In lieu of several “whinny people” asking why they can’t seem to lose weight and get the results they originally discussed with me, here are some questions you should stop and ask yourself if you don’t seem to be getting what you want. (Yeah, this may strike a cord with many people. I’m not writing about any one person in particular. However, if the shoe fits, (and it’s in your closet) it’s probably yours!)

Ask youself....why?

Why do you continue to make short term decisions that blow any chance of long-term success?

Why do you continue to eat junk food when you want to lose fat?

Why do you watch so much TV when you know you should be exercising?

Why do you hide or even deny your goals when you know that support will help you succeed?

When you don’t follow the program set for you, why do you blame others when you’re irresponsible?

Why DO you constantly look out the window when you should be looking in the mirror?

The reason most people fail to see any goal come to pass… is that, “Too many people give up the pursuit of their long term dreams and goals for the short term gratification of the the moment. “

Nathan J. Nowak

Rather than me responding to these questions, I’m interested to see what you have to say.

Add your comments, thoughts and anything else you’d like to say below.

Have a great weekend!

Posted under Fitness Routines, Motivational, nutrition

Now, I know what you might be thinking.

“Duh, of course I am! I don’t need you to tell me that.”

But, the obvious: eating fast food every day, not working out on a regular basis and skipping meals, isn’t exactly what I’m talking about.

I mean, what if YOU (your body) are making you fat.

The infomercials tried to address this issue several years ago, but did a poor job explaining it.  On top of that, they blamed your body and told you the answer was in a pill that cost $150 per bottle.

Save your $$$ it's not worth it!

Remember this infomercial?

If you’ve attended any of Trinity’s seminars on nutrition and fat loss, you’ve been introduced to the idea of you and your body making you fatter.

What I’m talking about is Cortisol.

What’s that? Cortisol is a hormone in your body. A stress hormone.

When you are stressed, Cortisol is released.

Why? (I’m glad you asked)

“Back in the day,” when cavemen were roaming the earth they would have an occasional encounter with a dinosaur or another animal larger than themselves.

Have you ever heard the phrase “fight or flight?”

Cortisol plays a part in it.

Cortisol and Adrenaline are released to give a short burst of increased strength and endurance.

You can either stay and fight of the attack or run really, really fast and leave the danger far behind.

And that is where “fight or flight” came from.

Now, if there is a threat and you do have to run then everything in the body is normalized again after the excess of both the Cortisol and Adrenline are used.  However, if there’s continued stress on the body and no signs of an outlet for the two hormones to work properly, YOU will store the excess as fat.

For example,

Stressed Out!!!

YOU are late for work due to traffic…. STRESS

YOU spill coffee on your dress and have an important meeting…. STRESS

YOUR boss is angry because YOU didn’t have the report completed on time…. STRESS

YOU don’t know if you will have a job tomorrow or the next day, or the next…. STRESS

YOU’RE fighting with your significant other… STRESS

and on

and on

and on it goes.

These aren’t considered life threatening events so Cortisol will not be used properly. It will cause more stress on the body and cause you to store fat.

So, YOU are making yourself fatter!

But, there’s an easy fix for this too.

There are tips and techniques that will help you to use these hormones in order to keep them from having negative effects on your body.

The easy answer is relax, breathe and unwind.

Here are some ways to accomplish that…

Slow, deep breathing. Usually 10 – 20 repetitions work great.

Listening to soft music (or any music that helps you relax)

Meditating

Relax

Laughing

Taking a short nap

Closing your eyes (no interruptions) and visualizing the events (past, present or future) the way you intend for them to happen. It only takes 2 to 5 minutes.

Taking a walk

Lifting weights

Cardiovascular exercise

Yoga

Proper nighttime sleep

Taking a hot bath

….do you get the point?

You need to find things, simple things, you can do (the more the better) to relax. Then when times get tough, call a time out and do one of these to get you back to a relaxed state.

Posted under Body Mind and Spirit Balance

Hi, Ladies! It’s Shelby here!

I stole the password to the blog and have added this story in before Nathan finds out.

I heard on NPR yesterday during my ride into work that several girls’ schools, in Afghanistan, were destroyed by car bombs. The offense of these schools was simple.

They attempted to educate girls. Unfortunately, there were casualties: young girls who wanted an education and were willing to risk death to obtain it.

Hearing this made me wonder what those people who carry out these types of attacks would think of Trinity, a ‘school’ where women are taught to strengthen their bodies and their minds.

