Chris Perry’s Successful Body and Health Transformation!

September 18, 2013 by 2 Comments
Chris Perry's Transformation
59 lbs of bodyfat gone! Replaced with Muscle, Strength, & Health

Congratulations to Transformation Camp Alumni Chris Perry! You are an inspiring example of overcoming adversity to succeed!

Chris, 45 years of age, father of 4, traveled from Ohio earlier this year to attend my 3-day Transformation Fitness Camp here in Colorado. I got to know Chris and learned about his dreams and goals. We worked out, went to dinner, talked about nutrition and supplements and we had some laughs too over the weekend. Chris went home with renewed focus and motivation as well as a complete plan-of-action in a 3-ring binder about the size of a dictionary.

Chris worked hard, let nothing stand in his way, and he gave it his all every day. Chris wanted to change and he was willing to change… those are essential keys to crossing the abyss between knowing and doing. Another key to his success… he didn’t let adversity stop him either! Chris lost his right leg in an automobile accident which certainly makes getting through my intense weight training and aerobic workouts more challenging, but Chris didn’t quit! He applied inner strength and courage to help him accomplish his goal!

Fast forward to this past weekend… Chris comes back to my Transformation Fitness Camp. He walks in the door, I do a double take, squint my eyes to make sure it was him… and my jaw dropped! Good Heavens! Wow did he change from the last time I saw him!!! It looked he was 10 years younger! He walked in with a confident smile, wearing some 32″ waist blue-jeans and a casual short sleeve shirt with his newly muscular arms bulging out! I said “Chris!? Way to go buddy! Just incredible!”

We worked out Saturday and he was lifting the same heavy weights I was! He is now literally twice as strong as he was before!

To anyone reading this… YOU CAN DO IT TOO! Look at what Chris Perry accomplished–he didn’t let his adversity stop him! He didn’t make excuses. He confronted the truth–he was overweight and out of shape and his entire life was suffering as a result. Chris said enough is enough! He made the decision to be healthy and strong again like he was when he did Body-for-LIFE successfully a decade ago. Chris came to see me in person at my 3-day fitness camp and he went home with a team of new friends who believed in him and a whole lot of energy and motivation.

He put the plan to work with determination and he gave it his all–he poured his heart and soul into each day’s workout, nutrition, and mindset work. The result? Incredible! And you know what? Chris is just getting started–he has so much energy and momentum right now that he is going to keep getting leaner and stronger and healthier! In the process, he is inspiring so many people, perhaps even YOU, to follow his example! If Chris can overcome his adversity, why can’t YOU? (The truth is YOU CAN!!)

+++Are you ready, like Chris was, to renew your Body, Health, and Energy for life? If your answer is “YES!” then please accept my invitation to join me for our October or November Transformation Camp, here at my Fitness Center in Colorado. At Camp, I can work with you personally, like I did with Chris, and we can develop a motivating and easy to follow plan of action that will take all the guess work out of exercise and nutrition for you. Chris and many others who’ve enjoyed success after attending Transformation Camp are calling it the best investment in themselves they’ve ever made. Please, if you are ready to make an incredible change in your body, health, and life, email me right away and let me know you’d like to participate in one of our upcoming camps. My email is: Bill@Transformation.com

Filed Under: Inspirational True Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Transform Adversity Into Energy

September 4, 2013 by 10 Comments

Picture this: For the first time in a long time, or perhaps the first time ever, most all aspects of your life are coming together and you’re moving forward in the direction of your goals.

You’re looking better each week. That stubborn fat is finally melting away. In its place, muscle is forming. You’re getting stronger, healthier. You’re well on your way to a new and better life. You feel unstoppable until . . . the “unexpected” happens. Adversity strikes. Something goes wrong. You’re blindsided by a bad hit.

These “hits” can come from any direction. It might be an injury that makes it difficult to exercise. It might be the loss of your job or a failed business venture, an illness, the end of a relationship, or worst of all, a personal tragedy.

