This weekend I put together a new bookshelf to help hold my growing collection of pulp-fiction mystery novels.

Of course, I managed to put in two shelves upside down and put a hammer through the back.  (I had a mechanical bypass at 3 and haven’t been able to use tools ever since )

It got all messed up because I didn’t bother reading the directions.  After all, I figured I knew how to put together a bookshelf better than the people who make bookshelves for a living.

Lesson learned.  I’ll read the instructions next time.

That wrecked bookshelf reminded me of a conversation yesterday.

She literally said, “I’m following my meal plan exactly, but instead of the veggie/egg omelete I had a muffin and a coffee for breakfast.”

I hesitated to ask what kind of coffee she had.

“A Christmas gingerbread latte with skinny milk.”

That’s not quite the same.

Did you know that what people say comes with subtitles that only personal trainers can read?  It’s true.

Just today someone said, “It’s too hard – I want an EASIER diet.”

And the personal trainer subtitles read: “I’d rather eat garbage than look or feel any better.  I’m making a conscious decision to go ahead and get fatter because I love food more than I love myself.”

It’s simple: Follow a proven plan and actually FOLLOW it.

If you’re not following a plan, don’t be surprised when your bookshelf turns out to be messed up.

A decade ago the average personal training client was looking to lose 15-30 pounds.  People could actually fit into the machines at the gym.

Today being 15-30 pounds overweight is considered “carrying a few extra pounds.”  Most of the average personal training clients can’t even fit into the machines at the gym.

It’s sad…. really sad.

Do you know what’s going on?

Let me show you….

I’ll bet some of the people in these pictures have kids.  What kind of a message are they sending?

Why are all of these people eating themselves to death?

I don’t know. 

Maybe they blame someone else.  Maybe they think there’s no hope for them.

I don’t know what the problem is.

But I know that most fat loss programs won’t cut it anymore.

One of my classmates in exercise science did a 12 week project training his obese mother.  He put her on a TEXTBOOK low fat diet and aerobic training program.

He got an A on his paper.

His mother died of a heart attack a week later.

His exercise program failed her.

Knowing what I know now, I could have taken 30 pounds off of her in those 12 weeks and probably saved her life.

She could be hanging out with her 2 young grandkids right now.

But she’s not.  Why not?

Because 95% of what they teach you about exercise and nutrition is DEAD wrong.

Most fitness experts approach fitness completely backwards.

Don’t listen to them, listen to me.

I’m giving you the first page of the manual from last Saturday’s Rules of The Game Seminar.

You’ll see WHY most exercise programs are doomed to fail you.

And you’ll see what I’ve decided to base all of my fat loss programs on (it’s in bold, so you can’t miss it).

 UNSTOPPABLE FITNESS FORMULA – RULES OF THE GAME

FAT LOSS FACT: 56% of Americans are currently “dieting”

One third of Americans are obese
Two thirds are overweight

In year 2000, obesity caused 400,000 US deaths – 16% of all preventable deaths and number 2 behind smoking (which caused 435,000 deaths – 18%)

This is due to the FAILURE of the fitness professions.

Despite fat loss, body composition, and physique transformation being the number one fitness goal of most people, this is actually a very new concept. 30 years ago we didn’t really need fat loss programs.

30 years ago the purpose of exercise was to ENHANCE an active lifestyle. But now we have to create programs specifically designed to enhance fat loss.

Exercise science has focused on aerobic training for HEALTH – not fat loss. Actually, the idea of training just to lose fat was an alien concept until the 1980’s.

Fitness guys knew it was time to create fat loss programs. They just didn’t know where to start. The first fat loss programs were designed by copying endurance athletes and hoping that somehow the program of a marathon runner would help a fat lady lose weight even when the program was cut down to 20 minutes 3x a week.

Problem: Fat loss was never the goal of endurance athletes. It was a side effect.

Then fitness guys turned to bodybuilding. Remember “Body For Life”? Another failure. To take the program of a full time, genetically gifted bodybuilder and use it to design a fat loss program for Mrs. Krensky was nonsensical.

But hey, at least they were trying something.

