Tag Archives: Fitness

Getting Past Your Plateaus (Making Your Diet Work)

August 19, 2014UncategorizedBuilding, coach, coaching, diet, dieting, exercise, Fitness, food, health, lose weight, Low Carb, Motivation, Muscle, N. L. P., NLP, Pounds, psychological, shred, success, Weight Loss, workoutadvancedweightlossresources

In a past article, I mentioned that I have hit many Plateaus during my weight loss journey. I would like to take the time and share with you precisely what I did in order to beat everyone of those plateaus. I do this in the hopes that this will help you get past your weight-loss plateau as well.

First off I must admit that this is extremely autobiographical. In other words, these are the things I did. This is to say that these things may or may not work for you.

I started my weight-loss journey at around 286 pounds. I probably weighed more but I cannot be sure. The first wall I hit was 250 pounds. Honestly, I was still feeling pretty good at this time, but I noticed that the weight was not coming off like it was when I first started. However, because I was still feeling good, I did not quit my diet nor my workout scheduled. And that is the first thing I did to get past my weight-loss wall. I kept going!

After this, I lost 8 more pounds. Now I was down to 242ish and I hit another wall. This one was severe. My weight loss did not just slow down, it stopped altogether! I was very upset. I was still dieting and working out, but the scale was not moving at all! What I had done to lose weight so far was now no longer working for me. I do not remember how long this phase lasted, but I’m going to guess that it was a few mounts.

So what did I do to get past this wall? Well, basically I increased my workouts. I did not do this on purpose. What happened is I was hired on to a second job. Both my jobs at that time required that I was on me feet all day. But my new job was much more labor intensive. In addition to this, I was still doing my regular workouts and I stuck to my diet plan. Within just a few weeks, I lost another 10 pounds.

So I was at 232 and I hit another wall. It was just as bad as the last one. The scale was not moving even though I was exercising like crazy and maintaining a low-carbohydrate diet.

It was at this point I started learning more about dieting and exercise. I started learning about how and why the belly fat is so hard to lose. I learned that belly fat is more like an organ, and one thing it does is store toxins.

One of the people who I look up to recommended that people who are having a hard time getting rid of those last few pounds switch from regular Diet Coke to Diet Coke with splenda. The sweetener in regular Diet Coke is a toxin, and I was ingesting that toxin by the gallons. So I switched. And guess what? It worked! I got down to about 225-227. That is a total loss of 60 pounds off my original weight.

In closing, I have one more way way of getting past this very last wall that I have hit. However, I will share that with you when I reach my goal weight of 220!

Don’t Let One Failure Become a Habit (Why Diets Fail)

August 11, 2014UncategorizedBuilding, coach, diet, dieting, Fitness, food, health, healthy eating, lose weight, Motivation, N. L. P., NLP, paleo, Pounds, psychological, shred, take actionadvancedweightlossresources

One of the reason why diets fail has to do with mental attitude. Of course there are many mental attitudes that can either help or hinder your weight-loss experience. In this post, I would like to cover one of those attitudes. I call it the “Letting One Failure Turn into a Habit” attitude.

So what is this mindset? Perhaps you can relate. It goes something like this. You failed to keep you diet program. For one reason or another you simply fell off the wagon. Your cravings got the better of you, and you indulged in high-carbohydrate foods. But instead of stopping at that one feeding, you say to your self something like, “I already blew it for this meal. I might as well just make a day out of it.” Now the whole day is ruined instead of just one feeding.

Often this one day extends to several. Let’s say you had your slip up on Thursday. Then you say something like, “Well it’s Thursday and I have already messed up. Tomorrow is Friday and that is doughnut day at work, and Monday is a holiday, and I was already planning to make compromises.” This process can repeat itself so often that one is more off their diet than on it.

In the recent past, I had to correct this problem in my own behavior. It was one of those weeks where I was working very hard. My wife and I were out for brunch, and I was craving carbs like crazy. I had an inner dialogue with myself over whether or not my cravings were emotional or my body really needed the carbs. I eventually decided to order some high-carbohydrate food. Whether or not I cheated or my body simply needed the carbs I cannot tell. But the smells in that restaurant and the look of all those high-carb foods being taken to other tables was just too much.

