Many people who want to lose weight put themselves on a diet. However, we know that more than 95% of all diets end in failure and that weight loss resistance has become a wide spread problem that qualifies as an epidemic. Weight Loss Resistance is the difficulty with losing weight. The reality is there are a number of factors that contribute to weight loss resistance in the body.

Join me in Scottsdale Arizona for this 3 Part Workshop Series:

Weight Loss Resistance and Metabolism

When: May 7th,  May 21st, and June 13th

Where: Dr. Lisa Galper’s Office Located at 8010 East Morgan Trail suite 12    Scottsdale, AZ 85258

Time: 6:00- 7:30 pm

Cost:      1 class = $45 2 classes= $75 3 classes = $100

To Register: Call 800 571 5722 or email  info@invisiblefitness.com

**SPACE IS LIMITED**

JJ Flizanes, Director of Invisible Fitness, was named best personal trainer in Los Angeles for 2007 by Elite Traveler Magazine and was also one of the six featured trainers in Shape Magazine in 2003.  She is the Author of the Amazon.com Best Seller Fit 2 Love: How to Get Physically, Emotionally, and Spiritually Fit to Attract the Love of Your Life and Knack Absolute Abs: Routines for a Fit and Firm Core. She has appeared on NBC, KTLA, CBS and Fox 11 as well as numerous local and national magazines. JJ’s mission is to help women feel gorgeous and confident without starving or killing themselves in the gym.

**this is an excerpt from my book Fit 2 Love: How to Get Physically, Emotionally, and Spiritually Fit to Attract the Love of Your Life**

“Your relationship with yourself is the central template from which all others are formed. Loving yourself is a prerequisite to creating a successful and authentic union with another.” Dr. Cherie Carter-Scott

One of the tools that was pivotal in helping me manifest and manage all my relationships since 1998 was Dr. Cherie Carter-Scott’s book, If Love is a Game, These are the Rules. It was the first time I really understood the concept that how others treated me was a direct result of how I treated myself. When I could stand back and be objective about my behavior toward myself and what messages that sent out to others, I realized that the relationship I had to focus on most to get what I wanted was with myself. If I was not willing to treat myself like a queen, then how could I expect someone else to?

Your turn.

How do you treat yourself? When you wake up in the morning, what do you say to yourself? Do you compliment or criticize your body? Do you try on clothes, pinpointing all of the negative things you can, secretly wishing you could have someone else’s body?

If you do, you are not alone. This common practice of most women is the exact behavior that drives the fitness and weight loss industry—and I hate it. We focus on perfect bodies and how can I spot reduce this area so I will like myself, or so someone else will find me attractive and valuable? The underlying emotion here is fear. Many spiritual teachers of mine over the years have all agreed that our actions are motivated consciously or subconsciously by either love or fear.

Fear is defined as a feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by present or imminent danger and a feeling of disquiet or apprehension. Fear can be a good tool when you think your life is in danger, but most people live in this emotion all day long with no such threat. Fear is uncomfortable to be in and around. Fear can also be defined as lack of trust.

Love is defined as a deep, tender feeling of affection and care toward a person, such as that arising from kinship or a sense of oneness, and a person who is the object of deep or intense affection or attraction. Love feels good, and we seek it all the time. We hold others as objects of our attention to give love to, and we want to receive love from others.

Which of these is activated more in your life when you deal with your body? Is it mostly love or fear?

How many times in your relationship life do you attract people who do the same thing or change the way they treat you as the relationship progresses? They start off complimentary and wonderful in the first two or three months, then the compliments stop coming because you either did not receive them or you argued about them.

You trained them how to treat you.

How often do you deflect a compliment? Someone tells you that you look pretty, and you say, “Oh no, I just rolled out of bed, and I am having a bad hair day.” This blocks a compliment.

Many women do it because they have a hard time receiving. You are not allowing yourself to receive the gift because your inner critic does not believe what the other person says. You want to feel attractive, then someone gives you a compliment, and you reject it. Can you see what message you are sending to that person? Why would anyone compliment you again?

Take out a sheet of paper and answer these questions to see what your body blueprint says about you based on every area of fitness and self-care, including exercise, diet, rest, play, and self-talk. We will then work on creating a new body blueprint that can yield more desirable responses.

