Archive for the ‘Adventures’ Category

Authentic Loving and Living

I had a cool Friday afternoon today. I went down to Mountain View to meet a woman I was thinking would be good to joint venture with. It turns out, she is. She’s an incredible lady, who’s business involves empowering women, and also showing men and women how to love and live in an authentic way.

Her website, www.theprofessionalmuse.com shows us that there is a way to become authentic in the way we connect with ourselves and others, and that becoming congruent with your mind, body and relationships is something we can all achieve to live in a more meaningful way.

I agree. I think life is about more than a 9 to 5 job under florescent lights and tight deadlines. I think that people who stop there, and work just for the new car, the weekend, and two-week Caribbean cruise are missing out.

Don’t get me wrong. Achieving goals, partying with friends and family and well-deserved vacations are not a bad thing at all. What I’m talking about is putting off living for those things. We need love, life and laughter now. We need to be able to see and feel a sense of harmony on a day-to-day basis.

Meeting Jill Marie got me thinking about how I can be more in tune with myself, my girlfriend, and my kids. How can I live more authentically?

As Jill Marie says, a lot of times we are stuck in our heads. We spend so much time thinking about what we want, but we often times forget about what our body and intuition is telling us. It’s this mind/body connection that has been lost, or perhaps covered up, in many people.

Jill Marie is hearing impaired. She spent most of her life reading people’s body language. When she finally received help in her twenties and was able to hear people, she found that the words that came out of people and their body language were often saying two different things – they just didn’t match up. Because of her unique experience, she is able to help people to get their body and mind “speaking the same language” once again. What a cool concept!

If you’re interested, join one of her Meetup groups below!

MindBody
Medical Intuitive & Authentic Love Coach
Speaker,
Author, Seminar Leader, Muse
Programs:
Love,
Sex
& Gender Alchemy
www.meetup.com/new-empowered-woman
www.meetup.com/new-empowered-divorced-woman

 

Forrest’s Girlfriend: Quinoa (Keen-Wah or Quinn-o-ah) – Golden Grain of the Incas …etc.

Below is a guest post from my awesome girlfriend, Arleene! For those of you who don’t know, we’ve been dating for about a year and on total cloud 9. …And, let me back up a little here, for those of you who haven’t heard about what I’ve been up to for a while, I got a divorce over a year ago, too.

I was married for 7 years, and I must say, it was the toughest time of my life (I’ll spare you the details). But know this…somewhere during that 7 years of turmoil with the “X”, I lost my ability to laugh. Not my conversational laugh, mind you. I’m talking about that deep belly laugh. That laugh where you’re hunched over, tears coming out, and sore the next day kind of laugh. My wonderful girlfriend taught me how to laugh, and love, again. Thanks Baby! Now, without further ado, here’s Arleene:


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Hello Fit For Life Solutions Folks!

I’ve officially taken over Forrest’s blog (for just one entry), not by choice mind you but only …ONLY because Forrest’s requested my guest blog input. Honestly, it’s about 10:10pm on a Friday night and taking a good 7 hour nap sounds way more enticing than Forrest coaxing me to write something witty and entertaining. Ugh. What I do for love, and to get him off my back! =) You guys spend an hour of your lives every day (every other day…maybe even once a week) with this guy anxiously training and being motivated. Lucky for me, I get this treatment 24/7 although let me tell you…sometimes I just need a damn nap!

With that said, I’m going to go ahead and attribute this completely scattered blog to the late hours of which I’m writing it. We’re officially at 10:30pm now folks!!!

So, Forrest granted me the creative justice to write anything I want regardless that this is a fitness and lifestyle blog. He had a few brainstormy ideas in mind but I think I’ll rely on what’s always worked best for me and that is unadulterated, unfiltered, stream of consciousness, ramblings! And maybe just maybe I’ll throw in a list of some sorts. Who doesn’t enjoy reading a good list now and then!?

