Have you heard this before? Weight loss is simple. It’s all about calories in versus calories out.
While it is true that a caloric deficit will help you lose body fat and build lean muscle. You must remember that not all calories are created equal.
For example, if I eat one meal today that consists of an entire pizza which equals around 2,000 calories. Those calories are not going to help me lose body fat and build lean muscle even if I were to exercise for one hour to burn about 350-400 calories.
Using the example above, your caloric deficit occurs if your basal metabolic rate (BMR: the minimum calories you need to take in per day to run your body’s systems) is 2,000 kcal and you exercised for one hour making your deficit 350-400 kcal. That leaves you with 1600-1650 net calories ingested that day.
On the flip side, if your intake of 2,000 calories were made up of lean proteins, fresh veggies that are nutrient dense, and healthy fats, then you would be able to reach your weight loss goals with the same amount of exercise while improving your recovery time, your energy levels, and your performance at work, play, or rest!
Check out the full video below for all the details!
Grab your free 5 step guide to master meal prep now by clicking here for more helpful and healthy tips to lose weight and keep it off!
After nine years of coaching, we have discovered that there is one major factor holding back 90% of our members!
Coach Dave Glaser addressed this challenge in a quick video to our members to help them get back on track with their fitness goals so listen in now! The number one thing holding our members back is TIME and convenience.
Sound On!
Are you scheduling your workouts into your very full calendar? Are you making it a priority? If you’re like our members, you are most likely saying to yourself, “Oh, I’ll do it after (insert chore, meeting, task, errand)”
We get it. We have extremely busy lives and with many gyms at limited capacity right now, we have less support and accountability than every before. That’s where our Body Weight Warrior program is the game changer! We have created over 40 body weight workouts you can do anywhere, anytime for less than a cup of coffee per day!
Here’s what people are saying about the program!
Sarah, a serial entrepreneur, had very little time in her schedule but she set appointments with herself at 5 am three days per week and saw amazing results in a short period of time. She said, “Dave makes this experience exactly what you want it to be. He listens to you and what you are trying to achieve and creates a program that caters to just that.” Check out her results below!
Would you like to learn more? Apply for remote coaching with Dave Glaser, CSCS now by clicking here and receive a complimentary discovery call!
And the 7 excuses we hear you use to talk yourself out of beginning today!
Our members have come to us with very specific goals over the years and we have seen some common themes pop up! Those goals are listed below along with the reasons we’ve heard that hold you back from starting today.
1. You want to lose weight and most of our clients have a weight loss goal that ranges between 15-20 pounds but sometimes as high as 50-75! These goals are totally doable! We often times recommend that we begin with realistic goals such as losing 1-2 pounds per week. That comes out to be about a change of 350 calories per day. Feels more manageable, right? When we set more realistic goals, our mindset changes automatically from “I can’t” to “I will!” The reason we have heard from our community is that they don’t have the time, so why even start?!
2. You want to feel better with more energy, more confidence, and less stress! These are the reasons I began my strength program after graduating from college in ’11. I was so exhausted from work, family, social life, and school that I had gained 15# of unhealthy body fat. I didn’t feel as if I was leading my community by example and so I set out to make some serious changes in my life. I began meal prepping, exercising regularly, and even started a new hobby in boxing which eventually led me to jiu-jitsu! The top reason I hear from our members is that they don’t have a game plan or program that works!
3. You want to look better because life has caught up with us. Whether that be work is overwhelming and draining or family has consumed all of your free time. The reason we allow this to happen to ourselves is that you prioritize others’ needs above your own. And many times, there are moments when our relationships are a top priority but when we are drained physically and we aren’t happy in our own skin, that’s the time to put yourself first! Make yourself a top priority!
4. You want to perform better at work, at home, during your favorite activities, or sports! When I began losing the unwanted weight, I gained so much more from the journey that I had envisioned when I set out with just that goal. As the body fat came off, my energy skyrocketed and I had plenty leftover each day to begin a new hobby in boxing and eventually it led to my lifelong passion for jiu-jitsu. Putting performance at the top of my list of goals, allowed me to shift my mindset to learning a new skill as opposed to losing weight. You may hold yourself back from setting performance goals because you may think you could not possibly improve your performance at your age, this time in your life, or with everything else you have on your plate. My performance improved in every area of my life when I put performance as a priority!
5. You want to build lean muscle mass for toning or a performance goal. Lean muscle mass does so much for us for so many reasons. It helps us look, feel, and perform better but it also burns more calories per day which helps us reach our weight loss goals! The reason you may not start a strength program is because you can’t envision how easy and beneficial building lean muscle mass is at any age!
