-Gloria L.

Just like many of our bootcampers, the goal is to take the bodyfat percentage from the yellow or red zone, and bring it into the green zone.

Gloria shows us here that with dedication, commitment and focus, it will happen! She’s taken her bodyfat from 25% down to 21% in just 5 months!

As you can see in the image above, Gloria has taken her bodyfat % from the yellow zone, straight into the green! This means that her waist and hips are smaller, she has more muscle tone, she’s flattened her stomach and she looks and feels great.

Want to do what Gloria did? Easy! Just keep coming to bootcamp and make it happen!

Here’s a list of 3 of our best blog posts on fat loss to help you out:

1) Foodlogging!! You need to get this one started today if you’re serious about fat loss!

Fit For Life Solutions Philosophy in Twelve Easy Bites

Everyone has a philosophy when it comes to exercise.  Here’s ours in twelve digestible paragraphs:

1. Fitness is not a choice, it’s a lifestyle.  We believe you have to make this one of your deep-rooted beliefs.  Something you carry with you in your subconscious until the day you die.  To have life energy, to be strong, to stay sharp and competitive in work and life, and to feel and look your best.  All of these come with a fitness lifestyle.  Still think you have a choice?
2. If it’s not fun, you won’t do it.  You’ve got to want to do it to be able to maintain it.  You must have the desire!  We suggest regular fitness training with a friend, at a bootcamp, or with a personal trainer, then train for something like a sport (golf, MMA, softball, etc.) or a race (triathlon, 5k, adventure racing, etc.).  Make it fun!  Make it a challenge!

Check out our upcoming Bootcamp Marathon event! http://www.fitforlifesolutions.com/megabootcamp/


3. Have a reason why.  Why are you doing this?  Exercise is tough!  It takes work, commitment and perseverance.  Why don’t you just quit, sit on the couch, and drink red wine as you watch re-runs of Friends?  Because you have a REASON!  That’s why!! No one ever follows through unless they have a deeper underlying reason.  If you tell me you want to lose 10 lbs…ok, sure.  If you tell me you want to lose 10 lbs because you recently got a divorce, you feel lousy, and you’re on the lookout for the man of your dreams…LOOKOUT!  There’s no stopping YOU from reaching your goals when you have a strong reason why!
4. Make a commitment.  I used to think I could work out on my own.  After all, I’ve been a trainer for 10 years, I’ve put in over 12,000 hours of pure training time, and I’m a 2nd Degree Black Belt.  I have the will power to sustain my workouts on my own, right?   WRONG!  Look, if I can’t do it on my own, you shouldn’t try to either.  Get involved with our bootcamp today!!  If you have a group of people expecting you to be there, and guidance from professionals who actually care about you getting results and who make your workouts fresh and exciting…what more do you want?

   

5. Mind and Body working together.  The mind is incredible in what it can do.  Using it with your body brings your life to an all new level.  You can do more reps, you can visualize and hit your goals, you can have increased control over every movement you do. A good example of the mind and body was a science experiment where one group did bicep curls while watching TV and the other group with mindful awareness to their muscle.  Guess which group got better results?  The group using their mind had significant, measurable results after only 12 weeks!  Use the power of your mind!
6. Pay it forward.  Do you have friends or family who need to improve their life?  Has a fitness lifestyle been beneficial to you?  Then what are you waiting for?!  Get someone else motivated to get started, too!  Paying it forward is one of the best things you can do to spread the good vibes of fitness.  I sometimes call this the ripple effect. 

   Do you think Michael Jordan never had a setback? He was cut from his high school basketball team!



7. Expect setbacks and find the silver lining.  Do you think Michael Jordan never had a setback?  Did you know he was cut from his high school basketball team?  It’s true!!  You see, we all have set backs.  It’s not separate from training, it’s a part of training. When you get sick, have an injury, or can’t make it to the gym, do you give up?  If that’s your character, sure, go ahead and quit.  But if you’re made of something stronger than that, rise up.  What can you learn from the situation?  Can you find something else to focus on and learn during your down time?  There’s always a silver lining in every obstacle we face.
8. Make the right friends.  If you’re getting fit, make it a social thing.  Here’s why:  Ok, let’s say all your friends are party people.  They go to clubs, they go to bars, they have cocktail parties, they watch sports 6 nights a week and they drink beer.  What kind of person are you if these are your friends?  That’s right…a boozer! Now, let’s say all your friends play chess.  They’re in chess clubs, they play chess online, they read books on chess, they hang at chess tables in the park.  What kind of person are you?  That’s right…a chess player!  Are you getting the point here?  Find some friends who do fitness for fun and you’ve got it made.
9. Change it up.  If you do the same thing all the time, it gets boring.  Don’t be afraid to change it up every so often.  There’s a million things you can do.  Change just one thing and see your results take off!  Add in 20 extra minutes of cardio every day.  Try doing food logs for 3 weeks.  Set yourself a goal to lift 100 lbs on the bench press.  Any change will do, just change something!
10. If you want results, measure, then set goals.  This is why we take your measurements in bootcamp.  If you want to get results then take your measurements.  Measure bodyfat %, weight, tape measurements on your chest, waist and hips.  I even recommend taking a before picture if you have more than 15 lbs to lose.  These measurements will help you set goals, and your goals will place you into action!




11. Take full responsibility.  There’s always something or someone to blame for your current circumstances, but if you’re always blaming something ‘out there’ then you’ll never have the power to change. Decide that YOU are fully responsible for where you are at.  This may seem scary at first, but then you can be the one with the power to control your life.  Don’t leave it up to someone else, or for the right time, or for the perfect set of circumstance.  Decide what you want, take full responsibility, and take action!
12. Energy is the power behind all powers.  Did you know the scientist’s of today have realized what the age-old mystics have known for thousands of years?  It’s that everything in the universe is made up of energy (ever hear of quantum physics?)!  This isn’t some weird esoteric way of thinking.  This is your reality, and the better you understand it, the more you can make it work for you.  
    
    To start with, your thoughts are energy…and so is your body and every cell you’re made of. Your thoughts, your cells, your emotions and your actions are all interconnected.  When you do something with passion, purpose, awareness, concentration and focus, you are applying energy to get the job done.  This is the power behind all powers!  When you learn to concentrate your energy, there’s no stopping you!

I hope you gained as much insight into reading this as I did writing it!  I’d love to hear your personal philosophy on fitness below!  Please add something into the comments section!  Consider it good karma!  ;  )

-Forrest

Transformation starts in the mind

Change starts in the mind. It’s something we at Fit For Life Solutions truly believe. I’ve included a short audio clip with our philosophy on change, along with the link to Bill Phillips new program, Transformation. If you’re in our bootcamp, or even if you’re not exercising at all right now, take a look at this program. These mindset tools could change EVERYTHING. Don’t take my word for it. Try it out for yourself.

Audio File – Fit For Life Solutions philosophy on change.Mp3

15 Awesome Fitness Blogs

Although we, at Fit For Life Solutions, constantly update our fitness blog to keep you informed, entertained and in the loop, I thought I would take the time and introduce to you some other amazing fitness blogs that will help you with fat loss and maintaining a fitness lifestyle. These are inspirational to me, so I hope they help you too!

Fitness Blogs

http://www.ttfatloss.com/

Want to know how much protein your body can process at one time? Want exercises to break through a plateau? Then check this blog out. Craig has a great blog. He’s the same guy who invented Turbulence Training. We do a lot of the same exercises in our boot camp! He’s got some very solid content here on his blog.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

Want to understand how to eat like we are supposed to eat…like the caveman thousands of years ago? Then check out Mark’s blog!

<http://www.theiflife.com/blog/

Here’s an interesting blog. Have you ever heard of intermittent feeding/fasting? Yes, sounds crazy…but I guess it strikes a chord with a lot of people who like to lose weight simply, without jumping around to a bunch of fad diets. Is it another fad itself? You be the judge…

http://www.nakedfoodcooking.com/blog/

Want to cook food while standing around naked? Well, that’s not exactly what this blog is about…but food can be sexy, right?

http://conditioningresearch.blogspot.com/

The Conditioning Research blog is an interesting spin on fitness, performance and training with a lot of research to back it up…

http://fitnessblackbook.com/

Fitness Black Book is a great fitness blog all around. I like the clean look and the cool choice of pics. This is for people that want the Hollywood body type, not the Bodybuilder body type. There was a cool post I just checked out here on how to “MacGuyver” your own gym equipment! Cool!!

http://www.adonisindex.com/category/podcasts/

This one is all about targeted muscle building and fat burning for the perfect physique. Straight to the point.

http://zentofitness.com/

Personally, I’m into anything Zen. It’s all about living a simple life with fitness being a core element in it. Sounds like the kind of thing I’m into!

http://fitandbusydadblog.com/

Fatherhood, a fitness lifestyle, health…they must have made this blog for me, Roy, Dan and John!

http://fatburningtips4women.com/

This is a great blog focusing on women’s fitness. Angie is a passionate trainer. I found it funny she shares Roy’s last name…but it’s spelled a little differently. Angie Schumacher is a Certified Fitness Professional who trains clients in her home and is a Women’s Boot Camp Instructor in Colorado.

http://zacheven-esh.com/blog/

Zach is a trainer in the circle of trainers I follow, and this guy is the real deal. He’s all about no B.S., underground strength training with tires and sledgehammers and whatever else works.

http://www.fatmanunleashed.com/

If you’re a guy and are over-weight, follow along with Isreal and his weight loss journey to keep you motivated!

http://www.getfitandyummy.com/

Fit Yummy Mummy is a great blog for mom’s and will help get you motivated if you’ve recently had a baby, or are just getting back to fitness as a busy mom.

http://www.burnthefatblog.com/

Tom Venuto kinda reminds me of “Tony” from “Who’s the Boss”, that old TV show from the 80′s. That said, Tom V. is a very knowledgable and passionate guy when it comes to fitness.

http://alwyncosgrove.com/

Alwyn Cosgrove is a personal hero of mine. This guy is a “trainer of trainers” and a great leader in the industry. Read his blog and learn from the best!

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/

This blog is meant for nerds like me! So cool!! Check out his post on the “Angry Birds” workout! Hey…I wonder if I can get him to send me a free Nerd Fitness T-shirt by pumping up his blog!

Ok, that’s it for my favorite fitness blogs. I went to 16 blogs, not 15 for two reasons. The first is I like to over-deliver. The second is something anyone who’s ever worked with a trainer knows very well…trainer’s can’t count!

If I missed any cool fitness blogs, please leave them in the comment section. Thanks!

3 Part Mp3 series. “Mindset for Success – Desire”

I’ve put up Part 1 of a short 3-part audio series entitled “Mindset for Success”. This is “must-know” information to create success in fitness, and in life. I recommend it highly if you’re just starting to get involved in an exercise or fitness program, such as our Fit For Life Bootcamp in Foster City and our Fit Body Boot Camp in Mountain View.

Mindset for Success Part 1 -Desire. Mp3 audio file by Forrest Folen, MCT

Next time I’ll share part 2 in the series, entitled “Mindset for Success Part 2 – Commitment”.

Cheers!

