Sarah’s Blog

This weekend we have 3 days off here in Canada – Victoria Day on Monday.  Apparently this is the traditional plant-your-annuals weekend J I’ve always found that t6o be a waste of time, effort and money, since the darned plants don’t bloom again the following year but have to dug up and replaced. I may succumb this spring though, and get bulbs in the fall for spring flowers next spring and the years after as well!

What I will do this weekend, is have a kitchen spring cleaning. Even the most fitness minded of us somehow end up with some not-so-fit ingredients in the cabinets, especially after a long, cold winter. When these things are there, they tend to get eaten. Therefore, a razzia is in order (Italian for clean-it-all-out, be that crap food or human enemies J unfortunately, but in this case it’s not the humans I’m after, lol).

I’ll take the opportunity to wash the cabinets inside while everything is out on the counter too.

Same goes for the fridge. Nothing bad in there, but I had an “illumination” last week: seeing how the two little fruit/vegetable drawers are overflowing so that the next two shelves above them are full of produce falling over each other, and having a fairly good-sized plastic, lidded container in which smaller food containers were packed, I thought “hey, clean that thing out and see if it fits on the shelf, I can use it for the “floating” produce to keep it from falling all over the place” and yes, wash out the fridge too. Once in a while, it’s necessary.

I still wonder how come. Foods are wrapped or placed in containers, nothing leaks, yet the fridge gets stained and dirty inside. Cabinets too. I don’t have foods boiling over on the stove, yet the burners look like crap after a while. Why is that? Just a reminder for us to wash things down once a week (or more often if we have young kids)? I don’t know, but it does feel and look good when the kitchen is clean.

It also feels and looks good when we’re clean – on the inside that is. No sludge in the intestines and liver, no visceral or sub-cutaneous fat; just a lean, clean, healthy person living in a lean, clean, healthy house and leading a lean, clean, healthy life – sound like brainwashing? It is! It’s the technique used in commercials do to make you buy crap; us it (on) yourself to get lean, clean and healthy =D

I read an article on the N1H1 (or is it H1N1? Who cares) vs Franken Foods by Tom Venuto this morning, a little long, but good; and so true!  There’s a media scare about a flu virus which is milder than most “regular” flues, but not much said about trans fats; nothing mentioned about how “No TFA” (trans fatty acids) in red and bold on the front label is a blatant lie when you can read “Hydrogenated oils” in the ingredients list on the back! And not a word on all the diseases caused by the TFAs, a lot worse than a little flu!

To quote the list of diseases from Tom’s article:

TFA’s are not new news, but there have been new studies published this year on the dangers of TFA’s, two of them just in the last month. If you think swine flu is scary, consider the following facts from the latest research:

·         Four recent studies indicated 24, 20, 27 and 32% higher risk of myocardial infarction (MI) or CHD death for every 2% energy of TFA consumption isocalorically replacing carbohydrate, SFA, cis monounsaturated fatty acids and cis polyunsaturated fatty acids, respectively.

·         Even consumption of small amounts of TFA’s (2% of total energy intake) is consistently linked to coronary heart disease.

If heart disease isn’t enough, the research says that TFA’s will:

·         Increase belly fat (visceral fat) and body fat

·         Contribute to insulin resistance

·         Increase risk of type 2 diabetes

·         Adversely affect circulating lipid levels (increase bad LDL cholesterol)

·         trigger systemic inflammation

·         disrupt glucose-insulin homeostasis

·         cause metabolic dysfunction

·         Induce endothelial dysfunction

·         Adversely affect almost every cell in your body, including hepatocytes, adipocytes, macrophages and endothelial cells.

Still want to eat this crap?

My brother-in-law tried to give me some Cool Whip last night … last time he managed that – before I had a chance to see the ingredients! – I ended up with such a hangover from the trans crap in there that never again will I touch that or anything else with TFA or MSG for that matter – same reaction. Dehydration, head aches (as a result), feeling out of it and bloated for days while my body gets rid of the poisons …

This happens to everyone when they eat TFA and MSG, the trouble is, they’re so used to eating this stuff, they don’t realize that the crappy way they feel is due to the “food” they ate the day before. By cleaning up your diet, and then accidentally (or on purpose for the sake of the experiment) ingesting some TFA or MSG in a “normal” portion, you suddenly notice that feeling, notice the difference between the feeling after a clean meal and this.

Last time, I promised you I’d tell you about a few other books and things … and you know, it’s a perfect transition from the above. Knowing what to do is one thing, but how many of you (us) know why and how?

You’re wondering what I mean, right? Why? Of course you know why! Doesn’t everyone? Yes. And no. Most of us have never sat down and really thought about the real, deep why. I know, some say you can compare it to wanting to swim an ocean if it would save a family member – I find that a bit extreme, frankly there’s no one I’d take a bullet for or risk killing myself swimming an ocean for. But without going to such extremes, the idea of it will make you think.

What is your deepest reason why you want what you say you want? And, what is it you want exactly? Seriously, once you know the answers to these two questions, the “how” is a breeze! The answer to “how” will often present itself almost automatically without you even thinking about it or looking for it! No, really.

OK, but how do you go about finding this “why” thing? My favourite way, one I shook my head over and dismissed the first time but since have listened to several times and done the exercises of, is Jon Benson’s M-Power Series.  http://tinyurl.com/M-Powe-Series is a little pricy if you look at the $$, but if you think of what you get … a year of weekly audios that you of course can listen to as often as you like any time you like.

