Last weekend I had the opportunity to learn from one of the most intelligent fitness minds in the industry.  Aside from learning an abundant amount of information on advanced training techniques, the instructor, Peter Chiasson, made this statement that brings a tremendous amount of truth explaining why people attempt to exercise and diet: “People exercise because of FEAR!”

Think about it for a second.  Why do you exercise? Regardless of what your goals are, or past experiences, there is a driving force within you causing some type of action to take place.  As human beings we are hard-wired to ALWAYS move away from pain and head in the direction of pleasure.  Fear and pain can be thought of as the same thing, and after hearing Peter Chiasson make that statement last weekend, I began to analyze all the fear-based emotions people have that are tied into exercise and diet.  Analyze the reasons why you workout and I can assure you that either fear, or moving away from pain, is what drives you.

·      Fear of not being able to fit into a pair of jeans.

·      Fear of not looking your best on your wedding day.

·      Fear of not being able to run around and play with your kids.

·      Fear of never finding someone to share your life with.

·      Fear of feeling insignificant.

These are just a few of the driving forces that influence people to engage in some type of exercise on a regular basis.  Sadly,  just as many people fail at exercise and diets because of this same emotion.  FEAR OF FAILURE is what kills progress every time.  Many people are so terrified of failing, they never even commit 100% to a program in the first place, or they self-sabotage by doubting what they’re actually capable of accomplishing.

A client and good friend, Anthony Canon was 75 pounds overweight. You can see in these pictures he wasn’t what we would typically classify as living a healthy lifestyle.  Anthony could have continued on this path for the next 40 years (which is common in society today) and continue to tell himself these common excuses;

·      ”It’s my genetics.”

·      ”I have a slow metabolism.”

·      ”I’ve just accepted this is how I’m going to be.”

·     “Being 40 pounds overweight is okay because 75% of the population is overweight.”

Anthony chose the opposite and ended up being driven by fear.  Anthony had a goal of completing an adventure race with his 65-year-old father, and was FEARFUL that his old-man was going to beat him in the race.  Five months (20 weeks) later Anthony lost 70 pounds of fat and decreased his body fat by 20%.  I’m not going to bullshit you and tell you that it was accomplished in 1-2 months but I am going to give you the secret to his success.  HARD WORK & DEDICATION! He didn’t take a fat burner or appetite suppressant pill, there was no magic cream we rubbed on his gut each training session to drop inches from his waist, and he didn’t starve himself on a 1,200-calorie diet each day.  He ate healthy 90% of the time and literally worked his ass off!

Think about it for a second.  Have you ever accomplished anything GREAT in your own life without hard work and dedication?  I sure haven’t experienced that and of all the extremely successful people I know haven’t either.  It takes hard work and dedication to break detrimental behavioral patterns, ensure ongoing progress and most importantly keep the changes made permanent.  Nobody is impressed if you’ve lost weight only to put all of it back on within 1-2 years of your weight loss.

If you’re relying on diet pills, exercise gimmicks, and the current fad diet to achieve long-term weight loss success, I can assure you that you’re only setting yourself up for failure.  Develop a mindset of hard work and dedication and you’ll be amazed at the permanent changes you can create in your own life.  In the right context, fear can be an amazing motivator that will get you to places you never thought possible.

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” -Mark Twain

So I’ll ask you one last time……”What are you afraid of?”

We’ve all heard of cheat meals and many of us incorporate them into our weekly eating plans.  But is there really a benefit to having 1,2, or even 3 cheat meals per week?  I’ll tell you the theory  behind cheat meals and how you can make them much more effective in helping you achieve your ultimate physique.

Ask any health conscious person why they incorporate cheat meals into their eating plan and you’re going to usually get 1 of 2 answers:

1) “Because it offsets my metabolism by having a cheat meal.”

2) “I would go insane if I couldn’t eat ice-cream and pizza one night a week.”

Let’s address the first response of cheat meals offsetting your metabolism.  The human body is the most complex “machine” on earth, and is smarter than even the highest advances in technology and medicine.  This is why after billions of dollars spent on research, we still can’t find a cure for cancer or other incurable diseases.  On the flip side, the human body also possesses the ability to heal itself of fatal diseases not understood by conventional medicine.  With that being said, the human body will adapt to ANYTHING you do consistently over time.  This refers to weight training, cardio conditioning, and nutrition.  If you originally consumed 2,000 cal/day and decreased down to 1,200 cal/day, you would notice a significant change initially and then experience a plateau.  Over time your body will adapt to the new caloric intake unless some type of adjustment has been made.

