Weight loss super tips

Begin better is all about change, and change can only be brought about if we really want it.  Once you have developed the attitude you have to figure out what it is you want to change: Do you want to change our body? Do you want a new job? Whatever it is you want to change you need to pin point it first.  Then you have to set your short term and long term goals. I recommend you use mygoals.com to help you organize and manage your goals better.  Once you have those set all you have to do is design a plan.  If you want to lose weight you need a workout plan, and a nutrition plan.  My blog is packed with programs that you can use to help you out in both these areas.

Hope you enjoy the following links, and find them useful.

Coach of the Day

Dax Moy is definitely one of the best coaches I can recommend to help you achieve your goals.  He is one of London’s best personal trainers (he charges £150 an hour), he has appeared in various TV shows like This Morning’ and has also appeared as a guest expert on BBC1′s ‘Diet Trials’, Ch4′s ‘You Are What You Eat’ and CNN and BBC News due to his specialist knowledge in the area of holistic lifestyle change, rapid body transformation and postural correction. He is good you get the picture.

Program of the Day

Dax has a great goal achieving program called The Magic Hundred.  If you stick to Dax’s plan, you should achieve what ever it is you want in 100 days; be it weight loss, a new car, a new house, or a vacation he will help you achieve it.  Imagine fulfilling your most desired goal in a bit more than 3 months; that’s as early a December.  Click on the link above if you really want what you want.

Quick Meal of the Day

Courtesy of my favorite chef Jamie Oliver. Mustard chicken, quick daupinoise, greens, back forest affogato.

Click on the Image to check it out

 Funny Fitness Video of the Day

Just saw this today and had a hard time deciding if it was fun or not.  I guess it is sad that it is funny.

I just signup for my CST and TACFIT Certification, and I have to admit I’m a bit nervous.  There is something about tests that make a lot of my insecurities flourish; this isn’t bad by the way.  Being nervous means  have I have to sit down and analyse look for the “whys” of my nerves. This is what I came up with:

1. Clubbells:  Clubbell training is relatively new to me, and I’m still a bit behind on the Trial By Fire requirements.

2. Am I fit enough?  I guess this question is always lingering in my mind.  I know the quality behind Scott’s work, so not being prepared is not an option.

3. Fear of not meeting my expectations:  This certification is something I have been looking forward to for a while; coming home empty handed would be tough.

Being nervous is something I like and dislike.  Obviously the feeling sucks, but I just love the adrenaline and drive they produce.  It obviously shows weakness, but having it flourish is the only way you can know where you have to improve.

Have you ever given a speech about a subject you dominate?  If you have, I bet you didn’t get to nervous.  On the other hand if you had to give a speech on Danish Nuclear war heads, I bet you’d probably dirty your pants.

Stepping out of your comfort zone is the only way you can improve and become better. Nothing extraordinary happens if you stay in your comfort zone. You really have to step and think outside the box to see your true potential.

Try new things challenge yourself and try something that you really makes you feel uncomfortable.

As humans our moral is mainly dualistic.  We tend to separate things into two categories: good and bad, or good and evil.  We base our social laws, and judge around these two; we permit the good things, and prohibit the bad ones; we accept and reward good people, and we frown and punish the bad.  Everybody pretty much has clear what is good and bad, and thus we live accordingly.

This dualism spreads to every aspect of our lives including our food.  There are foods we consider good, because they taste good, and then there are the bad ones that…. well, taste like poop. Even though taste is not the only criteria we use to buy our food, it is the first one we learn to use.

As we get older and start becoming adults, we add other criteria to food selection like time, price, and shelf life.  Modern times are not patient, the world has gotten highly competitive and time has become a limited resource.  Both husband and wife work, and neither has much time or will to spend in the kitchen.  Money is also a factor, and considering the economic crisis we are facing I won’t even touch the subject.  Last on the list is the shelf life of the products.  This last criteria also has to do with time, but in a different sense.  Natural products last less than the processed ones; they rot a lot faster.  Rotten food is something none of us want in our refrigerators.  We also don’t have the time to go shopping for groceries every week, so we prefer what ever lasts a little longer, right? I know I’m right.

Based on the above, we would consider good food to be  that which tastes good, is cheap, and doesn’t take long to cook, anything else would fall into the “bad” category.  Nutrition rarely gets a look when we choose our food, why? I leave this answer for another post, but I do have a theory.  Today I want to focus on why food that spoils is good and healthy.

To start off I just wanted to say that in nature there is nothing that is good and nothing that is bad (ok, maybe mosquitoes), this dualism is something we invented.

Food spoils not because it is old, but because bacteria and fungi start to degrade it.  Bacteria and fungi are considered “bad” in most peoples minds, but they really aren’t.  They serve a purpose, and a very beneficial one if I might say.  Our intestinal tract is packed with millions of bacteria that help us break down food and obtain essential nutrients, without them we would die.  Food needs to be broken down for us to be able to use it as fuel, if it can’t it ends up causing tons of health problems like obesity.  This is the major problem with processed foods.

Most of the food you find in the super market has some type of preservative that enables it to last longer. How? They create an environment not suitable for bacteria and fungi, including the ones in your digestive tract.  Preservatives are usually some chemical, that is clearly not found in nature, thus our bodies cannot metabolize them or use them as an energy source.  These chemicals end up saturating our liver, preventing it from doing it’s functions effectively like breaking down fat, thus leading to symptoms like tiredness, bad sleep, bad concentration, moodiness etc., which we usually don’t link to a bad diet.