Going off the wagon for that meal was not my biggest problem. That came later in the day. I noticed another inner dialogue starting up. While visions of pizza and ice cream flashed through my mind, I said to myself, “Hey, I already had a high-carb meal today. I might as well just make a day out of it.”

When I realized what was happening, I had to make a choice. I chose not to let one failure turn into a habit. First, I let myself off he hook for cheating earlier. Next, I told myself to not to ruin the day over one meal. I reminded myself of how far I had come. And that I only had a very few more pounds to lose before I reached my goal weight and falling into this trap would be a major set back in my progress. That pizza and ice-cream was not worth it and it never will be.

In closing please remember that you will have failures. You are not perfect. Don’t beat yourself up for falling off the wagon. Just get right back on it and keep heading toward your goals.

Goal Setting For Weight Loss.

August 5, 2014UncategorizedBuilding, coach, coaching, diet, dieting, exercise, Fitness, food, health, healthy eating, inspiration, lose weight, Low Carb, Motivation, N. L. P., NLP, paleo, Pounds, psychological, shred, success, Supplement, take action, Weight, Weight Loss, workoutadvancedweightlossresources

One of the things that I have found enormously helpful for myself and my clients is setting goals. In fact setting goals is a requirement for those who secure Advanced Weight-loss Resources as a training or coaching agency. What follows are a few simple steps that will help you set goals and in turn help you lose weight.

Step one is be specific. Too often I hear people say something like, “I need to lose a few pounds.” But what is a few pounds? Is it ten or one hundred? The reason you need to be specific is so you have an objective criterion in which to measure your success. Without an objective standard, it is easier let up on your weight-loss program sooner than you should. So, if you would like to lose fifty pounds write down fifty pounds.

Step two is give yourself a dead line. Deadlines create motivation. If you know you have to lose twenty pounds by the end of the month, then you know you have to get working on your goals right away.

Finally, put your goals in a place where you can see them every day preferably put them in a place where you can see them every morning. This will set a positive mental attitude at the beginning of each day.

If you want to go the extra mile, you can read your goals out loud at least once a day. This also gives you psychological inspiration for keeping you on track.

Keep Moving Forward

If you do not hit your desired goals, do not panic. I would almost guarantee that if you followed the steps above you will be much closer to your goals than if you hadn’t. Don’t be afraid to adjust and re-adjust as necessary. The important part is to keep moving toward you weight-loss goals!

A Personal Request

If you enjoy the information that is on this blog, please consider re-posting it or sharing it on your favorite social media. It would mean a lot to me. Thanks.

The Right Workout.

July 28, 2014UncategorizedBuilding, coach, exercise, Fitness, health, healthy eating, Low Carb, Motivation, Muscle, N. L. P., NLP, paleo, Pounds, shred, success, take action, workoutadvancedweightlossresources

Working out is a great way to accelerate your weight loss goals. For most who want to lose weight, working out is not an option–it is a requirement. But that leads to a very important question: What workout is right for you?

Answering the above question is a bit tricky. There are many theories by many experts talking about what kind of work out one should and should not do. And, like I have mentioned in previous posts, I am not an expert. I can only tell you what I have done to lose weight myself, and what I have recommended to my clients.

First off, I am of the opinion that (most) any exercise is better than nothing. This is particularly true for beginners. Generally speaking, for people who just starting, a low-carb diet along with most any workout will accelerate fat mobilization. In other words, I am not one of those coaches that say, “Don’t do cardio,” or, “Only do cardio.” If you are a beginner, just get moving!

There is also a psychological advantage in doing a workout that you enjoy. And that is simply this: if you enjoy it, you are more likely to do it! So pick something you like and go for it!

However, I do have to say that this kind of philosophy on working out is only good for a short period of time. The reason is your body adjusts and it becomes more resistant to fat mobilization. This is particularly true of cardio. The better you get at cardio, the longer you have to do it in order to get the same effects.

A good example of this is jogging. At the beginning, person may struggle to jog a block. But at the end of a month, he can jog a block with no problem. In order for the same person to receive the same benefits, he has to now run further which will takes more time. People can continue to lose wight doing cardio as long as the workouts continue to intensify and the duration increases.

