Get Creative with your Meals!

Nutrition is such an important part of getting results, having lots of energy, building muscle and creating that lean/fit look. However, eating bland and raw foods does not have to be a part of it. The typical foods you hear of bodybuilders and fitness models eating is just chicken and broccoli I swear that is the meal I heard everyone eating all day every day and that would make me sick after probably two days. PLUS, you don't have to eat that way! I love to experiment with recipes and try out new seasonings and different ways to add in all my macro's to get a delicious and healthy meal.  All of the recipes you read on here I have either created on my own or I have modified an "unhealthy" version of it from somewhere else to make it cleaner and more beneficial for my body.

If you are brand new to the eating clean or you really just don't want to think about the recipes, but want to eat something that doesn't taste like rubber or cardboard just try searching through some cookbooks or blogs like this one that offer all kinds of recipes. I do not necessarily follow any specific diet or eating plan other then just the term "clean" eating meaning I try to eat foods in their most natural forms without adding a whole bunch of sugars and processed things to flavor them up.

One of the best cookbooks with the best recipes I have found so far is one that follows a paleo cook book which I know that's the new craze and I don't necessarily agree with all of them, but these recipes in particular are closest to the diet I follow for myself and that I suggest for a lot of my clients.

If you need some help spicing up your meals or just want to change from your regular routine check out these Clean Eating Recipes!

I have a bit of a sweet tooth so the dessert recipes are usually the first section I go to, but hey if it's delicious and curbs that sweet tooth then I am all for it!!! Check it out and see if you like it! Happy Monday!

The No Cardio Equipment Cardio Workout!

Most people I know in the fitness business either hate cardio or they love it, there usually isn't an in between. Majority of us do cardio because we know it's good for us or when we've had a rough day and just need to clear our head. Some days, I just can't stand the thought of getting on another treadmill and watching that time just tick away until my time is up and I know I am not alone on this. So here is a great Cardio Circuit that literally only takes about 20 minutes, but will burn more calories then being on any piece of cardio equipment...and we've got a few strength moves thrown in there! 

First thing, set your watch, gym boss, phone or whatever to a 30/10 pace so you will perform each exercise for 30 seconds and rest for 10 to move on to the next one. This is the Tabata format that has been proven to burn a ton of fat in a short amount of time and trust me you will be breathing heavy through this. You will do 6 rounds total of this circuit with no rest in between rounds since you are getting 10 seconds between each exercise. 

Body Weight Push-Ups
KB or Dumbbell Swings with 30lbs
Step ups or Box Jumps (Depends on your fitness level)
Jump Rope
Dumbbell Clean (You will do one side per circuit then for the next round you will switch to the other side)

Box Jump

Dumbbell Clean

I assume everyone knows how to do a push-up and for the KB swing if you aren't familiar with this one please refer to the previous post with the workout including KB swings/DB swings. The box jump and Dumbbell Clean is sometimes confusing so I included pictures for these.

Perform each exercise back to back WITH ONLY THE 10 Sec REST. This is why it is helpful to set a timer on your phone or watch to beep in those intervals so you aren't trying to pay attention to the time while working out. It hits your cardio aspect, a little bit of strength, plyometrics and core! Try it out and share on FaceBook if you liked it!

Eat Fat to Burn Fat! Top 5 Fat Burning Foods to Include in Your Diet!

I get so many clients who start out the weight loss and fitness journey with great intentions to lose weight, tone up, drop body fat and feel more energized throughout the day and when I ask what they're diet is like 9 times out of 10 I get "Well, I don't eat hardly any fat and I keep carbs really low...I don't know why I am not losing weight". 

Like any other vital nutrient, fat is an important part of your diet and not only important with burning fat, BUT it is also vitally important in energy levels, brain function and hormone levels. There's a reason why when women get a few weeks out from competitions they usually stop having periods...it's because their body fat levels have gone so low that their hormones out of balance! (The periods always come back and your hormones level back out, but just to give an example of how having fat in your regular diet is an important part of your bodily functions).

So what do you eat? A jar of peanut butter? Well, you could however "Good" fat doesn't mean Unlimited fat just like anything else in your nutrition plan. Lean Protein doesn't mean eat as much of it as you want.

