Can I still eat out if I’m dieting?

Of course you can! You might not want to eat out every night, especially in the beginning as you reestablish your nutritional foundation, but the occasional restaurant meal does not have to derail your progress.

In fact, feasting on well-prepared protein options can enhance your commitment when you see how tasty good food is!

When you familiarize yourself with your caloric needs, you become able to understand your food options and make smarter choices. You learn how to cope with oversized portions and endlessly long menus.

When you eat at a restaurant, do:

Plan ahead. Decide what you’re going to order before you sit down. Check the restaurant’s website for the menu or call ahead for some ideas. Approach your meal with as much information as possible so you don’t feel bombarded by options when you get there.

Split your meal in half, and ask for the rest of it “to go.” Restaurant portions tend to be extremely large. Ask your server to split your meal in half before it’s brought to the table, and take the other half to go. You’ll have enough for your next meal and get double your money’s worth!

Keep the meal basic. When you look at your plate, you should be able to clearly identify your protein, your vegetables, and your carb. Having everything in a wrap or in a gigantic chopped salad may be confusing or overwhelming, so keep your orders simple.

Eat your protein first. You are more apt to finish your protein if you eat it first. Don’t fill up on carbs or veggies. You risk missing out on all the benefits protein has to offer, such as providing energy, helping you build muscle, repairing your cells, and regulating your metabolism.

Beware of hidden calories. Stay away from anything creamed, crispy, fried, or sautéed. Stick to grilled, boiled, roasted, or steamed options, so you don’t consume needless empty calories.

(Note: stir-fries are still a great option.)

Ask for what you need (nicely). If you’re afraid of seeming too high-maintenance when you order, ask yourself what’s more important: what the waiter thinks of you or how you’ll feel once you’ve eaten your meal. Ask for dressings and sauces on the side, and don’t be afraid to politely send things back if they’re not prepared as advertised.

Stay away from alcohol. Research shows that alcohol and losing weight go together like a plugged in toaster in a bathtub full of water. The majority of studies show that people who drink the most alcohol have the highest waist-to-hip ratio. Alcohol can also have a muscle-wasting effect, which is probably due to the stress hormone cortisol that is released.

When you eat at a restaurant, don’t:

Devour the bread basket. If it’s too tempting, ask for the waiter to take it away. Order some crudites (i.e., raw veggies) instead.

Arrive famished. Keep in mind that your reservation time is at least thirty minutes before you get your main course. If the restaurant doesn’t take reservations, you could be waiting an hour before even sitting down. Have a snack at home or on the way so you don’t shovel in the food when it finally arrives. You want to taste and savor your meal, not guzzle it down like a starved animal.

Wondering how to stop food cravings? Try our reader’s #1 choice in natural appetite suppression: UniqueHoodia.

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As for the film itself, my opinion of it has not changed: it’s amazing.

But what shocked me most was…. Taylor Lautner. He gained 30 pounds of solid muscle for his role as a powerful and ripped werewolf.

During the slow parts of the movie I did my 3-second fake snore to pretend I wasn’t into the movie (and just in case someone recognized me) but I have to admit I was really impressed with the outstanding shape Taylor got into.

Find out why I’m REALLY impressed with him by the blog post I just put up for you: HE’S 16!

In order to keep his role in the New Moon film, Taylor Lautner claimed he had to “basically kill” himself, during an AccessHollywood interview. “I get into the gym every single day, seven days a week, two hours a day, eat as much as I possibly can,” he said, “[I'm] going crazy.”

Taylor Lautner says he’s gained 26 pounds since beginning the strict training schedule that ended directly after he finished working on the first film, Twilight, and he’s finally almost met his 30 pound goal..

“I put on 20 pounds and then I guaranteed 10 more pounds,” he said. “I’ve already put on about six, so four more pounds. I’m a man of my word.“

Though Taylor did manage to confirm his role in the film, via Twilight saga author Stephenie Meyer, and film director Chris Weitz, he almost didn’t make it. Because of the muscular physique the role demanded, he was almost passed over for the part. Since the success of achieving the role, Taylor Lautner seems to enjoy the hard work.

“It’s motivation for my passion [for] the character,” he said. “I knew it was a necessity for the character. I’m stoked to be a part of this.”

Not only was Taylor Lautner a shaky choice for the author and film director, –he wasn’t always famous. Before he began acting, he was active in martial arts, winning three Junior World Championship tournaments before age 16.

He was born on February 11, 1992 in Grand Rapids, MI. Originally, casting agents suggested Michael Copon of Scorpion King 2 for the role of Jacob Black. But Taylor proved his motivation and ambition at only 16 years old, by gaining 30 pounds of muscle for his performance.

That’s the kind of role models I believe we need for our youth!

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Daily Mirror: Fat epidemic as NHS obesity cases rise 60% in past 12 months

Hospitals saw a hefty rise in the number of people admitted for obesity last year. The increase in just 12 months was 60% – and the number has shot up nearly NINE times in 10 years.

Daily Star: 60% boom in obese patients

The obesity epidemic is getting worse with hospitals swamped by porky patients. Last year saw a whopping 60% rise in people needing treatment for being overweight. The number of tummy tucks and weight loss operations also soared 55%.

[View with PicLens]

The Sun: Painless laser gets rid of fat

Boffins have invented a laser which zaps away fat cells instantly. Patients can drop two dress sizes in just two weeks – without having to exercise or diet. The painless Zerona treatment costs £1,000 for six 40-minute sessions.

The Sun: Want a baby? Well, start having SEX

Desperate to start a family? It seems that while you’re trying to make a baby, someone else is making a killing. According to “netmums”, many couples are ripped off to the tune of £2million a year in the UK – by conmen selling fertility charms and spells.

Do…

Lose weight. Yes, we know you want a nice swollen tum for people to coo over. But you want it full of baby, not lard. Obesity reduces fertility, in men and women so slim down, both of you. That way you might be able to get close enough to have sex, too.

Metro: Airline shows heavy mettle

Charging obese people for two seats on an aircraft is a good idea when it comes to the comfort and safety of other passengers.

Boots Magazine: Natalie Woodley’s testimonial

Natalie Woodley has managed to lose 1st 7lb with the help of Alli.

Daily Mirror: Dear Miriam – Obesity ops are not for the young.

