I have a friend who we all refer to as Bodybuilder, because he is one and he loves it. He is also genetically blessed so finds it easy to gain muscle and lose fat, compared to the rest of us mortals. Bodybuilder is borderline obsessed with the sport and all the details to do with training each muscle perfectly and ensuring his food is right.

I’m not a bodybuilder or a figure model, nor do I want to be one. I think they look too bulky, too lean and often aren’t athletic as most people. BUT, we all have a lot to learn from their habits for their chosen ‘sport’.

-          A body builder typically trains 4-7 days a week lifting weights.

-          On top of that they also do cardio training up to twice a day, especially when getting ready for a ‘competition’ or ‘show’.

-          A body builder also eats a very strict diet that allows them very few cheat meals.

-          A body builder usually commits to doing a show and knows exactly how long they will be training for to reach their goal.

-          A body builder has a deadline, and if they don’t meet their deadline they don’t look any good up on stage wearing next to nothing.

-          A body builder will usually do this while holding down a full time job and often with a family too.

-          Above all else, a body builder gets results.

From all the research that is carried out at Alwyn Cosgrove’s Results Fitness Gym in Santa Clarita California (he’s recorded every workout from the 11 years his gym has been running), he has found that metabolic resistance training is enough to crank up your metabolism for up to 48 hours after your workout. I met Alwyn in Chicago and we train at bootcamp just like they do in his gym.

He’s also found out that if you are doing this 3 times a week and eating a reduced calorie diet your body will start to burn off the excess fat you are carrying, without having to spend as much time in the gym as a body builder. This leaves you with plenty more time for ‘a life’.

If this is the case and we can get maximum results in minimum time, then why aren’t their more people around looking lean and toned like body builders and figure models?

COMMITMENT.

Many of us start a fitness program knowing we need to change our food but never actually make much of a change. Or we go great for a week and it goes out the window on the weekend.

Having a wine or two each night makes progress harder too.

Sometimes we have a crap day at work and come home feeling like a mess and just want to eat whatever is easiest, or just go out and drive through and pick it up.

Sometimes we just don’t want to say no to eating at a restaurant or having a smaller meal at the restaurant or skipping entrees or dessert at said restaurant.

Sometimes we just don’t have any self control.

The Majority of the time we just aren’t prepared. We don’t have time to prepare or we just don’t think our next meal, let alone our week’s meal.

If you take the time to plan out what you will eat for dinner for the week, then buy that food, cook the food in advance and/or store it for easy cooking, you will find it so much easier to stick to your eating plan. Plan your cheat meal(s) too, especially when you know you are going out for dinner! Then you will have something to look forward to where you can eat your favourite food without feeling guilty!

The truth is most of us value our social life over our health. If this is the case, 9 times out of 10 our social life will win…until we get sick. Then our health might come first.

I keep my health at the top of my priority list. I know if I don’t have my health, I can’t do the things I want to do. And my body keeps reminding me about this with migraines when I do too much and even the chronic fatigue or whatever it is that is haunting me at present.

I usually just eat healthy getting a broad range of fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, eggs and some grains each week. But I currently stick to a strict diet to help my body recover from my ailments. It is tough, but as long as I have my food planned out and the food sitting in my cupboard, fridge and freezer ready to go, it’s really easy! I do eat cheat food occasionally too. Zip lock freezer bags and Tupperware containers are big helps for staying prepared.

Bodybuilder will tell you the same. It’s easy. He’s prepared with all his crazy supplements and enough food to feed a family of 5. So the next time you see a body builder, think of them with respect to their eating habits and maybe even ask them some tips. You might learn a thing or two and you might make a friend!

While I was overseas in the USA I sampled some of the local dishes made famous in their area. Their traditional food is more often than not, crap, but when in Rome…

For one of my meals I picked up some famous Chicago deep dish pizza. Well someone offered me a slice…I couldn’t even bring myself to buy it after hearing about the one inch think crust and the amount of cheese that gets layered on top of it, sometimes up to one inch too! Scary.

