I attended a seminar several years ago hosted by a very famous, very tall, motivational speaker who later played himself in the Jack Black film “Shallow Hal”. In the film, Jack called him “Banana Hands.” Anyway….
During the last day of the seminar we were given the “secrets” to a healthy eating regimen and suffice to say, protein was portrayed as the evil scourge of mankind.
"I swear...I never knew!"
Here’s my advice: Be EXTREMELY wary of any eating plan that informs you to strictly limit the protein you eat … or the fat … or the carbohydrates. In case you hadn’t figured it out yet, your body needs ALL of these macronutrients. You need the right kind.
In this segment I’ll briefly discuss the importance of protein.
Each and every meal you consume should be built around a healthy source of protein. Protein helps to build, repair, and replace the cells of your body. It is vital for a strong immune system – and it boosts your metabolism and helps preserve muscle when you are burning fat.
If you eat meat and dairy (which I HIGHLY recommend), choose products (including eggs, yogurt, cheese, and milk), if you can get them, from animals raised on their natural diet: grass-fed beef, bison, lamb, wild game, and free-range poultry. You should also eat wild – not farm-raised – fish that is known to be free of mercury (such as sardines and wild Alaskan salmon).
Nuts and beans are also excellent sources of protein. And if you use a protein powder, choose one WITHOUT artificial sweeteners.
I heartily encourage you to make it one of your health goals from now on to base all your meals around your healthy protein sources – and to choose protein sources that are as close as possible to the design God gave them and intended.
Steve
Your Prograde Pro
Filed under Successful Fat Loss by on Jul 29th, 2010. Comment. 
If you’re one of a select group who is attracted to the concept of “looking like you work out” or want to wear your look like a walking billboard, prepare to take six basic, but necessary, steps to realizing that target.
Bear in mind, these are simply the bare minimums of possible triumph and each person is different. An understanding of this fact will help you to fine tune your own goals which might necessitate a few more, or less, procedures.
- You simply must ingest fewer calories than you use, or in other words create a caloric deficit. Failure to comprehend this one will result in little to no success whatsoever in your goal of fat loss. You’ve got to become a human inferno and burn calories like mesquite wood in a fireplace.
- Plan ahead. Short of a miracle, the most proficient technique for bringing forth this “loss” is through a combination of intelligent, well-planned nutritional actions and smart exercise program selections.
- Focused, supportive eating. Lean proteins, fruits and vegetables should make up the greater part of your dietary framework. Starches (both simple and complex) and refined carbohydrates of any kind must be kept to an utter minimum. Drink water consistently and frequently while striving to eat 4-6 small meals a day. In doing this you will assist your body in regulating your blood sugar levels as well as reinforce your plans for a solid, nutritionally complete eating regimen.
- Smarter AND harder training. As far as training goes, use interval training and resistance training designed to increase your metabolic capacity to complete the ultimate level of gains for your hard work. In doing so you will also make the most of your time and effectiveness. Remember this: extended bouts of slow aerobic activity just can’t get the job done as far as calories burned now, especially when your desire is fat loss. What does that kind of innefficiency look like? How about 30 minutes of time on an elliptical trainer at a constant pace or a 2 mile walk at 3.0 miles per hour on a treadmill. And when you lift weights, always use a success producing routine, like multi-joint movements (squats, rows, pushups, etc) and full body routines if your ultimate goal is fat loss.
- Frequency of effort. You will see amazing results when you train a minimum of six days a week. How do you do this? By performing three days of interval centered cardio and three days of strength training using free-weights, bands, body weight or some other type of resistance.
- Real food is the key. When it comes to supplements, remember this: supplements are exactly what they say they are…supplements to sound nutrition. In reality, there are very few (like in almost nothing) supplements out there that will have measurable impact on your physique. Sucks to be you, right? Don’t despair completely, however. There are a few that can potentially boost your metabolism somewhat, or give you a shot of energy down the stretch. This isn’t a given, so don’t get your hopes too high. Even though these have some value, when it comes to “rubber meets the road” measurable numbers in the form of fat lost, they simply do not carry much weight. (no pun intended) However, that doesn’t negate the possible necessity of taking some on a consistent basis. Multivitamins and fish oil fall into this category. They’re great, but they generally target your overall health. Protein powders and/or meal replacement supplements have a spot in your regimen, but really in the realm of expediency and ease of use. Most are nothing more than high quality food, so why not just eat that instead?
There you have it. The basics of fat loss maintenance. Follow these guidelines and see what “magic” takes place in your physique.
Steve
Filed under Successful Fat Loss by on Jul 24th, 2010. Comment.
I had a conversation recently with a client about her concern over whether or not the number she read on the scale was a big deal or not. Her entire existence, it seemed, was wrapped up in “that number.”