“I don’t believe in using surgery to treat excessive obesity in young people – especially not at 14, the age of two boys whoi’ve have gastric band surgery on the NHS”

Four medical ways to tackle weight trouble:

Alli, Xenical (orlistat), gastric bypass, gastric band

Daily Mail: The anti hunger herb – Experts hail pill that makes dieters feel full

Research shows that those taking Zotrim – a combination of three south american herbs – shed around five pounds in a month. Dr Carrie Ruxton who conducte the study, says the preparation could provide extra motivation for slimmers plagued by hunger pangs. ” It promotes the physical feeling of fullness caued by a delay in the emptying the contents of the stomach.

[View with PicLens]

The Independent: Where is the prestige in healthy eating?

So the only difference between our eating habist 10 years ago and today is that now we know we’re eating crap.

The independent: Trim your tummy: Middle management

Fat around the midriff is not only unsightly, but potentially deadly – and it’s notoriously hard to shift. Rob Sharp meets two doctors who think they’ve found the answer.

“When its accumulation reaches a critical mass,” write the Eades, “it begins to behave more like a tumour than a storage reservoir, infiltrating the organs and muscles – most importantly the liver – and wresting metabolic control from them.” When fat is stored in our visceral tissue it acts like, and is treated like, a foreign body.

Daily Mail: The skin patch that can help you feel less blue

The British-developed patch is impregnated with the drug selegiline; delivering it via the skin avoids the side-effects of the drug, such as life-threatening high blood pressure.

Men’s Health: Foods that torch fat

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A four year suspension is also possible.

His agent Victor Becali said that Mutu was “worried but optimistic” about the situation, even though his A sample tested positive for an appetite suppressor called sibutramine.

The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), conducted the tests on the 10th of January, after Mutu scored against Bari in Serie A. Mutu could ask for his B sample to be tested within seven days. In Britain there were fears that sibutramine, an anti-obesity drug, could raise the risks of heart attacks and strokes, thus causing its ban in that country.

Mutu could expect a year and a half to two year suspension as the most probable result although CONI is known to apply the most severe punishments for failed drug tests.

Mutu has scored 11 times this season, regaining the form that caused Chelsea to pay Parma £15.8m in 2003. Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini “strongly wanted” Mutu to sign on according to Becali.

In 2003 Mutu was sent packing after scoring 10 goals in only 30 games at Stamford Bridge. He arrived as part of a first-wave of Roman Abramovich’s largesse. He then joined Fabio Capello’s Juventus after serving a seven-year ban. Having said that he doesn’t “have that sort of money”, Mutu has appealed CAS’s ruling to the Swiss federal court. Mutu is said to earn €2m a year.|

Mutu’s official statement was that he used a weight loss aid which was claimed to be 100% natural with no added fillers.

Mutu is currently in provisional suspension imposed by the FIFA association.

Play it safe! Choose only the purest diet supplement: PureAcaiBerry.

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Do you often wonder if the things you’re doing are making a difference at all with your fitness? If so, then you can now breathe a sigh of relief.

Thanks to the wonders of technology, health tracking devices are starting to become more widely available and are making a huge difference for those who use them. But what are they? 

Yeah, There’s a Device For That

What kinds of things can these devices track? If recent innovations are any indication, a better question would be, what can’t they track?

Everything from steps taken to calories burned to exercise intensity can be tracked with these useful little devices. You’ve seen the step-counters that strap on your arm, but that’s about all they’re good for.

Why not get something that can do infinitely more than that? Sure, you can find separate devices that measure calories or steps or amount of sleep, but unless you want to strap ten devices onto your arm, you’ll need something better.

Why Should I Get One?

“So what’s the big deal?” you say. What are the benefits of having one, and why would anyone who is serious about their health be at a loss without one? Simple: Health tracking devices combine more features, more mobility, and more overall usefulness into a single, compact object.

Most importantly, however, they do more than just keep track of what you do. At the touch of a button, they can upload the data onto your computer so you can analyze it. Is that exercise really working your muscles like you thought it would?

Take a look at the data, and you might be surprised. If something isn’t working for you, these devices will let you know, and you can make the necessary changes. Or, if you see that a certain workout is really burning the calories and cutting fat, then you will know to do it more often.

Health tracking devices are a vast improvement on your pencil-and-paper notes for sure. While they are still in their beginning stages, health tracking devices are looking very promising. With their all-in-one efficiency and ability to show you exactly what you need to improve on, among many other features, they will certainly be the perfect addition for anyone who is serious about their fitness.

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You still want to lose weight, get into shape, and look great. Everyone is watching the big names in fitness for the latest solution.  You included?

Here are a few ideas that we think will be on the scene…

Calorie-Cutting Craze

Just because it’s a new decade doesn’t mean that old techniques aren’t good anymore. We think that healthy eating will continue to be a huge emphasis this year, with more and more companies producing low-calorie or generally healthier food options.

Even fast-food restaurants will likely introduce better menus while phasing out the unhealthy selections. Goodbye, double cheeseburger; hello, salad.

Down With the One-Pill Wonders

If you’ve spend any time on the internet at all, you’ve certainly seen the ads for every kind of fitness supplement pill you can imagine.

As far as 2010 fitness is concerned, we think that shady business practices and overall lack of performance will cause these to drop out of the picture. Products like Acai and Resveratrol were the craze last year, but by this point, people have wised up and figured out that a pill isn’t going to do all the work while they sit on the couch all day.

With that said…

Work It!

Exercise will still be the focus of many weight-loss programs. If you want your 2010 fitness to be all that it can be, you can’t skip on working out and having a consistent exercise routine. Exercise machines have been on the market for what seems like an eternity, and for good reason: The experts know that you just can’t lose fat and build muscle without exercise.

Think about it this way: There have always been overweight people in history, but why are so many people more overweight now than ever before? In a time when virtually everything can be brought to you while you’re relaxing on the couch, it would make sense that people are gaining weight because they don’t have to physically do as much as before.

Try building the Roman aqueducts or Egyptian pyramids by hand, and see if you don’t lose weight! Physical exercise is and always has been a key factor in staying in shape. So what will be the next biggest thing in 2010 fitness? While we can’t say what will be the hottest, newest product on the shelf, we do know what worked last year, and will continue to work this year.

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Did you make those little changes you kept talking about, or did you watch time slip away, all the while wishing and hoping something, somehow would change, if only…

If only you’d get up a half hour earlier, think of what could be done?

A quick early morning workout perhaps, or time for a real breakfast?