Some of the audios are “just” listening lessons; ideal for walks and driving in the car. Others – most – have exercises you need to do in order for the content to really sink in. All will benefit from a serious taking of notes; and listening to each audio twice is not as much a luxury as a necessity if you want to get as much information out of them as you can.

After three years of listening to these audios, I still come away with new knowledge, new “aha!” moments, new stuff I can apply to my everyday life.  I’m not pretending to “know it all”, far from it, but you can imagine how much I’ve read since I got into the Fitness Industry, and I can tell you that this audio series is if not the best, at least one of the top 3 best there is! (And I’m just saying that to cover my butt, to me it is the best, by far!)

You may be of those who think “I’m too old to bother, what’s the point at my age?” Right? Or you know someone who says this when you try to talk to them about getting healthy. I know I have a lot of them around me!

Two things – one, did they see this just-finished season of the Biggest Loser? The At-Home winner was 62 … so sick when he started that he collapsed in the gym! He beat everyone who had been eliminated – and if I’m not mistaken would have beaten the finalists too had he been one of them. The winning finalist was a 48-year old woman, a mom who was obese at the start of the season. Honestly, to me she looked too skinny at the finale, but I’m sure she’ll put a little muscle and even a little fat back on to look better, just dropped as low as she could for the victory.

My point is, age has nothing to do with anything! Check out http://tinyurl.com/Fit-O-40 and look at the photos of the role models, read their stories, take heart. If they could turn their lives around, so can you! Dammit, I feel like kicking some butts sometimes! When I hear ridiculous statements like “our metabolism slows with age” or “we lose muscle mass as we age so it turns to fat” or any other stupidity along the same lines … I see red!

Age does not make you weak or fat! You do!

You read that right. Train for crying out loud. Use your body. Fuel it right. Read Fit Over 40, listen to M-Power, check the links from last week on 7 Minute Muscle and Every Other Day Diet. There is nothing about these books that suggests any hocus-pocus or sorcerer had anything to do with the making of these books and audios, in fact they are all made by a “former fatty” as he calls himself. Who better to guide you to a leaner body than a guy who’s done it himself and made all the trial-and-errors for you?

OK, you don’t have to switch screens to last week’s post, I’ll give you the links right here, ok?

http://tinyurl.com/7MinMuscl     

http://tinyurl.com/myEODD  

http://tinyurl.com/Fit-O-40         

http://tinyurl.com/M-Power-Series

And I’ll add for good measure:

http://tinyurl.com/low-pressr-sex

http://tinyurl.com/natu-pause   

 http://tinyurl.com/1-RepFitness

On blood pressure management  and hormonal balance, as well as an alternative training protocol to the 7 Minute Muscle one.

As a final message today:

To all Norwegian readers – Happy 17^th of May tomorrow!!

We all slip. We have in the past and we will again. Look, even the pros do, finding themselves in life situations that takes away (some of) their focus temporarily.

Here’s the key word: temporarily!

All too often, we non-pro athletes get discouraged, give up even; just because we slipped up for a given reason. I used to, and ended up at 205 lbs!

I don’t anymore. I react, switch gears, take the closest and shortest way back to the road leading to my goal.

That’s what happened in February. I had the road mapped out and was packed (1RF in hand) and ready to go. Almost immediately, I hit a bump in the road, actually more of a pot-hole! Flu. I didn’t have any significant fever for more than a day, but was weak and sluggish for 2-3 days.

A stuffy nose does nothing to give you any sensation of taste of you foods, which – stupidly – led me to seeking foods I remembered had taste (i.e. pizza, burgers, etc). The sad thing was that I couldn’t taste even that; but worse, this junk went directly to some fat cells I’d just cleaned out!

I trudged along on my pot-holed road, with 1RF doing its damndest to help, but finally decided it was time for something more drastic. A deviation. A 3-week Radical Fat Loss deviation, leading back to my 1RF road! 1repfitness.com/aff/FitnessFor 

1RF, just so it’s 100% clear, has not disappointed, not in the least. And I am not getting off, just taking a fat loss deviation for 3 weeks, then coming back to do phase 3 of 1RF in a better mind set and with less bodyfat to weigh me down (mentally as well as physically).

You will therefore get a double for the next 2 weeks: the result of my “deviation” and the final verdict on 1RF (but I’m sold on that, in fact I’ve already scheduled a re-run in September after spending the summer on 7MM).

A quick note on this Radical Fat Loss Blueprint deviation.

If anyone came to me with a wild plan promising a 21-pound fat loss in 21 days; I’d tell them where to take their plan. The thing was, the person with this plan isn’t “anyone”, it’s one of a select number of trainers I trust. Jon Benson is crazy yes, but not so crazy he’ll sell you a health risk.

In fact, he won’t even let you have Radical Fat Loss Blueprint unless you have a lifestyle plan to go to after the 3 weeks! That’s sane for a guy I just called crazy (smiling here, Jon) and you can basically only get a copy if you own (or get here and now) his Every Other Day Diet http://www.everyotherdaydiet.com/aff/FitnessFor   (which incidentally, I have been using for over a year and can’t see not using for the rest of my days, it’s that good!) or prove that you own another good, sound and life-long nutrition program.

