You can’t teach an old dog a new trick

False.

Most people aren’t consistent enough for the dog to learn the trick. 

We had a wonderful Old Dog named Stella.  We moved into a new house just a couple years before she died.  She learned the new habits of the house and yard fairly quickly.  She could have learned any trick at any time if we would take the effort to teach her. 

How about you?  Do you lean on this classic American folk statement as a reason you at 60 can’t get a handle on your eating or exercise habits?  Many do. 

If you believe in this falsehood you won’t try the 10^th, 11^th, 12^th, or 34^th time it takes to learn the new habit.  In my experience most adults only allow themselves 2 times to try something new.  If they don’t get it in the first 2 they say, “I’m no good at that.” 

Your brain is just confused on how the world works. 

When you are tempted to give up early, remind yourself that in the real world EVERYONE else has to try more times.  Chan...

This is most likely the key phrase for mastering any physical skill.  But I think it relates well to our weight loss attempts too.  The phrase may most often be used in shooting where being jittery is no good.  Slowing yourself down so you can do it right means you get it faster.  And once you get good at it the results are repeatable. 

If you’ve ever been in a panic trying to do something fast you might have experienced this.  It’s raining outside and you are trying to unlock the door fast.  In your attempt to do it fast you drop the keys twice, find the wrong key once, and miss the lock three times. 

It takes you WAY longer than if you had decided to just go slow. 

I think our weight loss can sometimes look like this.  We lose weight fast on some CRASH diet frantically striving only to gain it back.  Accepting a slower rate of weight loss that will transition better into “real life”, Is way more valuable. 

So, I want to encourage you to focus on the critical habits an...

There is a lot going on between the skin on your back and the skin on your stomach that can be making your waist thicker.  Most people think they either need to strengthen the abs or they need to lose weight.  While both of those may be true there are a few other things that could be happening.  Here are 5 strategies to help you narrow your waist.  If you work on all 5 you’ll have the best shot at getting the stomach you’ve been hoping for. 

Straighten Up!

As funny and over simplified as it sounds just sit and stand up straight.  Most of the abdominal muscles attach from the ribs to the hips.  If you think about these muscles like a rubber band they are tighter when they are stretched more.  If you slouch your ribs are tipped forward and usually your hips tipped back.  (this is also the recipe for back pain).  The front and bottom of your ribs is now closer to the front and top of your hips.  The muscles can now relax well as stick out.  On top of this the organs inside...

A letter to Alice

Ok, so Alice is not the real name. This ‘Alice’ I am writing to is actually a real person but I think more people than her need to hear this message. I actually got out of bed to write this because I was so stirred.

Alice,

I see you are frustrated. The scale has been stuck for a bit maybe even up a little. You often do amazing work in nutrition and exercise but you seem to be stumbling enough to keep yourself stuck. I hear you speak of yourself like you are “weak”. Like you “can’t control yourself.” That you somehow are “not strong enough.”

I call BullSh#t...

I think your biggest problem isn’t that you are weak. I think your biggest problem is you think you are weak. This being weak baloney is not truth!

You are one of the strongest people I know! Sure other people might lift more or move faster that’s not the kind of strength I’m talking about. The strength I’m talking about is the kind that has spent the last 20+ years carrying your family on your back. ...

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...

I stumbled across this and it was too good not to share. 

Milkshake Study YUM!

Grehlin is the hormone in your body that is responsible for hunger.  (think growlin’ grehlin).  The higher it is the hungrier you are.  They did a study with mostly college students.  There are a lot of studies on college students because for a couple bucks and a milkshake they’ll do just about anything.  So, they had them fast for 3 hours!  Basically, they needed them to be a little hungry.  They checked their Grehlin levels when they got there and then gave them a milkshake called sensible delight that promised guilt free pleasure.  At only 200-300 Calories, low sugar, etc.  They had to wait an hour for the milkshakes effect show up in the blood.  Then they checked the Grehlin levels again.  They had fallen.  Not far but some.  From what we know the more you eat the more they fall so a small milkshake should have had that effect. 

They had them come back again on a different day.  Fasted again ...

Before I even get into it I want you to know I am not against other people drinking alcohol and I think it’s highly likely that Jesus drank alcohol when he was on earth. I’ve just gone through certain life experiences that have led me not to drink.  I’m not saying you have to follow, but I do want to share my reasoning because some of it relates to health and fitness. 

I love lists and bullet points when I’m reading so I supply you skimmers with bullet points to keep you going. 

- Both my Grandfathers were alcoholics.  I did not know either of them real well.  Both died too young (one before I was born).

- I put myself in the hospital one time drinking too much (college).

- The flabbiest I ever got was when I was drinking alcohol the most.  Avoiding alcohol is AWESOME for my ABS!

- There is some research that says it’s good for heart health but several others that say it's no good for other diseases like Cancer.  I wonder if Tea has the same heart health benefit bec...

Do you feel ALL over the place with your eating?

Perfect meal to HECK with it!

Monday–Friday afternoon =Gold star BUT let’s NOT even talk about the weekend.

I used to ride on this roller coaster SEVERAL times a week. I had very BLACK and WHITE thinking. Perfect or total crap. Tons of veggies and lean protein to diving into as many refined carbs as I could get my paws on.

With my eating disorder history, any thought of “restricting” calories sends me into a TOTAL tail spin. I don’t think you have to have had an eating disorder to have a similar cycle. Years of yo-yo dieting can have the similar effects.

I HAD to change my mindset about how I was eating and tracking my food if I stood a chance at getting control over this ugly pattern that TOTALLY drained me and left me feeling hopeless, weak and defeated.

If restricting your calories causes more binges…THEN DON’T RESTRICT YOUR CALORIES and focus on cutting down on the binges.

What is a binge? The nationaleatingdisorders.org define...

We've been thinking about this for years and finally have decided on a way to do it.  We wanted to allow you to have more to shoot for than just survival of boot camp so we've made levels and incentives similar to the martial arts system.  Watch the video to find out more!  If you weren't here on day one this month definitely watch the video!  CLICK HERE

My hope it this helps you to reach higher and do better!  2018 is going to be a GREAT year!

Jeremy 'tall trainer' Biernat

HALLOWEEN CANDY RULES
(how many calories and how hard is it to burn that stuff off anyway?)

VIEW on FOX Rochester

My mom agreed to go on the News with me last week and ride an exercise bike to burn off the Calories in the piece of candy I'm holding.  Yeah that's my mom!  I'm 36 and I'm not the oldest kid.  She is a great spokes person for our program AND Exercise / Nutrition in general!

4 Helpful Candy Rules:

1 - Don't buy it until the day before (if you already have...Danger!)
2 - Buy Candy you don't like
3 - Don't open the BIG bag - once you do you'll be more tempted
4 - Make a kids day - at the end of trick or treating dump all your candy in the last kids bag and turn out the light.  That kid will remember it forever!!!  (and you won't start your holiday weight gain early)

At anywhere from 20-120 Calories for a "fun sized" candy you could easily bring in an extra 500 calories per day in a couple bites.  Plus the high sugar content makes you more hungry in general!