CREATURES OF HABIT

To my amazing clients, 

I hope that everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I enjoyed spending my morning killing my legs at the gym and my afternoon eating with my family. A very good day if you ask me. My challenge for you the next 3.5 weeks is to be consistent in our gym/exercise and food habits. 

WARNING- I might get a little cliche happy the next few paragraphs. Just bare with me. 

Definition of Habit is an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary. We all have our habits... Good and bad. I believe that we are where we are at today because of the small every day choices that we have made. If we are overweight and unhappy with our body composition that didn't happen overnight. Its years of unhealthy choices. So that being said we will not achieve our goal overnight. We are now the sum of our parts. So every choice we make NOW is going to take us closer to our goals or farther from them. 

Unknown philosopher

SOW A THOUGHT AND YOU REAP AN ACT;

SOW AN ACT AND YOU REAP A HABIT;

SOW A HABIT AND YOU REAP A CHARACTER;

SOW A CHARACTER AND YOU REAP A DESTINY;

Everything we do matters. So lets do some math. BUT BRIAN, I hate Math! Ha So do I. There are 168 hours in a week. Lets say we are lucky and get 8 hours of sleep a night. 168-56=112. We are really working hard and putting in 1 hour of exercise a day. 112-7=105 We now have 105 hours to screw everything up by our everyday habits and choices. We automatically get that soda with lunch or watch 2 hours of TV after dinner. We order dessert because we've always ordered dessert. We grab a small handful of M&M's daily from the candy jar at work. Those small daily choices add up. 

We have to replace our bad habits with good habits. I've replaced my destructive behavior with EXERCISE. How do we stop doing what we have always done? We PLAN. Cliche alert: If we fail to plan we plan to fail. 

Food prep today for the rest of the week. If we have our lunch made up and brought to work we can turn down that pizza in the break room or that quick trip to the hamburger stand. If we take the elevator every day start taking the stairs. Have your exercise and gym clothes ready. If its the morning jog we plan on doing to start our day. Have them next to your bed on top of your sneakers. Roll out of bed get dressed and be on the road running or on the way to the gym before you can talk your self out of it. Make a commitment to read an hour on fitness and healthy living instead of watching T.V. a couple of nights out of the week. Eat at home more eat out less. No matter how much we exercise we can't not undo unhealthy food and drink choices. An hour of intense cardio might burn 500 Calories. We can consume over 1,000 calories in a fast food meal. MAKE YOUR DAY full of good small choices that over time become habits. 

 I challenge you all to go over your week ahead of time. Point out habits that could be holding you back and think of alternative choices. Be active and healthy this week. IF you have any questions or need anything at all. Text, call or email me. See you in the gym,  Love you all. BRIAN 

Happy Thanksgiving!

To my amazing clients,

First, I want to tell you how proud I am of every single one of you. While the majority of my clients do a great job coming into the gym on their own, I've seen even more of you in here this week! I absolutely love seeing you all in the gym working hard day in and out with or without me. I'm extremely thankful for every single one of you. You make my job so enjoyable and easy. Thank You.
So the holiday season is upon us. Unfortunately, that sometimes brings upon a ton of stress and with that comes emotional eating. Overeating is prevalent through this time of year. While we hear frequently that the average American gains 5to10 pounds during the holiday season. Research shows that it is usually around 1-2 pounds. But they have also been shown to keep this 1 to 2 pounds on throughout the next year. The average Thanksgiving dinner is around 4,500 calories per person. Remember 3,500 calories make up 1 pound. Today's blog is just some suggestions on handling the next couple of weeks.
Clients: Brian, do you even eat bad on Thanksgiving?? Answer is Yes. I believe that we should enjoy ourselves on that day. I believe the trick is moderation and staying active. Well, who am I kidding I totally overeat during that meal. So... Brian what do we do? During the next few months it is vitally important to keep exercise as a huge priority.
 DON'T SACRIFICE EXERCISE TIME
Do not let the extra events of the holiday season effect your exercise time. This time is for you and you alone. Take care of yourself first and then you will have more to give to the ones that you love. LOOK FOR THE BEST CHOICE IN EVERY SITUATION
Your gift to yourself this Holiday season is being healthy. We have already established that we will indulge some. Just keep it to small portions. Eat veggies and fruits first. Let them fill your tummy before the more high calorie foods. Keep a positive attitude. So what we over ate last night. We will just refuse to let it effect our next days choices. Stay away from discouraging or negative thoughts that will lead us to even more unhealthy choices.
ENJOY YOUR FOOD AND COMPANY
Taste your food and take your time eating it. We've all been there where we shovel a whole plate of food down in 5 min and are already heading for seconds. SLOW DOWN! Keep conversation during your meal. Eat slowly. Give your stomach time to send the signals up to your brain that you are full. The bottom line is it is Calories in vs. Calories out. While I believe what we eat it vital to health. If we eat more calories then we burn then we WILL GAIN FAT.
SANDWICH YOUR HOLIDAY MEALS
But Brian I thought you don't like us eating bread? Ha... What I mean is sandwich your meals with physical activity. Do something active in the morning. Go for a hike or a walk. Ride your bike or take a jog. Lift! I know LA is open that morning. Play football with family or friends. I plan on riding my bike Thanksgiving morning.
After your meal... NAP TIME says my clients. NO I say. Take an after dinner walk or something that involves movement. That will help digest the food. Then relax and enjoy your nap or football.