Hmm… What to write…What to write…tick tock tick tock 10:35pm…

So let’s get to the goods shall we? Forrest and I have been in blissful smitt for almost a year now. Maybe one sweet day you’ll read a blog on the nitty gritty details of meeting at the Foster City dog park, stars aligning, and a perfect three hour conversation leading up to facebook friendage via the iDouche. Until then, let’s just say that because of your Trainer For Life, I’ve never laughed so loudly, smiled so hard, and worked out so much in my life! OH THE IRONY that is life! I should have known from our first date after he’d ordered a chicken sandwich, on wheat, hold the mayo, with a salad on the side that life would never be the same! FYI, I ordered a crab sandwich with french fries…ON WHITE! (Dee-lish!)

With that said here’s a list of healthy/healthful shiz I’ve experienced/seen/felt/partaken in since Forrest “Rice Protein Rules” Folen entered my life:

1) BOOTCAMP!
This should come as no surprise to you all. Forrest and I met in September and I officially became a wannabe bootcamper in December. I dragged a few wonderful co-workers with me for the 7pm class and BAM, I finally got to witness my man in his element! The first day was a mixed bag of feeling awe and pride, sweating my ass off, and contemplating if having a personal trainer for a boyfriend was still a good idea. Sadly, because of the busiest work schedule of my life (and a few admittedly lazy days), I don’t go as consistently as I should, but I’m working on it!! So if you see me, by all means REMIND ME TO GO!

2) JAMBA JUICE SELLS FOOD?
Since when has the king of the fruit smoothies sold meals? No kidding Forrest LOVES this stuff! Not the sugary juices, but the chimmi-churri chicken wraps with jam packed veggies and protein galore. For a girl who’s palate has led her to chicken tikki masala burrito’s, pork belly buns, and truffle fries with a side of sparkling white sangria, Jamba Juice has never been my style. He likes that he knows what’s in it but more importantly he “likes how he feels after eating it” which is something I’d never previously considered in my meal choices. I can’t deny that I do feel much more enthused with life after a veggie wrap than Sunday dim-sum. Then again, dim sum feeds the soul =). In moderation that is. hahaha

3) THIRD DATE PANTING! (Dont’ get excited people)
I do believe that our official third date was one that I’d planned. Anyone who knows me knows that the other love of my life comes in a twelve pound, furry, white, woman’s best friend package lovingly known as Elvis Bojangles. I took Forrest and my dog Elvis to Fort Funston in San Francisco which happens to be one of my favorite places in the world. We walked high above the seacliffs overlooking the city, we laughed amongst other dog walkers and paragliders, we walked down a steep (SUPER STEEP) trail for a walk along the ocean side. You’d think I must have been on cloud nine but I was far from it. I was too busy figuring out how the hell I could walk back up the damn mountain without him noticing me out of shape, out of breath, and unattractively borderline passing out. haha. It’s a funny thought now but hey, almost a year of working out with Forrest later and I can hike up any damn mountain and still make it look cute!

4) HIKES, HIKES, and mo HIKES!
This relates to point number three of which I’ve never hiked so damn much in my life. Coming from a girl who grew up camping with electric generators, roughing it is most definitely not my forte. A few years ago, I’d hiked Bridal Veil Falls in Yosemite and thought I was going to die from the altitude and uphill climb! I’m sure I can take it now after all the weekend hike extravaganza’s with Mr. Folen and the kids.

5) KEEPING UP WITH KIDs
To truly know Forrest, one must know that he is genuine, altruistic, humble and is one of the most amazing fathers you’ll ever in your life meet. His capacity for love knows no boundaries and Jada and Jesus are testaments of this influence. The kids are rad! Though in a past life I might have run quickly in another direction, I couldn’t help but fall for them as well. With that said, keeping up with a 6 and 10 year old is no joke! Swimming, running, jumping, swerving, loving, living. It’s all new, and it’s all pretty wonderful. Just let me catch my breath once and again =)

6) 5K nuttiness!
Back in 2008 I ran (more like jogged/walked) my first ever half marathon (13+ miles). You’d think a 5K would have been nothing but WOW was I out of practice when Forrest, Jada, Jesus, and I ran a 5K at Fisherman’s Wharf last spring. What better way to spend a Sunday morning than to wake up at 6am and drive to the city to run 3-ish something miles. I think my dog ate my ribbon. See below:

7) QUINOA
Hearty, delicious, a great substitute for high carb rice, yummy, and hard to pronounce… Quinoa has it all! Where it comes from, I still have no idea, but thanks Forrest for introducing it to me.

