today was the end of another successful eat stop eat day. i find that if i go for a little while without fasting the first fast or two are always harder, but once i get into a rhythm with weekly fasting, they pretty much become a breeze. and today was definitely one of those days i was really happy not to have to stop and eat because i am running all over the place trying to tie up so many loose ends before my last day tomorrow. tomorrow i close my bank account and cancel my cell phone and it's weird how that makes me feel like i am withdrawing from civilization or something like that. strange how dependent we tend to become on all these aspects of the modern lifestyle.
also with all the craziness, i forgot to mention that craig is running a great promotion where you can try turbulence training for less than $5! just go sign up for the trial offer and you get 21 days to put turbulence training to the test. you still get all the regular bonuses, plus you get access to the awesome ttmembers.com forum. if you've been on the fence, this is a great opportunity to see if turbulence training is right for you.
Showing posts with label turbulence training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label turbulence training. Show all posts
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
blast off
today is day 1 of my brand new shiny breakthrough challenge and i'm so excited to be getting started again. spent some time yesterday evening and this afternoon getting my goals in order and getting connected to my reasons for doing this and here's what i've come up with:
2nd transformation contest goals...
1) achieve 15% body fat. this was my main goal in the last challenge and i naively chose this number without knowing that it was a bit unrealistic from my starting point of 24.2%. this time around though i believe that it is a realistic goal and i expect to get there within the next 84 days.
2) don't miss a turbulence training workout in the next 84 days and successfully stick to my plan during travels to london and vancouver bc. this challenge will present some interesting hurdles for me as i will be moving out of my apartment in spain on may 24th and probably wont arrive in portland until june 8th or so (ie--two weeks of homelessness and traveling limbo). when i get home i have to find a place to live and get a job and basically re-start my life after a two year hiatus. so there will be lots going on and being a total creature of habit, i always do really well sticking to my plan when i can create a routine and i always crash and burn when anything interrupts that routine. i am determined to break that crash and burn habit during this challenge and be super diligent with my plan in the midst of all this craziness.
3) practice attentive eating at every meal. this is one of my biggest challenges as i always seem to be rushing off to the next thing and tend to rush through my meals in the same way. this is definitely something that needs to change and so will be a big focal point for me in this challenge.
4) shift towards more intuitive eating with less rules. in my last challenge i went from strict calorie counting to relaxing things a bit when i shifted to eat stop eat, but was still being incredibly strict with myself. i want to find a balance in this challenge between holding myself to high nutritional standards and making the majority of my food choices center on clean foods, while at the same time allowing myself the occasional cheat and simply learning to listen to my body and enjoy every bite of food that i put into my mouth guilt free. this will be a space that requires a bit of experimentation, but i feel as though if i can figure this out i will truly be where i want to be in terms of my relationship with food. i recently read that "the body is wise and the rewards for trusting it are great." this is a philosophy i want to learn to integrate into my life...to get to a point where my trust in my body's wisdom allows me to treat it as an ally instead of a foe.
5) blog progress daily for increased accountability
6) visible abs by day 84...i have never seen my abs before and i think it's about time.
7) and, of course, make turbulence training history by being the grand prize winner two times in a row!
the daily action steps that i will take to get me there are as follows:
1) drink at least 4 liters of water
2) avoid processed sugar
3) eat mindfully
4) feel good about my food choices
5) get at least 8 hours of sleep every night
6) get the vast majority of my calories from clean foods
7) review my goals and visualize their achievement
and finally my tentative nutrition and exercise plans, subject to change as results dictate:
my nutrition plan: i will be sticking with eat stop eat incorporating two days of fasting per week combined with a clean foods diet and will probably incorporate carb tapering as well (less carbs at the evening meals). focus here will be on mindful eating and enjoyment of all food consumed.
my exercise plan: since i'm going to be traveling and transitioning so much during this challenge, i decided that bodyweight workouts are probably the way to go. however, i might change this up a bit depending on how quickly i find/join a gym when i get back to portland and how much i'm digging the bodyweight manual.
weeks 1-4: 6 month bodyweight manual phase I
weeks 5-8: 6 month bodyweight manual phase II
weeks 9-12: 6 month bodyweight manual phase III
monday, wednesday, saturday will be turbulence training workouts. tuesday, thursday, sunday will be yoga (with hill sprints on sunday just for fun). friday is my glorious rest day.
so that's the plan, now it's just a matter of following through and putting it into action. starting stats and pics will be up next...
2nd transformation contest goals...
1) achieve 15% body fat. this was my main goal in the last challenge and i naively chose this number without knowing that it was a bit unrealistic from my starting point of 24.2%. this time around though i believe that it is a realistic goal and i expect to get there within the next 84 days.
