HAPPY NEW YEAR BOOTCAMPERS!!!!!

Thanks for allowing me to make a living doing what I love.
It means the world to me ;)
All the best to you and your families in 2009.

Don't accept face value...

Oh, they're a tricky bunch.
Putting those shiny badges on the front of their boxes.
Littering the front of their packages with 'healthy' banners.
Claiming their food is 'fat free', or high in fiber, or 100% whole grain.
For a minute it might be safe to believe that the food companies
are looking out for us and our health.
But only for a minute. That is about how long it takes to turn
the package over and see how good the food really is.
The hidden preservatives, the 100% whole grain actually contains
enriched flour as well as high fructose corn syrup.
No wonder so many give up on eating healthy. The food industry
makes it almost impossible to do so.
I'm sorry to say that the only person who is going to really care about
what goes in your mouth is you (and me too:).
Don't trust the front of a food package, their is little to no truth on the front,
and if there is truth, it is something that many already know.
Like the fact that candy corns are fat free,
or that Peanut butter is low in carbohydrates.
But seeing that badge or that banner triggers something in our brains
to believe that it is a little healthier than the choice that has
no banners or badges at all.
Here is a tip: next time you go to the grocery store, look at all the badges
and banners and see how many are in red, orange, or yellow (or all three).
These colors are the same ones that fast food restaurants use to trick your
brain to believe that you 'need' to have their food.
But if you can trick your brain to be colorblind, you can see the real truth behind
these once thought 'healthy' foods.

Just a reminder...

Please register now if you want to participate in next session January 5 to February 27 (8 weeks)

If you want to train with the BEST register now because I'm not holding spots if you don't confirm by January 2. I can't going over capacity this time and there are only 13 spots available at each camp 6,7,9,10 Monday/Wednesday/Friday and Saturday 9:30.

I don't want any disappointments by giving an existing bootcampers spot away to someone new. So please act now if you want in!!!!!!

Register at intrafitt@hotmail.com

Can you spare 1 hour in your day?

Do you really have the time to exercise?

I mean really. If you were to spend an hour each day exercising, what would you have to sacrifice?

Time with your friends or family?

Time running errands?

Time shopping?

Time to relax?

For years we have been told that longer exercise sessions are going to help us 'lose weight'.

Look where that got us! Canada is fatter than ever, and time to exercise is getting shorter and shorter.

But we can work with that and we can reverse that.

And I'm starting with you.

Choose your mode of exercise and try this workout TODAY!

And I mean do it TODAY!

Whether it is swimming, snowshoeing, running, biking, bodyweight, or rowing (no elliptical trainers here please), you can do this routine:

Warm up for 2 minutes at a slow pace to get the juices flowing.

30 seconds high intensity

1 minute 30 seconds low intensity

Continue this cycle for 12 minutes.

If you have done intervals before up your total time to 15-17 minutes.

If this is your first time doing intervals, it is important to start slowly; the high intensity can always increase, but for now keep it mild.

If you have done intervals before follow this method of measurement:

Your 30 second high intensity interval should be high enough that you will NEED the ENTIRE 1 minute 30 seconds to recover.

Also the greater the difference in intensity between the high and low intensity intervals, the greater the benefit.

What I mean by that is, if you are sprinting in the 30 second high intensity bout, you can walk at a low intensity in the low intensity bout. We are trying to disrupt the normalcy in your body to stimulate fat burn.

Try it and let me know how you do!

A note on Nutrition

The holidays are upon us. But our nutrition compliance doesn't have to completely disappear. Here are some foods that will help you survive the holidays and keep that bulge from the belly.

Turkey- great source of protein. Turkey sandwiches with sprouted grain bread, are a quick snack (no mayo, mustard instead)

Vegetables- hopefully you had some from Thanksgiving that weren't sweetened with corn syrup and marshmallows. Veggies are always a good choice.

Whole Grain Rolls- choose these over their white counterparts

It is unrealistic to be completely clean throughout the holidays but there are a few foods that you absolutely should avoid at all costs:

Egg Nog- full of fat and sugar, a diet disaster

Cream Pies- Nothing good can come from them, nothing

Christmas Cookies- Save those for Santa.

