blueprint fitness

Protein is the secret to a supercharged metabolism because protein FEEDS lean muscle.

Lean muscle is responsible for a strong sexy posture and lean muscle burns 3 times as many calories at rest as fat does. 

This means that the more lean muscle you have the more calories you burn…

If you want to get or stay lean you MUST make protein a priority. Here are 3 ways to do this every single day: 

Step 1. Set a protein GOAL

To keep things very simple you should be aiming for just under 1 gram of protein per pound of desired bodyweight. So, for example if you currently weigh 150 pounds but your goal weight is 130 pounds — you should be aiming to hit about 120 grams of protein per day. 

When deciding where to use your calories in a day make sure you always prioritize protein these means every single meal should include a high-quality lean protein — pick your protein first then look at your remaining calories for fat and carbohydrates. 

Step 2. Two Shakes a Day

One of the best ways to prioritize protein is to get in the habit of drinking two protein shakes a day. One scoop of high-quality protein powder has around 25grams of protein that feeds lean muscle! 

Step 3. Cook with it 

Now if you follow step one you know that every meal should have protein as the priority… but there is one thing you may not have thought of.

Make your desserts protein rich! A good nutrition program plans for sweets and this is no different! 

Don’t forget that a challenging and consistent exercise plan is half of the equation when it comes to losing weight, getting fit and feeling great! That’s where I come in…

If you want more information on how I can help you better. Simply fill out the Body Diagnostic request on the home page and I will reach out to you.

Sure, you do your best to eat healthy and live a fit and active lifestyle, but you’re still not satisfied with your body. Day after day of eating salads and hitting the gym and your body isn’t changing. 

It’s frustrating. 

And yet there are people, whom you know personally, with phenomenal bodies and very little body fat. What are they doing differently than you? You work out and eat healthy too! Why doesn’t your body look like theirs? 

What’s the big secret that they know about losing fat, getting lean, and looking amazing? 

The answer is as simple as it is difficult: Avoid Sugar.

While you do your best to eat healthy, do you know how much sugar you are actually consuming everyday? The answer will surprise you. 

The average American consumes over 80 grams of sugar everyday, an amount that’s easily three times more than is safe and healthful. How much sugar do you eat? Write down the sugar count on everything you eat for the next few days and then find your average sugar gram intake. Now work on slashing this number.

Part of the problem is that food items are often sneaky about how much sugar is really hiding within. Deceiving messages on the packaging imply that the contents are beneficial, causing us to ignore the high sugar content. In the end whatever supposed benefits being advertised are overshadowed by the negative effect of the sugar. 

What’s the big deal about taking in a lot of sugar? Well, you won’t achieve a lean body while consuming a lot of sugar. So if you choose to indulge in sugar then forget about strutting your stuff on the beach this year. 

Aesthetics aside, a high sugar intake is detrimental to your health as it causes your cells and organs to become acidic and a breeding ground for disease. 

Going back to that guy or gal that you know who is perpetually lean…you can bet that their diet is extremely low in sugar. A low sugar diet is the key to keeping lean and it’s not had by simply avoiding the high sugar items, like candy and cake, it’s had by avoiding items with even low amounts of added sugars. 

Take the next week to cut out all added sugars from your diet. Check in with your weight and your energy levels at the end of seven days and note any difference. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how quickly you’ll see results in both your weight and energy levels by making this simple, conscious move to avoid sugar. 

Diet is only half of the equation when it comes to having a sexy, fit body. Exercise is the other half of the coin, and that’s where I come in. 

Call or email me today to get started on an exercise program that’s designed to transform your body once and for all!

As a personal trainer, I see that there are two distinctly different approaches to losing fat and getting into amazing shape. One of these approaches works. (Every. Single. Time.) And the other approach fails. (Every. Single. Time.) 

I call these the Fitness Short Game and the Fitness Long Game. Let’s find out which game you’re playing…

Fitness Short Game: Those who choose to play short are looking for the quick fix. They are looking for the program that will give them dramatic fat loss results in the shortest amount of time. They want results, they want it NOW, and they don’t play to stick with it. This is the instant gratification crowd. 

