Jumpstart Your Fitness!

Are you a traveler who is always rushing from here to there? Are you feeling mentally-drained, experiencing insomnia, or overeating at fast foods at the airport? Do you find it difficult to overcome the discomfort and tiredness of traveling?

This book was written as a survival guide for all the fellow travelers who want to claim control over their busy lives by a salesman who clocks over 200,000 air miles a year. In this useful book you will learn:

1) 10 amazing ways to find exercise where there is none.
2) How to lose fat and have fun at the same time by being more active on the road.
3) How to exercise without having to go to a gym.
4) The secrets of a super-fit salesman
5) Fitness at 40,000 feet
6) How to run two miles in a hotel room
7) De-stressing techniques which you can use anywhere and anytime.

Buy now at a introductory price of just $25USD! We can’t promise that the price will stay there forever!

How Fit is Fit?

Some time ago, I gave a talk called “Why Exercise?” to groups consisting mostly of women. I began each talk by discussing the definition of fitness, and the different groups came up with their own definitions of what it actually means. Overall each group had very similar ideas. These included:

1) Being able to get through the day without feeling shattered Having enough energy to do the housework and play with the children

2) Being able to walk to work and use the stairs instead of the elevator

3) Having enough energy to walk the dog without getting out of breath .

All of these are very accurate definitions of fitness and describe what fitness means to each individual. What would your definition of fitness be?

Having discussed the merits of being fit, I then asked the women (and some men) to write down the name of someone they could think of who was fit. Their suggestions included Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Jordan, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and many other similar figures. These are all elite athletes, people who, through very intensive training, have become the best in the world. I then asked them to look again at their original definitions of fitness, and together we went through the list and asked the questions: “Were these athletes fit enough to get through the day without feeling shattered?” “Could they walk the dog without getting out of breath?” The answer to both these questions was clearly ”yes,” but most important, did these athletes actually need to be as fit as they were in order to do these everyday things? The answer was, of course, “no.”

Many people today seem to have the preconceived idea that fitness is something unachievable. When I talk about fitness, I am talking about the following: a body that is healthy enough to be able to withstand disease; a body that can recover quickly from minor illness; a body that allows its owner freedom to complete everyday tasks without the restrictions of breathlessness and discomfort.

The human body is nothing short of a miracle. I have been designing workouts and studying nutrition for more than 15 years, and yet it still astounds me that the body uses so many interrelated and complicated systems in order to function. In addition to this, I have seen people literally change their lives and their health—not to mention their shapes—just by training their bodies and teaching them to improve their efficiency. There is no piece of machinery in the world that has this ability to improve itself by training, but the human body can. The secret is quite simple—challenge your body to work slightly harder than it does already.

How many of us could recite our 13 times table if asked? I certainly couldn’t because I have only been programmed to recite my tables up to 12. Your body has the same limitations—it will function only according to the demands you place on it and no more. If you don’t exercise regularly and don’t challenge your heart and muscles, they will become smaller and weaker because your body thinks they are not needed. All you need to do to reverse this process is to start to place gentle demands on your body’s systems. If you do this regularly, your body will get stronger and improve itself in order to adapt to the new demands. The heart will get stronger and pump more blood, and the muscle fibers will get stronger to give you more strength. In fact, muscle fibers can even get longer to allow you more flexibility.

The good news is that you don’t have to work very hard for these miraculous changes to occur. You will, in fact, reap the most benefit in the first few weeks of training. Someone who has never exercised can improve fitness levels by a staggering 25 to 35 percent in the first few weeks. You will start to feel fitter because you will be teaching your body to use more of the oxygen you are breathing to help provide you with energy.

Putting the Fat Away

Fat is essential. We all need a certain amount of fat in order to protect our organs, and it also forms a vital part of many hormones, our brain and many other cells. We all have essential fat. There is, however, a marked difference between the way in which men and women store their fat.

Women were originally designed to be able to reproduce, so Mother Nature gave us extra storage sites for fat—on the breasts, hips and thighs—in order that it would be readily available to supply all the nutrients required to nourish a growing baby. Unfortunately Mother Nature was rather indiscriminate when dishing out these supplies; she didn’t account for the fact that not all women choose to have children or for the fact that after we’ve had our families,we don’t need these extra stores anymore. Many women struggle for years to get rid of a bulge that is, in fact, specifically designed to be there. They just don’t understand why they can’t get rid of it. The truth is, we can reduce these bulges quite drastically, but if that’s where our fat cells are located, we can never eliminate them completely.