Christmas Candy- You know better.

Ok, enough sitting in front of the computer, now let's get some exercise done!

Last Bootcamp of 2008...

Intrafitt 50's
jumps
rows
kettleswings
lunges
floor wipers
thrusters
deadlifts
burpees
bicep curls
sit ups

Some people are LAZY!!

Pizza is Healthy....

No I haven't lost my marbles.
But I had someone try and convince me that pizza was healthy.
Their reasoning was that it had vegetables on it.
It was like she was completely disregarding the two pounds
of cheese, sauce, and four pounds of dough it was made of
(not to mention the grease).
Are you kidding me!?
We are far worse off than I thought.
But I'm not here to talk about how unhealthy pizza is,
you know that already.
Temptations are all around us, sometimes they are tricky.
See, the food industry doesn't care that you are trying to shed body fat.
And they like to make it confusing, so that you will still buy their food
because it looks healthy, and they can still add preservatives
that will derail your efforts.
Now pizza is quite a stretch from even looking healthy,
but other foods such as breads, cereals, and other 'health' foods
will look nice on the surface but look deeper.
Do you homework, look at the food label and at the ingredient list.
Don't let the food industry feed into another part of your life
they are betting on: your lack of time.
Your best bet: it will be faster to get foods without food labels on them.
So you aren't reading labels and spending too much time in the
grocery store. Plus you know what the food is: no label, no guesswork.

Awesome Results!!

Less then 6month's at Intrafitt Bootcamp! Awesome!

Before & After... Another Success Story.

After 3 month's at Intrafitt Bootcamp look at these amazing results. Way to go!!

A few of my favorite bodybuilders

Funny Christmas video

A funny video Sharon Philbrick would like to share with
 everyone.

ENJOY!!





http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/uk9ReugR9x8HV5hxtCbe

What eating plan includes cupcakes???? TESTA!!!

Registration for January session begins now!

Attention bootcampers,

Registration for the January (winter) session has started. This session runs from Jan 5 to February 27 (8 weeks). The days/times offered will be as follows Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday 6am,7am,9:15am,10am. Please respond ASAP with your desired times because a few of my camps are almost at capacity.

****Stay tuned for new days and times available.

Please email or call 647-885-1730 or
email: intrafitt@hotmail.com

Motivational Quote of the week

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.

Vincent T. Lombardi

Your, Once A week slice of heaven

Being realistic is a quality that successful people often don't possess.
I mean, look at the rich and successful. Many of them developed an idea that, at the time, wasn't very realistic. But they pressed on and made a vision a reality.
Your fat loss success is very similar, except for the realistic part.
Staying true to a long term nutrition plan requires discipline mixed with some relaxing moments.
Those relaxing moments I'm talking about are those meals where you eat what you want and enjoy the 'treat' you are having.
At Intrafitt bootcamp, we call them Cheat Meals.
Cheat meals are ok if they are planned events and are had no more than once a week. They are the relief and weekly reward for eating supportively for the entire week.
But cheat meals are not a guarantee, they are a priveledge.
If you do not eat clean and supportive through the week, that doesn't mean you automatically get to have a cheat meal.
That is if you want to get anywhere with your results.
For long term, cheat meals are a necessity. We all have events, parties, gatherings, and other social outings that we enjoy. And that doesn't mean just because we are trying to change our lifestyle, that these have to be sacrificed.
Plan for them, utilize your cheat meal around them.
Most importantly, make sure you jump back on your supportive nutrition plan the very next meal you eat after your cheat meal.
By automatically doing this, you ensure that you will continue eating supportive for long term.
And consistency is most important when looking for results.
So, go ahead, have your slice of heaven.
And do so with your goals in mind.

Intrafitt Saturday Bootcampers

INTRAFITT LOVES PUKIE!!!

Your Athletic body awaits....

Hey campers,

I train a lot of women and moms. However my background is more in the arena of training athletes. Now that I have been training 'non-athletes' for several years, I have come to realize something:

We all have an athlete inside of us!

Now that may sound a little corny, but its true:

• We all have a desire to better ourselves, and constantly pushing our own comfort zones to achieve this (at least you do if you read this journal)
• We all have weaknesses that we must work on to achieve our goals
• We all want to look better to some degree
• Thirst for competition (against others or against ourselves)

Looking at the above descriptions, its easy to see that many of us are athletes but perhaps didn't know it.