Last but not least. Try to enjoy every moment. Enjoy the family and friends. Do not let the stress of this time of year take over and drive you to unhealthy behaviors. Their is science behind being mindful of the moments we are in and equanimity. Love those around you and don't fret over the small things.  Less stressed we are, the lower the Cortisol levels are the less we have a tendency to hold on to fat. High Cortisol levels will suppress our immune system and slow down our metabolism.  Stay positive no matter what.
I will be sending this via email to most of you. Remember is trainerbrian.blogspot.com IF you find these post helpful I encourage you to share these with friends. STAY MOTIVATED!! We refuse to sabotage our hard work during this time of year. Stay active and healthy!  Love you all and I hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving week. See you in the gym. Brian

I'm MOTIVATED!! NOW WHAT???

To all my amazing clients,

Thanks for the positive feedback after last weeks post. So we've dug deep down and remembered why we are doing what we are doing. Our fire is burning and we are excited to reach towards our goals again. How do we reach those goals? What does it take to achieve body composition change and good health? There are a million different opinions out there on what it takes. The fitness industry is over a billion dollar industry. From fad diets, magic pill, to the newest and improved gimmick workout promising abs in 6 min. its really hard for us to decide what works. The more options given us the more confusing it gets....

 I believe in keeping things very basic. I know I've repeated some of this a billion times but I know a few of my clients have not heard this. I believe there is power in belief itself. If we believe in what we are doing doors and opportunities open up. Results start happening. WHY? Because we BELIEVE in it. Every part of our being is trying to make what we believe will happen come true. In life I believe if our mind, body and soul are all on the same page then we find success at work and in our personal relationships. If one of those ingredients are missing then we will have our struggles because we don't truly know who we are as a person or who we WANT to become.  Alright Brian enough of your philosophy I want to hear how I'm going to loose this damn tire around my belly!! I want to be able to play with my kids without loosing my breath. I want RESULTS. I want to feel good!
For a healthy living life style I believe it comes down to Three essential areas.
#1 NUTRITION
#2 RESISTANCE TRAINING
#3 CARDIO

NUTRITION: I could go on all day about this and I have if you ask some of my clients. Lets keep it very basic. LOTS of green veggies, fruits, nuts and lean meats. I don't want to be offensive to your religious beliefs but I have a saying.  If God didn't create it you shouldn't eat. If it didn't come from the ground, plucked from a vine or tree or had 4 legs at some point you should probably not eat it. Now this is very broad and general. A more detailed plan will be needed for some of my clients but keeping it very basic is key. Small portions is also pretty important. Bottom line. IF our body can't use it right then and there it will store it as fat. Nutrition is vital to our success. No matter how hard we exercise we can't compete with over indulgence of calories. Food should be our fuel for our workouts and our recovery. I know that we will and won't be perfect. I'm not asking that. Just be aware of what we are eating and how much of it. If progress is stagnant the first thing we look at will be our food and drink intake. Yes, calories also come in the liquid form. Again.. LOTS OF GREENS, FRUITS, NUTS and LEAN Meats!! I have a nutritional suggestion sheet if I haven't already given you one.

