Your Summer Fitness Plan Starts Now

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Josh Bezoni- Your Summer Fitness Plan Starts Now

If you’re lounging on your couch with a potato chip midway to your mouth, reading that headline in fear, let me assure you that you have nothing to worry about. That statement is not intended to instill fear, but rather to inspire you to start getting fit now so that you can have the body you want by summer.

As the days start getting longer and warmer, with the official start of summer only a little over a month away, you’ve surely heard talk of people expressing concern about fitting into their swimsuits and achieving the perfect beach body. Most people, when nervous about something, shrink away from it rather than attacking it at the root. Don’t abandon your fitness goals just because they seem impossible to achieve. If you put in the work and follow this eight-week workout plan, you can have the body you want this summer. And yes, by work, I mean working out. Dieting alone won’t cut it. However, if you acknowledge upfront that your goals are going to take some work, it makes them more approachable. Plus, you can rest assured that if you take these steps seriously, you’ll be rewarded in the end for all your hard work.

Before diving into the fitness part of this plan, you’ll need to take some time identifying your goals and developing a nutrition plan. Figure out why you want to achieve these goals, exactly how much weight you want to lose or muscle you want to gain, and break your goals down by week.

Then, if you want to make sure your diet compliments your fitness goals, keep tabs not just on what you’re eating, but how much and how often. It’s easy to avoid overeating if you practice time-restricted feeding (TRF). TRF may sound a little intimidating, but it’s not about starving yourself, but rather keeping all of your eating within a specified window of time. You should try to keep your three main meals of the day within a 6-8 hour time frame, meaning if you eat breakfast at 9am, you should have your last meal of the day no later than 5pm. If you get hungry outside of this timeframe, you can always have light, healthy snacks to tide you over.

Portion control is another key consideration; make sure you’re consuming the right amounts of protein, healthy fats, vegetables, and smart carbs. Your daily protein intake should be roughly the size of your palm, healthy fats should be no more than the size of your thumb, limit yourself to one smart carb (like sweet potatoes, brown rice, or quinoa) per day, and eat as many vegetables as you’d like.

The third and most important step in your journey to getting fit in time for beach season is an eight-week fitness plan. Not everyone has the same abilities, so only take on what you can manage. In general though, start small and work your way up to a more rigorous routine. Each week should incorporate both cardio and weight training. How often you workout will depend upon how much you can handle, but aim for 20-30 minutes of aerobic exercise at least three times a week. In your first week, aim for two full-body workouts separated by a cardio day. As you progress in your training, ramp up the intensity. Try 45 minutes of cardio starting in the third week and gradually increase the weights in your full-body workout.

That’s it! If you work hard to stick to your fitness goals for eight weeks, there’s nothing keeping you from flaunting a toned, muscular body on the beach. For a more detailed breakdown of the exercises you can do in your workout sessions, visit the original blog on BioTRUST.com.

My Arch Nemesis: Belly Fat

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Belly fat is stubborn, unsightly, and unwanted. We all want to be rid of it, but it’s always there, lurking, sagging, dragging us and our self-esteem down with it. Lucky for you, I have the knowledge, skills, and experience to eliminate your pouch and bring you out from beneath your belly fat’s shadow. Just take a look at these quick tips and be the person you always knew you could be:

Flaunt what you got!

One study suggests those who have a fruit bowl in their house weigh on average eight pounds less than those who don’t. While correlation may not mean causation, it does stand to reason those with more fruit on hand are more likely to snack on fruit as opposed to something unhealthy. Pro tip: keep two kinds of fruit on hand. That way, you don’t get sick of eating the same thing all the time!

Out of sight, out of mind.

The opposite of the above, hide unhealthy temptation. As they say, “out of sight, out of mind.” A separate study found individuals who had chips or cookies (junk food) immediately visible weighed about 10lbs more than those who didn’t. What’s even more surprising?

Those with cereal boxes visible generally weighed 21lbs more than those without such sugary snacks in eyesight. Soft drinks visible? Try 25lbs more!

Smaller plates.

Really, it’s honestly that simple. Use smaller plates and you’re bound to eat smaller portions, which means less food, and less food, as you can likely guess, means a smaller waistline. Clearly, food just being in front of us makes us far more likely to eat it. So with smaller plates, not only can we physically not serve larger portions, but we will be comfortable with the smaller meals in front of us.

9-10 inch plates are recommended. If you are currently using 12 inch plates, research suggests you will reduce portion size by an immense 22%. That’s nearly a quarter of your daily diet, just with plates! Take advantage.