8) AIKIDO Saturdays!
Need I say more?!?!

9) KAYAKING in my BACKYARD!
This is just one alternative way of getting a workout outside of the gym. I have to admit to you that I have a love/hate relationship with Foster City. It’s a nutty little town where people can windsurf from their homes to Safeway. I love how it’s clean, it’s safe, it’s kid/pooch friendly, it’s where I met the love of my life, it also does NOT have one friggin’ bar to save my life. (If i’m wrong, please do fill me in on your favorite Foster City watering hole).

Anyway, I do love how we can jog safely in the middle of the night, kayak and get a massive arms workout right outside my apartment. etc. etc. I’m totally straying from my initial point that should have been Forrest has taught me that fun activities don’t have to cost loads of money, can be tons of fun, and can be health benefitting outside the four walls of a gym.

10) I’m sure there is a ten but I can’t think of one. Ugh, it’s getting late and I’m starting not to make sense (12:55am to be exact!)

So that’s my list of awesome health/life benefits and experiences that I’ve experienced/adopted since Forrest entered my life. I’m not sure who’s reading this but sorry to bore. AND sorry for my punctuation errors, misspellings, and run-on sentences. I’m not a pro. I’m just sleepy. Thanks Forrest for the opportunity to write again. I do feel like a sucker though being that you’ve been sleeping for hours and I’m still typing away at 1:00am!!! Played!

See you at the next boot camp my people!

Hugs and High Fives,

~Arleene

FIT BODY BOOT CAMP IS HERE!

We have amazing news for everyone!!

Roy and I have recently acquired rights to Fit Body Boot Camp, the most incredible fitness bootcamp business model in the world!

We are sooooo jumpin’ off-the-walls excited that we had to let you know all about it!

Here’s the deal. Roy and I went down to Fitness Business Summit 2010 in LA again this year, and we were so impressed with what they were doing down there, we decided we can make the most impact in this industry by getting on board and joining this world-wide team of trainers that are impacting the world through fitness and positive, healthy life change.

A little backstory on the creators of Fit Body Boot Camp…I have been following, reading, listening, blogging, facebooking, twittering – everything but stalking my favorite fitness guru’s, Bedros Keuilian and Steve Hochman, for years and now, Roy and I have hired them to be our personal business and success coaches! How freakin’ cool is that! These guys are the best in the biz, and they are going to be right there with us every step of the way.

WHO’S THIS BEDROS GUY?

Bedros Keuilian is THE most successful personal trainer in the industry. At one time he was homeless, living in the back of a Toyota pickup truck. Now he’s a multiple 7-figure income earner and personal trainer business coach. Needless to say he commands major respect, and he’s a super-nice guy, too!

What does this mean for you? For those that stick around, be prepared for a wild ride!!

WHAT IS FIT BODY BOOT CAMP?

Fit Body Boot Camp is the craziest, funnest, most energetic, results-oriented boot camp model ever created (not too different from what we’ve been doing actually, which is bringing you incredible variety, energy and results in your training). However, what’s different now is that will be AMPLIFIED! (You’ll see more about what I mean later).

WHERE IS FIT BODY BOOT CAMP?

We have opened a NEW location in Mountain View at Gold Star Gymnastics!

The awesome thing about doing a bootcamp in a gymnastics center is the large, open floor space with a spring-loaded floor so it’s soft on your joints! What a cool place for a bootcamp!

Big thanks to Pam for allowing us to workout in her beautiful location! If you know any kids looking for the best gymnastics facility on the Peninsula go to www.GoldStarGym.com and see the great programs they offer.

ARE YOU STILL IN FOSTER CITY?

Of course we are!! FCAC is our home-base and we hope it stays that way forever. Thanks Mohan, Terry and all you awesome Fit For Life Bootcampers!! We are always working on ways to make the training bigger and better, bringing you more variety, more options, and more results than ever!

Here is a video of Steve Hochman. He is the wild-man trainer and co-creator of Fit Body Boot Camp. Here’ a clip of him giving some good advice on cardio exercise!

We will get back to you soon on the Grand Opening for our Mountain View 6am Fit Body Boot Camp with more info! Stay tuned!

Training By The Bay

The good part of running an indoor bootcamp is that we don’t have to put up with bad weather. However, yesterday we got outdoors for some outdoor training. I sure do love to get outside when the weather is nice!