A place where they are encouraged to push their limits to accomplish more than they did the day before. I believe that property damage and casualties would be in our future.

However, we do not have to add fear of explosions to our list of excuses for why we didn’t make it to class. It’s very easy to overlook how fortunate we are, as women, to have the rights we’ve grown to take for granted in this country, such as going to the gym.

We can make ourselves stronger, live healthier lives, learn to defend ourselves and compete in sports freely without worry of the government or radical groups keeping us down.

Are You Prepared? women's self-defense program

Remember the next time you come up with an excuse for why you don’t want to go to the gym (or make yourself better) and the women out there dying for the opportunity to do the same.

Posted under Uncategorized

Here’s a short video from Will Smith.

Will is a famous actor starring in Bad Boy’s, The Fresh Prince, In Pursuit of Happyness and many more!

Many actors and actresses just don’t live on the same planet we do, but I think Will Smith does!

I encourage you to watch this daily until you believe you can have everything you want too.

It’s out there for ALL of us.

We must have the courage, persistence and determination to go out and get it!

FINISH STRONG!

Posted under Motivational, Uncategorized

As a culture and society we’ve been taught that it isn’t smart to stand out in a crowd.

Our parents tell us you should be more like little Johnny or go and do what the other kids are doing.

As we enter school, if you stand out, you are labeled a trouble maker or distracted.

By college most of us have fallen to the words of these well intended, but unfortunately misled elders in our lives.

It’s no wonder that many people feel trapped, afraid to break free from the rest of the pack in order to create, do and be something we feel inside.

Are you trapped?

We like to talk about what we want, sometimes becoming emotional and passionate about the subject, yet we do the exact opposite things which would lead us in the direction of our dream or do very little to nothing at all to go after it.

So, what are you afraid of?

What are you hiding from?

What do you think will possibly happen to you if you shed the ways of old and go after what you truly feel is in your heart?

Death? Probably not, unless you want to jump from a plane without a parachute.

Will someone take away your birthday? No, but it might be nice to skip a few.

I love this next one,

“Well, I don’t know how…” (you need to say it in a whiny voice for full effect)

You don’t know how? Everything we “know how” to do we were either taught or learned by doing.

Remember this, “if your WHY is big enough, the HOW won’t matter!”

Here’s another good one.

Will you lose friends or family? Ah ha! That might be it.

We’re so concerned with what other people will think or what we perceive they may think if we go after what we want.

Yeah, you may lose a few friends or family members trying to keep you down, but it’s very well worth it.

Why stay friends or in a relationship with someone that doesn’t allow you to or want you to be yourself and be the best you, you can possibly be?

If you look throughout history the greatest men and women didn’t stand in a crowd, didn’t bow down to mediocrity and didn’t settle for what others thought they should do.

Break Away from the Pack! Go For It!

They took a stand, studied the subjects they were interested in and took action towards their goals and dreams!

Will you choose to be afraid and trapped the rest of your life

or

will you choose to be the best YOU. The YOU that only you can see right now. The YOU that could bring greatness to your family, your community or even the world.

The choice is ultimately yours to make.

Make it a good one!

Posted under Motivational, Personal

CNN published an recent article saying, “As nation gains, ‘overweight’ is relative.”

I wrote an article several years ago about the retail store Old Navy and their misleading size labels on clothing.

But, now more and more retailers are adding extra material to the waist line and labeling it a smaller size.

Why? To make you feel like you really aren’t as fat as you think you are.

Well thank you very much, retailers!

If the tag says it, it must be true!

Who’s telling us the truth these days?

Politicians?

Nope

Infomercials?

Nope

Clothing Designers?

Nope

Let me ask you… does it make you feel good to know that your waist line is 40 but you fit into a size 4?

Who are they kidding?  I believe it’s a slap in the face to actually think by lying to consumers about the severity of their weight problem you won’t hurt their feelings or self-confidence.

It’s kind of like having a sheltered childhood.  Parents think they’re helping by keeping kids from the “dangers” of the world, but once they’re out on their own, reality and shock set in.

The reality is that some people are fat and we need to do something solid and concrete, not shelter people from the truth!

If I were you, I would think twice before squeezing into those jeans and buying into the lies and deception of the retailers trying to sell you.

But, if living a lie is something you like, makes you feel good and you’ll worry about the consequences later, than by all means, be my guest.

Are you ready for a change?

Ready to make 2010 your best year ever, I mean really, “Your Best Year Ever!”

We’re here to help!