RESISTANCE TRAINING: Building lean muscle will help us burn fat faster and keep it off over a longer period of time. 2-4 weight training sessions a week are recommended pretty universally for results. Female clients: BUT BRIAN!! I don't want to get big or look like ARNOLD!! I gain muscle really fast!! I hate to burst your bubble but females unless put in artificially have a much lower testosterone count then men. By lifting weights consistently you will build very beautiful lean muscle. Lifting weights properly will burn calories over the next 24 hours. Its a very important ingredient. At any age. Building muscle properly will help keep our bones strong and protect us from knee, hip and lower back injuries. I have different programs for my clients if I haven't given it to you already. I want my clients to come in on their own and lift weights. Don't worry those big ugly meat heads in the weight room who grunt and spit are harmless. Just smile and tell them to get out of your way that you have results to get.

CARDIO: The Mayo Clinic suggest at least 150 min. of aerobic activity a week. Break it down. That is 5 cardio sessions of 30 min. a week. Very doable. You can break it up before and after your workouts or just have cardio days. A very beautiful and intelligent woman once looked at me and said. "The heart is a muscle to" Keeping our heart healthy is vital to our health. Aerobic activity is key to being well rounded in the gym. Classes count. I love my clients changing it up and keeping it fresh. The spin cycle class is amazing and our La Fitness has some great instructors. From the treadmill, hiking, stair master, row machine, elliptical, bicycle. We have options. Just remember to keep the intensity level up. If you can read a book its probably not hard enough. :-) If you can't start and do 150 min a week. Aim for 60 the first week or two and progress towards the 150 min.

This can be more detailed but I wanted to keep this general. Its basic but again this is not rocket science. Its about being persistent and having a plan of attack. Love you all. Hope your having a fantastic weekend. If you need anything please contact me.    BRIAN

What motivates you?

To all my amazing clients,

First, I want to thank you all for taking the time to read this. I believe in 30 min. its difficult for me to share all that I want to share with you all. So I'm going to be sending brief emails with what I believe is important in our fitness journey together. None of this is new, or rocket science but is there truly anything actually new under the sun?  And I guarantee my grammar will be wrong a decent amount of time. Try to ignore that for the time being. That being said. Here goes nothing...

 Reaching our goals successfully is doing the small things consistently on a daily basis over a long period of time. How do we do that Brian? I sometimes find myself burning out. With either training or my own workouts. When that happens I have to remind myself of WHY I'm doing what I'm doing. Motivation is like a fire. Unless we continuously add fuel to that fire it will burn out. When that burns out we usually automatically go back to our negative habits that have been holding us back. Why did you first step in the gym? Why did you purchase training? Why are you on this fitness journey? I have a theory that most of us do what we do because we want to look good naked not for health. Ha... That's probably not the case for all of us but it gets us thinking of what is our true motivation.

Briefly I will share what motivates me. What motivates me is seeing my clients healthier and happier and living life more confidently on a daily basis. What motivates me is seeing someone that has never worked out on their own in the gym following one of my programs or sweating their ass off on the treadmill or stair master. I have found in my own life that when we feel healthier because of exercise it has a huge impact on our WHOLE LIFE. From our relationships to our work life to how we react to what life, which is sometimes cruel throws at us. Exercise has helped me through severe depression and addictions in my own life. I know the power of fitness. Because I have seen first hand what it has done for me physically and the most important of all mentally. I'm driven every day to help those use fitness to have a positive impact on their lives also inside and OUTSIDE of the gym.

Write down today why you are doing this. Why do you want to wake up early and do cardio? Why do you go to the gym after a long day of work? Why do you prep healthy food on Sundays? It could be a multiple of reasons. From battling depression, addictions to wanting to compete or just wanting to look good in a swim suit. We might be pre-diabetic. You might want to be getting ready for that class reunion or that hot date you have been begging for. I took my shirt off a long time ago when I shouldn't have and I ruined that date. Oops.. Another story for another time.  It could be that you are more confident when you exercise. It's proven to be mood elevating. We will cover the science of that in future blogs. That heart attack scare might have got us back in the gym. All of us have a multitude of reasons. Hold onto them remember them. Look at your reasons why and your goals daily. Keep your fire burning. Commit today to doing the small things this week to live healthier and happier on a daily basis. Get in the gym. See you soon.  Love you all Going to try to post weekly. Will share this in email and on Facebook. I know that I don't have all of my clients emails yet. I will try and collect them all this week.