Fitness Long Game: Those who choose to play long are focusing on making lifestyle changes to sustain for the long haul. They are working on steadily adapting healthier habits and putting in the time and effort to maintain these improvements. They are patient and focused on their end goal, knowing full well that gratification will be delayed, and results will be permanent. 

Which of these two strategies do you think leads to pounds lost and muscles sculpted? There’s no question that playing the fitness long game is the only way to successfully transform your health and your body. 

Let’s take a closer look at what it means to play the Fitness Long Game…

1. Create a Long-Term Vision

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step…and also with a selected destination. The first step in playing the fitness long game is to have a clear picture in your mind of what the success you are striving for looks like. 

What will you look like when you’ve hit your fitness stride? How often will you exercise each week to maintain your fab new body? What foods will you eat to support your muscles and aid your fat loss? How many hours each night will you sleep? Who will you spend your time with? 

The clearer your vision, the steadier your path, and the more likely your chance to succeed. 

2. Learn to Delay Gratification

As you read above, no one attains a hot body through quick, miracle fixes. This means that as you strive towards your goal you will need to practice the art of delayed gratification. 

This is not to say that there won’t be victories along the way, to fuel your fire and give you a boost of motivation. Pay attention to every little victory, such as every single pound lost, each size down, and compliments from friends and family. Learn to derive gratification from each inch of progress towards your goal.

Imagine how sweetly gratifying it will be to achieve your long-term vision and lean into this feeling when the going gets tough. 

3. Fall in Love with the Process

Why is it that you aren’t in tiptop shape right now? Because you’ve fallen in love with the process of being out-of-shape. You’ve fallen in love with the hours on your couch, the comfort food, the late night desserts and the extra hours of sleep in the morning. 

Playing the fitness long game means falling in love with the process of getting fit. You must fall in love with the early morning wake up, the muscle pain, the sweaty clothes and the clean foods. Remember, this process is part of your long-term vision for your fit life, and so accepting the new habits now, rather than later, will get you to your goals faster. 

Won’t getting and staying in shape be that much easier if you LOVED the habits and actions necessary for your success? This is also where hiring a personal trainer comes in handy. They make the process fun!

4. Take Notice of All Progress

On week 2 of a 12-week challenge you will not wake up looking like a fitness competitor. You’ll wake up sore, tired, and probably hungry. The scale will tell you that you’ve lost a modest number of pounds, and you’ll mentally calculate the percentage left to lose. You’ve barely scratched the surface. 

I’ll bet if you tried you could find half a dozen signs of your early progress. Sure, these may be undetectable to everyone else, but it’s your body so you can feel the change before anyone else can see it. Take the time to stop and congratulate yourself on every inch of progress in your journey. 

No step is too small to celebrate. 

5. Focus Less on What You Want and More on Who You Want to Become

What you want is to look a certain way, to feel a certain way, and to have others look at you in a certain way. It’s easy to imagine what you want. However, it’s who you become that dictates what you get. 

Spend time focusing on the kind of person who achieves the things that you want to achieve. What are their daily habits? What do they do differently than you do? What can you learn from them? By focusing on the kind of person that you need to become, you will automatically achieve the success that you want. 

Transform your daily habits to those of the person who has achieved the things you wish to achieve. And don’t be afraid to ask for help. Try reaching out to a personal trainer like myself to time collapse the time it takes to reach your fitness goals.

Want more free tips? Sign up for my Blueprint Newsletter here.

Personal Trainer Advice

Personal Trainer Advice

“What supplements should I take?”

It’s easily one of the most common questions I’ve been asked during the past 10 years, as supplements transformed from a niche market into a perceived quick fix for everything from fat loss to increasing your strength.

And while the supplement industry clearly doesn’t need any help selling their products—they make an estimated 25 billion dollars, consumers clearly need more help deciphering what they really need.

Here are 7 supplements that are worth your money.

Fish Oil

While the human body can produce many vitamins and minerals naturally, fish oil is something we can’t make naturally, so you need to supplement to supply your body with what you need. And while you can receive some from eating fish, you’ll have to eat a lot of fish consistently. For most people, eating fish 1 to 2 times per week will not do the job, which means you need to supplement.