6. You want to be an example for your family, community, or coworkers which can impact so many lives around you, so I get why this is a big motivator. I have also begun a new strength program or modality because I wanted to be a better leader at Fit Life! Kettlebells, olympic lifting, and non-linear periodization are all programs I’ve educated myself on since beginning Fit Life in 2011. The reason you may hold yourself back here is because of limiting beliefs such as “I could never be an example” or “I don’t have enough expertise to lead”. Trust me, I’ve been there before and I want to remind you that someone is always watching you. Your kids (coworkers, family, friends) look up to you and if they see you taking one small step each day, that’s where your example for them begins!
7. You want to live a better life because you have been stuck in a plateau for a little while now. A strength training program can and will JUMPSTART a new period in your life so that you can achieve all that you have ever wished to! This is why I believe exercise is a great place to begin a personal growth journey. It just so happens to be one of the five pillars of optimal health we teach in our holistic approach to coaching our members. You may not have even realized this was a reason you’ve been held back physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, and spiritually.
What reason stands out at you today? What has been holding you back from getting started now? Join our private facebook community today for more tips and articles just like this to help you reach your goals quickly and safely!
As summer rolls around, I feel this intense craving to be outside! We are blessed to have the mountains in our backyard as an outdoor playground but we can’t always scoot out of work at lunch for a hike! But as busy adults, we want to make time for the things we love AND be in the best condition to play outside so today, we are bringing you three safe workouts you can do anywhere, anytime! They are…Â
HIIT- High Intensity Interval Training includes many different types of workouts like Tabata and Circuit training but with one major difference! HIIT training specifically aims to produce cardiovascular performance and adaptation with a secondary goal of muscle and central nervous system adaptation! What does that mean? It means you are going to get a heart pumping, leg burning quick and safe workout at home or while you travel! Check out the video below to try a HIIT workout today!
Circuit training- like HIIT workouts, circuits will make your muscles burn and your heart race but the goals are slightly different. Safe and quick, circuits will have 2-4 rounds of the same exercises repeated in order with either specific reps or time for each exercise. The rest comes in between rounds and the goal is to highlight muscle adaptation for endurance more so than heart rate! Trial workout is available below
Tabata Training- one of my favorite ways to train our clients online, Tabata training has a focus of heart rate conditioning AND strength endurance. The methodology is unique here because it includes a specific amount of time for work and rest for 3-8 rounds of one exercise before moving on to the next exercise. You can accomplish a lot of reps and training in a short amount of time with Tabata which is why we are such big fans of using it in our online programs! Check out an example below to try it for yourself!
For more ideas on in home exercises to compliment your favorite outdoor workouts, check out our trial of the Body Weight Warrior program below!
Welcome to the peak of summer! It’s heating up out there but we have some cool ideas for you to find exercise routines to do outside of the gym.
Hiking- This feels like an obvious solution for those of us living in areas well known for hiking. However, you can always take your hiking game to the next level! Next time you go for a hike, pick up the pace so that you can include a cardiovascular component to this popular low impact form of outdoor exercise.
The “Mini Incline” in Castle Rock- Phillip S. Miller Park is home to a miniature version of the popular incline in Manitou Springs (closed for the season). It’s also home to an outdoor gym and recreation center with sports fields athletes can use for soccer, sprints, and footwork drills!
Cycling- We are so blessed in Colorado because we have miles of cycling trails for this popular low impact form of cardio and endurance training. One thing to keep in mind about cycling is that you will still need to compliment it with an “off the bike” resistance training program because the amount of low impact hours on the bike can lower bone density. Resistance training with weights or body weight exercises helps stress your bones to keep them strong unlike the low impact form of exercise that cycling gives you.
Kayaking/Canoeing- This is for our adventure seekers out there and not for the faint of heart! Kayaking or canoeing does so much for us to reconnect to the wilderness, get outside, and find some vitamin D! The sun is one of the only sources of vitamin D outside of supplements and it is crucial to get a good dose of this plentiful micronutrient. Fun fact about vitamin D is that you can never get enough of it from the sun (short of daily sun burns) but you can get too much of it from supplements. We recommend the natural route!
Hit the Dog Park- My sidekick Chloe has been the best motivator to get me out of the house for daily walks. But if you’ve ever wanted to take it up a notch, bring a “Chuck it” with you to get your arm workout and mobility in, or jog with your pup to wear you both out!