The fact is, adversity hits all of us, and not just “once in a blue moon.” No one is exempt. When trouble, in whatever form, strikes, it can bring your progress to a screeching halt. It can destroy your momentum, cripple your self-confidence, and send you into a tailspin — a situation where one thing after another, after another just doesn’t go your way.

There’s no training system, supplements, or “miracle pill” that can make you immune to adversity. But does that mean there’s nothing you can do about it?

Yes and no.

You can’t always prevent ill fortune, especially due to forces and circumstances beyond your control. But what you can do is expect adversity as an inevitable part of life. In fact, you must expect trouble in order to properly deal with it. Remember, it’s not a matter of if it comes your way; it’s a matter of when and how severely it strikes your life.

We must all accept that ill fortune is an inevitable part of life, and it is because of, not in spite of, misfortune that we grow. You see, our character will never be fully tested until things are not going our way. Those who have the courage to succeed in spite of adversity become and inspiration. They contribute value to the lives of others. They make a difference.

Whenever you encounter adversity — whenever something comes up that you believe might prevent you from successfully transforming your body and life — immediately ask yourself, “What can I do to turn this negative into a positive? How can I make this work for me rather than against me?”

When you approach obstacles this way, you will experience an immediate boost in energy and confidence (both of which you will need to succeed). And by practicing this skill — by learning how to transform obstacles into advantages — by attacking challenges head on — you will not only continue to move forward, you will gain the inner strength to deal with anything life brings your way.

When you look at adversity this way, you will realize misfortune is a bridge, not a barricade, to greater achievements. It can represent the opening of doors, not the closing of them. When adversity strikes, don’t let it stop you. Promise yourself in advance that you will transform that negative into a positive. That’s not just the right way to handle it, it’s the only way.

Filed Under: Mindset Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Weight Loss and Health Q & A with Bill Phillips

August 22, 2013 by 4 Comments

—-This blog post is an interview I did for a mainstream magazine where the focus was how to achieve healthy weight loss; something millions of American’s are concerned with. If you are one of them, this blog is for You! ~Bill Phillips

Q: How do people get the willpower to lose weight?

A: Willpower and discipline, despite what people are often taught, are not the keys to making challenging changes in our lives. The real power comes from inspiration. When people are inspired, they can accomplish almost anything. And so what I teach people is how to connect with what inspires them. And I ask them to identify a purposeful reason for making the decision to make a change in their lives. And one of the reasons that often awakens peoples’ inner strength is becoming healthy so that they don’t pass on their deleterious lifestyle to their kids.

Most parents I know would move mountains to protect their kids and that’s the kind of strength it often takes to stop destructive habits and start living a healthy and mindful life. There are many powerful reasons and what’s important is for each person to find the one that inspires them. One great reason will override 100 excuses.

Q: What are some practical tips on becoming more focused on their weight loss efforts?

A: I believe it’s important for people to realize that losing weight is not enough. You can actually lose weight and become more unhealthy if you do it the wrong way. Many people also lose weight  in a way that’s not sustainable. Merely changing the outside is not enough. When  we change our perspective we can see that what we really want is not just to  look better but to feel better; and not just to weigh less on the scale, but to become lighter. And to do that, we need to look at what’s weighing on us mentally and emotionally.

It’s vitally important to understand where we are at the beginning of the transformation process. I ask people to take a before photo of themselves, put it on a piece of paper, and around the photo write down a dozen words and/or phrases that describe what they’re thinking and what they’re  feeling. I often see people describe that they have low energy, that they feel stuck, that they feel like they’re carrying the weight of the world, that they’re suffering from stress or anxiety, that they feel sad or depressed. We have to confront where we are to begin with — we have to know where we stand, in order to know where to go.

Once we’ve achieved some clarity on that, we take a look at where we want to go and we develop an inspiring vision for our future carefully describing how we want to look, how we want to feel, and what we want our lives to be like. Once we establish a point A and a point B we develop specific goals that help us focus our attention on moving forward.

Q: How can people stay strong in the face of temptation?