This session we met at Seal Point Park along the 3rd Ave waterfront in San Mateo. We ran stairs, did bodyweight rows on the bars near the water, huffed-and-puffed all the way up the stairs with brutal bunny-hops, and did a challenging but fun partner workout on the fake grass. I love the smell of fake grass in the morning (or evening)!

Now that it’s summertime, we will be getting outdoors more often. Here’s some of the cool places we can go!

- Central Park in San Mateo. How cool would it be to run through the park, do sand-sprints, work out on the monkey bars, and stop in at the Japanese Tea garden to meditate at the Koi pond afterward!

-Leo Ryan Park in Foster City. This place has the most awesome outdoor auditorium with large stairs and fake grass where we can do ab-work, push ups, and stair-drills. Afterward, we can run alongside the water on the wooden boardwalk by the gazebo!

- Coyote Point Park in San Mateo. Here we can run steep hills along the cliffside with a view of the rugged Bay waters. Then we can do lunges until we drop out by the yacht club! That’s my idea of a fun time!

If you have any other ideas, I’d love to hear about them! Roy and I are looking forward to a great summer with you!

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest Folen

Exotic Dancer, Author and Abs Expert Darren Michaels Interview

I hope no one thinks this blog is too “risk-ay”, because, after all, it is about male stripper Darren Michaels, his abs-o-steel and his exotic dancing. But beyond all that, this is about a guy who took a vision and turned it into a reality, through hard work, dedication, consistency and a passionate determination, he did what some might think impossible.

What did he do? Well, let me paint the picture.

Imagine a chemist with a Masters Degree, working a 9-to-5 in a lab, nothing special otherwise. The guy is shy, and I mean super-shy. He’s got no luck with the ladies (25 year-old virgin?), and his fitness level…average at best.

I was teaching abs classes at the Foster City Athletic Club when I first got to know Darren. He would join in on my half-hour, ab-marathon classes, and each time he’d push himself harder than the time before. He seemed like a man on a mission, and we got to know each other after a while. I could tell he meant business. The quiet people in the gym are always the ones to look out for, because they are the ones who get the job done.

He reminded me of myself during my martial arts days. I didn’t go around telling everyone I was going to become a second degree black belt, I just did it.

After months of taking my class, Darren showed interest in teaching abs classes, and I introduced him to the group exercise director there at the club. Sometime around then, he had an emergency appendectomy, and after the doctor said to lay of the abs training, he came back, more determined than ever to create his 6-pack abs and to teach his abs class.

Somewhere along Darren’s path, he met a professional exotic dancer, got it in his head that he wanted to become one, decided to go for it, and did it! And I’m talking from scratch!

He packed on the muscle, lowered his bodyfat to below 5%, and got the kind of indoor tan any WWE wrestler would be more than proud of. The dude didn’t even know how to dance for Pete’s sake! Not only that, but like I said, he was incredibly shy. I don’t know about you, but in my opinion, it takes a hell of a lot of courage to make that big of a life change.

Whether you agree with his path or not, I’m sure you’ll agree that he has demonstrated the exact kind of mindset it takes to make a real body and life transformation.

These days, Darren is a super-successful chemist by day, superstar exotic dancer by night. He’s found success in all areas of his life, and is sharing his passion about fitness with others. Did he ever get the girl? What do you think!?

If you want to find out more about Darren (and all his crazy stripper adventures!), I suggest reading his book or checking out his website at www.AbMiration.com.

When you break it down and analyze how he was able to pull it off, you can see the steps he took and apply them to your own life. In my view, this is what he did:

1) Desire to change. He had a desire to change because he was frustrated with where he was at in his life. He had a career, drove a Mustang, and had the looks, but no girl! Believe me, that will fuel any man’s desire to make a life change, no matter how successful you are!

2) Commitment to take action. After desire comes commitment. Through his training and mentoring, Darren made a real commitment to the type of people who would hold him accountable to his actions. You can think about something you want to accomplish all you want, but until you make a commitment, nothing ever happens.