Fit For Life Solutions Band Ranking System

Today we’re introducing a new system of bootcamp ranking that will give our bootcampers a way to succeed and develop in their training that has more to do with their overall attitude, improved performance on an individual level, desire, commitment and perseverance than it does numbers on the scale.

The idea was inspired by my training in the martial arts.  Going through the belt levels was always something that kept my focus strong, kept me moving forward in my training, and gave me that sense of earned accomplishment for meeting the standards of the next level of training.

In bootcamp training, it’s not how we are compared with others, but how we improve for ourselves that matters.   This is why the ranking system benefits all of us in bootcamp, including the instructors.   It gives us a chance to strive for growth and to develop ourselves, mentally, physically and emotionally through our training.

Here is the descriptions of the bootcamp levels, along with the requirements for advancement within the system:

Banded Bootcamp System

I’ve started giving out rankings to individuals in bootcamp already, and I will give rankings out to other bootcampers who are ready shortly.  I hope to give you your ranking soon!

Fit For Life S.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.S.

When Roy and I started our bootcamp biz in May 2008, we didn’t just jump right into it. There were a lot of factors involved in getting our bootcamps to where they are today in January of 2011.

But before I get into that, let me remind you of our history.

When I was younger, I didn’t have any special talents, I was shy, I was on the “B” team in 6th grade basketball, and by the time I reached high school I had a C grade average, I had no real direction, and I didn’t even play any team sports (although I loved playing basketball, skateboarding, and I was a mad-man during high-school P.E. class).

Mostly I hung out with my friends, I partied, smoked and drank and to tell you the truth, I became kind of a burn-out.

Despite that, I always had this belief that I was special…made for something…that life had a deeper meaning and that I could somehow make a big impact. Maybe I got that from my mom, I’m not sure, but it was there. A deeply rooted sense that life was leading up to something, and that my journey in it could somehow impact people in a positive way.

I won’t get into my whole story here, for that, just check out this link: Forrest’s Story

Instead, let me get back to how Roy and I got this bootcamp thing started. Roy had been a skinny guy with a good heart and a cocky attitude. He spent his time with video games, and was immersed into the gaming world for years. Of course he did other things with his time, but there was definitely a lot of RPG gaming going on in Roy’s world for a long time.

One day, Roy snapped out of it and had an epiphany. He figured if he put the amount of energy he was putting in to video games into his self instead, he could really make things happen. He started lifting weights and went from a 6’3″ 150 pound “skinny guy” to 215 pounds of solid muscle in 2 years, and the effect of changing his body in turn changed his life completely.

The biggest thing that changed in Roy was his mindset. In fact, if you ever sit down and talk with Roy, it’s sometimes an odd experience because you start to notice by the way he talks that he doesn’t ever think about things that can stop him or get in his way. Even through tough times, he’s never doubtful and always 100% sure of himself that he can get the job done.

So here’s what happened – Roy and I were friends from the neighborhood (Shoreview area of San Mateo) and we were co-workers at Key Market grocery store for a while. Roy heard I had been working as a fitness trainer for a few years, and gave me a call one day. I remember I had been wanting to get started with bootcamps, and I asked Roy if he’d be interested in pursuing the idea with me, and he was all for it.

There’s something that happens to a person when their life is transformed by fitness. It can only be described as this intense passion that really makes you want to share fitness with others, because you want to show them how empowering it is to live that “fitness lifestyle” and how it changes your whole mindset and outlook on life. I could tell Roy had that passion, and that’s the reason I knew we had the winning combo.

We started the bootcamp at the Foster City Athletic Club in May 2008 and never looked back. Since then, we’ve grown a bit, mostly by word of mouth, and we’ve added a location in Mountain View (Fit Body Boot Camp in Mountain View). We also have a small staff that helps us with the website, our bookkeeping, programs, and we even have a few new dedicated and passionate trainers on staff.

As we look forward, the most important thing for us is to add value into the lives of our clients. We want to share that same passion that Roy and I feel about fitness and training with others. We want the training to be more than a class, or a place to exercise.

Our goal is to create a feeling of family amongst the bootcampers, while at the same time provided the training and the mind-set tools for creating measurable and tangible results from our programs.

We are continually striving to re-invent ourselves, and I really feel this is key. When people, businesses or training programs get stagnant, they get complacent. I want every training session to be a new experience for people. Something where they come in and say “I wonder what they heck we’re going to be doing today!?”

Not only do we want the exercises to change daily, but we want the energy to continually grow and stay dynamic. That’s why we are adding the 1,000 lbs Fat Loss goal into the mix this year. By working as a team, we can do things that make us reach outside of ourselves, and push ourselves to being better people.

The teams we’ve set up will change as we go, but what will remain the same is the underlying focus, which is we are all leveraging off one another to make positive change in our lives. From instructors to team leaders to team members, everyone is involved and the unity of what we are doing will make this year something that we will all remember being a part of.

Although it is a weight loss challenge, it’s more about developing ourselves as people, and that’s why I’ve created this acronym for you.

You see, it’s easy to get caught up with the numbers on the scale, but don’t lose sight of the bigger picture, it’s really about the journey along the way.

S.elf reliance
O.ngoing commitment
L.ove for yourself and others
U.nity of mind and body
T.rust in yourself
I.ndomitable spirit
O.wning up to yourself
N.ever giving up
S.triving for excellence

I encourage you to copy this acronym and print it out. Post it to where you can see it every day and connect with each part of the acronym and what it means to you. By doing this you help cultivate the mindset you need to succeed in fitness and in life. I’ll leave this post with the following quote:

“The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”

-Michelangelo

Teamwork! Burn 1,000 lbs of FAT!!

Alright, this is crazy.   I’ve only been away from boot camp for one week and I’m busting open at the seams!   (No…not from too much food…)

I can barely sleep at night, I’m sooooo fudgin’ excited about getting things going for 2011!

There are NEW programs going into launch ASAP, such as our Leadership program, the Banded-Fitness Ranking System, the 1,000 lbs of Fat Loss community weight loss goal, the Beta version of my Elevated Fitness Lifestyle Coaching Program (It’s almost ready to launch…), and a massive amount of energy going into our training programs and boot camps!!

Some details about the 1,000 lbs of Fat Loss goal: We have set a high goal of getting our community to lose 1,000 lbs in 2011!   How are we going to do it?   With everybody working together as a team, that’s how!   We’re going to break it into chunks and hammer away at this goal piece by piece until it’s done!

If we get 100 people to lose 10 lbs, we’ve hit our goal!  We will collectively burn off 1,000 lbs of fat!!

However, we can’t do this without TEAMWORK! We need YOUR HELP!   We need 25 leaders to step up and create a team of 4 or more people to make this happen. (1 leader + 4 team members = 5 people per team).

With this team system in place, we will hit our goal and beyond!!   This brings us to what the NEW Leadership program is all about.

I need 25 leaders to step-up, and lead a team of people to victory!

More details:  We will help you form a team of 4-8 people, give you the tools necessary, and cut you loose!   With you as the team leader, your bootcamp instructors as your guides, and a willing team ready to follow orders, we can’t miss the target…1,000 lbs of fat lost by 2012!

Well, it is going to be the end of the world, but who cares!?   Let’s leave this world in the best shape of our lives!!   Just joking here…hehe. Nothing wrong with a little end-of-the-world humor, is there?   Besides, if you can’t take a joke, hit the unsubscribe button!   We get edgy from time-to-time, so if you’re as cool as I know you are, and you’re still with us, let’s go for it!!

Here’s how you can get involved as a leader:

For the most part, you’ll be hand-selected by Roy, Dan and myself.   We are choosing the leaders based on positive attitude, results you’ve achieved (or are determined to achieve), performance in bootcamp and leadership ability.

One of the cool things about being a team leader is that you have a chance to win every month.

What do we win?

The team leader wins free bootcamp the following month, and we take the whole team out to dinner!  Pretty cool, huh? I thought so… (Don’t worry, no McDondalds!).   We’ll go someplace fun like sushi or something.

I will e-mail the people I’d like to see step up as team leaders, and we’ll get going on this ASAP.   It needs to launch by next week, so I’ll need at least 15 team leaders ASAP, and we can add more as we go.

Here are some teamwork quotes to inspire us to accomplish our goal of collectively burning 1,000 lbs of fat by 2012!

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision.  The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

- Andrew Carnegie

“T.E.A.M = Together everyone achieves more.”

- Anonymous

“A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skill of the others.”

- Norman S Hidle

“Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”

- Vince Lombardi

“A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle.”

- Japanese proverb

By the way, IF YOU HAVEN’T TRIED OUR BOOTCAMP YET, NOW IS THE LAST CHANCE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE 21 DAY RAPID FAT LOSS PROGRAM, OUR BEST BOOTCAMP INTRO PROGRAM EVER!!

Combat Fat Report – Our early holiday gift for YOU!

Thank-you for reading our fitness e-newsletter and Fit For Life Solutions blog! Roy and I want to thank-you and wish you a Happy Holiday with this early holiday gift, our “Combat Fat” report!

A Holiday Gift For YOU! – 13 Untold Ultra-Fat Burning Secrets

I’m sure you’ve seen hundreds of other fat loss “secret” tips out there. They all say pretty much the same thing. Eat every 2-3 hours, drink plenty of water, avoid white flour, don’t eat refined sugar, don’t order dessert, don’t drink soda, use your fist to determine portion size, do cardio 30 to 60 minutes and build more lean muscle to speed up metabolism. These are all great tips but they are definitely not worthy being called untold ultra-fat burning secrets.

I have personally witnessed hundreds of my clients kick 20 pounds to the curb and tone their stomachs in 8 weeks using the exact information that I am about to share with you.

This fat melting knowledge has literally taken me 10 years of research and volunteering my own body as a guinea pig to perfect it. And now, here it is, for you – FREE!

Fat-Loss Secret # 1
1. The #1 make or break success factor is getting your mindset right! Looking back over the last ten years at my clients who have had the most Jaw Dropping, Eye Popping Extreme results, and they all had a certain mind set before every workout. No, they didn’t put on war paint and go commando (well some of them did). Simply put, before every workout, they committed to giving 100%. No excuses, No complaining. Believe it or not, once you practice this mindset a few times, it becomes an easy habit.

 Mindset tip – before each workout, visualize what is most important to you. Being healthy for your kids, looking ripped at the beach, having girls want your body, being the hottest girl at the club, etc. Picture what inspires you and say to yourself– that’s me, that’s me, that’s me…

Fat-Loss Secret # 2
2. Technically, this does not burn fat, but it will make your waist look slimmer instantly. As I look around, I see endless clients with poor posture, which is the result of training programs which overly concentrates on working the chest and shoulders, combined with sedentary jobs where you are sitting at a desk or in front of a computer terminal all day. The result of this poor posture is rounded shoulders and a slumped forward appearance, which just pushes your belly out!

To test this, all you have to do is stand up straight while drawing your shoulders back and instantly witness your stomach flatten. Strengthening the muscles responsible for maintaining an upright posture (lower back) and drawing your shoulders back (scapula retractors) will lead to a flattening effect on your stomach. Another quick remedy for bad posture is stretching your chest muscles.

