Help to control your blood sugar and your insulin level. This will reduce your risk of diabetes.

8.    Improve the blood flow in your body, helping your skin to look healthier.

9.    Increase your bone density, helping to prevent osteoporosis.

10.    Improve the quality of sleep.

11.    Make your heart fitter.  Don’t forget your heart is a muscle: you need to train the most important muscle in your body! Your heart will be more efficient, increasing the volume of blood flow.

12.    Increase energy

13.    Improve your posture with a stronger core.

14.    Strengthen your immune system, helping you to fight illness and disease.

15.    You will get a real program with all the information you need.  Experience shows that the Express Fat Loss Program works.

And here’s one more reason: I will personally guarantee that this book will change your life. Accept my 60 Day Satisfaction Guarantee and get your money back if you are not completely satisfied!!!

To Start Your Program Today visit: www.ExpressFatLoss.com

Staying Fit with Numbers

Many times it happen that we spend so much time practicing  a weight loss program but cannot get significant results. This is mainly because we stick to our weight loss program during gym hours but somehow forget to follow them during hours outside gym.
Keep in mind that the nutrition & lifestyle we follow outside the gym environment greatly impacts the results of our weight loss program. Target setting is a very important factor and in order to achieve effective weight loss, we need to set some targets and stick to them during gym hours as well as outside gym hours.

The Number Game:

In order to stay fit with numbers, we need to understand the number game.

• Total hours per week = 7 days x 24 hours each = 168 hours/week

• Wake up hours per week = 168 total – (8hours per day X 7 days) = 112 hours Awake in General

• Gym Hours per week = 5 hours/week at the gym (if you train 5 days a week for 60 minutes)

• Outside Gym Hours = 112 hours awake  – 5 hours at the  gym = 107  hours left outside the gym.

The nutrition you take and the lifestyle you follow during these 107 outside gym hours are the deciding factor for your weight loss goals.

Nutrition

The nutrition you take outside gym hours is very much important for achieving quick weight loss. Experts suggest taking meals at regular intervals – after every 2 1/2 to 3  hours including three routine meals of the day. This helps in weight loss by keeping metabolism active and energy level high – keep your blood sugar more stable. Similarly if you eat balanced nutrition after workouts then it will help your body recover by making up the glycogen level lost during extensive workout sessions.

Lifestyle

Your weight loss results are really dependent on your lifestyle outside the  gym. Muscle development mainly takes place during rest so you should give your body enough rest time. Keeping a check on your lifestyle and monitoring it accordingly will help you achieve fat loss goal by changing the routine as per outcome.

To reach your goals faster with your weight loss program, visit www.ExpressFatLoss.com and start your weight loss program today.

Better Energy with Balanced Nutrition

For a good health, proper nutrition is very important. In today’s world one needs to be active all the time but due to poor nutrition many people cannot reach their full potential. The human body needs balanced nutrition and exercise to function properly. A shortcut is fitness diet that would not only lead to good health but also energy boost and great performance. Following is the summary detail of a fitness diet.

Complex Carbohydrates

The intake of sugary food in large quantity makes one feel heavy, increases weight and effects health. For fitness diet, one has to cut down the intake of such food completely. Complex Carbohydrates are not only good for health but provide boost of energy for the body. Fitness diet includes wholegrain breads, oats, muesli and brown rice, pastas, beans, barley etc that act as energy boosters, make us feel light and full at the same time. These are important for staying healthy and preventing cardiovascular and other diseases.

Protein

Protein is found in meat, fish, poultry, milk products, legumes, and peanut butter. It is needed for building or repairing muscles, and for maintaining healthy hair, nails and skin. Foods from animal sources are high in protein, as well as zinc, iron and vitamin B12.

Fat

Fat is a concentrated source of energy or calories. Reducing the amount of fat in your diet lowers the number of calories. However, it is important to have enough ‘healthy fats’ in your diet, such as fats from fish, nuts, seeds and vegetable oils like Extra Virgin Coconut Oil.

It is important to avoid saturated (Except Extra Virgin Coconut Oil)  and trans fats or to have these in small amounts only. Saturated fats are found in cheese, ice cream, high fat dairy products, high fat meats, chicken skin, lard, shortening  and palm kernel oils. Trans fats are found mainly in baked goods, including those made with shortening, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, and hard margarines.

Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamins and minerals are a very important part of fitness diet. One can take fresh fruits and vegetables or vitamin supplements to keep the body functioning right. Vitamins and minerals also give us an energy boost. Particularly Vitamin B Complex is very important for having good energy level.

Calcium needs increase for people over 50 years of age. Calcium is one of the vital nutrients for having healthy bones and preventing osteoporosis. Other benefits may include keeping a healthy weight and blood pressure. Examples of foods with high calcium are low-fat dairy products, canned fish with bones, calcium-fortified soy beverages, and calcium-enriched fruit juices.

Vitamin D is needed to help you balance calcium levels in your body for healthy bones. You need more vitamin D as you get older. Vitamin D is found in milk, fortified soy beverages, egg yolk, and fish.

Vitamin B6 needs also increase as people age. Vitamin B6 is important for protein metabolism and brain function. Food sources of vitamin B6 include fish, beef livers, meat, poultry, whole grains, nuts, dried beans, peas and lentils.

Vitamin B12 absorption decreases with age. Older adults absorb less vitamin B12 from foods and need to take vitamin B12 fortified foods or a supplement. Lack of vitamin B12 over a long time can cause a type of anemia, resulting in tiredness. Other symptoms include forgetfulness, difficulty thinking and concentrating, and possibly numbness or tingling in fingers and/or toes. Good food sources of vitamin B12 are milk products, meat, fish, poultry and eggs.

Folate is one of the B vitamins important for a healthy heart and blood cells. A lack of folate may cause anemia. Foods with folate are dried peas, beans, lentils, orange juice, dark green leafy vegetables and other vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds.

Sodium or salt use may increase as people age, possibly due to less sense of taste. Too much sodium in your diet can increase your blood pressure. Try using unsalted herbs, spices and seasonings in cooking instead of adding salt to foods. Limit the use of salty foods, including instant soup, sauce and gravy mixes, soy sauce, salad dressings, and salted meats such as ham, bacon and sausages.

Fibre is important for your bowels and health. The bowels may become less active as people age, and this may cause constipation. Certain types of fibre can help to lower cholesterol and to keep blood sugar levels normal. Fibre may also help to manage or keep a healthy weight. Foods with fibre include whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables.

Water
Water is life. It regulates the body metabolism and improves circulation of blood in the body. A sufficient intake of water should be there in ones fitness diet. Instead of taking tea or coffee one should take green tea that will provide the benefits of tea as well as add to the water intake.

Can I take a multivitamin/mineral supplement?

Taking a multivitamin/mineral supplement once daily may be helpful  to meet their needs for folate and vitamins B6, B12 and D. Although supplements provide vitamins and minerals, these do not provide the protein, carbohydrates, fibre, and other health benefits that you need. Foods also have phytochemicals, which are not found in supplements. Woman Click Here. Man Click Here.

Get your free E-Book on Nutrition, Weight Loss and Weight Loss Supplements at www.ExpressFatLoss.com

Diet don’t work!

A few days ago I started working with a new client. She wants to lose weight. After a brief chat with her, she told me she’s tried almost every popular diet. She found with all those diets, the only results she’d get is a slower metabolism and all the weight back, even with some extra pounds!

I’m going to tell you once again, just in case you’ve missed it in my blog when I talked about diets…

Diets DON’ T  work. Period!

Get it?

Don’t try to diet to lose weight. Chances are, you will gain all your weight back – and probably more – after your diet.

So what is the solution? It’s simple. Change your lifestyle. Notice I didn’t say change your diet. I said lifestyle. What do I mean by lifestyle? Changing your habits and your behaviors. This is the only way to lose weight and keep it off for a lifetime.

Start with a few simple tips:

- Eat breakfast every day – Your most important meal of the day!

- Eat every 3 hours – Keep your blood sugar more stable.

- Eat small portions – Eat more often but small portion

- Establish a good balance between carbohydrates, protein and fat. (40%-40%-20%)

- Consume healthy fats from good sources – Extra Virgin Coconut  or Olive oil, Flax seed oil, Avocado, Salmon

- Set aside a time for your favorite meal or snack

To get a complete guide for your weight loss and building lean muscle, I highly recommended the Ultimate Guide to Express Fat Loss. In there, you’ll find all the information you need for successful weight loss. Including 18 different meal plan with grocery list to give you all what you need to be another success story on weight loss.

Once you discover how to  change your lifestyle, you’ll see it’s easy to keep the weight off. Stop the yo-yo dieting. It’s not working. When you know what to do, you will see it’s much easier to lose weight and keep it off.

