Weight-Loss Goal, Exercise Plan, Fat-Loss Focus Transform Woman From Self-Conscious to Sexy

Most people want to lose weight. Brandy HAD to lose weight. Her reasons, which were very privately hers, instilled her with a determination that was bound for success. All she needed was the right game plan, the right answers, and the right person to help her uncover the beautiful woman she knew that she was. I was that person for her.

Weight Loss with the Right Personal Trainer

Unlike most personal trainers, I help my clients attack what is truly getting in the way of their success.  Most people talk about portion control being a big problem with their foods.  The portions aren't the problem, the food choices are (going nuts on chocolate cake is bad news...going gangbusters on celery is not a problem).  Often times it is not infrequent gym visits, its the lack of fat loss/weight loss gameplan for the workouts (why not burn more calories on a treamill in 10 minutes than you can in 40?).  Usually the problem isn't a lack of progress, it's a lack of understanding about what progress looks like in the beginning, middle, and end of a body change and weight loss program.

With Brandy, I trained her in Medina once-to-twice a week, created workouts for her every day she exercised, and worked with her to create a food plan that she could execute every day.  With a few emails, text messages, and phone calls to check in and provide encouragement and accountability, I worked hard to provide the services and be the right personal trainer for her weight loss transformation.

Weight-Loss Success Story

So what does a 61-pound weight loss story look like?  And how does a 43 year-old mother of three go from a size 18 to a size 6 (which also hapens to be her smallest size as an adult!!!)?

Brandy was focused from the beginning and lost 25 pounds in her first six weeks.  With a weight-training-based program and cardio program concentrated on fat loss, paired with a food plan focused on nutrients over quantities, Brandy saw success quite quickly.  She started at 206 and was down to 181 pretty quickly.  We continued to chip away...some weeks no pounds lost, some weeks five pounds lost.  She didn't eat perfectly, but she consistenlty hit her nutritional marks.

We worked around Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Years, and a surgery (almost every great weight loss story has major obstacles with time frame, peer/family pressure at celebration gatherings, etc.).  When all was said and done, Brandy had lost 61 pounds...and it was virtually all fat.  I cannot express to you her joy, when buying her first ever pair of size six pants, she figured out that she weighed a few pounds more than her previous adult low, but was a few sizes smaller than she could remember being.  That is a body composition triumph my friends!

Weight Loss You Can't See

(punctuation note: perhaps no one cares but me, but I will say that I am using/not using hyphens correctly in my headings...not sure if anyone even noticed but me...my copy editor for my upcoming book is a junkie on hyphens!  I digress...)

What makes Brandy's story remarkable is not necessarily her weight loss, not necessarily her fat loss, and not even her very obvious body composition change and related reduction in pant size.  What makes her story great is that, in the first ten days she lost zero pounds.  The scale, which is just an indicator of progress but not THE indicator of progress per se, didn't tip early in the journey.

I told Brandy to expect that, though.  She did lose weight in her first 10 day...she lost fat.  However, her fat loss coincided with some muscle gain.  The net result was zero change on the scale, but the fat loss/muscle gain switch was four pounds.  She was kicking butt those first ten days and didn't even know it...which is why it is important to include fat loss measurements in any significant weight loss program!

Why Most People Fail at Weight Loss: The Scale

Brandy is a scale monger.  She steps on the confidence-killer every single day...almost as if she was a stock to be traded on Wall Street or something.  Weight loss is not day trading, people!

Most people, when they start an exercise program in accordance with a nutrition plan, actually kick butt during the first couple weeks.  However, that progress doesn't show up on the scale.  It might be a tiny bit noticeable in how clothes fit (looser, perhaps) and the mirror might tease with signs of progress, but the scale says "No change here!" a lot during the first seven-to-ten days. 

For people who are trying to lose weight, I encourage you to take heart during the beginning process of your journey.  Your body is likely to burn some fat and build some muscle (especially if you are working with a good personal trainer!) in the early going, but not show that progress on the scale.  Keep at it, don't lose heart, and the visible and scale-based progress will come!

Adam Erwin is a personal trainer who travels the world working with people who want to experience fat loss and weight loss in record-time. He currently resides in Minneapolis, MN and loves to train the great folks in the Eden Prairie area. Visit www.keepyourbetterhalf.com to learn more about his work.

Top Ten Signs You Need a Personal Trainer

Number Ten: Your warm up by walking into the gym.

Warming up properly and stretching significantly contribute to a great workout.  Most people don't warm up before a workout, and the few that do typically do not warm up properly.

Number Nine: You run away from carbs.

There is still a fallout from the Atkins diet fad from 5 years ago.  Carbs are good and your body needs them, especially after a workout.  Which carbs, though, is the question (hint: not watermelon, but grapes).

Number Eight: Cardio is 60 minutes in length at the same pace, while watching tv!

If you are bored by your workout, guess what?  So is your metabolism!  If weight loss is not your goal, go ahead and keep the treadmill on a level 3.5 for an hour!

Number Seven: Jiggling your butt out the door is what you consider a post-workout shake.

Protein powder is HUGE after a workout.  And not just whey protein...it's more specific than that!  If you don't know what type of shake will help optimize the hour you just spent in the gym, contact me today (adam@keepyourbetterhalf.com).

Number Six:  You leg/shoulder/knee/back is always bugging you.

