“Fit Body Boot Camp, Long Beach”, announces the June 5, 2010 “Burn the Fat to help the Boys and Girls Club”: a one hour and 1/2 Boot Camp event aimed to raise money for the Boys and Girls club of Long Beach and to promote fitness as part of a healthy lifestyle.

“Because of today’s economy, the amount of donations being made to charities and non-profit organizations has significantly decreased. So we’ve decided to create and event that gives back in a BIG way. By encouraging local neighbors to come down for a (one day) hour and a half Boot Camp workout where 100% of the $25 donation fee will go to the Boys and Girls Club of Long Beach – this is fitness with a PURPOSE, it’s a win-win-win for everyone involved” says –Emile Jarreau and Bea Fox, co-owners of Long Beach Fit Body Boot Camp.

The Boot Camp will take place on Saturday, June 5th from 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM at the scenic oceanfront “Bluff Park” in Long Beach. Participants are welcome to workout at their own pace for as little as fifteen minutes or, for those up to the challenge, for the entire hour and half. The workout will include fun exercises in a group atmosphere designed to burn the fat, firm and tone the entire body, with the added benefit of giving back. Every participant will walk away from this workout with a better understanding of fitness and weight-loss concepts, a feeling of accomplishment and knowledge of helping a worthwhile cause.

For a donation of $25, all participants will receive a free t-shirt and will benefit from the knowledge and instruction of four qualified Fit Body Boot Camp instructors. As an additional incentive, for every donation over $25 participants will receive a free TWO WEEK trial of Long Beach’s newest Fit Body Boot Camp.

See you on Saturday, June 5th at 8 AM to improve your health and to support this AMAZING cause for the Boys and Girls Club of Long Beach!!

Emile Jarreau and Bea Fox are the co-owners of Long Beach’s premiere Fit Body Boot Camp. Bea, Emile, Coach D and their highly trained staff of fitness professionals will be motivating participants at the “Burn the Fat to help the Boys and Girls Club” event on June 5th. 2010. 100% of the proceeds from this event will be donated to The Boys and Girls Club of Long Beach.

ALL FITNESS LEVELS WELCOMED!!

THANK YOU my dear friend and Client “Doreen” for your never ending support and for allowing us to showcase your handsome son, “David” and his muscles… “playing in the sand with Dad at the Beach”.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR MAIN PAGE, PRWEB OR CALL US DIRECT @ 562.435.4639

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL!!!

A life as a full time Student, Fitness Spokesmodel and soon to take on the Competitive stage… *Alex* 1 week away from the “OC Classic Championships” @ work.

Formula Drift Long Beach 2010 from blue dawn studios on Vimeo.

Most people who are looking to lose fat don’t normally think about weight training (building lean muscle mass) as much as they think about performing long duration aerobic activities like running, swimming, or cycling to produce fat loss. They generally assume that all weightlifting workouts are designed for those who are looking to get incredibly huge muscles like those of a competitive bodybuilder.

This is a common misconception and as it turns out, the activity of weight training may be your best and most effective tool for burning and eliminating significant amounts of fat. However, training and preferably in the form of HIIT “high intensity interval training” will burn more calories in the twenty four hours following a workout.

Aerobic exercise alone does not increase your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) as much as weight training.

The reason that weight training, specifically “free-weight circuits” are so effective at burning fat is because of the extreme amount of calories also burned during the exercises themselves. When lifting heavy weight “substantial enough to create change” and doing so in a workout that is performed both consistently and to speed, the body will be burning hundreds and hundreds of calories per hour and can often be as effective at burning calories as a strenuous prolonged run on the treadmill.

One of the reasons why circuits can be so effective at burning calories and in turn burning fat is because of the large muscle groups that can be worked simultaneously. This type of training also requires fewer rest periods which will cause a greater release of testosterone during a workout… helps grow muscle- far superior to steady state exercises.

Let’s take the squat for instance. The squat is probably the most powerful exercise you can do for your body for both building muscle and losing fat. When you perform a squat, you are activating almost every muscle group in your body. You are certainly targeting the lower body utilizing huge muscles such as your thighs, your lower back, and your gluteus. As these huge muscle groups are put into action, they use up large amounts of calories in order to perform the work.

