Alrite people, so im a personal trainer on a military base
(marines), and thought id paste here, a blog I put on my facebook
about fitness and nutrition. I was also a wrestler, football
player, cyclist, and did martial arts (which is the worst sport ive
ever encountered, if u even wanna call it a sport, i call it pure
human cockfighting).

Time and time again, I continuously hear
people talking about diets and exercise, and all I want to do is
grab them and shake them like a salt shaker. (Dont get any
ideas...) This IS long, so enter at your own risk.

-First of all,
stop dieting! Diets dont work! Ok so low-fat and low-carb will cut
fat down, but i promise you'll just gain it back after you stop,
maybe not right away, but eventually. Some of these diets are so
strict that you'll give up in days. Instead, what people need to do
is make a lifestyle change. Eat HEALTHIER. That doesnt mean you can
never go to Burger King or Applebees ever again. Sure you can go,
just not everyday! My body fat percentage is lowering every week,
and I eat Hooters and Chipotle almost every week. Actually **** it,
EVERY WEEK. You know, you can go to restaurants and eat
healthy...there are tons of items you can eat, and ask them to make
it with no butter. Rather than eat fries, order a side of veggies
or beans (heck, its healthier than fries!). But if not, go ahead
and eat fries, just dont do it everyday! Limit it to once, or two
at MOST per week. Lets say its monday and ur friend asks you to
dinner, then tuesday ur asked to dinner, then thursday....(i sure
hope u have enough money to pay ur bills after!)...thats ok, its
not the end of the world. The best way to lose fat, is LONG TERM.
You all dont want a short-term boyfriend/girlfriend do u? A
short-term job? No, u want a LONG TERM bf/gf or job. Same with
losing fat. Tell this to any fitness dude or dudette, and theyll
get a heart attack. They all want to give you hardcore programs,
but they dont seem to realize we have lives.

-You dont want to lose
weight, u want to lose FAT. There IS a difference. You can be 220
pounds with an 11% body fat percentage, or 220 pounds with a 24%
body fat percentage. Unfortunately most of us dont own body fat
calipers, but if u can get ur hands on some, use those instead of
weighing yourself.

-Best time to weigh yourself is first thing in
the morning. Never weigh yourself after you've eaten or showered,
cuz ur weight will go up. I weighed myself at night once and then
in the morning, and was 7 pounds lighter in the morning. Odd i
know, but thats the way it goes. So the moment you wake up, walk
around to wake urself up then weigh yourself.

-Fruits and veggies.
Gosh im tired of hearing personal trainers and nutritionists tell
clients to stay away from certain fruits and veggies. Obviously u
shouldnt sit there and eat bowls of it, but a cup of mixed fruit
and a cup of mixed veggies is GOOD. There is no such thing as a BAD
vegetable, or BAD fruit. Pineapples have high sugar amounts, but a
cup of pineapples a day, is FINE. Fruits and veggies have loads of
good stuff like fiber, antioxidants, vitamins that are great for
the body.

-All-natural, "no sugar added"...these are the stuff u
wanna buy. Lean meats like turkey and chicken breast are what u
wanna buy. Lean cheeses like swiss, provolone, mozarrella and
cottage are what u wanna buy. And whole grain, multi grain, and
whole wheat are the breads u wanna buy.

-No, diet soda wont make u
gain weight. Sure, theyre not so good for you because of aspartame
and whatnot, but theyre better than a big coca cola (41g of sugar
per can) if ur trying to trim down. If ur not, if ur one of those
people who can eat anything and stay thin, then sure, go for coke
instead of diet.

-Yes its true, eating 5-6 small meals a day is
better. I myself, eat every 3-4 hours. Thats good for metabolism.

-Weight loss food like SmartOnes, HealthyChoice, South Beach
products, etc....are fine. But they contain lots of sodium and
chemicals that u dont need. You also dont need to order nutri
system, that stuff u see on tv all the damn time. Just go to the
store and buy ur own food....heck, ill go with you!

-Lets say you
go an entire week without eating ANYthing fattening, and eat
completely healthy. Yes, its okay at the end of that week to take
one day and snack out on what ud call "junk food". It actually will
raise your metabolism because the body isnt used to all that sugar
and fat, so the metabolism speeds up. And theres no such thing as
"junk food"...ANYTHING is bad for u if u eat too much of it, and
ANYTHING is fine if u eat small portions.

-People say stay away
from pastas, breads, rice, corn, potatoes, etc. (Starches). Look,
go to Asia...all they eat is rice and pastas, and they stay thin.
Same in Italy, all they eat are pastas and breads, and in Ireland,
they eat tons of potatoes....they stay thin! You can live the rest
of ur life thinking "pasta is bad, rice is bad". Ok, whats better
to eat: rice or chocolate? Pasta or pizza? Bread or ice cream?
Thank you! You can eat them, just dont overdo it! Same goes with
everything, dont overdo it.