I eat breakfast every day, and have long credited that habit with being instrumental in getting me off the nighttime snacking habit and into the eating for health habit. If only I was consistent with my exercise – I was once in very fit shape and the secret? Regular, consistent exercise.

I once saw a TV program about a girl who’d lost a lot of weight and she’d done it by playing a video game called Dance, Dance, Revelation and it involves a vinyl platform on the floor in front of you with squares, X’s and Triangles, and by following the game you move your feet and/or arms in the direction indicated, effectively causing you to dance.

She danced away about 90 pounds before she even realized what was happening. Find something you enjoy and do it consistently, and it can work for you too.

If you’re like me, you start every January with the same hope and promise. This year it’s going to be different – this is going to be the year I (fill in the blank). This year my goal is to adopt a clean diet habit – the same eating style I used to create a healthy frame with 14% body fat many years ago. It wasn’t difficult but it took effort – effort to give up some of my less than healthy habits like eating junk food for instance.

I’d like to invite you along on my journey. I face the same issues as you, every day, but I have methods in my back pocket that I know work to overcome them, and the key: I put my methods into action.

Do you take action? Do you have methods that would work, if only (fill in the blank).

Strike “if only” from your vocabulary this year. Stop saying “if only” and instead say, “Now that I.”

• Now that I … get up earlier I can get more done.
• Now that I … eat a clean diet I feel so much better.
• Now that I … exercise every day.
• Now that I … make good choices.
• Now that I … give myself credit for small successes.

Get the idea? Join me in finding your way to put all your plans into action. Let’s make this a year to remember!

P.S.: Need a boost for the 2010? Find out how you can get these weight loss products for free!

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• Why wait until the New Year for a new you?

Ask any woman what their New Year resolution is and they will instantly tell you that it is to ‘lose weight’.

But why wait until the New Year to begin your ambitions of reaching your ideal weight?

Despite many misconceptions that everyone puts on weight during Christmas – making diet plans useless – there is no actual rule stating that you have to wait until the holiday season is over before you put your weight management programme into action.

You can even begin today.

Weight Loss Tips

Diet and exercise will always be the safest and most efficient way to lose weight. Providing your body with a healthy and nutritional diet will ensure your metabolism has got the energy stores it needs to keep your body functioning.

However, introduce a combination of weight training, cardio and aerobics into your diet plan and you can confidently experience natural, quick weight loss.

• Make sure you eat a balanced diet. Many dieticians may tell you to follow high protein low fat diets, but recent research has found eating a balanced diet of 40% carbohydrates, 30% proteins and 30% fats (good fats) can help you to burn fats and maintain a strong nutrient intake.

• Drink 6-8 glasses of water. Our bodies are made of 70% water so it is essential that you keep your body hydrated. Drink too little and your body will naturally create a reserve of water which can contribute to water weight gain.

• Go for a walk. If you find it hard to make time for the gym try going for a walk during your lunch break and build up your stamina. By steadily increasing your walks from 30 minutes to 45 minutes a day you can increase your calorie burn by 60 calories a day.

• Workout your entire body. The biggest mistake we make when it comes to exercise is only exercising a specific part of our bodies. Instead by creating a balance of 30 minutes weight training (3 times a week) and 45 minutes of cardio/aerobics you can improve your stomach toning and muscle definition as well as lose weight.

If however you find that despite your best efforts you still struggle to lose body fat, weight loss aids such as slimming pills can offer your body the jump start it needs to begin shifting those excess lbs and losing weight quickly.

There are a number of different weight loss pills you can choose from and all can offer you a variety of different benefits:

• Appetite suppressants – designed to manipulate the production of hormones within your body, appetite suppressants work by making your brain believe you are full when you are not

• Fat burners – clinically proven to help speed up your metabolic processes: the faster your metabolism, the faster your calorie burn

• Carbohydrate blockers – believed to stop the digestive enzyme Alpha Amylase from breaking down starch into glucose, carbohydrate blockers work by preventing a build up of fat stores and ensuring all glucose is efficiently used

• Fat blockers – clinically proven to make up to 28% of your dietary fat intake indigestible, fat blockers bind with fat molecules to form a viscous solution in your stomach which is too thick to be absorbed into your body

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And now it’s 10 minutes later and that grumbling is gone – funny.  Sometimes that occurs during the day and thinking it’s hunger I  want to eat but that may not be what it is after all.

Perhaps I’m thirsty or it could be something else entirely. It doesn’t hurt to wait a few minutes, just to see what happens.  Hunger is not going to hurt you. It’s a normal part of daily  living. Hunger can wait.

I’ve had occasions where I was hungry but too busy, or didn’t want to stop what I was doing, and later realized I’d forgotten all about eating. Sometimes extremely busy people will have to be reminded to eat. Can you imagine being so involved in a project that you didn’t even think of stopping to eat?

Why Are We Overweight?

Over 65% of our population is overweight which points to a serious problem in what we are choosing to eat. The popular theory is we are eating more, exercising less. I don’t believe that’s necessarily true. I think we are eating more unhealthy foods (manufactured foods with  very little nutrition), and eating far more fast foods. Our choices of  what to eat has changed, drastically.

Recently a group of us had cheesecake to celebrate a birthday. Two  abstained – not because they didn’t want any, but because it was forbidden on their diets. Are those two people likely to reach their goal and remain there, or are they more likely to eventually return to having some cake? I’d say the latter – and once you go off your  restrictive eating plan and back to eating the way you usually do, you’re quickly back to your usual size.

That’s why diets rarely work – only when they become a lifestyle, and skipping treats is not a fun lifestyle, so I have a better option.

The Better Option Comes Down to Choices

It’s about making changes you can live with, and not about refusing to eat everything you love. That doesn’t mean you eat without any thinking; the majority of the time you do put some thought into it, but you can also eat the favorites and treats regularly too. The so called “Non-dieting approach” does not mean eating everything in sight.

I love treats and I get them for myself all the time. I always take a look at the apple fritters in the bakery, but I don’t always get them. Why? Because they don’t look just right. I prefer them flatter, with more sugary stuff on them. I don’t want the puffy fritters because they aren’t the taste I want – and I know if I get those I won’t be satisfied.

Now what if I could find apple fritters just the way I want all the  time? In that case, I’d pace myself or work them into my regular routine so they wouldn’t be a problem. One is satisfying when I can
have them anytime. I might have two, when it’s something I can only get once in awhile. Sometimes I get some and they go stale sitting  on my kitchen counter. Other times they’re all eaten right away.