When I saw the slice of pizza from the side, I could see how much the fat had soaked through the crust. Not a good sign to start with, but hey, I can always wash it down with some lemonade or some other soft drink to help it digest.

It’s all too easy to grab a soft drink or juice when you’re thirsty, mostly because it tastes good. But it is not good for you at all. A recent study at the University of California Los Angeles fed pancreatic tumor cells both glucose and fructose to see if they had any difference in the way they reacted. Their findings were published in the journal Cancer Research.

The pancreatic tumor cells use fructose to divide and reproduce at a rapid rate. This is alarming to us because Australians, as well as the Americans, have a high intake of high fructose corn syrup, commonly found in soft drinks, juices, breads and other products. So read the ingredients on the labels of your food and drinks and learn what is going into your body. You only get one, so make it last as long as you can.

Some people argue that health food is too expensive. I think medical bills are far more expensive so I’ll put up with a higher food bill and stay healthy. For more information on Cancer and Fructose, check out http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38528161/ns/health-cancer/

As for trying deep dish pizza in Chicago, i lasted 2 bites and felt sick. But if you’re in Chicago, you’ve gotta try it. It’s part of the experience. And besides you can wash it down with… I’ll let you decide for yourself on that one.

Travis Sawyer

Hey guys

just wanted to fill you in on my travels so far.

it took me 48 hours from when i left my house to when i arrived at my destination, due to flights being overbooked and me being left at the airport…several times. i was also lucky enough to get stuck at LAX for 15 hours. longest transfer to the usa ever for me and i walked straight into a 4 day conference as soon as i arrived.

i started in louisville, kentucky for bootcamp bootcamp where i met up with a bunch of bootcamp owners from across the usa to talk training, business and trade ideas. was great to meet some of the guys i’ve been talking to over the last year and a half. was 4 days of intense information and partying so left me pretty exhausted after 2 days of travel and little sleep.

from there i caught the greyhound up to indianapolis, indiana to visit my personal trainer’s gym (mike robertson) and get an appraisal done by his business partner bill hartman, one of the best physios in the usa. i’ve made a lot of progress getting over my various injuries and movement problems and the guys showed me a bunch more to work on as well. i also checked out their guy as it’s similar to how i want to set one up. i was also lucky enough to catch up with one of my friends that i met working on the cruise ship. was 7 years since i saw her so was great to have her show me around where she lives.

after a few days i then set off for chicago for the second of my conferences, one on a whole other level. it’s called perform better, its a 3 day event and it brings together most of the top trainers and physio’s in the usa. names include mike boyle, alwyn cosgrove, dr chris mohr, gray cook,eric cressey, bill parisi, martin rooney and a bunch more that i forget. unbelieveable experience that gave me so many ideas to bring home and use.

i pretty much did nothing the whole next week. i read books, ate food, walked around a little and was lucky enough to be in town while a bunch of free concerts were on in chicago for their annual taste festival where you can taste a range of different foods, but really it’s and excuse for chicago people to pig out…and they really do. so the first night i watched a preview of some of the theatre shows on in chicago including shrek, the lion king, rock of ages and an acrobatics show called traces that looks amazing but unfortunately isnt on til august. the rest of the week included concerts including matt kearney, trey songz, rob thomas, steve miller band and passion pit amoung others…all free in the park in downtown chicago.

magic! i’ve seen the zoo, the beach where you cant go in the water past your chest or the lifeguards yell at you, been to the baseball, checked out the michael jordan statue out front of the united center, and went up the sears tower for a look over the whole of chicago. and i went to the chinese circus.

with no car the train, bus and my feet have gotten me around. which has been great with the public transport running non-stop for a city of 3 million people. i’ve only one more day here before heading to ann arbor, michigan for a day, detroit for a day, and toronto for a few days with some more cruise ship friends.

i’ll be happy to make it home and cook for myself again. the food they eat over here is not good and trying to eat healthy is not easy or cheap. i swear the apples are fake as the look shiny and like plastic and the lettuce is nasty. i dont think i’ve really gained any weight  but will definitely feel better feeding myself at home.