 Tip – A great posture improving and waist slimming exercise is “seated rows”. Sit up straight, extend arms forward all the way, pull back with your elbows against your sides and squeeze shoulder together.

Fat-Loss Secret # 3
3. Unless you want to spend hours and hours in they gym, have a fast-paced workout. Most people don’t have all day to work out (I sure don’t). By not resting in-between exercises, you can build muscle and burn fat at the same time.

I have personally tested this by putting a heart rate monitor on clients and comparing a fast-paced, intense weight workout vs. taking a spin class. It was shocking to discover that they actually got more cardio in the fast paced weight workout than in the spin class. What could be better than saving time and melting more fat?

 Tip – Maintain a vigorous pace. Keep moving from exercise to exercise. One trick is to bring a pair of dumbbells next to a treadmill. Run for 60 seconds on the treadmill then jump off and do
a dumbbell exercise, then get back on the treadmill. Keep alternating throughout the workout.

Tip – Plan your workouts ahead of time. Don’t waste time and let your heart rate go down trying to think of what to do next. Spending a little time planning your workouts will save you a lot of time and yield better results in the long run.

Tip – Use “free” snacks and drinks that fill you up, curb your cravings but won’t add any significant extra calories. Eat and drink as many of these free snacks and drinks, as you want.

Tip – Pick exercises that do not require a lot of time to set up. It’s all about pace and saving time.
Exercises that take more then a few seconds to set up let your heart rate go down and can add a lot of extra time to your workout.

Tip – Keep your routine flexible. If a piece of equipment that you need to use is occupied, don’t wait or ask to work in. Just move on to the next exercise and come back later. Keep the pace going and the fat melting.

Fat-Loss Secret # 4
4. When you get the late night sweet tooth, try a delicious homemade Chai Tea. This is how I make it. Put two Yogi Mayan Cocoa Spice tea bags in a cup (I use a big 20 ceramic cup) of boiling water. Add a tiny dash (it’s very sweet) of KAL brand Stevia. Let it steep for a few minutes then add a little no sugar added Silk Soy Milk.

 Tip – Cut up cucumber, Jicama or celery. Munch away all you want!

Fat-Loss Secret # 5
5. Don’t just work out aimlessly. Take pictures, measurements and weigh yourself before your next workout (or your first workout if you’re just getting started) then set a goal and a date, usually 6 to 8 weeks. If you can, get someone to agree to do the measurements to help keep you accountable. Over the years I discovered that when clients know they are going to get measured for progress on a certain date, they are less likely to miss workouts or cheat on their eating.

 Tip – set a realistic goal so that you stay motivated and do not get discouraged.

Fat-Loss Secret # 6
6. A big secret to melting fat is to do exercises that work several muscles at once. This is important for two reasons:

1) Working several muscles at once burns more calories because it requires your heart to work harder to supply oxygen to the areas under stress.

2) It saves you time. Your workouts take a lot less time because you don’t have to do separate exercises for each muscle. You won’t see these super fat burning exercises too often at your local gym because most people just don’t know about them and their fat crushing benefits.

 Tip – Do Dumbbell Squat Presses: Target = Butt, Thighs, Shoulders, Triceps and Cardio. Hold dumbbells level with ears in the press position. Squat down until thighs are parallel to the floor.
Stand back up and then press dumbbells over your head. Lower them back down and repeat 20 to 30 times.

 Tip – Do Walking Lunge Lateral Raise Curls: Target = Butt, Thighs, Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps and Cardio.

With dumbbells at your sides, lunge forward with your left leg, then bring your right foot forward up to
your left foot. Next Raise the dumbbells laterally out to your sides until they are level with your ears, and then lower them back to your sides. Next curl the dumbbells up and down with your palms up. Repeat, alternating legs, until 20 to 30 lateral raise curls are performed.

 Tip – Do Burpee Pushups: Target = Butt, Thighs, Shoulders, Triceps Chest, Core and Cardio.
Do one push up. Quickly jump feet forward to a squatting position. Jump high into the air, raising your
hands above your head. Land with feet shoulder width apart, on the balls of your feet and drop back into a squat. Jump feet back to a push up position. Repeat 20 to 30 times in a fluid motion.

Fat-Loss Secret # 7
7. Don’t work your abs…That’s right, I said it! Abdominal exercises do not burn fat away from your abs! I see so many people every day in the gym wasting their time crunching away then wondering why their body hasn’t changed after months. Working out the way I discussed in Section 3 and 6 is the way to melt fat and get lean and toned in a hurry.

 Tip – you can incorporate a few stomach exercises like hanging leg raises and cable twists between exercises as part of your fast-paced workout.

Fat-Loss Secret # 8
8. Eat real food to get lean! Ever watch The Discovery Channel? See the tribes in the jungle. You never see anyone who is fat, even the elders have six-packs. Why? They eat real food and stay active.

Stay away from processed foods. The food companies strip out the good stuff like fiber and nutrients.
What you have left is a food that has way more calories then normal. Plus, the worst part is that they are high glycemic, which means your body treats it like sugar.

The good news is once you cut out these processed foods for a couple weeks, you lose your cravings. I’m not saying to not have a life. I eat burgers, pizza or have a piece of cake from time to time.

 Tip – watch out for foods and drinks that people think are “healthy” like bagels, pretzels and sports drinks like vitamin water. Consuming these is like eating table sugar.

 Tip – Stick to foods like lean meat and fish, long grain brown rice, and fruits and vegetables.

Fat-Loss Secret # 9
9. Alkalizing the body sheds fat fast! The body is naturally acidic. However, the foods we eat add to this acidity and the fat in our body stores the additional acid, which results in overweight problems and an unhealthy body.

To protect against acid buildup, the body begins to create and store fat. Even if you are on a weight loss diet and you exercise, your body will try to hold on to this fat because it is important for protection against acids. That is why many people whom restore alkalinity in their body find it incredibly easier to lose weight.

There are certain foods that are alkaline and help to flush the acid and fat from the body.

 Tip – Most green vegetables are high alkaline. Some really high acid foods are: Fast food, milk, eggs, cream, cheese, pork and red meat.

Fat-Loss Secret # 10
10. Be prepared. Most of the time, clients eat poorly because they did not bring food with them or did
not prepare. Bring healthy snacks with you like apples and almonds. If you can, bring some Tupperware containers with healthy meals. Keep it simple. If you don’t feel like bringing food, then plan out some healthy restaurants or stores that you can patronize.

 Tip – Get a rice cooker and keep some long grain brown basmati rice cooking on your counter. Also pre-cook some chicken or fish. It will only take a few minutes to prepare 1 or 2 meals and grab a few snacks to bring with you.

Fat-Loss Secret # 11
11. Warning: Artificially Sweetened “Sugar Free” Foods Make You FAT. Did you know that most foods labeled as “sugar free” or “low-carb” actually contain artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, and other additives that create a hormonal disaster inside your body, actually causing your body to STORE more belly fat and increase cravings! Also, foods labeled “whole grain” only have to contain a small fraction of whole grains, where the majority can still be refined starches and sugars that spike your blood sugar faster then a bowl of ice cream.

 Tip – Stop eating foods with artificial sweeteners for two weeks, then try it again. It will taste like disgusting sweet chemicals.

 Tip – If you really want to sweeten something, use an all-natural sugar free sweetener like Stevia or Xilatol.

Fat-Loss Secret # 12
12. Don’t cheat on your nutrition plan for 21 days. It takes the brain 21 days to reset itself and create a new habit. When you want to make a change, don’t tell yourself you are doing it for life; tell yourself that you are going to try it for 21 days. Now, when you have completed this for 21 days, your conscious mind has the choice of stopping it or carrying on, or so it thinks. Your neural pathways have formed already and you will more than likely continue with your new habit, you will have seen the benefits along the way your unconscious will want to continue if it has been beneficial.

 Tip – Make it as easy as possible for you to have a successful 21 days. Use your day planner to schedule eating and workout times. Leave reminder notes to yourself.

 Tip – Try working out first thing in the morning before your busy day starts and your workout gets put on the back burner.

Fat-Loss Secret # 13
13. For at least one week, write down everything you eat and drink. You have to write it down right before the food or drink is consumed. By writing it down first, you will have a moment to stop and think about whether this decision is going to melt belly fat or pack it on.

 Tip – Have someone agree to review your food journal everyday. Make an agreement that for each day you do not give him your journal, you owe him $10.00 and every time you cheat you owe $1.00 dollar. Doing this will help keep you accountable.

Thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to read this special report. If you know anyone on this planet who would love to get their hands on this body-transforming information, (it could be a friend, family member, co-worker or anyone else that you know), please feel free to forward this to them. They will thank you and so will I.

Happy Holidays!

Forrest and Roy

Results! Results! Results!

Every time I talk fitness, I tell people about the many benefits regular training has…especially the training in our boot camp! Benefits like having less stress, feeling more energy, having more stamina are just icing on the cake. Here’s a list some of the many benefits joining a fitness boot camp such as our can provide:

• Variety in your workout, never get bored!
• Drop 1%-3% bodyfat percentage every 6-8 weeks
• Drop pants or dress size every 6-8 weeks
• Get toned!
• Look and feel awesome!
• Get your “Me Time” and get more energy
• Flatten your stomach, lift your butt, and tone your arms
• Get a no-brainer nutrition program, not a diet!
• Get inspired and motivated by surrounding yourself with like-minded people
• Reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease
• Get professional coaching and accountability from certified instructors
• Reduce anxiety and stress
• Become a role model and inspire others!
• Get healthy
• Lose weight and feel great!

Usually, after I’ve told someone about the many benefits of training in our bootcamp, they are intrigued, but they aren’t convinced. The reason they aren’t convinced is that they’ve heard it all before…but they aren’t sure if they can do it. They think it’s for “other people” and they start making excuses in their mind why it won’t work for them…or maybe it will work, but in some far off future that never quite gets here.

Through the years, I’ve found that there is one thing that gets people seeing and believing they can do it, too. I can talk to people until I’m blue in the face, but it still won’t convince someone to take action until they’ve heard from other people like them, who’ve seen success!!

This blog is dedicated to all the bootcampers and people in training who’ve seen success, and continue to motivate and inspire others to live a healthy and fit lifestyle. Here are just a few of the people who’ve seen amazing success from our program, and who inspire others (and inspire me!) on a daily basis:

First, meet Sara! I sometimes call her “Sarah Conner” as in the movie Terminator 2 where Linda Hamilton looks totally ripped and pulls off those bodyweight pull-ups. Our Sara is equally inspiring! Check out this short video!

Next, meet Doug! He’s the male-model for what you can do with dedication and determination! He and his wife Geralynn rock our bootcamp to the core! He’s not 100% to his goal yet, but so far he’s seen great results, and he’s just getting started!

Here’s Amie, our awesome-mom bootcamper from our Mountain View location! Listen to how she lost her “mommy pounds” here:

And how about Julie, who’s is one of the leaders and pioneers of Fit For Life Bootcamp in Foster City. Many people have been inspired by Julie’s story (she lost over 60 lbs in her journey), and she continue’s to maintain her fitness even with her busy-mom schedule!