2) don't miss a turbulence training workout in the next 84 days and successfully stick to my plan during travels to london and vancouver bc. this challenge will present some interesting hurdles for me as i will be moving out of my apartment in spain on may 24th and probably wont arrive in portland until june 8th or so (ie--two weeks of homelessness and traveling limbo). when i get home i have to find a place to live and get a job and basically re-start my life after a two year hiatus. so there will be lots going on and being a total creature of habit, i always do really well sticking to my plan when i can create a routine and i always crash and burn when anything interrupts that routine. i am determined to break that crash and burn habit during this challenge and be super diligent with my plan in the midst of all this craziness.
3) practice attentive eating at every meal. this is one of my biggest challenges as i always seem to be rushing off to the next thing and tend to rush through my meals in the same way. this is definitely something that needs to change and so will be a big focal point for me in this challenge.
4) shift towards more intuitive eating with less rules. in my last challenge i went from strict calorie counting to relaxing things a bit when i shifted to eat stop eat, but was still being incredibly strict with myself. i want to find a balance in this challenge between holding myself to high nutritional standards and making the majority of my food choices center on clean foods, while at the same time allowing myself the occasional cheat and simply learning to listen to my body and enjoy every bite of food that i put into my mouth guilt free. this will be a space that requires a bit of experimentation, but i feel as though if i can figure this out i will truly be where i want to be in terms of my relationship with food. i recently read that "the body is wise and the rewards for trusting it are great." this is a philosophy i want to learn to integrate into my life...to get to a point where my trust in my body's wisdom allows me to treat it as an ally instead of a foe.
5) blog progress daily for increased accountability
6) visible abs by day 84...i have never seen my abs before and i think it's about time.
7) and, of course, make turbulence training history by being the grand prize winner two times in a row!
the daily action steps that i will take to get me there are as follows:
1) drink at least 4 liters of water
2) avoid processed sugar
3) eat mindfully
4) feel good about my food choices
5) get at least 8 hours of sleep every night
6) get the vast majority of my calories from clean foods
7) review my goals and visualize their achievement
and finally my tentative nutrition and exercise plans, subject to change as results dictate:
my nutrition plan: i will be sticking with eat stop eat incorporating two days of fasting per week combined with a clean foods diet and will probably incorporate carb tapering as well (less carbs at the evening meals). focus here will be on mindful eating and enjoyment of all food consumed.
my exercise plan: since i'm going to be traveling and transitioning so much during this challenge, i decided that bodyweight workouts are probably the way to go. however, i might change this up a bit depending on how quickly i find/join a gym when i get back to portland and how much i'm digging the bodyweight manual.
weeks 1-4: 6 month bodyweight manual phase I
weeks 5-8: 6 month bodyweight manual phase II
weeks 9-12: 6 month bodyweight manual phase III
monday, wednesday, saturday will be turbulence training workouts. tuesday, thursday, sunday will be yoga (with hill sprints on sunday just for fun). friday is my glorious rest day.
so that's the plan, now it's just a matter of following through and putting it into action. starting stats and pics will be up next...
Sunday, April 27, 2008
transformation challenge rules
the second turbulence training transformation contest will be kicking off may 1st...just a few days away now. i can't wait to get started again as i find that working within the confines of the challenge really helps me to stay motivated. for more information, go here to check out contest rules and to join the contest: transformation contest rules. and if you have any questions leave me a comment and let me know!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
why interval training is your friend.
here's a great article from craig that gives an overview of turbulence training and how he created this amazing system...
The Evolution of Cardio
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com
I've been meaning to write this email for a long time. Today I'm
going to give you the story of how I solved the problem of getting an efficient and effective fat loss program finished in 45 minutes. Essentially, how I invented Turbulence Training.
And then I'll end with a sample TT workout for you...
But first, let's take a trip down memory lane to the winter of
98-99. I was but a lowly grad student, studying the effects of
androstenedione (the supplement taken by the might Mark McGwire during his record-breaking home run quest in '98).
In my study (which was published in the Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology for any science nerds like myself out there), we had guys use the supplement and go through a couple of weight training sessions. By February of '99 I was stuck in the lab, analyzing the blood samples using some fancy radio-active isotopes.
And when I say stuck in the lab, I mean STUCK. I'd get there at
7am, and record my last data point at 11pm. Sixteen hours of
mad science. And if I wasn't there, I was downstairs in the
medical library, studying papers on testosterone and training.
Now coming from a very athletic background, this sedentary
lifestyle didn't sit well with me. But there I was, studing for a
degree in Exercise Physiology and left with no time for exercise.
Or so I thought.
Fortunately, I actually had a 50 minute window once per day of
"down-time" while the lab's gamma-counter analyzed blood samples.
That left me 50 minutes to get to the gym (5 minutes across campus) and get a workout in the remaining 40 or so minutes. I knew that if I applied my studies to the workout, I could get maximum results in minimum time.
As a former athlete, I knew that I had to find a way to stay fit
and to avoid the fat gain that comes with working long hours in a
sedentary environment. And I also had to stay true to the
high-school bodybuilder I once was, so there was no way I was
willing to sacrifice my muscle to one of those long-cardio, low
protein fat-loss plans that were popular at the time.