Bodybuilders are some of the most dedicated and driven people on the planet. They also devote ALL of their life to bodybuilding.

Then supplement companies (grandchildren of the traveling snake-oil doctors of the Midwest) jumped on the bandwagon and told us their miracle powders could give us the benefits of drugs without actually using the drugs.

This approach was closer. Fat loss WAS a goal for bodybuilders. But the low levels of bodyfat they achieved was a result of their increased muscle mass and metabolism.

Here’s the basis of my Unstoppable Fitness Formula: Before we start to program for fat loss, we have to understand exactly HOW it occurs. Then we design a program based on these principles – not on tradition, junk, or outdated beliefs.

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Now think back on all of the exercise programs you’ve seen or tried.  Were they just bastardized, watered-down versions of bodybuilder routines mixed with endurance routines?

I’ll bet they were.

If you’re serious about speeding up your metabolism, losing weight, and looking so good that you’re confident in your appearance everywhere you go, a lame edurance program or scaled-down bodybulding routine won’t do it for you.

You need something designed SPECIFICALLY for your goals.

I’m going to share my “master system” for rapid weight loss in the posts on this blog, so be sure that you’re subscribed by entering your name and email address in the box below:

Don’t text me at 11pm.

A while ago, I got a text from one of my friends who forgot that I get up at 4 in the morning.

He’d seen a post about my 21 Day Rapid Fat Loss Plan and wanted to ask me some questions.

After a while, you start getting the same questions over and over about a program like this…

Aaron (my friend) had heard on Facebook that I’d come up with a new done-for-you meal plan and workout routine.  That there was FINALLY a system that anyone could use that would let even people with “bad genetics” lose pounds and inches quickly. 

And it was done WITHOUT a starvation diet, doing any long, slow cardio, or spending hours in the gym.

So I called Aaron back.  He asked all of the usual questions, until…

“Does it work?” he asked me.

“Of course it #*$&%^ works!”

“Do you mind if I try it out?”

“It’s a $(&*$^*&^@ how-to plan.  The whole POINT is to try it out”

As you can see, I’m very charming when my friends wake me up in the middle of the night….

Anyway, he paid for the nutrition plan and I emailed it to him.  (Since he lives in Seattle, Washington, he couldn’t come to the bootcamp workouts)

I promptly forgot about the whole thing.

And then I got another text.  He’d actually gone and followed the plan!

“Sweet! 12.8 pounds and 2 inches in 3 weeks!”

Of course, he had to be a killjoy and text me five minutes later that he would always be better-looking than me, no matter how much he weighs….

People on the 21 Day Plan send me texts of their progress:

Here’s one from John: “8 days = 5.2 pounds down.”

And from Melissa: “FYI down 10pds!  Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!”

And Terii: “In just 18 days I lost 10.5 pounds and 1in from my hips. thank you!”

And from someone who will remain nameless: “i’m not totally on it and my only two pants that i can wear are getting too loose. i’ll be naked in about 5 days”

Well, yesterday afternoon I stopped by another gym in Carson City to talk to one of the trainers.  I saw lots and lots of people, pretending to work out, spending lots of money on “magic potions” that don’t work, and wasting their time on boring pieces of cardio equipment.

And that got me thinking this morning…

If the five random people above could benefit so much from my 21 Day Rapid Fat Loss Plan, isn’t it time for you to cowboy up and give it a shot?

http://woldfitness.com/2009/09/21-day-rapid-fat-loss-plan/

So, here’s the Rapid Fat Loss Challenge:

Follow my nutrition plan for 3 weeks.  Come to as many bootcamp sessions as you want to.

It’s a simple system that gets you losing fat FAST.

How much easier could it get?

Now, it’s time for me to get off the computer and get back to training some awesome people.

http://woldfitness.com/2009/09/21-day-rapid-fat-loss-plan/

Guess what?  It’s already October!

This year has really gone quickly.  I mean, I could hardly believe it was 2009 and now it’s almost 2010!

And in January of 2010 everyone will set the same old resolutions.  Just 3 months away.

But don’t get depressed!  3 months is a long time – you can get a LOT done in 3 months.