I could use the 1RF nutrition plan for example, or any of the other ones we give you access to on www.atozfitness.com , but you must have a plan for the after Radical-weeks.

RFLB (Radical Fat Loss Blueprint) is limited in time and only to be used for a maximum of 4 times a year. OK, there should be a warning triangle on the front page of the pdf, J kidding, it’s safe when it’s done the proper way, for the prescribed time, and with the necessary supplements. Jon even decided that he wasn’t letting anyone do the program or buying the supplements without completing a Certification course on his web site!

No direct information on how the RFLB goes or even went until May, as there is an on-going competition and of course, I don’t want to have the other competitors know where I am so they can more easily beat me.

Conclusion: my 12-week 1RF-journey gets a 3-week RFLB deviation which will get me back to the “main road” which is the 1RF-track. Life is unpredictable. We just have to deal with it and adapt our strategy. Giving up is never an option! (The word is deleted from my vocabulary, as is the word “problem”).

Have a great week!

PS. Note that AtoZ Fitness’ Total Body Makeover is being liquidated this month – you can still grab a copy at half price with all the bonuses (and a few new ones thrown in as well) right here: www.atoztoptrainer.com

The idea of 1RF 1repfitness.com/aff/FitnessFor is great, giving you access to one week at a time, four weeks of nutrition, no skipping ahead, you simply have to follow the plan as it was meant to be used!

There is of course the fact that almost every exercise in the program calls for a machine you have to be a gym member to have access to, but it IS possible to use substitution exercises to be able to do this program at home. Remember, there are only solutions, not problems!

For instance, like I told you last week, I have had to change the hack squat to a ball squat – the closest alternative I could think of; using ball leg cur.ls for a lack of leg cur.l machine; entirely skipped the leg extension – no machine, and there’s a limit to how many squats and lunges I can do, but I substituted for a lighter-weight Db squat, keeping the Bb squat as the 1-rep exercise.

For the glutes, abductors and adductors, I switched to the low-pulley cable on my lat-tower since I don’t have the specific machines. Works just fine, I get as sore as if I was using the gym machines!

Seriously, the workouts are challenging, tough, and totally worth the price of the program just by themselves! I recommend 1 Rep Fitness to anyone who likes to have fun challenging themselves in the gym.  1repfitness.com/aff/FitnessFor 

This past week, I had to switch workout days from Tuesday to Monday because we were invited to my in-laws Tuesday night. In fact, I will be doing Monday-Wednesday-Saturday training from now on – personal reasons. Our home gym has one set of selectable Dbs (PowerBlocks), one bench, a few weight bars and a lot of weight plates, one lat tower, two Swiss balls. If Lewis and I train at the same time, we either end up waiting for the equipment, or hitting eachother with the Dbs/Bb – not the ideal scenario for a workout. Since he’s not home Monday nights, I have the gym to myself; also, bu starting his week on a Sunday, he finds it easier to keep going the rest of the week. Guess it’s another example of how you can (habe to) be flexible and make sure you get

Getting the nutrition mapped out without having to calculate – just weigh/ measure up the given quantities of selected foods – is a time saver and makes meal preparation super easy.

I am ready with phase 2, starting tomorrow. More news in a week!

PS. I’ve seen the “blueprint” of an absolutely gorgeous dress, one shoulder covered the other not, draped across the bodice, skirt flowing below the drapings … I will wear that, in a size S, when it hits the stores. Probably in 12 weeks max, which co-insides with Lewis’ birthday. And yes, there will be a photo right here!

It’s utterly crazy how weak you can get from a tiny little organism invading yours.  You feel weak, out of “whack”, unable to do the simplest things you usually don’t think twice about doing …

I missed one workout on the Thursday I was hit with fever; and the following Sunday I felt too weak to lift even 10 lbs, so I rested. However, I only missed one workout total, because I changed my Day 1 workout from that Sunday to the following Tuesday, thus setting the last day on this program to May 3^rd rather than April 30^th. In the long run, this is not a big deal, and it’s kept me in the gym and pretty much on track in spite of the flu.

The only things I noticed was that I had to reduce my weight loads, and cut the cardio due to the coughing. On some exercises I found that I could only manage half the weight I used the week before I got sick! Yikes, right? But I left my ego at the door and concentrated on the movement, on the muscle-mind connection, and the intensity of the workout. Believe me, I got the sore feeling 24 hours later anyway!

Starting Monday (tomorrow) I’ll be in the gym at 4:50 am for 20-30 minutes of cardio 5 days a week before going to work, and keeping the Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday weight training days.

1repfitness.com/aff/FitnessFor 

Cardio was simply not really an option this week. Sure, I could have gone on the stair stepper and done a minute, stopped for a minute to cough my lungs out (or so it seemed), back on the machine for a little while, off to cough, etc; but frankly this seemed pretty counterproductive to any training logic, so I decided to simply skip cardio for a week!

Weights were no problem, I was able to push, pull, yank and press without getting those spells of coughing – albeit with the lower loads!

If anything, this shows that you have to be flexible. You cannot give up and quit just because some small germ decides to attack you. Sure, I could have said “OK, I’m only in week 2, I’ll quit, get over this flu thing, and start over afterwards.” Would this have been optimal? I don’t believe so.