This leads me to one of my favorite kinds of workouts and that is strength training. One of the best ways I have found to accelerate weight loss is lifting weights. This kind of workout does not suffer from the same problem as cardio. What do I mean by this? Well it is true that your body can adjust and as a result stop mobilizing fat as readily. However, in order to fix this problem you do not have to increase the duration of your workout. All you have to do is increase the weights.

This does not mean that lifting does not have its setbacks. For example, you can adjust to strength training and there does come a point when adding weight no longer helps. This situation does take much longer to reach with strength training rather than cardio, but you will still get there.

The other problem is that of too much bulk. Leaning out and buffing up is great. But, there are not too many people out there that desire to look like a professional weight lifter. In fact, for most, that kind of look is simply unattractive.

With that in mind, it is important to note that for a great majority of people bulking up like a professional will never be a problem. This is partly due to the fact that in order to look like a professional body builder you have to take supplements (some legal some not so legal) that increase growth hormone in addition to working out. But some people with some body types can bulk up with like a professional without the supplements.

I know that I have to watch out for this personally. I have a naturally thick build, and if I do too much strength training, it is easy for me to get too bulkie.

There should be something said about Yoga and HIIT. However, this article is getting too long already so we will have to save these subjects for another time.

So what kind of workout do I recommend? At first, I suggest that you pick a workout you like and do that two to three days a week. But do not do it every day because of the reasons listed above. Break these workouts up with other workouts. Here is an example of what I have done and have recommended:

Day 1: Strength training (pick only two or three muscle groups).

Day 2: Strength training (make these different from the muscle groups form day one).

Day 3: Cardio (your choice. Just make it intense).

Day 4: Strength training (Mix it up).

Day 5: Yoga.

Day 6: Cardio or Hiit.

Day 7: Rest.

I will keep this kind of workout up for about three weeks. Then I change to this:

Day 1: Cardio (usually Martial Arts).

Day 2: Strength training (two or three muscle groups).

Day 3: Cardio.

Day 4: Yoga.

Day 5: Weights.

Day 6: Cardio (maybe a HIIT workout).

Day 7: Rest.

I usually keep this second set of days going for a two weeks. Then I go back to the first set of days for another three weeks.

Conclusion

If you are a beginner, just get moving. Pick a workout you like, but don’t do it everyday. And remember, success is the ultimate test of whether or not something is working. If it is not getting you closer to the goals, DO SOMETHING ELSE.

Shortly in the Future…..

July 23, 2014UncategorizedBuilding, coach, coaching, diet, dieting, exercise, Fitness, food, lose weight, Low Carb, Motivation, N. L. P., paleo, Supplement, take action, Weight Loss, workoutadvancedweightlossresources

Hey all. I don’t really have too much to say in this post. However, I do have a request. Would you please like my new Facebook page because it would mean very much to me and hopes for world domination!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Advanced-Weight-Loss-and-Health-Resources/511946012260911?ref=hl

I also wanted to let you know some of the upcoming projects. Soon we will also have a Twitter account. We will also have a podcast show dedicated to nutrition, exercise, NLP, and weight loss motivation! Also, we are opening a You Tube page. So be on the lookout for these things.

Also, look for my next article in which I will discuss the right exercise for you!

Until then, please like my Facebook page! Thanks.

How Often Should You Have a Cheat Day?

July 13, 2014Uncategorizeddiet, dieting, exercise, Fitness, lose weight, Low Carb, Motivation, N. L. P., NLP, paleo, Pounds, shred, success, take action, workoutadvancedweightlossresources

Restricting yourself from pleasure foods can be difficult. This is why cheat days or cheat meals are so important. Cheat meals allows you to indulge in foods that you may have been craving and also re-activate your fat burning hormones.

But these indulgences are shrouded in mystery. How often should your cheat? Should you cheat the whole day or just one meal? Can you have anything you want? These are just some of the questions that people ask when considering a scheduled cheat.

First off, I would like my readers to consider that I am not a dietitian. I’m just a guy who lost sixty pounds. My only credential is success. With that in mind, lets move on.