When I realized this, I stopped seperating the two groups (athletes, and non-athletes) and began training all of my clients as if they were athletes, hence the generation of fitness boot camp.

The principles remain the same for fat loss, muscle strength, and endurance if you are an athlete or a non-athlete. Of course there are different levels of intensity involved but everyone can benefit from training as an athlete.

A Note on Competition

Competition can scare a lot of people. We all either fear or embrace competition at some level. When striving to reach a desired goal whether it be fat loss, applying for a job, or bidding on a home, competition is all around us.

This can often be overwhelming for many individuals, and often they will shy away from it. And I agree there are healthy and non-healthy forms of competition. Healthy competition mostly derives from within yourself. You are competing with yourself and perhaps secretly with those around you. Whether you are striving to beat your time in a race or striving to beat that one person you have had a 'private' competition with all along in your mind. It is often celebrated by others cheering others on as they are able to relate to the hard work others are putting in to succeed. Healthy competition is not gloated and many times not voiced at all. It remains within and builds a strong will to succeed.

Unhealthy competition is often seen in professional sports where there is a lot of taunting, their feelings and emotions are known by everyone around them, and everyone cheers for only their friends or teammates. This creates a lack of community togetherness, and segregation.

Bottom line: If you fear competition at any level ask yourself if you are ready to make a change, then make it within yourself. Avoid unhealthy competition at all costs as it will only regress your achievements. Surround yourself with like minded individuals all striving to better themselves and are supportive of you trying to do the same.

Motivational Quote of the Week

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.
William Arthur Ward

Basal Metabolic Rate vs. Calories In

Too often I encounter someone who believes eating 500 calories a day will help them lose weight.

It is unfortunate but a lack of truthful information is streaming through the media.

And diet companies are not the only ones to blame.

Every day we are inundated with information contradicting itself that it gets so frustrating, you don't know what to believe.

Honestly, I'm not surprised that we are in the situation we are as a country.

When I deliver information, I make sure it is scientifically proven and from a viable source.

This one is no different.

Basal Metabolic Rate

Your basal metabolic rate is how many calories you will burn at complete rest (calories you burn sitting on the couch all day long). These calories are expended performing functions in your body so you stay alive.

Unfortunately the Basal Metabolic Rate is often taken out of the equation when trying to balance the whole calories in versus calories out equation (I suppose unbalance would be a better word here).

So the mentality is that training for 1-2 hours and burning 1200 calories is going to be the calories out while taking in 1000 calories in a day creates the calorie deficit we are looking for.

Theoretically this is true, but here is why it doesn't work.

Your basal metabolic rate is your metabolism. Your metabolism is dependent upon several factors: body size, activity level, diet, and amount of lean muscle tissue to name a few.

If you were a 40 year old 140 pound female who was 5 feet 6 inches tall, your basal metabolic rate would be 1532.36.

That's 1500 calories doing absolutely nothing!

If you add that the example above has a desk job, so is a pretty sedentary person, her calorie output just working and sitting on the couch would be 1838.832!

And that is without any exercise.

Makes eating 500 calories a day seem a little absurd doesn't it?

The great thing about the basal metabolic rate is that you can increase it so that you burn more calories at rest.

Weight training will do that. Your muscle IS your metabolism

Supportive nutrition will do that. Make the food work for you by burning more calories just to digest it.

Looks like the impossible just became a little more realistic:)

Hey bootcampers,

if you feel the your bootcamp is the best!! Go to this site and vote. It's in the Etobicoke Guardian "Best of section". under bootcamp

Thanks for your support.


www.tcnreaderschoice.com

I have no time for exercise???

Hi bootcampers,

I used to think it was true.

I didn't think I would ever have time to exercise with such a busy schedule.

Boy was I uneducated!

I didn't know that a four minute workout could continue to provide an 'afterburn' long after my exercise session was over. And if I didn't know, how would other people know who don't have exercise and fitness as a profession!

The truth is I got sucked in rather than looking at the science. The media, the magazines, and even other 'fitness professionals' promote long bouts of exercise as being the most effective means of burning body fat.