Instead, I had to draw on my academic studies and my experiences working with athletes as the school's Strength & Conditioning Coach.
I knew that sprint intervals were associated with more fat loss
than slow cardio, and I knew that you could also increase aerobic fitness by doing sprints (but you can't increase sprint performance by doing aerobic training).
So clearly, intervals were (and ARE!) superior to long slow cardio.
I had seen first hand the incredible results of sprint intervals in
the summer and fall, as the athletes made huge fitness improvements and shed winter fat in a short time using my interval programs. I knew that intervals had to be the next step in the evolution of cardio.
The biggest benefit of intervals? A lot of results in a short
amount of time. I knew that I only had 40 minutes to train, and
therefore I could only spend 15-20 minutes doing intervals.
Now onto the strength training portion of the workouts. I knew that a high-volume bodybuilding program wasn't going to cut it - I just didn't have time. But in the past year I had read so many lifting studies, that I knew exactly what exercises I needed to do to maximize my lifting time in the gym.
Those exercises were standing, multi-muscle, movements such as squats, presses, rows, power cleans, and plenty of other standing single-leg exercises. I knew that those exercises would bring me far more results than those people sitting on machines would ever achieve.
And I also knew that I had to lift heavier than the average Joe or Jane Gym-goer lifts. I just knew that doing lighter weights and high-reps wasn't going to cut it. And a research study from 2001 later showed that I was right - when women did 8 reps per set, they had a significantly greater increase in post-workout metabolism than if they did 15 reps per set.
So I had my plan. Bust my tail over to the gym, through the cold, dreary Canadian winter afternoon, and do a quick but thorough warmup (specific to my lifts - none of that 5 minutes on the treadmill waste of time).
Once I got through the warm-up, I did as many sets as I could in the remainder of the 20 minutes for strength training.
At that point, I knew that supersets were the only way to go if I
wanted to maximize the number of sets I could do...so the
non-competing superset of Turbulence Training was put in place.
By non-competing, I mean that the 2 exercises in the superset don't interfere with one another. So you can use upper and lower body exercises together, or pushing and pulling exercises. Just be careful not to use two grip-intensive exercises together in a superset - otherwise, one exercise will suffer, if not both.
And then I followed up the strength training with intervals, as I
knew these had to follow the lifting, otherwise it would not be the correct exercise order. Remember, intervals first leads to
premature fatigue. Lift first, cardio later. Forget that old wives
tale about doing cardio first to burn more fat. That's junk.
You know, I remember the exact day and exact workout that this all came together into the Turbulence Training program. It hit me as I was finishing my intervals. I knew I had found something that was like fat loss magic.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a way to put it in a pill. But I've
been able to put it down on paper in all of the TT manuals.
The exact workout I used that day went like this...
Warm-up
1 set of Bodyweight Squats
1 set of pushups
1 set of Squats with the empty bar
1 set of light dumbbell chest presses
1 set of moderate weight barbell squats
1 set of moderate weight dumbbell chest presses
Strength Training Superset #1
Barbell Squats paired with Dumbbell Chest Presses
3 supersets, aiming for 8 reps per side per set
Strength Training Superset #2
DB Rows paired with Barbell Forward Lunges
3 supersets, aiming for 8 reps per set
Stationary Bike Intervals
After a warmup, I did 6 intervals of 45 seconds work and 45 seconds rest, finishing with a cool-down.
And from that point in time, I've tried to share this and all the
other Turbulence Training workouts with as many men and women as possible. The same men and women that I would see day-in and day-out performing the same ineffective slow-cardio fat loss programs, and not making a darn change month after month. And every day they would see me, soaked in sweat, feeling great and looking lean, and finishing another TT workout.
Eventually I noticed these other men and women weren't around as consistently as before, and then soon enough they would drop out completely - after all, they weren't getting results with their slow cardio and aerobics classes (yep, those were still around in '99!).
And so here we are today...thousands of TT users later, with
national fitness magazines like Men's Health, Men's Fitness, and
Shape spreading the good word about Turbulence Training.
Thousands of TT users, dozens of personal trainers, and even
several national fitness magazines all agree with me, Turbulence
Training is the #1 way to fast fat loss.
Thanks for being a part of the TT Lifestyle Revolution, and for
sharing this new and improved fat loss training and cardio system with the world.
So when you see someone frustrated with their ineffective fat loss program, tell them there is a better way. It's research-based, efficient, and most of all, effective. And yes, it goes against the crowd. But it works.
And it's now better than ever,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
PS - Don't know where to start?
If you are a beginner, start by reading Dr. Mohr's nutrition
guidelines...eating properly will be the biggest factor in your
early success.
Beginners should also start with the Introductory TT workouts to prepare their muscles for the upcoming intense training.