Now, as fitness athletes put on muscle as they become advanced in their efforts, they begin to burn fat automatically even when they are not exercising. This is because muscle itself speeds up the metabolism and will burn fat just simply by its existence on your body. When you are building muscle, you are actually building “burning ovens” all over your entire body that will help to speed up your metabolism and burn fat on a regular basis. So don’t just look at the increased muscle you will develop, but instead think about the decrease in fat your body will experience.

Another plus in performing these types of functional workouts lies in the time required to complete a circuit… you don’t have to spend hours in a gym!

Performing long aerobic sessions causes the body to release cortisol, otherwise referred to as the “stress hormone” that can be associated with muscle tissue break down.

Finally, let’s look at the diet of an aesthetically pleasing physique to uncover one more reason why weight training can be your answer to burning fat.

Those who aspire to maintain and develop an aesthetically and balanced physique require significant amounts of protein in order to maintain their muscle mass and build new muscle as well. This is true whether or not you are trying to compete for the Olympia or are just trying to maintain or build a lean physique for a particular sport or role that you are involved in.

Weight training is not necessarily about building huge muscles all the time or even at all, but maximizing the muscle you do have so that it is the most effective it can be for your body type. No matter what your goals, you want to increase your intake of protein to make sure that new muscle can be built and that the muscles you do have recover properly after strenuous workouts.

Bodybuilders for example often have diets that are heavy in protein and low in carbohydrates, this can result in their body beginning to burn existing stores of fat for fuel as their diets often lack the carbohydrates needed to fuel their intense workouts. As the body burns fat for fuel, your muscles will look more defined and your body fat percentage will significantly decrease.

So if the usual diets and fat burning workouts have NOT been working for you, you might want to give M2 A/X a try and see just how well picking up a few weights can do to burn that fat off your body.

Warrior Athlete | Heart to courageously live life with purpose

Do you fall under the definition of a warrior athlete?

war•ri•or 
1. One who is engaged in or experienced in warfare
2. One who is engaged aggressively or energetically in an activity, cause or conflict.

ath•lete
n. A person possessing the natural or acquired traits, such as strength, agility, and endurance that are necessary for physical exercise or sports, especially those performed in competitive contexts.

The Warrior Athlete is forged from flesh and bone, has the spirit of a Warrior. While through the heat of intense unconventional workouts and daily life challenges, the warrior athlete is hardened by a disciplined approach to physical recovery and is targeted like a laser in an unflinching pursuit of self mastery.

The Warrior Athlete views their training not as simply a separate time of day where they work and sweat, but as a necessary component of your entire life that merges body, mind, and spirit.

Training for the Warrior Athlete 

A good training program should be designed with results in mind. While several claim this, the majority of programs are built on specializing in a single area. Obvious flaws with this philosophy exist as most…

    * Bodybuilder, Fitness and Figure athletes don’t use a program built for a runner.
    * Runners don’t use a program of a swimmer.
    * Swimmer’s don’t use a program of yoga Master.
    * Yoga Masters don’t use a program of a wrestler.
 
Which describes you?
You must be all of them, and more.
 
You are a “Warrior Athlete” when you can physically and mentally handle any situation.  

    * Strength to move a heavy object or subdue an attacker.
    * Speed to make the final push at the end of the race.
    * Power and grace like a cheetah.
    * Stamina and endurance to ascend to the top of the mountain.
    * Heart to courageously live life with purpose.

“The only easy day was yesterday.” This statement is confirmed daily at M2 Fitness Pros as people from all walks of life come in to the pride with the thought that they are ready to commit to excellence, which is highly unique by most standards these days- the fitness of the classic warrior athlete has become a model for many clients who have no training experience or little appetite for it.

In a sense, M2 Fitness Pros and The Warrior Athlete™ address this fragility to be sure. We are all vulnerable to disease and disability, whether through daily challenge, sickness, or old age. We need coaching to prepare for this- indeed, hard training and instruction, if we are not to be totally undone by life’s challenges.

How might the Warrior Athlete program help an M2 athlete or team member face the day to day requirements of an aggressive training schedule and full life?

There is a striking paradox about which there has been a stunning silence: a warrior athletes’ body is in many ways a very personal investment specific to our own interests and goals, and yet the sacrifices he or she makes are utilized on a very public stage.