1. List all the thoughts you can remember you had today, from the time you woke up to now, about how you look or any judgments on your character. For example, if you made a mistake, did you quickly internalize with a thought like “I am so stupid,” or did you think “Oh well, glad I learned that now?” List all of your thoughts in a single column.
2. Underneath the last thought, write a list all the actions you did today, from taking a shower to eating breakfast. Also include things you would have like to have done or should have done and didn’t. For example, you did not take your supplements today.

You should have one long vertical row that contains all the thoughts you were aware of today and all the actions you have accomplished so far. Now make another column to the right of the first one and answer these questions.

1. Next to the thoughts you had, write down if they were positive comments or negative. If you criticized yourself, that is negative. If you brushed your teeth, that is positive.
2. Next to the actions, write down a brief reason for doing that action and whether it came from love or fear. For example, if you wrote down ‘had a cup of coffee, went to work and skipped breakfast,’ do you think skipping breakfast was an act of love or disregard? You know the body needs fuel, so if the reason you skipped breakfast was because you were too busy, you put work before yourself, which sends the message that you are not as important as your work. Keep going through your list and be honest with yourself about the messages you are sending.

What Does Your Body Blueprint Say?

Answer the questions below and identify the message you are sending with each of your answers.

1. Exercise: How do you take care of your body? Do you exercise regularly? What kind of exercises do you do and why?
2. Diet: What foods do you consume on a regular basis? Are they high energy, clean foods that provide vitamins and nutrients for your body? Are they processed, chemically created foods that contain large amounts of fat and sugar with no nutritional value? Do you consume the amount of water your body needs to function optimally every day? Do you ingest toxins and drugs?
3. Rest: Do you sleep at least seven to eight hours a day? Do you unwind before going to bed? Do you take breaks during the day to relax and recharge your mind and body?
4. Play: Do you have fun on a weekly basis? Do you laugh often? Do you feel joy and do things you love every week?
5. Self-talk: How do you treat yourself with the words you use in your mind? If you talked to someone else the way you talk to yourself, how would they respond?

The thoughts you are aware of and your actions are part of your consciousness. You can change those behaviors starting now. But before we start to focus on the steps of changing your body blueprint to build the kind of relationships you want in your life, let’s acknowledge how some of these habits got there in the first place. Why is it this way? Where did these patterns of thought come from?

___________________________________________________________

To order the book or get your free copy of the 4 Week Fit 2 Love Plan, please visit www.fit2love.info

If you ‘d like to listen to a 60 minute call about Your Body Blueprint, you can download the MP3 for free by clicking here.

To listen to the call online, click here.

Let me  show you how to Create a Food Love Affair-The allure of Energy and Superfoods in a 3 part series:

#1 – The Courtship

You want to know so many things. What is it?
Where is it grown? When does it grow? How do I prepare it?

Juicing (green apple, lemon, cucumber, spinach, celery)
Unique Seasonal Fruits
Majool Date

Wednesday, September 7th from 6:30-7:30 pm

Space is limited. Please rsvp sprdb.marketing@wholefoods.com to reserve your seat.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

#2 – The Engagement

You’ve decided to commit, you’ve made a decision to engage. Plant a garden, make regular visits to Whole Foods Market, or the local farmer’s market. Give it your energy.

Soup- JJ’s Easy Veggie Soup (onion, garlic, olive oil, water, zucchini, broccoli, parsely, kale, raw cashews, sea salt, pepper)
Berries with Chocolate Dipping Sauce ( raw, unsalted almond butter, chocolate powder, agave, vanilla bean or extract)

Wednesday, September 14th from 6:30-7:30 pm

Space is limited. Please rsvp sprdb.marketing@wholefoods.com to reserve your seat.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

#3 -The Marriage

When you commit yourself, managing your relationship is what
makes the difference between a healthy or an unhealthy union.

Kale Salad
Nut Cream with Berries (raw macademia nuts, medool dates, 2-3 oranges)

Wednesday, September 21th from 6:30-7:30 pm

Space is limited. Please rsvp sprdb.marketing@wholefoods.com to reserve your seat.
OR sign in on facebook clicking HERE

Fit 2 love final for WF RB class

Over the next year and a half, I proclaimed that I was NEVER (ha ha) giving up dairy because I loved my cheese and I was already gluten free.  That was in 2009.  In February of 2010, I decided I could give up dairy for 4 months to clean out my system and strengthen my digestive system.

