So, how do we simplify it? First, get consistent with exercise THEN change your eating. Don’t try to do both at the same time right off the bat. When you are ready to change what you eat here are some tips on what to do:

1. Eat protein at every meal or as many meals as possible and eat it first. Protein is low to no-carb so it won’t get stored as fat but rather will be used as fuel and recovery. If you eat it first you are also less likely to overeat carbs.

2. Look at your week’s as a whole and not as individual days or meals. You can eat a bad meal but make up for it later in the day or week. Too many people think once they consume that unhealthy meal all is lost. Not so much as long as you think ahead about the next one.

3. Keep carbs to fruits and vegetables. Don’t eat any bread, pasta, or anything with a wrapper on it.

4. Plan a cheat meal on Saturday evening so that you may enjoy a night of “good eats”. This cheat meal is a reward for the hard work during the week.

5. Don’t get into the mind set that low-carb, low-fat, no sugar, no fat, etc… labels are good or even healthy in themselves. If something is low-fat it usually means its made up somewhere else, usually with sugar or salt. Focus on whole, natural foods instead of processed foods.

That’s it, those are 5 simple tips that you can implement right away and start to use to get results.

If you have been reading the blogs for any time you know that I rarely do arm work, isolation work, or direct ab work like crunches as I feel there are better and more efficient ways to work these muscles. The calf muscles are a little different as they are not used in nearly as many exercises as the shoulders, arms, and core.

So, I wanted to share with everyone what we came up with without losing the intensity of the class.

1. When you are doing any body weight or low weight squats, squat down, stand up, and at the end come up onto the toes in a calf raise and squeeze the calves as tight as possible.

2. When you do reverse lunges, step backwards, lunge, and when you bring the foot forward come up onto the toes of the front leg into a calf raise. This exercise does 2 things. First, it works the calves on an individual basis and second it works balance to the max because you will be on your toes.

3. When you do an types of jumps make sure to spring off the toes of your feet. This will incorporate our “power muscles” and a great way to strengthen the calves.

There you go, 3 ways to strengthen and build the calves without losing the intensity of your workouts. You can incorporate this into any workout 1-2 times a week.

1. I have learned once again this year that life is too damn short. Make NO excuse and ATTACK what you want.

2. I am becoming aware of what my real goals are in my business, fitness, and life. Boy have they changed

3. I learned what it means to buy, own, and maintain a home. Its fun, scary, nerve racking, and never boring

4. Our program has pushed the age limits again going from 15-68 years of age. I think that its great to be able to accomadate everyone.

5. I learned that soundproofing a wall is NO fun, especially when it doesn’t work.

6. I have learned that it only took 2 years for our dog to finally go from 100% craziness to 90% craziness all the time.

7. When pushed campers WILL try new things and most likely thank you for it later. I also learned that campers really WANT to be pushed, even if they do grumble about it a bit.

8. I have some pretty awesome friends and family. They helped me move from Madison back to Cedar Knolls and then they helped to move our gym. I can’t thank them enough.

9. I learned that the 70lb kettlebell is still too light for some campers and we need to get heavier ones.

10. Campers are always shocked when they go from an evening class to a morning class and vice versa. The biggest comment I hear, “These campers are sooo different” It almost never fails.

11. Buying new equipment is fun, watching campers faces when I demo it, PRICELESS.

12. I learned that Disneyland is not just for kids. It was a great trip with my wife of one and a half years (had to throw that in).

13. We get snow in October, nuf’ said.

14. I have learned that “Jersey Shore” will never let me down and almost always make me feel better about myself, YEAH BUDDY.

15. I learned that some people are facebook addicts.

16. Thankful to have my father because he can fix just about anything and me, well, almost nothing.

17. I have seen campers do amazing things again this year from weight lose to marathon training and everything inbetween. I love when I hear about results.

18. Once again, I realize more and more that I have the best “job” I could ever think of. Not only do I own a business but I really enjoying working.

19. Hiring someone to work for you is scary until you find out how damn good they are at what they do. My biggest “jump off” last year for sure.

20. I learned that there are a lot of opportunities out there and people will give you opportunites. I/you have to jump on them and make them work.

21. Most people want to see me succeed.

22. Once again age is not a factor. I have seen our younger campers and our, well, more mature campers get really good results.

23. I have learned that I am still trying to figure out if pairing up new male campers with our strongest females is a good or bad idea?? I still don’t know, its scares some away while it draws others in. Gotta love it.

24. I learned that people get really excited to meet my Mom and my wife Ro at class. Then they usually ask if I am a health freak at home all the time. Ro being a little too honest laughs and says, “HECK NO, he’s just normal.”  Thanks, haha.

25. Lastly, I have learned what it takes to succeed, what it means to constantly make things better, and why failure is not an option. I have seen campers do it all from quit after day 1 to going three and a half years and almost 400 classes strong. I still don’t know why and this will be something that I will forever try to figure out until everyone works out forever.