Can Warrior Athlete training help those facing challenges beyond the physical arena?

The philosophy about the warrior athlete program is extreme, intense and insane. Yes, people with ordinary skills and weak temperament will be challenged… some will move forward a bit further, others will break down and a select few “the Elite” will continue to climb on up the mountain.

Where will you be?

What if I told you that you could eat your way skinny? You’d probably think I was crazy or assumed it had something to do with ingesting spaghetti made from tapeworms. Either way you’d be wrong.

In fact, there is a way that you could eat your way to significant and long term fat loss results. It’s called ketogenics.

Ketogenics is a term that’s simply refers to the process required for your body to enter a state called ketosis. Ketosis occurs when your body begins using fat as its main source of energy above all other types of energy sources including proteins and carbohydrates. Once your body enters this state it becomes much easier for your body to utilize stored fat deposits for energy thus resulting in automatic and ongoing fat loss.

So, if ketogenics is so incredible and can be your answer to fat loss… WHY HAVENT YOU HEARD OF IT?

Well, you probably have. Ketosis is at the core of many fat loss programs and diets including the incredibly popular Atkins program. Some people fear this diet because it touts ingesting large amounts of fatty foods which some believe could be extremely harmful to your body.

The fact of the matter is that when your body enters the state of ketosis it will burn most, if not all of these fats for energy so very little will be stored in the body or broken down and result in fat in the blood stream.

To understand why this ketogenic diet can be so effective at burning fat you have to look at how your body normally operates.

The body’s preferred source of fuel is carbohydrates and is very effective at metabolizing carbohydrates to use for fuel. Because of this fact your body actually craves carbohydrates on a regular basis which usually leads to us over eating them.

When the body eats too many carbohydrates than it can process, it breaks them down and stores them as fat for later use. If your body does not have a source of carbohydrates to use for energy, it must look for another source.

If you severely limit the amount of carbohydrates that you eat and instead replace them with fat, your body will go through a process and adjustment that will allow it to metabolize the fat for energy as well. In addition, once the body begins to use fat as fuel it will be much easier for it to metabolize stored fat as fuel thereby helping to speed up existing fat loss.

This article merely represents an introduction to the process of ketogenics and ketosis. If you are interested in pursuing this type of dietary plan for use in your own fat loss program, it is recommended that you do more research and get all the facts necessary to ensure a healthy and productive fat loss program. If followed correctly and monitored regularly, ketogenics can truly be your key to fat loss success.

One of my favorite things in the world is ice cream. Well one of my favorite things in the world is chocolate also. Did I mention how much I love cake? Okay, you might be starting to see a pattern here.

The great thing about junk food today is that there are so many low-fat options. 

If you notice, Just about every box or container that you see down a junk food aisle has at least one fat-free or low-fat option. “This is great for me since I am such a fan of junk food but don’t want to indulge in the extra fat that it puts into my body”.

I LOVE JUNK FOOD …

If this line of thinking sounds like you, HAVE we got news for you.

The fact is, fat can be our friend. Now there is something you won’t see on the outside of most packages of tasty treats. You see, it’s not always the fat that is a problem for us when trying to lose weight. It is more often the combination of fat and sugar that becomes explosive.

A Twinkie, for instance, is almost a perfect combination of fat and sugar. The same can be said for ice cream. We like sugar ok, and are not too fond of fat by itself, but combine the two and watch out!

So, the low fat options are obviously better, right? Not necessarily.

When your body eats sugar, your pancreas will produce insulin into your bloodstream to help break down the sugar. Too much blood sugar can lead to a host of health problems including diabetes if left unchecked for long period of time. When this process occurs, the body shuts down the fat burning system while the insulin does its work.

Therefore, combining sugar with fat allows the sugar to get processed but not the fat and this is one of the main reasons why eating these junk foods contribute to a healthier (fatter) belly than a healthier body.

In addition, the body is extremely efficient at converting excess sugars into fat so if you eat too high a concentration of these junk foods, you’re getting hit with the fat that can’t be processed because of the insulin production we spoke about, and the excess sugar that can be broken down and stored as fat as well.

Many folks think that when they purchase a low-fat sweet treat that they’re doing themselves a favor, but research shows that people will eat more of these low-fat treats that still contained the same or sometimes more sugar than the products that contain fat. This leads to the sugar being stored as fat as we mentioned before and doesn’t offer a truly viable alternative.