Julie BEFORE

Julie AFTER

And there’s Shanon, who completely transformed. She’s lost over 20 lbs, dropped to a size 1, and is now training to be a personal trainer! Way to go, Shanon!!

Shanon BEFORE

Shanon AFTER

In fact, there are way too many success stories to list, but here are a few more!

Yvonne, who lost 30 lbs in our Mountain View bootcamp!! She’s been training with us since July 6th, and she is doing great! I saw her this morning and she is just beaming with confidence. Keep it up, Yvonne! (I’ll see if I can get a BEFORE and AFTER photo from her soon!)

…and here’s a picture of Veronica, who got great results from us in less than 3 weeks!

Veronica is happy with her results after just 10 days!

“Fit For Life Bootcamp was amazing!” I was very happy with my results and couldn’t have asked for better trainers. I lost 2% bodyfat and 3 lbs in just 10 days! Would I do this again…heck yeah!!!”

…And here’s a few more!

• Tod Steinfeld from our Foster City boot camp has lost close to 30 lbs and over 5 inches around the waist!
• Linda Segal from our Mountain View location has lost over 15 lbs and 7 inches around the waist! When she first started she could do 35 push ups from her knees, and now she can do over 35 push-ups from her feet!!
• Elaine Eggen lost 4% bodyfat and went from being able to do 130 bicycle crunches in 2 minutes to 220!!
• Leah Naniola lost 27 lbs in just 12 weeks!!!

Here’s a happy bootcamper, Racquele, talking about her experience…

…and of course, one of our most awesome super-stars, Kristen G.!!!

Our boot camps are in Foster City, bordering San Mateo, and we also have a new boot camp in Mountain View. Come check us out! If you’re a San Mateo, Foster City, or Mountain View resident, come join us for a FREE trial week! Just call 650-771-5149 and ask for Forrest!

Please leave your comments below! Your comments fuel my blog, so please leave a comment! Thank-you!!

Product Review and Notes – Zero Resistance Weight Loss (Part 1)

The following is what I learned so far from Dr. Robert Anthony’s program, Zero Resistance Weight Loss. I bought his program because I strongly believe it is the mind and your day-to-day thoughts that will ultimately get you results in our bootcamp or any other weight loss, body conditioning or fitness program.

If you really want to lose weight, and you are tired of making excuses, failing or not seeing results fast enough, this is the program for you.

Here are some things I learned from part 1 of the Zero Resistance program (these are my actual notes from the program):

Go for weight release NOT weight loss (if you lose your keys, you want to find them. You don’t want to find your weight again, do you!?)

Your “subconscious emotional weight survival program” is the software you are running inside your mind that keeps you at a subconsciously selected weight. The good news is that you can override this programming!

Normally, weight loss involves a constant struggle, but not if you remove your subconscious resistance first!

To be successful, you need to align subconscious with conscious. Your thoughts might say you want to lose weight, but if your subconscious mind says something else, it will override your conscious mind every time.

Weight loss is more than calories in vs. calories out.

If your subconscious emotional weight survival programming is set for you to be overweight, you will continue to not lose weight.

All diets fail in the long run.

Overriding your subconscious programming doesn’t work in the long run. You can’t simply use “will power”.

Trying to get results with only your conscious mind is like driving your car with the emergency brakes on. (I personally thought this analogy hit the nail on the head.)

If your emotional survival switch is turned off it will be easy and effortless to lose weight.

Addiction is having a lack of choice. Compulsive and emotional eating is an addiction.

Will power does NOT work. This is trying to override your subconscious programming and is the path of resistance.

Stopping smoking by willpower is difficult. However, stopping smoking by having the same thoughts as a non-smoker is easy. You simply won’t be interested or you’ll be repulsed by the idea. This same idea works in releasing your excess weight.

Mental, emotional or spiritual stress is perceived as a lack of something. Brain takes the message of not enough, and turns it into something physical. Food, shopping, alcohol, caffeine, ect. may be what your mind will look for.

Being overweight is serving your emotional needs.

If you believe you were meant to be fat, or born to be fat, you have your emotional weight programming turned on.

Weight loss becomes effortless with the fat switch turned off.

Systematically eliminating the mental and emotional factors.

Emotional eating – eating purely for emotional reasons. Distracts you from what is really bothering you. Cope with negative emotions. Physical tension or anxiety then triggers the physical response to eat. When I’m stressed, I tend to eat, because it calms me down and makes me feel better. Anticipatory anxiety or worry is a stress that can create emotional eating. Associate love, comfort and security with eating. Brain is programmed to use food to fulfill these needs. Ex. Your a child, you get cake for your birthday. Your mom gives you candy when you are good, or to make you feel better. People use food as a treat or a reward. When you’re stressed, the candy bar wins out over the fitness strategy every time. Dopamine is released and leads to patterns of addiction and leaves a permanent identification of where pleasure comes from. We all engage in emotional eating to some degree. Healthy people eat to live. Emotional eaters live to eat. This means your fat switch is turned on.

Emotional obesity – Is the actual need to be fat as an emotional survival mechanism. When you have emotional obesity, you come to the conclusion that consciously or unconsciously being fat makes you feel safer. Not good, but safer. Being fat or overeating becomes the best way to protect you.

No weight loss program will ever be able to work for you. When you turn off your fat switch and emotional obesity you will succeed.

If you do not change this, you will find a way to sabotage your weight loss. Even if I said you will lose weight just by snapping your fingers 30 seconds per day, you would find an excuse, lack of time, etc. why it will not be possible to do this. Your emotional obesity will always win out.

Fat can create an emotional “distance” in relationships or in being harmed in relations with people.

Fear can make people fat, or skinny (anorexia).

Gaining weight can be a way of hiding from the world, almost like a turtle. Retreating inside your body, or underneath your fat.

Some people stay fat to rebel against the people who want us to be slim. “I don’t want to be controlled, and you can’t control my weight.”

If someone else wants you to lose weight, they may stay fat just to resent you, and to maintain control.

You will have people around you that try to sabotage you, and you may want to stay the same just to keep everyone happy.

If people start giving you attention because you lose weight, and you don’t want that attention and it makes you feel out of your comfort zone, you may revert back to emotional obesity to remain in your comfort zone.
Another way we can be triggered into emotional obesity is through death or a loss of a relationship.

You cannot ignore the problem of emotional obesity. Rather than ignore it, address it, and then watch the weight literally melt off your body.

Here’s an important lesson when it comes to emotional eating, and emotional obesity, that you must learn – sometimes in life, you just have to allow yourself to feel bad. This is critically important, so it will be repeated. Sometimes in life, you just have to allow yourself to feel bad.

By bad I mean stressed, upset, dissapointed, frustrated and so on.

To fix the problems in your life, sit with your feelings. This will cause you to get to the root of the problem.

True freedom from being overweight does not involve a lifetime of dieting. True freedom requires getting to the bottom of things, and then dealing with it, so you will be released from being overweight forever.

The reasons diets don’t work, is that they require you to change your eating habits without addressing your crutch.

Food is merely a mirror that reflects what you’re feeling or what you don’t want to feel.

The old behavior was to eat.

The new behavior is to heal and resolve what’s causing you to emotionally overeat.

Another problem with being overweight is because it’s accumulative, and it shows on you wherever you go.

All diets and even healthy eating plans are doomed for failure.

Being overweight is really a disease of MORE. No amount of food is enough. No matter how much you have, it’s not enough.

The need for food is sometimes called the big empty. If you’re spiritually feeling disconnected, this could lead to emotional overeating to fill the void with food.

It’s never about the food, it’s about the emotion behind the food.

Meaning and purpose to our lives gives us “soul food”.

How do you know when your emotional eating issues are gone? You will feel safer, better, more connected. Your fat switch will turn off, then you will have zero resistance and you will naturally drop the weight.

Thoughts on Aging

By Susan Thaxton

Left to right: Forrest, Susan and Roy

The wise sage, Bette Davis, once informed us that, “Growing old is not for sissies.”

But… what exactly does it mean to be old? Is it based on the year you were born? Is it based on the number of wrinkles on your face? Or is it based on the way you think? Perhaps it’s different for each of us.
The day I heard that 50 is the new 30, I adopted it as my own! And boy did I start to feel younger!

In my real-life thirties, I worked in a luxurious retirement community as a consulting dietitian. The ages of the residents ranged from 55 to 107. Now here’s something to think about. The 107 year old once told me that she was ashamed of her age because, as she put it, “I just haven’t done enough with my life.” I have to admit that her comment is more meaningful to me now than it was when I was in my thirties.
My current career has re-introduced me to an aging population. And it has opened my eyes, in a new way, to what it means to get old.

This brings me to asking a question or two. Have you thought about what will happen to you when you get older – say when you turn 75 or 80 or even 85? Where will you live? Who will take care of you? How will you pay for your care? Or, who will pay for your care?

Those of you with aging parents may already be thinking about the answers to these questions. Perhaps your parents can no longer live on their own. It could be due to health problems, physical limitations, mild memory loss or severe dementia.

And… unless you’ve decided to become their caregivers, you may have been thrust into the role of hunting for senior housing. Which means you may find yourself wading through the many options to find something that will fit their needs, fit their budget and give you peace of mind.

There’s nothing like dealing with a crisis to help you prepare for your own future!

Know your housing options
Whether you are considering senior housing for an aging family member or thinking ahead to your own future, it may help to know your options.

Senior housing comes in several flavors and currently includes:

• Staying at home and getting in-home care.
• Moving in with a family member.
• Buying into a retirement community.
• Renting a suite in a month-to-month senior community – which could include, independent living, assisted living and/or memory care.
• Living in a small residential care home.
• Renting subsidized housing with limited services (for those who qualify)
• Living in a senior apartment complex where services vary.

Who pays?

Choosing where you want to live will depend on what you can afford. So let’s take a look at some long term care payment options to determine how you can pay for what you want or need:

Personal finances

• These include savings, retirement accounts (401K, IRA, pensions, annuities), investments (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc.), proceeds from the sale of your home. You get the idea.
• Contributions from family or friends.
• And of course, your income streams, which could include Social Security.

Long Term Care (LTC) Insurance
LTC insurance can be set up to cover a broad spectrum of needs. Be sure you clearly understand what the policy will cover. Will it cover you only if you are cared for in your home or will it also cover you if you decide to move into a senior living community? If so, what types of communities will it cover? And what services?

Find out if your policy can follow you if you move to another state.

Veterans benefits
A little known benefit, Aid and Attendance, is available for veterans and surviving spouses. It provides additional income to help with aging-related assistance. There are specific qualifiers, including income and assets, but if you qualify, you could receive between $800 and $2500 extra each month. To find out more, visit www.heritagefinancialnorth.com/veterans.html

Reverse Mortgages – only as a last resort
These have been publicized on various commercials and seem like a good thing but as with all good things, it’s important to do your homework. They can be expensive and currently only apply if you continue to live in your home. If you decide you want to move to an assisted living community, a reverse mortgage would not cover the costs.

Reverse mortgages are not all bad and there are success stories. Just be sure it’s a good fit for your situation.