By moving my workout Day 1 from Sunday to Tuesday, I “bought” myself two extra days of rest. By lowering the loads, I was able to keep going to the gym and training, keeping my body moving, my muscles working, the germs frustrated that they were being ignored (yes, I believe they do dislike my ignoring them and thus clear out faster, lol – it may be wishful thinking, but the powers of suggestion …). Of course, having the gym in-house and not risking contaminating others or getting those ugly looks of “how dare you come here spreading your germs?!” helped a lot.

You can still adapt your workout by using bodyweight exercises if it’s just to keep moving for a week before you go back to the commercial gym, it’s better than not doing anything at all.

1repfitness.com/aff/FitnessFor 

I have no leg c.url machine – I do Swiss ball leg c.urls. I’m hopeless at hanging leg raises because my grip gives out way before my abs even start feeling anything, so I do lying leg raises. Gluteus-machine and abductor/adductor machine I don’t have either, the low-pulley on the lat tower gets me through these exercises as well. There is always a way, if you want to find it!

Last night we felt well enough to be able to go out and actually enjoy a meal at a restaurant – last week we didn’t even make our usual lean, grilled sirloin, knowing we’d not be able to taste it at all. We were “bad” J ending the otherwise reasonable meal with a chocolate mousse!

I surprised myself though; I was unable to finish it! I was not just a couch potato, I was also a chocoholic; and for me to leave half of my chocolate mousse … I feel cured! It was preceded by a Caesar salad, and a grilled chicken breast topped with a slice of goat cheese (also grilled) accompanied by grilled vegetables – and a couple of tablespoons of homemade mashed potatoes.

Next week, the treat meal is going to be that grilled sirloin we didn’t have last week, with garlic, mushrooms and salad. The next meal out is not till the following week – make the treats different, and of better quality by spacing them out a little more.

Right now, I’m off to do Day 3 week 3, Tuesday will be the first day of the fourth week, and yes, I am curious about phase 2! You’ll have to wait 2 weeks to see me write about that though – next update will be on the end of phase 1.

1repfitness.com/aff/FitnessFor 

Have a great week!

Reading the pdf for 1 Rep Fitness 1repfitness.com/aff/FitnessFor   I knew I wanted to do Fabrice Rinaldi’s program. Doing workout nr one on Sunday, I was convinced that this was the right decision. Having completed week one, I can honestly say that I haven’t had this many muscles as sore as this and at the same time, for a long time J hey, even my abs were sore for 3 days! (they never are!)

The workouts are intense, concentration is a must. I have the stereo on in the gym but frankly, I don’t even hear what’s playing. I am too much in a mind-muscle connection to hear anything outside of that. That’s of course also why I’m getting more sore than usual.

Just a word on the abs exercises. There are many versions of crunches – floor, ball, reverse, weighted with the weight on your chest, weighted holding the weight at arms’ length above your face – I’d tried all of these. However, with 1RF’s 25 crunches at a shot, I found my neck was getting tired and took away the concentration from the abs. Holding a hand behind my head to help support it was one solution, but then I had an illumination: I placed the weight plate behind my head, resting on it but of course using the abs-contraction to lift my upper body, not my arms!

This version not only eases the stress on the relatively small neck muscles, I found it to be much harder on the abs! Followed by the second abs exercise, it would really have been more strange had I still not felt any soreness.

1repfitness.com/aff/FitnessFor 

I trained last Sunday before lunch, then on Tuesday and Thursday between getting home from work and supper. Thursday I even stopped at a couple of shops on the way home, and I had a splitting head-ache. I still went, telling myself that allowing one excuse to keep me out of the gym would snow-ball into more skipped workouts. The funny thing was, after that workout and shower, the head-ache was gone, and I felt more alert and awake than I had going in.

The few muscles that didn’t get sore, still feel very much tighter than they did the previous week. Those that did get sore and got over it are certainly tighter as well.

I am keeping to a Monday morning official weigh-in and calliper bodyfat test to ensure that I stay on track over the weekend, but I do keep an eye on the scales during the week. There hasn’t been any significant weight change this week, but I haven’t checked the callipers (them I only check on Mondays). Watch for the update next Saturday.

I am awaiting the instructions for the coming week by e-mail today, maybe cutting it a little short since I need to know what I’m doing tomorrow. I would have preferred having the instructions last night so that I had the whole day today to prepare myself for the Sunday workout that I do as early in the day as I can so as to liberate the rest of the day for other activities. As long as I have the instructions by lunch I’ll be ok though.

In the mean time, I suggest you check out 1 Rep Fitness 1repfitness.com/aff/FitnessFor   and join the fun!

Sarah, CPT

PS: this program is for serious trainees only, you will be stepping out of your comfort zone several times!

1repfitness.com/aff/FitnessFor 

Wow. 1 Rep Fitness looked challenging and fun on paper.

I just completed the training for Day 1 using the second alternative which is a 3-day split program, and I can tell you – it’s even more challenging and fun in real life than it looked on paper!

Tough, yes. I know I’ll have sore glutes tomorrow as well as quads – for the first day at my new job, that’ll be fun – probably sore pecs too, and the delts by the feel of them now; abs …doubtful, I never get sore abs, but I’ll keep training them anyway – looking into maybe getting sling straps to help with the hanging leg raises as it’s not the abs that stop my reps there, it’s my grip! For now though, I’m “stuck” with seated knee raises or lying leg raises.