I tried, in vain I felt, to put some perspective on it…but it didn’t seem to really have much impact. Then it struck me.
I said, “You’re married, right?” She said, “Yes”
“Happily?”, I queried. Again she said, “Yes.”
“And what about your kids, are they doing well and are they healthy?” She looked at me kind of strangely, smiled and said, “Sure…they’re fine. Why do you ask?”
I stepped closer to her, looked into her eyes and said, “You’re a beautiful, happily married woman with healthy and happy kids. The rest is just bass fishing.”
Now she looked really confused, shook her head and replied, “What on earth are you talking about?”
I told her a story I had heard about several years ago.
It was a news story about a professional angler who had appeared on TV regularly and won a lot of big time tournaments. He had apparently been enjoying a large degree of success when something happened that changed, and more specifically, ruined his life.
It appeared that right before one of the major tournaments he was accused of using illegal bait. I never found out whether or not this guy was guilty or innocent, and it doesn’t really matter as that is an ancillary portion of the story.
What I do know is that the guy became so intoxicated with worry, anger and stress about the accusation that he ended up becoming depressed, taking medication, splitting from his wife and even losing his home.
I remember reading this story and thinking, “Dude, it’s just bass fishing. It ain’t cancer, it’s not the war in Iraq or starving children in Darfur… it’s just bass fishing.’
This guy had become so enamored with his sport that, what probably begun as a fun and relaxing hobby, had in turn become his entire universe; it had consumed him and become everything. It was more important to him than his wife, his family and his home. It was also apparently more important that his health and his sanity.
What I really wanted this young lady to recognize was that her energy wasted by focusing on this “number” was nothing more than bad information or opinions of others akin to bass fishing.
It was an opinion. And in my own opinion, it was a very bad one at that.
Here’s the way I see it: the scale has a purpose – it’s to measure meat and produce. That’s it.
If you’re really concerned whether or not your fat loss efforts are taking shape, do these 4 things:
1. Grab a tape measure. Measure your arms at the biceps, your waist around your belly button, your hips around your butt and your thighs, about three inches above the kneecap. Check each of those locations once weekly and keep track of them for 30 days. See what happens.
2. How do you look in the mirror naked? That’s where you will see subtle changes in your physique. Bumps going away and new lumps of muscle appearing.
3. How do your clothes fit? When they start getting baggy, celebrate. If they’re not, tighten your diet and increase your training intensity.
4. How do you feel overall? How is your eye color, the look of your skin, your hair. These things are indicators of overall health and if you’re going to look good you might as well be lean AND healthy.
I once had a good friend who’s uncle was a Battan Death March survivor. He told his Uncle about a “problem” he was having, to which his Uncle replied, “Is someone going to kill you?”
My friend said, “No.”
“Then you don’t really have a problem,” was all his Uncle said.
Sometimes it’s just bass fishing.
Steve
Your Prograde Professional
Prograde is the best!
Filed under Successful Fat Loss by on Jul 19th, 2010. 2 Comments.
I was taking a nap the other day, and as so often happens in my life, while I lay there in bed my mind began to wander. I began to wonder what the difference was in the clientele I trained who realized their desires for fat loss success, and those who, while they had some success, never seemed to have the level they so desperately described to me that they wanted.
I pondered this for a bit and then drifted off to la-la land. When I awoke, the thought still permeated my mind…which lead me to pen this article.
I recently listened to a message by Earl Nightingale in which he presented a very compelling argument for the reason for the success, or failure, of people. It was really simple, as most valuable messages are.
Ready? Here it is:
We become what we think about.
That’s right; we become what we think about most of the time. All of the great philosophers and thinkers held the same belief. The Bible even states, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”
What is it that YOU think about?
The question remains, how can a statement so simple bring such overwhelming success or failure to the lives of people like you and I? One word:
Goals.
That’s right. People with goals enjoy a larger level of overall success than people without them. How do I know?
In the 1950’s a group of researchers decided to track the lives of 100 college graduates for 35 years. They looked at several areas of their lives for data but ultimately settled on one area to determine the overall success rate of these folks: how much money they had made.
According to the research, 5 of the graduates were either financially independent or very wealthy in terms of monetary success. In fact, the top three earners were worth more than the other 97 individuals combined.
When the dust had cleared it was determined that the reason for the success, or failure, of these 100 people was their decision to set goals or not and the habit of following them. You see, people who set goals and look at them daily think about that goal all of the time, and it directs their habits and intentions.
People who don’t? Well…
Imagine a ship in a harbor with a captain at the helm and crew to run it. The captain knows the destination, has plotted the course and instructed the crew what to do. This ship, once the engine has fired up will, with almost 100% certainty, leave the harbor successfully and reach its destination. That is what goal setting and goals are like.