Just choose to eat when you’re hungry, and take your time with what you do eat so you really enjoy it.

If I could, I’d probably mostly eat donuts and cake, and bags of candy. I love certain candy bars, which I rarely eat – again, notbecause I can’t but because I have to choose what to have. My choices dictate my size, and I like my present size. The healthier my foodchoices, the healthier my body. My desire to be healthy and the size I prefer is stronger than any present desire to eat non-stop M&Ms. If you think you can’t control your eating, then your desire  to eat is stronger than any other. You can change that, when you’re ready.

Use Hypnosis to Change Your Behavior

Even when you don’t want to, it works, so give it a try. I found a website which gives a free audio on weight loss hypnosis – Slimming.com. Learn the basic steps, then play with it and see what happens. Let me know how it goes.

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The sumo wrestler diet is based on this:

1. Skip breakfast. By depriving their bodies of food after eight hours of sleep, their metabolic rates stay low.

2. Exercise on an empty stomach. If their bodies have no food, their metabolic thermostats are turned down even lower to conserve fuel.

3. Take a nap after eating. The Sumo secret for gaining weight is that, after eating, they sleep for at least four hours.

4. Eat late in the day. Going to bed with full stomachs means that their bodies must respond to the huge flood of nutrients with a rush of insulin, forcing their bodies to store some of it in the cells as fat instead of in the muscles and organs as nutrients.

5. Always eat with others in a social atmosphere. According to leading researchers, a meal eaten with others can be at least 44 percent larger and with 30 percent more calories and fat.

In short, eating a lot of food late in the day and going to bed on a full stomach is the way to gain a lot of body fat.

Dr. James Hill, an obesity researcher at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, explains, “With a pattern of eating a few large meals, the system actually gets to expect that, and so it gears up more toward being able to quickly put it into storage.”

In 1972, another famous researcher, Dr. Franz Halberg, performed an experiment where each of his subjects ate one 2,000-calorie meal at breakfast for a full week. The next week, these same people ate one 2,000-calorie meal 12 hours later at dinner. Most subjects lost weight on the breakfast pattern and gained weight on the dinner pattern.

We can learn a lot from this information and apply it to our benefit and our weight loss goals:

1. Eat lots of small meals. “Fuel inject” your body with about 250 to 300 calories every two to three hours so you can better use the fuel, storing it in the muscles and organs as glucose instead of fat.

2. Don’t skip breakfast. Your metabolism slows while sleeping. Food is fuel. The body needs fuel to boost the metabolism.

3. Never starve yourself. Weight Watchers teaches people to “stay ahead of the hunger.” Starvation actually slows down metabolism.

4. Eat your bigger meals early in the day. Give yourself three hours between food and bed. Eat larger breakfasts and lunches with smaller snacks the rest of the day to keep your metabolism from slowing down.

5. Don’t exercise on an empty stomach. If your body could speak it would say, “Are you crazy? First you don’t give me any fuel and then you expect me to run on a treadmill!”

6. Be aware when dining with family and friends. It is hard to eat, drink and be merry and be vigilant at the same time.

The Sumo wrestlers are professionals who train specifically for their particular physique. As the disclaimer says: Don’t try this at home.

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Clearly the problem isn’t the routines, and it most likely isn’t anything to do with each person’s body as many people succeed and many people fail.

So there must be something that all the successful people are doing that the unsuccessful people aren’t doing. We struggled with this question for a while until I heard Jake  say one word that made all the difference…  “ritual“.

This made a whole lot of sense to me. Every time I did a contest I had a set of rituals I went through for my contest diet. There were monthly weekly and even daily rituals that I put in place to mark the beginning middle and end of my contest diet.

Even with a good nutrition program and exercise routine in place I still needed rituals to stay on track, stay motivated and set my lifestyle and mind in a mode that pulled me towards my goal. One of the rituals I followed was my morning breakfast routine of a shake and oatmeal along with a multi vitamin and a fat burner.

I don’t know if any of this stuff really made a huge difference to my body, but I know for sure it did for my mind. This morning breakfast ritual set the tone for my entire day and put me in the mindset that “I am going to have less fat on my body by the end of this day than I do right now”

And honestly I’m not so sure I would have ever got in shape without starting each day like this.

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When you go to a restaurant you are clearly being served by someone else.When you got to dinner parties you most likely aren’t serving yourself.

In some cases you might not even be the person who serves the food in your own house.

This is a big mistake if you’re goal is weight loss.

Serving your own food is the only way to control how much you’re eating and acheive your weight loss goals. Letting someone else serve you food is just like leaving the look and shape of your body completely in the hands of someone else.

Scientific studies by researchers like Brain Wansink have shown that the amount of food we are served along with the plate or container it is served in will have a big effect on the amount of food we end up eating.

You simply cannot leave it up to someone else to serve you you’re food if you want to really lose weight. After all, how does anyone else know how much food to serve you in order for you to lose weight.

The answer is: they don’t! And as long as you’re not serving yourself, you have almost no shot at real weight loss success. Most restaurants and people will serve similar portions and mixes of food to everyone.

BIG MISTAKE.

There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all portion size of food. You and I both have a very specific amount of food that we need to either maintain our current body weight or lost weight.

The amount of food you need to acheive either of these goals is specific to you and your current body. The only way you and I could eat the same amount of food and get the same results is if we both have the same goals, the same activity level and the same amount of lean body mass.

But this is rare.

In most cases you will have a different sized body and different fitness or weight loss goals than almost everyone that you sit down to eat with on a daily basis. Therefore you need to find a way to eat that matches your goals and not anyone elses.

If the way you are currently eating has got you to the point that you now want to lose weight, then continuing to eat this way won’t help.

You’ve got to make a change.

The first step is getting a sensible nutrition program. If you find it hard to control your diet, give an appetite suppressant a try!

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So I’m just doing my thing, lifting some weights and watching the sports highlights between my sets and I notice a few personal trainers in the gym with a couple very heavy clients.

These trainers were pushing these poor people so hard I thought they were both gonna pass out right there in front of us. I was actually starting to feel uncomfortable and one of the gentlemen that was being trained looked faint.

The point is these trainers are trying to fix more with more. And it’s never going to work.

These clients clearly are eating far too much food, and instead of backing off on the food and making a nutrition change, they are paying $1000′s of dollars for a trainer to beat them to death.

This is a waste of money and isn’t healthy. heck I know varsity athletes who don’t train that hard. It simply isn’t going to get the weight loss results there people are after.

