Meal Prep.  Those two words evoke mixed emotions for me.  As someone who has competed in natural, competitive bodybuilding nearly a decade ago, I think back to the 8-10 weeks leading up to a show in which I would prepare chicken breast, tilapia, egg whites, brown rice, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and asparagus every single Sunday.  It was a huge time commitment and having to eat the same bland foods for 8-10 weeks made for a pretty mundane palate as well as social life.  Sure I got really, really lean and looked great on stage and in pictures but it wasn't a sustainable way of life and you can even make a case and say that it was unhealthy (yes, there is such a thing as  getting too lean)! 

​Nowadays, one word sums up my perspective towards health and fitness..BALANCE.  I encourage my clients and members at my gym to stay on point 80% of the time with regards to nutrition and to not feel bad about having a few cheat meals each week or having 2-3 drinks of alcohol.  Where people really get into trouble is when they start to binge eat.  Binging is typically a result of being super stringent on a meal plan and ultimately reaching your breaking point with it.  You see, extremism is rarely a good approach to take with anything in life and a more middle of the road nutrition strategy will still enable a person to make strides towards their body sculpting goals while not causing them to feel alienated in other aspects of their life.'
   
As a gym owner, professional trainer, and single man it's quite easy for me to get pulled in several different directions and lose sight of the ever so important element of life balance.  This is where having my meals prepared ahead of time becomes so vital.  We've all heard the saying, "time is money."  As I'm sure many of you can relate to, I find this to be oh so true these days and long ago came to the realization that I am not Bobby Flay in the kitchen.  Fortunately, I recently stumbled upon a local meal prep company called Fresh & Fit Meals on Instagram and reached out to them to see how they could help take the burden off of me.  One of the owners, Matt Zozoya, responded immediately and I couldn't be happier with the service he and his company have provided. ​

Since getting my nutrition back on point with the help of Fresh and Fit Meals it really has helped re-solidify the framework for my balanced life approach.  As I say to my clients and members, "You have to feed the beast" and in giving your body the nutrients it needs you in turn become more productive in other aspects of your life and your body composition starts to improve.  Across the board, life gets better when you eat clean, regimented meals and if you're a busy, working professional like myself I highly encourage you to give them a shot, you will not be disappointed! ​

Q:  Denise, first off, please tell the readers a little bit about what you do, your background with regards to exercise, anything else that you'd like to share that could be helpful for the readers in understanding the magnitude of your transformation. 
A:  As a kid and through high school I was always very active and never had a problem with my weight or figure.  After getting married about 3 years ago, between working at a desk and going out to dinner on a frequent basis, I started gaining weight.  Over the course of 2 years I picked up 30 lbs and people didn’t recognize me.   After work all I wanted to do was eat and drink, I was always tired and self-conscious.   I became so self-conscious that I constantly wore a jacket and avoided social situations.  It was a nonstop burden, and uncomfortable carrying around all that weight.  I cried when I had to buy bigger clothes.    
Q:  So we're approaching the two year mark of training together and it's truly been a 180 in terms of what you're accomplishing in the gym and how your physique has changed but the truth is that it really wasn't until after your first year of working with me that the weight started to come off.  In that first year you certainly got a lot stronger and were more physically fit but explain to the readers why at that pivotal moment in time the weight finally started to come off. 
A: It takes your body time to adjust.   During the first year I gained strength but I had not fully mentally and physically committed to really getting into shape.  After about a year I started to change my diet, thanks to your help.  I also started enjoying work outs more and looked forward to the endorphin rush.  After working out, I felt great and I felt proud of myself.   
Don’t expect results overnight, it takes time and dedicated.  Your entire mindset and attitude towards working out shifts.   Once I started losing weight I felt much better about myself and it was somewhat addictive.  I finally could see result which encouraged me even more. ​