In fact, just last week I had a client come to me to ask me the very same question as they heard from an exercise physiologist that long cardio sessions are the way to go to burn body fat.

You know what I told my client?

The exercise physiologist is right.

Now, before you delete this journal for me contradicting everything I have ever said, let me explain:

We are taught in school to look at the exercise session and the exercise session only. We are taught to look at the effects on the body within the exercise session only. We are NOT taught to look at the effects of the exercise session on the body AFTER exercise.

But science is starting to catch up to those of us who have been using these principles for years.

A long cardio session WILL burn MORE fat than a short interval training session DURING the workout. AFTER the workout is finished the individual performing long cardio sessions will have their core body temperature and heart rate return to normal about 30 minutes after a workout.

When performing interval training this is not the case. Due to the drastic changes in intensity during the workout, some studies show your heart rate to be elevated and your body attempting to return to a resting state for up to 36 hours post exercise session!

Yup, you read that right. You can be burning an elevated amount of calories from interval training 36 hours after a workout!

As a result you will burn 9 times more calories performing interval training than with a steady state cardio session.

Start looking outside the workout session to the recovery portion of your workout and the rest of your day. Your body and the amount of time it takes to recover from a workout will define the amount of results you achieve.

Getting back to my main topic of not having enough time to workout effectively, its a bunch of crap. Even if you have five or ten minutes here and there during the day, you can stimulate your body to cause 'turbulence' and elevate your heart rate and metabolism.

Motivational Quote of the week:

"Time is limited, so I better wake up every morning fresh and know that I have just one chance to live this particular day right, and to string my days together into a life of action, and purpose"

Does Weight Watchers work??

Please feel free to forward this email to anyone whom you feel might benefit from its contents.

I wish I had a nickel each time I heard it, bootcampers.

The painful statement my clients say time and time again.

'I used to go to weight watchers and lost weight fast. But when I stopped, I gained it all back and then some.'

I'm not here to bash Weight Watchers, rather I want to shed some light on what works and what doesn't.

And I mean for the long term.

I'm not about temporary solutions or a band-aid especially on a problem like being overweight.

Knowing WHY you are doing something and HOW to sustain a habit for the long term are two key points that are overlooked by most weight loss programs.

If you don't know WHY you are doing the habits you are doing, then how are you going to maintain them for the long term?

If you do know why, then you can take action steps toward fixing the issues that will arise long into the future.

I mean sure there is a point system that puts foods on a hierarchy of healthfulness.

But it never says to stay away from foods that will do nothing for you.

It just jacks up the point value for them.

So you can still have them, but it will cost you points.

How about it can cost you your life if you eat them, because that is the reality.

How about it will slow down your metabolism to the point that your muscle tissue will starve of nutrients.

Why are they starving? Who knows they haven't taught that. So how do we know how to fix it?

Good question...

Stay away from elliptical trainers!!!

The latest Men's Health magazine comes down on elliptical machines
hard.
Now I know elliptical machines are often the only option for people
with bad knees, but if your knees are healthy, think twice before
using the elliptical machine for these three reasons.
First, on page 52 of the December, 2008 issue, Men's Health warns,
"Never trust elliptical machines".
They quote a study that found elliptical machines over-estimated
the number of calories burned in a workout by 31%!
Ouch.
So if your "elliptical cardio workout" burned 400 calories, the
truth is you really burned closer to only 300 calories.
Second, later in the Dec. issue, Men's Health magazine interviewed
Biggest Loser contestant Ed Brantley. Ed lost 73 pounds on the
show, but had this to say about elliptical machines, "I hated the
elliptical. It was too easy, I didn't feel like I was doing
anything."
Exactly. I couldn't have said it better myself.
But that's EXACTLY why elliptical machines are so popular...
You see, the third reason elliptical machines are inferior for fat
loss is because they fail my "human nature" test.
Put it this way...
Take 100 people and put them in a gym with 100 treadmills and 100
elliptical machines.
Tell them they have to exercise for 30 minutes at a hard pace, and
they have the choice to use either the treadmill or the elliptical.
Guess where 90% of folks are going?
The elliptical!
Why?
Because it is human nature to take the EASY WAY out. And that is
why elliptical machines are so busy at the gym and you rarely see
anyone doing intervals on a treadmill or bodyweight circuits in the
corner of the gym.
Often I see folks using the elliptical machine only to say they
"worked out", but without getting any REAL work done.
So if you are stuck at a fat loss plateau, and you've been counting
on the elliptical machine to help you out, then forget it.
To burn fat and get more out of your workouts, do interval training
or bodyweight circuits.