I used to train a group of lawyers and I asked those guys if there was any law stating that the only time you can set goals is on December 31st.  Luckily, there isn’t any law.  You can start making progress towards your goal ANYTIME!

Do you want to lose fat?  Is that your goal?  You could easily lose 2-3 pounds per week by starting now, working hard on your training, and tightening up your nutrition.

Since there are still 12 whole weeks left until New Years, you could lose 20-30 lbs before New Year’s Eve.

12 weeks left in the year.  Imagine how you’d FEEL if you started out 2010 already 20 pounds lighter than you are now?  You’d feel great!

Now, there are TWO main things you need if you want to lose weight and feel great:

1. The right mindset so that you’ll TAKE ACTION

2. A set of skills that guides you through the various stages of weight loss

Now here’s the cool thing:  When someone comes into my gym for the first time they fill out a quick form and one of the questions I ask is, “What are your biggest frustrations when it comes to health, fitness, and weight loss?”

More than 63% of people write: MOTIVATION.

And when I ask why, it turns out that most people aren’t motivated is because they don’t believe in themselves.

They KNOW that my Unstoppable Fitness Formula works, they’re just unsure that they’ll be able to stick to the plan.

I used to think that the way to do anything was to get motivated, then do the thing.

But after having worked with hundreds of people, I found out the TRUTH…

FIRST you do the thing, THEN you get the motivation!

So you start off following a proven plan designed to take you through the various stages of weight loss.

Here’s what is going to happen:

You lose a couple pounds….

…………….Then you get some motivation.

The workouts feel easier…

…………….You get some more motivation.

All of your clothes are too big….

…………….You’ve got some much motivation that you’ve developed an UNSTOPPABLE mindset!

One of my newest bootcampers sent me an email this morning.  She said: “thanks for the meal plans. FYI down 10pds! Unbelievable!!!!!!!!”

Do you think that losing ten pounds in 2 weeks would motivate you?

Find a proven plan and follow it for a few weeks.  My favorite is my 21 Day Rapid Fat Loss Plan (it’s what helped my bootcamper above lose 10 pounds in only 2 weeks).

And THEN you’ll be motivated to finish out 2009 with a bang!

If you haven’t started anything it’s not too late.  Make some goals NOW and get a huge jump start on 2010.

Don’t let these next 3 months slide by without doing something!

Pretty much everyone has heard of the great Jack LaLanne.

He started his first health clubs back in the thirties (30s!).

He invented many training tools and techniques that we still use today.

Well, Jack used to have his own health and fitness tv show.

My Grandma Margie used to work out with Jack every day.  And my mom remembers seeing grandma doing handstands along with Jack on the show!

I could go on and on about how neat Jack is, but I’d rather share some clips of the man himself….

Have you ever noticed that everyone you see looks like the picture on their driver’s license?  Why is everyone so unhappy all of the time?  Here’s Jack’s take on unhappy people:

If you haven’t heard, besides running Wold Fitness and Fit Body Bootcamp, I’m also the strength and conditioning coach for Capital City Volleyball Club.

The volleyball club has several hundred female athletes, mostly between 12-18 years old.

Coaches have noticed that even in the last few years athletes are getting softer, they just LOOK different.  Jack says they look like sugar because they EAT sugar.  (It’s true, these girls eat nothing but candy and nasty-sports drinks on their breaks)

Of course, I’ve noticed that while the girls are getting softer around the middle, their PARENTS are getting even WORSE.

What does Jack have to say about “sugarholics”?

The other day I wrote an article about how to Have More Energy. Of course, Jack has his own techniques and they’ve kept him going like a rocket well into his ninth decade!

Here are his energy secrets:

This is a great story and a great analogy, Life Is A Battlefield. Make up your mind to win!

A lot of people don’t do well in life because they don’t FEEL well. Here’s how to feel good and deal with problems:

The problem with being fat and having poor health is that it doesn’t happen as a single, cataclysmic event. It is the results of just a few errors in judgment, repeated every day for years. And that’s how we end up where we do. (I love the part of this video where Jack says that most people think the body is made up of coffee and cigarettes…)

Are you a slave to your body?