For others, it's best to start with the Intermediate Level TT
workouts. If those aren't enough of a challenge, you can move onto the Original TT workout and follow the 16-week advanced program right through.
If at any time you need a break, try the TT Bodyweight 4-week plan.
And then finish off with the bonus programs to cap off a full 24 weeks of Advanced TT fat loss workouts.
About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com
The Evolution of Cardio
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com
I've been meaning to write this email for a long time. Today I'm
going to give you the story of how I solved the problem of getting an efficient and effective fat loss program finished in 45 minutes. Essentially, how I invented Turbulence Training.
And then I'll end with a sample TT workout for you...
But first, let's take a trip down memory lane to the winter of
98-99. I was but a lowly grad student, studying the effects of
androstenedione (the supplement taken by the might Mark McGwire during his record-breaking home run quest in '98).
In my study (which was published in the Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology for any science nerds like myself out there), we had guys use the supplement and go through a couple of weight training sessions. By February of '99 I was stuck in the lab, analyzing the blood samples using some fancy radio-active isotopes.
And when I say stuck in the lab, I mean STUCK. I'd get there at
7am, and record my last data point at 11pm. Sixteen hours of
mad science. And if I wasn't there, I was downstairs in the
medical library, studying papers on testosterone and training.
Now coming from a very athletic background, this sedentary
lifestyle didn't sit well with me. But there I was, studing for a
degree in Exercise Physiology and left with no time for exercise.
Or so I thought.
Fortunately, I actually had a 50 minute window once per day of
"down-time" while the lab's gamma-counter analyzed blood samples.
That left me 50 minutes to get to the gym (5 minutes across campus) and get a workout in the remaining 40 or so minutes. I knew that if I applied my studies to the workout, I could get maximum results in minimum time.
As a former athlete, I knew that I had to find a way to stay fit
and to avoid the fat gain that comes with working long hours in a
sedentary environment. And I also had to stay true to the
high-school bodybuilder I once was, so there was no way I was
willing to sacrifice my muscle to one of those long-cardio, low
protein fat-loss plans that were popular at the time.
Instead, I had to draw on my academic studies and my experiences working with athletes as the school's Strength & Conditioning Coach.
I knew that sprint intervals were associated with more fat loss
than slow cardio, and I knew that you could also increase aerobic fitness by doing sprints (but you can't increase sprint performance by doing aerobic training).
So clearly, intervals were (and ARE!) superior to long slow cardio.
I had seen first hand the incredible results of sprint intervals in
the summer and fall, as the athletes made huge fitness improvements and shed winter fat in a short time using my interval programs. I knew that intervals had to be the next step in the evolution of cardio.
The biggest benefit of intervals? A lot of results in a short
amount of time. I knew that I only had 40 minutes to train, and
therefore I could only spend 15-20 minutes doing intervals.
Now onto the strength training portion of the workouts. I knew that a high-volume bodybuilding program wasn't going to cut it - I just didn't have time. But in the past year I had read so many lifting studies, that I knew exactly what exercises I needed to do to maximize my lifting time in the gym.
Those exercises were standing, multi-muscle, movements such as squats, presses, rows, power cleans, and plenty of other standing single-leg exercises. I knew that those exercises would bring me far more results than those people sitting on machines would ever achieve.
And I also knew that I had to lift heavier than the average Joe or Jane Gym-goer lifts. I just knew that doing lighter weights and high-reps wasn't going to cut it. And a research study from 2001 later showed that I was right - when women did 8 reps per set, they had a significantly greater increase in post-workout metabolism than if they did 15 reps per set.
So I had my plan. Bust my tail over to the gym, through the cold, dreary Canadian winter afternoon, and do a quick but thorough warmup (specific to my lifts - none of that 5 minutes on the treadmill waste of time).
Once I got through the warm-up, I did as many sets as I could in the remainder of the 20 minutes for strength training.
At that point, I knew that supersets were the only way to go if I
wanted to maximize the number of sets I could do...so the
non-competing superset of Turbulence Training was put in place.
By non-competing, I mean that the 2 exercises in the superset don't interfere with one another. So you can use upper and lower body exercises together, or pushing and pulling exercises. Just be careful not to use two grip-intensive exercises together in a superset - otherwise, one exercise will suffer, if not both.
And then I followed up the strength training with intervals, as I
knew these had to follow the lifting, otherwise it would not be the correct exercise order. Remember, intervals first leads to
premature fatigue. Lift first, cardio later. Forget that old wives
tale about doing cardio first to burn more fat. That's junk.
You know, I remember the exact day and exact workout that this all came together into the Turbulence Training program. It hit me as I was finishing my intervals. I knew I had found something that was like fat loss magic.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a way to put it in a pill. But I've
been able to put it down on paper in all of the TT manuals.
The exact workout I used that day went like this...
