When I started as a personal training career way back in 1992 (right after high school), I believed that a great workout and an even better nutrition plan was all they needed to succeed.

But to my surprise, that wasn’t it.

Less than 50% of my clients actually were getting results.

I was soooo frustrated.

They either missed way too many sessions or just didn’t follow their nutrition program.

I soon realized that most people simply don’t follow through with their commitments.

Commitment means staying loyal to what you said you were going to do, long after the mood you said it in has left you. (one of our signs in the transformation center)

I soon realized that I needed more than just a good nutrition and workout program to get my clients in shape.

I said to myself “THEY NEED MOTIVATION”

Boy was I wrong…..

I would do my best to give them reasons to work hard.

My goal was to inspire people and touch their emotions to come in and do a better job in and out of the gym.

The combination of training, nutrition and motivation did much better than training and nutrition alone, but motivation by itself has a fundamental flaw.

Motivation doesn’t last ;(

I’m still a big believer in motivation. Everyone wants to be encouraged and inspired.

But here’s the truth when it comes to permanent results.

Motivation gets you going, but DISCIPLINE is what KEEPS you going.

In fitness and life in general I believe CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY

That’s why I tell our clients to have one hour of gym time Monday-Friday.

I just need them to follow the process first.

That’s why we offer THE 6 WEEK WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE where we literally pay you to lose weight. (Must Qualify)
6 WEEK WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE

That’s why we offer unlimited boot camp sessions with 9 sessions per day for less than a cup of Starbucks.

Unlimited Boot Camp sessions

That’s why we offer specialty programs like Feminine Muscle (currently sold out) to help our clients master the art of DISCIPLINE.

Feminine Muscle

 

Remember the PROCESS is always much more important than the destination.

Sam,

If you’ve been on a fat loss diet for quite some time and were seeing good progress but that has recently slowed, chances are your metabolism is running more slowly than it should be. As a result, you just aren’t burning as many calories on a day to day basis as you could be, thus progress is moving far more slowly.

In order to regain faster progress again and get your metabolism fired up, you need to understand how to correct a sluggish metabolism properly.

Let’s go over the steps to take.

Figure Out Your Target Calorie Intake

First, you need to figure out what your target calorie intake is going to be. What calorie level do you want to reach?

For most people leading normal lives – doing a few workouts per week, you can assume your maintenance calorie intake will be around 15-16 calories per pound of body weight.

For those who are very sedentary, 14 may be the better number so adjust accordingly.

Begin Adding Calories Gradually

Now that you know your calorie target, you need to begin adding calories to this number gradually. Don’t add them all at once or you may risk some fat gain as your metabolism is running more slowly than it normally would be.

Add around 10-15% of your total intake every 2-3 days until you are at your target calorie level. Then you want to stay at that target calorie level for at least one week (two would be preferable) before you go back down to dieting again.

Focus On Getting Sufficient Carbs

When adding foods to make up these calories, really focus on carbohydrate dense foods here. These are going to be the ones that have the most significant influence on your metabolic rate, so will be what produces the optimal results.

You still need proteins and fats, but carbs should be your focus.

So there you have the steps to take if you are currently suffering from a slow and damaged metabolism. If you take these steps, you can get back to where you want to be and seeing faster fat loss again.

If you’re about to get started on a diet and workout program that’s aimed to improve your body composition, having you lose body fat and/or build lean muscle mass, the starting point to get this process started is with figuring out your metabolic rate.

Your metabolic rate is going to dictate how many calories you burn up on a day to day basis, so this influences the direction in which your body weight moves.

Since you need to burn more energy than you consume each day with your food intake in order to use fat as a fuel source, it pays to know about how much you are burning.

That said, there are some pretty serious errors that can be made when calculating your metabolic rate and if you aren’t careful to identify these so that you can protect against they may really influence your progress.

Let’s look at what you should know.

Your Past Diet Habits

The first factor that can sway your metabolic rate is the past diet that you’ve been using. If you’ve been on a reduced calorie diet for weeks on end, chances are good that your metabolic rate is going to be slower because of this.

Your body will naturally slow down the metabolism in order to conserve fuel and prevent further weight loss from taking place, so know that you may need to factor this in.

Proper diet breaks every few weeks can help to prevent this from occurring.

Your Body Fat Percentage

Next, you also should consider your total body fat percentage. Since your metabolic rate will be estimated off your total body weight, those who are very lean may have higher metabolic rates than the estimates give them.

This is due to the fact that muscle is highly metabolically active, so the more of it you have, the more you will burn on a day to day basis.

On the flip side, those who are heavier individuals with more fat weight may burn less than what the estimates give them.

Your Fitness Routine

Finally, if you’re involved in weight lifting three or more times per week, expect to have a higher resting metabolic rate because of this. Weight lifting is going to boost the resting metabolic rate for up to 48 hours after the session is finished, so it can definitely have an effect.

So there you have the main points to remember as you go about figuring out your metabolic rate. Make sure to make a few adjustments if any of these are factoring in for you.

If you’re on a fat loss diet at the moment, it’s going to be imperative that you are making sure to look at all the beverages that you are consuming as these can add up quickly and really take away from the results that you should be seeing.

If you aren’t monitoring your beverage intake as you should be, you end up taking in far more calories than you anticipated, which can dramatically set you back.

Let’s have a look at the weight loss friendly beverage choices that you can consider so you know what is good for you to be consuming.

Water

You simply can’t beat water. Most people will already realize that this is definitely a top choice, but it should be stated again and again. Nothing hydrates better and will help your health more than a tall glass of cold water.

Drink at least eight glasses a day for best results.

Green Tea

Next, green tea is the second beverage on the list that’s going to help to further your weight loss goals. This one is great because it will actually serve to enhance the metabolic rate, thus can speed up the rate of results that you see.

Green tea is also loaded with antioxidants, so that will also assist with ensuring that you are doing what you can to promote good overall health.

Milk

Moving along, milk is the next good beverage choice to consider. Milk is full of calcium, contains almost 10 grams of protein per glass, and will be an excellent addition to your diet.

As long as you don’t suffer from lactose intolerance, you can drink one to two glasses per day provided you are calculating it in with your total calorie intake.

Also be sure to choose a lower fat variety of milk to avoid excessive saturated fat consumption.

 

Whey Protein Shakes

Finally, the last beverage to consider is whey protein shakes. These are going to be a great way to boost your protein intake dramatically, so are definitely something for you to consider. Most people aren’t currently getting enough protein in as it is, so adding the protein shake will help them out significantly in this regard.

Prepare them with some frozen berries, a small amount of skim or almond milk, along with some Greek yogurt if you want a thicker tasting shake.

So there you have four beverages that you can drink and still lose weight. Choose wisely and you will see the best possible results from your diet efforts.