What you eat and whether or not you exercise are not the only factors that determine how you look; genetics also plays a key role. It is generally accepted that we lay down or fill our fat cells during three stages in our lives. The first is while we are in the womb, and obviously we have no control over that because it is dependent on the genetic makeup we have been given by our parents. The second stage is the first 12 months of life. Again this is outside our individual control and dependent on what we are fed. The third and final stage, however, takes place during the “growth spurt” years, usually our early teens. This we do have more control over—but how many of us really thought that far ahead when we were spending our dinner money on a bag of chips and a can of soda? (Recent research has also shown that obese people can stimulate fat cells to multiply further.)

So when many of us reach adulthood unhappy about the way we look, we think we can change a pattern in just a few weeks or months that has taken years to develop. No, permanently changing body composition takes time, dedication and acceptance of what you are realistically able to achieve.

If, during all three stages, we have developed more fat cells than are necessary (remember that some fat is essential), it does not mean that they have to be filled with fat. Think of your fat cells as tiny sacks that take up almost no room at all when they are empty but lots of room when they are full. If you look at your mother and see that she stores most of her fat on her thighs, then the chances are that you will, too. However, you don’t have to store as much. That will depend on what you eat and how much you exercise. Genetics determines where your fat cells are located—but you determine what and how much you put in them.

There have been many theories about why women have evolved the way they have. The body has an essential need for the fuel that comes from the foods we eat—it’s common sense. In this day and age, most of us are fortunate enough to live in an environment in which the food supply is never in question. We always know that food is available. If we take a look back at how we evolved, however, we see that it wasn’t always quite so simple.

The most important benefits you will achieve from the articles of this site—if you follow the recipes and the exercises—are the benefits to your health. You will have more energy; you will be stronger; your circulation will improve (which may improve your skin and your hair); and you will be able to really live life to the fullest, and probably live longer. You will also lose fat, and this will change how you look—but that is an added bonus.

Think health first.

Exercise is Everything

If you don’t exercise, your body composition will alter over the years, even if you don’t change your eating habits at all. As I’ve already said, muscle is an active tissue that is designed to be used—to support the skeleton and to enable us to move. When we are using our muscles, we maintain the same LBM. If we stop using them or use them less, they will start to literally waste away. The individual muscle fibers become smaller and so require less fuel to function. This means, quite simply, that we then need to eat less.

Compare this to the engine in a car. Imagine a large luxury car with a very powerful engine. This engine would need a lot of fuel. You may get as few as 15 miles per gallon from this engine, so the tank needs to be very large. Let’s say this car’s gas tank holds 15 gallons. Now imagine a small hatchback with a much smaller, less powerful engine. This engine requires less gasoline, and you may get as many as 40 miles to the gallon out of the car. As a result, there’s no need to put in as much gas,and the tank doesn’t need to be as big. It may hold a maximum of 10 gallons, so if you tried to put in 15, it would overflow.

Now let’s compare this to our muscles. Muscles that are constantly being used require lots of energy—in other words, food, for which they have large storage tanks within the muscle itself. These tanks are constantly being emptied and refilled. On the other hand, muscles that are not constantly used become smaller. They literally shrink, and their storage tanks shrink accordingly. So what happens if we try to put in the same amount of fuel that we put in our large muscles? It overflows. The body has a very effective way of mopping up this overflow—it takes the leftover fuel and stores it as fat.

The amount of muscle will determine how much food the body needs in order to function efficiently. If we lose muscle through lack of exercise, we should reduce the amount of food we eat accordingly. If we don’t, as we get older, we will be eating more than our bodies require and creating a surplus. This surplus will be stored as fat.

Making Fitness As Easy As ABC

Are you a traveler who is always rushing from here to there? Are you feeling mentally-drained, experiencing insomnia, or overeating at fast foods at the airport? Do you find it difficult to overcome the discomfort and tiredness of traveling?

