Fitness Concepts Blog

Program Your Body to Lose Weight Forever with the 21 Day Scale Down Program 

If you want to lose weight fast, a two day liver detox  is a tasty and safe way to do it.

Juicing is one healthy way to cleanse the liver and filter fat and other toxins from your system. And with it, shed that sluggish feeling and perhaps one pound a day of body

 For me, fresh organic fruit and vegetables, and yes, exercise, are my source for unlimited energy

Is  Dairy Making You Fat?

Are you having a difficult time losing that last 10 lbs of fat? Well if you are, you’re not alone. Of course we ‘re all aware that trans fats are the bad guys and should be avoided at all costs. But what about dairy products?

Ok, I know what you’re going to say.” I need dairy to get calcium for my bones”. Or “What am I going to have with my cereal in the morning?”

 Consuming dairy on a regular basis can cause:

• weight problems
• headaches/migraines
•  indigestion 
•  compromise your immune system
• congestion

Sixty percent of adults are lactose intolerant, which means they can’t digest the main sugar “lactose’ found in milk.

To make a long story short, insulin puts fat into your cells causing you to get fat. Foods that cause your body to release insulin make us fat. These foods include sugar and those foods that turn into sugar when digested.

Chronically elevated insulin levels eventually lead to insulin resistance ( the muffin top or spare tire) which makes it more difficult to burn fat.

In all of my years of personal training and nutrition counseling, if I had to choose a couple of VERY simple dietary changes that have made the biggest difference for my clients in allowing them to FINALLY see fat loss results (and other health problems solved), to take dairy and gluten out of their diets.

I advise my clients to eliminate both GLUTEN and DAIRY for 2 full weeks. After the 2 weeks, they can reintroduce them one at a time ,so that they can determine if one of them or both, are causing negative health effects. 

 Wheat and dairy are easily two of the biggest intolerance that a large percentage of the population has.  Dr. Jesse Hanley, author of Tired of Being Tired, believes that one in thirty Americans exhibits a gluten sensitivity. 

There are dozens, possibly hundreds, of gluten intolerance symptoms. Unfortunately, no one symptom is specifically characteristic of this common ailment. The majority of people with gluten intolerance (and celiac disease) have intestinal symptoms as well as many others. Common manifestations include:

• Bone, joint, muscle pain
• Delayed/disrupted menstrual cycles (amenorrhea/delayed menarche)
• Dental enamel hypoplasia (enamel defects)
• Fatigue
• Gastrointestinal distress (gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, reflux)
• Headaches (including migraines)
• Inability to concentrate
• Infertility
• Moodiness, depression
• Mouth sores
• Seizures
• Short stature
• Tingling numbness in the legs
• Weight loss/gain

 If you have any of the above symptoms, you might consider an elimination test to do for about 2 weeks to gauge if you see some dramatic changes in your body fat percentage, how you look and feel overall, your energy levels, and other health issues.

If you do the 2-week elimination of wheat and dairy and don’t feel that it helped you at all or made you feel better, than you can probably do ok on moderate amounts of each.

I have a client who came to me with chronic headaches and weight gain. She tried everything to get rid of those headaches. They were so bad she couldn’t get out of bed to go to work. After taking her completely off dairy  and gluten for 2 weeks, she finally saw the scale go in the other direction and she was finally headache free.

By removing gluten and dairy from the diet, the gut heals and the myriad of symptoms disappears. Depending on the level and degree of the intolerance (which can range anywhere from a gluten sensitivity to a full-blown celiac disease), it may be possible to eventually re-introduce properly prepared grains (sourdough that has fermented for up to a month, sprouted grains, etc) into the diet.

Check out the many different websites that offer recipe ideas like the one in this newsletter. Being gluten and dairy free doesn’t have to be boring!

So what is an “After Burn”? In short, the after burn effect is calorie burn AFTER exercise. The after burn effect is difficult to estimate as you’ll learn in a moment. The more intense the exercise, the greater the after burn effect. For example, sprinting as fast as you can for 30 seconds for 5 rounds will have a much larger after burn effect compared to jogging for 30 minutes.When we exercise, we throw the body into a form of chaos. Once the workout is over, our bodies expend calories to get the body back into its pre-exercise state.

After Burn workouts can best be described as brief bouts (30-90 sec.) of intense strength and body weight training combined with brief bouts on intense cardiovascular training. These workouts are usually done in a circuit with little to no rest in between exercises. When done correctly “After Burn” workouts produce outstanding results in strength, stamina, and body composition.