Here are the TOP 5 Fat Burning Fats you should be including in your daily diet:

1. Flaxseed Oil OR Sesame Seed Oil
2. Avocados
3. Almond Butter or NATURAL Peanut Butter
4. Olive Oil
5. Raw Nuts (Almonds/Cashews)

The Flaxseed and Sesame Seed Oil is usually available in supplement form and can be taken at every meal. You SHOULD be getting healthy fats with your meals! Most competitors and athletes incorporate one of these fats in the majority of the 5,6, or 7 meals throughout the day!

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART ABOUT IT ALL THOUGH IS SERVING SIZE! I have seen people just pour on the Olive Oil and go "Oh it's fine, it's GOOD fats!". Yes, it is but you don't get to have 1/2 cup of Olive Oil and expect the calories from it to just not count because it has nutrients. A normal serving of Olive Oil is 1 Tbsp. That's it! Here is the breakdown for each one of those fats as far as serving sizes:

Flaxseed or Sesame Seed Oil- 1 Tbsp or Capsule
Avocado- 1/4 cup
Almond Butter or Natural P.B. 1-2 Tbsp 
Olive Oil- 1 Tbsp
Raw Nuts- 1 oz or 15-20 Nuts

All of this info is on your nutritional labels, but next time you go to prepare a meal with your healthy fats. Seriously be honest with yourself and measure out how much you are eating of that fat...Fats are so good for skin, hair, nails, memory, fat loss, etc BUT keep them in the right serving size. 

The Best TOTAL BODY WORKOUT in under 20 Minutes!

The majority of my clients do not train 5-6 days a week so I do not really get to put them on a split lifting plan and have to come up with creative ways to kick their butt while still giving them strength training moves and in a limited time frame. Plus, there's days where we just don't have much time and even getting to the gym is pushing our schedule. So when you need to get a lifting session in, but have less than 30 minutes to get it done try out this butt kicking workout full of compound/big movements to push you and get a good burn! 

*You will need a gym, barbells or some pretty heavy KB's or Dumbbells to perform these exercises.

Deep Squat to Overhead Press 50-60lbs
Push Up To Rows 15lb Dumbbells
Sumo Squat to High Pull 60lbs
Flat Bench Press with Leg Lift 70lbs
KB Or Dumbbell Swings 35lbs

Perform 12-15 reps of each back to back with no rest in between like a circuit. The weight amounts I put in are for my own workouts, but when choosing a weight you want to choose one that makes it hard to push those last 2-3 reps out to make sure you are challenging your muscles. Perform the circuit for a total of 4 rounds! That should burn you out pretty good and hit every major muscle group! 
Deep Squat to Overhead Press
 Push up to Row
 Sumo Squat to High Pull
Chest Press with Leg Lift
KB Or Dumbbell Swing

Try it out and share on FaceBook if you like it!! Good Luck!

It's time to Grow....and let's be honest, sometimes growth sucks!

Muscle Growth or Baby Growing doesn't matter...growth is all the same!

For the past 8-9 days I have spent hours upon hours working on a very big online business project. I was given a 7 day plan by my business coach and each day was very specific as to what needed to be done and how to get this program produced in 7 days. I started out incredibly excited and motivated with time set aside each day to get each task accomplished knowing that in 7 days I was going to have a stellar program with a pat on the back from my business coach telling me how awesome I did and then life would be all rainbows and puppies and my online training business would continue to grow. 

Two days ago I had a video conference with my coach and a few other people to do a review of the product, the sales copy, and my progress and needless to say I was nervous because this was my first time, but I was fairly confident that I had done things right. I won't go into detail of the entire conversation, but the video conference basically ended with me crying, dropping a few curse words, angry, frustrated, and yep....starting the project all over because I did not do it right. According to my coach, I have 9 months worth of work before getting it up and running. 9 months!?? What happened to 7 days!? 

I went to school for Business then I went through all my personal training certifications. I have been running a business for the past 4-5 years and help other people learn how to become self employed as a trainer and I pretty much just felt like the Freshman in college who turned in their first term paper in AP format when it was supposed to be something completely different. I am in a whole new world of business right now and I ask questions pretty much every day to my business coach to others in the group and they are all probably getting annoyed with the 500 questions I have to ask. I contact my web guy pretty much every day and stalk them down on e-mail wanting to make sure everything is right. I contact people I don't even know who I google who have been proven successful in this same thing I am doing. I read book after book from others who have gone down this path and been incredibly successful. I don't care what it takes this is going to work and I am going to make it happen. Maybe it's through the years of sports or whatever that I have this drive engrained in my head or maybe it's through training I don't know. Not only that, what kind of hypocrite would I be if I sat here talking to everyone else about pursuing their dreams and trusting life to guide you to all the right answers and then I decide to just quit and stop pursuing mine out of discomfort!

