Stretchy cheesy goodness. Perfectly smooth sauce. Cookies that look ready to melt in your mouth. That was what my Facebook feed looked like awhile back. I was inspired in so many ways. None of those ways helped me to be a better person!

There is an epidemic of food posts on social media. It seems like there is a new heart attack inducing recipe popping up every day. And they all look SO GOOD. 

So I decided I would no longer be a victim, and began unfollowing each Group or Page that was responsible for creating them. I've unfollowed over 50 to date. 

I don't need any help in being more unhealthy, I can manage that just fine on my own thank you! 

The more we are exposed to certain foods or thoughts of foods, the more we will crave. And the stronger those cravings will be. 

Take charge over your thought life. Each and every little picture, video, and bit of text will lodge itself in your subconscious mind. Your subconscious can be a seemingly irrational, uncontrollable beast. 

Don't...

The only battle you will always lose is the battle you have with yourself – John Bradshaw

(this topic is not for everyone, if you don’t want to get too deep enjoy the quote and move on)

John Bradshaw is a titan of family dynamics.  His practice has found that most of us are at war with ourselves.  We know that when we argue with someone else someone always loses.  Your odds are infinitely less favorable when you argue with yourself.  In the Bible it says: “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” – KJV. 

I see this happen inside myself and I see it happen in the people we get to work with too.  They want to lose weight yet they keep sabotaging their own success.  The felt expectations of the world around them cause them to ignore basic self-care.  Logically we know that neglecting self-care will have negative consequences.  But, knowing and feeling are the two places at war. 

If you come at this challenge with “I’m a slug and I better shape up”, you will not ma...

About the Author:

Jeremy “the tall trainer” Biernat is a Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Strength Coach, has his Bachelors in Exercise Science, and enjoys writing, speaking, and inspiring people online and in person. See his new book!  More importantly he is a husband, father, and follower of God. His practice is in upstate NY (Canandaigua) where he works with people in one on one and group sessions to make awesome changes in their lives. He doesn’t do everything perfect, cries in movies, and would love to hear from you. You can contact Jeremy by commenting to this post, emailing [email protected], or calling 1(800)380-7047. 

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Chewing is not the first stage of digestion

There are several steps to the digestive process and all have a purpose.  I wanted to share something with you today that I think is awesome. 

Chewing is most often referred to as the first stage of digestion.  I even say that sometimes when my talk is a little more simplified.  If we look as digestion there are several steps and I’ll put them in order here:

• Chewing and saliva
• Stomach acids and enzymes
• Small Intestine absorption
• Large Intestine bacteria and more absorption
• Elimination

I’m going to share with you some things that happen before chewing that make a big deal in the digestive process. 

Selection and Anticipation

The food we choose to eat would be the first part of digestion.  What we choose determines much of the process.  Most digestive issues are fixed by selections of different foods.  Indigestion, bloating, gas, heart burn, constipation, and Diarrhea are all signs you may not be selecting correctly...

“Conflict arises when there is a difference between expectations and reality” – Dr. Tim Elmore (on Andy Stanley Podcast)
 

I was listening to a podcast and pulled this quote out.  It was a great reminder to me.  This is in fact the only reason for conflict.  If we take this to one extreme.  If someone expects to be treated badly when they are it doesn’t cause a conflict.  If you expect to be treated fabulously and are treated mediocre there is a conflict. 

You could think that one solution would be to not get your hopes up.  And some people use this strategy.  I think there does need to be more of this.  Entitlement is the king of conflict.  Of you feel owed something you get a bit sad, upset, or angry if you don’t get it. 

I don’t know about you but I love dealing with thankful daughters rather than entitled. 

“For those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12 NIV

I have rarely had the issue where Sarah is an...

As a father of two girls and a trainer to many more, I’ve never liked the term “girl push-ups”.  When people say this they are referring to push-ups performed from the knees.  I have an equally yucky taste in my mouth when someone says “you throw like a girl.”  It’s not considered a compliment.  Throwing like a girl is really just an immature and/or unpracticed throwing pattern.  The most notable feature is that the right foot is in front when throwing with the right hand. 

We handicap our girls by using terms like this.  I’ve been a trainer for over 15 years now and I have never used the term “girl push-up”.  One of the biggest reasons is, that its not just girls that should do these.  I have trained many guys who need to start with push-ups from the knees before progressing to push-ups from toes.  If you get too greedy or feel shame in doing push-ups from knees and you have bad posture you risk injury. 

“Throwing like a girl” is fixed with instruction and practice.  Girl p...

About the Author:

Jeremy “the tall trainer” Biernat is a Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Strength Coach, has his Bachelors in Exercise Science, and enjoys writing, speaking, and inspiring people online and in person. See his new book!  More importantly he is a husband, father, and follower of God. His practice is in upstate NY (Canandaigua) where he works with people in one on one and group sessions to make awesome changes in their lives. He doesn’t do everything perfect, cries in movies, and would love to hear from you. You can contact Jeremy by commenting to this post, emailing [email protected], or calling 1(800)380-7047. 

Please share this with friends!

My name is Megan and I joined Tall Trainer in December 2018. 

Since the birth of my daughter eight years ago, I had become fixated on losing weight. I placed a lot of my value in the number on the scale and wouldn’t be satisfied until I reached my “goal weight.” I read weight loss books, trained for 5K’s, logged food and the weight came off. 

Unfortunately, my go-to coping mechanism when things got stressful was food. My weight slowly started to creep back up. I also developed food allergies and started having issues with my gut. I felt frustrated trying to navigate these new restrictions. I felt so overwhelmed and my weight continued to go up. I tried other exercise programs and lost some weight but would always regain it during busy or stressful times. 

After years of feeling depressed with no motivation, no plan, no accountability and no success, I was gifted a free month of Tall Trainer (thank you Jeremy & Sarah!!!). My first thought was: I HAVE to do this--I need a jump start. My s...

In my coaching group we were tackling the idea of guilt and shame and how it affects each person. Each person had  a different story and example, but much of it tied back to food.

Often food is the "solution" to guilt and shame.

There is often a spiral associated with these feelings. Guilt, as in I did something bad, and shame, as in I am bad, each feel icky within us. We don't like those types of feelings, and so we seek a solution. Often times the solution is momentary and puts us in a worse spot.

Here is how the shame spiral typically goes:

1. You take an action that doesn't align with your values
2. You have a 'negative' emotion that follows it
3. You connect with the 'negative' feeling
4. You seek a way out of the feeling
5. You take an action to solve the feeling (often something that doesn't align with your values)
6. The spiral starts again!

Have you ever used phrases like:

"I was bad this weekend."

"I did not behave myself after the waitress asked if we wanted dessert."

 "I...

Yeah?

It’s true.  I’m going to ask you to step outside of your own situation for a minute and observe our food from a different angle.  I’m going to focus mostly on breakfast cereal but most processed carbohydrates have at least some of this feature.  First, breakfast cereal is not a health food.  It is processed carbohydrates in a box.  While this is true, there are millions of kids surviving mostly on breakfast cereal.  A bowl for breakfast, a bowl when they get home from school, and maybe a snack before bed.  Shoot, my childhood had its share of breakfast cereal.  It was a staple of my diet too. 

We have a nutrition program we use with our clients that is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.  I have never seen any others breakdown that many nutrients.  Usually it’s Calories, Carbs, Fat, Protein, Fiber, Salt, and maybe a couple more.  It scores you in 26 nutrients.  You need to know this because this was part of how I made this realization myself.  If you put breakfast cereal into...