The truth is, there is no right answer to when and how often one should have a scheduled cheat. This is due to the fact that everyone is different. However, I do have general recommendations. For example, I recommend that a person refrains form cheating for the first six weeks of their diet. While there may be some exceptions to this, those exceptions are few and far between. The first six weeks are critical. This is where you retrain your body to mobilize fat storage habitually. This means that the body is training to use fat storage rather than store fat preferentially.

After the first six weeks, I recommend a cheat day without limits. In other words, I don’t care when, how long, or what you eat on your cheat day. The only thing is you must have one. And it must be at least two feeding. After the first cheat day, I recommend that a person go on the induction phase of the low-carb diet again. Going on the induction phase after a cheat will accelerate the fat burning process.

As a person progresses the more cheats he or she can have. It could go from every six weeks to every four weeks to every three to ten days. There is no hard-and-fast rule. But your cheats must be monitored carefully. If you are gaining weight, then you need to stop and give yourself another four to six weeks to once again re-adjust your body.

How many feeding should you have? Again, there is no strict rule. However, I recommend that cheat day is not really a day. It’s good to avoid all carbs the first half of the day. Then have two cheat meals along with a snack and a dessert. It should last between six to eight hours. If you have been on a low-carb diet for more than six months with success, then I recommend that after your cheat meal you go back on the induction phase of the diet for about three to five days.

What can you have on your cheat day? The sky really is the limit. However, the common mistake is not eating enough carbs or trying to eat only low-glycemic carbs. Remember cheat days are a time to indulge. These indulgences help psychologically and physically.

Finally, success is the only measure of a diet. Don’t be afraid to adjust and readjust as needed. And remember, cheaters always win by losing!

Free Offer

July 10, 2014UncategorizedBuilding, coaching, diet, exercise, Fitness, free offer, healthy eating, lose weight, Low Carb, Motivation, Muscle, NLP, paleo, Pounds, shred, success, take action, Weight, Weight Loss, workoutadvancedweightlossresources

For a limited time, I am offering a free coaching session! Well, I’ts not completely free. All you have to do is share your favorite article from this blog on your favorite social media. That’s right just share your favorite article form my blog on your most used social media and you can receive a free coaching session.

There are several topics you can choose from. You can have a session on motivation where we can talk about how to break food addictions. Or simply get you motivated to take the first steps.

We could also discuss diet. We can talk about what to foods to eat and what foods to avoid. I can tell you precisely what I did to lose 60 pounds.

Or we could talk about exercise. I can tell you what kinds of workouts I recommend and what kind of exercise I think one should avoid.

We can have this session over Skype, or over the phone. If you live near me, you can redeem you free session in person!

Act now because this free offer is only good for a limited time. The only restriction is that you cannot share this article. But you can choose any other article from this blog. Again, just share the article on your favorite social media and redeem your free session!

When you share this on social media use the contact sheet below and let me know the best way to get a hold of you and what article you shared and where you shared it. Then we will scheduled a time that is best for us.

Offer only good within the continental United States. Offer ends on 7-17-14. Coaching session must be redeemed by 8-31-14.

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The Importance of Cheat Day (Why Diets Fail)

July 8, 2014weight losscoaching, diet, exercise, Fitness, food, health, Low Carb, Motivation, NLP, paleo, Pounds, shred, success, take action, Weight Loss, workoutadvancedweightlossresources

How did you spend your Fourth of July? I spent mine eating bagels, donuts, cookies, potatoes, potato chips, corn chips, and ice cream (among other things). But I did not fall off the wagon. Rather I indulged in a well deserved cheat day.

If you do not already know, a cheat day is a day when you can eat all those foods that you do not normally eat. Foods that are “bad for you.” Cheat days are important and you should not skip them. Why are they so important? Here are two reasons.

Psychological

In an earlier post, I talked about one of the reasons why diets fail. And that reason was an un-manageability factor. In other words, any diet that is going to work has to be a diet that you can live with.

How does this concept figure into a cheat day? Well, what if you were on a diet that forbid you to eat any unhealthy food–ever. Could you do this? I know I could not. While I love eating healthy, I also love some unhealthy foods as well. If I were told I could never eat them again, eventually I would break down and go off the diet. And without the regulation one gets form cheat day, I would probably continue to eat unhealthy food and regain weight.

