So when it comes to fat-loss it can get overwhelming with all of the information floating around.  But let’s not forget that losing fat is simply a matter of creating a negative energy balance.

Simplified version, if we burn more calories than we take in on a daily basis, we’ll lose weight. No rocket-science here just all weight loss concepts revealed. Yet, most people are so worried about what types of carbs to avoid, which cardio machine to use, how many reps and sets work best for weight training, if their Nike Shox match their Under Armour shorts or if they should rock the hat instead (okay maybe that’s just me)

Our community is constantly searching for the quick fix, the  next best diet, the greatest fat burning workouts, fat burning supplements, advice from fitness experts, opinions from everyday people on fat loss forums that couldn’t tell their a*s from a hole in the ground.

To tell you the truth, there are literally THOUSANDS of ways to successfully burn fat and lose weight. Some are better than others, but nonetheless, there are a mega-load of methods that can get the job done. What we forget is that it still comes down to burning more calories than we take in over a period of time.

STOP! Over thinking the process, and follow these simple steps to creating a calorie deficit in your body.

• While keeping everything else the same, we can create a negative energy balance by eating less food

• While keeping everything else the same, we can create a deficit by exercising more (or more intensely)

• Or we can do both more effectively

Which one of these is the best?

Depends entirely on the individual, but assuming you don’t enjoy starving yourself day in and day out…and most people are way too busy to workout 10+ hours each week…I would have to suggest both cutting your calorie intake and burning more calories through an intense workout.

Look at it this way – creating a deficit of 1,000 calories per day simply by eating less and without changing anything else, you will have in theory burned off an extra 7,000 calories in 1 week. This would only equal a whopping 2 lbs of body fat. Not very satisfying at all…and who wants to eat 1,000 LESS calories each day for an entire week – no bueno.

That last paragraph sums up why people who do crash-diets almost always fail in the long run. It’s flat out too hard to be that disciplined for much longer than a day or two, let alone the months it would take to make significant body transformations.

Exercising more, without changing anything else in your day to day routine, would probably be an easier option, at least for me. But again, I could only last a few weeks before I’d get lazy or burn myself out…not to mention I hardly have time as it is. Plus, you have to workout like an absolute maniac to burn an extra 1,000 calories per day.

It should be clear by now that the best and fastest way to lose body fat – both short term and long term – is to lower the amount of calories you’re eating AND burn more calories through working out.

Theoretically, the more calories you cut through diet and the larger amount of calories you burn with exercise, the larger the energy deficit you create…and the faster you can burn body fat.

Remember this simple equation and if you’re not getting the fat loss results you want, STOP over thinking it – you’re either putting too much sh*t in your mouth, not exercising properly (this could be not working out consistently, not exercising hard enough or not following the right workout plan) or both.

Trust me you are not cursed, your genetics aren’t the reason behind your failed fat loss and you’re not doomed…it just takes an honest, no-nonsense assessment, a  few tweaks to your nutrition plan, workout routine or both…and you’ll be on your way to a tight body in no time. It really IS that simple.

Class Dismissed!

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As always if you would like to see an article about something just drop me a comment and i will get it on here.

If you are ready to get into incredible shape and get into your skinny jeans check out Oklahoma City Indoor Boot Camp here.

Here is a question I get on any given day.  “Should I eat breakfast before my workout or after?”

ANSWER: If you plan on working out shortly after waking, say within 30-45 minutes eat after your workout. If your workout is going to take place a couple hours after waking, eat something light within 30 minutes of waking.   Yep it is that easy.

But wait their is more ” What should I eat?” If you have asked me this, you know my common answer is Oatmeal but that is kind of boring so let me go over a few more things to add to the list.

We all know breakfast is important… Right? Of course we do.  I will save the reason why for another post but if you aren’t familiar with the quote “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” you need to stop reading and Google the importance of breakfast.

And take a quick note of this….Get at least 7 grams of protein for breakfast. Your muscles need it to repair. Whether you are working out before or after  breakfast it is important for the guys and the ladies. I put a chart on the bottom to help you out.

Okay here we go.

• Fruit and Cottage Cheese Combo

Low Fat Cottage Cheese your favorite fruit and your set.

• Eggs with peppers

I personally love eggs but if you don’t, skip this one. Egg whites are your healthier choice rather than the whole egg.  Scramble with with some olive oil, cut onions, green peppers, pinch of black pepper, spritz a little lemon on and eat with a piece of whole-wheat toast.

• Whole Grain, High Fiber Cereal

Any cereal will do that is whole grain and high in fiber, I prefer Kashi Golean Crunch. Add low-fat milk or soy milk (which has 1/3 the saturated fat of 1% milk), perhaps some berries if you like.