However, regardless of how much drive, motivation, passion, enthusiasm you have for a goal or something you truly desire in life...sometimes the periods of growth you have to go through in order to get there really SUCK! I had to take the entire day off yesterday just because I needed to give my mind and emotions a break from the project and from accepting the fact that I just screwed up 7 days worth of work to start all over.

Honestly though, when have you ever gone through a period of growth and been excited and happy through it all? When you started your new training and eating regimen, how did your muscles feel after that first day of lifting to failure? How did your stomach feel eating no sugar and no processed foods? How did you feel the first day you stepped food in college to embark on a new academic level? What about the first year through marriage when you sometimes would rather strangle your spouse then cuddle up? The new job, the new city, the new friends....it's all uncomfortable right?!

Of course it is because you have never been there before, you have never seen this life before all you know is what's been familiar to you up to this point. I have no idea what I'm doing 90% of the time and I usually have a few emotional breakdowns or a few very intense workouts to help get over the humps, but at the same time I know I have 2 choices I can either push through the discomfort and see what amazing opportunities this new life has for me with no idea of what it looks like OR I can go back to my comfort zone where I already know exactly what life looks like and not want anything more for myself. 

A few years ago, I was going through a different period of growth and someone gave me a card and all they wrote in it was "Remember, every seed has to push through a whole lot of dirt before it gets to be that beautiful flower".....it sounds very cheezy but yet such a true analogy. Guess what, once you get through this growth spurt you are probably going to go through another one and another one if you want to continue to grow. And each time you grow, you get to learn something new and you get to be uncomfortable all over again!

I read a recent statistic that said "Only 5% of people who sign up for something, like a course or a seminar actually do anything with it" -Sincero. 5%! Can you imagine if all of the incredible people you admire who inspire you didn't do anything with their life?! What if your favorite artist who took those voice lessons never decided to pursue a career in music....you would never have them to get you through those good and bad days where sometimes you just need their music? Think about if all those people just sat back in fear and never pursued their dreams out of not wanting to be uncomfortable....how different would your life be because of that?

NOW...think about how different other people's lives might be if you don't pursue yours out of fear? See life isn't all about us...it's about using our unique talents, gifts and passions to serve the world and help others. Ever thought of it that way, by you not pursuing what you love you are withholding the most amazing version of you from the world? 

"The muscle of kick-assery is like any other muscle-you have to use it or lose it!" -Sincero

So you better get comfortable with being uncomfortable if you want the life you desire!

Live YOUR dream! Or you can help me live mine.

getty images

It seems like lately I've been hearing a lot of people talk about dreaming whether it's how they forgot how to dream or that they have a dream they aren't pursuing and to be quite honest it kind of saddens me to hear that. I had a friend the other day literally say, "I have this crazy dream to build a business doing _________, but then I need someone who brings me back to reality and reminds me that I have bills to pay and other responsibilities before I get caught up in cloud 9". What!!?? No! I will slap the person who told you not to dream big and to be realistic.

I used to be the same way, I had ideas and things that I would "love to do if money didn't matter" and then I would get right back to that job I hated just for the money and put the dreams on the back burner.

Seriously think about it, if you're 30 years old and you had this grand idea of traveling the world writing reviews of hotels and restaurants for some big food and wine or hospitality magazine, but instead of doing that you decided to take that corporate job sitting in a cubicle all day hoping to save up enough money to one day take a week vacation....when you're 80 are you going to look back and say wow I'm so glad I didn't go after what i really wanted and just took that 9-5 job that bored the crap out of me?! I highly doubt it. 

I received a great quote that other day in my inbox that said "If you don't start building your dream, then someone else will hire you to build theirs." How true is that!? I can either follow my passions and all my interests that make me light up and feel in my element and trust that God/life/love/etc will all help me along the way or I can stuff all those things away and live in fear of never having the money and just wither away in regret and a bunch of "oh I wish...". 