Now, imagine a ship in the same harbor…only this time there is no captain or crew. The engine is fired up, it’s pointed away from the harbor and it’s left to do what will come. I believe you will agree that if the ship even makes it clear of the harbor it will sink or wind up on a beach somewhere, useless and in ruins.
Can you see the similarity between these two ships and some of the people you may know? Some intimately?
Oh, not you of course, but someone on your street.
So how do we ensure that we don’t wind up like ship #2? By setting goals. And not just any old goal…S.M.A.R.T. goals. I won’t go into great detail here because so much has been written on this subject already, so if you want more info then simply Google SMART goals.
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Timely or Tangible
By setting goals and reviewing them often you put your powerful subconscious mind to work for you around the clock. Once the subconscious mind grasps an idea it will not stop working on it until the idea comes to fruition.
You see, the subconscious mind cannot discern between that which is fact and that which is fiction. So if you state positive, goals in the present tense (ex: I weigh 125 pounds and am a size 3 on January 1st) the subconscious mind will work to bring that goal to reality.
Dax Moy wrote a great article on this exact subject and you can read it here. Here’s the process for establishing a goal in a nut shell:
1. Know what you want.
2. Know why you want it.
3. Know when you want it by.
4. Write it down.
5. Know the price.
6. Pay it.
That’s it, really.
Simply follow this process, read your goals when you awaken in the morning and before you go to sleep at night, and before you know it they will be a reality. Because “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he” isn’t fiction…it’s reality.
Filed under Successful Fat Loss by on Jul 13th, 2010. Comment.
That’s right!
Monday July 12th begins a new 4 week session of classes for the Firestorm Fitcamps and we’ll be meeting at the Ballroom Dance Annex at 8123 Broadway!
Here’s what the entrance door looks like as well a shot of the floor inside at the new location:
This is where the FUN begins!
Nice sized and spacious, just waiting for the sweat to flow!
Class times are 5:30, 6:30 and 8:30 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings.
Remember, all new clients receive 2 weeks FREE to try out this “double your money back” guaranteed program.
So what have you got to lose…but the fat?
If you need more info, contact me at Steve@firestormfitcamps.com
I use Prograde because they're the best...period.
Filed under Fitcamp news by on Jul 7th, 2010. Comment.
It makes me madder than a hornet when I hear the “experts” tell us that we shouldn’t be eating this and instead be eating that.
It seems to me that these “experts” are the reason we have such an obesity epidemic and poor health issues to begin with.
Well…now some other folks have laid out some reasons why this appears to be, and some steps on how to correct it. Let me know your thoughts by commenting or “liking” this video after you watch it.
Filed under Successful Fat Loss by on Jul 3rd, 2010. Comment.
In the last segment I interviewed Prograde Nutrition’s co-founder, Jim Labadie.
In this piece I interview Jayson Hunter, the mastermind behind the quality and nutritional formula’s that make Prograde so unique.
Like I said, these guys are the real deal…that’s why I’m a Prograde Pro!
Jayson Hunter – Prograde Interview from Steve Payne on Vimeo.
Filed under Fitcamp news, Successful Fat Loss by on Jul 2nd, 2010. Comment.
I don’t really like or advocate taking a lot of supplements. Bodybuilders like supplements…I like food.
But sometimes you can’t squeeze in a meal and only have time for a shake or a bar. In those times, I think you make the quality of those products the best you can get.
That’s why I choose Prograde Nutrition.
I’ve known the guys who both founded the company and developed the products for a long time. That’s another reason I like Prograde. Because if I have a question about anything with their products, I can ask the right guys and get the right answers…fast!
Here’s my friend and Prodrade Nutrition co-founder, Jim Labadie, to answer a few questions about Prograde:
Prograde Founder Jim Labadie Interview from Steve Payne on Vimeo.
If you’re serious about your health, then you can do no better than eat right, train with us at Firestorm Fitcamps and take the finest nutrition supplements available anywhere, Prograde Nutrition.
Filed under Successful Fat Loss, Uncategorized by on Jun 27th, 2010. Comment.
Hey San Antonio,
If you’ve ever wondered why you seem to be doing the right things, and yet you’re not seeing the weight come off or the fat diminish from your body…you may find some valuable answers here.
If you’ve ever wondered why it isn’t a good idea to drink diet soda while you’re trying to drop fat, just watch this video and get “educated.”
And please, leave your comments below!
Filed under Successful Fat Loss by on Jun 24th, 2010. Comment.
So…you really love the show “The Biggest Loser”, do ya?
Personally, I hate that show for a number of reasons. Well, here’s a former contestant who had some less than flattering things to say it as well.
Leave a comment if you’re so inclined. I’d love to know what you think about it.
Filed under Uncategorized by on Jun 22nd, 2010. Comment.