Q:  Denise, I just want to say thank you for everything that you've done these past two years and I'm sure the readers appreciate your firsthand account into your fitness journey.  Is there anything else you'd like to tell people out there that are perhaps on the fence with starting an exercise regimen? 
A: Just like during our workouts, sometimes you say to me, “Just start” and it resonates with me.  Just get going, start moving and don’t expect immediate results.   The discipline you will learn and long term health benefits cannot be quantified.   ​

As some of you may know, a little over 5 weeks ago I instinctively decided to take the necessary steps to drop body fat, restart my cardiovascular system, and make my own workouts a priority once again.  You see, the preceding 5 months of my life the my focus was largely directed towards my business endeavor of opening a gym.  Sure, I was still working out 3 times per week with weights and eating properly 50 percent of the time but for someone who is at an advanced fitness level like I was, these curtailed efforts eventually took their toll on my physique and I started to backslide.  In that time frame, I would guess that I gained 6-8lbs. of fat and lost 4-5lbs. of muscle.  My goal was to reverse that process--in 28 days!
​I knew that the nutrition component needed to be the cornerstone for this transformation process but I also knew that with the new responsibility of being a gym owner, things wouldn't always go according to plan and I'd have to adjust and adapt.  The staples of my nutrition would be my first and last meal of the day--the meals I knew I could always eat at my home. 

Breakfast consisted of:
4 egg whites, 1 whole egg, iodized salt and pepper
​2 strips of turkey bacon
2/3 cup of oats with unsweetened almond milk, cinnamon
​chobani greek yogurt-individual container
​8oz. orange juice

​For lunch, I would typically eat out at one of the following restaurants in San Diego: Chipotle, SanSai, Flame Broiler, Crazy Bowls and Wraps, Panda Express.  The constant at all of these restaurants was a lean chicken breast, rice, vegetables, and beans if I were doing chipotle.  I omitted the sauces and other additions like guacamole, etc.
 
​I would workout at mid-day and drink a protein shake afterwards that consisted of:
​12 oz. of unsweetened almond milk
30g of protein powder
​10g of L-Glutamine
2/3 cup of oats

​My late afternoon to early evening meal which I would also eat at my home would be:
​8oz. 93/7 ground turkey
​1 boil-in-bag brown or white rice
1/3 cup of pinto beans

My last meal of the day would be a chef salad:
​iceberg lettuce
chopped ham and turkey
mozzarella cheese
​small amount of ranch dressing
1 cup of cottage cheese
​1/4 cup of mixed nuts

​To summarize my nutrition, I was getting at least 1 gram per 1lb. of bodyweight daily and keeping my total fat intake during the day to less than 50 or 60 grams.  My daily carb intake was always dependent upon my activity level and some days would be as high as 400g and others as low as 200g.  What made the biggest difference for me was eliminating snacks in the evening.  It's incredible how the calories can really add from chips, etc.

​The exercise component shifted quite dramatically for me as well when I started this transformation process.  I went from training very heavy for low repetitions(3-5) to training moderately to light for high repetitions (15-20).  My exercise selections also shifted as I now had incredible equipment to train with in my new gym and had to rely less upon basic barbell workouts.  I still incorporated free weight movements but also incorporated a lot more isolation, muscle-group specific exercises.  I would train with weights 4-5 days per week and have 1-2 days be devoted to cardio.  I would do either the stationary bike or step mill for 45 minutes and keep my heartrate around 150 for the duration.  Each week I made sure that I took one complete day off from exercise but this certainly wasn't a lounge on the couch day.  It was productive in it's own rite--running errands, tending to business items, and trying to stay as domesticated as a single man can these days.

​Some additional things to mention were that I consumed 1 gallon of water per day and only consumed two drinks of alcohol and a few slices of pizza in this time frame.  I was working from about 9am until 10pm at my gym so it didn't allow for many social situations in which I would have to resist a temptation and in the little free time that I did have I used it to tear through a few series on Netflix.  
​The biggest takeaway for me that I'd like to share with you is that my aforementioned approach to nutrition and exercise during this transformation process made it a breeze to cruise right through the 28 days of this Anti-Diet, Diet.  It brought me back to routinely making good food choices and prioritizing my own workouts.  Now that I've gotten my body fat back down I hope to keep it in check because I feel so much lighter on my feet, enjoy the added definition to my physique, and appreciate the improved function in my cardiovascular system.