So what type of snacks can you eat if you’re looking to burn fat?

First of all, limit sugars of any kind. The increase in blood sugar that they can cause coupled with the fact that excess sugars can be easily converted into fat make eating them generally an unhealthy food choice. In addition it is possible to eat a high-fat high-protein diet, if you follow a specific plan that will allow your body to begin using the fat you take in as energy, and in turn burn the stores of fat that you already have. This type of diet is generally known as a ketogenic diet and can be very successful for you if followed correctly.

In addition, learn to choose foods that are satisfying without having to contain the combination of processed sugars and fats to achieve their taste. It can be tough, but so can this…

and beleive me, these “extra” pounds of fat on the body are even tougher.

Moving away from these junk foods and training your body to begin burning fat instead of storing it can be your solution to the ongoing fat loss and a healthier you.

When it comes to fat loss for women, it can be a pretty unforgiving world indeed. We’ve all share the pain. Just about every magazine you pick up has the next sex symbol on the cover or some shapely starlet looking slim in the flesh, or one that’s featuring about how an A-list actress must’ve gained a few pounds based on some recent unsightly photos taken of her.

These body images that women are forced to endure on a regular basis can be harmful and  lead to unhealthy exercise and eating habits in some women who try to mimic the look of the Hollywood star the media hypes and showcases daily.

Sure, it’s helpful for a hollywood celeb to slim down in a hurry when they have a team of professional trainers and nutritionist to whip them into shape.

So how can you own an A-list body of your own?

The key to effective and consistent fat loss for women, though, is less about eating less than it is about eating right and exercising.

The goal is to get your body into a state in which it wants to burn fat on its own and make proper eating habits second nature for you. Below are some fat loss strategies for you to make the journey to fat loss an easier one indeed.

Eat smaller, Eat often. We’ve all heard about eating fewer meals more often throughout the day but what is behind this recommendation?

Well, when your body is introduced to food it begins to work on processing it. Calories are actually burned during this process helping to kick the fat burning process into gear as well.

If you starve yourself, your body will fight to maintain whatever body fat it currently has and will become more efficient at turning the food it does receive into fat as it perceives it must do this in order for you to survive. 

Eating small meals more times throughout the day allows your body to continually work to burn calories thus speeding up the process of fat loss.

Skip the sugar-Bring on the fat.

This fat loss tip can be scary to some women, but if you check out the science behind it, then adopting this one may be truly helpful. A diet that is high in fat and low in sugar can help induce your body into a state called ketosis, which simply means that your body is burning fat instead of other sources of energy.

This will allow your body to burn the fat it does eat and in turn become more effective at burning your existing stores and using those for energy as well.

Bodybuilding for Beauty? Absolutely!

The fact is, muscle burns twice as many calories as fat but it takes up half the space. Fat molecules are not as dense as those of muscle so therefore two people could weigh the same exact weight and the one with more fat would appear much larger than the one with more muscle. Working out with weights and building muscle can be extremely beneficial in your goal for fat loss.

Don’t worry about looking too bulky, as this is not likely to happen. 

The more weight you lift the more muscle you build for a shapely and toned physique. Yes, this applies to all you ladies out there! Contrary to popular beliefs, imposing a sufficient workload “weight” heavy enough to create change will not take you to she-man status.

Instead, your body will begin to burn your stores of fat while you increase your muscle mass and you will most likely stay about the same size or even appear to get smaller even though your weight might be about the same as when you started.

Adding more muscle to your frame is one of the easiest and most successful fat loss strategies for women.

So if you’re looking to get into that hot bikini and hit the beach with a rocking body, please pay attention to these re-fat loss tips for women.

Eat 4 to 6 small meals throughout the day, remove as many sugars from your diet and instead focus on fats and proteins, and maintain a rigorous exercise program that includes weight training to build that muscle your body needs and you will be well on your way to some serious fat loss.

“They overcome through sheer exertion of will, shattering the fallacy of the immovable object by becoming the unstoppable force”.

Feb 28

Amongst the early birds to check-in this morning was none other than M2’s female warrior athlete, Chelsea, who clocked in at 12%!!