If those people could just get their nutrition under control they could save all the cash their blowing on useless and in some cases dangerous workouts. (it’s just ridiculous how hard the trainers were pushing these people)

If you’ve ever tried to use exercise by itself to lose weight you already know how futile it is. Unless you’re following a good nutrition program all the exercise in the world isn’t going to amount to a hill of beans for weight loss.

Try to actually lose weight with exercise alone. It’s just not possible ( Unless you’ve got nothing else to do all day besides workout for 3-4 hours.)

If you want to actually do something about weight loss then why not spend your time and effort in the right place… and the right place isn’t exercise, its nutrition.

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Is this you? Get ready, because I am about to call you out on the Top 3 Mistakes you are making that can destroy your metabolism, zap your energy and keep your body soft and flabby.

Hours of Cardio?

Cardio is not the end-all be-all solution to fat loss. Working longer and harder will not help you lose fat – in fact it can make you store more fat! We have gotten hung up on the notion of “calories burned”.

This causes us to obsessively look for ways to increase calorie burn in the hopes that we are also burning more fat. Unfortunately you are only risking the loss of muscle and receive little to no increase in your metabolism once you stop.

Besides, why would you want to torture yourself with the unnerving thoughts of minutes needed to burn fat. What if you miss a day or eat too much? We’ve all done it, but what results has this habit rendered?

It’s not how many calories you can burn per exercise, but how many calories you burn 24-7. You already possess the most powerful fat burner – your muscle! So why punish yourself and risk the loss of your fat burning potential? Toss the notion of long bouts of cardio out the window. INTENSITY is the KEY to getting the most out of your cardio in the least amount of time. So revamp your cardio program with new, energizing short burst intervals!

Target the Trouble Spots?

Jennifer Garner’s toned arms and Fergie’s fab abs are not created by some “magic:” exercise that mysteriously melts fat off a particular area of the body. It is time to banish the “Spot Reduction Myth” once and for all.

There simply is no “one” exercise that acts like a “magic eraser” to rid your body parts of unsightly fat. That’s not how the body works. If you want to loose fat, you instead need to challenge all of the muscles in your body to boost your metabolism, so you lose fat all over.

When it comes to fat loss, isolated, shaping exercises are a waste of your time. Just because you “feel the burn” does not mean you ARE burning the fat.

One of the most effective ways in which to maximize your fat-burning potential is through full body, short burst resistance training. By working several muscle groups at once, short burst resistance training saves time, skyrockets your energy levels and incinerates fat and calories.

Resistant to Resistance Training?

“I don’t want to bulk up, I just want to get toned” Let’s think about what you are saying here. Toned, simply means you have shed the fat that once covered your muscles – so we can see your muscle definition. Muscle gives your body a lean, tight shape.

No you will not bulk up like a man. Women simply do not have enough testosterone to get “bulky” nor, typically do they spend enough time with weights to look anything other than lean, toned and firm. The only reason some women feel like they look bulky is because they have excess body fat while building muscle, but are not eating in a way that supports fat loss.

Plus, muscle takes up less space than fat. The quickest way to drop a jean size is to incorporate short burst resistance training into your fitness routine.

If muscle makes you cringe, then you need to get used to a thin, soft, flabby body. For lean, toned, fit bodies have low body fat and a lot of lean muscle.

Instead of working hours on end month after month for little if any results, try eliminating these fitness faux pas from your program and start letting your body work for you to achieve your fat loss goals.

Still fighting the baby fat? Capsiplex is a completely original new slimming supplement that cleverly integrates Capsicum extract (chilli pepper) with a tiny amount of Caffeine, Black Pepper Extract (Piperine) and Niacin known as the Capsimax Plus formula for maximum weight loss.

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When I’m working with a new client one of the first things I do is challenge them to do a week of grocery shopping without buying any item that has ‘sugar’ as an ingredient.

This is a much tougher task than most people think. Sugar is added to all kinds of items, even ones that don’t necessarily taste sweet.

You can find sugar in things like tomato sauce, salad dressing, and all forms of boxed, canned, and jarred packaged foods.

In reality it is very difficult to do a trip through a grocery store without buying a single item that has added sugar.

…difficult, but not impossible. Sugar is added to many processed foods to add flavor and removes the need for you to add your own flavors with spices and seasonings.

Many of us in north america and anyone in modern industrialized countries are getting very accustomed to eating high sugar foods.

So this is my challenge to you. Try to do a week of grocery shopping without buying any food with added sugar.

If you can pull it off you’ll notice that your shopping cart will mostly be filled with whole foods, fresh produce, fresh cuts of meats and minimally processed dairy.

And that is what your shopping cart should look like.

If you do take me up on this challenge by all means email me back and let me know how you do. I’d love to hear your story.

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I mean, the armed forces has to address the exercise and dietary needs of over 1.5 million soldiers to keep them “lean and mean” regardless of…

• Whether they are a MAN or a WOMAN!
• No matter what AGE they are!
• No matter how BIG or SMALL they are!
• And they have to fit it into EVERYONE’S schedule no matter how “busy” things get!

So I decided to touch base with a former U.S. Army “Master Fitness Trainer” who knows how to whip anyone into top shape. His name is Jeff R. Johnson and here’s what he had to say…

Q. Jeff, you wrote a book about how “everyday men and women” can use military fitness training to burn fat. Is it REALLY that easy for non-military people train this way?

A. Yes… I’ve had INCREDIBLE success with using the exact same training and dietary techniques I used in the military with men AND women all the way up into their 60′s and 70′s!  Most people think you have to be a “young guy” to train this way. That’s not true at all.

Q. Then what is it that makes the U.S. Military’s health regimen so effective for keeping soldiers in top shape?

A. Well basically it HAS to be… no excuses!

The military knows that a “fat” soldier is a “dead” soldier. That may stun some people but it’s a hard truth that the armed forces knows well.

So with that in mind, they’ve sunk BILLIONS of dollars into researching the best exercise and dietary strategies that really work. We have men and women of ALL ages, body types, and fitness levels so the program has to be comprehensive and powerful.

Q. So the WOMEN train right along with the men? Do they each follow a different program?

A. Yes, they train with the men and they do the exact same exercises we do. There’s no difference because the principles of staying lean and healthy are EXACTLY the same for all of us. You need to focus on keeping your muscle strong because that’s what helps you burn fat all day long. EVERYONE has to do the same pushups, pull ups and other exercises during training.

