Fitness Together North County 6 Week Personal Training Give Away:

If you live in the San Diego area and are interested in 6 weeks of free personal training please read on. Fitness Together North County in La Costa, CA is giving away 6 weeks worth of personal training to one lucky winner. There are no tricks, we are just giving away these session for one deserving individual. If you feel like you deserve this opportunity you may write a short essay to explain exactly why you deserve to win.

You may send your writings to md@ftnorthcounty.com

Thanks,

Mike

Final Post on TNT Diet:

Well I've been on the diet for a few weeks now and I just wanted to make a few final thoughts. Overall I was very happy with the routine. While my weight did not change I could tell my body fat must have decreased because I have become very lean. My abdominals are becoming very defined which is always fun to see. I had some company with the diet as well. I had two clients who wanted to try the diet with me. They both had a lot of success as well. In just a few weeks one lost 8lbs and the other lost 7lbs and counting. They both decided to continue the diet since it was working so well for them. While I didn't see a big weight change I was still happy because I wasn't looking to really gain or lose much weight.

I will continue a modified version of the diet. I do not think it is healthy to stay on a low carb diet for very long so I will slowly start to introduce some nutrient based carbs back into my diet. I do not expect much will change after I do this. I did learn some great recipes on this diet. If you are interested in trying any of them out please feel free to contact me.

Mike

Pushing the limits:

One of the most common complaints that I will hear is that a person works out at the gym 5 days a week and never gets anywhere. I first must make the point that if you are working out 5 days a week you are getting an enormous amount of benefit. You are keeping your heart healthy and improving your overall fitness. Unfortunately a longer life isn't what my clients are usually looking for. Sounds weird to say but people want to see what they are working for now. The fact that you are making your life easier by staying active and improving your ability to function as you age, aren't very appealing.

I understand though you need proof that your workouts are doing something to your body and unfortunately you cannot see all the benefits of exercise. So why aren't you getting results you can see if you are constantly working out. Chances are you're stuck in a routine and you do the same things over and over. Even if you are changing things up you might not be progressing properly. The key to any work out plan is to constantly progress. You need to be challenging yourself more and more each workout. This can be done by making the exercise more difficult by changing the stance or position or increasing the weight. The only way that you will get significantly stronger and see muscle definition is by stressing your muscles more than they have been stressed before.

For example if you normally perform push ups during a workout try performing them with one leg off the ground. If you normally perform 2 sets try 3, 4, or even 5. It is sometimes can be helpful to keep a workout log. This way you can see how many reps you are performing and how much weight you are lifting. If you are always staying with the same weight you are not going to see the results that you are looking for.

Whether you are looking to lose weight or gain muscle this plan will work.

Have a great workout.

Mike

Donation Help:

I have a client who is training for her first 1/2 Marathon. She is running to benefit the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. I am extremely proud of how hard she is working to raise awareness of this disease and with how hard she is training. If you come across my blog and would like to help her out we would both greatly appreciate it. Anything would help. The race is July 20th and she is trying to raise $3500. Please help her reach her goal. To donate or learn more about the race please check out this link: http://www.active.com/donate/napa08sandiego/sarablackburn

Thanks,

Mike

OK. I'll be the first to admit my 4th of July weekend was not perfect but it wasn't awful. I am just as vulnerable as everyone else. Holidays are extremely hard to stick to the plan but I made modifications. I changed my high carb days to Friday and Saturday since I knew they would be the worst days. Once I got to Sunday I was pretty much back on track and good to go. Monday was fine as well. I am really still noticing some good results with the diet. My weight has held pretty consistent but I have gotten great feedback from friends, clients, and co workers. I feel that I am becoming very lean but not losing any muscle mass. I have even gotten comments that I look bigger in the arms and shoulders which always is nice to hear for a guy. I will not be posting a constantly anymore. I feel that I can stick with this diet pretty easily and have not noticed any setbacks recently. I have two more weeks to go and I will post some final thoughts as I get closer.

Mike