 I look back at all of the hardships and tired days, feelings of exhaustion/soreness/fatigue, and I say to myself, “WOW, what a hard journey!” but my gosh was it worth it! ~Chelsea

Go ladies!! We’re on your team…
 “M2fitness Pros & Tight Curves 12 Week Body Transformation Challenge”
December 10th, 2008 to February 28, 2009
 
Chelsea Cho
Rebecca Lara
 Carol Cristobal

M2’s next generation of female warrior athletes is primed and ready for the challenges ahead. They are about to embark on a 12 week long journey that will change their lives forever. Under the coaching of M2’s very own, Bea Fox, these brave warrior athletes are going to relearn how to breathe, eat and train as they join hundreds of other motivated participants across the nation.

When their journey is complete and all there obstacles bested, you will bear witness to the remarkable transformation these determined women have undergone.

It was not until I was at my lowest (physically and emotionally) that I decided I needed to go back, I needed something to work towards a goal. ~ Carol

RECAP

To give our motivated M2 team members a firm foundation to build upon, and for some added enlightenment we teamed up with “Bodywell Nutrition” during an intense twelve week national body transformation campaign.

By instilling in them the ideals of living and thinking healthier, they will have the tools to help them reach the next level.

Would I be able to do it? … was a question that repeatedly went through my head. ~Rebecca

With just a number of weeks to modify and reverse years of self destructive patterns, the team set off on a real life journey to reach their physical peaks. They would know that there would be sacrifices to make and demands to live up to, doubting their own abilities but fueled with the burning flame of team spirit, these courageous batch of M2 female warrior athletes stepped up to battle for the ultimate challenge. 

“I still remember the first day I walked in and how reluctant I felt in terms of believing in myself and really believing that I would succeed and achieve my goals”. ~Chelsea

We didn’t try. We combined each other’s strengths; dove in whole hearted and set the plan into action.

“Then I did the unthinkable… I started doing two hours of Cardio a day and had to get up at 4:45 am to do my first hour of Cardio… by then I knew I had it in me. I was a different person…  I said it… I believed it… and then I just did it.” ~Rebecca

Conditioning the mind is the first step towards completion of a real life goal. We prepared to battle and triumph by any means necessary.

What did it take?

Organization to mentally shift gears and diligently map out a three month strategy with the discipline to stick to a schedule- commitment to follow through, accountability to show up and perform the task each day, and even going as far as changing their immediate surroundings to suit their new lifestyle. 

Changing my life style, my priorities, my friends and my mind has at times made me want to break down. ~Rebecca

 “Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle and a victory.”

On top of that, we organized a proven menu plan along with a series of training methods and systems specific to those of a figure athlete in pre contest mode.

I accomplished the biggest feat of my life and I’ve overcome the one thing in my life that has negatively affected me the most. ~Chelsea

During that 12 week stretch, we forged an alliance. Each team member acted as each other’s conscious holding each accountable for their commitment and performance. We provided a week by week 5-6 day work schedule, starting off with an early- to-rise sixty minute cardio session. The training included a combination of aggressive weight circuits with a mixture of HIIT calisthenics and agility type drills focusing on their individual strengths and weaknesses, followed by another sub to near max PM Cardio session.

On Sundays, we took their routine to the great outdoors for an invigorating and rigorous Super Cardio HIIT obstacle course.  Utilizing a mind-over-matter approach for a support system, the ladies managed to keep each other sharp and focused even during their moments of breakdown.

To achieve any significant success we need to learn from others in order to learn more about ourselves.

If it were not for my fellow competitors and coach, I probably would have quit. ~ Carol

Staying in the moment and not getting too far ahead of themselves proved to be vital in understanding their own strengths and limitations.

We have instilled a variety of healthy values by creating a state of mind that has allowed the team to fulfill their physical transformation and gain new found knowledge, wisdom, understanding, self-awareness, and inner strength to continue to conquer and pursue their successes.

I’m stronger, more confident and I have to admit… I LOOK DAM GOOD! And no one can take that away from me because I earned it! ~Rebecca

Will this be their final destination? 

Q&A’s & Results coming up next…

Twelve weeks ago you had an ultimatum… “ALL or nothing”!  I salute you for never giving up the fight…  You are warriors of life.

Although Jon’s training techniques may slightly vary from ours, our language is indistinguishable.

