Breakfast Of Beasts (Recipes)

As much as I talk about training; lifting progressively heavy weights, the right kind of cardio, I never want you to forget that what you eat plays the absolute biggest role in the success of your goal.

Lift heavy with a crappy diet and you may end up bulky (because you add bodyfat too), don’t eat enough and you won’t be able to build muscle because muscle can’t build from nothing.

Today I’m going to share with you a few of the breakfast ideas that I’ll be giving to the ladies of the Beast Mode Squad to make sure that their nutrition is on-point with their goals for the next 6 weeks and beyond. [Read more…]

How To Avoid The Bulky Look When Lifting

I hear it ALL. THE. TIME. Whenever I tell a client that they need to lift a little bit heavier this week since they’ve been using those 10lb dumbbells on a deadlift for 2 months now; “I don’t want to get bulky” then when I explain that they won’t actually get bulky and that more muscle will make them leaner they say: “No I really do! The last time I worked with a trainer they had me lifting heavy and my arms (legs, shoulder) got huge!”I’m going to admit something to you…..I’ve said those same words myself. I know, I know…I should know better but deep down I’m still a woman and have those deeply ingrained “bulky” fears in myself too.

But I DO know better and I’m going to explain to you the only three ways you could possibly get bulky from lifting heavy:

1. Illegal drugs – Building muscle takes a good amount of the hormone testosterone, in fact without a very high level of it is impossible to build HUGE muscles. Heck even though men who have LOTS of it naturally have to take drugs on top of their natural hormones to reach Arnold like shape and size.
So anytime you see a women with HUGE muscles; like cover her face and you may not be able to tell the difference between her and your boyfriend, then she is most likely on something black market to help that process along. Annnnd she is still working out like 6 hours a day!
[Read more…]

Just Because It’s Burning Doesn’t Mean It’s Working

So far we’ve covered two important factors of getting a more fit lean look: 942821_143260745857409_360405175_n-224x300

1. Focusing on the composition of your body (percentage of fat vs. Muscle) rather than the scale alone.                      

Remember, if you focus just on the scale and ONLY diet and slow-go cardio to lose weight then you’ll most likely the weight you lose will be a majority of muscle and water and you’ll end up being a smaller version of your starting apple or pear shape.

2. Cardio NOT being an effective means for fat loss and how too much can be detrimental.
[Read more…]

Lose This, Not That -Lift Weights To Look Leaner and Younger

I know you probably jump on the scale every other day to make sure you’re on track or to confirm how off-track you are. But what if I told you that you’re focusing on the complete and total wrong thing?

I know you’ve heard this before: The scale is deceiving. But hold on, I’m not trying to make you feel better about losing “only” 1 pound this week. I’m trying to tell you that you are barking up the wrong tree all together! Keep reading….. [Read more…]

Do You Burn Fat or Time?

Have you ever wondered if those minutes you spend in the gym are burning fat or just time?

Unfortunately if you are like 80% of gym-goers, time is the primary thing you’re burning. I find it shocking that so many well-meaning folks are still exercising with such outdated notions of what constitutes an effective workout.

I don’t want that to be you.
[Read more…]

A Flatter Belly Instantly!

It’s the start of the weekend and if you’ve got plans, I know you really want to look good when are out and about. I mean let’s be honest, that’s one of the main reasons you endeavor to live a healthy fit lifestyle right? But what can you do to look better tomorrow?jean don't fit

While I will never be the one to promote quick fixes and fad methods when it comes to your fitness and fat loss problems, there are a few legitimate reasons that your tummy may be bigger than you like and some action steps you can take to resolve the issue.

Now I’m not talking about fat loss here, I’m taking about other factors that bloat your belly and make you feel less confident in clothes.

Here are a few reasons you may be carrying around an extra inch or two and simple ways to nix those inches fast (yes, even as fast as tomorrow). [Read more…]

3 Flat Belly Saboteurs

Even though we are called Booty Boot Camp the #1 reason I hear for why women join us is: “I need to lose this BELLY!”