• Oatmeal, flaxseed, blueberries & almonds

To me, this is the perfect breakfast that is why I always refer to it as my ultimate suggestion.  The only difference between steel-cut oatmeal, and the instant kind is the fiber. After microwaving the oatmeal, add ground flaxseed (flaxseed helps fight everything from heart disease and diabetes to breast cancer), frozen blueberries, and crushed almonds.  That’s four power foods, full of fiber and nutrients and protein and good fats, with only a couple of minutes of prep time. It even taste good!

• Scrambled tofu

If you didn’t like the eggs suggestion you can use tofu instead. Add some peppers, broccoli, green peppers, all cooked in olive oil. Very fast but I won’t say it is delicious. I personally cannot stand tofu or this recipe but it is perfect for non tofu haterz

• Fresh berries, yogurt, granola

Get low-fat yogurt (not non-fat, it has too much sugar) or soy yogurt, cut up your fruit add some healthy cereal and it is ready to go.

• Grapefruit with whole-wheat toast & almond butter

Sara loves this for a quick breakfast, sprinkle on a little bit of sugar to make it bearable.  The almond butter is healthier than peanut-butter, with lots of extra protein to fill.

• Fresh fruit salad

Fresh or frozen fruit sliced, diced, smashed, cut, ripped, and grated up.  Okay maybe not all mutilated but this is quick and will help keep your skin looking young well into your 80′s.

• Protein shake plus some

This is a great one for the guys. Ladies beware that too many of these throughout the day will cause you to gain weight. I use wal-mart brand protein powder (a lot cheaper than the big brand names), but any protein works well. Blend up with low-fat milk or soy milk, some frozen blueberries, and perhaps some almond butter or oatmeal. That may sound weird, but it’s actually pretty good, and pretty filling. A little ground flax seed never hurts.

• Fruit Smoothie

My wife and I make a lot of these every week. They are perfect for anytime during the day. Grab some frozen fruit, add a little low fat yogurt,  small amount of  “Simply Grapefruit” 100% pure squeezed grapefruit, soy milk. Then let blend for a couple minutes and enjoy.

Again as always having a blast bringing you my latest thoughts.

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With the Holidays almost here a New Year is soon to follow. I have to admit this is one of my favorite times of year for many reasons. I see a lot of determined souls who are ready to get fit and about 20% make it happen. This is exciting because it brings Oklahoma closer to becoming healthier.

Now it is true that I would like to take the entire state of Oklahoma under my wing and help them with their weight loss goals but this is impossible.

I am going to layout the important steps to finding a world class fitness professional in your area. So if you or someone you know is going to be putting their weight loss in the hands of someone else please read this carefully.

I will try to keep this short but it is my passion and i do not want to see anyone set up for failure when it comes to their health and fitness.

ENJOY!

Where Do I Find a Personal Trainer:

There are many different ways to come up with a list of Personal Trainers in your area. Obviously the easiest would be to Google personal trainer and your zip. But this may leave you with a list of crap.

If you know someone who has used a personal trainer,  get more info from them about contacting them.  If you are a member of a gym you are probably surrounded by more than one trainer.

OK! Now you have a list of possible Trainers.  What to look for next—->

Personal Trainer Certifications:

Guess what? You can go online and get a trainer certification for about sixty bucks.   You think that is bad.  Some states don’t even require a certification.

Don’t take the certification lightly, you are trusting someone with your life.

A personal trainer should hold a current NCCA-accredited certification. This will give you the assurance that you are working with a professional who has the knowledge and skills to provide you with a safe and effective workout.

The National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) has 26-years of experience accrediting allied health professions such as registered dietitians, nurses, athletic trainers, and occupational therapists. Currently, only 10 of nearly 70 certification agencies have achieved this recognition. Here are the most common in Oklahoma.

National Strength and Conditioning Association
American Council on Exercise
The American College of Sports Medicine

Never be afraid to ask to see a copy of a personal trainer’s certification to ensure that it is current.

Ask For References:

Ask the personal trainer for names, phone numbers, and even testimonials of other clients he/she has worked with, particularly those who share similar traits and goals. Trainers may be more likely to empathize and understand your unique challenges and needs if they’ve worked with similar clients. If available, call previous clients to see if they were satisfied with their training experience and results. Inquire whether the personal trainer was professional, punctual, and prepared, and whether the client’s individual needs were addressed. Talk to fellow members of your health club or friends who are currently working with trainers for their recommendations.

Talk  To The Trainer: (this one is important)

Developing a personal, yet professional relationship with your trainer is very important. Trust your instincts. Ask yourself if you think you could get along well with the trainer and whether you think the trainer is genuinely interested in helping you. The personal trainer you select should motivate you using positive, not negative, reinforcement. Most importantly, that trainer should be someone you like.