Warm-up
1 set of Bodyweight Squats
1 set of pushups
1 set of Squats with the empty bar
1 set of light dumbbell chest presses
1 set of moderate weight barbell squats
1 set of moderate weight dumbbell chest presses
Strength Training Superset #1
Barbell Squats paired with Dumbbell Chest Presses
3 supersets, aiming for 8 reps per side per set
Strength Training Superset #2
DB Rows paired with Barbell Forward Lunges
3 supersets, aiming for 8 reps per set
Stationary Bike Intervals
After a warmup, I did 6 intervals of 45 seconds work and 45 seconds rest, finishing with a cool-down.
And from that point in time, I've tried to share this and all the
other Turbulence Training workouts with as many men and women as possible. The same men and women that I would see day-in and day-out performing the same ineffective slow-cardio fat loss programs, and not making a darn change month after month. And every day they would see me, soaked in sweat, feeling great and looking lean, and finishing another TT workout.
Eventually I noticed these other men and women weren't around as consistently as before, and then soon enough they would drop out completely - after all, they weren't getting results with their slow cardio and aerobics classes (yep, those were still around in '99!).
And so here we are today...thousands of TT users later, with
national fitness magazines like Men's Health, Men's Fitness, and
Shape spreading the good word about Turbulence Training.
Thousands of TT users, dozens of personal trainers, and even
several national fitness magazines all agree with me, Turbulence
Training is the #1 way to fast fat loss.
Thanks for being a part of the TT Lifestyle Revolution, and for
sharing this new and improved fat loss training and cardio system with the world.
So when you see someone frustrated with their ineffective fat loss program, tell them there is a better way. It's research-based, efficient, and most of all, effective. And yes, it goes against the crowd. But it works.
And it's now better than ever,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
PS - Don't know where to start?
If you are a beginner, start by reading Dr. Mohr's nutrition
guidelines...eating properly will be the biggest factor in your
early success.
Beginners should also start with the Introductory TT workouts to prepare their muscles for the upcoming intense training.
For others, it's best to start with the Intermediate Level TT
workouts. If those aren't enough of a challenge, you can move onto the Original TT workout and follow the 16-week advanced program right through.
If at any time you need a break, try the TT Bodyweight 4-week plan.
And then finish off with the bonus programs to cap off a full 24 weeks of Advanced TT fat loss workouts.
About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
i can't believe it...
I WON!!!! this is the part where i gloat shamelessly :). seriously, though, today has been an extremely exciting day. by finally getting closer than ever to my dream body and, more importantly, finally feeling like i've instilled the habits that will keep me in that body, i had already come away from the contest feeling like a winner. but the extra $2000 doesn't hurt either. many thanks to all who voted for me and offered their support along the way. if you want a good dose of inspiration and haven't already, check out all the finalists' stories here: www.transformationcontest.com. and i would highly encourage ANYONE who is looking to finally make some bodily/lifestyle changes to consider joining the next transformation contest, starting may 1st. go get your hands on a copy of turbulence training and start setting your goals and getting your action plan ready now! 12 weeks from now the new, fitter, healthier you will be glad you did!
random thoughts on the wild and wooly world of nutrition
okay i'm kind of a geek when it comes to nutrition. don't ask me why but reading about all sorts of different diet techniques and then trying them out on myself is kind of my thing. call it a sort of self-diagnosed diet ADD. what can i say? i get bored or am just too easily lured by the amazing health promises of the newest super-diet. let's just say i like to have lots of different tools in my nutritional arsenal so that when i feel myself getting a bit bored with my current dietary regimen, i can choose another **healthy** eating plan that will still keep me moving in the direction of my goals. my current dietary scheme is sort of a hodge-podge of different nutritional advice i've picked up from waaay too many hours of reading about this stuff (really i promise it doesn't have to be this complicated). my highly recommended sources for good nutritional advice would be burn the fat, feed the muscle, precision nutrition, and the nutrition guide that comes with turbulence training. eat stop eat also gets honorable mention as it is my most recent experiment and i have found it to be a really fun and different approach to nutrition and fat loss. these have all been fundamental in my dietary education and any one of them, when properly applied, will have you on your way to a fitter, healthier you. but, regardless of whose nutritional recommendations i happen to be following at the moment, there are some basic principles that i pretty much always try to incorporate no matter how i'm eating. call them the universal principles of dietary superiority...
1) it always comes down to calories (yes, this means portion control). you can play around with macronutrients and carb cycling and all the complex dietary tricks and techniques you want, but if you're eating more calories than you're expending, your weight is not going to budge (or it might budge in the wrong direction). period. a good way to begin to get a handle on this is to go to fitday.com and log your food for a week. this will give you a good idea of how many calories are coming in and is a real eye opener for most people. a week of dietary semi-neuroticism in the name of self-education can be a good thing :)
2) know what your eating. fresh is better...think one ingredient foods (produce, meats, fish, eggs, whole grains, legumes). the more ingredients a food has the less likely it is to be good for you, so a good rule of thumb is that if it has more than 5 ingredients it shouldn't go in shopping cart (or in your mouth).