For more ideas on in home exercises to compliment your favorite outdoor workouts, check out our trial of the Body Weight Warrior program below!
These 7 exercises will help you reach your goals quickly and safely right in your living room!
Body weight squats are compound movements (multiple joints) and burn more calories than a single joint exercise like a bicep curl or leg extension. They can serve as part of your warm up or included in a full workout right in your own home!
Jump Squats are a compound movement PLUS a power exercise that increases our calorie expenditure above and beyond regular squats.
Side Lunges incorporate lateral movement (frontal plane) and recruit stabilizer muscles as well as primary movers. The more muscles we recruit, the more calories we burn! They can serve as part of your warm up or included in a full workout right in your own home!
Burpees are everyone’s favorite exercise that they love to hate! This full body, power generating movement will challenge your cardiovascular system AND burn more calories in less time. No wonder they are so popular for workout programs at home.
Sprinting may surprise you that it burns more calories than long distance running, especially when you perform it AFTER a body weight or gym workout. The max effort output that sprinting provides causes your central nervous system to adapt quickly and use many other systems that require calories to function. Plus, when you add in sprinting to your routine, your body will continue to burn calories long after your workout is complete. Called EPOC or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption 🙂
High Intensity Interval Training requires your body to adapt quickly with the short rest periods that are provided during interval training. Quick adaptation in your body means reaching your goals quicker!
Circuit Training provides the body with a lot of exercises in a short amount of time which creates fast adaptation and fast results. The shorter rest periods and exercises stacked on top of one another provides a huge bang for your buck!
To get your free 7 day trial of the Body Weight Warrior program, check out all the details below!
Why is it that carbs get a bad reputation in the nutrition world. Today, we are set to answer that question and more about the mystery that is carbohydrates!
I could go on for hours about how carbs play into our lives but for time’s sake, I’ll highlight 3 reasons why carbohydrates are good for you!
What does your day feel like when you are “carb depleted”? Pretty sluggish, right? That’s because we aren’t fueling our body with what it needs to perform at it’s best!
If we look at carbohydrates (and Fats) as if they are fuel for the energy that we NEED to perform our best each day, then we can begin to build a healthy perception of them. Carbohydrates are consumed and converted to energy by the body so that we can work, exercise, move, enjoy our hobbies, as well as fuel our brains! What options do we have to bring healthy carbs into our daily routines? SO MANY!
Let’s break carbs down into three basic groups. Haha, I love nutrition puns.
Complex carbs- veggies and grains make up this category of carbohydrates. This is where we like to focus our consumption of carbs because they last longer as fuel for the body! If your goals are to run a half marathon, you need more complex carbs than a golfer. My favorites include sweet potatoes, quinoa, brown rice, broccoli, spinach, celery, carrots, and so much more.
Simple carbs- these are sugars that break down quickly in the body but if left unused by the muscles or the brain, they just sit and wait to be turned into body weight. Included here are processed sweets (candy), table/cooking sugar (sucrose), fruits (fructose), starches (bread, alcohol, pasta), etc.
Fiber- insoluble or soluble, fiber is necessary for the digestive tract to absorb the complex carbs, healthy fats, and proteins in our nutrition plan. Did you know Americans get about 30% of their daily requirement of fiber per day?! This type of carb can be found in the skin of fruit and veggies or in a simple supplement to get a minimum of 10 grams per day!
Hope this cleared up the questions many busy adults have around why they should be getting anywhere between 25-55% of their nutrition from carbohydrates! If you have questions you’d like answered, click here now to grab our free Meal Prep guide discover more healthy ways you can save time, money, and include carbs in your diet!
3 Ways to Cut Calories without counting or weighing your portions!
I wanted to share with you the top three ways I manage my calories each week without breaking out the scale and weighing my food!
These are really simple ways you can implement today to reach your goals quickly!
1. Mindful eating- mindful eating can be added into every recipe you enjoy to cook each week! It begins with eating slowly and enjoying about 15 chews per bite of food. It takes about 20 minutes for your nerves in your stomach to recognize that it is full and signal your brain to stop eating! We always coach our PrepWars clients to eat to 80% full which means recognizing you have been satiated BEFORE you normally notice it!
2. Smaller portions- taking smaller serving sizes is a step in the right direction! American plates are larger than they ever have been in history and naturally, we tend to fill our plates full to the edges. Protein portions will be about the size of your palm. Carbohydrates will equal one cupped handful on your plate. And fats, yes they are necessary too, will be about 1-2 thumbs in size so about 5-8 nuts.
Spinach salads are ideal for meal prep to fuel your body and help your routine reach your goals.