If you are thinking of a reverse mortgage, talk with someone who can give you balanced advice. The non-profit agency, HIP Housing, offers counseling for Home Equity Conversions including reverse mortgages. Learn more at www.hiphousing.org/programs/conversion.html

Medicare and Medi-Cal:
Many people are under the impression that Medicare and/or Medi-Cal will cover the costs of senior living. The answer is complex but, in general, they both cover some aspects of Skilled Nursing Facilities but do not currently cover the general needs of senior housing. Plus you need to meet qualifying criteria before you can receive payments from Uncle Sam.

The bottom line
As with most things in life, one of the keys to aging well is to prepare. Even though you may be a long way from needing care, it’s never too early to begin to think about where you will live, who will take care of you and how you will pay for it. In other words, what will you need when you retire from the playful years of retirement?
And tell your family what you are thinking. It will help save them the anxiety of trying to figure it out for you when the time comes.

Some final thoughts
While I continue to believe that 50 is the new 30… while I strive to stay fit, to eat right, to meditate and, in general, to hold off the aging process as long as I can, I also have an eye towards the future. When I am 100 and thinking to myself that, “100 is the new 80”, I will be watching the sunset from my balcony in a posh assisted living community in the wine country. I will dine with my peers and the meal will be cooked by the resident chef. I will toast to my future and know that I have done enough with my life.

Care to join me?

Susan is a Family Advisor for Senior Seasons. She has the privilege of assisting and supporting families in their search for senior housing.

If you need help sorting through the confusion of senior housing or if you have questions, feel free to contact her. There is never a charge to seniors or their families for these services.

To learn more about how Senior Seasons can help, visit them at www.seniorseasons.com.

Susan can be reached at: susan@seniorseasons.com or by calling her at 650-571-7362.

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

11 Strategies to Handle the Tough Times in Life

A big part of fitness, is health. And as Sara (one of our all-star bootcampers) recently reminded me, health is physical, mental and emotional well-being. However, keeping yourself at optimal health can be challenging for many of us, especially when we are dealing with hard times and stress in our lives.

Lately, a lot of people have been going through some really challenging obstacles and tough times. It’s especially difficult when our loved ones are suffering, and we have to stand by feeling as though there’s not much we can do to help.

This blog gives you 11 Strategies to help you stay strong during the “tough times”, because the stronger you are, the more you can give strength to the loved ones in your life when they need it most. Whether it’s for others, or for yourself, here are the 11 Strategies to handle the tough times in life:

1) Decide. First off, you need to decide. Decide you want to stay positive. Decide you want to have the right attitude. Decide you want to help. Decide you want to change, to get better, to heal. Once you’ve made that decision, you’ve picked the side of the fence you want to be on. This alone makes a huge difference, because you’ve chosen to be positive and your mindset alone will allow change and healing to take place, and prevent you from withdrawing from the situation and shutting down.

2) Spend time in nature. The sky, the water, the trees. These simple gifts of nature allow us to re-center and re-connect with what is strong and eternal in us. Spend time in nature and draw strength from it. Going on a hike clears the mind, and allows you to get back to a positive way of thinking. If you’re in a real funk, stop everything you’re doing and just go outside for a walk. You’ll be surprised at how effective this can be.

3) Go shopping for healthy foods. A good strategy for staying healthy during hard times is to eat right. Think of food as medicine to heal and strengthen you, physically, mentally and emotionally. Find foods that are high in Omega-3 fatty acids like salmon and walnuts. Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. When you’re down or depressed, it’s easy to head to your favorite comfort foods like ice cream or hamburgers with fries. Going healthy shopping will help turn this impulse around.

4) Drink lots of water. When you’re depressed, the tendency is to drink less water. You’re worried, and you think less about the hydration your body needs to function optimally. Keep water on you, and drink cups of warm water throughout the day, which my acupuncturist says is really good for keeping your system in balance.

5) Don’t turn to drugs and alcohol. I know that during tough times, the biggest relief is sometimes a total escape. This is why a lot of people turn to drugs or alcohol, and keep themselves “numb”. However, taking this escape route is not without consequences. The first is that you never get a chance to really process the emotions your body needs to feel to create healing. The second is that addiction is very easy to fall into. You might want to think of an alternative escape such as:

6) Exercise. Lifting weights, jogging, and circuit training are all effective ways to help you feel better and keep you strong during the tough times. Remember, the tough times you go through are a lot like lifting weights. In exercise, it’s the resistance that makes you stronger, right? Well, life works the same way. Your tough times make you stronger as a person. Reflect on tough times you’ve had in the past. Haven’t they been a big part of creating who you are today?

7) Find the deeper meaning. Do you just look at the surface and stop there, or do you look for the deeper meaning? Often, we forget that our suffering and the suffering of others is transformative, and is a part of life we cannot turn our backs to. What is the deeper meaning for you? How will this situation affect you 10, 20 or 30 years from now. How will it affect you 1,000 years from now? Seems like a silly question, but it’s really a matter of perspective.

8) Be around positive people who care. During these tough times, don’t go it alone. Leverage off the strength of positive people in your life. They are there to help, and want you to ask them for help.

9) Notice there are other people that are worse off than you. No matter how bad it seems, someone in this world has it worse. Send a donation. E-mail someone who is suffering. Giving can be one of the greatest sources of strength we have in this world.

10) Learn to meditate. Meditation is a terrific way to practice the art of being in the present moment. It relieves stress and anxiety, and is an art form that can help you relieve physical pain as well. I learned at the Self Mastery Foundation. It’s been a great help to me and I highly recommend learning this life skill.

11) Keep the faith. No matter what your religious beliefs, your faith is a powerful thing. Your faith in life, love and happiness is a huge factor and can make all the difference. Keep your faith, and stay strong.

I hope these 11 Strategies to Handle the Tough Times in Life help. Feel free to forward this to a friend, and I’d love to hear your comments below.

3 Crazy Ways to Stay Accountable to Your Fitness Goals

You’re about to learn about 3 absolutely crazy ways to make sure you hit the mark on your fitness goals. You and I both know it’s one thing to set a goal, but it’s a whole different ball game when it comes to staying accountable to your goal.

WARNING: These accountability strategies are not for the faint of heart. They may even offend you. But if you put even one of these strategies in place, you will increase the chances of hitting your fitness goals by 50% or more!

Now that you’ve been warned, here are our top 3 Crazy Ways to Stay Accountable to Your Fitness Goals:

1) The Alpo Diet - You’ve heard of Alpo dog food, right? Well, this strategy consists of you calling up your best friend and asking them for help with hitting a fitness goal. Once they say they will help you, tell them that you promise to lose at least 8 lbs in one month (or maybe 4 or 6lbs, or maybe stop smoking or drinking, or whatever health goal you want…), or you will eat a whole can of Alpo dog food right in front of them!

This insane strategy does two things. One, it gets your goals out of your head and into the public eye, in this case your friend, who is sure to talk this up among your entire circle of friends just for a few laughs.

And two, it makes you associate a painful situation if you don’t hit your goals. Think about it. Are you likely to miss that workout or order that scone at Starbucks if you might have to humiliate yourself in front of your friend and down a whole can of nasty, smelly dogfood!

2) The Poorhouse Method – This strategy has to do with one of the most motivating factors in your life…money.

Call a friend, family member, or even your trainer. Tell them you need help with hitting a health goal. Tell them you plan to log your foods and exercise daily. For every time you don’t exercise or log your food, you promise to pay them 10 dollars! Now that’s motivation!!

3) The “Scare You To Death” Method – Yes, this accountability strategy is the craziest of them all. In this one, you take something in your life that scares you to death (jumping out of an airplane, spiders and snakes, a class on public speaking) and you agree that if you don’t hit your goal by the end of the month, you have to do what you agreed to do that will scare you to death!

This method, although incredibly crazy, will undoubtably get you to your fitness goals and beyond!! Have fun!

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest

OUR NEW ONLINE MAGAZINE IS LAUNCHED!!

Hi there, Forrest here,

I’ve got great news for you today! We’ve just launched our online magazine and it totally rocks! Check it out and forward your favorite articles to your friends or on Facebook!

Don’t forget to check out all the cool exercise videos! =)

Fit For Life Solutions Magazine

Fitness Magazine Articles

Your Trainers For Life,

Forrest and Roy

Sacrifice

Yesterday we had a bootcamp class where the theme was sacrifice. It was about sacrificing what we are for what we can become. Every day we are faced with the choice to become better as a person, and unless we understand how to sacrifice, we will never evolve.

“The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.”

- Charles DuBois

I understand what it’s like to sacrifice, and believe me, it’s not easy to accept this thought at first…until you flip the way you think about it.

You see, if you’re going to become better as a person, and you want to make some changes in your life, you must understand this:

Sacrifice is not about what you’re giving up, it’s about what you gain.

When you give up fast food, give up ice cream, give up negative thinking, give up watching American Idol, what do you gain?

You gain more control, more energy, more time, more positivity.

Do me a favor, write in the comments section something you are going to sacrifice for the next 30 days. I’d love to hear your comments!

Here’s a crazy video for you to check out. These guys know what sacrifice is…

Don’t forget to tell me what you’re sacrificing for the next 30 days below!

Bodybugg Product Review and Kristen G. Great Results!

Today I’m writing to share with you two things.

1) An amazing Fit For Life Bootcamper, Kristen Gansheimer, and her results to help inspire you.

2) Our Bodybugg product review video, starring Kristen.

Kristen started up with us in early January 2010. Here’s what she had to say about us in our Yelp.com review.

(more…)

4 Habits to Stop and 4 Habits to Start for a Body Transformation

Stop thinking that doing cardio all day is going to get you back into you “skinny jeans” and keep you there. Long bouts of cardio burn muscle. When you burn through your muscle your metabolism goes down. When your metabolism goes down you end up gaining the weight back. Ever hear of the weight loss roller coaster? Exactly!

Start mixing your cardio and weights training together. Research shows that the most effective path to weight loss is by combining the two. When you do resistance training you build or keep muscle tissue, which keeps your metabolism on high. Mix in some cardio and you get a great workout and burn maximum calories. This is why our Fit For Life Bootcamp program works so well!

Stop trying to do it all yourself. Sure, about 5% of the population can stay totally motivated day after day to workout. They have crazy-strong will power and determination to stay consistent with their exercise program. The other 95%, (yes, this probably includes you!) need to be signed up with a program to adhere to your fitness regimen.

Start up with a fitness program. Finding a qualified trainer is a great option. Even better is to get involved in a fitness bootcamp. If you’ve never tried one before, don’t worry, they’re not as bad as they sound. These days, fitness bootcamps having absolutelly nothing to do with the military. They are basically large-group personal training sessions that are WAY more fun and much less expensive than personal training.

Stop eating unconsciously. This is the one thing you MUST do to get on the right track with your body transformation plans. Without having a clear understanding of exactly how many calories you’re consuming, you’ll never be able to make weight loss progress. Trust me on this one. Why do you think Weight Watchers is so popular? It’s because the point system works!!! Why does it work? It’s just a fancy way of counting calories!! Start logging your food today. You can set up a free food log account at www.fitday.com. You can also download the IPhone app LoseIt! for a similar food logging platform that you can use on the go.