I did this all the time! I think part of what the problem is when we all say we are trying to find our purpose or our calling is not that we don't know exactly what we should do and what we want to do...it's that we don't truly believe we will be able to make a living doing it. It's not that confusing or hard to figure it out if you just put yourself in a limitless mindset and I asked you, Ok-Joe, If you could do and be anything you want to be right now at this moment what would you be doing? I'm confident you could come up with a few great ideas! Sooooo the next questions is why aren't you doing it? Because you're scared you won't get clients? You might not get that big break? You won't meet the right people to get you there? You won't be able to pay your bills? Well yes, if you keep thinking that way and live in fear then that's pretty much what's going to happen.

If you just trust yourself and trust that life is supposed to be an amazing adventure doing things you love, falling in love, being around people you love, then all of those clients, the money (lots of it), the right people will all come into your life exactly when they're supposed to. So quit making excuses, quit being scared, and start living YOUR dream!!! 

I was challenged not too long ago to start living mine and every day I have been doing it...I sometimes can't hep but be happy because I wake up making a living helping people do what I love!

I would love to hear what your dreams are and would love to hear your story!! It inspires me to hear about other people pursuing their dreams and passions! 

If you liked this post then fill in your e-mail address and I'll send you these blogs daily! OR Come Follow Me! :)

Dream Big! :)

How to Be Successful in Training and in Life!

It has been a very busy and challenging past couple of weeks for me. I am being pushed out of my comfort zones, doing things in business that I have no idea how to do, meeting deadlines and creating products, training clients, and having to push myself mentally probably harder then I have ever done before.

 I have been in the training industry for years now and starting out I didn't even know how to create a workout for someone else. I knew how to create one for myself, but to tell someone else what to do to create the body they wanted was so hard for me because I didn't know them or what they needed. NOW, that's the easiest thing in the world for me and I create workouts in my sleep (Not kidding lol).

The same is true when I decided to be an entrepreneur in the training field. I got my first independent client and just went with things trying to figure out what in the world I was doing now that I had somebody outside the gym with no one else to tell me how to do sales, schedules, workouts, meal plans, marketing, taxes, advertising, contracts, brochures, etc. I had a few...ok A LOT....of "I can't do this, I'm going back to a gym and just letting somebody else take all this big stuff so I can just train!" moments.

Yet somehow-years later-I never went back to a gym and am still running my health and fitness business with new opportunities and growth every day! Half of the things I am pursuing now with creating products and selling books and such is completely new to me and I am back to being the "newbie" asking everyone else pretty much every day how in the world do I do this!? The funny thing is whether it's in training, business, relationships, finances, or anything else the answer is always the same...YOU DO IT ONE DAY AT A TIME. 

You don't wake up one day and decide you want to be a successful entrepreneur and have millions of dollars handed to you with all kinds of gigs and major clientele lining up to do business with you. You don't wake up one day and decide you want to be a fitness model or competitor and all of a sudden you have your 6 pack, striations, developed delts and quads and you are ready to go...NO. You get there one training day at a time, one meal at a time, one workout at a time and you do it every day! Then 6 months, 12 months, 2 years, you do wake up and you are that successful entrepreneur who actually knows what you're doing, you are an IFBB Pro or fitness model now mentoring and training new individuals with similar goals like you when you started out, you have $20,000 saved up from all the nights you chose to cook at home instead of going out, and you have an amazing relationship with a significant other because you chose to put in the daily effort to get you through the hard times.

That is the only way to be successful in anything you do in life. You take the day as it comes and you do what you know to do at that time trusting that the answers will come when you are ready for them. As the saying goes, "The teacher will appear when the student is ready."

 Life already prepares us with the resources and connections we need in order to reach our ultimate purpose so that part is easy and completely out of our control. Our only job is to enjoy each day at a time trusting that by following our instincts, our passions, and what makes us "tick" will get us to wherever we are supposed to be. 

If you want to be successful in your weight loss efforts, in your new business endeavors, in getting a budget and sticking to it, or traveling the world, then take one step each day to get you there. You don't have to know everything right now you just have to have the desire and passion behind it! I recently posted this video on facebook that a friend shared with me and I feel like it's a video that needs to be shared over and over again to remind us where our focus should be! Check it out Below!

What If Money Was No Object Video Here