Check it out! TAKE 21

Posted under Media, Motivational, Programs and Courses, nutrition

I’m a QuikTrip guy. If there’s a QT around, I’ll choose them over other gas stations. (this is not a commercial to buy QT gas)

I went to get gas the other day. It was a normal day, just like any other trip to the gas station.

I pulled up, parked the car, got out and put my card in the card reader. I began pumping gas and something caught my eye.

I looked up and low and behold, there it was, the answer to the question of life. It read, “Life’s too short…”

Now if that statement was followed by something very motivational, inspirational or anything to enlighten the soul, then this would be one of those other blog posts you receive from me, but it’s not.

This is what it said, “Life’s too short for oatmeal.”

And the sign didn’t stop there. There was a huge picture of a delicious looking honey glazed, cinnamon bun on the sign too.

WHAT IS THIS?

Is it true? All my life I was eating oatmeal and never knew the real secret to a fulfilled life.

Honey buns for breakfast!

I’m glad I found out now.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

Well, most of you reading my blog posts know eating honey buns and any other brownie, croissant and Danish things for breakfast not only kills any chance of a fat loss goal, fat burning for the day is certainly out and you will probably end up leading a shorter life because of it.

Poor oatmeal, getting a bad rap from QT.

Here’s the skinny on the Honey bun vs. Oatmeal battle.

In the blue corner weighing in at…

Serving Size 1 Roll

Honey Bun Champion!

Calories 813

Calories from fat 288

Total Fat 32g

Saturated Fat 8g

Trans Fat 5g

Cholesterol 67mg

Sodium 801mg

Total Carbohydrates 117g

Dietary Fiber 4g

Sugar 55g

Protein 15g

The undisputed fat gaining, cholesterol raising, artery clogging champion!

“Honey Buns aka Cinnabon!” (since it’s the most popular)

And now,

Fighting out of the red corner…

The reigning supporter, in the battle for weight loss champion; lowering cholesterol for years, is a great source of dietary fiber and carbohydrates, weighing in at…

Serving Size ½ cup (dry)

Oatmeal Champion!

Calories 150

Calories from fat 25

Total Fat 3g

Saturated Fat 0.5g

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 0mg

Total Carbohydrates 27g

Dietary Fiber 4g

Soluble Fiber 2g

Insoluble Fiber 2g

Sugar 1g

Protein 5g

The slow cook, old fashioned  Ooooooootmeal!

It appears after an intense battle, Oatmeal has once again prevailed over the forces of evil weight gain and quick death due to stroke and heart attacks.

Please call 911... my arteries are clogging up!

Yeah, I know oatmeal may not look or taste as good as a cinnamon bun, but you will definitely have a better chance of living a longer, healthier life eating it.

Note: If “Plain Jane” oatmeal isn’t for you, here’s a recipe to spice it up a little bit. Remember, you have to watch your sugar consumption if fat loss is the goal!

“The original hearty (and healthy) breakfast starts with old-fashioned, real rolled oats. To prevent spoiling, store in an airtight container. As a reminder, cut the expiration date from the package and slip it into the container. Try our Cozy Oatmeal, or simply tailor a plain bowl of oats to your own taste. Mix in golden raisins or dried fruit such as cranberries or apricots at the end of the cooking process; cook until they plump

Much Healthier for Ya!

up. Or serve with fresh fruit: Top with sliced banana or a handful of raspberries. A drizzle of maple syrup and cinnamon remains a can’t-miss combo. Sprinkle with toasted nuts, and enjoy. “ CountryLiving.com

Posted under nutrition

I wrote a similar version of this several years ago for a fitness newsletter. It still seems appropriate.

Have you noticed that New Year’s Eve makes liars out of many normal, honest, upstanding citizens?

Close to the end of the year, you’ll catch them say things like,

“This year will be different” or “I’m going to do better this year.”

Perhaps I’m talking about you.

The clock strikes 12:00 am and for a brief moment you believe it will be different; this will be your year!

Maybe it’s the champagne?

January 1st rolls around and you start thinking,

“I don’t need to start right now.”

Besides, you might have a hangover from the celebrating you did the night before. By January 2nd the New Year bells are silent, and now those big plans are starting to fade.

Reality sets in and you start saying things to yourself like,

“Those were silly thoughts. I can’t do that.” At this point, you begin making changes to your goals. Some you might scratch completely.

Others you modify to make them fall within your comfort zone. Next you experience procrastination. It’s the first of the year, and you convince yourself you don’t have to start right away. You’ll get comfortable with the beginning of the year and get settled, and then you’ll start on your goals.