 Results can differ based on gender and the type of exercise but, in general, the tougher (and longer) the workout, the greater the after-burn.

At Fitness Concepts we specialize in “After Burn” workouts. About 95% of our clients train for a half hour, ( not including their warm-up) and in that time we need to give them the most effective workout possible. We feel that “After Burn” style workouts give our clients more bang for the buck then any other workout we know.

After burn workouts can be designed many different ways, but they all have one thing in common and that is a high degree of intensity. Clients that put out the most effort, (according to their abilities) see the best results. These workouts can be done in a gym, going from one exercise to the next with minimal rest in between. They can also be done with minimal equipment using a kettlebell, medicine balls, Olympic bar, TRX,  pull-up bars the combinations are endless.

After Burn workouts can be used with beginners to elite athletes, just the level of intensity and the amount of resistance used would be different.  Clients start off at a low intensity level, and with each consecutive workout we gradually bring up the intensity by either increasing the resistance loads or decreasing the rest period in between exercises, or both! Usually within a month or two our clients can complete a non-stop circuit with little to no rest in between exercises with a high level of intensity.

Here are a few examples of different After burn workouts. These workouts when done correctly will give you the best results in the least amount of time. You’ll get the body you want in half the time.

After Burn #1

 ½  mile run

20   KB swings

20  dips or push-ups

20  pull-ups or body weight rows

20 crunches

1/3  mile run

15 KB swings

15 dips or push-ups

15 pull-ups or body weight rows

15  crunches

¼ mile  run

10 swings 10 dips or push-ups

10 pull-ups or body weight rows

10 knee-ups or crunches

1. Try to complete this workout in the fastest time possible, without sacrificing form.

2. Once you can complete this workout with no rest, you need to increase the resistance the next time you do this workout.

3. Choose the exercises that best fit your physical abilities. For example if you can’t do pull-ups do body weight rows.

After Burn #2

Kettlebell Swings x 30 seconds.

Push-ups x30 sec.

Medicine ball chop x 30 sec.

Kettlebell snatches x 30 sec.

Box jumps x 30 sec.

1 arm TRX row x 30 sec

1 arm kettlebell clean and press x 30 sec.

Seated rotational chop with a converta ball or medicine ball

Double unders with a jump rope x 30 sec

1. Do one side of the body on the first round and the other side on the next round.

2. Do between two and six sets of the circuit.

3. Take 15- 30 seconds off in between exercises.

4. Take one minute of active rest in between circuits.

After Burn #3

1/10  mile run

40  KB or Olympic Bar snatches

1/10 mile  run

30  KB snatches

1/10 mile  run

20  KB  snatches

1/10 milerun

10 snatches

1. Try to complete this workout in the fastest time possible without sacrificing form.

2. Once you can complete this workout with no rest, you need to either increase the weight for the snatches or decrease your time for the row or run section of the workout.

THE GOLDEN KEY TO BE RID OF UNWANTED FAT

 We’re constantly told that carbohydrates are the good guys of nutrition, and that, if we eat large amounts of them, the world should be a better place. In such a world, the experts tell us, there will be no heart disease and no obesity. Then why is the obesity rate in this country so high? In Greene County the obesity rate for adult is 60.3%.

What is a dieter’s number one enemy? SUGAR! Tell me something I don’t already know! “But I don’t eat any sugar” is a common thread among people who claim to eat “healthy” and can’t understand why they can’t lose weight. Really? There are so called “healthy” foods which are loaded with sugar

• Orange juice
• Whole wheat bread
• Pasta
• Low fat muffins
• Low fat salad dressing
• Healthy cereals

These are just some of the foods that are causing you to gain weight or keep you from losing weight. When these foods enter your body, they convert into sugar. And that’s when they fat storing party begins.

Let ‘s take a look at a hormone called insulin. When your blood sugar reaches 120 or higher for a consistent period of time, you body has no choice but to release insulin. Insulin signals your body to store fat. Having high blood sugar for a long period of time is very dangerous and that’s where insulin comes in to save the day. Unfortunately it also makes you store fat.

When you eat too many of the wrong kind of carbohydrates, your body must release insulin to lower blood sugar levels. Skipping meals also keeps insulin levels high because your body thinks it famine time and it’s forced to store energy whenever it’s supplied. When insulin is released it takes your blood sugar level from high to low. When your blood sugar level is low, it makes you have cravings, you feel hungry all the time and fatigue sets in.

 If you’re active, then insulin will store sugar in the muscles. But if your muscles are not being used or if the muscle cells are full, your extra calories will wind up in fat cells.