Did you know that about 80% of your immunity comes from your digestive system?

Several nights a week I would experience congestion before bed so I knew it was something I was eating or drinking that was causing a problem.  After getting the results back of my Alcat test, I made a video to share all the products I picked up in order to substitute my favorite foods as an easy transition into a new diet.

After completing a few months of dairy free living, I added it back in.  It was no shock to have the congestion come back and I realized that maybe I need to remove it from my diet period.  When it comes to gluten, I rarely have it.  Maybe once every 6 weeks-but I plan for it.  I take some enzymes and usually have it while I am on my menstrual cycle because there are days I am more bloated anyway.

I still consume some dairy but I have cut down dramatically. Cheese was a part of my daily diet and would appear in often 2 meals a day.  Nowadays, I probably have cheese once a week.  The substitutions I made when I eliminated it for 4 months have stuck.  I use mostly coconut creamers, almond and coconut milk and buy hemp or coconut ice cream if I want some dairy-like dessert.   The products I have been using have become my favorite products and I honestly don’t miss the cheese.

My friends, before the wedding, would tell you that I was a cheese-a-holic.  And I clearly was not ready in 2009 to even consider it.  But as time went on, I realized that it is ONLY food and at the end of the day, my health and body are important to me.  I found some suitable substitutes and my palate has changed.  Thank god.

Growing a garden has been the best way to enter into a healthy marriage with my food- this reference is from the food chapter of Fit 2 Love: How to Get Physically, Emotionally, and Spiritually Fit to Attract the Love of Your Life.

Our garden is small and we don’t currently have enough planted to produce vegetables for lunch and dinner every day.  When we do, I get very excited about finding new ways to prepare what we are harvesting.  But right now we are in mid-season.  The eggplant is growing, the tomatoes are in process and the zucchini is starting to take off but none are ready to eat.

A few months ago, I was interviewed on film for a documentary about Raw Food.  The chapter in Fit 2 Love was a missing piece in the film about our relationship to what we consume and how to nurture a healthier relationship with food.

I consume raw products but I have always thought it was too hard and unrealistic to eat Raw 100% of the time.  But I have hit a point in my life where I love focusing on my food and I need a new goal!  Going raw for a week or two seems like the next step for me.

Here is the trailer for the movie, I am in frame 3:26. The Raw Natural Movie that is due out this summer!

http://www.therawnatural.com/

I have one or two people who are going to be doing this experiment with me.  If you’d like to join me, we start on Saturday July 30^th!

Mark your calendars because I will also be doing a 3 part class at the Whole Foods Redondo Beach in September to transform your relationship with food! Based on the Fit 2 Love principles, get your copy today and look for the emails about registering. The class is limited and it is FREE!

This past weekend we had a local church putting on a Greek Food Festival.  For those of you who do not know, I am Greek (and Italian).  I grew up in the Greek Church for 13 years and we also put on a food festival every year. So I know and love this food…..

However, it’s not gluten free and it’s mostly high fat, high calorie dishes.  So what did I do?

I planned for it!  ALL week long, I ate and exercised with the idea that I was going to be eating more than I normally do on Friday and Saturday evenings (and taking more digestive enzymes to help my body break down the gluten and dairy).  Each day I did about 45 minutes of cardio and kept my other meals small and clean.  I was super excited about enjoying my Greek food-I knew exactly where I wanted to “spend” my calories.

When we got there Friday night, I focused on only the foods I knew I loved.  Surprisingly, I was not very impressed with the way these foods were prepared. My mother is a great cook and I eat some of these foods every year anyway but the Greek Food Festivals of my past were legendary so you can imagine my disappointment when my taste buds were not singing after a few bits of each of my favorite dishes.

This was Friday night, the first day of the festival.  In my mind, I had planned to go Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  The good news here is that because I was not impressed, we could skip Sunday and I would be eating WAY less than planned on Saturday.

The one item they did very well were the Loukoumades- honey dipped fried dough balls.  Yes, I said fried dough.  I don’t eat many fried things but this food is part of my childhood and I remember helping the ladies put the dough into the oil when I was young and then soaking them in honey and sugar solution when they came out.  The last time I had one of these, I was in Greece in 2005.  Before that, it’s probably been at least ten years since I had one of these desserts.  Saturday morning, I made sure I got my butt on my spin bike for at least 45 minutes and I even jumped in the pool for a bit before we met our friends at the festival on Saturday to enjoy the second half of the day and early evening.