Lots of people I know spend all weekend shuttling back and forth to home depot to make their house look BETTER THAN NEW. Why don’t you take some time to remodel your body?

Jack LaLanne was wayyy ahead of his time. And I love the way he talks to us like we’re all his best friend.

And so we’ll end with a quote from the man himself:

The only way you get that fat off is to eat less and exercise more.

A lot of people ask me why I say aerobic exercise sucks when it comes to losing fat.

Simple – I say it because I’ve seen it time and time again in my clients.

One lady came to me after she had faithfully jogged 6 days a week for a year.  When she started, she did a half an hour a day and quickly lost five pounds.  Then the weight came back.

She upped it to an hour a day.  This time she went down 8 pounds in 2 weeks, but had gained 7 of them back by the end of the month.

By the end of the year she was doing an hour on the treadmill and an hour on the elliptical every day PLUS pilates classes 3 times a week.  Fifteen hours of exercise a week.  For most of a year.  And she only lost a total of 7 pounds.

Now, I’m not faulting her effort.  Far from it!  That’s a heck of a lot of really hard work!

The thing is, she wasn’t that big to start with.  So she plateaued quickly.  Someone a little larger at the beginning might have lost 15 pounds but then reached a point where she wasn’t seeing any results from her efforts.

And THAT is one of the big problems with aerobic training for fat loss.   It doesn’t get you to the body you want!  (Other problems are orthopedic damage, monotony of sessions, body shape stays the same as weight goes down, and more)

Here are the simple basics of how incorrect exercise programming – focusing on aerobics – can actually REDUCE your metabolism and make it HARDER to lose fat.

Here are 5 Reasons Aerobics Suck For Fat Loss:

Loss of Lean, Toned Muscle

Your lean muscles burn a LOT of fat.  Losing muscle as a result of too much aerobic work means you’ll burn fewer calories.

Total Weight Loss

The less you weigh, the fewer calories it takes to move your body.  Simple physics.

Exercise Economy

As you become more skilled at performing repetitive exercises, like pedaling a bicycle, you become more efficient and burn fewer calories.

Stimulus Adaptation

Your body changes and becomes used to the workload (remember the woman who jogged an hour then jumped on the elliptical?).  As it adapts you will burn fewer calories.

Improved Fitness

Because of everything above, you won’t burn nearly as many calories going about your daily routine.  You’ll actually burn fewer calories when you’re resting.

The good news is that all of this can EASILY be avoided by following a sound training program.

You can maintain and even toned up your muscles with resistance training.  (At Fit Body Bootcamp we use your own body as resistance, so you won’t bulk up, but will tone instead)

You can prevent an adaptation to the stimulus by changing exercises, sets, reps, rest, and loading.  Planned variation and progressions are the keys to prevent going stale.  Plus, it makes it a lot more fun!

See, my Unstoppable Fitness Formula focuses on raising your METABOLISM so that you burn calories all freakin’ day!

No matter whether you train with me or on your own, you need to train in ways that maximize your metabolism, to turn your body into a fat-incinerating furnace.  Now get after it!

Today I want to tell you about something TOTALLY awesome.

I’ve been doing lots of research on nutrition lately, to find out what really works and how to make it work even faster.

Some of the information that’s out there completely blows my mind!  Things like diets where participants GAINED muscle while on an 800Calorie liquid diet.  Other studies where athletes gained FAT even while working out 6 hours a week.

Nutrition and weight loss is complicated stuff, that’s for sure.

Now here’s the totally awesome info I promised you…

13 years ago, an explorer in the Alakazam River Basin found an ancient manuscript.

It described the magical health benefits of the Gooby Berry, which only grows in the Alakazam River Basin.

The ancients used the juice of these berries to keep their bodies lean, strong, and healthy.

The Gooby Berry also made their hair shinier, whitened their teeth, and boosted their sex drive.

All of these benefits were found in the humble Gooby Berry from the Alakazam River Basin….

The explorer couldn’t wait to share his discovery with the world!

For the past 13 years his company has been bottling this magic Gooby Berry juice in abandoned wine bottles.