Many people are releasing too much insulin and that’s when you develop that lovely accumulation of fat around your mid section. This is an indication that you have become insulin resistant. Once those fat cells in your midsection are full the fat accumulation extends to other areas of the body and you become progressively more obese.

The problem for many people is they don’t know how to recognize the foods that won’t cause a spike in insulin.

How do you recognize the fat burning foods from the fat storing ones? Let’s start with carbs. Not all carbs are created equal. Everybody needs to eat carbs in order for their bodies to function properly. But these are ones you should definitely avoid.

Refined carbs like those found in wheat bread, pasta so called “healthy cereals” will do NOTHING to aid you in burning body fat. Foods that include white flour or with high white sugar content are categorized as refined carbohydrates. Refined carbs are known to increase blood sugar levels, aside from containing little or no nutrition, and instead of helping you burn body fat they will increase it.
Fresh vegetables and fruits will help you burn body fat and should be your first preferences. As a rule of thumb, if you want to burn body fat fast, stay with vegetable sources. Asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, zucchini, and celery are great vegetable choices if you are looking to burn body fat fast. Fat burning fruits are green apples,  fresh apricots, cherries, grapefruit, oranges, peaches.

A moderate amount of carbs, pro, fat helps keep blood sugar balanced. Fat slows down the absorption and digestion of the carbs, providing a steady, ongoing supply of glucose which keeps the fat storage hormone insulin low. Protein in a meal stimulates the release of the fat-burning hormone, glucagon, thereby maximizing your ability to burn stored body fat for energy.

I am at the point in my business and my life where I am just too busy to do everything I used to do. My typical day consisted of working with clients, teaching class, selling memberships, doing assessments on new members, training staff and other stuff. So, I decided to hire a new trainer, so I can be free to do other things.Megahn has taken over some of my clients and is teaching some of my classes too. She is young and pretty and the members tell me she’s “a lot nicer than you”.  I’m OK with that. I used to be a “nice” trainer too, when I first started working with clients.

With my new found “freedom” I decided to enroll in a Speakers School, in Providence R.I.

When I signed up, I was told to have a 10 minute presentation prepared on a topic I am passionate about.  I picked my topic, did some research, wrote it and rehearsed it 2-3 times a week.  I am totally prepared and can’t wait to get up and show everyone how great I am. After all, I stand up in front of people everyday, it’s easy.

The big day finally arrives and it’s me and 18 men- professional men. Some of these guys are already paid presenters. Oh crap! Of course as the Universe would have it, I was the first to present. After my presentation, (which got cut off after 2 minutes) everybody in the room gave me feedback. They were actually being nice, except for the guy running the show. He looked at me and said “Mary, this isn’t good”, “What are your thoughts?” My response was  ”I tried my best”. What else could I say? I was totally shocked. No one has ever said that to me and I didn’t like it.

He looked at me and said “Just because you tried your best, doesn’t mean you did a good job”.

Wow! Up until this point, when I tried  my best, I was successful. I guess “trying” doesn’t always cut it anymore. That night when everybody else was down at the bar, I was in my room rehearsing and revising my presentation, for the next day.There was no way I was going to be told that it “isn’t good” again.

Where is all this leading? I’ll tell you. When you join my club you must keep a food journal and bring it with you every time you come to the club. Even my instructors ask to see clients food journals.  It’s that important.

 The problem is that I know when a client isn’t exactly being truthful. It’s not like this is my first job, I’ve been doing it for 15 years. Plus I have a kid, so I have a pretty good idea when someone’s trying to put one over on me.

Every week, I asked the same woman if she had her journal. My new trainer is too nice to ask, so I have to be the bad guy. She always responds, “It’s in the car and I’ve got to run, or I’ll be late or “ I’ll bring it in next time”.   One day, she was coming out of the club when I was going in, so I decided to nail her. I walked her to her car, looked at her  food journal and all I could say was “Are you kidding me?” You’re still eating bread and dairy?” She said “Well, yeah I tried to cut it out, but it’s not easy”.

 All I could do was shake my head and say ” You tried to cut down?”I guess you’re not really that serious are you?” She almost cried.

But then I reminded myself that she did do 2 important things, she did keep a food journal and she did bring it with her to the club, just not inside.  I guess I’ll have to be more specific next time.

I wrapped up our conversation like this, “You might be wondering why I take this so personally. It’s because I care about your success. My staff cares about your success. You’re never alone here. We have a great support system at the club and you can count on us to guide you every step of the way”.

Guess what? The next food journal did not include dairy and gluten and she lost 5 pounds of fat in 2 weeks!