That may make some “civilian” women cringe at the thought of doing pullups but I’ve seen 65 y.o. “grannies” doing full “military” pullups and they look GREAT for their age.  Both men and women are amazed at how quickly they can adapt to these exercises and how incredibly EFFECTIVE they are!

Q. So there’s a strong emphasis on “weight training” in the military?

A. Definitely! We do cardio as well, but we’re obviously known for “pushups & situps”…and there’s a reason for that.

For every pound of lean muscle on your body, you burn an extra 14 calories per day. Compare that to just 4 calories burned for every pound of body fat and you can see that you can burn over 300% more calories throughout the day just by focusing on building more lean muscle and holding back the fat gain.

Bodyweight training is superior for burning fat and ideal for all ages and fitness levels. Plus, it can be done anywhere! At home, while traveling, at the gym… ANYWHERE!

Q. But isn’t it easier to stay in shape when the military is FORCING you to train and eat right?

A. Oh sure… But it’s still an individual responsibility because most soldiers actually eat just like most people… beer, pizza, fast food.  Soldiers have the same exact “weight challenges” as civilians. The only reason they are able to maintain their physical shape is because it IS “mandatory”.

Trust me…there’s no “I don’t feel like working out today” in the military!

But the “Average Joe & Jane” out there can learn a valuable lesson from this. If you’re truly committed to creating your dream body and melting off any unwanted pounds, you have to find a way to eliminate as many excuses as possible that can keep you from staying on track.

Take an honest look at the reasons you may have stopped training in the past. Was it the time commitment? Scheduling conflicts? Maybe you can train at home instead? Perhaps find a gym closer to your job so you can hit it on the way to work or during lunch?

Whatever you can identify as an obstacle, brainstorm ways to eliminate it for good…and make training MANDATORY.

Q. To wrap it all up, what are the main pillars of the military fitness routine?

A.

1. Strength training
2. Exercise in the morning
3. Maintain sleep patterns
4. Keep meals regular and proportioned
5. Get full in the morning
6. Stay active throughout the day
7. Drink lots of water

Just about anybody can apply these seven principles to a moderate weight loss plan. Do it the Army way and lose weight now!

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Yeah, I know… how could a fitness professional like myself ever consider gorging on such a huge calorie-dense meal?

What if I told you that you can still eat your favorite foods while simultaneously shedding body fat like crazy! Yes, it’s true… but only IF you understand how to manipulate a few KEY aspects of your diet.

Today I want to introduce you to a unique dietary trick that actually allows you to eat your favorite foods while simultaneously boosting your metabolism so that you can shed off body fat easier.

It involves a little bit of rotation of foods in your diet but is actually quite easy and fun to do once you get it right.

In fact, if you do this right, you’ll actually boost your metabolism and make it easier to burn body fat.

Let me be clear about something… by using this unique method, you do NOT need to starve yourself, overly restrict your food intake, or try to live on nothing but chicken, broccoli, and
salad.

Remember, if you do this right, you can actually enjoy most of your favorite foods every week.

My friend and colleague John Banson came up with this unique dietary system with the help of Jen Heuser. I have to say that it’s brilliant what they’ve come up with.

John and Jen were both obese years ago. Over the past four years, they perfected a System that shows you how they went from obese to “cover model” fit and still eat their favorite foods.

Not “once a week” either — they INSIST you eat delicious food frequently and without guilt or worry.

Even better, they never count a single calorie!

They get to eat pizza, burgers, ice cream, and more…and still drop the lbs!

This is not a pill, scam, or gimmick…this is science applied to the real world.

The science:  you take advantage of the fact your body prefers a change of pace and can respond by burning ugly fat.

The real world:  no one is going to eat salad and tuna every day for the rest of their life in order to shed bodyfat and feel good again.

Simple, right? Common sense! You absolutely MUST HAVE a diet-plan you can live with for life.

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• Don’t starve yourself! You’ll only get fat!

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This negative thinking is invariably the product of negative “programming” we picked up in childhood from parents, teachers, etc., but for many reasons, the unhealthy eating that results may not become a serious problem until we reach adulthood.

As you might guess, will power is a very ineffective tool for solving this problem, since our unconscious motivations are much more powerful and persistent than our conscious desire to “behave.” That’s why the only real solution to our unhealthy eating habits is to “find and fix” the toxic thinking that created our bad habits in the first place–and will keep on creating them until we solve our unhealthy eating problem at its root.

Of course, it’s very important to have a healthy diet plan and exercise program. But neither of these things can bring us real and lasting weight loss IF our own hidden thoughts are still sabotaging us.

A good way to identify your “hidden” self-sabotaging thinking is to (1) notice when your are having an unhealthy eating event, (2) record the time, the place, the circumstances, what you actually ate, and as many related thoughts as you can, and (3) try to identify what it is in your thinking that both motivates you to eat unhealthily AND then allows you to “justify” your unhealthy eating.

That’s just a first step, but it’s an absolutely essential one. Do it for a few days, and I think you’ll be surprised — and maybe even shocked — at what you discover.

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This is a simple exercise which works by strengthening your deeper transversus abdominis muscles. The results will be “pulling in” your lazy stomach. His does NOT increase fat burning, but it give your stomach that FIRM appearance.

It involves doing something called “ab vacuums“.

I find it a good time to get in the habit of doing daily ab vacuums while driving on your daily commute or another time that would get you in the habit of doing them regularly.

Of course, ab vacuums can be done anywhere and don’t have to be just for work or driving, but I’ve found that it helps me to remember to do them if I do them at a specific time when driving regularly.

Make sure this doesn’t distract you from driving safely!

Ab vacuums are simple:

• You can do ab vacuums pretty much anywhere at any time.
  You can do them standing, seated (such as in a car), kneeling in a four-point position, or even lying flat on the floor.

The movement is as simple as pulling your belly button in as far as you can by imagining you’re trying to touch your belly button to your spine and holding for 10-20 seconds at a time. Start by inhaling deeply. Then, as you exhale, start pulling the belly button in towards the spine and hold it there for 10-20 seconds while just taking short breaths. Repeat for several holds.

Get in the habit of doing this at least 4-5 days per week while driving or sitting in front of your computer somewhere and you may find that this helps to flatten your stomach more by strengthening the transversus abdominis muscle (the deep ab muscles beneath the rectus abdominis) if you previously had a “lazy belly”.