I want to outline a few key points about this past weekend, how I handled it and the lessons I hope to pass on to you.

1. I love and appreciate food. When it’s really important to me, I say yes to whatever it is and I plan for it (digestive enzymes)
2. I don’t want to gain any weight so I planned my meals and activity to balance out the indulgence I was planning to have. (45 minutes of cardio everyday and super clean, protein and veggie based meals before that with no starchy carbs)
3. Once I tasted the food I was so excited about and didn’t love it, I stopped eating it.  It wasn’t “worth it”
4. When I found something I could really enjoy, I ate only that and savored it.  I decided to enjoy the time with my friends, listen to the music and make the food festival NOT about food.

How you can use these points to make a difference in how you celebrate or occasionally indulge with your favorite foods. (think holidays)

1. In Fit 2 Love, I talk about a having a Food Love Affair.  A healthy relationship with food means you can appreciate it, enjoy it and have power over it- not the other way around.  In most cases where someone does not have a healthy relationship with food, my food festival weekend would have still continued and you may have continued to eat all the food even after realizing it was not as good as it “should” be or that you planned for.
2. Planning and thinking ahead- it takes less than 3 minutes to look ahead for the day or week to see where there may be outing, parties, or gaps of time where you will need to eat.  I often here people tell me they do not have time to think about their food but YOU DO ANYWAY!  We all eat…. So take an extra 3 minutes to plan it out in your head.  If you need help with this, ask!
3. “Is it worth it” is a phrase I teach all my clients.  If nothing else, ask yourself before you eat something that you think maybe you “shouldn’t”, IS IT WORTH IT?  If it’s not worth gaining weight over or not losing weight, then put it down.  In one respect, it’s only food.  You can replace it with different food.  If it IS worth it (in the case of the fried honey balls for me), then accept it and its consequences and PLAN.  I took my enzymes, I did my exercise.  So there is no guilt or problem.   I loved them and it’s OK.
4. Just because it’s there does not mean you are hungry or that you need it.  Someone people are so hypnotized by having food in front of them, they must think the food is yelling “EAT ME!”  Thanksgiving dinners are the prime example of overeating JUST BECAUSE it’s there.  I use to do it too but in the last 7 or 8 years, I have had a completely different relationship with holidays because I could hear my mind chatter and I changed it.  A habit is just a habit because you keep doing it and haven’t changed your internal conversation. You CAN change that internal conversation but first you have to be aware of what you are ALREADY saying to yourself.
5. Food Vs Exercise: THEY ARE BOTH IMPORTANT!

I had an amazing weekend running my first every Fit 2 Love 2 Day Workshop. I learned so much about what I want to deliver to women (and men) and how I can help them change their bodies and relationships.  Here is some of the feedback I got after the event:

JJ makes fitness easy and fun. She is very empathetic and can related to every person’s experience and background. I am excited about her boot-camp and 6 week body beach program. It’s such an amazing value, for little cost. JJ is very generous and makes irresistible offers to help you out with your health and wellness plan. Thanks to her hot “Fit 2 Love” weekend, I have a whole new appreciation for food. JJ’s is the best! Thank you. ~Elena Pezzini, M.S., C.P.C., You Have Got The Power, Inc.

Whether it’s weight loss, self love or finding the love of your life, J.J. can give you the tools that you need to meet your goals.  She is there to help along the way because she wants you to succeed!  With J.J.’s enthusiasm, she will motivate you to want to eat healthy, to want to exercise, and to be a better person.  After attending J.J.’s two day “Fit 2 Love” Workshop, I shopped for new groceries today and even found myself exercising while I was pumping gas at the gas station!  Her knowledge of the body’s structure helps you exercise in a different way and makes you feel the exercises working in a way that you’ve never felt before. ~ Casey Golovko