i’ve also been reading an interesting book called the metabolic typing diet. its based on the everybody’s individual metabolic type and then designing their diet based on some of the findings. is supposed to help with improving health, getting over fatigue and illness, and even weight control. i’ve got a lot more reading to do and probably some experimentation.

so with just over a week to go, im feeling pretty relaxed and almost ready to get back into training, routine and reality. im bringing back a wealth of knowledge and plenty more energy. i’ve also got plenty more contacts to swap ideas with too. i’ll soak up the warm sun as long as i can and see you back in perth soon.

travis

I’ve been suffering from a virus over the last few months which is reeking havoc on my immune system and making me tired constantly. It’s nasty. As I tried to figure out exactly what was going on I spoke to a couple of people who suffer from adrenal fatigue. They sounded just like me! I wasn’t happy about having adrenal fatigue but knowing whats going on in my body makes it easier to fix the problem.

Yet another friend suffers from it and sent me a video yesterday which lets you know whats going on in detail and reveals why many of us gain or retain fat in our midsection while under stress. And lets face it, there’s a ton of stressors in modern life. So if you’re struggling with the last few kilo’s and you’re doing everything right but weight is still going on, you need to watch the above video. It’s 9 minutes long and quality information.

Some of the key ideas correspond with regular weight loss diet advice. Cut out sugar, caffeine and wheat and do yoga, chi kung or tai chi for relaxation and exercise daily.

If you suffer from adrenal fatigue and have any solutions you want to share, please leave your suggestions in the comments below.

Follow these 10 simple rules and watch your gut disappear…

1. Eat every 2-3 hours – Aim for 5-6 smaller meals per day. For example – breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack (dessert). Eating regular, smaller meals will help speed up your metabolism and stop binge eating.

2. Focus on eating natural, unprocessed, whole foods – Eliminate pre-packaged foods, fried foods, lollies, pastries, chips, etc. These will not help you lose your gut or benefit your health.

3. Fill up on vegetables – Aim to eat a big serve of vegetables with at least 3-4 meals throughout the day.

4. Eat fruit several times per day – Aim for 2-5 servings of fruit per day. You should be having at least some vegetables or fruit at every meal.

5. Eat a source of protein at every meal (including snacks) – Includes fish, lean red meat, skin-free chicken & turkey breast, legumes, unsalted nuts & seeds, eggs, low fat dairy and protein supplements.

6. Limit starchy carbohydrates to one serve per day – Ideally this meal will be your post workout meal. This includes bread, rice, pasta, cereal, potato, etc. This means at most meals you will need to fill up primarily on vegetables, fruits and lean protein sources.

7. Include good fat in your diet – Add extra virgin olive oil to your salads, take fish oil, eat nuts & seeds, eat avocado, add flaxseed oil to shakes, etc.

8. Limit calorie containing drinks – This includes soft drink, fruit juice, cordial, flavoured milk, etc. Almost all of your fluid intake should be water (aim for at least 2 litres per day). Green tea is also healthy for fat loss. You can have a few beers (or other alcohol) a couple of times per week, just don’t go overboard.

9. Plan & prepare your food in advance – Plan your shopping list and then cook more food than you need and store it in containers so you can eat it when you don’t have time to cook.

10. Follow the 90% rule – Following the above rules 100% of the time is virtually impossible, so try for 90% success, and then if you cheat 10% you’ll still get amazing results. 6 meals per day = 4 cheat meals per week.

Start by trying to follow one new rule each day and before you know it the fat will be melting away from your gut!

In February this year, Jamie Oliver accepted an award at the TED Awards In Long beach California. The TED Awards are based on ‘wishes big enough to change the world.’

You may have seen Jamie Oliver going through schools cafeterias to change the crap food they were serving their kids. He keeps pushing the issue and he is spot on. If you feed your kids and yourself crap food, you and they will die early. Sometimes way too early.

The video highlights Americans and thier food at the moment, but we are not far behind them.

This crap food that is being fed to us in our fast paced society is killing us and we need to sort it out now.

