"No, I'm sorry.. It's not ok to be fat."

I'm sure this post won't make me any friends, but it has to be said and if I have to be the one to say it, then so be it. I am all for "accepting yourself for who you are" and being comfortable in your own skin. If you are short, big boned, skinny, have a big nose or a small nose, big lips, thin lips, curly hair, no hair, etc. But I am not for "accepting" obesity and disease as "who you are." You have the power to change this. And you need to change this. Both for you and the life that you deserve to live,  because you only get one; and for your family and friends who love you and don't want to see your life cut short because you were comfortable "accepting yourself" and not taking accountability for your health.
Don't get me wrong. Being curvy, thick, etc. is cool if you are healthy. But being fat and unhealthy is not. Please don't be offended or misinterpret my point. I get passionate about people not being fat (unhealthy)  not for my own reasons or because I "dislike" people who are overweight. I am not prejudiced in any sense of the word and in fact, I appreciate diversity in lifestyles, race, gender, etc. more than anyone. The reason I am passionate about people not being fat is because it upsets me very much to know that these people could be leading a longer, more enjoyable and fulfilling life and they are going to miss out on that because of their health. This is not just an opinion, this is a fact. Being overweight leads to a myriad of health problems and a shorter and more limited life. Period end of story. Yes, it is selfish because it affects everyone that loves you. We as a society, have begun to accept dangerously high levels of bodyfat as normal. Forty percent bodyfat is not normal. Human beings are not supposed to look like (or feel) like this. We are designed to be lean, strong, fast and healthy. Mother nature is a miracle maker and the human being that she designed looked much different than who we see walking the malls today. Human beings eating foods that we were designed to eat and doing exercises/activity that we were designed to do look great, feel great and live healthy. It's time to get back to the human beings that mother nature designed.
-Scott
Hook up with me here for online training, the nutrition plan Ebook "The PROGRAM- Nutrition Protocol to lose fat.", inner circle membership and support. 

Oh, now I get it..

So today was one of those days when I had plenty of excuses not to work-out today. Lots to do, kind of tired, maybe I need another day of rest.. You know the story. Then I saw something that changed my mind. A guy flew past me on a skateboard. Wow, I thought.. Ok now I have no excuse, I need to get my workout in. After all, you know as well as I do that one day of excuses leads to a second day of excuses and next thing you know, 5 years of "I'll get back on track tomorrow" goes by.

 It doesn't matter that your kids kept you up late or got you up early. It doesn't matter that you missed yesterday's workout too. Mother nature doesn't care what excuses you want to use. She will still make you sick, fat, tired and all of the other bad things that happen when you don't exercise.

I was forgetting all of this when I felt lazy this morning. I had all the excuses lined up. And you know what? I was buying them. Sometimes it seems like all the stars have to be aligned just perfectly to work out. You need just the perfect amount of time, (like that ever happens), you need tons of extra energy (like that ever happens either), etc.. But the reality is you just have to do it, no matter what the conditions are. Ask the skateboarder.
Now what was it about this skateboarding man that inspired me? Well, he wasn't exactly your typical skateboarder.
He had no legs.
What's your excuse?
#dontbullshityourself
-Scott
Hook up with me here: Online training, nutrition and inner circle membership and support- www.theprogram.trainerize.com

Motivation.. For Life!

Motivation for Life.

Often when it is time for me to write an article, I ask friends and clients for topic suggestions. One suggestion that I get frequently is the topic of motivation. I have to say that this puzzles me. Motivation is all around us, in every aspect of our daily lives. If the goal of the article is to provide the motivation to exercise, eat right and be healthy: then that is a very easy article to write. Let’s begin with a list of five general facts and then find a motivation point to take from them and make them more personal and powerful.

11.)    A recent report by the BBC states that physical inactivity now causes as many deaths each year as smoking. That number is a staggering 5.3 million. Now if that isn’t motivation for someone to get off the couch and start exercising then I cannot imagine what is.

MOTIVATION POINT: Exercising can save your life. Think of how valuable ten or twenty more years of life will be to you and your loved ones. Think of how devastating the loss of a life is to the family left behind and what a shame it would be to know that it could have been prevented with a simple consistent exercise program.

22.)    Obesity and diabetes are two of the fastest growing health concerns in the United States and exercise is one of the best ways to fight and prevent both of them.

MOTIVATION POINT: Exercising can keep you healthy and extend your life. Think of how difficult life will be for you or your loved ones if you are faced with obesity and diabetes.

33.)    Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent every year on cosmetic surgery and other procedures to look better. Almost everyone will agree that looking lean, healthy and fit is one of the keys to looking better and younger.

MOTIVATION POINT: Exercising will help you look better. This is a point worth repeating. Exercising will make you look better and the confidence that comes with that will carry over into all areas of your life.

44.)    Americans spend countless hours in therapy and take dozens of different medications to feel better. Exercise is a clinically proven anti-depressant and a guaranteed way to make you feel better.

MOTIVATION POINT: Exercise will make you feel better and has no negative side effects!