Follow these tips and you’ll be strutting the along the sand in your newfound beach body in no time! Till next time!

The Real Reason You Can’t Lose Weight

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Sodium. We all know about it and we’ve all heard we eat too much of it; but what, really, is sodium? And why does it matter if we eat too much of it? Well, for one, sodium, plain and simple, is necessary for the body to function to properly. It plays a vital role in water balance, nerve function, and a whole array of various physiological functions that are of the utmost significance to our health. That said, we really only need a small amount—500 mg, in fact. To put that into perspective, you can get your daily amount of sodium from a serving of chips, crackers, canned food items, pickles, cheeses, pretzels, or even salted nuts. Even condiments like ketchup and salad dressings are packed to the brim with sodium.

Considering we get our daily intake from something as simple as a bag of pretzels, it is easy to see how so many Americans are consuming far too much sodium (like 4 to 5k on a daily basis); and we only need 500mg! Even being conservative, that means the majority of American adults are processing 8 times more sodium than they should be. Even the American Medical Association is speaking up and is trying to persuade the FDA to revoke their categorization of salt as a supposedly ‘safe’ additive. You can see why.

What’s really intriguing about all of this is the fact that salt is actually an incredibly addictive substance. So it makes sense that big food manufacturers would pump the stuff into their products. They want you to keep coming back. They don’t care about your expanding waistline, only their expanding pocketbook. To show you what I mean, there has been clinical research conducted that illustrates the fact that salt actually shares many of the same attributes of addictive substances (i.e. morphine, cocaine, and heroin). When we ingest these addictive substances, our brains release hormones that we perceive as pleasurable sensations. Thus, we keep coming back for more.

Additionally, a Finnish study that was published in 2006 concluded that there is a clear-cut link correlation salt intake and obesity. From the 1980s to the mid-1990s, Americans’ salt intake increased tremendously by more than 50%. Here’s why this fact really is such terrible news: a diet that with too much sodium is the leading cause of high blood pressure, which in turn leads to heart disease and stroke (which, shocker, are two diseases that go hand-in-hand with obesity).

When a man or woman has a high blood pressure reading of 140/85, their blood begins coagulating into a sort of salty sludge. Then, in reaction, their body will start dumping extra water into their bloodstream which results in the expansion of blood vessels—indicating any number of potentially fatal problems. Well, now that I’ve established too much sodium is awful for you, here’s what you can do to mitigate the effects:

-Consumer fewer processed foods

-Choose fresh or frozen veggies, not canned

-Purchase fresh meats, not canned, cured or smoked

-Ask about unsalted meals at restaurants

-Opt for low sodium versions of soups and snacks

-Choose foods that don’t list salt or sodium in the first five ingredients

-Use a salt-free herbal blend instead of a traditional salt shaker

Good luck, Godspeed, and stay healthy! Cheers!

 

Repair Your Broken Metabolism

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Often times, I find myself repeatedly talking about the different the dangers related to chronic dieting or what other’s like to call yo-yo dieting. One of those dangers is the fact that constant dieting can break your metabolism. In other words, it can slow down your metabolism to the point where it’s extremely difficult to lose weight! As dire as this may all sound, there’s always a solution. You can repair your metabolism after years of chronic dieting. Here’s how.

The best metabolism-repairing solution I can offer is increasing something known as the “G-flux.” The G-flux involves a very simple formula: eat more, exercise more. Eating more may sound like the opposite of what you need to be doing, but let me explain. When you pair up increased calorie intake with increased exercise you increase your metabolism. Like everything in life, the trick is to learn how to balance the calorie intake with the exercise so you manage creating a negative calorie balance.

What usually happens is that when people decide to go on a diet, they either don’t exercise at all or reduce their calorie intake. This is a problem. First, not exercising or remaining sedentary will slow down your metabolism significantly. What ends up happening is that people don’t really teach their bodies to burn additional calories, hence your metabolism simply stops working in your favor. Second, when you under-eat (as many diets ask you to do) your metabolism adopts a starvation protection mechanism. Since your body doesn’t know when you will feed it again, it slows down in order to preserve whatever the little energy and nutrients you have consumed.

As you can see, as contrary as it may sound, eating and exercising more will boost and repair your metabolism. So for example, if your basal metabolic rate allows you to burn 2000 do not choose to only consume 1500 calories and leave those 500 calories to waste. This will unequivocally lead you to having a sluggish metabolism. What you should do is eat 300 more calories, so 2300 in total. Then make sure you exercise and burn 800 more calories than usual, so 2800. According to the G-flux formula, this will put you at a 500 calorie deficit, but the difference is that you have triggered and sped up your metabolism. That’s the power of the G-flux!