This is where the cheat meal comes into play.  People have the idea that if they throw a cheat meal into their routine (1-3 times per week), they’ll constantly be offsetting their metabolism and won’t allow their body to adapt to the restricted caloric levels.  Although this is true to a certain extent, don’t be fooled that this is going to happen in as short of a period as 4-7 days.  Creator of P90X, Tony Horton, uses the term “muscle confusion” as a genius way to market the P90X system:  “The success comes from keeping the body guessing with every workout.” Bullshit!!!!  Although the body is incredibly amazing and very adaptable, it’s not so advanced that it’s going to adapt to a program in 1 or 2 days.   So if you haven’t caught on yet, “muscle confusion” is B.S. (you do have to systematically adjust your programs over time, but not as frequent as P90X states).

It’s important to realize that the benefit from the cheat meal comes from the higher calorie intake on that day, not the usual shitty food that most people consume. Below is a list of what doesn’t qualify as a cheat meal:

• It’s not a meal & dessert: it’s ONE meal.
• It’s not an “ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT” buffet
• It’s not an entire day: many people turn a cheat meal into a cheat day, and wonder why their ass is still fat.
• It’s not more than one plate: no second helpings!
• It shouldn’t be more than 800-1,000 calories: you’ll be surprised how many restaurant meals are over this range.

If you’re still struggling with losing any amount of fat, I highly suggest you take a look at what you’re consuming as your cheat meals.  There is absolutely no reason why your cheat meal can’t consist of healthy and nutrient-dense food.  To increase your caloric intake on those cheat meal days, simply eat more nutritious food.  This will not only offset your metabolism, but will also keep your digestion and metabolism working optimally, ensuring a greater amount of fat-loss.

My suggestion is that if you have 20 pounds of fat or more to lose, your cheat meals shouldn’t be unhealthy choices.  Stick to healthy, higher-calorie meals to offset your metabolism.  If you want to check out a great explanation of how to cycle your nutrition this way, click here. Celebrity trainer Billy Beck III, breaks down nutrition cycling to get optimal results.

Now, on to the discussion of cheat meals acting as a prevention from insanity.  People fall into this category because their idea of healthy food is bland and tasteless.  This couldn’t be any further from the truth.  Healthy food should be extremely enjoyable and have an abundance of taste.  If you eat plain chicken and steamed broccoli (not micro-waved broccoli) for dinner four nights a week, you’re probably going to get some major cravings.

Eating a cheat meal is NOT going to keep you sane.  The only thing cheat meals are going to keep you from is your final goal.  People crave junk food and high fat meals the same way a drug addict craves drugs.  I’ve never heard of a therapist tell a cocaine addict to snort a few lines every 7 days so they don’t go insane.  Of course I’m being a little overdramatic, but there are certain foods that can be just as addicting for some individuals as drugs.

Researchers at Princeton University discovered that when large amounts of sugar are ingested, the brain experiences changes similar to the changes experienced by people who abuse cocaine and heroin.  Bingeing releases a surge of the brain neurotransmitter dopamine, giving people a sense of well-being and satisfaction.

It takes 21 days to break a bad habit.  If you eat bad foods every 4-7 days, you’ll continue to reintroduce yourself to every bad habit you’re trying to break.  Whether it’s over-eating or any type of food addiction/craving, it’s nothing more than a mental barrier that’s preventing you from optimal health.

Planning and mental conditioning can help break through this obstacle.  If you’re the type of person who falls off the wagon after one cheat meal, I suggest you only eat healthy meals.  There are always healthy choices at EVERY restaurant you eat at….pick one!  Stop thinking of food as enjoyment, and you will begin to break through the pleasure experienced by consuming certain foods.  Food is energy, health, and life.  It’s not a celebration, reward, or a drug!  Cheat meals will either keep your progress rolling, or stop you dead in your tracks (sometimes literally)!

Who wants Ice-Cream?

This past weekend I took my 2 year-old Chocolate Lab, Phoenix, to the dog park and couldn’t help but notice two things. First, there was shit everywhere, and second, 20 out of 25 people were at least 30 pounds overweight or more.  As I walked around dodging shit piles with every other step, I began thinking about the billions of dollars Americans spend on weight-loss supplements.  We are the fattest country on earth, and I don’t care how you look at it, being overweight DOES NOT represent a sign of wealth, and there are NO health benefits to being classified as obese!

Supplement companies thrive on every individual looking to drop anywhere from 10-100 pounds.  With all the “weight-loss” supplements out there, how do you know which ones actually work?  There are literally hundreds of weight-loss supplements to choose from, and the frightening realization is that the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) places minimal regulations on the supplement industry.  Anything can be classified as a supplement, and if you’re going to place your full trust in the FDA, I highly recommend you rethink your views of the FDA. Published studies have documented that FDA-approved drugs kill over 106,000 Americans every year. The FDA charges $250 million to approve a new drug. Additionally, drug manufacturers must spend another $150 million to cover their own expenses for the approval process. This means that the drug companies are spending almost half a billion dollars to get ONE drug approved.[i] [ii] My point is that these are the requirements and regulations for “FDA Approved” products.  Supplements are a whole different story.  It doesn’t take much to approve a supplement and once these products hit the shelves, we are participating in some of largest human studies taking place, to see if they’re even true to their claims.