This book was written as a survival guide for all the fellow travelers who want to claim control over their busy lives by a salesman who clocks over 200,000 air miles a year. In this useful book you will learn:

1) 10 amazing ways to find exercise where there is none.
2) How to lose fat and have fun at the same time by being more active on the road.
3) How to exercise without having to go to a gym.
4) The secrets of a super-fit salesman
5) Fitness at 40,000 feet
6) How to run two miles in a hotel room
7) De-stressing techniques which you can use anywhere and anytime.

Buy now at a introductory price of just $25USD! We can’t promise that the price will stay there forever!

So Who’s Overweight?

If you are overweight, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are fat. Muscle tissue (which makes up most of our LBM) is an active tissue that burns calories in order to stay healthy. Even when at rest, muscles are still burning calories. Fat, on the other hand, does not need any calories; it just sits in its storage sites, stock-piling and doing nothing. Muscles are very heavy, much heavier than fat. This means that we can carry more weight in muscle and not be fat, even though the scales tell us we are heavier.

Imagine someone with a build similar to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s. A very large percentage of his body is muscle, and he carries very little, if any, excess fat. If he used a traditional height/weight chart, however, it would probably tell him that he is overweight. This is because such charts do not account for the fact that muscle is heavier than fat. Therefore, although according to the chart he may be overweight, he certainly isn’t fat.

Similarly I have a very good friend, Carol, who is a fitness teacher. She is six feet two inches tall and weighs almost 180 pounds. This may sound a lot, but because her body has a large percentage of muscle and a relatively low percentage of fat, she is not fat. So again, although a height/weight chart may tell her she is overweight, she looks fantastic and turns heads wherever she goes.

As you can see from these examples, the scales do not always tell the whole story. What we need to look at is the body composition, not just the total weight.

Busting the Body Myths Part 3

continuing from part 2…

5) I can get rid of excess fat by rubbing in cellulite creams. False. This is one of the biggest myths of all. Where is the fat supposed to go? I don’t see it oozing out of the pores and running down legs. No, it stays exactly where it is. Of course, any kind of massage is good for circulation, but your fat cells will only release fat into the bloodstream to be burned when fuel is needed. The only way you can achieve this with a massage cream is if you jump up and down when applying the cream and continue to jump for 20 minutes or more, so that you stimulate your aerobic energy system into burning fat. A very expensive workout.

6) If I eat just high-protein foods and limit my carbohydrate intake, I will lose weight. False. High-protein diets are, unfortunately, very popular at the moment. As you have learned from the nutrition section, however, we actually need less protein than any other nutrient. Not only do we not need excess protein, but if we take in higher amounts than necessary over a long period of time, we can damage our digestive systems. The protein we eat is broken down in the stomach by acids, while all other foods pass through the stomach relatively unchanged and are broken down in the intestines. Eating more protein means producing more acid, and if the delicate balance between acid and alkaline in the body is disrupted, digestive disorders may occur. Excess protein, like any other food eaten in excess, is also converted into fat and stored by the body.

That’s all for now. Thank you for viewing our series. I hope you have learn something useful from it.

Busting the Body Myths Part 2

Continuing from our part 1…
3) If I don’t eat all day and have just one meal in the evening, I will lose weight. False. In order to keep the metabolic rate elevated, we need to eat regular meals three or more times a day, depending on the amount we eat in one meal. When you eat only once in 24 hours, your body has to conserve fuel for long periods of time. To lose weight, however, you need to get rid of extra fuel quickly. The worst time to eat your largest meal is in the evening because you’re moving more slowly and are less likely to burn off calories. It is much better to eat your main meal in the middle of the day, since this is the time when the metabolism is higher because you are on the move. There is another potential problem with eating only one meal per day: You are far more likely to eat more in one sitting than you would normally eat if you were having three meals per day. The bottom line is that if you eat more calories than you burn, you will store those extra calories as fat. Many people who eat one meal per day tend to pick and snack throughout the day on chocolate bars and cookies, since they are under the illusion that they are not eating much. All of these habits are more likely to increase your total caloric intake throughout the day one way or another, which means more fat.