Start planning and pre-packaging your foods for the week. Pick a day to shop, cook and prep your food for the week. Yes, this takes time and work. But guess what? There are NO SHORTCUTS! You can’t just wing-it and expect great results. Every single one of my clients that showed great results during their training turned in food logs to me weekly. Don’t think that you are the exception to the rule. You’ve got to take your life into your own hands by planning and prepping your foods each week! Your hard work will be rewarded when you take yourself out at the end of the week for your cheat day, so make sure you earn it!

Hollywood Celebrity Workout Videos

I tracked down some of the hottest Hollywood Stars and put their workout secrets in this blog. Enjoy!

Beyonce Knowles

Gerald Butler

LL Cool J

Angelina Jolie

Jessica Biel, Wesley Snipes and Ryan Renolds

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!

The 6 Step Bootcamp Plan for Fat Loss

Here it is. This is THE PLAN to get you results in your fitness bootcamp!

THE PLAN

Step 1) Log calorie intake DAILY (go to www.fitday.com) and set up a food logging account or get the LoseIt! app for your IPhone. A general caloric goal for weight loss is 1,800 for men and 1,400 for women (adjust calories to suit your needs). See The Diet Solution for our recommended nutrition plan.

Step 2) Exercise, Fit For Life Bootcamp style, 5 days per week!

Burn 700 calories/day x 5 days/week = 3,500 (it takes 3,500 calories to burn off 1 pound of fat).

Step 3) Cardio on the weekend to accelerate fat loss.

Burn 500 – 700 calories with your own cardio workout on Sat. or Sun. (1 hour hike, bike ride, treadmill, etc.). Mix it up, get outside, have fun!

Step 4) Build muscle and accelerate metabolism (this is done in bootcamp, so as long as you show up, it will happen!). This will ensure you burn fat and keep muscle.

Step 5) Choose a rest/cheat day on a Saturday or Sunday. On this day you will rest your body and mind from exercising and counting calories. Have fun and enjoy your cheat day, you’ve earned it, and it will actually get you to your goals faster!

Step 6) Show up on “Assessment Day” every 5th week to see your progress, and make any changes to your program if you’re not seeing results. Give yourself a reward for a job well done by going out to eat, party with friends, or buy yourself a gift!

And that’s it! Nothing motivates better than results. Work hard, and you will be rewarded through your own hard-earned efforts. If it were easy, anyone could do it. Not just anyone trains in Fit For Life Bootcamp, only the brave!!

3 Simple Strategies to Lose 8 lbs in 28 Days

Would you like to lose 8 lbs from your stomach, hips and thighs in the next 28 days?

This year, year of the Tiger, is the year of taking action. What better way to take advantage of the New Year? In this blog, I help you create a simple plan, go into action, then stick to it. Give yourself a goal to lose 8 lbs of fat in the next 28 days. With these strategies at the heart of your focus, you will get there!

Year of the Tiger!

1) Take control of your calorie intake. You need to start thinking in numbers (and once you learn numbers, you can think in terms of portions). It doesn’t have to be forever. Just do it for 3 weeks. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but after 3 weeks a mental shift takes place because you start understanding and memorizing the calories of your favorite foods. (Minimally do it for 3 days…you can’t make excuses about just 3 days!)

Keeping a food log really helps deter you from reaching for a donut when you think of that donut in terms of calories and fat grams instead of just Homer Simpson’s famous phrase, “mmmmmmm…donuts…”

So to take control of your calorie count. I recommend going to www.fitday.com to start logging your food. It’s free, so what have you got to lose? This one thing will be the most important action you take when it comes to understanding how many calories you consume on a regular basis. This is the key to weight loss!

A good, comprehensive nutrition program is the Diet Solution by Isabele De Los Rios. I recommend it highly.

2) Make a commitment to exercise. That’s right, I said that scary word that everyone runs from, “commitment”. I have to admit that I’ve always been scared of that word myself. But the commitments I’ve made have changed my life in incredible ways. Once you make a commitment, it makes things so much easier, and you will be amazed by how good you feel when you do finally commit. So join a gym, or even better, join a boot camp or get a trainer. Your commitment will keep you focused and clear despite the obstacles that are sure to arise.

Think about the word commitment for a second. Now ask yourself, have you ever achieved anything worthwhile in your life without making a commitment at some level? Probably not. I think the best thing to do is to suck it up and sign on the dotted line. When most people have thrown in the towel, you’ll still be moving toward your goals because of the commitment you’ve made to your training.

3) Write down your goals, then set a date of completion. You can do this yourself, or join a weight loss contest to bring in a sense of urgency. Either way, having your goals and a date written down will make you consciously and subconsciously work harder toward your weight loss goals.

Write down any goals you have for yourself.

Your conscious mind is good for setting goals, but it’s your subconscious mind that gets you performing daily habits that will get you to your goals. Your subconscious mind is like a compass. Once your subconscious mind is set properly, it will continue endlessly to follow it’s course until it reaches it’s goal for you.

Writing down your goals, setting a date on the calendar for your completion of those goals, working out regularly, visualizing how you will look and feel when you reach your goals, taking your vitamins and supplements, eating wholesome and nutritious foods. All of these things align your subconscious mind to get you to your goals. The power you possess by putting this into practice is unstoppable!

Please leave a comment about this post, it really helps me deliver you more content!! Thank-you!!

Setting Goals with John Assaraf

To achieve your health and fitness goals, and even your life goals, you first have to set them. Here is a video from world renown author and speaker, John Assaraf, that I believe can help. Enjoy.

-Forrest

Fit For Life Bootcamp Amazing Transformation – Shanon Mah

Here’s a testimonial from an amazing client of ours, Shanon Mah. From the beginning of her training, I knew there was a quiet fire burning inside her to make a change, and that she was ready to grow and develop as a person.

Shanon followed our advice to the letter, attended Fit For Life Bootcamp as much as she could week-by-week, and turned in food logs to us weekly. She pushed herself every class and she got involved with the beta version our “Accelerated Bootcamp” program (which we plan to unveil in spring of 2010!), which helped speed up her results.

Thanks Shanon for your hard-work, sacrifices, and for being a true inspiration!

-Forrest and Roy

——————————

BEFORE

AFTER

I used to be a very athletic person, very energetic, and I noticed within the last couple years a big slump, in a rut, and gaining weight. I couldn’t keep up as well with my kids and with the things I like to do. I wanted to do something about it and change it. I thought I’d try something new, that’s when I tried Fit For Life Bootcamp and I loved it, and I’ve continued on since then.

At first it was just about the “me time”, and not getting caught up in being a mom all the time, and then when I started to see results it fueled my desire to set goals for myself.

What I like most about the training, because I’ve tried personal trainers before, was that training in the boot camp was always different. I don’t think I’ve ever done the same routine, and I feel like there is a lot of individual help and a lot of change-ups so your body is always feeling it. Through the week I’ll know, ok, we’ve hit that spot! It’s just exciting to come and know that there is something different that’s going to happen each time.

Actually, I wasn’t expecting to see the kind of results that I did. I came in with expectations of losing 5 lbs and I didn’t even consider body fat % and inches, but when I saw those results come within the first 4 weeks I was amazed! It made me want to drive, go harder and go for bigger results.

Ultimately, I lost 18 lbs, over 7% body fat, over 4 inches off my waist and over 3 inches off my hips. I went from a size 6 to a size 2, which hasn’t been since high school!

A lot of my friends went away over the summer and when they saw me their response was “Oh my god! What have you been doing? I want to do that, too!” My family has noticed the changes as well.

Mentally, my whole attitude in life is so different. My confidence has been raised. I had sunk into a shell for a while, and now I feel I’m coming out of that, and it’s an awesome feeling. It’s more than just physical, it’s also mental.

-Shanon Mah

Shanon's Award for Best Results in 2009!

4 Questions to Catapult You in Your Fitness Journey

Questions are soooooo powerful.

Did you know that your mind has the ability to answer ANY question you ask it?

How do I know this? I’ve extensively researched this topic by reading about NLP, hypnotherapy, meditation, law of attraction, neuroscience, psychotherapy and quantum physics.

Not only have I read about it, I’ve put it to practice, and IT WORKS!!

…But don’t take my word for it, try for yourself.

Here is the list of my 4 most powerful questions for being my best as it relates to health and fitness. (Ask yourself these questions and put them in writing.)

1) What does “being in good shape and good health” mean to me?

4) If I’m not at a 10, what will it take to get me there so that I will be so excited about it I couldn’t help but take action and get started today?

Once you ask yourself these 4 questions, you will be amazed at the answers that seem to come straight out of the sky! Then, once you have your answers, make a “To-Do” list and start taking massive action immediately! (Nothing happens without action!!)

You will be blown away at the results of this simple exercise. (TIP – This will feel so easy and get you such fast results, you will think this method is too good to be true!!)

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest Folen

The 5 Secrets Tactics to Fat Loss

I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I’m going to give away my top 5 secrets to fat loss that Roy and I use in our bootcamp! They might not be what you would expect (notice that we don’t even mention crunches even once!).

1) Food logs. We put this as #1 for a reason. It’s like Roy always says, “Abs are made in the kitchen.” Ask any expert dietician or weight loss guru, and they’ll tell you the same thing. Actually, you can just ask some of the folks in the Fit For Life Bootcamp who’ve transformed their body, and they’ll tell you it’s true. Bill lost over 40 lbs, but he never saw a single pound come off until he started logging his food. Shanon and Julie lost a combined total of 30 lbs, but they were on our Accelerated Bootcamp program, which requires food logging! (We will be launching the NEW version of this program in early 2010). Even Weight Watchers has the saying, “Write it before you bite it!”

To get feedback directly from Roy, visit www.FitForLifeSolutions.com/forum and let him know what you’re eating. Two other great resources are www.fitday.com, a free, internet-based food log software and www.calorieking.com. Log on, log in, and start logging!!!

2) Set SMART goals and write them down. SMART (Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic and Timely). Goal setting is sooooooo important. We recommend writing down a time-specific, long-term goal, such as “I will lose 10 lbs of fat and fit into a size 6 pants by February 15th, 2010.” After you’ve written down a long-term goal, then write down three short-term goals that are aligned with the long-term goal. For example, 1) I will log on to www.fitday.com and log my food every day this week, 2) I will substitute all soft drinks with water for the next 21 days, 3) I will attend boot camp at least 3 times per week for the next 4 weeks.

After writing down your goals, print them out and post them on your fridge, in your office, above your bed, in your car. You can share them with your family and friends. You can also visit www.FitForLifeSolutions.com/forum and share them to a like-minded community. Sharing goals makes it “real” to you. That’s just the way it works. When you put your goals out there for the world to see, you suddenly become accountable, and you become much more likely to follow through.

3) Take baseline measurements. How can you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’re at? By measuring your weight, bodyfat %, and getting at least the basic circumference measurements of the chest, waist and hips, you put yourself on the path to making changes. Also, it helps to revisit your measurements every 4-6 weeks to see if you’re on track. If things aren’t changing the way you wanted them to after 4-6 weeks then it’s time to quit, right? WRONG!!! This is the problem most people have who don’t train alongside a qualified professional.