I decided on the 3-day split program, doing it on Sunday morning and Tuesday and Thursday evenings so that I only have two workouts at the end of a 10-hour work-day (commute included). On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I will, if needed, add 20 minutes of cardio before breakfast.

I am very much in favour of doing no more cardio than is needed to get results.

The 1 Rep Fitness 1repfitness.com/aff/FitnessFor  meal plan is simple. I went to the link, plugged in the information, and instantly received the correct amount I need of each food listed for these first 4 weeks.

The menus are also easy to use, as I get just the ingredients listed, and am free to do as I please to prepare the foods. I can grill, bake, steam, make salads, add herb and spices (nothing else) and just enjoy. With 5 menu-choices per meal, it could really not be any simpler.

Of course, I’m also in favour of the “simplify, simplify, simplify” idea (ever watched “Earth Star Voyager”?) and therefore decided on one menu per meal for the duration of this first month. I’ll only change the tastes with herbs and spices to keep it from being boring.

Oh, and for those who count calories, I worked it out for me for the first week based on the list I was given, and it’s close enough to what I need to burn fat, no need to recalculate anything, just weigh, cook/prepare, and eat.

First day, first impressions:

1 – this was as fun as I figured it would be, and then some!

2 – this is not for wimps – not if you use the correct weight load!

You should check this program 1repfitness.com/aff/FitnessFor  if you want to have fun, do something different, change up your routine, get the pulse going and stay motivated throughout the workout, and -I’m certain – get results at the end!

I will be giving you weekly updates on my own 1 Rep Fitness Journey right here, with update-photos and stats every 4 weeks. Every 4 weeks, because 1repfitness.com/aff/FitnessFor  is divided into 3 phases of 4 weeks each. I have no clue at this point, what’s coming next – I don’t even know what my workout will be next week! That information will be e-mailed to me towards the end of this week. No cheating, no skipping ahead, no getting impatient – I have to follow the scheduled plan!

Oh yes, one little thing: no treat this week. That’s right, 1 Rep Fitness does not allow a treat of any kind the first week! Well, that’s why I didn’t start last week – had to have my birthday cake this weekend! There’s another birthday this coming Friday as well, but I can skip that cake, it’s not mine!

OK guys, what are you waiting for? Click on 1repfitness.com/aff/FitnessFor  and get started! It’s only February, start now and you’ll have completed this program by early May, plenty of time before the pools open and beaches beckon (ok, depending on where you live of course). There’s a training program for men and one for women – and for once, it makes sense to have a different one for us. Seriously!

One more time: 1repfitness.com/aff/FitnessFor 

Now click!

Sarah, CPT

www.trainwithsarah.com

That’s 36 pounds gone at the average rate of 3.6 lbs per month. The reason for this “low” average, hitting a plateau a few times.

The weight I discarded, was all excess bodyfat. A little water retention too, but for the most part, it was all fat.

If you want to know how I did it; if you want to do the same thing yourself this coming year; read on.

It all started in February 2008 when Jon Benson released his Every Other Day Diet e-book and sent me a copy to review http://www.everyotherdaydiet.com/aff/FitnessFor  This link now takes you to the second edition of this amazing nutrition book. It may have the word “diet” in it, but unlike the traditional diet you eventually have to give up, this is a total lifestyle plan for the reader to use forever.

Simultaneously, almost, I was all but goaded into joining a training program challenge. Well, why not? I needed a training program to go along with the Every Other Day Diet plan (EODD for short) so I joined. Incidentally, I didn’t win, never mind, because 12 weeks later, I’d dropped over 24 pounds of fat. Between this meal plan and a decent training program, I was in fairly decent bikini-shape. I could at least wear one without looking too bad!

I “maintained” over the summer vacation, staying with the EODD plan because it was easy to do, a real no-brainer. No counting calories, no weighing the food, no measuring, no calculating macro-nutrient ratios (you know, percentages of protein, carbs and fats); it’s just all worked into the plan so you don’t have to wonder or worry, you just know you’re doing this right.

We had friends over for grill-parties, went to their place for grill-parties, there were desserts, there were restaurant visits, family gatherings, even two trips out of town for 4-day weekends staying with friends. Yet my weight stayed stable, because I knew how to manage the foods tanks to EODD.  How many people bring their kitchen scales to the table to weigh the food – be it at friends’ or at a restaurant? With EODD http://www.everyotherdaydiet.com/aff/FitnessFor  you don’t have to, and you still know you’re eating the right amount. It’s a great plan, a fantastic system!

Skip on ahead to about mid-summer. Jon Benson now comes out with a short-and-sweet training program. 7 Minute Muscle 7minutemuscle.com/aff/FitnessFor is literally 7 minutes of muscle training daily, 5 days a week. Followed by 9 minutes of cardio, you’re in and out of the gym before most people have left the locker room going in! Yes, you get strange looks, you see a few snickers, you know they all think you’re an idiot who has no clue what you’re doing. But a few months down the line, those smirks and head-shakes turn to wonder as these same people see the changes in your body – while theirs stay the same, because they’re doing the same thing they’ve always done.