3) eat more veggies. okay, you might have thought that this was already covered in point #2, but veggies are amazing enough that they've earned themselves their very own point as well. veggies are low in calories, very filling due to high fiber content, and come loaded with vitamins and minerals that your body needs to be happy. find more ways to incorporate veggies into your diet and you'll be well on your way to better body composition.
4) cut out (or cut way down on) refined sugars. okay, this is also related to point #2, because refined sugars are most commonly found in processed foods with a laundry list of ingredients but they easily work their way into our diet in other ways (adding sugar to coffee, for example). since things like sugar and honey are one ingredient foods, they are a bit of an exception to the above rule because they are calorie dense and nutritionally void. i have a huge sweet tooth and enjoy my sugar as much as the next gal, but if you are serious about improving your body composition (and your health!), you should be trying to seriously limit your intake of sugar.
finding the right diet for fat loss that works with your lifestyle can be a bit of a trial and error process...or if your like me an ongoing and constantly morphing one. the truth is that eating healthy is the way to get healthy and it does require some work and some planning, especially at the outset. any sort of quick fix diet plan that sounds too good to be true, definitely is. true lifestyle change takes a bit of time, but once you get into your dietary groove you'll find yourself feeling amazing and questioning why you ever ate any other way in the first place.
1) it always comes down to calories (yes, this means portion control). you can play around with macronutrients and carb cycling and all the complex dietary tricks and techniques you want, but if you're eating more calories than you're expending, your weight is not going to budge (or it might budge in the wrong direction). period. a good way to begin to get a handle on this is to go to fitday.com and log your food for a week. this will give you a good idea of how many calories are coming in and is a real eye opener for most people. a week of dietary semi-neuroticism in the name of self-education can be a good thing :)
2) know what your eating. fresh is better...think one ingredient foods (produce, meats, fish, eggs, whole grains, legumes). the more ingredients a food has the less likely it is to be good for you, so a good rule of thumb is that if it has more than 5 ingredients it shouldn't go in shopping cart (or in your mouth).
3) eat more veggies. okay, you might have thought that this was already covered in point #2, but veggies are amazing enough that they've earned themselves their very own point as well. veggies are low in calories, very filling due to high fiber content, and come loaded with vitamins and minerals that your body needs to be happy. find more ways to incorporate veggies into your diet and you'll be well on your way to better body composition.
4) cut out (or cut way down on) refined sugars. okay, this is also related to point #2, because refined sugars are most commonly found in processed foods with a laundry list of ingredients but they easily work their way into our diet in other ways (adding sugar to coffee, for example). since things like sugar and honey are one ingredient foods, they are a bit of an exception to the above rule because they are calorie dense and nutritionally void. i have a huge sweet tooth and enjoy my sugar as much as the next gal, but if you are serious about improving your body composition (and your health!), you should be trying to seriously limit your intake of sugar.
finding the right diet for fat loss that works with your lifestyle can be a bit of a trial and error process...or if your like me an ongoing and constantly morphing one. the truth is that eating healthy is the way to get healthy and it does require some work and some planning, especially at the outset. any sort of quick fix diet plan that sounds too good to be true, definitely is. true lifestyle change takes a bit of time, but once you get into your dietary groove you'll find yourself feeling amazing and questioning why you ever ate any other way in the first place.
Friday, April 18, 2008
five keys to fat loss success
i had tried so many times in the past to lose weight and always ended up failing miserably. what was different this time? well, this time i finally managed to integrate all five of the following components of fat loss success.
1) get really clear on what you want. sit down and write out a description of your dream body, the actions that you can take to get that body, and specific date that you plan to achieve it by. never underestimate the power of having clear and specific goals and a definite time-frame for their achievement.
2) find a social support network and create accountability. this was always a missing piece of the fat loss puzzle for me in my past attempts at weight loss. the ttmembers.com forum was my support group and the transformation contest helped to keep me accountable.
3) find a nutrition plan that works for you. nutrition is a HUGE part of the fat loss puzzle. it's commonly said that "you can't out-train a bad diet." there are tons of different nutrition plans that you can follow to lose weight. a good place to start is concentrating as much as possible on eating real foods...ie foods that don't come in a can, jar, or box (ex: fruits, veggies, meat/fish/eggs, whole grains). another great step is working to eliminate refined sugars. i also incorporated brad pilon's eat stop eat into my nutritional arsenal and found it to be a very effective fat loss tool.
4) find a strength training plan that works for you. for me this is turbulence training. there are lots of good programs out there though...the important thing is to start lifting weights!
5) incorporate interval training. this has been shown time and time again to give you more bang for your fat loss buck and is an integral part of the turbulence training system.
i will be going into more detail about each of the above points in the days that follow, but this is a good primer for fat loss success.