And while things like pregnancy or major illness are often the reason why a belly gets stretched out of shape in the first place, the reason a belly STAYS that way comes down to a few mistakes/bad habits:

-The wrong kind of ab training
-Doing the wrong kind of cardio and too much of it at that! All while ignoring strength training304457_494271560585761_2012163336_n-249x300
The Big one: Poor NUTRITION

Here’s why:

Ab/core training IS important – Most of the time people just say “abs” but leave off the last bit –muscles. Your abs are muscles (abdominal muscles) and they need to be strengthened, conditioned and depending on your goals, increase in size. Having strong tight ab muscles WILL help keep your tummy pulled in and look flatter. So yes, you need to work your core. But honestly traditional ab work, like hundreds of crunches don’t do much more than waste your time at best and tweak your back and neck at worst. They are not very efficient and don’t address the layer of fat on TOP of the muscles.
[Read more…]

Your Weekend Meals

Michael Jordan once said “I’m not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what it feels like to sweat.”

Meaning he was putting in all that time to accomplish something. To win a championship!

It’s funny though because most people who work out regularly must do it just to see what it feels like to sweat and be sore because they take all that sweat, “pain” and time and toss it down the drain with their diet!

You see what you eat has such a HUGE impact on if and how quickly you meet your fitness goals that it simply cannot be ignored of minimized. Even on the weekend.

ESPECIALLY on the weekend! And what’s the main culprit? Eating out.

[Read more…]

I Dare You

I just got back from a fantastic family trip to the Grand Canyon. The hiking there is so beautiful.

Here is a picture at one of our rest points.

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Now I wouldn’t say I’m afraid of heights in the strictest sense, but if given the choice I’d rather not hang out too close to cliffs, so getting past that and just enjoying the challenge of the hikes, the company I had and the beautiful scenery took a couple of deep breaths and focus (to start anyway, once I got going my fears were the furthest thing from my mind).

As I was thinking about all that I would have missed had I let my fears get the better of me I realized that today of all days would be the best day to write about it because today is: National Dare Day (you didn’t know?!)

Usually the word “Dare” makes us think of being challenged to eat worms, kiss a stranger, moon somebody or spontaneously yell out something silly in a crowd; that kind of thing. But today I want to dare you to do something that’ll help make you healthier, more fit or more focused.

Take your pick. I DARE YOU TO:

– Not a runner? I dare you to go run a mile right now and see how fast you can get it done (run/walk is fine just do it!)

– Post your before picture on facebook and announce to your fb community that you are starting your fitness journey now! (tag me if you do!)

– Try a new workout: Boot Camp, Dance Cardio (even if you don’t have rhythm!) and Power Yoga are all good options if you’ve never done them.  We offer all at BBC and you can try one or all of them as my guest. Call me and I’ll put you on the guest list(s) 916-57-BOOTY.

– Sign-up for Tough Mudder! You can be on the BBC team. Sunday September 23 (email me if you’re interested)

– Sign-up for an event like a run or cycle event and pick a level higher than your norm or a level that scares you to think about (for instance, always run a 5k? Register and run the 10K!)

– Strip down to your undies, stare at yourself in the mirror and out loud say all the things that you like about your body without saying one single negative thing, meaning you can’t say I have great ___except…. Doesn’t  matter how small the likes are: I like my wrists, my collar bones are quite lovely, I’ve got fantastic fingernails! You’re laughing but some of you have been verbally abusing yourselves for so long you may have to start with those fingernails….

– Avoid for one full weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) one thing that you SWEAR you’d shrivel up and die without eating/drinking.

– Eat something that’s considered healthy you’ve never tried ’cause it looks or sounds “weird”

But most of all I DARE YOU TO:

– Actually achieve the goals you’re always talking about achieving.

– I dare you to put the work in

– Make the sacrifices

– Feel the burn

– Drip the sweat

– I dare you to stop making:  exceptions, justifications and excuses for why you can’t possibly do ___ or give up___ or make time for ____.

I DOUBLE DARE YOU TO: FINALLY SUCCEED!

Happy Dare Day!

 

Ditch the Plateau! (spring cleaning time)

A plateau is when you feel like you’re doing everything right but you’re not seeing the changes you expect to see on the scale or in your clothes. Basically you’re not progressing.

Sometimes it really is a matter of your body holding on to those last few pounds and you needing to pull out some tricks to get your body to let go of them. However in my experience working with lots and lots (hundreds!) of women I find that really there are just some things you need to buckle down on and clean up (usually in the diet) to get back on track and get over this “plateau”.

So since it’s now officially spring let’s do some spring cleaning of your weight-loss habits.

These are the top 3 areas that most of us aren’t really being as diligent as we can: [Read more…]