Keep Moving, Stay Fit!

5 Basic Workout Tips

This is  5 Basic Workout Tips. These 5 points are crucial to your success. Let’s see what are they and why they are important.

1.Have FUN with your workout . Some people, when they start a workout program, think they need to train a lot because they assume more is better and that it must hurt and be dreadful. At first, your muscles won’t bet ready to do much more than they were doing before your workout program began. You will increase your chances of success by initially moderating your activity, setting and targeting specific training goals and by varying and making training fun. In the Ultimate Guide to Express Fat Loss, I give you 4 months of workout training with a good plan for progression with each exercise.

2. The 2 most important times to eat. As you now know, nutrition is important to your success if you want gain muscle and get lean. I recommend that you eat 3 meals and 2 to 3 snacks a day. The 2 most important times to eat are when you wake up and after you train. You need a good breakfast to get the fuel to start your day. A good breakfast should consist of carbs (oatmeal, whole wheat bread or whole grain unsweetened cereal) protein (egg white, low fat cottage cheese, skim milk), 1 piece of fruit and a good source of fat (Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Flax Seed Oil, Avocado) 

It is equally important to refuel immediately after you train, when your body’s cells are most receptive to replenishing the energy they just spent. A good way to do this is with a protein shake made with protein powder and fruit juice. When you buy the Ultimate Guide to Express Fat Loss you will receive as a bonus (value of $39.95) 190 Smoothies and protein shakes recipes. These are great tools for your post workout shake.

3.       Challenging exercises are good for you . When an exercise is hard and you don’t like it, resist the temptation to avoid it. Exercises that involve multi-joint muscles encourage muscle growth and burn more calories, but they are usually harder. However, you will get way more benefit than an isolation exercise that only trains one muscle. As your fitness level increases those exercises will become easier to do. My Express Fat Loss Program is based on multi-joint movements and this is the best way to get great results in short time.

4.       The importance of recovery. When you force a muscle to work through resistance, you are actually tearing down muscle fibers. Your muscles will repair and recover with rest and good nutrition. This is why it is important to not train the same muscles group 2 days in a row.

5.       Avoid boredom. Don’t do the same workout over and over. You will not enjoy your workout program and you will get bored. Change your program on a regular basis, for example, every 4 to 6 weeks. By doing this, you will keep challenging your muscles and keep seeing results. To read more on the subject, look at this other article I wrote – Change your workout program

Next time you hit the gym, remember those 5 tips and Keep Lifting, Keep Moving and Stay Fit!

Be careful with protein bars!

Since you’ve started to read my tips, you know the importance of eating 5 or 6 meals a day to maintain a healthy weight and keep your energy
levels high. This is very important if you work out on a regular basis. It can be hard to cook all these meals every day, and this is why I like
protein bars. Protein bars can be a great snack, but they can destroy your good intentions too!

The other day, I visited my friend at his supplement store. I started to look at all the bars you can buy. Now you have the choice from
meal replacement or diet bars, protein bars, and energy bars. For someone who had no idea what to buy, this could be very confusing.

Each bar contains different levels of protein, carbohydrates, fat and sugar. Picking the right one depends on your goal. Let me explain little
bit more:

If we look first at the energy bars, the name says it all. The purpose of the energy bar is to give you a boost of energy.  This is great
for endurance athletes like cyclists or marathoners. I’m sure you figured out that the main ingredient is carbohydrates to give
you the energy you need to keep you going during the event.

Meal replacements bars are mostly “diet” bars. This type of bar contains the least amount of calories and more carbohydrates than protein.
Again, the name tells you what it is for – a meal or snack replacement. In the mean time it’s a good choice for a pre or post-workout snack.

The last one is the protein bar. The protein bar is designed for people who are training and trying to lose weight. This type of bar
had a high level of protein to help you build muscles, and burn fat.

Nutrition bars can be a good and healthy choice once in a while, but it’s important to read the labels carefully. Many bars are
full of sugar, which can make them just as bad as a regular chocolate bar. Make sure to always choose one that contains
little refined sugar and – and this isvery important – is low in saturated fats.

My 2 best choices are from Isagenix- Isalean for meal replacement and  Labrada Nutrition – Lean cookie Bar - for Post workout snack.

Make sure you don’t abuse the nutrition bars. They can result in an increase in your body fat if you eat too much of these bars, especially if
you are a person who is not too active and trying to lose weight.

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