Bodybuilding vs Fat Loss Functional Training

(send to any friends that currently go to gyms and reads fitness magazines for workout programs)

Hey bootcampers,

Bodybuilding is a fantastic sport. I mean the competitors are intense and the dedication and discipline they must have to be successful is not easily paralleled in society. Those who participate in bodybuilding have the tenacity, dedication, and time, not to mention the genetic predisposition to be successful.

Do you and I have that ability? I mean do we have 6-8 hours in the day to do nothing but eat and train? Do we have the genetic make up to be successful in this sport (maybe some of us do). Do we have such a strict eating schedule that we can not enjoy a slip up from time to time? In truth that is a body builder world. It is their profession to eat and train, and they spend a lot of time doing it.

Unfortunately for the rest of us, we don't have that luxury. We have jobs, families, and other obligations that take up almost all of our time. Often the last thing we think about or make time for is for exercise, and when we do make the time we only have small windows in which to train. So we better make them count.

So why do so many gym goers still train like body builders? Maybe some of them have aspirations for big things in the sport, then that is great. But many gym goers are training just to stay in shape or are training to lose belly fat. But they aren't to blame they take the programs they get out of the latest muscle magazine and hit the gym.

Bodybuilders don't train to lose belly fat. They train to be the most blown up and biggest and most ripped of anyone else on stage. For the average person, that isn't the goal they have in mind at all. Many people just want to see their abs, or fit into the same size clothes they did in high school.

The reality is that bodybuilding routines and fat loss routines are two very different things but many use them together thinking they will still yield the same result.

A typical body building routine will have you training one body part per day or a split routine of two body parts on separate days. You will train all of one muscle group first before moving on to the next muscle group. Often you will do several exercises for the same muscle group and will rest for a few minutes between sets. Your typical body building routine will take at least an hour and a half to complete. You will train a lot of single joint movements and a few multi joint movements but your goal is to get a really great pump in the muscle.

A typical fat loss routine will have you training either full body or also in split body routines. You will alternate between muscle groups or movements and will have little to no rest from one exercise to the next. This is more like a circuit format where you will rest at the end for a short time before starting a new round. Your typical fat loss routine will take less than an hour to complete. You will train a lot of multi-joint exercises as your goal is to boost the metabolic demand on the body which means you are increasing how much oxygen you need and how quickly your heart can pump blood. The higher the metabolic demand the higher the fa.t loss effect (afterburn-calories burned after exercise).

As for the nutrition, these are two very different animals. In bodybuilding there is a huge calorie amount taken in to help build bulk and build muscle. So your calorie intake is going to be much more than what you are used to if you want to see results (about double depending upon body type and previous experience). Your carbohydrate intake will also be very high. With fat loss programming, your calorie intake is cut so you are at a deficit from your normal intake, and your carbohydrate intake will be restricted to an extent.

As you can see they are at two very opposite ends of the spectrum when you look at nutrition. As for exercise there are some similarities but also some glaring differences.

So before you go into the gym and start training from any program you find in a magazine, make sure it has your goals in mind and it is the most effective training program for those goals.

yours in fitness,

I love this picture!!!

Exercise can kill you!

Well not exactly.

But it can inflict a whole lot of damage if your nutrition isn't supporting your exercise habits.

Exercise causes an increase of free radical damage to your body. You have probably heard of free radicals before in relation of terms such as pollution and cancer. Free radicals are basically items that damage your body's cells.

Now the damage is slight and the benefits of exercise drastically outweigh the consequences, but even the slight damages from exercise can add up over time.

Your best defense? Antioxidants.

Antioxidants are found in many healthy foods such as: fruits, vegetables, nuts, green tea, plain coffee, and dark chocolate.

