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Welcome, Blog Reader!

You may be on a quest for some good fitness sites, training advice, nutrition ideas; and stumbled across my blog. Why should you keep reading or listen to any of my advice? Let me introduce myself; that might help you decide that I actually have a clue as to what I’m talking about.

I was not one of those physically active kids growing up being a member of the local sports team or cheering when the teacher announced the gym-class as we wrote down the planners on the first day back at school. Reading was my thing, I had a very large library of all sorts of books, and my physical activity consisted of walking to and from school, to and from friends’ houses, and the one or two hours of gym we had to have as a part of the school program.

Yet I was fit and of “normal weight”, not even really chubby once I came into my teens; thanks to my mother’s naturally healthy cooking and portions. We never thought about either ingredients or portion control, but thinking back I know it was always pretty much right on the button.

However, as with a lot of people, life started happening. Upheavals, kids, break-ups, mental stress, even a depression, and as a result of it all, obesity. It may be hard to believe looking at me today, but I was obese 4 years ago, 93 kilos (or 205 lbs if you insist) and a whopping 46% bodyfat!

My scales said 46% - almost half of me was FAT? In total denial, I threw the scales in the trash J but that didn’t alter the fact that I had half my weight as yellow, disgusting, squishy, wobbly fat that wouldn’t fit into any clothes in normal stores!

To top it off, I found myself owner/manager of a gym. In that state, I wasn’t exactly very credible. It prompted me to looking for a program which would help me get in shape, and I did it. I inspired the members of my gym by dropping down to 68 kilos within 6 months (that’s 150 lbs by the way), they’d see me walking in the early morning as they headed for their commutes, and see me at the gym in the evening when they came to train. I know I helped many stay on track, and decided I’d get certified as a personal trainer - which I did.

I receive numerous programs and e-books through my association with www.atozfitness.com which is run by my husband, Lewis Wolk, and only those I feel are good enough, with sound and healthy approach, and that people can actually follow for the full extent of time; make it to our sites (blogs and main site).

In addition, I follow most of these programs myself, and tell you about how they feel in this blog; show you how I do, tell you what’s my challenge with them, which I prefer, which ones I enjoy enough to make them a part of my yearly cycle - and those I don’t like, well I’ll also tell you why I don’t. It could be that a great program just clashes with my personality but will be perfect for you.

Here is picture proof that I was obese and am now lean - not at my final goal yet, but I doubt I ever will be J goals have a way of changing as you reach them!

2006 - 93 kilos (205 lbs) and 46% bodyfat - I felt elegant that day

 

2008 - 63 kilos (139 lbs) and 17.5% bodyfat - getting there!

10 months separate these two photos …

Yes, I stumbled in 2007 and had to fight my way back, so I do understand the trouble others have with “life getting in the way” at some point.

I promise you that this blog will never promote anything that’s not sound, that could be dangerous or risky; not one gimmick, diet pill or gizmo has been used by me nor will I promote any - with a few exceptions made for natural supplements that can actually help you achieve your goals, but only if I have tried them myself first and can vouch for their safety and efficacy.

Enjoy browsing my blog, and I hope you’ll bookmark the page! You can also follow me on twitter!

Sarah, CPT
www.trainwithsarah.com

PS, just so it’s said - I’ll be 50 in the early part of February 2009 - anyone with an ”I’m too old” excuse, think again. You’re never too old to be healthy and fit.

30th June 2008

TIME TO VOTE !!

I am soooooooo EXCITED!

 

As you probably know, I’ve been personally part of a crack team

of "Average Joe’s & Jane’s" to see just how much body fat we could

blast off in just 12 SHORT WEEKS using the "military" fat burning

program, "Combat The Fat" from Jeff Anderson!

 

And the winner of the "best transformation" gets a cool $1,000 cash!

 

But here’s the absolute COOLEST PART…

 

…YOU help decide who the winner is!

 

That’s right… the one voting on the winner…IS YOU !

 

Whichever contestant gets the most votes…wins…PERIOD!