A: When people are inspired by a powerful reason, managing temptation becomes a whole lot easier. Unfortunately most people don’t really feel a strong sense of purpose when they start out on a diet or weight-loss plan. That makes compliance extremely unlikely.

Another thing that strengthens resolve is to connect with other people who are dedicated to making healthy changes in their lives. In a recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine (February 2009) scientists discovered that people who are trying to lose weight and get healthy are 225% more likely to succeed if they participate in a weekly support group meeting. And this is because supportive friends can help keep us accountable, they can remind us of what we told them our important and inspiring reason is for changing our behavior from unhealthy to healthy, and they can give us support and encouragement which is pretty hard to be successful without. And in  return, we can do the same for them which, according to research, also helps us  by boosting our energy, confidence and self-esteem.

Q: How can people overcome making excuses when trying to transform their health?

A: Most every remarkable health transformation I’ve seen over the last 20 years was preceded by a dramatic increase in self-responsibility. As we mature we often discover that to a very significant extent, the condition of our bodies and lives is our responsibility and the longer we blame something outside of ourselves (an organization, another person, even genetics), the longer we disempower ourselves. The ability to change is harnessed when we accept the responsibility to change. And this essentially  means becoming a ‘no-excuses person.’ When we give up excuses we can no longer say, “The dog ate my homework.” Instead we deal with the reality of the situation which might be, “My homework’s not done because I chose to watch TV instead of doing it.” Accepting responsibility makes us stronger, not weaker.

Q: How can people overcome falling back into old unhealthy patterns?

A: The only thing better than making a healthy change in your body and life is sustaining it. In my experience, the  people who’ve succeeded over the long term do two things:

1) When they achieve a goal, they immediately set another, challenging goal. Goals keep the mind focused and help us decide on a daily basis how to invest our precious time, energy and attention. For example, if someone’s initial goal is to become 30 lbs lighter, once they achieve that, they might set their eye on another motivating objective which is to run a marathon or half marathon within the next few months.

2) People who successfully lose unhealthy body weight and keep it off are most often connected to a support group or community of like-minded folks. Being active within a healthy weight-loss group gives people the opportunity to help others which is very important. Recovery from an unhealthy lifestyle that causes overweight and obesity is similar to recovery from other addictive habits — there is always a risk for relapse. Our old habits will wait on us forever. What we do to get healthy, has to be what we continue doing to stay healthy. We need to look at it as a life-long recovery process. And  probably nothing helps long-term recovery better than being active in a group of  supportive peers.

Q: How can people change their habits?

A: The mind craves what it’s used to which is not always what it needs. And this is why the things we do habitually have a sort of gravitational force — they seem to pull us in their direction. And so the key to breaking free of unhealthy habits is to abstain from them while at the same time replacing them with new, positive patterns of action. Each day we adhere to the changes, the more the mind will crave the new pattern which will  allow it to become more and more of a routine. People who can stick with a change like this for a month, usually find it gets a whole lot easier from  there. Inspiration and support are essential to get through that first month because it can be a real tug of war between the old and new ways of thinking and behaving.

Q: What are your top tips to help someone say no to an unhealthy action or behavior?

A: Throughout each day, we have dozens of moments where we decide our future direction. When we ask ourselves, “Is this thought, action or behavior going to move me closer to or further away from the inspiring vision I have for my future?” we can make better choices pretty easily. We must relentlessly ask ourselves that question throughout each day and give ourselves honest answers. When we do, we can change the direction of our lives one moment, one decision at a time. Which is really the only way it can be done.

Q: How powerful is the mind in controlling our weight-loss success?

A: The body serves the mind. Anything that happens in our physical body is a result of what happens in our mind. The mind is primary, the body is a secondary phenomenon. And of course we experience life through our mind, our thoughts, our emotions. It’s always how we think and how we feel about how we look that determines our experience. And until you truly transform your mind, any other change is only going to be temporary, external, superficial. It will never last. However, when you heal and renew the mind, and get it set in the right direction, your life can become healthier, happier and  more inspiring than most people could ever imagine.