7minutemuscle.com/aff/FitnessFor is great. Frankly, this is one routine I will cycle throughout the year – I’m tempted to say forever.  If you have a minimal set-up in your home (selectable dumbbells and a bench or exercise ball, and a cardio machine) you can get your workout done before you start your day! True, everyone says not to train on an empty stomach, but there are exceptions to every rule, and this is also explained in this e-book. What could be better than this scenario:

You get up, grab a coffee and some amino acid capsules, then hit the gym (even if that’s in your bedroom or living room or garage, it’s still the gym). 7 minutes of concentrated muscle training followed by 9 minutes of cardio while drinking a liter of cold water and you’re done. You now head for the shower, get ready as usual, grab your shake on the way out the door, and have breakfast on your way to work. When you get there, you’re alert, awake, ready to tackle whatever the boss throws your way. And your co-workers are sitting there, bleary-eyed, drinking their third cup of coffee to try to come alive, hating you for being so chirpy and energetic; wondering how they’ll have the energy to go the gym after work – if they even have a gym to go to.  All because of 7minutemuscle.com/aff/FitnessFor

Now, this of course just got me onto a new training program; which was good because the previous one had become “old” by then. You should always switch programs, to keep your mind interested and your muscles wondering what’s going on. Depending on how long you’ve been training, you can switch programs every 8 to 12 weeks, taking a week off (meaning out of the gym, but not moving in at McD’s) between programs.

Jon launches a new version of EODD. The EODD 2.0 SNAPP!  which is, well it’s a snap to follow.  It’s meant to be simpler to use than the original EODD http://www.everyotherdaydiet.com/aff/FitnessFor  At the same time, he decides to do a challenge, using EODD SNAPP! as the base. Not only are the participants going to use the SNAPP! program to shed their fat, but they are invited to change whatever they feel they need to in order for the plan to fit in with their lifestyle, and then write about their changes in the final entry.

This was my entry-photo, at 149.8 lbs and about 21.5% bodyfat. Because yes, I entered the challenge, along with others.  Frankly, I think I was a little “nice” to myself with regards to that bodyfat test, so it was probably a higher percentage, closer to 25 or 26%; but my official entry number was 21.5%

There are trics to use to get to the point you want to reach, to your goal. One of these trics, is to find a photo of a person whose body looks close to what you want yours to look like. You then cut this person’s head off and paste your own in its’ place. Your mind sees you, as a whole. It doesn’t see the little line where the scissors cut, the slight difference in skin-tone; it sees a slim, lean, tight, muscular body with your face on top and deduces that this is in fact you.

It will then do whatever it has to do in order to get your mirror image to look like the photo. Of course, you still won’t be able to eat any junk you find lying around, but your subconscious mind won’t want you to, it sees the doctored photo of you and knows you won’t get to that if you eat the junk; the temptation is reduced. You resist. The next day your weight is down a little more. You know the fact that you resisted is the cause of this, and next time it’s even easier to resist, until these junk things are no longer tempting – or at least, fewer are and not to the same degree.

I Googled a round for “fitness models” and found one who is the same height as me, started at the same weight I initially started from, and has reached the goal I’ve set for myself. Tracey Hartley’s body soon decorated my bathroom mirrir and my desk, with my head pasted on top! If you comparethe two photos (me above and the next doctored photo below) then the final photo of me today, you’ll be able to judge for yourself if this is a tactic that works or not. 

I still found that even with the EODD SNAPP! http://www.everyotherdaydiet.com/aff/FitnessFor   and knowing what to eat and leave out, even with this photo, I still had some issues at family dinners once a week. I devised another ruse!

My cell-phone would send me a message shortly before meal time, reminding me of my goal – 136lbs/15% fat and the date, 01.30.09. I would decide what to eat that supper, what to leave well enough alone, and this, combined with the message from my phone (i.e. me) and the knowledge from the e-book, kept me on track many a week. There were slip-ups, of course. I have a hard time resisting a homemade lemon meringue pie, so if that’s on the menu …

Overall, there were no hassles, no problems, no hunger, no frustration, just a plateau before this challenge and one during. The first one I got help (from Jon) breaking, the second I smashed through on my own.

I know this is a very long post, but bear with me. I don’t just want to share the journey with you, in a short, summarized way, but maybe even more the feeling I have now it’s over.

First of all, three days before the deadline, Jon informed me that the challenge was a fiasco because of “issues” promising details later. In other words, there was no more challenge, I’d done it all for naught.  Well, as far as being the potential winner and getting some money to buy a new wardrobe anyway – a necessity, as almost nothing fits anymore, my old clothes all but fall off me!

I did feel a little “deflated” at first, like a sailboat with the wind died down to nothing, stranded in the middle of nowhere. But then I thought “hey, I won!” And I did. I have no idea how many entered this challenge, nor how they fared on their journey, but I know that I won.  I won a victory I’d have won regardless of whether the challenge had gone to the end and someone else took first place.

I won, because I defeated the odds. I’m female (we lose more slowly than the guys), I’m 50 in a week (age is a favourite excuse used by too many), I’ve had two kids (another excuse), I was obese (205 lbs 46% fat at the worst!), yet here I was, a winner:

I won, because I can literally feel my organs being lighter (in weight) from not having a casing of fat around them, my bowels are lighter because there’s no build-up from junk food that can’t get out because soft-drink don’t hydrate the way water does; my clothes are literally falling off me, and that includes underwear, and I’ve dropped a shoe-size! I know, that made Jon laugh when I said it, but it’s true. The better circulation in my body, including my legs, has taken away the swollen feet that I had to get one, or even two, sizes shoes larger than before to be able to wear. Summers were spent in flip-flops because I couldn’t squeeze my feet  - mainly the left – into even a light sandal!  I can now even fit into zip-up knee-high winter boots that aren’t too large at the foot just to get the calf in!