 

And these are NOT "hand picked fitness models" like those bogus

muscle mag promotions!

 

These 30 men and women range in age from their early 20’s right up

into their 60’s.

 

We’re just your "normal" everyday people you’d see down at your

local gym (or grocery store), with one major difference…

 

…THESE "average" people committed to busting their butt for 12

full weeks.

 

And just WAIT until you see the results!

 

The page I’m going to send you to will FINALLY prove (beyond a

shadow of a doubt) that Jeff’s Combat The Fat program is THE most

powerful "fat burner" on the planet.

 

I mean, I don’t think there’s EVER been any other system I’ve seen

that’s delivered such AMAZING RESULTS across the board.

 

I’m talking EVERY single contestant!

 

Look …you simply have to see for yourself why I can’t

contain myself!

 

Here’s a link where you can see all the contestants AND place YOUR

VOTE for the ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN who you feel had the best

"transformation", ok?  (of course, you can guess who I hope you’ll vote for :) )

 

Just go to…

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

 

http://www.combatyourownfat.com <- Click For Photos

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

The contestants’ final photos started coming in on Friday and Jeff’s

eyes just got WIDER and WIDER!

 

He have to admit…

 

He had my doubts as to whether his "CTF Soldiers" would really give

it their all and work hard.

 

Even if they DIDN’T do well, he was still going to follow through on

his promise to post their "after" photos!

 

So he was taking a pretty big risk in putting his johnson out there

for the whole world to see as he silently prayed that at least ONE

of the contestants would take it seriously.

 

But HIS soldiers are a different breed!

 

This one single web page will leave no room for doubt that

absolutely ANYONE can use these "military principles" to burn off all

that unwanted blubber.

 

I don’t care if you’re trying to get rid of 10 lbs or 100!

 

I don’t care if you can’t even see your toes!

 

Just take a look at what THESE men and women accomplished in such a

short period of time…

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

 

http://www.combatyourownfat.com <- Click For Photos

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

I know you’ll be as shocked as I was!

 

Your "Champion For The Average Joe & Jane" is The "Muscle Nerd"

Jeff Anderson

 

The challenge was fun; the training program hard at times but we were constantly challenging ourselves to get more out of each workout. As one level became easy, we just switched up to the next level. I went from assisted push ups (you know, the "girly" kind on your knees) to elevated push ups! Even a lot of guys don’t do those. So yes, there is progression on the program you can SEE with your own eyes.

 

Nutrition wise it’s dead easy. We were given the same guidelines the soldiers with their chow hall get: use common sense and visual portion sizing.

 

Worried about cardio? It’s so cleverly incorporated, you don’t even notice you’re doing any!

 

So please, http://www.combatyourownfat.com <- Click For Photos and give your votes!

 

Vote ends July 6th, the winners will be announced on Monday July 7th – in one week.

posted in Combat The Fat, jeff anderson, july 2008, june 2008 | Comments Off

23rd June 2008

Walk, bike – or lose your job? A no-brainer?

I was just watching a French newscast on-line this morning, and one thing struck me. There was a story about a security guard who had had his car stolen and burned to a crisp, and he was only insured for the legal minimum (i.e. payment to a third-party should he be at fault in an accident) so he did not get a new vehicle from the insurance company. Normal, you get what you pay for in a case like that. However, and this is where I lost some of my feeling of compassion for the guy, he claimed to have also lost his job in the process because he couldn’t get to his workplace 10 kilometres away.

 

I’m sorry; ever hear of walking or using a bicycle!? He lived along a quiet country road and was only slightly overweight. 10 Km on a bike in the morning would not hurt him. Am I heartless? Not really. If you are the sole provider and you are in good enough health, the presence or not of a car sounds like a bad excuse in a case like this. I walk close to 5 Km every morning, it takes me 45 minutes. True, double that distance and it would take 1½ hours, but on a bicycle it might take 40 minutes. For sure, 30 minutes more than by car, but at least he’d have kept his job!