Here are a few tips in order to make the most out of your time at the gym, but more importantly to get better, progress, and see results.

1. Make every workout count. No talking, no reading the latest magazine, just getting down and working hard. Hard work pays off.

2. Pick one thing each day and/or each week and get better at it than the week before. Maybe you did 10 down and ups last week, today you do 11. Go from 12 push presses to 13 at the same weight. Its all about progression

3. Pair up with someone BETTER than you and try to work to THEIR abilities for just some of the class. If you always work at the same level or pace you will ALWAYS be the same.

4. Make one change each week to your nutrition and stick to it. Make it easy to do and something that you know you can handle. Instead of cookies every night, how about 5-6 nights a week. Its still better than the week before.

5. Make cardio harder by going longer, faster, changing up the routine, incorporating hills, etc… Do something to challenge yourself every time you do cardio.

6. Don’t over complicate progressing and what its all about. Take small achievable steps in order to reach the big goal. You won’t lose 40lbs in a week nor will you go from 4-40lb dumbbells. Think about what you can do EACH week to progress.

Berry Smoothy:

Mix 1/2 cup of mixed frozen berries, 1/2 cup of Greek Yogurt, a scoop of whey protein, and some water. Mix and enjoy. The nutrition facts for this smoothie are:

Calories: 225,  Fat: 1.3 grams,  Carbs: 16 grams, Protein: 36 grams

You can increase or decrease the amount to fit your needs. If you want you can add in peanut butter and also flax seed or anything you would like. Just take them into account when you ad up the calories, carbs, etc…

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

In this recipe you mix a medium banana, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, a scoop of whey protein, and a 1/2 cup of Greek Yogurt. Make sure to cut the banana up before adding it.

Calories: 490, Fat: 17 grams, Carbs: 44.5 grams, Protein: 42 grams

We use water in these recipes because milk will add additional calories and sugar to the counts. Keep in mind that the second recipe is much higher in fat because of the peanut butter and carbs because of the banana. Also, after making the smoothies you can also add in some ice to chill it.

Lastly, smoothies are great to eat right after a workout because it will put carbs and protein into your body very quickly. You may also use it as a snack or as breakfast its self. Its quick and easy to make and can be put together the night before and blended the next day.Smoothies are a very versatile meal that can be used in many ways and situations.

1. Make sure to pick and choose which parties you would like to indulge in and which you would like to be good at. You can’t enjoy every party to the fullest so pick an choose a few that will be most fun.

2. When you pick the party or get together that you want to enjoy make sure to actually enjoy it. Don’t spend the whole night analyzing what you are eating and drinking, ENJOY IT

3. Make sure to do some cardio the day of the party and the following day. This will ensure that you are prepping for the party and also buring off some of those calories the next day.

4.  If you miss a few days of working out its OK. It happens, don’t stress over it. You will NOT lose everything that you trained months to get in just a few days. Whats even more important is that you get right back to routine ASAP.

5. Go low carb the day before and all meals the day of the big party. Then when you splurge at the party you won’t feel so guilty.

6. Be the designated driver. This will take out the alcohol aspect. As far as the food goes make sure to drink plenty of water and stick to the veggies, fruit, hummus, and chickens. This will be the best way to still eat good without all the extra carbs, fat, and sugar.

I hope that everyone enjoys this Holiday Season. Whats most important is that you stay focused on your goals and relaize thatyou can have fun and indulge without going over board. Tis the season to have fun so go out and have a great time

One thing that I have learned from writing my own programs, reading blogs, and being on a very cut and dry program for three years is that its actually pretty easy to stay motivated if you do a little planning and enjoy what you are doing. If you have been working out for years and do the same thing every week, strength train and run, then yes it will be VERY hard to stay motivated for ever. If you don’t have any goals or any real reason to workout its hard to stay motivated.

BUT, that can all be changed. There is actually a ton of stuff that you can do to make sure that you not only stay motivated but continue to see progress. I will list them all and tell you EXACTLY what I am doing to stay motivated day in and day out.

1. Make sure to have a goal in mind when putting together your workouts. Have both short and long term goals. Adjust them as necessary. As I write this my goals right now are to get back to a 220 snatch and 265 clean and jerk, in addition I have a goal of running 5 miles 1X/week, and continually adding in more conditioning drills and agility drills into my strength training.

2. Train by how you feel, not by the book. If you follow a specific program which I am sure many do make sure to train by how you feel that day. If you feel good push it and if its an off day do the best you can but be aware that you may need to lay off a bit. This method will prevent over stimulation of the muscles and nervous system and allow you change the routine according to how your body feels.

3. Change up the exercises you do. I change up my exercises EVERY day. I might snatch, squat, and do a bodyweight circuit. The next day I might go hard in upper body and do some bodyweight conditioning. I am constantly changing my workout to include as many variables as possible.