 

Your New Best Friend, Lipoprotein Lipase

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So here’s the deal, there’s this great, little-known enzyme, called lipoprotein lipase, that we all have. The awesome thing about this enzyme is that it helps the body process and burn fat. Yes I know –  lipoprotein lipase just became your best friend! But here’s the catch, similar to many other enzymes, lipoprotein lipase is only generated when muscles are being used and active. Research done on lab rats shows that lipoprotein lipase was only produced in leg muscles when the rats were active, standing, or scurrying around. Therefore, if you want to get these enzymes to work, you need to get in motion and burn some energy. Besides, living a sedentary life is not good for your physical and mental health. Spending most of your time sitting around and being inactive can lead to a series of health problems like weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and even cancer!

The key to get lipoprotein lipase to work is to spend as little time as possible inert. If you do some exercise, but remain most of the time sitting in that office chair, forget about it. You have to implement activity throughout the whole day, and the evidence is there for you to see for yourself. In a study involving males who tend to walk a lot, they were asked to decrease the amount of time they spend on their feet. For example, they were asked to drive instead of walking, take the elevator instead of using the stairs, etc. In just 2 weeks, the study was able to prove that these men had in fact altered their metabolism, which naturally distorted their bodies’ fat distribution, and they even appeared plumper around their midsections!

In today’s day and age, I know it’s extremely hard not to spend the majority of the time in front of a computer, but even so, there are ways for you to remain active. Here’s a list of simple things you can do to avoid remaining inactive and jumpstart your BFF lipoprotein lipase:

-Get up from your desk every 40 minutes or so. You don’t have to do anything grand. Just take a quick walk to the restroom, stretch, light jog, etc.

-Leave the car. Walk or bike to work.

-Walk and talk. Whenever possible, implement walking to your work duties. For example, handle a call standing up rather than sitting down.

-Ditch the office chair and use an exercise ball while working on your desk.  The ball will automatically make you use muscles in order to find balance.

-When you get home, don’t run to the couch or the bed. Distract yourself with activities like gardening, running a few errands (literally).

-Watch TV while doing exercise. A  great example of this is to hop on an exercise bike while watching your favorite show or game.

So get excited and start to develop a relationship with lipoprotein lipase! It will help you lead much healthier lifestyle.

 

Additional Top 5 Fat Loss Commandments

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I know, I know. I’ve already shared with you a blog on 5 fat-loss commandments that will most certainly guide you in your weight loss journey and overall healthier lifestyle. But I am so passionate about this subject that I just had to share 5 more fat-loss commandments you need to live by.

1.Have an amazing plan in place.

In order to come up with a solid plan you must do the obvious, plan! It’s hard to believe, but a lot of people skip this step. They just dive into a weight loss program without thinking about objectives, goals, timelines, etc. So first thing is first, evaluate yourself today. You must have a realistic and clear perspective when doing so. Then make a solid plan that will be challenging, but at the same time obtainable.

2.A.B.P: Always Be Progressing.

Don’t follow a plan; follow a feeling. This may sound contradicting, but let me explain. Have a plan in place, yes. But what must motivate you is a feeling to get better, not a piece of paper that dictates what exercises of foods you can have today. You need to find that feeling that will always keep you driven to go to the gym even when the weather is crappy. A feeling that makes you want to push yourself every time you workout. As you follow that feeling, document it as well. Use a “Progression Plan” chart, for example, so you can remind yourself of how far you’ve come and what areas you can still work on.

3.Balance your body.

Balance is key to all aspects of life, especially when you are trying to lose some fat. A balanced body will improve the electrical communication to muscles, thus getting you stronger, faster, and better in a short amount of time. Having a balanced body also helps activate more muscles and engage your metabolism.

4.Train your nervous system, not your musculoskeletal.

Remember that your nerves control muscles in terms of when they contract. If you prioritize your nervous system into your workouts you will improve nerve signaling and communication to muscles all over your body. The better your nervous system gets, the more muscular strength and endurance you will develop.

5.Rid your body of inflammation.

When a part of your body becomes inflamed, that’s your body letting you know something is not right. Inflammation can happen in the form of a bump, bruise, etc. During inflammation, white blood cells rush to the affected area and begin to restore it. There’s inflammation as well in your guts and arterial walls. Consuming foods with preservatives, trans-fats can lead to inflammation. Moreover, toxic environments with smog, for example, can cause inflammation. So make an effort and allow your body to reduce the trauma of inflammation and begin to lose some fat!