Q: Is there anything else you think we should cover on this topic?

A: Weight loss is very misunderstood. Supposed solutions so often focus only on the body as if it exists independent of mind and emotions. The real solutions will be found by looking at the whole person—mind, body, heart and soul. The answers we’ll find aren’t new. In fact Plato’s philosophy described what may very well be the right approach over 2,000  years ago when he wrote:

“This is the great error of our day, that physicians separate the soul from the body. The cure should not be attempted without the treatment of the whole, and no attempt should be made to cure the body without the soul.”

Filed Under: Interviews, Mindset, Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bill Phillips Answers Your Health and Fitness Questions

July 22, 2013 by 17 Comments

QUESTION: I’m just making sure the deadline to start the challenge was extended to today. I hope so. I put my email in to follow this Bill Phillips Fitness News Blog to officially enter and I’m ready to start transforming my body and life! I’m in it to win it this time… for me finishing the 12 weeks and achieving my health goal is winning. I wouldn’t mind getting the $10,000 top prize also! =)

ANSWER: How exciting! You made it in just in time! Yes, by following this blog you are officially signed up and eligible to win the $10,000 top prize! Just get started today by taking your before photo (which I want you to hang onto for 12 weeks before you send it in — Click Here to see the Rules and Regulations for all the details).

Winners CertificateWhen you do complete all 12 weeks, I guarantee you will feel healthier and happier. And who knows… somebody’s going to get that $10,000 top prize… it really could be you! Don’t forget, everyone who finishes the Summer Challenge and sends in their before and after photos will receive an Official Certificate of Achievement, a Transformation-blue workout shirt, and a Challenge Finishers Honor Medal. (I always say that the best prize Challenge Finishers will get is a renewed healthy body! =)

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QUESTION: Bill, I have a lot of body fat to lose, is it ok to do cardio everyday along with the resistance training every other day?

ANSWER: Thank you for your question. You can do more cardio of course but I usually don’t recommend it. Over the past couple decades, what I have found works best is to keep the workouts brief but intense and most of all, CONSISTENT. I like to see people alternating days of weight training with days of cardio. For example, weight training on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and cardio on Tuesday, and Thursday with the Saturday cardio workout being optional.

Intense Interval Exercise stimulates the metabolism by positively affecting cellular mitochondria energy production. This means that your body is burning more stored fat all day long and not just during the workout. Intense Exercise is powerful medicine and too much is akin to overdose — it can actually backfire and slow the metabolism. However, even the best exercise methods won’t make up for bad nutrition. It is imperative that we exercise AND eat right.

I have a friend, George, who has become 135 pounds lighter over the last year. He works out at my Transformation Center in Colorado and follows my 5/25 program to the T — he gets in 25 minutes of intense exercise, 5 days a week. He has 3 Right Light nutrition shakes a day and 2 or 3 portion-controlled Eating for Life meals.

Incredible before to after photos

George is 135 pounds lighter — he works out 25 minutes a day!

George’s body and life transformation is stunning because he did the right things very consistently for an entire year. He is stronger and healthier and has burned off 135 pounds, as I mentioned above. It seems like so much weight but when you get down to it, it’s just about 11 pounds per month. You don’t have to starve yourself or exercise for hours a day to trim off 11 pounds of unhealthy weight each month. I’m a big proponent of a balanced, practical approach.

Big progress is simply little progress compounded over time. It’s more important that your workouts are consistent than long. Whatever you do, just promise me you’ll combine exercise and eating right, and you’ll stick with it long enough to reach your goals and then some. You can do it!

~Bill Phillips

P.S. You can read my blog about George’s stunning transformation by clicking here.

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QUESTION: Which is better… the Body-for-Life weight-lifting routine, or your new 5/25 workout? I’m 46 years old and I want to lose 30 to 40 pounds of fat while getting my muscle definition back.

ANSWER: Both routines will give you a great workout. Both will help build muscle.