1) get really clear on what you want. sit down and write out a description of your dream body, the actions that you can take to get that body, and specific date that you plan to achieve it by. never underestimate the power of having clear and specific goals and a definite time-frame for their achievement.
2) find a social support network and create accountability. this was always a missing piece of the fat loss puzzle for me in my past attempts at weight loss. the ttmembers.com forum was my support group and the transformation contest helped to keep me accountable.
3) find a nutrition plan that works for you. nutrition is a HUGE part of the fat loss puzzle. it's commonly said that "you can't out-train a bad diet." there are tons of different nutrition plans that you can follow to lose weight. a good place to start is concentrating as much as possible on eating real foods...ie foods that don't come in a can, jar, or box (ex: fruits, veggies, meat/fish/eggs, whole grains). another great step is working to eliminate refined sugars. i also incorporated brad pilon's eat stop eat into my nutritional arsenal and found it to be a very effective fat loss tool.
4) find a strength training plan that works for you. for me this is turbulence training. there are lots of good programs out there though...the important thing is to start lifting weights!
5) incorporate interval training. this has been shown time and time again to give you more bang for your fat loss buck and is an integral part of the turbulence training system.
i will be going into more detail about each of the above points in the days that follow, but this is a good primer for fat loss success.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
i'm a finalist!!!
so the official "last day" of the turbulence training transformation contest was april 15th. on the 16th i awoke to find out that i had been chosen from the many amazing transformers as one of the 8 finalists!!! the grand prize winner will be the one among the 8 who gets the most votes before this upcoming monday. to vote for me head on over to: www.transformationcontest.com. we'll find out in just a few short days who the winner is!
an 84 day experiment
my final thoughts on my 84 day odyssey:
The TT transformation contest has been an unbelievable journey and an incredible learning experience for me. When I began my transformation, I had been trying for years to lose weight. I was already working out, doing intervals, and eating well much of the time, but I never seemed to make any meaningful progress. I was partially being held back by the destructive cycles that I found myself falling into over and over with food. Intellectually I knew perfectly well what I needed to be eating, but I had had such a difficult and negative relationship with food for so many years that I as soon as I would begin eating healthy and making progress I would immediately sabotage myself by binging only to end up back where I started and more frustrated with myself than before.
The transformation contest finally gave me the accountability and social support that I needed to jump-start permanent change and turbulence training provided me with the fastest and most effective tool to get where I wanted to be. What I appreciate most about Craig’s system is its simplicity. I am now spending less time in the gym than before and getting my best results ever. Of course, although the TT workouts are intense, fun, and incredibly effective, they were only one of several contributing factors to my success. Besides the TT workouts themselves, having a clear goals and a plan to achieve them, eating clean food consistently, finding a diet that worked for me (ESE), and social support and accountability were the other key factors in making my transformation a success. I never realized how much of a difference social support can really make but being surrounded by the other amazing people on the ttmembers.com forum who were all working towards a similar goal and facing similar challenges was an integral part of keeping me motivated and moving towards my goal. The encouragement, advice, knowledge, and inspiration I received from the forum were truly priceless.
During my 12 week journey I lost 15.5 lbs, inches off everywhere, and 5.3% body fat. I feel healthy and strong, I have completely transformed my relationship with food so that I now find that making good food choices is no longer a struggle, I’m closer than ever to my dream body, and I was able to take “after pictures” fitting comfortably into a pair of size 27 jeans that I haven’t fit into in years! And I achieved all of this despite visits from friends, an 11 day trip to Morocco where I had much less control over my nutrition, and being hit by illness at the end of my challenge. I feel confident that the lessons I have learned about goal achievement, accountability, and social support will carry over into all other areas of my life. And with the good habits that I have established over the course of the contest, along with the endless variety of turbulence training workouts, I know that it will be easy for me to make continued progress. It is hard for me to find adequate words to sum up all the different ways that my life has been positively affected by this contest and the gratitude that I feel. I guess the only thing I can say is thanks so much to Craig for creating this incredible system and to all of my fellow transformers who were an unending source of motivation, support, and inspiration. Here’s to round 2.
The TT transformation contest has been an unbelievable journey and an incredible learning experience for me. When I began my transformation, I had been trying for years to lose weight. I was already working out, doing intervals, and eating well much of the time, but I never seemed to make any meaningful progress. I was partially being held back by the destructive cycles that I found myself falling into over and over with food. Intellectually I knew perfectly well what I needed to be eating, but I had had such a difficult and negative relationship with food for so many years that I as soon as I would begin eating healthy and making progress I would immediately sabotage myself by binging only to end up back where I started and more frustrated with myself than before.