55.) Americans spend close to 750 million dollars per year on energy drinks, all with the goal of increased energy and mental focus. Unfortunately, energy drinks can ultimately drain your adrenal glands and cause serious health problems.

MOTIVATION POINT: Choose a healthy way to increase your energy and mental focus. A diet with the correct amount of fats, proteins and carbs and a consistent exercise routine will help you sleep better and have more energy for all of the things you love to do.

In summary, the motivation to exercise and get healthy is all around us. The more challenging part is to taking the steps to get started. Don’t let that stop you. Start with small steps. Start taking regular walks, join a gym or exercise class, find a sport that you once loved and start playing again or simply plan active time with the kids. Don’t get too hung up on what to do, just do something.  Nike had the slogan “Just Do It” and we can now use the slogan “Just Do Something.”

-Scott
 Hook up with me here: Online training, nutrition and inner circle membership and support- www.theprogram.trainerize.com

It's not about what you can't have, it's about what you CAN have..

I am happy that so many people are reading my blogs, but some people say "Scott I love your blogs. But they always make me feel so guilty." Guilty? Why?  I'm not trying to bring you down and my intention is not to make you feel guilty or to remind you what a crappy job you are doing with your workout, diet, whatever.. More importantly, my intention is certainly not to eliminate all fun and enjoyment from your life.

On the contrary, my goal is to bring you even more joy, more happiness, more confidence and more zest for life! If you are already super confident in the way you look, feeling great and have energy to the moon, then don't even bother reading my blog. Tell me to go scratch and keep doing what you are doing because you have got it going on! But if you are like most people who come to me for advice, and you don't feel so great about the way that you look and you don't feel confident naked and you are tired all the time, then understand that what I am telling you can change all that. Yes, you may have to s-a-c-r-i-f-i-c-e some of the things that you "love", things that make you happy, etc., but you will be making decisions that will make you happier in the long run.

Too many times we focus on what we "can't" have. We can't have ice cream, we can't eat pancakes for breakfast, we can have sugar in our coffee, we can't eat potato chips. What about focusing on what we can have? We can have constant energy. We can have muscles and strong backs. We can look awesome with our clothes off. We can feel confident at the beach. We can kick some younger ones asses at sports. We can live a long and active life.

The short-lived happiness of pastries, and piles of starchy carbs and sugary sweets is ruining the long-term happiness of good health, a slimmer waistline and muscles that you didn't even know you had.
Sure, sleeping an extra hour is nice but losing 15 lbs. in six weeks from getting up an extra hour earlier to workout feels even better. Having dessert every night tastes good but putting on a bathing suit and standing in the bathroom for 20 minutes trying to figure out how to hide your love handles in it doesn't feel very good. Does it? Think of how good it would feel to slip back into those clothes that are hidden away? Or go shopping and not be afraid to look in the 3 way mirror!
The term is delayed gratification and if you don't know what it means, google it.
 No college student wants to study but it sure is nice to get a college degree. Get it??
-Scott
Hook up with me here: Online training, nutrition and inner circle membership and support- www.theprogram.trainerize.com

Are you freakin' nuts??

Is there a difference between 200 calories of nuts and 200 calories of pretzels? Yes. Do you know which would be the better snack? Are you sure? Why? Nuts are the better snack and let me explain why. Nuts are natural foods with naturally occurring essential fatty acids (yes people, fats are essential to health and reducing bodyfat) and other nutrients. Pretzels are highly processed, refined crappy carbs and any "nutrients" they have have been man-made and are virtually useless. Equally important, and maybe even more important for the purposes of our discussion is the effect of nuts or pretzels on fat loss. The key to fat loss (PAY ATTENTION HERE) is controlling blood sugar. Blood sugar levels that spike up and down all day leads to body fat gain and swinging energy levels and mood swings. Stable blood sugar levels lead to fat burning, steady energy and mood. Good right? Ok, so pretzels, a refined carbohydrate, lead to a rapid rise in blood sugar, followed by a crash, followed by a craving for more refined carbs (referred to as crap), and so on and so on for the rest of the day. A snack of nuts leads to a slow release of sugar into the blood, a stable blood sugar level, and sustained energy and the ability to burn fat. This is why a dinner of a small steak and a salad is better than pasta and bread, EVEN IF THEY ARE THE SAME CALORIES.
So do this. Trade your cereal and juice for eggs and veggies. (whole eggs, not just whites)
Trade your pretzels and diet coke snack for a handful of nuts and half an apple.
Trade your lunch sandwhich and chips for a chicken caesar salad.
Trade your coffee with skim milk, 5 splendas and a pastry to a coffee with cream (yes, cream instead of skim. Why? Because cream causes a lower rise in blood sugar than skim and Splenda, and most people will actually end up using less total calories of cream than all of the skim it takes to lighten the coffee), no sweetener and a TB peanut butter on celery.
Trade your 2 slices of pizza for dinner for a small steak or pork chop and some broccoli sauteed in olive oil.
Do this for one week and you will see fat fall off and energy levels rise. Try it and see.
-Scott
 Hook up with me here: Online training, nutrition and inner circle membership and support- www.theprogram.trainerize.com

Is this ridiculous or is it just me?