The key is making sure you’re taking more omega 3’s. You see, most people’s diets are higher in omega-6 fats, which are inflammatory. You want more omega 3s, which have anti-inflammatory benefits. Increasing intake of a high quality fish oil, can reduce triglycerides, reduce the risk of heart disease, help with recovery from exercise, brain health, potentially diabetes and may even help with losing body fat.  The key is getting a high ratio of EPA to DHA (these are 2 of the 3 omega-3’s), so look for brands that offer a high concentration and aim to get a minimum of 2 g EPA + DHA daily.

Vitamin D

If fish oil is most important, than Vitamin D is arguably tied for the title of “most important supplement to take”. Data suggests a majority of Americans have less than optimal blood levels, primarily because it’s difficult to get from food (sources included canned salmon, milk, sardines are all good sources). While most know that sunlight is a great source of vitamin D, the sun is not strong enough from November to March in most places to provide you with sufficient amounts. And even when you are outside, you’re mostly covered with clothing and/or sunscreen, which block the beneficial (and harmful) rays.

Vitamin D researcher, Dr. Robert Heaney said in a recent interview “Vitamin D won’t cure anything, but supplementing with it will make everything better.”  Most experts agree that supplementing with a minimum of 1000 IU’s daily is a good start.

Whey Protein 

While a high quality omega-3 and vitamin D are both essential to take daily, whey protein isn’t a supplement you “need,” but it’s probably a great idea to take it. Whey does certainly offer some unique benefits; it’s high in the ever-important branched chain amino acids (BCAA’s), which can play an important role in muscle building, muscle recovery, and even fat loss. More importantly, whey protein is a quick, convenient source of quality calories.  Add some fruit a scoop of nut butter and you’ve got a perfect, on the go meal that takes 60 seconds to make.

Greens products

While not quite a replacement for fruits and vegetables, these are a good “insurance” policy. Greens supplements can help improve a diet that is low in fruits and vegetables. That’s because less than 1 percent of men and 4 percent of women ages 18 to 24 eat the recommended 5 servings (or more) of fruits and vegetables each day. And for people ages 25 to 34, those percentages on jump to 6 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

Again, your best bet is to just eat more fruits and vegetables. Food is always a better option than supplements. But if you’re not going to eat them, or you’re not going to eat enough, it’s better to supplement with greens than completely neglect this essential part of your nutrition.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon might seem like an odd addition, but this spice is actually loaded with antioxidants, which as most people know help with everything from fighting disease to protecting your body against the effects of aging. But maybe more importantly, studies have shown that cinnamon may improve insulin sensitivity, an important hormone that plays a key role in the process of storing fat. And the more you improve your insulin sensitivity, the more you can control your blood sugar and enjoy carbohydrates.

Most studies have shown 1 g (about 1/2 a teaspoon if adding your own) daily is sufficient.

Turmeric (curcumin)

Turmeric is a spiced commonly used in Indian dishes. One component of turmeric is called curcumin and with 100’s studies and counting, it is gaining some serious traction in the supplement world. A 2010 study suggested curcumin has anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti-arthritic and anti-inflammatory properties.

Here’s the caveat: Several of these studies have been done for with animals and for specific clinical situations (Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, etc), but there seems to be one undeniable major benefit of turmeric that can help you even if you are disease free; turmeric has strong anti-inflammatory benefits. And if there’s a point to be driven home, it’s that the more you can fight inflammation, the better your body will respond and the healthier you’ll be.

Probiotics

We all eat (a lot) of food every day, and yet we really pay attention to our digestive system. Healthy gut bacteria plays an important role in overall health, digestion and immune system. More specifically, probiotics can help replenish and nourish our internal supply of good bacteria.  What does this mean for you? Possibly less gas, bloating, abdominal pain, and inflammation. You see, there are millions and millions of different strains of bacteria in our guts. Probiotics help keep a healthy GI “ecosystem” and keep things in balance.

Personal Trainer Advice

Personal Trainer Advice

Imagine if you walked into school on the first day of kindergarten and your teacher handed you an exam for calculus. Or maybe even algebra. What would happen? You’d fail, obviously.

The same thing happens with diet and exercise. You walk into a trap. One that is designed for most people to start and stop with limited success, regardless of the plan. Instead of receiving a foundation built to help you accept your lifestyle changes, you focus on “best exercises” and “superfoods.” Sounds great, but that’s not enough for most.