 
BELIEF by Jon Gilson

As a child, you can do anything.  The future is an unwritten story, unencumbered by the fetters of harsh reality.  Belief is easy to come by, as simple as hearing or seeing.  Potential is infinite, and always given its due.

As we get older, living is no longer an exercise in blind faith.  Doubt creeps in, and skepticism finds its way into our minds. The world gives us our knocks, and with each blow, the bounds of reality narrow.  The vernacular of the impossible impregnates our speech and infects our actions, until we stay with the safe, the pleasant, and the known, afraid to push back against the unfamiliar and the difficult.

This unfortunate evolution leaves us unsure of our abilities, scared to display incompetence and unwilling to attempt the unknown.  Terrified of another hard knock, we display only those traits with known rewards and certain payoffs.  We become small and weak as the chains of doubt weave themselves into our lives.
We cannot conquer frustration by quitting, nor defeat the unknown with doubt.

Every time you grab a barbell or strap on a weight vest, you have the opportunity to reverse this disastrous course.  Instead of succumbing to the gravity of your misgivings, you can take heart in your potential.   You can push back against the pain, secure in the knowledge that every failure can be remedied, every misstep righted.  With a piece of cold rolled steel, you can crush the virus of inadequacy beneath your heel.

We don’t trade in exercise.  We trade in the idea that your potential is exactly what you believe it to be.  Squats, pull-ups and levers are merely tools, a chance to show the world that it is wrong, its lessons flawed.  We cannot conquer frustration by quitting, nor defeat the unknown with doubt.  Meekness can never be rewarded, and with every clash, we scream this message.

I’ve seen athletes perform the impossible, heaving against every fiber of their being, a living war cry in the face of adversity.  They overcome through sheer exertion of will, shattering the fallacy of the immovable object by becoming the unstoppable force.  These athletes come from a thousand different places, unique only in their refusal to accept the world’s false constraints.  They choose to believe in their own capacity for greatness, and they are rewarded.

Belief is a place where the irrational exuberance of childhood finds new life, where the burden of the past is shed in favor of the promise of the future.  Belief is a chance to give all the hard knocks back, to free ourselves to become anything.  Stop wondering if you can, and know that achievement is as simple as trying, over and over again.

You aren’t the only one asking the most common question. So how can I rid the fat FAST?

After all, you do want to look better naked, right?

It’s the time of year when we all start our fat and weight loss programs. And yet it discourages even the most motivated individual from sticking to their fat loss routine when their results don’t quite match the expectations. They set these unrealistic goals for themselves hoping to be one of those “overnight success” stories, ending up disappointed and disinterested. Because of the last minute nature of the demands placed on their customary lifestyle and schedule, these weight losers may only setting themselves up for failure. 

So while everyone is still HOT on their resolutions kick, here is a quick list of tips that may help you survive the typical “drop-off” and keep your SEXY on track during these shaky first months. They’re sure to get you ripped, lean and toned in no time.

1. Re-focus on your goal 

Take the time to sit down and really put some thought into what you are trying to accomplish. Reevaluate your fat loss goals and determine whether they are feasible. Ask yourself and be honest, “What is my motivation?” Set up some milestones towards your ultimate goal with a deadline in mind. Do you want to decrease your body fat or are you looking for a slimmer waist line? Are you looking for more definition in your legs or are you aiming for a chiseled upper body? Do you want to tighten, shape or build some rock solid glutes?

Keep in mind that you cannot “spot reduce” or choose to lose the fat from one specific area of the body. Be patient.

2. Measure it all and record

Get a body fat scale or hire a personal trainer to perform a proper assessment and body composition analysis. Stepping on a standard, run of the mill floor scale only displays your total weight and does not indicate your total lean to fat ratio. Having the proper balance is very important. Low percentages can cause a great deal of physiological challenges on the body. On the other hand, a high percentage can also be harmful. This knowledge will prove useful when establishing your baseline fitness level.

Take some “before” and “after” photos from every different profile perspective- frontal, rear and side shots. Seeing is believing. Being able to have a visual reference point is enough to keep most people motivated and focused. With each photo op, take accurate measurements of the circumference of all your major muscle groups. By collecting this data every now and then, you can actually plot your progress on a chart to gauge your progress – invaluable when you are trying to fuel your desire to move smarter and faster towards the finish line.