Old injuries and recurring injuries are a sign of poor rehab or poor development of surrounding and compensatory muscles.  Various injuries require stringent work...the body is amazing at repairing itself when you have a plan that stimulates its recovery.

Number Five:  Your can't lose that gut!

How hard to you work?  How much progress is showing from that work?  If you thought, "Weight loss can't be this hard," you are right.  Contact me (adam@keepyourbetterhalf.com) to re-introduce your body to progress.

Number Four:  You workout long and hard in the gym.

You can either workout long or you can workout hard, but you can't do both.  If you don't have a plan that helps you to work swiftly and also challenges you, you need a new personal trainer.

Number Three:  When you do exercises for your back you actually feel it in your shoulders.

Most people do not perform back exercises in a way to maximize the use of back muscles.  There is one major trick to getting the back muscles involved to the max, and you'll have to email me to find out what it is!

Number Two:  Your current personal trainer is also overweight.

If your personal trainer's gut screams, "Do what I say, not what I do!"...it's time for a new personal trainer that can walk the talk!

Number One:  You are sick and tired of not losing weight, looking and feeling your best, and wearing clothes that help you feel confident and attractive!

Is today the day you decide to stop wasting your time, money, and energy for a plan that is not working for you?  I hope so.  If you are ready to get in the best shape of your life, have the best month of foods and exercise you have ever had with total accountability, then we need to talk.  Go to my website (www.keepyourbetterhalf.com) today and fill out the contact information.  I only work with people who are serious about making the most dramatic and unbelievable body change.

Adam Erwin is a personal trainer who travels the world working with people who want to experience fat loss and weight loss in record-time. He currently resides in Minneapolis, MN and loves to train the great folks in the Lake Minnetonka area. Visit www.keepyourbetterhalf.com to learn more about his work.

Three Steps To Guaranteed Fat Loss

Whenever I meet someone, the conversation usually steers toward business. They ask, “What do you do?”

I answer, “I work with people who want to keep their better half.”

“Oh, so you are a relationship counselor?”

“No, I’m a personal trainer. I help people keep their muscle and burn their fat.”

They smile, sometimes laugh, and then start asking a thousand questions about fitness, food, supplements. Business is good.

Question for you…when you go to the gym, what do you burn? “Well,” you might say, “I keep very careful tabs on my heart rate so I burn a lot of fat.” Really? Few people I meet in the gym actually burn fat on a consistent basis. It’s a very hard thing for a body to do, which is why people usually burn more muscle than fat, even on shows like “The Biggest Loser.” In my time as a nutrition minded personal trainer, I have helped many clients burn fat at an unbelievable rate.

As I've studied fat loss and passed along key fat loss ideas to other trainers, I have been amazed by their feedback. A few trainers have mentioned idea #2 from the list below, but I have NEVER, EVER heard a trainer mention ideas #1 or #3. From my work alongside other trainers, it is clear that the following is uncommon wisdom.

Here are three ideas that I drive home with anyone I work with:

FAT LOSS TIP #1: Become a Believer in 10-second cardio

In 20 minutes, you can burn 3x more fat than someone else in 40 minutes. How? Utilize the body’s natural fat burning process.

Your muscles need oxygen to be available to burn fat. Your muscles have little stores of oxygen, that last for 10-15 seconds. To maximize fat loss, go as hard as you can on an elliptical or bike machine for 10 seconds, then half speed for 15 seconds (the oxygen store needs to recover its supply, which takes 1.5 times the amount of exertion). By alternating between 10-second bursts of 100% effort and 15-second recovery at 50%, you will maximize fat loss during cardio. If you can use this cardio interval for a twenty minute workout, you are a champ…a fat burning champ!

FAT LOSS TIP #2: Take the Right Fat Loss Supplement

When I first started really studying fat loss, I made one critical addition to my nutrition plan and lost four pant sizes in 10 weeks without changing my diet or my workouts. The only thing I did differently during that time span was add Tonalin CLA. Conjugated linoleic acid is a natural ingredient of the earth (linoleic acid comes from grass) that helps the body to use fat stores as a primary energy source. This is important because when the body is burning fat it is not burning muscle!

Clinical studies have shown that 3.4 grams of tonalin CLA (tonalin is the only kind proven to work) per day is the amount the body needs to initiate this fat loss in full force. Assuming each pill is 1 gram, take 2 pills twice daily. Two CLA first thing in the morning, two CLA mid-afternoon.

FAT LOSS TIP #3: Follow the most important secret in fat loss.

There is a clinically proven way to lock-in fat burning, increase workout productivity, and decrease soreness. Very few people know about the best way to guarantee a great workout and lock-in fat-burning in the process. I’m not about to give this one away, but you can email me (adam@keepyourbetterhalf.com) and I will be glad to share with you the most important secret I’ve discovered on fat loss.

Armed with the three strategies above (you have to email me for the third strategy…I don’t give away secrets to people who aren’t willing to go the extra mile), you will optimize fat loss every single time you hit the gym.

Adam Erwin is a personal trainer who travels the world working with people who want to change their body now! Adam follows good weather, which means he is currently training clients in Minnesota, specifically Eden Praire, MN. When fall and winter arrive, Adam will be headed toward Florida, Arizona, Australia, and other warm climates. Visit www.keepyourbetterhalf.com to learn more about his work and how he can help you lose fat, keep muscle, and keep your better half.

Tags: cardio, fat loss, personal trainer, weight loss