If you aren't creating 'support' through nutrition for your body, you could, in essence be creating more harm than good with your exercise program.

There is no middle road here. Either eat to support your exercise habits, or spin your wheels regarding health. Which path do you choose?

By the way don't think that starting the morning off with a large coffee with chocolate is the answer. I'm talking black coffee in small amounts and the dark bitter chocolate in its raw form (for some reason I knew what you were thinking:).

Look at these new bodies!!!!!

After 1 year of Intrafitt bootcamp the Philbricks are looking awesome!!!

Before

After (exactly 1 year)

The building blocks of nutrition

Fiber and Protein

Two essential ingredients to a successful nutrition plan.

But just how much should you have?

Lets start with fiber.

Fiber intake is important to a successful nutrition plan because it often times is an indicator of a quality food source. You will find fiber in whole grains (real whole grains), beans, dark green veggies, some breakfast cereals, as well as fruits.

You want to aim to have 25-35 grams per day of fiber in your nutrition plan.

If you fall below the recommended range, look at your menu and see what you can change to improve. It often only takes a few small changes to fall within quality parameters.

Next is Protein

Protein has several important roles in the body. It is especially important in the role of body composition (body fat vs. lean muscle)

One reason is the thermic effect. The thermic effect is the amount of energy it takes to digest a certain food. The thermic effect of protein is 30%. That means one third of the energy found in protein is burned just to digest it. When you compare that to carbs (6-8%) and fat (2-3%), you begin to realize proteins importance.

So how much protein should you have. Take your current body weight and multiply it by .8. This will give you the minimum amount of protein you want to have in one day.

Quality protein sources include: boneless skinless chicken breast, boneless skinless turkey breast, protein shakes, tofu, beans, fish, some seafood, buffalo or other wild game.

If you are able to get these two important parts of a successful nutrition plan under control, the other parts will fall into place.

Motivational Quote of the week

Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.
Confucius

Your body is my business!!

There are excuses. Then there are RESULTS....
TRAIN HARD!!

I have a new teammate!!

Sharon Philbrick Intrafitt's new bootcamp instructor

First off I (Michael) have to say Sharon is one of the most determined and committed athletes I've ever trained. She is extremely passionate about fitness and a perfect match for Intrafitt style of training.

Sharon's Bio:

Sharon is an inspiration to anyone looking to become healthy and active. She is a welcome addition to personal training. Her infectious energy, and encouraging approach stems from her own personal journey towards wellness.
Sharon’s own personal struggle with weight loss began in childhood. She ate whatever she wanted and was very inactive. It wasn’t until high school when Sharon, a high achiever, realized that this excess weight was literally weighing her down. She took control and began exercising and eating well. With this approach, Sharon reached a healthy weight and excelled at school and in various ‘activities’.
This confidence led her to aspire for more. She was accepted to Carlton University as a economics major and decided to pursue a career in modeling. She was signed immediately with a modeling agency but was told that she must lose 20lbs, well below a healthy standard. Poor eating habits ensued as she ate very little to compete for work in the super skinny industry. She continued with her modeling and poor eating habits for one year after completing her degree.
Sharon left modeling for a desirable position in the financial industry. During this time, she received her Canadian Securities Diploma. She joined gyms and focused on cardio to maintain her svelte, model-esque physique. She continued to eat what she though was healthy.
Sharon married her husband, Michael, a professional athlete and had two beautiful girls in the years that followed. It was the addition of weight training, in conjunction with cardio and healthy eating that helped Sharon return to her pre-pregnancy form although she continued to struggle with her mommy-tummy.
Sharon joined Michael Grayer’s Intrafitt Bootcamp. After following his meal plans and exercise regimen, she lost 20lbs of pure fat and said goodbye to her muffin top. She is newly educated on the importance of fueling your body, and how to eat healthy. She was so inspired by Michael Grayer’s style of training and fitness etiquette that Sharon decided to become a trainer herself. Sharon is ready to inspire others who are willing to work to achieve their wellness goals.