I lost however, in the sense that I now have some expenses ahead of me to renew all my clothes! But hey, that’s price I’m happy to pay! Especially since it’s almost the end-of-season sales, and jeans are jeans regardless of seasons, T-shirts and cute tops are short-sleeved even in winter, underwear has no season, and shoes? Well, I never threw out the smaller sizes I grew out of, so I’m good there too!

The combination of EODD   http://www.everyotherdaydiet.com/aff/FitnessFor and 7 MM 7minutemuscle.com/aff/FitnessFor is one I will keep as I said at the start, probably forever. The only variation will be one or maybe two other workout programs to interject, making my year alternate between 12 weeks of 7minutemuscle.com/aff/FitnessFor one week rest, 12 weeks of something else, one week off, 12 new weeks of 7 Minute Muscle, one week off, and the last 12 weeks either the same as the second, or different thing altogether. But always with EODD.

I will use 7 Minute Muscle in the dead of winter when the dark evenings don’t inspire me to go to my gym after work, and in summer to coincide with my vacation. I’ll also make darned sure to have a 12-week program span the Holiday Season. It’s a great way to stay on track. A week off at this time of the year can throw you off course seriously, making it hard to come back afterwards, mentally more so than physically.

Check these two programs out for yourself, they are super simple to use, it does take a personal effort to stick to it and you have to focus, not neglect to write down your goals and read them daily, but with these two tools, you are set up for success.

My 50^th birthday is in a short week, and I will be at 15% bodyfat that day. That’s a promise!

Here are those pictures again, just to remind you that it CAN be done …

… with “just” EODD 2.0 SNAPP!  http://www.everyotherdaydiet.com/aff/FitnessFor , 7 Minute Muscle 7minutemuscle.com/aff/FitnessFor and in less than one year!

Sarah, CPT

www.trainwithsarah.com

What is that? What am I talking about? Painting maybe? Nah …

Frankly, that was my initial reaction too. I was part of an 8-hour interview marathon that Jon Benson did a few months back, and out of the blue he asked me what I thought of skin brushing. Sorry, I’d never even heard of it until he asked me that, so I obviously had no opinion at all.

Once the call was over, I started looking for some information though, being inquisitive; and I found a site or two explaining that you needed a brush with natural bristles, that you should brush in counter-clock-wise circular movements with the dry brush, starting at the ankles and up to the shoulders, that the exception was the stomach area where you use clock-wise movements. Of course, you follow this brushing by a shower; because the dead skin-cells are loosened by the brushing and you look pretty white and flaky as a result.

My problem was that I couldn’t locate a brush with natural bristles! I had never thought this would be a problem, figuring a pharmacy or a beauty-store would surely carry a few each, right? Wrong. The only thing I found with natural bristles was – get this – a nail-brush! Nice, but a tad small to use on the entire body, I got nothing out of that at all.

As I mentioned this on a forum two weeks ago, another member said to look at “The Body Shop” because they have natural bristles brushes. Internet search for store locations found me one 20 minutes away (by car) which wasn’t too bad but I had to wait for a weekend to have a car available to go there. The Body Shop had long-handled back-scrubber brushes with natural bristles – cactus fibre actually – but that long handle would be in the way, so I kept looking and found a round brush called … “Round Body Brush” (duh J).

The instructions on the label that was hanging from this brush said, among other things: “A daily once-over will help get your circulation pumping, your skin glowing and your toxins looking for the nearest exit.” because, toxins are also eliminated through the skin, not just the lungs, kidneys and liver (etc). The skin is our largest organ after all, and many people totally neglect it – other than maybe the face, neck and hands, and some sunscreen all over in summer.

One reason this practice was even mentioned in the interview, was in connection with how much and how fast the skin tightens when you drop larger amounts of bodyfat. This is a concern for many fat or obese people who successfully change their lifestyles and burn and discard excess fat. “Will/ when will my skin look tight again?” is a question I get regularly. It’s a question that has been on my mind a few times as well to be honest with you (and I am, right!?)

I mentioned this to a couple of fitness ladies, who both said that no, skin brushing won’t magically tighten the skin; but yes it can help. Help, because it gets the circulation and toxin elimination going! Here is what Leigh Peele told me:

As you lose fat it is the worse time for your skin. Fat cells are stored right underneath. They are always there, they will always be there.

However they were filled and now, they are not.

What is left is a void. Over time this void "closes" if you will but not before it gets saggy or filled with water. You can store 5 pound of water easy in your fat cells and never see a change in scale or the way you look. There is where, to some degree, the hinky shit can come in.

For example, brushing. Brushing stimulates cell regrowth on the extra cellular part of the skin and is helpful for drawing water out and can be taken in through osmosis. Will it cause you to lose fat or rid yourself of "cellulite" no. Will it help your skin feel a little tight, yeah a little bit.

Time and lifting are skins best friend after fat loss. However, little things like that can help.