But this is not a problem when you have a scheduled cheat day. I know that all my sacrifice is going to pay off. I know that there is a day coming when I can eat all those pleasure foods I have been avoiding. And the best part is I’m not breaking my diet! Cheat day gives me the psychological advantage to continue to eat healthy between indulgence days. I don’t have to live without those foods forever. All I have to do is weight a little while.

Health Benefits

The other reason to have a cheat day has to do with the health benefits that accompany them. That’s right. Cheat days have health benefits. It is not all just indulgences.

How is cheat day healthy? As many of you know (particularly those of you who follow a low-carb diet), fat loss is a hormonal process. As you lose weight, you also decrease the production of weight-loss hormones. When you have a cheat day, you re-set all your fat burning hormones. This becomes very important when you are trying to continue to lose weight. In fact, not having enough cheat days is one of the reasons why people plateau and stop losing weight.

So enjoy your cheat day. And don’t cheat your self out of it!

One last thing. You may be wondering how often you should have a cheat day. You may also be wondering what and how much you can have on a cheat day. Keep coming back to this blog to find out.

You are ALREADY Motivated

July 2, 2014UncategorizedBuilding, coach, coaching, diet, dieting, exercise, Fitness, food, health, healthy eating, lose weight, Low Carb, Motivation, Muscle, N. L. P., NLP, Pounds, shred, workoutadvancedweightlossresources

The truth is we are all already motivated. The question is: What are we motivated to do? Some people are motivated to do healthy things, while some people are motivated to do unhealthy things.

What do I mean by this? For example, If you are someone who is prone to sitting on the couch and chowing down on unhealthy food, you do not have a lack of motivation. This is to say you have a reason for participating in unhealthy activities. And that reason is your motivation.

Another way to look at this is by asking: What are you getting out of your unhealthy habit(s)? And do not fool yourself. You are gaining something by sitting on the couch eating donuts. Identifying what you are gaining is the first step in fixing the problem.

What to do next is shift the focus. Instead of concentrating on all the things you are getting out of your bad habit, think of what you are going to lose if you keep up with this unhealthy lifestyle. Think of what your body will look like in the next five years. Become disgusted. That’s right. Think of the unhealthy activity and become disgusted. Then do it again and again. Think of the unhealthy activity and become disgusted.

Before you know it, instead of being motivated to do unhealthy things, you will find the motivation to avoid them.

Find Something New to Love (Get Motivated to Lose Weight)

June 30, 2014UncategorizedBuilding, dieting, exercise, Fitness, food, health, healthy eating, Low Carb, Motivation, Muscle, N. L. P., paleo, Weight Lossadvancedweightlossresources

Dieting can be tough. However, if you only think about how tough it is, you are bound to fall off the wagon. This is one of the reasons why diets fail. The dieter focuses on the food they are not allowed to have. This kind of fixation will ultimately result in feelings of despair and want. That is a recipe for failure.

Of course, there are many, many ways to fix this problem. I will, more than likely, address a verity of techniques to overcome negative dwelling patterns. But in this blog, I want to discuss one thing that is bound to put yourself in the right frame of mind so you can stick to you weight-loss program. And that one thing is simply this: Find something to love. What I mean by this is find some new activity or aspect of your new life to throw yourself into. Here are some suggestions:

1. Low-carb Cooking: Some have thrown themselves into low-carb cooking. There is a lot of fun in learning how to cook delicious food without the high-carb ingredients. Challenge yourself in the kitchen. Grab a low-carb cookbook and try a new recipe every night, or at the very least once a week. I am particularly fond of low-carb desserts.

2. Martial Arts: This is a personal favorite of mine. I have been involved in the Martial Arts since I was seven-years-old. Not only will you learn new skills, but you will also dramatically improve your confidence. There is nothing like knowing that you can defend yourself if needed.

3 Weight Lifting: Get your pump on! Lifting weights is one of the quickest ways to see results in your body. This creates an upward spiral. The more positive changes you see, the more you will want to weight lift. The more you weight lift the more positive results you will see. Eventually, you just keep going in a positive direction.

Here are just a few ideas. I’m sure you can come up with some of your own. And in no time at all you will find something new you love even more than bad food.

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