Sharon 1 year ago
Sharon today

Hey bootcampers watch this video this guy is a real inspiration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0DRk8dFjI

yours in fitness

Michael

The food industry has no interest in how you look

Any trick they can find that will get you to buy their product, you can rest assure they will use it. That includes adding ingredients to once thought healthy foods to make them more desirable to your taste buds. This also allows them to lower the price of foods giving them the perceived affordability factor. In their mind there are two scenarios they are expecting to happen: you will be in a rush to grab the cheapest food available and not look at the nutrition label; or you will look at the nutrition label and not know what all the ingredients are (or be able to pronounce them) and will become frustrated and buy what looks like is healthy.

Deciphering a nutrition label can be a science in itself. However, there are three ingredients which you want to watch out for and avoid as much as possible. These foods are lethal to your fat loss goals and I call them the anti-fat loss foods.

Anti-Fat loss food #1: Hydrogenated Oils

These oils are saturated fats, plain and simple. You have heard of saturated fats I'm sure. They are responsible for obesity, heart disease, cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke, and the list goes on and on. There is nothing good about this food and should be avoided at all costs. Hydrogenated Oils can be found everywhere too, not just in obvious areas; breads, condiments, wraps, cereals, and peanut butter are some of the lesser thought of sources. They can also be found in potato chips, desserts, and candy.

Anti-Fat loss food #2: High Fructose Corn Syrup

High Fructose Corn Syrup is a sugar substitute that registers as zero calories. Sounds good doesn't it? It's not. High Fructose Corn Syrup actually shuts off the satisfaction switch your body usually gets when consuming food, so you never have that full feeling with foods that contain this evil ingredient. So while you may think you are eating less, your body will begin to crave more and more food, thus increasing your chances of eating unsupportively.

Unfortunately High Fructose Corn Syrup is found everywhere. Some of the obvious sources include: candy, ice cream, cereals, soda, and fruit juices. But it is also found in less obvious sources such as: low fat dressings, low fat options of most foods, fat free options of most foods, breads, condiments, diet sodas, and many low calorie alternative foods.

Anti-Fat loss food #3: Enriched flour

Enriched flour is a fancy word for flour that has been stripped of its nutrients for processing then nutrients were infused back in. Enriched flour is masked sugar when it comes to what it will do in your body. It takes nothing to digest this food and if it isn't used instantly as energy, your body will store it as fat. You can find this food in pastas, cereals, breads, crackers/chips, cookies, and most other foods that required dough to make.

Bonus Anti-Fat loss food: anything ending in ose

Sucrose, fructose, galactose, glucose. These are all fancy words for sugar. Added sugar can be considered instant fat when it enters your body. Fruit juices, cereals, desserts, breads, canned fruit, salad dressings, and packaged deli meat are a few sources of this processed sugar.

Once you start to look for these foods in the ingredients list, they will start to pop out of the list and signal an alarm in your head to step away from that food. It can be quite eye opening and a bit frustrating as you will discover actually how many foods have these ingredients. But by eliminating one food per week that contains just one of these ingredients, will yield tremendous results in your energy levels and in your physical appearance. If it will do that, a few extra minutes spent making sure your food choice is supportive is definitely worth it.

fail to plan... plan to fail

I've been helping people transform their bodies for over ten years now.
 
And I can tell you the #1 problem I see over and over and over.
 
You're not going to like it, but I'm going to tell you anyway. 
 
You FAIL to plan your meals.
 
All the little clich?s are true. And in this case when you fail to plan,

you plan to fail.
 
Here's just one scenario:
 
You wake up knowing full well your metabolism will be firing on all

cylinders the entire day IF you eat a proper fat loss breakfast.
 
But you can't do that because there's nothing to eat in the house. 
 
Or maybe there's some sugary cereal or pastry.
 
You get the point.
 
So you skip breakfast and off to work you go.
 
Congratulations. You have just sabotaged your metabolism

for the day. All because you failed to plan out your meals. 



Yours in fitness,



,

This time of the year gains you an average of 12 pounds of fat...

Canadians gains an average 12 pounds of fat between
Halloween and January 1st.  
 
This was a statistic that a fellow fitness professional
pulled from a magazine article.  

Now I don't know if this is true or not, but when you
think about it this could be very true. 

You eat a little candy on Halloween then the holiday
parties start appearing.  

Your life gets busier with holiday shopping and parties
and then there are the holidays themselves.  