Like I said, this doesn’t increase fat burning… it only helps to flatten a stomach that has lazy deep ab muscles.

If you’re looking to get slender, sexy abs even when you’re sitting at your desk read more about the Slendertone Belt Abs System.

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I recently heard a quote from Will Smith, an actor who I admire greatly for his hard work ethic, both in the gym and in his career. It went something like this:

“I will NOT be outworked. Period… You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be sexier than me, you might be all of those things. You got it on me in nine categories. But if we get on the treadmill together, there’s two things: Either you’re getting off first, or I’m gonna die. It’s really that simple.”

-Will Smith, on his work ethic

I’ve noticed that a lot of people lack motivation to get themselves into shape… some clients I’ve worked with over the years are extremely motivated and work their butts off, while others just want a “quick fix” and whine and complain about working hard.

Yes! Now THAT’S the way to get motivated! You gotta love it.

He was obviously talking about much more than just working hard during exercise… this was about life… but if you think of that quote before you go to the gym, you’ll be ready to get yourself one ragingly good workout!

It’s about WAY more than just mindlessly going through the motions in your workouts… it’s about getting in the mentality that you’re working to be the best you can be, and that you are unstoppable!

It’s about visualizing your body being as lean & mean as you want it to be… and your health so vibrant and energetic, that nothing is getting in your way to achieving everything you set out to achieve.

Like I’ve said a thousand times before, true lifelong fitness starts in your mind… and your training and nutrition follow once your mind is in the right place.

Share some motivation with your friends and family and send the link to this post to everyone you think will enjoy it!

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Think about that for a moment: What if you could change a habit, simply by changing your mind? Our minds get stuck in possibility loops, much like we tell ourselves we’re not good at math, or hate board games, or don’t like vegetables or … what are your identity
beliefs? Once you decide you are ready, then change becomes effortless.

Break The Nighttime Eating Habit

Are you an evening eater? Would you like to break the habit, once and for all? If the answer is an unqualified yes, meaning you do intend to end this habit, right here, right now, not tomorrow, not maybe someday, but now, then read on. If you’re not quite ready, read on anyway…

Before you begin, realize breaking the evening eating habit (or any
habit) doesn’t mean you can never eat in the evening again. It means
you’ll no longer believe you don’t control your own actions

Examine your pattern for running the Evening Eating Routine. Perhaps
tonight immediately following dinner (or your last meal) start
taking notes, writing down your thoughts, what you do, what you say,
what you think, what you feel. Write down as much as you can. This
gives important clues into your actual pattern. Dictate your
thoughts if that works better for you.Example of Steps to Change a Habit:

FIRST: Name the habit: Eating in front of the TV from 8:00 PM until
bedtime.

SECOND: List the steps:

1. After dinner, I wash dishes, and already I’m thinking about snacks
for later.

2. I wrap and put away leftovers, mentally noting when I’ll eat them.

3. I put away the other things and notice what’s in the kitchen for
snacks.

4. I tell myself I’m not going to eat anything else tonight.

5. I go out to the living room and sit down in my usual place.

6. I decide what shows to watch, and talk with my husband.

7. The first commercial comes on about burgers or chicken or
something to eat and I start feeling a gurgling in my stomach.

8. I think to myself that I couldn’t possibly be hungry so soon.

9. I tell myself, “No, I’m not going to eat.”

10. Another commercial comes on, and I’m launched out of my chair,
asking my husband if he wants anything, as I head in that direction.

11. Husband asks, “What are you going to have?”

l2. I think, Oh, I wasn’t going to have anything but I don’t want him
to be disappointed, so I think of something to offer him. “How about
ice cream?” Now, he’s smiling, he’s happy, I’m happy, I go to get
HIM some ice cream.

13. While spooning out the ice cream, it looks so good, so creamy, so
lickable, that I try a small spoonful. That was good, so I give him
an extra big bowlful, then I think, a small amount won’t hurt, so I
start to give myself a small bowl full, then I think, that doesn’t
look like much, so I eat spoonfuls while I keep adding to the bowl,
eating, adding, eating, adding, now it looks like there’s not much
left in the carton and so I put that in my bowl. Mine looks a little
oversized so I eat a bit off the top to even it out.

14. I carry both bowls to the living room, deciding which to give my
husband. He says, “Thanks, honey,” and I say, “You’re welcome,”
thinking “I’ll start my diet tomorrow.”

In the example above, the first sign of trouble was while doing the
dishes; thoughts were already starting about future eating. Have you
done that? You’re full from a big meal, but thinking about the next
already

Drink 2 or 3 glasses of water.  I get out of the house without cash on me–so I can’t buy snacks (go for a walk or window shopping).
Brush your teeth, exfoliate, do a pedicure, etc.
I also chew gum but I’ve seen people on here say that makes them more hungry (I just like chewing, plus it burns some tiny amount of calories, like, the amount in a stick of gum).

I also try to make my bedtime earlier.  I tend to give into cravings after 10pm…  so now my bed time is 10:30.

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My backyard ab exercise

chores that I used to do in the yard growing up, that is also a great full body and abs workout. And that was…

Splitting fire wood (the old fashioned way… with an axe instead of a machine)

I saw that my dad had some big logs out in the yard that needed to be split for next winter, so I thought it would be fun and be a good workout to get out there and jump right in.

What a great full body workout… and a killer abs workout for that matter too!

I did about an hour and a half of wood splitting, and it felt great. I try to really get some muscle into each axe drop, which I noticed really contracts the abs hard, as well as working the lats, shoulders, and forearms pretty hard too.

As weird as it may sound to some people, I really enjoy hard work like that… maybe it has to do with my upbringing doing manual labor and working all 4 years during my college years for a landscaping company (70-hour weeks every summer)… but there’s just something I love about being outside and doing hard work.

So as much as I talk about gym workouts, sprint workouts, kettlebell workouts, etc in this newsletter, I just figured I would bring back the point that you can also get great workouts outside simply by doing some good old fashioned yard work.

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The other day I mentioned that I often have a couple drinks on Saturday,
one of my two “high carb days” for the week. I’m able to stay very lean and still enjoy myself on the weekends because I do so in moderation, and I choose my drinks wisely. This is very important.

You could eat a perfect diet and exercise until your face turns blue and still have a difficult time losing fat if you’re not careful with your alcohol consumption.

First, alcohol has 7 calories per gram, almost as much as fat (9 calories per gram), and almost twice as many calories as a gram of carbohydrate or protein (4 calories each per gram). So even just a couple of drinks can set you back 300 – 400 calories.