This is also helpful in determining whether you’re on or off course, so if need be, corrections can be made to get you back on track. An increase or decrease to your food intake or work output through strength and cardio training may be suggested here if not on course.

3. Sleep and recovery strategies

Most fitness newbs can also wash out from their quest to shed those pounds because of drastic drops in energy levels. Late night channel surfing in front of your TV is, often, a common cause for not getting enough rest. Staving off sleep for another hour beyond your normal shut eye to find out “who dunnit” will not make stripping that fat off your body any easier. By depriving yourself of sleep, you are not allowing your body to develop those fat burning muscle tissues necessary to accomplishing your goal. With a lack of sleep comes a lack of desire to push hard. No push=No change.

There is such a thing as “too much of a good thing.” Overtraining, in an attempt to cancel out all those days of not exercising, will only lead to you overworking yourself to the point of adrenal fatigue. That fatigue will only eat away at your intentions and kill any notion of making it a point of hitting the gym.

Aim for eight hours of sleep a night to keep your fitness program realistic. If need be, seek the help of a coach to assist you when assessing possible stumbling blocks on your way to success.

4. Assertiveness training

While your intentions may be wholehearted, keep in mind that results take time. Everyone in the world is extremely busy, elbow deep with commitments. Sometimes an over commitment of time is a challenge and this is when learning to say “NO” becomes essential to your success. It’s not selfishness we’re talking about here, but more about being realistic and committed to the goals we have set.

Making time for follow through should take priority over all those so called “personal obligations” that always seem to pop up at the most inopportune times. Don’t let that distract you from your target. If a situation comes up demanding you volunteer your personal time, pass on it. Stress management is learning how to say “NO”. You should’nt feel guilty about saying “no”. Your decision should be respected. Ask yourself where these feelings of guilt come from. Rid yourself of that unnecessary emotional baggage.

Life coaches and business advisors are helpful guides for those who need help identifying their strong points and weaknesses. They’ll help you work around your foibles and get you working optimally.

5. How to add 2 hours to a 24 hour day

Root out all the menial tasks in your daily routine and figure out a way to outsource them. Any thing from car maintenance to lawn work to grocery shopping can be delegated to someone with less responsibility, more free time and perhaps a vocation towards that particular task. By dishing off these errands, not only are you saving time, but you are also freeing up time in your schedule to perhaps “de-stress” with a relaxing massage or even some yoga.

6. Pick a time, gym or workout that fits your needs first, not someone else’s

For the many of us out there with all kinds of time restraints, finding time to hit the gym proves to be the hardest challenge. Workouts that reduce your stress levels are ideal. Unfortunately, during the first few months of resolution chasing when everyone is at their fiercest, it is common to find yourself in jammed conditions. Long commutes to and from the gym, crowded parking lots and rush hour gym crowds at the cardio machines can do damage to a person’s desire.

Start by joining a gym that is no more than fifteen minutes away from your home or work. Then get yourself a personal trainer to help you as your buffer when you get that urge to speed through or cut short your work out. That personal trainer will keep you focused and away from those chit chats with acquaintances that eat up more time than you had anticipated.

Personal trainers can also function as life coaches or mentors by passing onto you their knowledge and experiences. They are the ones, who are going to make it their mission to keep you focused and accountable every step of the way. They’ll be that voice of reason in your head telling you to snap out of your laziness- where you’ll be less likely to procrastinate and talk yourself out of the workouts.

Training in a private facility or in the great outdoors at a Naked Commando boot camp or a Super cardio maxed out session or even at home using bodyweight exercises can be viable option. Staying committed with a plan and being dutiful with your approach will make for a successful training session. Go at your own speed.

However, if you rather team up with a likeminded friend- try to avoid partnering up with someone that may be at a more advanced fitness level. You may be benefitting from the partnership, but, more than likely, they will not see enough benefits from the workouts to make it worth their time and effort. Adversely, pushing yourself to their limits may result in overtraining which could lead to serious injury or discouragement from unfair comparisons. Stick to your fitness routine long enough and you will naturally meet other likeminded training partners.

Less than five percent will stick to their fitness commitments—will you beat the odds?

What’s the RETURN of you investment? HEALTH IS WEALTH.