Foods that spoils don’t have this problem.  You may argue that processed food tastes better, is cheaper, and takes less time to cook.  Well, I’m going to argue against your point of view.

Processed food is does not taste better, it is just more addictive, that’s how they are built.  Food is the most powerful drug in the world, and food companies know it.  That is why they add powerful sugars like fructose, that mess with our hormones and trick us into wanting more of them.  It is not the taste that you like, but the effect they have on you.

Processed food is cheaper short term, but price is not the only thing that has to be factored in.  You also have to include all the cost the derive from eating them, like bad health.  There is no question that processed food makes us sick.  Being sick implies going to a doctor, skipping work, buying medicine etc.  I bet you didn’t include that in the price.  Imagine how much you would save on all of that.  You may not believe the effect food has on your health; it is so powerful most drugs come from things we eat.  I DARE you to give yourself a 2 week processed food free diet, and tell me how you feel at the end.

Time wise you might argue that cooking takes to long, plus you have to wash dishes and clean up the kitchen.  To that I will answer with this link to mi friend Jamie Olivers 30 minute recipes.  These are complete healthy meals you can make in exactly 30 minutes.  I know you must have 30 minutes to spare on your health.  Imagine all the free time you are going to have in your hands, without having to attend doctors appointments or by being for focused.

There you have it, no more excuses for having to buy processed foods.  Buy Food that Spoils it is healthier, less time consuming, and cheaper in the long run.

Yesterday I wrote about why my dog is the best workout partner I have ever had.  Today I wanted to continue the dog video trend and have you see this video.

This is another reason why you should go out and adopt a dog.  They will always, always be happy to see you.  Personally I always look forward to getting home, just to receive my dogs welcome.  They will jump, bark, and circle you every single time you walk in the door; they are just amazing.

Hope you enjoyed the video.

Without a doubt the best training partner you can have is a dog. I’m a real dog lover, and a firm believer that the more I get to know mankind, the more I love my dog.  Before I continue I’m going to introduce you to Lorenza my female dog (don’t like the b word).  This a video of me asking her to come train with me.

She is 8 years old now, and has lost her enthusiasm towards running.  We used to go for long walks and jogs, but after I left to Barcelona for 2 years, our relationship changed for ever  She now lives with my parents who have her spent all day with a trainer.  She still loves me and gets real happy when she sees me, but it is not same as before.

In Barranquilla my brother in law, who is living with my girlfriend and I, brought his female German Sheppard, Aba. Dogs are great workout partners because they make you get out of bed, or get off the couch to take them for a walk.  Aba begins to rub herself against be, starts licking my face, humps my leg, and other things until I take her out.  Once I’m outside my whole attitude changes.  Seeing how happy she is and her energy, all that positive attitude kind of rubs on, and I end up having some decent exercise, even on my rest days.

Playing fetch is a must with her, and since she doesn’t like letting go of the sticks, inverted rows become part of her walks.  Once in the park I go ahead and do some sprints and pullups; nothing to intense, as I don’t want to ruin my real workout.

If you want a dog I recommend you go and adopt one, don’t waste your money.  There are a lot of dogs out there that are looking for a home.

A while back I wrote a post on comparing the TACFIT Commando and TACFIT Warrior programs, and now I’m getting asked a lot about how the Commando and ROPE programs compare.  I know the TACFIT Programs aren’t exactly “cheap”, especially if you don’t buy them during the launch, but if you have ever bought one, you know they are definitely worth it.

I’ll begin by saying that the R.O.P.E program was greated as a plugin module to TACFIT Commando.  A lot of people complained that the Commando program did not have any pulling movements, and that they felt that their backs were being left out.  This is definitely not true, if you have ever tried TACFIT Commando you know your back gets a nice workout, but Scott decided to please his students with the R.O.P.E program.

TACFIT Commando is purely bodyweight training, you don’t need weights, clubbells, or any other type of equipment, just some space and your body; while the R.O.P.E program requires a rope, somewhere to hang the rope, and a pair of gloves.  If you have never Tacfitted before (new verb there for you), you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how hard the workouts are.  Don’t make the mistake I did at first of judging the program by the intensity of the exercises.  If you practice them individually, which I recommend so that you can develop good form, you may find them to be easy, but don’t fool yourself.  TACFIT is not about individual parts… Just try it.  Spare me the agony of having to look for words that describe them.

Get TACFIT Commando<<<<<Click here

In summary, both programs use the Tabata protocol, one is strictly bodyweight, while the other requires a rope.  No matter which one you choose, you’ll end up kissing the floor and begging for mercy (I’ve come close to crying with both these programs).  R.O.P.E works your back out a bit more than the Commando, but in my opinion Commando helps you develop more functional strength.  I personally love TACFIT Commando, and I love the R.O.P.E as a plug in and not so much as an individual program.

Get TACFIT R.O.P.E

There really aren’t that many more differences.  If you can’t make up your mind, I’ll just put you at ease by saying that you can’t go wrong with either one.  TACFIT R.O.P.E is a lot cheaper, not because it is worse, but because it does not bring as many workouts.  Both programs have 3 different levels of difficulty (i.e recruit, grunt, and commando), but Commando has three missions, while R.O.P.E only has 1.  This means that commando has 6 months more of workouts that R.O.P.E.  The Commando manual also explains the theory behind the awesomeness, in the R.O.P.E their is no explanation.  These are the reasons why one is more expense than the other.