3) Consistently taking focused action toward the goal. Although having desire and making a commitment are the first 2 important steps, the steps lead to nowhere without consistency. Darren showed incredible perseverance by coming to the gym almost every day, meeting with his dancing mentor every chance he could, visualizing how he would look and feel when he reached his goal, and never quitting, no matter how impossible things may have seemed at the time.

Great work, Darren! Thanks for being an inspiration to me, and to so many others. Although this may sound cliché, you are living proof that you really can do ANYTHING you set your mind to!

So without further ado, here’s my video interview with Darren and another video of him “doing his thang” at one of his photo shoots.

WARNING: ADULTS ONLY PLEASE. NOT X-RATED, JUST PROVOCATIVE…THANKS!

P.S. – Only cool people leave comments! Put yours below!

Richard Simmons Video – WARNING: You might pee your pants!

Hi there, Forrest here,

I just HAD to share this video with you. This is without a doubt the funniest video I have ever seen related to fitness. Just watch it, you’ll see.

WARNING: Don’t watch this at work unless you want to get fired from laughing too hard! You also just might pee your pants!!

Please leave a comment below, thank-you!!

Thinking about a 5K?

When I mention a 5K to most people, usually their initial response is “I’m not a runner” or “I can’t do that!”.

Not being a runner myself, I can relate.

I’m been a professional fitness trainer for close to 10 years.

I’m a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

I’ve hiked 30 miles in 3 days in Yosemite with giant blisters and a bruised knee, I’ve mountain biked some of the most wicked singletracks in the Bay Area, and I’ve participated in every sport known to man except figure skating.

But I’ve only done ONE running event in my life.

That event was a 5K.

It was the Carneros Valley Vineyard 5K at the Artesa Winery in Napa and it was awesome!!

This was a few years ago, and ever since I’ve really been sold on 5K’s, but haven’t done any…until now!

You see, I want to do something to motivate both myself, and YOU!

I’ve found that anyone can do a 5K. If you don’t believe me, click on this link:

http://www.active.com/running/Articles/6_Reasons_to_Run_a_5K.htm

If you want to join me and the others who have decided to challenge themselves with a 5K, just go to our 5K Club page. Make a commitment. You’ll be surprised at what you can do!

Hope to see you out there!

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest

Drink, Party and Burn Calories this New Years 2010!

This New Year I am really looking forward to going BIG with everything I do. Bigger focus, bigger fitness, bigger results, bigger business, bigger fun, bigger family, bigger goals. The only thing that isn’t going to get bigger are my clients! HaHa!!

So I’ll let you in on what I’m doing for New Years (especially now that I’ve set up a babysitter…thanks Natalie!).

I’m going to a place in San Francisco called the Coda Lounge to see my brother Tommy’s band play. They are called Dynamic and they rule!! You can check them out at www.dynamicliveband.com.

If you don’t have plans yet, you should go!! www.CodaLive.com to make a reservation. (It’s only $20 without dinner, and I think it’s $60 with dinner.)

I’m looking forward to dancing the night away (I may look like a fool, but hey, I have fun doing it!)

I checked out how many calories a 160 lb person burns in 1 hour of dancing and it’s about 350. (If I dance for 3 hours that’s over 1,000 calories!!) Not bad for a fun night out, eh? I’m sure that a few drinks would cancel that out…but I don’t think I’ll have more than 3 drinks, so I think I’ll come out ahead.

My favorite drinks when I go out are either a Guiness, a Hefeweizen, or a White Russian.

Here are some calorie counts for beers to help you plan your night. (I got this from: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_calories_are_in_beer)
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Calories in Beer

Here are some calorie counts for 12 ounces of different beers:

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale: 175
Sam Adams Lager: 160
Pilsner Uruqell: 160
Michelob: 155
Guinness: 153
Heineken: 150
Corona: 148
Budweiser: 145
MGD: 143
Stella Artois: 140
Bud Light: 110
Coors Light: 102
Budweiser Select: 99
Michelob Ultra: 96
Amstel Light: 95
Miller Genuine Draft Light: 64
Anchor Steam – 153
Bass Ale – 160
Beck’s – 140
Budweiser – 140
Corona Light – 105
Guinness Draught – 126
Guinness Stout – 153
Miller Lite – 96
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale – 175
Sierra Nevada Stout – 210

By the way, the average wine has about 275-300 calories per 12 ounces. Of course, one glass of wine isn’t usually 12 ounces. You might drink half as much wine as you would beer, making wine slightly lower calorie.