The transformation contest finally gave me the accountability and social support that I needed to jump-start permanent change and turbulence training provided me with the fastest and most effective tool to get where I wanted to be. What I appreciate most about Craig’s system is its simplicity. I am now spending less time in the gym than before and getting my best results ever. Of course, although the TT workouts are intense, fun, and incredibly effective, they were only one of several contributing factors to my success. Besides the TT workouts themselves, having a clear goals and a plan to achieve them, eating clean food consistently, finding a diet that worked for me (ESE), and social support and accountability were the other key factors in making my transformation a success. I never realized how much of a difference social support can really make but being surrounded by the other amazing people on the ttmembers.com forum who were all working towards a similar goal and facing similar challenges was an integral part of keeping me motivated and moving towards my goal. The encouragement, advice, knowledge, and inspiration I received from the forum were truly priceless.
During my 12 week journey I lost 15.5 lbs, inches off everywhere, and 5.3% body fat. I feel healthy and strong, I have completely transformed my relationship with food so that I now find that making good food choices is no longer a struggle, I’m closer than ever to my dream body, and I was able to take “after pictures” fitting comfortably into a pair of size 27 jeans that I haven’t fit into in years! And I achieved all of this despite visits from friends, an 11 day trip to Morocco where I had much less control over my nutrition, and being hit by illness at the end of my challenge. I feel confident that the lessons I have learned about goal achievement, accountability, and social support will carry over into all other areas of my life. And with the good habits that I have established over the course of the contest, along with the endless variety of turbulence training workouts, I know that it will be easy for me to make continued progress. It is hard for me to find adequate words to sum up all the different ways that my life has been positively affected by this contest and the gratitude that I feel. I guess the only thing I can say is thanks so much to Craig for creating this incredible system and to all of my fellow transformers who were an unending source of motivation, support, and inspiration. Here’s to round 2.
the before and afters: how much can you "transform" in 84 days?
at the start of my body transformation journey i joined the first ever turbulence training transformation contest to keep myself accountable. i ended up losing 15.5 pounds, 5.3% body fat, and winning first place in the contest. what can you accomplish in just 12 weeks? well, here were my results...
"the front"
"the back"
it's just the beginning
in january of 2008 i realized that i was beginning another year in the same place as every other...feeling out of shape, unhappy about how i looked, and ready to change. the only problem is that i had tried so many times before to lose weight and get into the best shape of my life and after making a little bit of progress, i'd always ended up falling off the wagon and winding up in the same place as (or worse of than) before. but i was determined that this year would be different. and so i went looking for the key to the puzzle that would finally allow me to make some real progress. and i found it in the form of a genius workout system that is spreading like wildfire throughout the fitness world: turbulence training. there are several reasons that i think that turbulence training is such an effective system and was "the one" that is finally getting me where i want to be. these include:
1-it's fast, efficient, and effective. you only have to commit to 3 short (45 minute) workouts a week.
2-craig knows his stuff and has created a system that works for EVERYONE (who works the system) and will get you maximum results in minimum time
3-it's simple. you can do it on a boat, you can do it in a moat. you can do it at your gym or you can do it while you swim. seriously, gym, home gym, bodyweight exercises...craig's covered it all so you can do it where you're comfortable, working with whatever equipment you have or don't have, and still get amazing results.
4-the ttmembers.com forum is incredible. the support and encouragement i received throughout the contest on this forum was highly instrumental to my success so far.
for added accountability and to be sure that i kept myself on track, i joined the first ever turbulence training transformation contest. during my 12 week challenge, i used turbulence training, combined with a clean foods diet, to lose 15.5 pounds and 5.3 percent body fat.
so, now i've made this great transformation and the question is...what's next? well i've still got some personal body composition goals that i'm chasing after, including visible abs and 15% body fat, so the transformation certainly doesn't stop here. and then i'll be moving into the wooly world of maintenance, where great fun is sure to await me. this blog will be just one more way to of keeping myself accountable and on track towards my health and fitness goals. so stay tuned, the journey has really only just begun!
1-it's fast, efficient, and effective. you only have to commit to 3 short (45 minute) workouts a week.
2-craig knows his stuff and has created a system that works for EVERYONE (who works the system) and will get you maximum results in minimum time
3-it's simple. you can do it on a boat, you can do it in a moat. you can do it at your gym or you can do it while you swim. seriously, gym, home gym, bodyweight exercises...craig's covered it all so you can do it where you're comfortable, working with whatever equipment you have or don't have, and still get amazing results.
4-the ttmembers.com forum is incredible. the support and encouragement i received throughout the contest on this forum was highly instrumental to my success so far.
for added accountability and to be sure that i kept myself on track, i joined the first ever turbulence training transformation contest. during my 12 week challenge, i used turbulence training, combined with a clean foods diet, to lose 15.5 pounds and 5.3 percent body fat.
so, now i've made this great transformation and the question is...what's next? well i've still got some personal body composition goals that i'm chasing after, including visible abs and 15% body fat, so the transformation certainly doesn't stop here. and then i'll be moving into the wooly world of maintenance, where great fun is sure to await me. this blog will be just one more way to of keeping myself accountable and on track towards my health and fitness goals. so stay tuned, the journey has really only just begun!
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