Mikey is a Dad!

As most of you know, I am officially a Dad!  Sadly, the beginning of labor went like this: My wife and I were at a grocery store getting some "reward food" for the Packers/Falcons playoff game. She stopped and looked at me and said, "I don't want to alarm you, but I think my water broke".  I then responded with, "But... the playoffs are on".  That's how much I love football. The next thing you know we're in the hospital and I have a baby boy.  The cool part?  The Seahawks/Bears game was on in the background during delivery. That's one cool way to come into this world.  If you're interested, here are the details:

 

Ryan Champ Whitfield (we're calling him Champ... yes, my wife rocks)

Born January 16th, 2011 at 1:43 PM

7lbs 1oz, 20" long

And the kid has a BUNCH of hair, unlike his Daddy :)

I just told Champ a good knock-knock joke

 Well, onto to fitness info...

You know how I'm a big fan of interval training.  But some people think that it has to be done on cardio machines like treadmills, ellipticals and bikes.  That's certainly not the case.  I write many body weight exercise "intervals" that are just as effective.  At the end of your next workout, try this interval workout:

Perform the following circuit 2-3 times, resting for 30-60 secs between circuits (video demos are at the bottom of this post)

• Body squats (15) 
• Push-ups (or kneeling push-ups) (15)
• Jump squats (jump from a squat position) Giving a "thumbs up" before doing them is optional, as you will see in the video demo (10) 
• Cross mountain climber (10 ea side)
• Star Jumps (10)
  

Of course, there are always alternatives for exercises you are not comfortable with.  Never do anything that hurts (I'm not a believer of the "no pain, no gain").  So be sure to get with a certified trainer that can help you with these moves.

Moves like this will blast fat without boring "cardio". It is exercises like this (as well as alternatives for beginners and advanced people alike) that we'll be rocking at the next 4-week boot camp, which starts Monday, January 31st.  We still have some slots open if you want in and you get a meal plan based on your current weight!.  For more info and to register, click below:

Click here for the 4-Week Boot Camp 

P.S. We're almost one month into the new year.  How close are you to your goals?  Don't give up and use social support.  Don't be afraid to ask for help from friends and family!

To your fitness success,

Mike Whitfield, CFT, CFNC

2011 Rant (Yeah, Already)

Oh boy, here we go.  "Ahh yeah, it's a new year and I'm going to look dead sexy this summer because I'm going to go to the gym 7 days a week every day until I am vacationing in Paradise City, you know... where the grass is green and the girls are pretty".

3 weeks later ... "Hmmm, this losing fat thing is kinda hard.  Hours and hours of cardio isn't doing much for me.  It's alot easier to watch 'Friends' on the Tivo.  Oh well, maybe next year."

You have no idea how good that felt to get that out of my system.  Please, please PLEASE don't be one of "those" people.  Now to continue on my rant...

1. Here in Atlanta, GA, most people were "snowed in" for a few days due to bad roads, school being out, etc., etc. I have never seen so much whining on facebook.  "I need to get out of this house!", "I'm getting cabin fever!"... "My bum-bum hurts from sitting on the recliner too long while I facebook for hours".  Yeah, I made that last one up.  But c'mon people... enjoy a few days of relaxing for crying out loud.

2. I am glad to say that my wife's pregnancy days are over.  We had our baby boy on Sunday, 1/16/11.  She was at the stage where it takes an hour to flip over in bed and she lets me know about it by grunting like she is lifting weights. I made the mistake of asking, "what are you doing?" and she replied with "I would love to kick you somewhere special". She also seemed to go to the bathroom about every 15 minutes and every time I felt like it was a field trip. She sounded like she ran a marathon when she returned.

3.  If I hear one more person say, "I'm going to do alot of cardio at first so I can lift weights in a few months... gotta lose weight first", I'm pretty sure I'm going to flip out and drop kick someone.

This is just wrong... like wearing finger shoes to do leg extensions

4. My Caroliina Panthers ... enough said

5. So you got those cool "finger shoes" to work out in and then you come in and do upright rows, leg extensions, and leg curls.  Yeah, you get it.  You absolutely get it.  That's like me getting snow skis so I can rock it at batting practice.  Whatever.

I feel better.   Have a good day.

Mike Whitfield, CFT, CFNC

Top 10 Diet Rule Experiment: How To Tell If a Diet Will Work For You

I'm always "on the prowl" for strategies than can work for my readers and clients to reach their fitness potential, especially when those strategies are simple to use.  I was absolutely blown away with the research and information found in "Eat Stop Eat".  With that being said, here is a guest article from "Eat Stop Eat" author Brad Pilon.


