Ahwatukee StrengthLab Personal Training 480-612-7726

Those recommending supplements (whether magazine, television or individual) are the same one’s selling them!  It’s simply snake oil for the 21st century.  Buyer beware!  If your gym or personal trainer is selling supplements they’ve simply sold out.   

Try some turkey, fish or chicken with some fruits and vegetables instead…

The majority of males get their health and fitness information from magazines that are full of professional bodybuilders and muscular models who use steriods, as well as other illegal chemicals to achieve their desired look.  Not only are these fitness role models typically using drugs to obtain their facade of health and fitness they’re frequently pedaling strength training routines that are literally a figment of someone’s imagination.  Choose your health and fitness information wisely. 

Let me start by stating that weight-loss diets absolutely do not work and that’s a proven fact, nor do weight-loss supplements! If you cannot stick with an eating program for the rest of your life then don’t start the program in the first place, because you’re wasting your time.  If you happen to be so lucky as to lose any weight at all while on a “weight-loss” diet, it will simply come back when you abruptly stop the diet and return to your normal eating behavior.

With that said, weight-loss is earned through dedication to a lifestyle change involving natural whole foods, where overall calories, carbohydrates, protein and fat consumption are all minimized, while following a carefully constructed fitness program that allows the participant enough time to recover physically and mentally.  Therefore, it’s important to carefully control the type, intensity, duration and frequency of the activities introduced and executed, so as to remain exercising for a lifetime.  Be patient, consistent and determined!

Your food selections should contain natural ingredients – No Artificial Ingredients such as colors, flavors or preservatives (your goal here is to minimize all artificial ingredients, it’s nearly impossible to avoid them all).  Trans Fats a.k.a Hydrogenated Oils, Animal and Vegetable Shortening, as well as Margarine should be severely minimized or NOT consumed at all.  And lastly, Artificial Sweeteners such as Saccharine a.k.a Sweet’n Low, Aspartame a.k.a NutraSweet and Sucralose a.k.a Splenda should be minimized or avoided as well.  Artificial sweeteners do not aid in weight-loss; there’s no health benefits associated with artificial sweeteners and they’re hotly debated as health risks as well.  If you consume diet soda restrict it to one 12oz serving per day.

You must take charge of your health through consistent physical activity and solid nutrition and never let others convince you that it’s not important… because it is to you.  Social activities are a major failure point in building a healthy eating program and lifestyle.  Do not give in and join the sedentary and overweight crowd.  If you must, order simple and specific food (e.g., grilled chicken breast, a side salad, fat free dressing on the side and a coffee or tea) when eating out and let your company, not the food, be your enjoyment.  In addition, you must take time to exercise consistently, do not let others stand in the way of moving your body in a purposeful and productive way, that will help medicate your self-esteem with natural good feeling chemicals and improve your overall health physiologically the natural way.  There’re a lot of obstacles to good health and you must fight the good fight everyday, every week, every month and every year!

A few more tips to live by… prepare your own food; restaurant dining will be a huge pitfall in your success if you do not prepare your food and plan ahead.  Beverages should be non-caloric the majority of the time.  Fried food… do I have to say anything at all?  Consume no more than 10%-15% of your calories from fat per individual serving (10% of calories should come from fat if you’re trying to lose weight) and consuming less is even more desirable – the labels tell the story here.  For example, if there are 100 calories in your food item and 10 calories are from fat that’s 10% of fat from calories (so read your labels).  Get plenty of sleep and keep your stress down; this is best achieved by planning ahead and being organized; fly by the seat of your pants and you’ll get what you get, which isn’t necessarily what you want!  I recommend a good multi-vitamin/mineral product (recommended dose on the bottle) and a calcium/magnesium product as well (500-1000mg of each).  Damage to your cells is cumulative, so eat as well as you can, as often as you can, while making exceptions and being flexible only when necessary.  Don’t take unnecessary risks with your health. Up to 90% of disease and premature death are lifestyle related conditions; you can control your situation and make it positive.  Don’t smoke and don’t drink more than 1 serving of alcohol each day.  Wear your seatbelt and drive carefully. You need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk!  Be positive and keep an optimistic attitude.

Remember, the following are helpful recommendations only. You must be proactive in your decision making and carefully read all your labels. You need to educate yourself and stay motivated to make sound decisions; don’t let others choose for you.  You need to work on consuming whole fruits and whole (cooked or raw) veggies and they need to be at arm’s length when needed.  Lean sources of protein such as sliced deli turkey or chicken, pre-cooked cold fish, turkey or beef jerky without artificial ingredients, low-fat yogurts, fat free milk, hard boiled eggs (without the yolk), egg beaters and/or egg whites need to be ready to eat when required.  Fitness, weight-loss or “ergogenic” supplements are not necessary and a waste of money.  Furthermore, be ready to eat before you’re deeply hungry.  Salads have to have fat free (low-fat is not good enough) dressing (used sparingly) with light cheese and better yet, no cheese, and lots of veggies!

You must plan ahead to succeed!  And you must be dedicated to stay with it!

The majority of our workouts should be intense – yet brief.  If our workouts are intense and long in duration, too much damage typically takes place and the recovery takes too long.  If our workouts are intense, yet short in duration, adequate stimulation for adaptation takes place without wasting time, recovery is typically shorter and we’re less likely to burn-out over time. 

Brief intensity, driven with purpose and good technique, produce impressive results, clearing the mind of stress and leaving us capable of recovering quickly, so that we can exercise again sooner than later, creating more positive adaptations in the long run.

Caveat: adequate recovery or lower intensity movement should be utilized between the intense bouts of exercise.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute found that over a 10-year period studied, those who ate the most red meat everyday had a 30% greater risk of dying compared to those who had less red meat each week.  The causes of death were mostly from heart disease and cancer, the two leading causes of death in the United States.  The primary problem with red meat is the high amount of saturated fat contained in the product.  Saturated fat has no known benefit to the human body, but because the fatty oil remains a solid at body temperature it does come with plenty of risk once consumed.  You don’t have to cut out red meat entirely if you enjoy it… but consider reducing your intake to a maximum of once a week and always choose lean cuts of meat while removing all the visible fat from the product.