My newer version of the Body-For-LIFE free-weight workout is called 5/25 and it is the first program I’ve developed which is completely based on the science of High-Intensity Interval Strength Training.

Intense Interval Training has been proven in scientific studies to be the most effective exercise method when it comes to preventing heart disease, preventing stroke, accelerating the burning of bodyfat, and most important of all (in my opinion), increasing the size, number, and energy production of cellular mitochondria which is THE key to longevity. At age 48, my big reasons for working out are to prevent disease and keep my body as young, strong, and lean as possible — 5/25 High-Intensity Interval Strength Training helps me accomplish all that in one workout.

Bill Working Out

At Age 48, 5/25 Training Works Great for Me! ~Bill

Also, 5/25 works for me because I need a training method that hits the muscles hard but is easy on my tendons and ligaments. With 5/25 I can use less weight and still blast the muscles without injury. With BFL workouts I can lift quite a bit more weight  (because of the rest between sets) and that’s not necessarily a good thing for me because I’m just strong enough to damage some nagging shoulder and knee tendon injuries that I’ve recovered from.

Learn more about 5/25 Training by reading my blog about it here on Bill Phillips Fitness News — just Click Here to go there! =)

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QUESTION: Hi Bill, I started the challenge Monday and am super excited. I read your nutrition blog that showed your meal plans for a day and that helped me a lot. What are your thoughts on diet soda and alcohol? Complete no-no’s or moderation? Thanks for everything!

ANSWER: With nutrition, it is what we do most of the time, not some of the time, that shapes us. So drinking a diet soda from time to time (like I do) isn’t going to make or break your fitness.

Regarding alcohol, I use to drink on the weekends when I was in my 30’s and I stayed in really good shape virtually all decade. But once I got in my 40’s, my body’s response to alcohol changed — I felt awful the next day and drinking totally threw off my appetite for healthy foods. I stopped drinking alcohol  6 years ago and it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Nowadays, I just don’t crave it or want it. I’ve tried drinking beer and wine again a handful of times over the years and each time it just made me feel unhealthy. I can’t figure out how I ever enjoyed it, but back when I was younger, I could get away with it somehow.

Anyways, there are some people who can have a beer or a glass of wine somewhat regularly, and do just great with their fitness transformations. More often than not, what I see is people who have a group of unhealthy habits which are often triggered by drinking and so I suggest that people who want to lose weight and get in shape at least consider giving up beer and alcohol for a few weeks and see how they feel. You can always go back to it if it doesn’t feel right for you, or just enjoy your drinks on Free Day (that one day a week you don’t have to workout or follow any rules).

All that being said, ultimately, what we’re trying to create here is a healthy, realistic, enjoyable new lifestyle for YOU. The key to long-term success is to like your new, healthy habits better than the old ones; in fact, if you don’t like them better, odds are, you’ll go back to your old patterns and way of living. ~Bill

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QUESTION:  Hey Bill, quick question about STRONGEVITY Rx. I’m a woman who is on the way to becoming 50 pounds lighter and healthier. I’ve been taking 1 serving a day for a week now and I’m experiencing crazy amounts of energy during my workouts. Since I saw you at Transformation Camp, I am 30 pounds lighter. Now I’ve set a new 12-week goal of losing 20 more pounds of unhealthy weight. This past week though, my scale hasn’t moved. I’m eating 4 Right Light nutrition shakes, 1 serving of STRONGEVITY Rx, and 2 Eating for Life meals each day. I’m also following your 5/25 workouts and drinking 10+ glasses of water per day. I heard someone say that STRONGEVITY Rx might interfere with my weight loss. Does that make sense? Should I be using STRONGEVITY Rx while I’m trying to get rid of this next 20 pounds?

ANSWER: First thing’s first — You are doing incredibly well — 30 pounds lighter in just three and a half months is excellent progress! You’re losing the bodyfat, strengthening the muscles, and literally re-sculpting your body — not just losing weight. Congratulations!