Guest article by Brad Pilon, MS

www.EatStopEat.com

If you and I went to the local magazine stand and scanned the covers of the fitness magazines we would find dozens of ‘weight loss’ rules.

In fact we could spend the rest of the week reading magazines about the latest greatest weight loss tricks many of which may actually work for someone. But realistically there’s just no way you could actually follow ALL of them. So how do you know which ones are right for you?

The easy answer is you have to decide which rules fit best for YOUR life and then try to stick to just one or two that will make the most sense for you and have the most benefit.

This may be the first time in your life you become a scientist, and your experiment is you. Here’s what you do…

Browse any of the popular magazines, blogs, websites or anywhere you like to get fitness information. Read up on the diet and weight loss tips and tricks, these could be simple changes like not drinking calories, or a bigger philosophy like limiting the amount of carbs that you eat.

Make a top 10 list of diet strategies you’d like to try, and that sound doable to you. At this point add one new diet strategy to your life for two weeks. Record your bodyweight at the beginning of the two weeks and again at the end. If you haven’t lost any weight this strategy doesn’t work (for you). Discard it and move on to the next one.

This is the simplest way to tell if something will work for YOU. If the strategy you picked sounds like a good idea but seems too difficult for you to manage then it’s simply not a good fit for you in this stage of your life. If it worked for your friend but not for you that’s ok, there will be one that works just for you, this is why you make a top 10 list and try each of them, one at a time.

Let’s suppose you find one that works over a two week period and you don’t want to stop. That’s fine, just add the next one in the list, if you can handle more than one strategy at once more power to you and you’ll probably lose fat even faster. My guess is that sticking to more than one or two rules will be almost impossible, so it will be pretty easy to tell which strategy is really working.

For me the simpler the diet is the better, (which is the main premise behind Eat Stop Eat).

Even when you are following the Eat Stop Eat lifestyle you can still use the top 10-diet rule as a way to guide how you eat on your ‘eat days’.

The top 10 diet rule experiment is the fastest way to find dietary habits that work for you - after all you’ll never know until you try.

****
Brad Pilon is a nutrition professional with over eight years experience working in the nutritional supplement industry specializing in clinical research management and new product development. Brad has completed graduate studies in nutritional sciences specializing in the use of short term fasting for weight loss.
His trademarked book Eat Stop Eat has been featured on national television and helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat without sacrificing the foods they love. For more information on Eat Stop Eat, visit www.eatstopeat.com

Things I Learned in 2010

Wow, I'm still having a hard time that 2010 has come and gone. It really did blow by, and I'm positive 2011 will go by even faster.  Any day now, I'm going to be a first time Dad.  2011 is already interesting.  For those of you that know me, I don't blame you for being scared of the idea of me as a Dad.  So without further ado, I am giving you a list of things I learned in 2010 in hopes that you can perhaps take a nugget or two to help you with your fat loss goals.

First, don't forget that registration for the 2011 Boot Camp is open and the first boot camp starts 1-29-11.  Space is limited, so be sure to register early and you will also get an early bird discount!  You can also sign up for just one month at a time. Details are here ------>  2011 Boot Camp Registration and Info

1.  Intermittent fasting can teach you so much about your habits on food.  It's a great, sensible approach to fat loss and Brad Pilon's book is amazing.  You can check it out at his website here ----->  EatStopEat

2.Social support is not over-rated.  I've seen my clients work together, gym members work together, as well as family members working together.  Don't be afraid to use your family and friends' help to allow you to reach your goals.

3.  No diet is the one-all-be-all diet (I actually learned this over time, but it was emphasized this year).  You have to figure out what works best for you, your personality and your lifestyle.

4.  God was already awesome, but this past year he got awesommer.  I don't care that is not a real word.  Try just 10 minutes a day with God.  It's amazing what it does for your day.  I'm not saying it's perfect every day, but it can certainly give you a "I can do this" attitude.

5.  A periodic deload week when lifting heavy can literally change your life and help you blast through lifting plateaus.  Wow.

6.  I actually did 2 "extreme fat loss" phases this past year (one was just before I hit the beach).  Although I teach my clients the importance of the long term, it's pretty cool to do something like that just to let your mentality know, "I can do this".

7.  The best blog I read in 2010 that relates to my female clients for fat loss was a blog by Jeannine Trimboli.  For inspiration, you can read that here -----------> http://www.lilafitnessonline.com/2010/04/get-off-that-scale.html

8.  You truly are never too old to get in the best shape of your life.  I have a client in her 60's that has put on muscle, improved her running efficiency (loves running) and is leaner than ever in her life.  I am in better shape now than I was in my 20's.  It's never, EVER too late.

To your fitness success in 2011!  Never give up, and stay strong!,

Mike Whitfield, CFT, CFNC
www.reflectionsfitness.com