If you’re not seeing results, there is a reason for it. Or maybe your body is changing, but you don’t know how to correctly interpret the changes. Are you feeling more energy? Are your pants fitting looser, despite what the scale tells you? Then you’re on the right track! Whatever you do, DON’T QUIT! It’s the lifestyle changes you are making which ultimately benefit you in the long run. If you have to go back to the drawing board and make some changes, that’s fine, but remember, quitting is for losers!

Also, don’t just measure your body measurements. It’s also extremely helpful to measure your strength, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, and even track your attendance in the gym. Tracking performance is a powerful motivator and will help keep you moving forward in your progress.

4) Visualize and Re-Commit daily. Your mindset is the single biggest determining factor of you seeing results from your training. Everything that you get from your training is really because of your own desire, commitment and perseverance. If you make it, or don’t make it, don’t give the credit to anyone but yourself. As trainers and boot camp leaders, Roy and I do our best to set up the environment for change, provide exercises and motivation, push you when the going gets tough, and arm you with the knowledge to get results. Ultimately though, it all comes back to you. Ask yourself, “do I put in 100% commitment to each day”.

Start your day by visualizing how you want to look and feel. See it clearly in your mind, even if you feel like crap, visualize yourself at your best. Take 3 minutes every day (it’s not the length of time, it’s the consistency that’s important) to purely visualize like this, then re-commit to your self, your health and your life. This simple practice is one of the secrets of the mind-over-matter power of many successful people in business, body transformations, professional sports and people who live extra-ordinary lives. Don’t take my word for it, try it for yourself!

5) Re-charge your life energy! There are several ways you can keep your energy high. Your life energy is comprised of many things. Your thoughts, your nutritional habits, your exercise habits, your accumulation of stress, your overall health. I recommend starting with exercise and positive thoughts. When you start exercising, you bring direct control into your life. You are saying to yourself that you want to be healthy, have strong life-energy, and that you want to be your best.

When you eat pure, organic foods, you feed your body and give it the energy it needs to keep you focused and mentally clear. When you practice deep breathing, meditation, mindful walking, yoga or other mind/body methods, you clear your stagnant energy and habitual thoughts and open yourself up to the present moment, which is where all action takes place, right here, right now.

If you put these 5 secret tactics into practice, not only will you lose weight and see incredible body transformation changes, but you will see things improve in all aspects of your life! Now go and make it happen. Ideas are good, plans are better, action is king!

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest Folen

The Cycle of Addiction and Green Tea

I was standing in line at Starbucks once again. I had told myself I wouldn’t do it anymore. “Just one more time” I said to myself, as I stood browsing at the display case of scones, giant chocolate cookies and yogurt parfaits. I wanted to turn and walk out of there. I wanted to run away. But hey, I deserved this. It was my “daybreak”.

“I’ll have a grande caramel macchiato, please.”

“Sure, what’s your name?”

I wanted to tell them it was John, or Mark. Who knows who might be listening in.

“Forrest”, I would say in a low voice.

“GRANDE CARAMEL MACCHIATO FOR FORREST, PLEASE!!”

There it was. The call of shame for everyone within earshot. My sugary, highly-addictive, four dollar caffeine fix had been called out for all the world to hear. But hey, like I said before, I deserved this. It was my “daybreak”.

This caffeine and sugar affair went on for some time. Oh…for a while I would quit. But once something happened to stress me out and my energy felt low, I would get the uncontrollable urge to stop by a Starbucks.

And who can blame me? They were popping up everywhere. I had four of them within a 3-minute drive from my work in Foster City. I lived a five-minute walk from the Carlmont Shopping Center Starbucks in Belmont. Near my kids school, I would sometimes stop at the Crystal Springs Starbucks (it was a nice one, too; fireplace and cozy seating) just before I had to pick them up.

Even my favorite place to hang out and kill time, the Barnes and Nobles Bookstore, had an in-house Starbucks. As did Safeway. As did Target.

With dealers on every corner, it was not going to be easy to quit. I needed help. I had an addiction. No more excuses. Where would I turn?

Then, I found my answer – to replace my addiction with another, more healthy addiction! I was going to drink Green Tea!!

You see, all addictions are cycles. They start with a feeling of unhappiness or a feeling of being un-fulfilled. Then there is a trigger, such as a thought, image, emotion, or a combination, that sets the addict to find his addiction of choice. After the drug or action has been completed, there is temporary relief and satisfaction, followed by a feeling of guilt, which then cycles back to being unhappy, which starts the cycle all over again.

One could be addicted to many different things. Shopping, TV, drugs, gambling, anger, compulsive eating, alcohol, cigarettes, control over others, being a victim, abuse, and caffeine.

Some addictions may even be beneficial. Exercise, reading, practicing music, yoga, dancing…drinking green tea.

So, in my opinion, learning to replace one addiction with another can be an effective way to change unwanted behavior patterns. After all, I had done it before to great effect.

When I was younger and in the “party scene”, I knew I needed a big change. That’s when I found martial arts, and turned to exercise and mind/body training instead of going out to bars, clubs and parties (best thing I ever did, by the way).

When I noticed I was watching too much TV, I got rid of cable (yes, I got rid of cable. It’s not necessary people!) and started reading again. Reading is another great addiction. I read books on motivation, diet and exercise, science and religion, books for entertainment, books for self-growth and inspiration.

And now that I came across another pattern I wanted changed, I knew what to do. I wanted to stop giving my body these sugar/caffeine hits and start giving it a more balanced energy.

Since I’ve been on the green tea kick, I’ve felt much better. I’ve been going with it for a few months now. I still drink an occasional Starbucks, but now it’s more like once per week, not once or twice per day. Not only have I saved a lot of money, but I’ve felt much more emotionally balanced, I’ve had better sleep, and I have longer lasting energy levels.

Green tea has tons of benefits. I’ve been reading about them in the book, Green Tea – The Natural Secret for a Healthier Life, by Nadine Taylor, M.S., R.D.

Some of the great health benefits of drinking green tea regularly are:

Boosts your immune system
Helps prevent cancer and heart disease
Helps metabolize body fat
Slows the aging process
Lowers blood pressure
Fights harmful bacteria and viruses
Helps the body regulate cholesterol levels

If you have an addiction (I think close to 99% of all people do in some form), don’t run from it. Stare it straight in the eye and ask yourself, what can I do to replace my unhealthy addiction to a healthy one? There’s always room for improvement, right?

I’ve included this very interesting video that explains more in depth on why we get involved in habitual patterns that don’t serve us, and what we can do about it.

Your Trainer For Life,
Forrest Folen, MCT

TATTOO Action Plan

I’m not planning to get a tattoo any time soon, but if I were going to, it would be of Ganesh!

Ganesh is the Hindu diety known as the “Remover of Obstacles”. I was sitting around thinking about how cool of a concept it is to be able to identify and remove obstacles to grow my life in new ways and thought up a great way it can be applied to your fitness goals.

I call it the “TATTOO Action Plan”!!!

Taking Action Today Terminates Obnoxious Obstacles

Obstacles in fitness today are everywhere. There is so much conflicting information out there it’s enough to make anybody’s head spin.

What diet book is the right one? Do those fat-burner pills really work? I can’t decide if I should exercise or just diet, which one…or should I do both? The video on the informercial looks makes it look like anyone can do it!

This type of thinking is the normal way we respond to the frustration staring at us in the mirror every day, how we feel about our bodies.

With our company, Fit For Life Solutions, we are always looking for ways to help you discern what is fact from fiction in the fitness world, and how to make educated decisions on doing what is right for YOU.

There are 4 very obnoxious obstacles that stand in the way between you and your body transformation and fitness lifestyle you are meant to be living, and they are:

1) Conflicting Information

4) Procrastination

To remove these obnoxious fitness obstacles, Fit For Life Solutions has devised a 4-step action plan we call TATTOO (Taking Action Today Terminates Obnoxious Obstacles)

The 4 specific actions of TATTOO are:

1) Write down your new fitness belief system. It should be something empowering like, “I have complete control to design my body, mind and life exactly as I want it to be”.

4) Contact a trainer or local fitness boot camp, and if you have a friend or family member who will support you, contact them as well to set-up your accountability network. Tell them you are ready to start TODAY!!!

These four simple steps that you can do in less than 15 minutes will create an unstoppable landslide of success for you in transforming your body, mind and life.

You see, every day that passes that you don’t act, you lose. You lose willpower, you lose energy, you lose inspiration, you lose momentum. STOP LOSING AND START GAINING!

Right now, if you act on all 4 of the TATTOO steps we’ve outlined above, you will gain an incredible boost of inspiration and energy that will start a snowball effect toward changing your entire life. But don’t take my word for it, TAKE ACTION NOW!!

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest Folen

PART TWO…HOW THE BODY LOSES WEIGHT

In part one we talked about how the body gains weight, which is little by little over a period of months and years.

It all goes back to lifestyle.

If you want to create a lifestyle where you are lean and fit, you have to alter what you are doing. It’s the day-to-day stuff that matters.

If you want to lose weight you have to create a caloric deficit, and you have to do it CONSISTENTLY.

In fact here are 6 things you must have to lose the weight.

1) Burning desire. You have to really want it!

2) Catalyst. What is going to be the motivator to get your inner voice to say, “It’s Time!”

3) Commitment. Nothing in life gets accomplished without commitment.

4) Patience. Be patient. It’s a process, and it doesn’t happen overnight.

5) Perseverance. You have to keep at it, despite the obstacles, you must stay focused on your goal!

6) Sense of Urgency. If you don’t say to yourself that you have to get it done NOW, other things will always come first and sabotage your plans.

So if an added 116 calories per day is all it takes to gain the weight (see previous blog), then that’s all you need to do to lose it too, right?

WRONG!

If I told you to go home and count every single calorie to lose the weight, would you?

You might for a few days, or possibly a few weeks, but the chances are you wouldn’t keep up with it. That’s my experience. It’s unrealistic to maintain food logs for a long time.

Over a short time, food logs are great to understand your eating patterns and get a general take on how many calories you are consuming. However, for the long term I recommend a more common sense approach.

In the Part One, How The Body Gains Weight, I talked about a study done by the New England Journal of Medicine that said that of different types of diets such as low-carb, low-fat, and mediteranean, it was the total amount of calories, not the type of food, that led to weight loss.

With that in mind, the question to ask then is: How can I maintain satiety and even blood sugar levels (so my energy won’t crash and I don’t go off and binge) and eat less calories at the same time?

(Keep in mind, that if you want to lose 1 pound a week you have to burn 250 calories a day through exercise and eat 250 calories less per day. A deficit of 500 calories per day is 3,500 over the course of a week, and 3,500 calories equals 1 pound of fat.)

The answer is both simple and complex.

Eat less. Burn more.
You have to create a caloric deficit consistently to be able to create a consistent rate of weight loss.

How can you do it?

Meal by meal.

Workout by workout.

Day by day.

Week by week.

Month by month.

It’s called a FITNESS LIFESTYLE. You have to want it. You have to go out and get it. You have to put in the work. You have to sacrifice.

But the rewards are worth it!

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest Folen, MCT

My Most Closely Guarded Secret Revealed

Ever feel like you’re a sports car that’s stuck in first gear?