Hopefully you can understand at this point that ANYTHING can be labeled as a supplement.  I can basically collect all the shit from the Markham Park Dog Park in Weston, Florida (Markham park literally needs to get their shit together), dehydrate it, crush it down into a powder, add some neuro-toxic Splenda to it, put it in a pill, give it a catchy name like Fat-Meltdown, pay Carmen Electra and David Beckham to endorse it, and profit millions of dollars on the general public’s ignorance. If you still don’t get it, stick to the treadmill and salads, and you won’t go wrong.

Below are the common ingredients in most weight-loss products and whether they have scientifically been proven to work or not.

• Citrus aurantium (bitter orange or Seville orange): This has replaced ephedrine since its ban and can be found in most fat-loss supplements. There is very little research to support its claims as an effective fat-loss ingredient. NOT PROVEN[iii]
• Green Tea: Green tea contains the extract EGCG, which in combination with caffeine, has been shown to increase metabolic rate (calories burned). PROVEN[iv]
• Caffeine: Caffeine is the main ingredient in most fat-loss supplements and has been proven to increase metabolic rate and fat oxidation. PROVEN
• Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA): CLA is found primarily in dairy and meat products, and has been used heavily in the United States and Europe by obese individuals. Although CLA has shown great promise in mice, no change in body composition has been shown in humans.  Most researchers report NO change in body composition with CLA supplementation. NOT PROVEN[v]
• Chitosan: Chitosan is a positively charged fiber that is supposed to bind to fat in your digestive tract and excrete it out of your system. This would be awesome if the claims were actually true. Not only has this ingredient shown no benefit in regards to fat-loss, but you can also expect the common side effect of diarrhea to come along with it. Think of the popular product “Alli” that you see in all the stores now. Alli’s big marketing campaign is that they’re the only FDA-approved weight-loss program.  If you want to run around in a diaper shitting your pants to lose weight because the FDA approved something, be my guest! NOT PROVEN[vi]

• Chromium picolinate: Chromium is an essential trace mineral, and has shown no significant effects on fat-loss, resting metabolic rate, or strength. Enough said! NOT PROVEN[vii]
• Ephedra: In 2004 the FDA banned the sale of ephedra because of numerous reports of adverse side effects. Sadly, ephedrine works! The effectiveness of ephedrine is enhanced even greater when combined with caffeine and aspirin.[viii] Ephedrine is still readily available through the Internet, and one year after its ban, a U.S. District Court determined that “the FDA did not prove by a preponderance of evidence that ephedrine presents a significant or unreasonable risk of injury.” Over the course of 8-12 years, ephedra was believed to be responsible for 5 deaths, 5 heart attacks, 11 cerebrovascular accidents, 4 seizures, and 8 psychiatric episodes. This is what led to ephedra’s ban.  Keep in mind 400,000 Americans die each year from smoking, 100,000 Americans annually from OTC or prescription medications. [ix][x] You can see how screwed up our system is, right?  I was that guy 10 years ago that had the bottle of ephedrine sitting on my night stand, and as soon as my alarm clock went off in the morning, the first thing I did was grab my bottle of water and pop my first of 2 ephedrine pills for the day (the second came before my training or practice).  When ephedra is used properly and not abused, it is NOT dangerous.  PROVEN

One last note to all you potential or current fat-loss supplement users, until your nutrition is clean and your exercise is consistent, skip on taking any fat-loss supplements. There are no legal supplements out there that are going to compensate for a shitty diet or lack of exercise. I challenge you to do some research before even thinking about taking one of the hundreds of fat-loss supplements that are out there.  And talking to the guy behind the counter at GNC doesn’t count as research.  Please don’t fall into the trap of Stupid Gym Shit! Just in case you were keeping track, I used the word shit 8 times in this blog post, and I can do that because the site is called Stupid Gym Shit

Who doesn’t love the effects of caffeine? From Starbucks enthusiasts, to competitive endurance athletes, caffeine is a MUST.  Some people would rather give up an arm, than to kick their caffeine cravings.  Caffeine expresses many different benefits, but can also be extremely detrimental to your health.  Caffeine is ingested for a number of different reasons;

• As a weight loss aid
• Enhance performance in endurance activities/sports
• Slap you in the face in the morning to wake your lazy ass up

The reason caffeine is the primary ingredient in many fat-loss supplements is because of its effects on lipolysis (fat burning), and thermogenesis (production of body heat).  Although caffeine alone will stimulate your nervous system and increase your metabolic rate, caffeine is usually combined with other ingredients to enhance its fat-loss properties.  Sorry to all you coffee addicts.