It never ceases to amaze me how many people want to completely change the way that they look and feel, yet they don't want to change anything about the behavior and habits that have gotten them to where they are now. Is this not a little ridiculous? How many people can say "I want to lose 40 lbs." and then follow up with "BUT,  I don't really want to exercise for an hour every day, I don't like salad and I'm not going to give up drinking. But I really like the Zumba class that I take twice a week. It doesn't seem to help but can I keep doing that? And I know I won't follow your diet, but I do want a personal trainer. Can I come twice a week for half an hour?"

 H E L L O?? Does this sound like insanity to you or does this sound like you? If it sounds like you, then splash some cold water and your face and get ready to wake up and smell the coffee. It ain't gonna happen! If you are 40 lbs overweight, the things you do on a regular basis have to change, and change dramatically.

It is not unlike going to see a financial advisor about how to start saving money, but telling the advisor that you are not going to change any of your spending habits. It is safe to say that most of the things "you do", will have to change. "Well I like to watch tv." Change! "Well I like to take Zumba for my exercise." Change! "Well I like pasta and bread. I won't give that up." Well guess what? CHANGE! "Oh, and I don't like to do cardio." Oh no? Well guess what? Neither do I. But you have to do it. I like pasta and pizza too, and I'd like to eat it every day for every meal if I could. But I don't. And you can't either if you want to lose weight.

That's the deal. So stop making excuses, recognize that your habits make you who you are, and develop some new, good habits. Will you still be able to have pasta and bread? Yes, but definitely not as frequently or in the quantities that you have them now. Isn't it logical to assume that doing the things that you do now has gotten you into this predicament. So to get out of this predicament is going to require that many of those things change. Doesn't seem hard to comprehend, yet for many it is.. Take a good look at the habits that you have and decide to change the ones that are not helping your situatuion. Pretty soon feeling good will be a habit. Feeling confident will be a new habit. Having energy and being in a good mood will be a habit. You might not hate that cardio so much after all..
Need more help?
Hook up with me here: Online training, nutrition and inner circle membership support- www.theprogram.trainerize.comwww.theprogram.trainerize.com

Analogy Guy (It's about weight loss people..)

What do you think of this scenario? Imagine I am sitting down with my financial advisor, who I have sought out because I am seriously in debt and I cannot seem to get out of it. I have been trying to pay off my credit cards and save some money, but I am actually getting deeper and deeper in debt and I can see that is going to be a big problem down the road. I've actually had a few friends in similar situations lose their houses and have to declare bankruptcy. I definitely don't want that to happen. So I got John's (the financial advisor) information from a friend and gave him a call.

"John, I am really worried that I have no idea how to get out of this debt and instead of getting better, it is getting worse. Can you help me? Please??"

"Well Scott, first of all we have to look at your spending habits and figure out what we can change."

We talk for a little while and John recognizes that I spend more than I make, and recommends some changes and things to cut back on.

"But John, I really love going out to dinner and I just can't give that up. Also, I know I shouldn't eat my lunches out or buy such expensive clothes, but I just love it. Oh, and I definitely won't give up my $10/day Starbucks habit. I know I can make it at home for 10 cents but Starbucks is my thing."

"Ok Scott, well if you are not willing to make any changes, how do you expect me to help you?"

"Well John, I want to get out of debt and save money, but I just don't want to give up any of the things I like or change my lifestyle at all."

"Well Scott, will you at least start to record everything you spend money on for one week, so we can figure out what we need to focus on the most?"

"I can try, but you know, that just takes so much time and who has time to do that?"

"Ok Scott, let me ask you this. You think you want to save money and get out of debt, yet you won't take the time to record your spending and you won't change the habits that have gotten you into this situation. Is that correct?"

"Um, kind of."

"Then doesn't it seem unlikely that you will ever get out of debt? The reason you are sitting here in front of me is that your habits have gotten you in this predicament. Continuing to do the same thing will only result in more debt and probably the loss of your house and bankruptcy. You say you don't have time to record your spending. Do you have time to move into a new house when yours get foreclosed on? Do you have time to sit down and explain to your family why you can't buy any furniture, clothes, toys or food after you declare bankruptcy and have no credit? Do you have time to continue to be stressed and worried about your financial situation?"

"John, when you put it that way, you are such a downer."

"Scott, I don't want to be a downer, but you are asking for my help and I am telling you what you need to do to save yourself. Now it is up to you to go and do it. Don't kid yourself into believing that if you just keep doing what you are doing that somehow things will get better. They won't."

*It should be fairly obvious to everyone reading this what I am implying and what the analogy is here. If it is not, you are probably reading the wrong blog. Think of how this analogy can apply to your fitness and weight loss goals. Now get out there and start "saving some money"!!
-Scott
Hook up with me here: Online training, nutrition and inner circle membership and support- www.theprogram.trainerize.com