Get off the beaten path when it comes to your first conversation. If you base the entire conversation around fitness you may be in for a real surprise when your trainer starts to tell you about his wild weekend of partying. I have seen this happen many times and it sucks if you and your trainer have nothing in common.

$$$.$$:

Personal training fees vary based on a trainer’s experience and reputation, facility prices and geographic area, but they are well worth the investment. Although you may meet with your trainer more frequently at first, your financial investment should decrease as you become more independent, knowledgeable, and fit.

If you aren’t comfortable shelling out 400+ a month on personal training you might look into finding a Boot Camp in your area. These are usually run by very respected fitness professionals. You still get the same expertise as a one-on-one session and amazing results but at a more affordable price.

Professional Liability Insurance and Business Policies:

Many personal trainers operate as independent contractors and are not employees of a fitness facility. Find out if the trainer you want to hire carries professional liability insurance. A reputable personal trainer should make sure you understand the cancellation policy and billing procedures. The best way to avoid confusion and to protect your rights is to have those policies in writing.

Is This Someone You Can Work With:

Do you like to exercise in the morning, or in the evening. Can a personal trainer accommodate your schedule? What about the trainer’s gender? Some people do better working with a trainer of the same sex; others prefer the opposite sex. The knowledgeable and experienced personal trainer who fits your style is the one to hire — because that is the professional who will help you achieve the best results.

I hope this helps clear up some of your questions about finding the perfect fitness professional. If you have more questions about finding a personal trainer or local boot camp you can send me an email here.

If you are in the Oklahoma City Metro area and would like to come check out my boot camp click here to find out more or check us out on facebook.

Cant wait to bring you more healthy articles to help you with your journey forward. If you would like to see an article about something please drop me a line.

Trainer Ben

I wanted to drop you a quick blog post to encourage you to not become another holiday weight gain statistic.  I have heard that the average American gains between 4-9 lbs from Thanksgiving to Jan 1st.  Even though Jan 1st is great for my business, I get TIRED of hearing everyone complaining and moaning about being heavier after the holidays!

It is OK to binge ONCE in awhile.  Use it as your 1-3 cheat meals/week.  By limiting the over indulgences to a couple times a week, your body won’t be overwhelmed and should be able to recover and burn those extra calories off.

Believe me, I love Sweet Potato Pie and Apple Pie, but I love be physically fit more.

So the questions is “How do I enjoy Thanksgiving and avoid gaining 5 – 10lbs in one day?”

”By making wise food choices. Cooking the stuffing outside of the turkey reduces its fat content, as does
baking sweet potatoes, instead of loading them with butter, sugar and marshmallows in a casserole. More Healthy Recipes

Pumpkin, an excellent source of beta carotene and vitamin A, is much healthier served as a custard, instead of a pie in a fat-laden crust. However, we have to be realistic,  ”For one holiday meal, people should be allowed to eat their favorite foods.” So, if you can’t do without
Aunt Martha’s candied yams, have some —but wisely. ”Eat small amounts of your favorites, and don’t eat until you’re stuffed, only until you’re satisfied.”

Also, keep up your exercise program. ”Many people stop working out  when they get busy around the holidays, but that’s just when they should be going”. ”Exercise keeps weight down, suppresses the appetite and relieves holiday stress.”

A few things you can do to avoid gaining an extra 10-15 pounds this season is: Mentally be prepared to say “No Thanks, Ive had enough”. Find smaller plates or a small saucer,so you don’t want to over-eat? Also remember, you don’t have to eat at everyone’s house you visit. Or you don’t have to eat everything they bring to your house.

Now, what happens if you do over-eat and you don’t follow any of my suggestions. WELL – I guess I will see you “Black Friday” at 5:30am in Boot Camp, which is where you should be anyway.

Boot Camp will stay right on schedule for the Holidays, don’t worry i wouldn’t let you get away from burpees for more than a day. I have posted the schedule Below and remember to bring a friend.

“Wednesday 25th” Morning 5:30am-6:30am Evening 6:00pm-7:00pm

“Thursday 26th Thanks Giving Day” OFF

Friday 27th “Black Friday” Morning 5:30am-6:30am Evening 6:00pm-7:00pm

Trainer Ben

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Let’s begin by defining the word “diet”. A “diet” is any severe restriction of food or calories that’s temporary. Most conventional diet programs call for extremely low calories: 800-1200 or less. Any time you restrict calories drastically like this, you will lose weight. So if your only criteria for success is weight loss, and you don’t care where the weight comes from, or how long it stays off, then you could say that “all diets work”.