The ancients in the Alakazam River Basin didn’t have an obesity problem, but it turns out that Gooby Berry Juice also cures fat stomachs!

Just drink one ounce of Gooby Berry Juice a day and you can lose 37 pounds in a week!

The Gooby Berry juice company is run under the label “Money 4me”, so if you want to lose 37 pounds in a week, cure cancer, and become irresistable to the opposite sex, just find your nearest “Money 4me” distributor. (You won’t have to look far….)

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Ok, maybe I was being a little bit sarcastic.

That’s because I’ve had so many distributors of “magic potions” bug me about stocking their stuff in our gym.

While I wish I could give you a way to lose weight that’s as easy as taking a pill every morning, it doesn’t work that way.

The secret is to find a proven plan that you can fit your life around, include nutrition AND exercise, and is fun to do (so you’ll stick with it).

Instead of focusing on a “miracle berry” I think you need to learn more about this particular part of your life…. and I think you need to be focusing on how YOU can succeed.

My advice?

Come to my next seminar.  One of the most important aspects of my program is the “big picture” information we cover.

I spend several hours helping you understand the science and realities of getting the body you want to have…. which then becomes kind of a FOUNDATION for the other things you’re learning from me.

It really is the kind of thing that will change the way you see eating and exercise forever… and it will take you to the next level MUCH faster.

The next seminar will be in October.  I’ll see you then!

“You can’t soar with the eagles if you’re scratching around with turkeys”

The above quote is on one of the first pages of my journal.  There’s no name attached, and google tells me that a lot of people are taking the credit…

But, regardless of who said it first, it’s an important thing to remember – especially when it comes to your body shape.

A Harvard study showed that spending time with fat people all but guarantees that you’ll be fat.

A few years ago my Dad and I went to visit my uncle, who was then the tourism director for Port Angeles, WA.

That’s the area where the ultra-popular Twilight novels are set.

If you’ve never been, I suggest you make plans to visit.  There are lots of great hiking trails, ocean adventures, and you’re right across the water from Victoria B.C., where there are museums and art galleries everywhere!

One afternoon we took my uncle’s boat out to catch some fresh crabs.

When you take the crabs out of the traps, you just toss them in a big bucket.  After the second trap the bucket has lots of crabs crawling around over each other.

This one crab was all set to get out of the bucket.  He was ambitious enough  to climb on top of all the other crabs and then hooked on to the lip of the bucket.

Now, I’m not a fan of deep water, so I had a white-knuckled grip on the side of the boat.  I wasn’t about to let go before we were back at the dock.

When it looked like the ambitious crab was about to make a prison break, I hollered, “Yo!  One of the crabs is getting out!”

My dad and uncle just laughed and told me to watch.

“Fine,” I thought, “if they don’t care about losing dinner then neither do I”

What happened next has a lot to do with that Harvard study I mentioned a minute ago…

The ambitious crab was getting ready for freedom and pulling himself up out of the dinner bucket, the other 5 crabs below him REACHED UP AND PULLED HIM BACK DOWN!!

A fisherman on the boat told me that crabs just “police” each other.

But what that means is they drag each other down.

This reminds me of what I see with my clients and friends every day.

We’re surround by crabs who waste our time and drain our energy….   These crabs destroy your passion, motivation, enthusiasm and ambition.

(Often times it’s just an unconscious response, just like the Port Angeles crabs in a bucket.  That doesn’t make it any less real.)

Fear is what drives them.

Fear of losing you.

Fear of being left behind.

Fear of change.

Fear that they couldn’t do it.

These fears are camouflaged as concern for you.  They urge you to be “Realistic.”

They always have a reason to burst your bubble, to pull you down with the rest of the crabs.

To put the seed of doubt into your ambitions.

These crabs are often the people closest to you.  Often very close…

They kill your mojo.

Sap your energy.

Drag you down.

You can feel the bad vibes coming off of them…

Sound like anyone you know?

Well, after thinking about that bucket full of crabs, I took a hard look at the people in my life.

And then I cut out people who were sapping my energy.

Friends.

Other trainers.