4) Diet pills are a safe and effective way to lose weight. False. There are so many diet pills available without a prescription. Over-the-counter diet products can be on the shelves as long as they comply with labeling regulations and contain approved ingredients in approved amounts. However, many of these drugs act on the central nervous system and have potentially harmful and unpleasant side effects. A friend of mine was placed on a “metabolism booster” drug, which gave her hallucinations, violent headaches and insomnia. After a week on the drug, she looked and felt awful and was unable to continue taking it.

For those who do persevere, however, these drugs can be addictive. Appetite suppressants—or any other drugs associated with weight loss—should be taken only by clinically obese patients, when prescribed by a doctor. Even in these circumstances, it is still a very controversial area; a lot of researchers say that appetite suppressants shouldn’t be used at all. There is a difference between foods that are advertised as helping you lose weight as part of a calorie-controlled diet (such as many diet drinks) and slimming products (such as those that promise to reduce your appetite). Remember: Even water will help you lose weight as part of a calorie-controlled diet.

Find out more misconceptions at our next part of this series!

Make Fitness Work For You!

Are you a traveler who is always rushing from here to there? Are you feeling mentally-drained, experiencing insomnia, or overeating at fast foods at the airport? Do you find it difficult to overcome the discomfort and tiredness of traveling?

This book was written as a survival guide for all the fellow travelers who want to claim control over their busy lives by a salesman who clocks over 200,000 air miles a year. In this useful book you will learn:

1) 10 amazing ways to find exercise where there is none.
2) How to lose fat and have fun at the same time by being more active on the road.
3) How to exercise without having to go to a gym.
4) The secrets of a super-fit salesman
5) Fitness at 40,000 feet
6) How to run two miles in a hotel room
7) De-stressing techniques which you can use anywhere and anytime.

Buy now at a introductory price of just $25USD! We can’t promise that the price will stay there forever!

Busting the Body Myths Part 1

There is so much misinformation about how to lose weight that it’s not surprising people don’t know which way to turn when a new product comes out. My heart sinks whenever I hear of new fads and gimmicks that are on the market, and I grieve for all the people taken in by false promises and clever marketing. I believe it is emotional blackmail: ”Try this pill/potion/drink, and presto, no more fat.”

Have you been taken in by quick-fix products? If you have had a weight problem for some time, then I’d be surprised if you have not. After all, faced with the choice of taking a pill or going on a diet to lose weight, don’t we always want to take the easy option? Of course we do; it’s human nature. Unfortunately, as I have already mentioned, none of these products actually works. They may even harm you and promote weight gain, which would of course make you a perfect customer for the next product that comes along.

I was recently speaking to a friend who is in her mid-30s and suffers from acne and blemishes. She said, “Janet, I never learn. I have tried every potion and lotion on the market, and yet each time a new one comes out I think, ‘This is the one that’s going to do it’—but it never does.” Does this sound familiar? Is this how you feel about every miracle diet that comes along?

Let’s look at a few of the myths that surround the diet industry. Here are some of the most common misconceptions.

1) Potatoes and pasta will make me fat. False. Both of these foods are carbohydrates and can make up a valuable portion of your diet. It’s what you put on them that usually causes the problem. A baked potato smothered in butter will certainly be high in fat. If it is filled with raw vegetables in a low-fat dressing, however, it can make a nutritious low-fat meal or snack. Pasta also contains very little fat itself (provided you buy the durum-wheat variety and not the type that contains egg). A pasta salad provides lots of nutrients for a tasty meal. Both potatoes and pasta are quite slow to release carbohydrates. This means that they release glucose into our bloodstream gradually over a period of time, giving us a constant supply of energy. As a result of this, you won’t feel full one minute and hungry an hour later. Of course, too much of anything—including carbohydrates—will cause you to gain weight. If the total amount of calories you consume is greater than the total amount you burn, the excess will be stored—as fat.

2) If I diet, I will lose fat from only one part of my body, so I can choose a diet specifically designed for my problem area. False. It is impossible to lose fat from one part of the body and nowhere else. As we explain later in this chapter, you lay down your fat cells at three stages of your life. Whether or not you fill them up depends on what you eat and if you exercise or not. This you can change, but no diet can empty fat only from certain cells and not from others. It’s a physiological impossibility. You will lose fat from where you store it. So if you store fat on your stomach and you diet, you will lose it from this area.

Find out more misconceptions at our next part of this series!

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