3. Find more fiber- fibrous foods make us feel fuller faster and longer than simple sugars or protein. Fiber is classified in two ways: soluble and insoluble. Meaning absorbable or not. Fiber is also considered a carbohydrate so if you are choosing insoluble fiber, those carbs will not get absorbed! An example is celery. Celery has both soluble and insoluble fiber. Have you juiced celery? The insoluble fiber is what is left behind in the juicer.
Meal Prep is easier when you have a plan! Check it out at learntomealprep.com
These little know facts are why calories get such a bad reputation… Americans just don’t know the difference between simple and complex carbs or even why they are so important!
The next time you’re fixing up your plate for dinner, be mindful of your portion sizes and choose more fibrous foods to eat fewer calories without counting them down to the gram!
Do you want to learn 5 fun facts about working out you probably didn’t know?!
Helps recovery- when you exercise regularly, your follow up workouts aid in recovery by flushing out lactic acid (bicarbonate) which is a waste product in the body from your last workout! Feeling sore? Workout again within 48 hours to aid the recovery!
Decreases stress- regular exercise helps to lower cortisol levels in the body which is one of the most natural ways to lower stress! Feeling anxious? Take a walk or do a HIIT workout!
Improves circulation- as your muscles contract, they push blood back to the heart! Have you ever seen a cyclist’s calf muscles? They are huge! For one, they are always cranking on the pedals to climb hills but they also grow so that they can pump the blood back to the heart more efficiently. Otherwise know as venous return;) Want to get your heart rate up with additional benefits? Go for a bike ride to improve your circulation!
Improved circulation equals improved body functions holistically- the circulatory system does many things for us. It regulates body temperature, which is why you sweat when you workout, to cool yourself down naturally. But when our circulatory system works better, so does our lymphatic system (our waste system which flushes bicarbonate), our digestive system works better to absorb nutrients and prevent lifestyle disease (like diverticulitis), and our nervous system works better too! Feeling foggy in your brain from staring at a computer screen? Go for a jog to “clear your head”!
Most importantly, completing a workout improves self-confidence- accomplishing a goal we set for ourselves makes us feel strong and empowered! Self-efficacy is a little known benefit of working out that basically means “I am pleased with myself for accomplishing a goal”. Over time, as our confidence grows in our ability to complete a goal, it provides a positive feedback loop to our brain that says, “I can” more often than it says, “I can’t”!
There you have it! Five little known facts about fitness that you can use the next time you want to workout but you’re too sore, too busy, too sluggish, to tired, or don’t believe you can squeeze another thing into your day!
Dave Glaser has been a strength coach in Denver, CO and online for nine years. He has worked with athletes of all levels privately, in small groups or teams, and online through safe, convenient, and effective workouts designed to help you reach your goals quickly and safely.
I sincerely hope you are staying safe and healthy during these uncertain times across the world. For me personally, I have been doing a lot of work from home, reading, enjoying netflix, and creating new online programs for our clients. One program that I am excited about is our Body Weight Warrior program that launched June 1!
It includes four workouts per week, nutrition tips and recipes, and what I enjoy most about creating these workouts for you is that they can go anywhere and you can do them anytime you want! Most of them are less than 30 minutes so you can get it done and get on with your day!
Give it a try for free today! Just click here for your first workout delivered straight to your email inbox now!
At Fit Life Champions, we believe that rest is as important as the work. In today’s lesson, we wanted to focus on mindfulness through mediation.
When we connect the mind and body into one, we reach our goals quicker and safer because we are in tune with the feedback that our body is trying to tell us.
Laura Ellen Love is a yoga certified instructor that shares many of the same passions we do at FLC Online. She believes that fitness, nutrition, and a strong mind body connection helps us improve mental health and we couldn’t agree more!
Last year, she joined me on the Believe Be Real Be Bold podcast for authentic relationships and we have built an incredible professional relationship ever since. Today, I wanted to invite her to our community to share her guided meditation!
So find a peaceful, quiet place in your home and MAKE TIME for yourself today! We are combining two of the most important healthy habits we gave you in the beginning of the month:)
Make time for yourself AND rest! Enjoy!
If you would like more personalized meditations from Laura Love, please reach out to her via email at lauraloveevents@gmail.com or on Instagram @lauraloveinc
Now that you have met Laura Ellen Love, please continue on to the guided meditation portion of today’s mindfulness practice!
To tune into the full interview on the Believe Be Real Be Bold podcast, please subscribe below or watch the interview on YouTube!