-Exercise. (The other important part to
this, lol). Some people will tell you that losing weight or
building muscle is 80% nutrition, 20% exercise. I disagree. I think
its 65% nutrition, 35% exercise. If you run 5 miles a day and
workout an hour, yes u can eat anything and trim down. I myself,
workout my upper body for 2 hours, twice a week. I try to eat
healthy, but of course sometimes i eat bad stuff and thats okay,
this is all LONG TERM. If January 1st, 2010 i weigh 25 pounds less
than i do now, then im successful! Also, you dont need to do cardio
for HOURS. I see some people in the gym who are there for hours,
and im like "dude, go home and live ur life". 30 minutes is all u
need, unless of course ur like 400 pounds. Then again, a 400
pounder can probably only do 15 minutes. But when the gym closes at
7:30pm and its 7pm and only one skinny guy is left and hes still on
the elliptical, it kinda pisses me off. GO HOME AND LIVE YOUR LIFE.
See this is the problem with america, we care too much about our
health that is backfires.

-You dont need to get on a mat and do
abdominals for hours. The only way to lose fat, is cardio. Working
your abdominals will TIGHTEN the abs, and yeah ull see your belly
go down a little, but the fat will still be there.

-Hands down, the
best cardio machine is an elliptical. If one person steps on an
elliptical, and the other steps on a treadmill, another steps on a
bike...the elliptical person will burn DOUBLE, if not TRIPLE the
calories in 30 minutes.

-If u want to trim down, do lighter weights
with high reps (15-20 reps). If u want to build muscle and get
stronger, do heavier weights with lower reps (6-8).

-Muscle recovery. A lot of people ask me about how long it takes for
muscles to heal after a workout. The answer is really, 2 days. Some
people give it 4-5 days rest, and thats fine if u workout for 2
hours hardcore and want to build mass. But really, u dont need more
than 2 days. It also depends on size...tall people have larger
muscles so they need more rest, and short people have shorter
muscles, so dont need as long. I figure if u want to lose fat, do
it every other day.

-Shoulders. Believe it or not, they are a small muscle. The shoulder is divided into 3 parts: front, middle, back. (Just dont ask me which one's which). So you have to do different exercises to get all 3 parts of it. Each one, is tiny...so if your doing 25 pounds on lateral raises, thats not bad at all.

-Injuries. If u feel ANY sort of pain: stop. Otherwise you
turn into dumbasses like me who keep working out then get hurt and
have to take a week off...funny thing is, i dont take a week off, i
just keep going cuz yes...im that much of an idiot. But after a few
weeks, i pay the ultimate price. (Trying to impress a girl whos
standing beside me doing curls, but since im so sore i cant even do
as much as shes doing, thus making me me look like a wus). Sucks.


-All these supplements are scams. Protein is okay, but stuff like
creatine and all them other muscle building or fat burning
supplements: STAY FAR AWAY FROM THEM. They do nothing but take your
money and run and give u nothing back (like our government).
Protein powders arent necessary either, but theyre OKAY. Its better
to eat a nice meal with chicken and veggies, then a protein shake.
Im in love with Optimum Nutrition's ALL NATURAL whey and oats.
Basically, there are too many rules to all this diet and exercise
stuff. Trainers will give you routines, health plans that are hard,
and theyll try to get u to stick to it, but they dont realize you
HAVE A LIFE...LIVE IT. You'll do that hard plan for awhile and give
up, or ull lose 50 pounds and gain it back. If u have a question or
want some advice, PM me.

wow I am gonna save all this info!! It will deff help me an my b/f. we are tryin to lose some weight. an get in shape. Thanks alot!!

Look after your liver too, read Doctor Sandra Cabots "Liver Diet", I don't follow it religously but I follow the basic principles, between that and 1 hour exercise a day I'm down 28lbs since Christmas

Ummmm, can I have the cliff notes please?

Hmmm...I'll admit that I didn't read the entire diatribe...but after seeing your main pic, I checked your profile & was surprised to find out you're a dude...curiouser & curiouser...

U GO "GirlsAreWhack"! (hmmm, did I say that right?) You're right on target--diets are goofy; controlling weight healthy is only and forever a mindset of 3 things: food selection, portion control, exercise. Having lost 15 lbs that way, I have a new problem. I walk or bike every other day, so my hips and legs have got very lean but I'd like to be more balanced. I started 3-5-lb wrist-weight workouts to try and tone the upper back; will that work or must the weights be heavier? And I hear crunches and side leglifts don't really scupt the waist--does anything? LadyAce