Needless to say your focus on proper exercise and nutrition
has been pushed to the wayside.  

So I don't know if the 12 pound average is accurate or not,
but it makes a lot of sense and quite possibly is accurate.

So what are you going to do about it?

Don't wait until the first of the year to make those new years
resolutions.

Don't wait until mid-december to start complaining about
gaining weight.

Act now and make sure that when everyone else is complaining
about their weight going up you are losing weight and creating
different new years resolutions instead of the normal
"I am going to lose weight" resolutions. 

Take action and get these types of results before January 1st. 
 

Motivational Quote of the Week

"Show me someone content with mediocrity and I'll show you someone destined for failure."

Johnetta Cole

Sungard's lunch time bootcamp

Terrific job Sungardians!
Rhonda don't strain yourself too much with those 5lbers....

Happy Anniversary(Original Intrafitt Bootcampers)

Awesome year ladies!! Look at those new bodies, I'm very proud of you all.

Fat doesn't make you fat...

There is a common myth out there that has its roots in the 1980's and unfortunately still thrives today. And that is the thought that fat is the only food that causes weight gain.

The unlimited choices of fat free food items are so immensely popular in our society that you would think if this was the lone culprit, we would be very healthy and fit.

As you know this is not the case. In fact it is the complete opposite.

We are a fatter society than we ever have been, and our kids are getting larger and larger too.

So fat free foods don't seem to be cutting it alone. Why? Well first we have to look at the fat free foods themselves.

A food that is made fat free that isn't meant to be must have 'fillers' to replace the space left vacant by the fat that has been taken out or not added. The old adage, when you take something away you must replace it with something else rings very true here. The fillers are usually foods that you wouldn't eat if you were trying to eat healthy. Some examples of fillers are High Fructose Corn Syrup (not healthy despite what you hear in the television commercials), hydrogenated oils, or preservatives (too many to name here). These fillers in turn make the once thought healthy fat free food a food you wouldn't touch on a supportive and healthy eating plan.

Now hold on before you run out the door and buy that Cesar Salad Dressing you have been craving, there's more to this.

The key to a supportive menu is to create balance. Healthy fats are fine and will not cause weight gain provided the nutritional balance is intact. What I mean by that is if you are going to have an elevated amount of healthy fats, your carbohydrates must be lowered to create a supportive balance and the proteins must be elevated.

The fat gaining combination is high fat with high carbohydrate intake. When the two together are high, then you can guarantee a gain in fat. Not only will that mean your protein intake is low (which has a high thermogenic effect- amount of energy used from food for digestion), but your muscles will not have the recovery nutrients it needs to maintain and grow lean muscle tissue. The lower thermic effect of carbohydrates and fats combined with the effect carbohydrates have on blood sugar levels sets up a recipe for disaster for your fat loss efforts.

Yours in fitness

Michael

the ladies gettin' their pose on!

TEMPTATIONS???

Do you hear that, bootcampers?

It's the voices in the cupboard.

The chips, the cookies, the candy are all calling your name and tempting you.

They are relentless, and they don't care if you just ate a supportive meal.

They must be eaten to be satisfied, and they will go to great lengths to dig deep into your mind and take over your thoughts.

But you do have a defense against these dark forces.

See their voice is only powerful within the walls of your home. If they are outside the walls, they can't be heard.

So, get them out of your house as fast as you can before they take over your mind and your body. There is nothing good that can come of these voices.

Am I saying that you can never give in to the voices?

No not at all. Save them for special occasions when you dine out or go to gatherings.

But if they are in your house, your mind will be taken over by their voices and it will most likely be sooner rather than later.

Give yourself a fighting chance against the voices.

Make your home a safe haven for your goals.

Yours in Fitness,

Michael

Motivational Quote of the Week

Motivational Quote of the Week

Unless you change how you are, you will always have what you've already got.

Jim Rohn

Awesome work bootcampers!

WOD
10 round or 45min

12 burpees with push up
12 squats
12 renegade rows
12 lunges
12 shoulder press
Run 600m

Great job Mike Philbrick and Heather Talbot for doing 9 rounds.

Martin Donnelly's Ireland vacation workout

Marty gets caught doing 12oz curls!!