Leigh Peele

Avidity Fitness

You have seen what I said about Leigh’s program here on my blog, right? If you missed it, go to http://www.atozfitness.com/sarahsblog/fat-loss-trouble-shoot-reviewed/

OK, so here I am with this brand new, round brush with natural bristles and a wood base. Pretty, in a simple, natural-looking way. Monday, I used it first thing in the morning. It’s a little rough on the skin, but flaked off more dead skin cells than I thought I had J. From there I jumped in the shower using a shower-gel from Yves Rocher with monoi-oil which both smells nice and does a lot of good for the skin – it’s an oil from Polynesia, and we all envy the “vahinés” their glowing skin and beautiful hair, so I use and abuse of this oil whenever I can.  As I dried off, I was surprised to note how silky smooth my skin felt, more so than after a shower with no skin brushing preceding it. A really nice feeling.

Of course, two days of skin brushing won’t tell me how much this helps or not as far as tightening the skin after fat-burning, but even if it doesn’t do it directly, it probably will help in the overall “snapping” of the skin back to a size that fits the lean(er) body, and it’s certainly good for helping the skin clear away toxins. Is it my imagination, or does my stomach seem a tad … if not tighter, shall I say less “un-tight”? Believing is seeing, which will also help the process of course.

Back-brushing? Well, it’s a lot easier if you have someone do that part of your anatomy, but if you’re alone just twist and stretch to get as much of your back covered as you can.

I, for one, am convinced after just 2 days, that this is something that’s very much worth the few extra minutes added to my morning routine, and I urge you all to at least give it a go for a week. I’m sure you’ll stick with it after that J The price of my brush, in Canadian $, was around 15,- with the taxes.

Sarah, CPT

www.trainwithsarah.com

(PS, my prices for on-line training will go up shortly, you can still get my help at the old price if you act fast!

Just got this message from Jason Ferruggia from Muscle Gaining Secrets and wanted to share it with my subscribers as I have never before seen him discount his product so for those of you that were on the wire check this out.

Sarah,

If you have been following me for any amount of time you know that I rarely ever hold sales. However, once a year, I do have a sale in honor of one of my all time heroes and role models, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King has been a huge influence in my life and has affected me in a great number of ways. I still remember when I was going to school in Arizona, marching in protest of the state refusing to acknowledge Martin Luther King day as a holiday; all the while cranking “By the Time I Get to Arizona” by Public Enemy.

For as long as I can remember, injustice of any kind has caused my blood to boil and I have always looked up to Dr. King and admired what he did for this country.

In his honor, from now until Midnight tomorrow (Tuesday 1/20/09) Muscle Gaining Secrets

This will be the only time you will ever be able to get this incredible muscle building, life changing system at such an incredibly low rate.

Don’t miss this opportunity. Once the clock strikes midnight tomorrow, the price goes back to normal and won’t be coming down any time soon.

Make 2009 the best year of your life and start changing your physique and your life today by clicking here:

http://www.MuscleGainingSecrets.com

Sincerely,
Sarah
Co-Publisher – AtoZfitness Total Body Makeover – with Lewis Wolk

And no, that’s not a typo. It’s literally a snap to follow, and spelled with two P’s for a reason.

I’ve told you about Jon Benson’s Every Other Day Diet (EODD) before, and both Lewis and I have been using the easy-to-follow principles for months now. What is it, half a year or more? Now, Jon Benson didn’t just sit back and relax, happy to have shared his EODD with everyone. No, he sat down and worked some more.

The result is the new, revised EODD 2.0 which is so radically different from the original version that we’re almost talking about two different books and plans altogether. In this version, you even find out what Jon himself eats in a day; and when you see a picture of this lean and muscular former fatty (his words), you just know that it’s within reach for everyone to get to the degree of leanness we want.

Of course, everyone will not want that much muscle, nor to be that lean; we all have different ideals, different ideas of what we want to look like, different motivations. However, using the EODD 2.0 SNAPP principles, absolutely anyone can get to their personal ideal.

EODD 1 had 3 nutrition plans. EODD 2.0 has 5 (or is it 6?) plans. There is obviously one that will fit you and your lifestyle perfectly.  I will be opting for the Lifestyle Plan 2 or the Ultimate Plan for my “off” season, and the Extreme Plan for when I want to get to the leanest I’d like to be.  But that’s me, and I’ve already been on the original Extreme Plan, as well as followed other body-building nutrition plans before that. For someone starting out, or not having as lean motivations, the Primer Plan and Lifestyle Plan 1 are a great place to start and get to.

There are many new twists to the EODD 2.0, surprises, “is he serious?”-moments, but ultimately it all makes sense and will help you achieve your goals

This version also has a recipe section.  Of course, I haven’t had a chance to try any of them yet, having just received the book a few days ago, but there are several I’ll certainly be making in the next few weeks.

Using the EODD 2.0 in connection with Jon’s 7 Minute Muscle (7MM) will give me the most “bang for my bucks” both at the supermarket and the gym.  They were designed to work in tandem, but you can just as easily use one or the other independently.

Incidentally, EODD in its original version is no longer available, there is no point looking for it … but I highly recommend the EODD 2.0 as a worthy replacement! You don’t have your copy yet? What are you waiting for? Go to www.myeveryotherdaydiet.com and get one! 

Sarah