STRONGEVITY RxRegarding STRONGEVITY Rx, we know it is a scientific truth that it will absolutely not cause a gain of bodyfat; in fact, studies show that biologically active cholecalciferol (Vit-D3) which is in STRONGEVITY Rx, increases the rate at which the body will burn stored fat as fuel.

The Creatine and CoQ10 combination in STRONGEVITY Rx , after the 4 to 6 week mark, will noticeably increase your metabolism (an increase in metabolism is caused by increased energy production by the cellular mitochondria). The ingredients I mentioned here, as well as L-Glutamine, do initially create a cell hydrating/cell-volumizing effect, and that’s a good thing! It means that there is more energy within the cell and even a slight increase in cytoplasm which, when we multiply times 75 trillion cells in the body, can add up to an initial kilogram increase in lean body mass for women (and up to 3 kg for men because of our higher number of mitochondria-rich muscle cells).

The increase in cellular hydration plateaus after the STRONGEVITY Rx nutrients have reached saturation levels within each cell. That typically happens within 2 weeks. So, this may be some of what you’re feeling. Keep in mind that it is a healthy process even though you might not see the scale go down for a week or two. The increase in lean body mass and cellular energy will kick your metabolism up a notch and allow you to train with even more intensity during your interval workouts, this will even further increase your metabolic rate, which of course, is also a good thing!

One thing I do want to suggest though… let’s try cutting back to three nutrition shakes a day for the next week and see how that feels. I’d like to see your daily meal plan consist of 3 nutrition shakes, 1 serving of STRONGEVITY Rx, and 2 protein and carbohydrate balanced, portion controlled meals. I think this might be just right for you at this point in your transformation.

Lastly, make sure you’re giving yourself credit for the incredible progress you’ve made so far. I guarantee that if you keep working hard and remain consistent, you WILL reach your next 12 week goal in championship style!

~Bill Phillips

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If you like the information in this blog and want to receive, by email, my daily updates, tips, and news about fitness, please sign up to follow my blog right here at www.BillPhillipsNews.com — it’s completely FREE!

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Here are some of my other blogs that can help you successfully transform:

Filed Under: Challenge News, Eating Right, Mindset, Right Nutrition, STRONGEVITY Rx, Tips, Workout Programs Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This is How I Control those Crazy Cravings!

June 12, 2013 by 15 Comments

bspinning

—- In today’s blog I answer a question about how to control those crazy cravings that often show up at night, and I share one of my personal keys to eating healthy. If you have a question that you’d like me to answer in a future blog, send it in by leaving me a comment. I hope you’re enjoying a healthy day! (Please tell me you’ve already got in your workout for the day or you’re planning to do it later. =) ~Bill—-

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Question: Bill, I need help with my eating habits. I’ve been unable to overcome cravings for junk food at night.  Each day I promise myself  I’m not going to binge or overeat. But I end up blowing it on most days which is so frustrating. How can I get away from my cravings for high-sugar and high-fat foods?

Answer: This is a question which deserves a complete answer, so here it is…

First of all, it’s important to remember, especially during the first month of making a change, that our bodies crave what they’re used to, not necessarily what they need.  And this is how eating patterns work.  Very often, these patterns go back years, even decades; they are well engrained within our “neural network” (brain circuitry), and it does take some time before we can re-wire the system.

“Our bodies crave what they’re used to, not necessarily what they need.”

Re-aligning our biological or neural pathways is one of the most powerful things people experience when they go through the transformation process.  And it happens, of course, whether you know about it or not. I believe that being consciously aware of the process can be an advantage, especially in terms of “relapse prevention.” In this context, I’ll say relapse is completely falling back into old and unhealthy eating habits.

Think of it this way – the old circuitry in our brains is like a dry river bed.  It’s always there, and as long as you’re consciously diverting the energy flow in a new direction, it’ll remain inactive. However, if we drift back into our old style of thinking, coping and behaving, slowly but surely, it’ll eventually get to a point where it’s like a damn bursts and the energy of those past patterns and it’s like water gushing through the river bed again.  When this happens, the pull of those cravings and thoughts may even be stronger than they were before.  Anyone who’s yo-yo dieted, losing weight for a few months, only to fall back into unhealthy eating habits, and subsequently gaining all the weight back and more, has first-hand experience of this.

