Well here it is, a simple and very easy guide on how to troubleshoot and make sure you making continual progress in your fat loss efforts. No matter if you eat all day or follow an Intermittent Fasting schedule, no matter what kind of shape you are in, and no matter how much weight you have to lose….this guide will keep you on track. Remember that you can burn fat all day…..if you do the important things right on a consistent basis. Forget all the little things that provide little to no results, focus on the bigger important things that you have to do daily and then anything is possible. (click on the picture to see the whole guide)…

photo by jainniec
Ok I actually wanted to make a quick post on a comment made recently that said basically “Isn’t Intermittent Fasting how Sumo wrestlers get huge belly fat?”. In a sense there are some common variables, but also there are many that are not. Actually by looking at the sumo wrestler we can see how NOT to do an IF (or ANY eating plan) routine, be seeing how they do things on purpose to gain fat.

So what is a Sumo wrestler’s goals? To get as big, strong and fat as possible (because there is no weight class and a larger wrestler has an advantage of course). Let’s look …

photo by SeraphimC
Congrats and well done to everyone that jumped in on the IF challenge (technically I think this is day 28 but let this be an early congrats then). I am hoping that everyone was able to make some great changes to their lifestyle and see some positive results. Remember, it’s not a contest…but a jumpstart into better lifestyle changes that will dramatically improve your health, increase your fat loss, build important muscle and best of all give you better understanding of how eating/foods effect you and how to control them to get the results you want!

Don’t worry if you didn’t jump in on this challenge, you can …

Our life is frittered away by detail… Simplify, simplify, simplify! … Simplicity of life and elevation of purpose…..I say let your affairs be as one, two, three and to a hundred or a thousand… We are happy in proportion to the things we can do without.- Henry David Thoreau
I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself. - Aldous Huxley
Going along with my “looking back” from the Trainer tells all posts part I and part II, I’m also going to go with another important aspect of my life …

Photo by Grufnik
Since the popularity of the original Trainer Tells All post, it’s inspired me to think some more and go into more detail about some things….the more I think….the more you have to read about it.

Working out with cardio type workout in the AM and more weights in the PM might more replicate our ancestral patterns. Such as waking up on an empty stomach, going on the hunt, walking, running after prey here and there. The longer the hunt, the more light snacking on whatever can be foraged such as nuts and berries (no meats available). Then the final battle, the hardest fought one to …

I’m sure we all know who Steve Jobs is and how successful he is, but do we really know the story behind the man? This is a video of his inspiring 2005 commencement speech at Stanford. As a person who always tries to listen to and follow their inner voice (no I am not losing my mind), I find his words to be so true. It’s one of the most inspirational talks I have ever heard and encourage everyone to set aside 15 minutes to listen. Some of my favorite quotes include:
Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. …

Note from Mike: Below is a guest post today from Rusty Moore of Fitness Black Book. I asked Rusty to write something up because as a trainer I can attest that the info he presents on his blog is accurate and very easy to understand. Rusty’s site focuses on the “Hollywood Look” (who doesn’t want to look like a Movie Star?), which is mainly about getting slim and defined instead of building excessive amounts of muscle. The article he wrote here is a way to get ripped abs without doing crunches and sit ups. As Rusty notes in his article, static holds are an effective way to build that six …

As we start the 3rd week for the IF challenge, I wanted to provide some more inspirational reading. Hope everyone is keeping up with the challenge and seeing great results one way or another (and if you are just coming to the blog, no worries…you can start your own 30day challenge right now and make changes to see what kind of results you can get). Some may have already seen this comment but I just wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to see how Dan has made tremendous progress. Great job Dan and hope this also inspires others as the “hardgainer” excuse just doesn’t cut it anymore…because there is always a way to get results if you do …

photo by pkripper

I was riding my mountain bike yesterday and all of the sudden it just came to me. I just started thinking about how many things I’ve learned through my own personal working out (since I was a kid and playing competitive sports) as well as being a trainer (since 1998). So today I just wanted to share some of the things this 36yr old has personally learned about all things health and fitness….in no certain order….

Pushups are the best upper body workout designed….no machine can replace that…you don’t need any equipment and you can do them anywhere.
It’s easy to become a certified trainer (as I have seen overweight people …

Well we are coming up on Week #2 end for the challenge and I hope everyone is making great progress. Now the big test, how do you do over the holiday weekend! (Did I time this perfectly or what! lol) Just remember, you can enjoy your holidays and your time with friends and still make good choices for eating. So as the weekend approaches take some time to go over what good stuff you have accomplished in the last 2 weeks, and start planning for the next 2.

Remember the rules to follow:

If you are not seeing results, then you can always change something up
Eat whole natural foods and avoid processed foods/sugar
Make your drinks non-sugar based (or better yet some water …