Here’s what it comes down to:

“Trying” is for people who want to fail- and often do

“Being nice” won’t get you the results you want – Meghan has gotten  meaner and she gets great results.

Telling you you’re doing a great job, when in reality you’re not, is unethical and unprofessional and unfair to you.

When you finally decide that you are going to get serious about losing weight, then this is the place for you. I will keep you accountable – but understand I do not keep you accountable to me – I keep you accountable to yourself. Yes, if you ain’t cutting it, I will tell you – directly but politely (most likely).  But on the flip side when you are doing well, showing up for classes, following your custom nutrition plan, busting you’re a** and literally changing your life with every breath you take, I will be your biggest fan.

 My club has become a colony of winners (or “losers” I guess you could say) because we tell it like it is, and stay accountable to ourselves.  We learn from our mistakes and celebrate our victories. We do not sugar coat the truth. (Sugar in not on the meal plan!!) We keep it real and get real results. We continue to see unbelievable progress not only because of the unique fat loss programming and top-notch staff but because of the support the clients give each other.  And half-a**ing it, “trying” and offering up fake support does not enter the equation.

Fitness Concepts isn’t for everyone. It’s for people who want permanent results. Maybe that’s you?

Why do women put themselves at the bottom of their priority list?  I’m asking this question because of the conversations I’ve had with several women the last few days. We will do anything for our kids, our job and husbands even the dog is on the top list. But why do we put ourselves last on the list?

 One of my clients wanted to purchase some training sessions for her son as a gift. She took out her credit card and I asked her if she would like to purchase another block of sessions for herslf. She looked at me and  said “Oh, well, maybe I’ll just get the sessions for my son and I’ll re-up after the holidays”. Are you kidding me? Why would you do that? She looks great, has lost 10lbs of FAT and now is willing to put that aside? In the end, she purchased sessions for herself and her son, but why did she even have to think about it? Does this sound like you?

Are you one of those women who takes care of the house, the kids, (You NEVER miss a game, even if your kid sits the bench) the laundry, holds down a job, up at the crack of dawn to make breakfast, lunch and dinner PLUS walk the dog and forgets about herself? “Oh I’m too tired to go to the gym” I’ll bet you are! But if you put yourself first, then you’ll have the energy to do all the above and you’ll look great too!

Oh and by the way, men do the same thing except it’s usually their “job” that keeps them from taking care of themselves.

Guess who’s at the top of my priority list? ME! I am going to quote Kelly Martin “She who must last, comes first”. Guess where you’ll find Kelly Martin? At the club 5-6 days a week and yet she still manages to find time to go to the baseball games, do the girl scout thing with Emma and take care of a new puppy.

So, what’s stopping you? Are you going to wait until the doctor tells you “You’ve got Diabetes” Or will you decide to take a pro-active approach to taking care of yourself?

Before you take out your organizer or make another to do list, realize that you don’t need more “balance” to be happy. You need a breakthrough.  You need a revelation.  What I’m talking about is a shift in thinking, a change in mindset that says it’s ok to love yourself and put yourself on the top of the list., It’s ok to ask for help, it’s ok to say no, it’s ok to not be perfect!

And it’s ok, to make yourself a priority in your life! This is the secret to happiness—whether at work or at home!

When most people join a health club, they usually join for one or two reasons:

• They want to lose weight
• They don’t want to gain weight

Believe me, there are more people joining for the first reason than the second. A trainer’s goal is to get that person to their desired weight and continue to work out in order to maintain that weight.

Most of the people in my club atttend our awesome group fitness classes. I am a total believer in choreographed classes, for the obvious reasons; safety and effectiveness. However, even the most seasoned group fitness attendee needs some extra help in order to lose that last 10 pounds.

That’s where a personal trainer comes in. When you hire a trainer, you’ll get an evaluation that  tells the trainer what muscles are short and need stretching and what muscles are weak that need strengthening. Armed with that information, and your specific goals along with your timeline, several programs are designed specifically for you. Additionally, your trainer will motivate, educate and inspire you to do things you never thought possible. Just ask Amy Slutzky, she’s now doing pull ups on her own!

Your program may include fun tools like kettlebells, ropes, bands, tires, sleds and tubes. Trust me, these kinds of workouts are never boreing. The best part is the time will go so fast, you’ll hardly notice that you’ve been working hard!

Plus every 4 weeks your trainer will change your program so that your body never hits a plateau.

If you’d like to see what a fast, fun and effective workout looks like, check out the video on the articles section on the website. If you’d like a free trianing session with Meghan or Chris, I’ll be happy to set it up for you