I even limit exposure to certain people who (unfortunately) can’t be cut out permanently because they’re family.

If  I could give you one thing right now, today, it would be the ability to recognize the crabs in your life….

The people, the thoughts, and the ideas that are pulling you down, holding you back from achieving your goals.

Maybe it’s even you…….

On Wednesday I received an email from one of my buddies.

His girlfriend dumped him and now he wants to lift weights and get super-huge muscles so that he can “show her what she’s missing.”

I get this from guys all of the time.  They want to put on a lot of muscle to impress the ladies.

Well, most of my personal training clients are women so I’ve asked them what type of body they prefer on men.

It isn’t huge arms and a button-popping chest.

No, it’s wide shoulders, tight butt, and hard stomach.

But my friends disagree with me.  They say that ALL women prefer dudes who are “jacked.”

Actually, it’s GUYS who are impressed the most by bodybuilder type builds, not women.

Like I asked my buddy, “Who would you rather impress, your frat brothers or attractive women?”

So today I’d like you to cast a vote.  Which of the three bodies below is most attractive?  (Men, which body would you rather have?)

Body 1: Bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman

Body 2: Model Carlos Freire

Body 3: Random Image of an average dude

Leave a comment below with your vote!

(Oh, and don’t forget to check out my Carson City Bootcamp!)

I’m not sure where this originated, but several people have sent it to me saying “You HAVE to put this on your website.”

And since I’m busy designing some AWESOME bootcamp sessions, I’ll cop out and share it here today.

Without further ado….  Revealing: “The Magic Pill For Weight Loss“:

Everyone always asks me what I do to “stay in shape” and how I get my body to look the way it does. I apologize to everyone that I have been holding out on you. There is, in fact, a magic pill for dieting and weight loss. I was always hesitant to share this secret because I knew no one would believe me. But it’s true and it works.

You won’t find it any grocery store, specialty shop, farmer’s market, health food store or infomercial website. You can’t get it from your doctor either, and unfortunately you can’t bring it back illegally from Mexico or Canada.

You take it every morning as soon as you wake up. It’s painless, tasteless and has NO side effects with the exception of maybe an elevated heart rate. When taken consistently the results speak for themselves.

What are the results, you might ask? Well, once you begin taking this miracle pill you will lose weight, feel better about yourself, firm up your body by building healthy muscle and you will be able to make healthy food choices by watching your portions and eating foods that consist of the right amounts of protein, carbs and fats.

This magic pill doesn’t suppress your appetite and there is no ephedra in it. It is 100% LEGAL and you don’t need a prescription. Oh, and those pesky folks at the FDA won’t hound you for having this either.

I know that the suspense is killing you. But you’ve been anxiously waiting for the day when this miracle weight loss pill was designed that would help you lose body fat. Well here it is.

The magic pill I take EVERY SINGLE MORNING is called MOTIVATION. That’s right, kids. Every morning I take my motivation pill with a big glass of determination and THAT is what drives me to make healthy choices and to exercise to keep my body in tip top shape. It’s as simple as that. If you were to start taking your motivation pill in the morning, you too would be able to get the results you wanted.

Taking the pill is simple, but I do have to give this disclaimer: you WILL have to work at your body. But that’s the beauty of the motivation pill…it helps to get you to whatever activity it is you need to do in order to change your body. You’ll enjoy hitting the gym, or a group class, or a trail or a personal training session because the motivation pill helps you see past today and on to the healthy body in your future. You’ll enjoy every complex healthy meal you eat because it’s fueling your body. And if you don’t enjoy knowing that you are making healthy choices and you don’t enjoy putting in the time and work to achieve your goals, and yet you STILL want to lose weight and look great, then the motivation pill isn’t for you. Just keep taking the one you’ve been taking….you know, the EXCUSES pill. Because if you do what you always do, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.

The EXCUSES pill causes weight gain, lethargy, bloating, depression, more excuses, laziness, lack of motivation, poor eating choices and other serious side effects. However, upon IMMEDIATE discontinuance of this harmful pill, all side effects virtually disappear.

When you wake up tomorrow what pill are you going to take?

Leave a comment below with what pill you’re going to take….