The good news is, there’s a solution and a sustainable one at that.  A big part of it is being informed and armed with knowledge; you’re working on that right now by reading this blog. Another aspect of the solution is to complete the ‘Healthy Spaces Makeover’ I talked about in my blog a few days ago. And now, I want to tell you about something else that helps me control my cravings and it doesn’t have to do with any diet; it’s all about how intense workouts can help transform the brain and calm those crazy cravings.

“The more intensely I exercise, the more I feel like eating right.
The more I eat right, the more I feel like exercising intensely.”

When I work with people who are seemingly stuck in any unhealthy pattern, one of my first recommendations is to get moving with high-intensity interval training.  An example of this type of exercise would be climbing up a steep trail for 1 minute, then walking down, then climbing back up, walking down, then climbing again, completing about 5 intervals.  The 20-Minute Aerobic Solution which I featured years ago in Body-for-LIFE is another highly effective interval training method. And my new 5-25 workouts  (where I teach both intense interval aerobics and intense interval weight lifting) featured in my blog last week are based on the latest, greatest exercise research findings. (5-25 workouts are absolutely more effective for me, in terms of mind and body benefits, than any other exercise method I’ve ever tried!)

Intense, interval training has been scientifically shown to double, even triple, the amount of fat the body burns, compared to longer duration (an hour or more) of moderate intensity exercise.  It does this by boosting mitochondria size and number within cells and that can dramatically increase the oxidation and metabolism of stored bodyfat for many hours after your workout is over. That means the “calories burned” reading on exercise equipment is very under reported. What we really want is to burn more fat calories all day not just while we are doing our workout.

Another one of the powerful benefits of intense interval training is that is releases healthy amounts of neurotransmitters called catecholamines (dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine), which satisfy the primary reward centers of the brain, boost energy and further accelerate fat loss. These reward centers all too often become chemically depleted by our modern way of life (inactivity, high stress levels, all work no play lifestyles). When neurotransmitter levels burn out, it can make us vulnerable to bad habits like binge eating.

More good news: Intense training also increases endorphin and serotonin levels (which make the brain happy); so much so, that over a period of a few months, it is more effective in treating depression than the most widely prescribed  (212 million prescriptions written last year) anti-depressant drugs.  And what do you know, the intense exercise no side effects which can’t be said for the prescription drugs.

“It is what you do most of the time, not some of the time, that shapes us.”

Moderate exercise like a good steady three-mile walk doesn’t completely produce this profound cascade of feel-good neurotransmitters — it doesn’t produce the level of  new energy and healing like the high intensity work does. I can tell you from direct experience that the days I get in 25 minutes of intense training are by far and away my most productive, energetic days. They’re also the days when I just naturally, without much effort, feed my body the right way.  After my workout, there’s nothing I crave more than a protein and vitamin-rich nutrition shake. And 2-3 hours after that, I’m craving a healthy meal, not junk food. And that’s a good sign. In fact, my intense interval workouts put me in a completely different state of mind. On the days when I don’t workout intensely, well… it requires much more conscious effort to eat healthy and stay on top of my game and in line with my plan.

All that being said, sometimes even I give in and overeat at dinner or late at night. Remember this: It’s all about progress not perfection! Don’t be too hard on yourself if you slip now and then. It is what you do most of the time, not some of the time, that shapes us when it comes to nutrition and eating right.

So here’s my recommendation: If you want to flip the switch from an unhealthy to a healthy appetite and enjoy all the benefits which come with that, be sure to incorporate high-intensity interval training into your body and life transformation work. It will help you break free from old patterns and crazy cravings. It will also help you create new ones.  And that, in turn, will help you enjoy improved results that you can sustain for a long, long time.

Filed Under: Eating Right Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,