 

Just think about it for a second. When my dad was growing up, the kids would run for blocks to catch a glimpse of a rare car they heard “putt-putt-crack-sputter” along a neighbouring street. Most people went about their daily business on foot or by bicycle. My grandparents would walk from one town to the next to join their parents for Sunday lunch (a good two-hour walk) and my great-grandfather met them half way so he got a good walk out of it too before they had a substantial lunch (and walked back home).

 

When my father and his brother were small, they would be pushed in their stroller, later they went by tricycle or were pulled in a small cart; eventually the whole family would go by bicycle.  That’s not just them; everyone else was doing the same thing. The population was in good shape, not one was obese. People who were fat by the standards back then, were usually those who lived in an apartment directly above their store and only walked for a couple of blocks to get their groceries. And I’m talking 60-65 years ago, not 200 years!

 

We don’t move enough. We are even afraid to it seems. Like this man, preferring to lose his job rather than walking or at least bicycling 10 Km! His may be a more “extreme” distance, but we see it every day in the supermarket and shopping centre parking lots: people crowd their cars together as close to the doors as possible, risking dings and dents in order to have as short a distance as possible to walk. I purposely park at the farthest lamp post, no risk of getting someone else’s car door slammed into the side of my car, and to top it off I get some extra exercise.

 

The other day, in a local store, I even heard a young woman complain to her friend who called her from one isle to the one she was in that “you’re making me waddle all over the store!” Maybe if she did more “waddling” outside, she would soon be walking instead, the way nature meant her to?  Why do so many people seem scared stiff of moving? It’s tiring. It hurts. It’s exhausting. Sure, it’s all that; the first few weeks. But no one is saying you should go for a marathon the first time you start moving either! Be real here, there is a difference between the lean, morning jogger, and most other people: they’ve been doing this for a while already!

 

Start at your level. Key phrase, start at your level. Compare your results this week to your results from last week. Do not compare them to the neighbour who’s sprinting light-footed every morning, you’re not him/her! You, are you. Aim to be the best that you can be. Incidentally, you burn as many calories walking briskly as you do jogging, with the advantage that it lasts for longer afterwards, so let others jog if they want to – and you can too if you want to train for an event – for fat loss purposes, a good, brisk walk is all it takes.

 

The first day you will not walk fast. But you will walk the fastest that you can! And as far as you can (remember you have to get back too though). The next day you may repeat day one. You may repeat day one for a week, but suddenly you see that the distance you did on day one is now done much faster. Time to add some distance. Add 5-10 minutes to your walking time. Work that up until you can walk 40-50 minutes easily, preferably before breakfast! Yes, you can also use your bicycle, the trouble with that is that it’s much easier to coast when you get tired or winded. I suggest you wait with the bike until you are in better shape.

 

You may be wondering about the steady-state cardio that is called “boring” by a certain Internet trainer I’ll refrain from naming, who advocates interval cardio for a shorter time-period. Well, all I can say is this: I used the interval thing for 4-5 weeks and was doing ok with fat loss, then totally plateaued for the next 4-5 weeks! Is there anything more frustrating? These past 10 days I’ve added back the pre-breakfast walks and guess what? Fat is getting released from my body at high speeds (high, but safely within the 1-2 lbs/week).

 

In my experience, the fasted morning cardio for a sustained amount of time, works best for someone who is frankly out of shape and with higher bodyfat levels. The high intensity intervals are much harder to do, resulting in the trainee not going fast or hard enough to really make a difference – not until they are already in fair to good shape! And frankly, even then … using the HIIT rather than the morning walks made me actually add bodyfat back on. I do use some interval cardio, but only for a short burst after my weight training, certainly not for fat loss.

 

So do yourself a favour, take yourself by the hand and go for a walk! See how far you get and how long it takes you. See how fast you get better! That’s the fun part. And even more fun, look at the scales once a week as well (not exclusively, bodyfat may drop and muscle come on instead especially if you are also training weights; check your body composition!) and watch your clothes get looser, baggier, too big!

 

Have a great week!

 

Sarah, CPT

www.trainwithsarah.com

posted in Fitness, health, june 2008 | Comments Off

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