Caffeine has also been used for years by athletes to increase performance.  The effect caffeine has on performance is quite impressive.  Caffeine spares muscle glycogen (stored carbohydrates) and promotes fat storage as an energy source.  Most endurance athletes know that when glycogen stores run low, be assured, that brick wall is approaching fast!  So if caffeine spares muscle glycogen, the capacity to perform longer at higher intensities is increased.  If that benefit wasn’t enough to convince you to take a shot of espresso right before your next triathlon, then maybe this next benefit of caffeine will persuade you.  Caffeine also alters your perceived exertion (how hard you think your working).

“Caffeine is responsible for the release of endorphins that affect mood, reduce perception of pain, and create a sense of well-being.  Caffeine has also been reported to delay fatigue during exercise, by blocking specific receptors in the brain.” [i]

The amount of caffeine found to enhance endurance performance ranges between 3-13 mg/kg of body weight.  Notice that the weight is in kilograms and not pounds.  To convert your weight from pounds to kilograms, simply multiply your body weight in pounds by 0.45.  If you weigh 185 lbs (185lbs X 0.45 = 83kg).  Definitely start out at the lower range of caffeine consumption because there are adverse effects if you take in too much caffeine. [ii]

Another key concept to keep in mind is that regular users of caffeine will often develop a tolerance to caffeine over time that will decrease the impact on performance it may provide.  Therefore, to get the most benefit from caffeine, only use it during competitions or intense training sessions (not daily).  Sorry again to all you coffee addicts.

Now who doesn’t like a cup of coffee to slap them in the face in the morning or early afternoon to wake them up?  I’m not a coffee drinker so I can’t answer that.  But I know far too many coffee addicts (and I mean that in the kindness of ways) that can’t function without their daily 2-5 cups of coffee.  Just some fun facts that I came across that I wanted to share with all of you.

• 85% of adults in the United States consume caffeine from either coffee, tea, or sodas.
• Average person drinks 3.3 cups of coffee per day.
• Average cup of coffee contains 100mg of caffeine, which will vary with bean type, length of brewing, etc.
• Average person visits Starbucks 6-18 times a month.
• Average person spends $3.50 each visit to Starbucks.
• Over the course of a month they spend between $21-$63.
• Over the course of a year they spend between $252-$756.

These are just average numbers, but keep in mind some people go more than 18 times a month, and some people go less than 6 times a month.  Either way, we spend a lot of money atStarbucks, Einstein’s, Dunkin’ Doughnuts, etc.  My point is that although caffeine offers some pretty amazing performance benefits, at the same time, there are far too many individuals that NEED to limit their caffeine consumption.

Many people are sleep deprived, over-worked, over-stressed, don’t exercise regularly, and eat like shit (which is all part of Stupid Gym Shit).  If you fall into any of these categories, I would limit your coffee consumption.  Researchers at Duke University Medical Center discovered that caffeine actually increases stress and blood pressure, and the effects last for hours after ingestion.  Many people take antihypertensive drugs to counter elevated blood pressure levels, but if you consume enough caffeine (3-4 cups a day), you’re basically negating the effects of the prescription drugs.  Stress hormones increased by an average of 32% when caffeine was consumed and the increases in blood pressure and adrenaline lasted the entire day.[iii]

Caffeine can be a double-edged sword.  It has its benefits, while at the same time, it has very adverse health complications.  If you’re in great health and manage stress well, then drink up.  But if you need caffeine and sugar-boosts to wake you up in the morning and then again in the afternoon, I think you seriously need to look at your nutrition and sleeping patterns.  Blood sugar regulation through proper nutrition will keep your energy levels consistent throughout the day without crashes mid-afternoon.  Save the caffeine for those kick-ass workouts or competitions when you’re determined to be at your personal best!

If you’re looking for a fat-loss supplement that works, and doesn’t contain caffeine, I highly recommend  Meta-Lean.  Meta-Lean is caffeine-free and wont elevate blood pressure or an overproduction of stress hormones.

One last note on coffee, and probably the most important.  Be considerate to those around you and please have a piece of gum or mints available, because there is nothing more disturbing than having a conversation with somebody suffering from hot-coffee breath.  If you don’t drink coffee and want to wake up in the morning, just find one of these individuals and spark up a conversation.  It’s like waving ammonia underneath your nose!

I honestly don’t think a Stupid Gym Shit conversation could go any better than this.  The audio is both hilarious and very true.  Watch the video all the way through and ask yourself if the male character reminds you of anybody you personally know?  As sad as it is, I can almost guarantee that we all know somebody like this.  Even worse, this person may be you!