Does all of this sound familiar?

Why do you think it will be different this year?

It’s starting out just like the last one. And if you don’t do something fast, you’ll end up at the end of 2010 feeling just like you do right now.

In order for your life to change, you have to change.

The bigger the changes, the bigger the commitment, and the bigger the commitment the bigger the results!

There’s no quick and magical way to get out of life what you want unless you have a plan to get it.

“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, he will achieve.”

Napoleon Hill

There is absolutely no thought or idea that you have that cannot come true.

We are born with the ability to think and create anything. From airplanes and space ships to electricity and automobiles, there isn’t anything in our life that wasn’t first created in someone’s imagination first.

2010 - The starting line... GO!

Starting today, make the effort to set, track and achieve the goals you have for this year and your life!

You’re going to live out this year just like 2009, this time why not be, do and have more!

“When you develop yourself to the point where your belief in yourself is so strong that you know that you can accomplish anything you put your mind to, your future will be unlimited.”

Brian Tracy

Posted under Motivational

Tis’ the season to be Jolly! If you are not careful, you could end up looking like Santa Claus!

Too much egg nog!

As we enter another holiday season, it is easy to lose focus of the big picture. I am not talking about getting together with friends and giving and all that stuff. That should be a given.

I am talking about your fitness goals. Remember the ones you had New Year’s Eve? Yeah, it has been a year already.

There are approximately 4 weeks left in 2009. While you are out and about running from store to store and from party to party, do not forget to take time for yourself to work out and eat correctly (okay, splurge some too).

It is very easy to gain 10 to 15 pounds in less than a month if you are not careful. I’ll show you how tomorrow in my special report, “How to Gain 10 to 15 Pounds Quicker than You did Last Year.”

If time is an issue or your evenings are full, I recommend working out in the morning. This will give you time to get your workouts in and have time to party and shop in the evening. You will feel good about getting your workout in and not feeling so bad when you eat that second piece of pie.

It’s a Win, Win!

Trinity’s “12 Days of Fitness” giveaway!

Starting tomorrow, Trinity is launching the “12 Days of Fitness” giveaway! We are offering special reports on workouts, nutrition, safety during the holiday’s and more!

You don’t want to miss it. Add your name to the list to make sure you don’t miss anything! “12 Days of Fitness”

Make sure you check your email daily!

Posted under Fitness Routines, Holiday Specials, Motivational, nutrition

Tomorrow is the big day!

“Kick Back for Courtney!”

I want to thank everyone who has donated time, money and energy in helping Courtney and I out during this crazy time.To give you an update on her situation.

We went to a doctor’s appointment Monday to have our Orthopedist look at her knees.

Courtney had been complaining about soreness in her right calf. After seeing Dr. Griffin, she had us go to the hospital for a vascular test on her right leg.

The test found a blood clot and we were moved to the emergency room. The first thing doctors do when blood clots are forming is use thinners to thin the blood. This will help with dissolving the clots.

But, we had a major issue. Since she has a brain injury and had bleeding on the brain during the first week, they had to run tests to see the significance of her injury at this point.

Tuesday morning she started complaining of shortness of breath and her left leg started aching. The doctor brought in oxygen for the breathing and we had a test done to make sure there were no clots, but there was a clot in her left leg and left lung too.

Courtney has been on Heparin (a blood thinner) and will be moved to Coumadin another blood thinner that will be taken for at least the next year.

Today, Friday, we are having an ECG (electrocardiogram) test for her heart. This test will determine if she has any heart damage due to the blood clots moving.

As of right now, we don’t have a discharge date. The doctors want to make sure her blood id thin enough and at a level she can maintain at home.

Courtney was very excited about the “KBC!” event on Saturday, but unfortunately we won’t be attending.

If you’d like to come by tomorrow night after the event, that would be great. Just let us know so I can plan.

Here is the link to the event and donation page. Kick Back for Courtney!

Whether you want to donate or participate you are more than welcome to come to the event and enjoy cheering those on that are kicking!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email Shelby at Shelby@trinitybody.com

Talk to all of you soon!

Finish Strong!

Nathan

P.S. Courtney says hi and wants everyone to know she is very grateful for all the support, prayers and concern for her during this experience.

P.P.S. I’m writing the story from the beginning from our perspective as we’ve experienced this situation. Stay tuned, I will tell you later how you can get a copy.

Posted under Motivational, Personal