You say you’re too busy and dont have time to plan and shop for healthy stuff. Or you find that healthy food is way too expensive. Try doctors bills and medicine. Surgery and hospital time is way more expensive.

I saw a facebook group recently named ‘Childhood Obesity is Child Abuse.’ I agree.

You think I’m having a rant? You think I’m passionate about this. Listen to what Jamie has to say.

Please leave your comments below.

“Drop a Dress or Pant Size in the Next 28 Days AND Be in the Running to Win a Night for 2 at Burswood Intercontinental with Breakfast and Poolside & Spa Access”

If you are tired of all the health clubs and fitness centres telling you exactly what you want to hear to get you to join, but once you’re a member they forget about you and don’t teach you anything about how to get results?  Are you frustrated by all the gimmicks, pills, powders, shakes and gadgets sold on late night TV that are nothing more than empty promises and slick marketing? Need motivation?

If so, then this amazing offer is perfect for you…    Here’s what you get:

• Six weeks of fat burning workouts 3 days a week with a Certified Personal Trainer ($299 value) to make sure that you don’t spend one minute exercising that doesn’t produce results.
Offer includes our 2 week free trial. If you like it we charge you. If you don’t, we don’t charge you.

• 3 Months of Fat Burning Meal Plans & Recipes ($120 value) designed by a Registered Dietician to ensure that you reach your goals as quickly as possible.

• Be in the running to win a night for 2 at Burswood Intercontinental ($385 value) in our 4-week transformation contest! Anyone could commit to 4 weeks, drop a clothing size and win a night away.

…You get all this – a $419 Value for $199!
And you only pay if you continue after the 2 Week Trial!

There are only 17 spots available for this Guaranteed Results program, so contact Travis on
0403 279 744 or travis@perthfitnessbootcamps.com now to register or for more information.
Our BOOTCAMPS are indoors or outdoors depending on the weather and NON-military.

‘Heya Trav,
I’m just emailing to brag (well… I have to brag to someone and this isn’t the sort of thing you share with a friend over dinner.)
Have lost 3.8kg in four weeks since I started with you!
And have returned to the “healthy” BMI weight range…. that was starting to creep up for a couple of weeks there.
Obviously there are heaps of other factors involved, but you’re helping me stay motivated and make better food choices
I’ve also found the bootcamp stuff is really helping my other training. It’s like my joints have oil them.
The three key aspects for me have been the support of a friend who is also watching her kilojoules, joining the cycling club and the bootcamp. Between those three things I seem to be doing ok
Thought you’d like to know
Cheers, Peta’

So have you?

Have you started that new diet?

Have you been getting up that half hour earlier and exercising?

Have you cut your alcohol intake down?

Have you stopped eating fast food or at least dropped it down to once a week and a healthy choice at that?

Well over 30 people in Scarborough and its surrounds have made the first step.

They have gotten in touch with me and said I want to start working on my fitness, strength, weight loss, toning, etc.

Out of that 30+ people, 16 have made it to at least one Scarborough BOOTCAMP session.

Out of those 16 people, 3 are finished with their 2 week free trial and committed to the next 3-12 months.

The other 13 will finish their trials this week or next and most will continue on with BOOTCAMP and go on to achieve their New Years Resolutions.

So what about you?

Have you been in touch with me?

Did you sign up for the 2 week free trial and show up for your first workout?

Did you sign up and get started eating along with the 3 months of meal plans that were provided.

If you have been to BOOTCAMP and started towards yoor goals, congratulations. I wish you all the success in the world.

And I’m here to support you along the way. Any questions you have to help you improve your food, train harder or get over a niggling inkury, you can count on me to help out.

If you haven’t been in touch with me yet and you don’t want to procrastinate for another 3 weeks, give me a call on 0403 279 744 or email me at travis@perthfitnessbootcamps.com or sign up for your 2 week free trial on the website at www.PerthFitnessBootCamps.com.

So I guess we’ll be talking soon so we can get you going toward your New Years Resolutions.

Travis