Mixed drinks are about the same. Gin & tonic or vodka cranberry have about 300 calories per 12 ounces. Margaritas are very bad: they might have about 750 calories!
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Well, there you have it!

So have fun, eat, drink, dance, and enjoy life, cuz come January your butt is mine!

Roy and I look forward to seeing you and helping you achieve your fitness goals this 2010!

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest

5 Great iPhone Apps for Health, Fitness and Fat Loss

I just bought my first iPhone a few weeks back and it’s awesome! I love all the cool features and ‘apps”, and it’s addicting to sit around posting to Facebook and Twitter on it. Being a fat loss and fitness lifestyle pro, I’ve been researching some applications for the iPhone that I think would be beneficial to someone looking to use technology to help get them in shape. Here are my five favorite iPhone apps for health, fitness and fat loss:

1) iFitness – What a cool app! This one gets you going on a exercise routine by giving you the option to develop your own routine or a pre-existing routine from their database. Some of the routines included are Beginner Program, Weight Loss Program, Muscle Building Program and Business Travel Workout. What I like about it is that you can track your weights and your progress, then email directly to your trainer. How awesome is that? You also get some good pics and descriptions of the exercises, and there’s even an option to create your own exercises and upload pics of you doing them!

2) Natural Cures – This is a very informative application that I highly recommend. It’s brought to you by the folks at www.endfatigue.com and it gives you useful information on nutrition and on treating a variety of ailments from a holistic perspective. The list of ailments is impressive, and covers everything from back pain to fibromyalgia and even cancer. They even have a section on weight loss that covers some of the common metabolic causes of weight gain, such as hypothyroidism, nutritional deficiencies and insulin resistance. It’s a must have.

3) iMapMyRun – This is a cool app that takes advantage of the iPhone 3G’s GPS capabilities. With it you can get your speed, distance, location, calories burned, and view your running maps directly on your iPhone. This is sooooo much cheaper than one of those Garmin devices at REI that can easily run you over $300 bucks! They even have a version for cyclists called iMapMyRide. Check out www.imapmy.com for more info.

4) BreathPacer – One of the things I love about technology is it’s ability to bridge gaps between knowledge of practical skills and the practice and application of those skills. Dr. Weil has stated, “If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be simply to learn how to breathe correctly.” This neat little app will calm your mind, relax your body, and decrease accumulated stress and anxiety. I recommend a 4 second inhale, hold, exhale, hold pattern, but start with whatever feels right for you.

5) Lose It! – A complete nutrition tracking program, Lose It! is a free app that is easy to use and can help anyone track calories for weight loss. I like the fact that you can search foods from your favorite restaurants, including fast food joints like McDonald’s and Taco Bell (but I know you never eat there!).

Well, there you have it! My top five favorite health and fitness iPhone apps. There are so many different apps out there to help you live a happier and healthier life. Just remember that no matter how good technology gets, it can never replace working, exercising, and sharing with people on a face-to-face basis. I suggest you find a happy medium and whatever exercise you do, enjoy it!

Leave a comment below and share your favorite apps! I’d love to learn from you as well!

Fit For Life Bootcamp “300″ Challenge

Thanks to all who completed the Fit For Life Bootcamp “300″ challenge!

If you haven’t done it yet…don’t worry, you’ll get your turn. : )

The “300″ is 300 total reps of 6 different exercises, and it’s designed to be a intense, fat-burning workout and also a way to measure your current fitness level. The 300 reps are done for time, and on average it takes about 30 minutes to complete.

*Note – this is a modified version of the real 300 workout the actors from the movie 300 used to get in shape for the movie.

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Backpacking Burns Blubber Bigtime!

One hour of backpacking with a moderate to heavy load for an individual who weighs 160 pounds burns an estimated 686 calories. (According to a calorie calculator I found on www.fitwatch.com)

Why is this interesting fact so…interesting? I just got back from Yosemite a few days ago. I went with my good friend and client, Steve, and my son, Jesus, who is 9 years old.

We hiked 16 miles at an easy 2.5 miles per hour pace over 3 days. This means that we did a total of 6.4 hours and that I burned approximately 4,390 calories during the trip. Cool!