Safety, efficiency, AND a heavy load while squatting and overhead pressing: Are you serious?  With the landmine thruster you better believe I am!  Here's how to get the job done.
​
by Keith Diedrich  

I went into yesterday's workout with a 5-day layoff from exercise and felt remarkably fresh. The break was inadvertent as I had traveled over the weekend and had caught a bit of a cold so I wanted to recover from that before attempting to workout again. I was in a bit of a predicament as I had missed a shoulder workout from the previous week and was slated to train legs as my first body part in the current week.  In giving this some thought, I aggressively elected to recruit both muscle groups in my first workout back to the gym!  Now I certainly wasn't going to do a full shoulder workout combined with a full leg workout--that would have been overkill.  However, I did  want to get the most bang for my buck with my first workout back and incorporating the landmine thruster was a sure-fire way to do this.  ​

I love to travel and so do many of my clients. In fact, to ensure proper balance in one’s life I strongly encourage it! However, if done frequently or for extended periods of time it can significantly push back the timeline you had originally set to accomplish your fitness goals. Here are my 3 suggestions on how to transition back into workout mode as smoothly as possible when returning from a vacation...

Today is Day 2 of 42 in the 6 Week Get Sexy for Summer Contest and as mentioned in the requirements section, each competitor has submitted a before picture.  Without further ado, have a look at the 16 contestants that have decided to commit themselves 100% to their fitness goals and decide who you think has what it takes to make the most radical transformation. Their mission is to Get Sexy for Summer in 6 weeks!

Start Date: May 18, 2015
End Date: June 29, 2015
Grand Prize: $200 Cellucor supplement package consisting of:

• Protein powder of your choice
• Pre-workout powder
• BCAAs
• Zip-tie gym bag and cross fit athletic training socks!

 
Here’s how it works:
We’re all aware that Summer is approaching and most, if not all of you, have added a few pounds of body fat over the winter. Now is a perfect opportunity to get yourself back to a bodyweight and body composition that you’ll be confident in showcasing at pool parties and at the beach all Summer long!  There are only two requirements to enter:

1. Train with me a minimum of once per week for the 6 weeks of the contest. It can be in a 1 on 1 setting or outdoor group setting but I have to see you at least once all 6 weeks or you will be disqualified.
2. Submit a before photo by the end of the day May 18 and an after photo by the end of the day June  ​

​Getting to the gym is half the battle, but once you’ve arrived just how long should your workout last?  Unfortunately there is no simple, one size fits all, quantitative answer to this question.  To figure out the most optimal duration for a workout, we need to look at several things, but first and foremost you need to define what kind of a workout you PLAN on doing at the gym.  Feel free to re-read that last sentence, because I did in fact just say you need to have a plan before you stroll through the doors of your local fitness center.  Decide whether your workout for the day will be strength training based, targeting the major muscle groups or cardiovascular based, testing the endurance of your heart and lungs.  Since a lot of my readers despise cardio, let’s save that topic for another day and assume your workout will be centered on weight training.  Here are some things to consider.

​A good friend of mine started a roundtable discussion on Facebook centering around the phenomena of overtraining and I figured my response would make a good topic for my weekly blog post. I suppose first I should preface that for this article we’re concerned with the physical aspects of overtraining since there are behavioral and emotional conditions that can accompany it.   For those that may be unfamiliar with it, overtraining is the end result of a person exceeding their body’s ability to recover by incorporating too much volume and intensity into their exercise program.  I use the term exercise program loosely as it can affect all sorts of athletes such as weight lifters, runners, swimmers, and even golfers.  The individual stops making progress, and CAN even begin to backslide in terms of their performance in their respective sport.