In working with clients on every goal from fat loss to muscle gain, one of the most common weaknesses has become too loud to ignore. The situation plays out like this:

Step 1: You start a plan, feel excited, and dive in with extreme compliance.

Step 2: Eventually (usually around the 4-week mark), you’ve suddenly lost motivation, almost as if it was sucked from your body. Going to the gym is harder. Eating healthy is stressful. And eventually, you quit. Or you don’t exercise as hard. You make more exceptions in your diet.

Unlike most diet books, I’m not going to clear you of blame, suggest that you need to buy a supplement, or recommend “one change that will fix everything.”

Sometimes the problem is the plan itself, whether a faulty 4-week fix or a diet plan not designed for your body.

The bigger issue is you’re missing a basic concept that allows you to apply new information and strategies to your life. You usually look at why things changed and how you someone seemed to lose your edge. It’s not that motivation isn’t real. TED talks or videos (Rocky montage, anyone?) can obviously trigger a spark that helps you regain your lost motivation and help you push forward. You’re treating the symptom, not the problem.

Don’t wait to regain your mojo before you push ahead. It’s a bankrupt approach. Motivation, willpower, and any other mental capacity is limited. So relying on motivation is not an effective success strategy, especially with your fitness and diet goals.

Overworked: Why You Lost Motivation

The area of your brain (the prefrontal cortex, if you’re interested) that controls willpower is the same part of your brain that also handles your day-to-day tasks, short-term memory, and focus. It’s more overworked than your Facebook feed.

Take a minute and think about everything you have to manage on a daily basis. And now imagine that same overworked employee also having the responsibility of dragging your butt to the gym, eating the right foods, and preventing you from half-a-dozen Jack and cokes at the end of the day.

Still want to pin your hopes on willpower?

If you really want to transform your body, the most important plan starts not with your body or meal plan, but instead an approach that will strengthen your mind.

The Art of Body Transformation

If self-motivation and willpower can’t lead you to body transformation, what can?

The answer is intention and commitment—two acts that turn a goal into a concrete process.

This might seem like a joke, but the facts are undeniable: there are countless studies showing how making a commitment—and preferably writing down your intentions in specific details—make it much more likely that you’ll not only stay on task but also achieve your goals. It’s behavioral psychology 101, but it’s skipped for training and meal plans. And yet, making these simple changes will enhance the effectiveness of any workout or diet.

Research from the British Journal of Health Psychology shows how it works. In the experiment which focused on helping people become more consistent with workouts, one group tracked their exercise [the control group], and another group tracked exercise. This second group was motivated by reading about how exercise prevents disease. [The motivation group]

And a third group did the same thing as the motivation group, but they also had to specify their intentions in the following way:

During the next week, I will partake in at least 20 minutes of vigorous exercise on [DAY] at [TIME OF DAY] at/in [PLACE].

The results? About 35 percent in both Group A and B trained at least once per week. And Group C? They had an awesome 91% compliance rate. Coincidence? I think not.

The examples are everywhere. For diet compliance, researchers from Norway found that those that formulate a plan for their diet eat healthier.

Why does it work?

Several factors make your transformation dreams a reality. Researchers from Australia found that taking a step-by-step approach, such as building one habit at a time, helps reduce cognitive load. Or in simple English: your brain has less to process, which makes it easier for you to find your way to the gym.

When you create big tasks (I’ll lose 20 pounds), your brain relies on precedent. Did you fail in the past at getting shredded? Your brain will remind you of that on a subconscious level and trigger what’s known as learned helplessness. Fail enough and you come to expect failure.

You still have to work hard, put in the effort, and stay consistent. If you expect a miracle in a month, I can almost guarantee that you’ll be frustrated and searching for a new plan in a month. You must play the long game to see success.

But following a plan instead of achieving an intended goal is different. It’s basic processing, no different that taking a grocery list to the store and buying food.

When you make your goal simple, clear, and easy to follow, you reinforce behaviors that make success a more likely option.

It might seem basic or even ridiculous. But in no time, you won’t worry about lost motivation. Training your brain for success will build a mindset that will guide you to the body you want.

Personal Trainer Advice