That means that I burned over 3,500 calories!

FACT: When you burn 3,500 calories that means that you burned 1 pound of fat off your body, (assuming that you ate enough protein throughout the day to keep your body in an anabolic state).

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Car Wreck

On Cinco De Mayo my wife was in a 3 car pileup on Northbound 101 near the Peninsula ave. exit at about 3:30 pm.

The kids are ok…thank God! My wife is sore from the airbag impact. The car is totaled!

Although some accidents simply cannot be avoided, here are 3 health safety tips on avoiding those accidents that can:

1. AWARENESS – Have you ever heard of the term being mindful?  Most of the time our minds wander in all directions.  We spend time thinking about the past or worrying about the future, but very little of our time is right here and now in the present moment where most accidents can be avoided.  For a good resource in awareness training, see http://www.selfmastery.com.
2. NO DISTRACTIONS – My wife wasn’t on the cell phone in this accident, but many are caused by cell phones or other technological distractions.  Stay focused on what you’re doing, and if you really need the phone, use a hands-free device or just pull to the side of the road.  Besides…it’s against the law!
3. STAY PHYSICALLY FIT – It’s true!  When you train your body, and your exercises include balance work and co-ordination training, your body and mind respond much faster to re-gain it’s balance and center in case of a fall, someone bumping into you, or even a tricky traffic situation.

Stay Safe!

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest Folen

Forrest Meets Hollywood Trainer Valerie Waters in LA!

I just got back from an amazing 3-day fitness seminar in LA where I learned a ton of great information I can’t wait to share with you!  I saw some great speakers and met some of the most successful trainers in the nation at the event.  One of the incredible trainers I met there was Valerie Waters, trainer of Hollywood movie stars and super models such as Richard Gere, Jennifer Garner, Cindy Crawford and many others.

Forrest and Valerie at Fitness Seminar in LA

I talked to Valerie for a while during one of the breaks and found her to be an extremely nice person…not stuck up at all.  She was even kind enough to disclose some inside Hollywood secrets to me on how to help my lady clients get that Hollywood body – thin and toned arms, legs that are lean and not too bulky, how to lift the butt from the hamstring, and how to get a flat, firm stomach.

In fact, Valerie was so nice, she actually showed me the exact exercises she uses to get her women clients in shape, and I brought home some pieces of equipment that she uses and swears by!

Roy and I will be revealing Valerie’s exclusive Hollywood exercises and the new equipment in the next Fit For Life Bootcamp, (It starts May 25th at 6 pm and 7 pm and May 26th at 9am), to get our clients better and faster results than ever before!!

In today’s blog, I’ve included the exact, word-for-word nutrition tips Valerie gave me that helped Jennifer Garner prepare for the movie Juno.

Valerie Waters Nutrition Tips

1. Drink 80-100 ounces of water per day.
2. Eat 5-6 small meals per day
3. Limit alcohol to 2 drinks per week.
4. You must plan and organize your meals ahead of time.
5. Keep a detailed food log.
6. Leave the bread and pasta alone.

A great piece of advice she said was that “strategy trumps willpower”.  She explained that NO ONE can have strong enough willpower, you have to plan things out and write things down.  There are no shortcuts!!

Another good tip was that she let her clients know that they are only addicted to carbs because that’s what they’re used to eating all the time.  Eliminate bread, pasta and refined sugar for a week.  After a week it gets much easier.

My take on carbs is that they are an essential part of your nutrition plan, the trick is knowing what kind of carbs, and more importantly when to eat them!

*Forrest’s Tip* – Try Stevia!  It’s an all-natural sugar substitute that is high in fiber.  In my opinion Stevia is much better than Equal or Splenda, which are man-made chemical sweeteners that may play a role in lowering metabolism and increasing fat storage.

*Another Forrest Tip* – Remember to add in a scheduled cheat day once per week.  It actually gets you to burn overall body fat faster than if you didn’t.  (I’ll explain the science behind this fact in one of my next blogs.)

Hope to see you at the May 25th bootcamp!!  Call 650-771-5149 to register.  If you register before May 15th you’ll receive 10% off by mentioning this blog.

Your Trainer For Life,

-Forrest Folen