Positivity is the Key to Physicality

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While so many fitness articles are focused on physical action, physical diet, and physical results, they fail to acknowledge what I consider to be the true key to success: positivity. I know, I know. It’s not like positivity alone will grant you the abs you seek. But, what it will do, is act as a source of perpetual optimism and motivation. It is positivity that will drive you to succeed.

So many fail because so many fail to recognize their own accomplishments. They become bogged down in negativity while trying to better their self, and it is for this reason they ultimately fail. This negativity paradoxically becomes associated with getting better, and as a result, the individual in question soon stops trying to better their their self, because they feel crappy as a result. They associate the negative feelings with trying to get better. However, when you retain positivity as your source of motivation, when you remember what you do like about yourself as you better yourself, you have no negative association. Thus, your motivation takes care of itself, while you take care of yourself. I’ve listed some tricks below that I use on a daily basis in case you need a little inspiration:

  1. Remember three things you are grateful for. This will serve to remind you that life is already great. All you’re doing, is making it even better.
  2. Say out loud five things you love about yourself. This combats the negatives that we often become so focused on erasing when we diet and exercise. Rather than lose something, we are gaining something. This works wonders for continued motivation.
  3. Write down the habits you believe are necessary to achieve your goals. This way your routine will become ingrained in both your memory and your body. Your exercises will never be more than a thought away so long as you remind yourself of the routine necessary to achieve the body that you want.
  4. Remember the accomplishments you can already boast. It is through this that you will retain the confidence necessary to keep pushing yourself. You are more than capable; you’ve already done it. All you have to do is remember your past achievements that were more difficult to accomplish anyway. This is easy.

Remember yourself. Remember what you want. Remember who you are, and you will be what you want to be.

 

 

A Great Arm-Workout in Just 5 Exercises

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Looking for a simple arm workout you can do at home or at the gym? I’ve got just what you need. All you need is access to some free weights and either a workout bench, exercise ball, or chair.

Only complete each rep as fast as you can keep the movement controlled and with perfect form. Don’t power through it and sacrifice your form because you’re trying to finish as quickly as possible. You’re essentially sacrificing the full benefit of the movement for a bit of speed.

You should aim for a weight where you can ideally complete 10-15 reps on each side (or total for movements that don’t have sides) before exhausting the muscle. You should try to repeat this sequence three times total.

Exercise #1: Chest Press

Target Muscles: Chest

Instructions: Lie on your back on either an exercise bench or ball. Grip a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing forward with the dumbbells close to your chest and your feet flat on the floor. As you exhale, push the dumbbells up (palms still facing forward) until the dumbbells barely touch. Pause for a second. Then slowly lower the dumbbells toward the starting position, stopping when your upper arms are just beyond parallel with the floor.

Chest Press

Exercise #2: One-Arm Rows

Target Muscles: Upper and middle back

Instructions: Begin with your same hand and knee kneeling on a flat bench with the opposite foot on the floor, knee slightly bent. While gripping a dumbbell in your hanging hand, keep your back flat and your head in a neutral position. Pull the dumbbell upward, your elbow rising straight up to the ceiling. Hold for a second before releasing back to the starting position.

One arm rows

Exercise #3: Seated Overhead Press

Target Muscles: Shoulders

Instructions: Sit on a bench or exercise ball with your back straight and a dumbbell in each hand. Place your arms shoulder level, bent to 90 degrees towards the ceiling. Your palms should remain facing forward as you slowly press the dumbbells up and together above your head until they barely touch. Hold for a second before slowly lowering your arms until you return to the starting position.

Seated overhead press

Exercise #4: Triceps Kickbacks

Target Muscles: Triceps (backs of upper arms)

Instructions: Begin with your same hand and knee kneeling on a flat bench with the opposite foot on the floor, knee slightly bent. Bend your elbow to a 90 degree angle so it sits by your side. Slowly lift the dumbbell behind you, straightening your arm until it is parallel with the floor. Hold for a second, and return to the starting position..

Triceps kickbacks

Exercise #5: Seated Biceps Curls

Target Muscles: Biceps (fronts of upper arms)

Instructions: Sit on a bench or an exercise ball and hold one dumbbell in each hand, palms facing inward. Slowly rotate your palms up as you lift the dumbbells toward your shoulders. Contract your biceps at the top, then slowly lower the dumbbells back to your sides until you reach the starting position again.

Seated Biceps Curls

Remember to warm up and stretch afterwords to prevent soreness. With these simple moves, you’ll be looking at more toned arms before you know it.