4. Take measurements every 2 months, not every week. Every week may work for beginners but for us experienced exercisers we need to take measurements less frequently. You aren’t going to improve every week forever, you will eventually plateau and then it may take a month or two to see some results.

5. Change your cardio routine or mix in different types of cardio. This is something that I did this year BIG time and has proven to work. I started bike riding as an alternate to running once a week. I also totally changed up my sprint intervals and did some workouts with just hill sprints. It kept me interested and was better than just going out and running another 3 miles all the time.

6. Have fun with your exercise. I have so much fun exercising right now,especially strength training. I train alone and in groups, I do exercises that I never would have done a few years ago, and I try so many different rep schemes I am always keeping it interesting and fun and you should too. Remember, if its not fun it won’t last!!!!

Camper: Greg, I have been working out for 2 months now and have not lost any weight?

 Greg: OK, how do you pants and dresses fit?

 Camper: I have lost 2 dress sizes and can see the way my body is transforming. I feel much better and stronger but I haven’t lost any weight.

 Greg: If you have lost inches and clothes fit better thats a great sign that you are doing the right thing and are getting results.

 Camper: I guess, but what about the scale?

 This is a pretty typical conversation I have had with many many campers and its also a very valid concern. I see so many people overly concerned with what the scale says instead of with the results that they are getting. If you have lost inches this is a good thing no matter what the scale says.

 The typical progression of someone who starts off exercising is that they gain muscle and lose fat very quickly in the beginning. Because of this the scale evens its self out. This is also why you will lose inches WITHOUT any weight lose. You are literally transformaing the way your body looks.

After about 2-3 months the strength and muscle gains will start to plateau as will the fat lose. Now, here is where the scale can really start to move. The next thing you start looking at is your nutrition. At month 3 nutrition will play a bigger role in weight lose than cardio will BUT you can’t do one without the other.

 If you get our nutrition in check you will then start to see the weight come off while the body transformation and muscle gains continue. After this you will then go into a weight lose weight plateau and strength gain and strength plateau. The gains will become less the longer you workout and will constantly require more and more effort and consistency on your part.

 For example look at the show “The Biggest Loser” and compare them to a top sprinter. The contestants may lose 5-12lbs in a week or two. The athlete may train for 4 years to sprint 1-2 seconds faster in a race. The more in shape you get the harder it is and the more effort it will take to stay there and also exceed it.

 So, don’t worry if the scale doesn’t move the first ew months. Look to other areas of progress like strength gains, inches lost, core strength, how you feel, etc… The weight lose will come in time and the scale is NOT the end all be all of weight lose or the best measure of success. I have said it before that I have gained 20lbs since high school. YES, its mostly muscle and I tell you because if we judge everything by the scale I have not only failed but would be in no position to give anyone else advice. Fortunatley, thats not the case

1) Lay out your clothes, sneakers, mat, weights, water bottle, etc. and anything you may need so when you wake up half asleep, you are ahead of the game.

2) Pack a gym bag with the same items mentioned above and leave them in your car so when driving home from work or your daily travels, you are ready. And when tired or if you’ve had a difficult day, you have one less reason not to attend as you are ready to go.

3) Surround yourself with other people that are like-minded about health and fitness. It’s been proven that if you socialize with non-healthy people, you will find it easier to justify eating poorly and skipping gym sessions.

4) Write down your scheduled workouts on your planner or calendar each week or month so you can’t use the excuse that you “just forgot.”

5) Set an alarm on your computer or cell phone if you have one of those jobs that keep you working late. Again, if you hear that alarm, you may be less inclined to use the excuse that “you forgot” or “had to work.”

6) Plan to carpool with a friend or fellow camper so if you are on the fence about attending, you may be more inclined to go knowing someone is counting on you to be there or to be their ride.

7) Make friends at the gym or just be plain social so if you’re thinking of missing, maybe knowing that someone is going to ask “where were you yesterday?” or “I missed seeing you in class yesterday” may prompt you to make every effort to make it to class.

Say aloud each day, “I will make it to class today” and avoid “I’m thinking of not going”, or “I may or may not go today.” Just being positive has been proven to work.

9) Choose a gym that is on the way home from work or close to your home so you cannot use the excuse that the location doesn’t work for you.

10) Give yourself ample time to get to the gym or have alternate routes planned in case of traffic.

So there you have it. Ten ways to help make sure you get to the gym on your scheduled days. Keep in mind there are always real circumstances that may prevent you from making it to class so try to avoid missing class for silly reasons. And another way to ensure you make it is to treat yourself – whether it be a new pair of sneakers or shorts or a cheat snack. And remember the feeling you have – that endorphin rush after completing yet another tough workout. It feels great and keeps you coming back for more.

This is a guest blog post by Alicia Malay.