In addition, when you consume alcohol at the same time as food, your body tends to burn the alcohol first, sparing fat.

Suppose, for example, you cut your calories from fat down to a
recommended 20 percent. That’s great. But if you consume 10 percent
of your daily calories (approximately 2-3 drinks) from alcohol, it is as
though your diet has 40 percent fat, proportionate to calories.

Furthermore, studies show that alcohol makes people hungrier; and
at the same time, it lowers their inhibitions, so they are more likely to
binge. The more you drink, the less you care about what you are eating
and how it might be sabotaging your progress.

As you can see, fat loss is not nearly as easy or effective if you drink too
much alcohol. This is not to say you have to cut out alcohol altogether.
Alcohol, just like fat, cholesterol, salt, and sugar, can be consumed in
moderation.

If you drink on a regular basis, try cutting back to one glass, or a glass
every other night, or just on the weekends. Also, try a light beer with
fewer calories. And when you have a cocktail, use diet soda or Crystal
Lite as the mixer.

(I made up an amazing low-calorie, sugar-free margarita recipe, if you
want it)

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Don’t shop for food when you are hungry. If you are hungry
when you are shopping, you will be more likely to buy foods
that are not on your grocery list. So be aware of your
craving and don’t shop when you are hungry.

Brush your teeth after dinner to prevent you from evening
snacking.

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It’s all going well so far you think to yourself, however, no sooner does that thought enter your head, your stomach rumbles. You feel the hunger and assume it’s nearly lunch time. Then you check the time and its only 10:30am – the mid-morning munchies have arrived!!

You can last until lunch you tell yourself but your stomach has other ideas. You try and think of something else but the only thing your mind is thinking about is chocolate and cakes. You cannot last any longer and rush to the vending machine – not a single healthy snack is on show. You give in and tell yourself tomorrow will be different, tomorrow you will avoid snacking at work.

We have all been there; snacking at work is a big problem day in, day out for the vast majority of us. The average person spends $45 on snacks every month. However, it doesn’t have to be like this.

There are ways you can stop snacking at work. The office does not need to be the place you surrender all willpower. Here are my top 5 tips to help you cut out those sweet treats at your desk:

1. Remain Calm
Stress is one of the biggest reasons why snacking at work is so hard to control. If you can stay relaxed by planning your workload efficiently then it will be easier to say no to those unhealthy snacks.

2. Stock up on Fruit
Keeping a supply of fruit on your desk will give you an alternative option to chocolate, cakes and potato chips. Better still, you won’t even have to leave your desk to get them!

3. Don’t Carry Loose Change
This is particularly useful if you have a vending machine at work. No spare change in your pocket means you cannot use the vending machine and no matter how much you want that chocolate bar you cannot have it.

4. Keep Yourself Busy
No doubt you often snack because you are bored. If you can keep yourself busy then you will not even think about snacking. Always ensure you have tasks to do to keep your mind off sweet treats.

5. Invest in an Appetite Suppressant
This is one of the tricks I swear by. Appetite suppressants are small pills you take each day which gives signals to the brain that you are full and do not require more food. They are perfectly safe and help you to get your willpower back and control those snacking at work cravings.

By far the best appetite suppressant I have used is a product called UniqueHoodia.

If you want to cut out snacking at work then look no further – UniqueHoodia is your key to controlling those cravings.

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I would say that it was probably latter on in life than what most people do. I have never really been the active type of person. Sure, I loved to go hiking and stuff like that, but I would never hit the gym or take weight loss pills. Well, some things never change.

Maybe it is because of age or maybe it is because of all the people around me are fat.

Maybe it was a combination of those two things that made me start to think of my diet and my health. When you are young, you can eat fast food three meals a day and not feel it. When you start to get older, you begin to feel it more. I would like to think that my progression towards a healthy lifestyle was to make myself more healthy. On the other hand, I think it was because I was tired of feeling like shit. I am sure that you know exactly what I am talking about.

When your diet goes down hill, the rest of you goes along with it.

Your sleeping patterns go to hell, your hair doesn’t look as good, and your skin looks like leather. I had always wondered why some people’s skin looked like a pair of old combat boots. Now I know why. So, what do you do? You are starting to feel over the hill but yet you don’t know how to change things. Change is the hardest thing to do in life. You should know, its not impossible. If you are a married man or have been in a long term relationship this will be easy for you. Chances are the old lady would like to shed a few pounds and firm up that once tight heart shaped ass that she once had.

You will be more successful if both of you do it. I’m not saying that you should expect perfection in this venture. Though if both of you are doing it, there won’t be those tubs of ice cream laying around to tempt you.

Where do you start?

First I would suggest that you go to your doctor for a physical. Have some blood work taken and see how you are. If you haven’t done anything like this before, it is a good thing to do. He will check your cholesterol and all that stuff. Also if you have a health condition, you will want to talk about your diet and exercise plans with him before you do anything. You want to do this so that you don’t screw yourself up. If you have diabetes and you start a new diet, if not done right you can cause a lot of problems.

So, after you have things squared away with the doctor. I would suggest that you figure out what kind of diet you want to go on. I would suggest that you focus on a diet that is high in veggies and fruit. Cut back on the meat and the carbs and stick with as many fresh items as you can. This will help you loose weight. I would also suggest that you look into some type of exercise program. I would start out with walking or jogging and work your way from there. You and your old lady can do this together. Get a dog, they love to go on walks. This will give you motivation when it comes to taking your walks.

After you get used to walking, I would hit the gym. If you can afford a personal trainer, I would go that route. If you can’t, then I would start off by doing some swimming and doing the exercise bikes. You can also start out with the treadmill as well. I would continue to do your walks. Not only is this good exercise, but this is quality time with your old lady. You will come to enjoy the talks that you have during your walks. If you are over 40, I’m not sure how much I would push doing weight lifting. It might be something that you might want to look into. On the other hand, it will take your body some time to get used to lifting weights. For the first few weeks, you will feel like someone beat you to a pulp.

Personally, I hate lifting weights. I think it is a bit, well, boring. I think it is boring to stand or sit and just lift things for hours on end. If there is some hot chicks doing squats or something in front of me, that is another story all together. The main thing to understand is, change your diet, get more exercise, and listen to your doctor. If he gives you the green light to go ahead, then go ahead. If he gives any warnings, make sure that you listen to them.

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