There are two major problems with this approach: First, the weight loss from very low calorie dieting almost never lasts; 95% of the people who lose weight on conventional diet programs can’t keep it off. The second problem is that most of the weight you lose from low calorie dieting is muscle, not fat. If permanent fat loss without losing muscle is your goal (it should be), then it would be closer to the truth to say “diets never work”.

Statistics prove that diets never work in the long term. If they did work, then how do you explain the huge obesity problem today? An why is it getting worse? According to the National Institute of Health, there are over 100 million overweight people in the United States. That’s 55% of the adult population! Over 20% of the U.S. adults are clinically obese, which means they are at risk for one or more of over 30 health problems that are associated with excess body fat.

Despite the fact that there are more diet programs and weight loss products available than ever before, obesity has continued to rise. The Center for Disease Control recently announced that the number of people in the United States who are clinically obese (at least 30% over their ideal body weight) increased from one in eight in 1991 to nearly one in five in 1999.

There’s a valid scientific reason why most diets fail dismally. Most people make the classic mistake of trying to “starve” the fat with strict diets. However, because the human body has a complex and infallible series of defense mechanisms to protect you from starvation, it is physiologically impossible to lose fat with very low calorie diets. As soon as your body senses a food shortage, these defense mechanisms start to kick in. The human body is simply too “smart” for the restrictive very low calorie diet approach to ever work.

Why Eating Less Doesn’t Always Work

If you eat more calories than you burn, you will store the excess as body fat. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, then you will lose fat. Simple mathematics, right? Well, not exactly.

If fat loss were as black and white as calories in vs. calories out, then how do you explain why some overweight people eat less than lean people, yet they still can’t lose an ounce? And how is it possible for someone with a 2200-calorie maintenance level to eat only 800 to 1000 calories a day without losing any weight?

Using the strictly mathematical model, if you cut out 1000 calories per day from your maintenance level, that will add up to a 7000-calorie deficit in one week. There are 3500 calories in a pound of stored body fat, so cutting out 1000 calories a day should- in theory-produce a weight loss of two pounds per week. Actual real world fat loss rarely works out with such mathematical precision.

Rob Faigin, writing the  book “National Hormonal Enhancement”, makes a humorous, but true observation about calorie balance and weight loss. Faigin says, “If there existed an airtight mathematical relationship between caloric intake and weight loss, cutting caloric intake from 3000 to 1000 would result in a 60,000 calorie per year deficit- and would result in a 200 pound weight loss after a year. What if the person began the diet weighing 200 pounds, would he disappear?”

When a calorie deficit is first introduced, weight loss generally occurs rapidly, just as the numbers would dictate, but it never takes long before weight loss slows, and then eventually stops completely. Why does this happen? Why is it that you don’t lose 50 pounds in 25 weeks or 100 pounds in 50 weeks with a 1000-calorie deficit?

The explanation is quite simple: Over thousands of year, human have developed a weight-regulating mechanism that recognizes when there’s a food shortage and decreases energy expenditure to “protect you”. This survival mechanism is known as the “starvation response”.

The Starvation Response

You can survive for months without food. You’ve probably heard stories about people getting lose in the mountains or wilderness for months with no food at all (only water), or being confined in a prisoner of war camp for years with only tiny amounts of food. What makes surviving under these conditions possible is your body’s remarkable ability to slow down its rate of calorie burning.

When your body senses deprivation it says to itself, “It looks like this is all the food we’re going to be getting for a while, so we’d better stop burning so many calories and start saving our energy. This way we’ll be able to survive longer on the little amount of food we have.”

The starvation response developed largely from exposure to adverse environmental conditions like droughts, natural disasters and food shortages. Furthermore, there were no supermarkets ten thousand years ago- if people wanted to eat, they had to either grow their food or kill it. It’s likely that at times, ancient man didn’t know when the next meal was coming and may have only eaten once or twice a week. The starvation response evolved in humans to ensure the survival of the species.

Your Body Can’t Tell The Difference Between Dieting and Starvation

This wonderful feature of human evolution is a blessing if you’re stranded out in the wilderness with no food. During periods of starvation, the body slowly begins to feed off itself, burning fat stores, muscle and even internal organs for energy. If you continued to burn calories at your normal rate, you limited reserves of store energy would be exhausted quickly and you would die very soon after your food supply was cut off. The starvation response keeps you alive longer.

Unfortunately, this same life-preserving mechanism can work against you when you’re trying to lose weight because your body can’t tell the difference between dieting and starvation!

Sever calorie cutting always sends your body into “starvation mode”. There’s nothing you can do to stop this from happening other than to avoid sever calorie shortages!

Like I always tell my friends and family, if you want to burn more calories and melt fat as quickly as possible, you must eat small  meals regularly throughout the day and start exercising.

For more ways to lose weight and slash the fat check out my Oklahoma City Boot Camp www.trainerben.com