Wouldn’t you like to see what it’s like to go to second…third…fourth or even fifth gear?

Let me explain.

Not sure if I’ve told you guys this before, but I wasn’t always Mr. Positive or Mr. Fitness Guy.

Heck, I was neither!

I used to have low expectations of myself.

I used to need the world to tell me if I was good enough.

I used to have a lot of bad habits…I even used to smoke cigarettes (I hate to admit it, but it’s true).

So what turned me around?

Well, it wasn’t easy but I met someone who turned my life around 180 degrees.

I’ve included a video in my latest blog to show you the exact skill that turned my whole life around.

You’re never going to guess what it is!! It’s my most guarded secret, and I’m sharing it with you here today!

Click here to see my secret: watch?v=wKyXanJYFHY

The man in the video is Daniel Johnson, SBN. He’s a true meditation master and the best life coach around. You HAVE to go to his upcoming workshop and experience it for yourself!

Go to this link for more info on the upcoming workshop:

http://www.selfmastery.com/workshops_center.html

Gym INTENSITY!!!

Ok so i came across this personal video of one of my favorite WWE wrestlers Mr. Kennedy and thought i should share this video with you all. This will make you thrive to push yourself to the limit every time you step into the gym. He shares the same passion i do for intensity, Its all about what you put into workouts. Taking a average everyday exercise and cranking it up, to make it as beneficial as possible.

Show no mercy. -Roy

5 Tips to a Slimmer Stomach!

1. Don’t waste time with crunches. In real life the deeper core used for stabilization and strength are the ones you want to develop. That means that variations of plank exercises are the best for a strong core. If you really wantto cut down that layer of fat to expose those abs of steel that are lying underneath, view #2 below!
2. Focus on compound movements and work them in a circuit. Compound movements such as Push-Ups, Squats, Rows and Lunges use the most muscles AND burn the most calories!
3. Concentrate on eating foods that are in their natural state. I call it “Eating Clean”. Brown rice, oatmeal, salmon, chicken breast, tuna, fresh fruits and veggies, avocados, almonds, egg whites, extra virgin olive oil, salads. In fact, if you stuck with just these foods for 2 weeks I guarantee you will see incredible fat-burning results as long as you….. view #4!!!!
4. Eat 6 small carb/protein meals per day. You want to eat every 3 and a half hours…. even if you’re not hungry! You’ll be doing yourself a favor by stabilizing your blood sugar levels, keeping your hunger at bay, and burning more calories through thermogenesis. But you still have to…… View #5!!!!
5. Stop making excuses for yourself to eat fat and sugar. Look, I like sweets as much as the next person, but if you keep reaching for that after dinner cookie or ice cream despite your desire to lose weight, you’re being controlled by an addiction. Do what i do, eat every 3 and a half hours to curb hunger, then eat a small piece of dark chocolate, savoring it, to satisfy that sweet tooth!!
    
   BONUS TIP!!!!!!
6. Join our fitness Bootcamp! Research shows that accountability and professional instruction are two key factors for success in any weight loss program. In fact we are having a limited time promotion to kick off our NEW Fit For Life Bootcamp membership!!!

You can catch the details here :

www.FitForLifeSolutions.com/bootcamp

Your trainer for life,

Forrest

P.S.- This promo expires Thursday the 25th at 11:59pm. Don’t Miss Out!!!!!

www.FitForLifeSolutions.com/bootcamp

3 Fitness Journey Tips and the Big Picture

Hey, I’m a fitness guy.  It’s my job to talk to you about weight loss, how to lose bodyfat more effectively, and exercise.

However, I’m also aware of the bigger picture.  Your life.

What’s practical.  What’s do-able.  What “fit’s in” to your unique situation.

It’s not the same for everybody.

Regardless of your unique situation, here are 3 things I’d like you to keep in mind during your fat loss and fitness journey.

1. The goal is important, but so is the journey. Make sure whatever activity you’re doing, to enjoy it! Hopefully you can find a friend or group to work out with that shares the same positive energy about exercise that you have. And what if you’re the one who has negative feelings about exercise. That can be changed too!
2. Attitude!! Your attitude towards fitness and health is the largest determining factor. If you believe you are a healthy person that stays fit, then that’s what you’ll become. But you have to believe it NOW. If you always tell yourself “some day” then that day will never come. (Huh…Someday Never Comes…is that a Creedence or Beatles song or something?)
3. If you’ve made the step and committed to the process of becoming fit and healthy, don’t make the BIGGEST FITNESS MISTAKE EVER! Don’t quit!!! Just because you don’t see results right away, doesn’t mean you should throw in the towel. Commitment to your exercise and to yourself isn’t a one-time thing. You have to re-commit, get back out there, and push forward!

…and when things get too crazy in life, click on this link to help you remember the big picture.

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest

Fitness – It’s gotta be a lifestyle!

Weight loss can be a great motivator to start working out, eating right, and getting in shape.  However, if weight loss is your only motivation, it won’t work out in the long run.  Eventually, weight loss, as a goal, will become a superficial reason for working out and staying disciplined to eat healthy.  Why?  Because weight loss, on it’s own, has no purpose.  You have to have a reason why that weight loss is important to you.

I received an e-mail today from a client thanking me for helping her with her new healthy lifestyle and achieving a bodyfat percentage under 20%.  I wrote her back and asked told her that she is a success story that is sure to inspire others.  Her response was “I am not sure what happened, I guess I just got focused on working out to make me feel better.  As soon as I stopped obsessing about getting back to where I was, it just sort of
happened.”

That’s it!!

When she wrote that I knew that she had shifted her perspective and is now training as a part of her lifestyle, and not just a superficial goal.  That’s why she became a success story!  That’s also why she will continue to gain the great results of more energy, less stress, and a strong body and mind!

I’d like to thank Crystal for inspiring me to continue to help others make that lifestyle switch!

Thanks Crystal!!

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest Folen, MCT

Amazing Results in April ’09

The April 2009 Client of the Month is Steve Stirling!

Here’s someone who took his DESIRE, made a COMMITMENT, and applied CONSISTENCY to achieve incredible fitness results!

You have to look at the underlying qualities in order to make a real change.  Personally , I learned how to apply this in my life from studying with my meditation and martial arts Master, Daniel Johnson, founder of the Self Mastery Foundation (visit www.selfmastery.com to learn more about his amazing, life-changing programs).

When Steve first started, I could see it in his eyes, and tell in the enthusiasm in his voice that he was ready to make a real life change.  He had DESIRE, and it burned deep!

However, that desire could have just as easily burnt out, and he could have gone back to the way things were.  Back to the cycle of unhealthy eating habits, back to having low energy, back to feeling sluggish and overweight.

What did he do that made such a big difference in the outcome?

Steve made a COMMITMENT!

Yes, by sitting in the office with me that day in mid-December 2008, and putting down a few hundred bucks for personal training, and filling in the dates to meet with me twice per week on his calendar, Steve made a COMMITMENT!!  That was the big turning point!!

Was it easy?  NO.  Did he just throw his credit card at me and say “sign me up!” NO WAY!

Even with all that burning desire, Steve had to sit down and talk with me for over an hour before he could make up his mind to actually make that COMMITMENT.

That one day in mid-December…that one choice…that one instant…changed his life forever!  Amazing!!

After that, all he had to do was follow through with the CONSISTENCY!

Watch this amazing video to see what happened next…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVOCrfYGNP8

Stay Motivated!  Stay Passionate!  Stay Inspired!

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest Folen, MCT

Reason to Train

Like you, I sometimes need inspiration to train.  I think I’ll use todays blog to write down some reasons for myself, and you can use it to get motivated and hopefully write down your own list.  To stay motivated, you have to re-commit to yourself and to your training.  You must have a reason.  You must know WHY you train!

If your only goal is weight loss, you will NOT be successful in your training.  The reason is because you need a stronger, driving force to keep you motivated.  To clarify, give yourself the reasons behind weight loss.

What will losing weight ultimately do for you?  You don’t have to be training for a triathlon to have a reason.

Maybe training will give you the confidence to get that dream job, or get the attention of the man or woman of your dreams.  Perhaps by losing 40 lbs you will live longer, and get to see your grandkids grow up…and you’ll be able to keep up with them!  Whatever the reason, jot down a list of WHY you train.

Here’s my list of why I train:

• Keep my energy level up
• Feel good
• Keep my focus away from things that zap my health and energy such as TV, watching too much news, over-surfing the internet, drinking and partying.
• Have a body I feel comfortable with and can take pride in
• Have functional strength to play with my kids in the park, swing on the bars and go down the slide head first!
• Give myself some “ME” time!
• Clear my head (while workout out, I don’t have to worry about anything; just exercising and breathing.)
• Relieve stress
• If I take a trip, or do some activity I don’t normally do, such as take a long hike or bike ride, I want to be able to keep up easily.  (You never want to be the one holding up the rest of the group.)
• Keep my life balanced
• Keep strong and flexible so I can try new things…like surfing!
• Training for life, baby!

Now it’s your turn!  Come up with a list and send it to us.  We’d love to hear about it!

-Forrest

Resolutions

Well here we are! It’s January 2009, and it’s a great time to be alive!

It’s also a great time to be healthy, happy and to be in good shape for YOUR LIFE! Life can be demanding, and I’m a firm believer in training to live a higher quality of life. When you train your body and mind, you’re ready to face the challenges that lie ahead, and you can face them with bold courage and inner passion.

So where are we right now? It is New Years time…and everybody knows it’s time for resolutions…and most people’s resolutions have something to do with losing weight or getting in shape. However, I’m hearing from more and more people that they don’t make New Years resolutions any more. Why don’t they? It could have something to do with having done them in the past…and failed.

Do people get discouraged when they’re in their teens to the point where they don’t make resolutions? Not really.

How about in their twenties and thirties. Usually not, although some do.

It’s usually people in their forties and upwards that have given up on making resolutions. They’ve simply seen themselves fail too many times to bother with it. Look…I’m not here to tell you to keep banging your head up against the wall, but you might want to try giving this another chance. New Years is a great time to reflect on the past and move into the future. We all have things we want to improve upon, why not give it a go…only this time, do it with a plan!

That’s right. Very few people actually write down their goals and form a plan, complete with target goals and action steps. A written plan is as crucial to moving forward with your fitness goals as a business plan is to moving forward in building a successful business.

With a written plan, you have defined what you want, what you need, and how and when you will get to your goals. It’s ok to build a castle in the clouds, now put the foundation under it!

It doesn’t have to be ready by the first of the year, but don’t wait until the end of March either. Do it this week if you can. Or even better…do it NOW!
What’s my resolution?

Well…writing this blog is one of them. This year my main focus is YOU! Roy and I have dedicated ourselves to building Fit For Life Solutions to the fullest. We’ve just got our new site up (www.fitforlifesolutions.com), thanks to Bill’s help, and we are now working on all the bells and whistles such as the blog, a discussion forum, online training and videos library.

Stay tuned to this blog for regular tips, fitness advice, videos and articles that will help you achieve the fitness lifestyle you’re looking for!

Your Trainer For Life,
-Forrest