Thank you for such an inspiring weekend!  You treated us with such great care & your attention to detail with so many personal touches was lovely & much appreciated.  My family & co-workers could feel the excitement in me as I described the one of a kind experience.  You made a bunch of strangers so comfortable & free to be honest in the safe environment you created, that I wouldn’t be surprised if some become good friends.  What an engaging personality you have as you helped each one of us break through personal barriers toward our health goals.   Your listening skills, understanding & knowledge of human nature are such rare qualities.  You helped us all be honest with ourselves as you nourished us body/mind & spirit & we cannot be the same afterwards.  I left the workshop feeling very energized & took an exhilarating, windy 2 mile walk on the beautiful Esplande, up & down the Avenue C steps a few times… one of my favorite jaunts, but it felt different this time… reminded me of pulling up a deep root & tossing it away (love that analogy).    No one has really been able to pull me out of my comfort zone enough to make some shift in my thinking toward the positive like you affected for me this weekend & I thank you very much!  Thank you for sharing your expertise & experiences in such a profound way. Looking forward to the teleclass. ~Donna Shellabarger

Thank you so much for such a great weekend! You did a super job! I am a little sore already. But, it’s kind of wonderful. I guess I had forgotten about this wonderful body. It is already responding to my actions! ~Debra Kisling

Thanks again JJ.  I really really enjoyed the workshop.  What a great group of women and such sacred space you created.  It was tranformational.  I am so blessed to have been a part of it. I appreciate and admire your compassion .  I leave with the empowerment of a new story, the motivaton and desire to move and exercise my body more.  I have more insights and awareness in several areas of life. I gained more confidence in myself and became more aware of my worthiness.  I loved all the knowledge and insights shared especially about detox and food substitutions- thank you!       ~Kelli Demski

This was so different.  JJ is so caring and sharing- I feel her energy can continue with me as it spurs the energy within me for a new way of life. ~Pauline Adams

JJ is a great group leader- she is realistic, compassionate, extremely knowledgeable, and inspiring. Her training style is so easy to follow. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us to help us grow!  ~Janet Finden

I am walking out of this workshop feeling better about myself and my future. I will be workout out more and eating healthier. I feel more confident about my body and feel better mentally as well.   ~Elise Berberian

JJ is awesome! I ‘m so glad I met you. I like how real you are, how spiritual you are and openly tie that into your work. I was worried this might be too “Hollywood”, “Beach girl” stuff, but there was so much depth. I love JJ’s energy, anything you do would be fantastic.  I liked the 2 day workshop very much! ~Fiona Rhea

But the most important lesson I learned, or should I say PROVED to myself, was that I am doing something right and Fit 2 Love is truth.  I don’t like to say I am “lucky” because I do not think LUCK has anything to do with it. So instead of saying luck, I will tell you that I deliberately created the space, the body, the mindset and life to welcome in my wonderful husband.  His energy over the last few days before, during, and after my event was living proof that what I am trying to teach others works.

My husband has been supremely supportive , awesome, amazing, thoughtful, and generous in helping me to prepare and then decompress from my weekend workshop.  Some of the women in my workshop were single and looking for a man.  Some of them are in relationships and want to rekindle the spark.  I know how to do both-because what you have is a reflection of how you treat and feel about yourself.

What we do in Fit 2 Love has to do with being aware of our body blueprint and how to change it.  Women (and men) learn how to attract love into their life by how they love and care for THEMSELVES.

The only person you can control is YOU.

If you want to know how you are doing with it in your life- take a look.

We are starting our Fit 2 Love Virtual Bootcamp in a few days.  I invite you to join us so you can start to create the space, the body, mindset and energy to attract more love into your life NOW.

Visit http://www.fit2love.info/bootcamp or call 800 571 5722

I am not the fitness guru who has battled being overweight and has successfully lost and kept off over 50 pounds or more.  That’s not me. I have always been average size in all areas and have seen a few more pounds in my earlier years but only about 10 more than I think I am currently.

What is MY story?

I pulled out my laptop and started to write.  I didn’t have an agenda, just see what happens.  Inspired to write something very personal, I put the computer down and meditated on it.

Nothing was really coming to me.

On the phone with my new brand manager, he asked me “can you write something about fitness and love?”  YES!!!!

In fact, that IS my story.

I learned the science and “how to” of fitness years ago.  I keep learning about food and biochemistry.  But the BIG question that is always in the front of my mind is “ BUT ARE YOU HAPPY?”

Why do you (or I) feel the need to look amazing?  Is it for YOU or someone else?

I am sure I am not alone by admitting to know someone with a killer body who is not so happy or grounded in who they are.  At the end of the day, why do you do it?  And why do you NOT do it?

I have followed a belief system that I learned and cultivated years ago that says that everything you do is a reflection of who you are, what you think and how you feel.  And others respond to that in the way you have put it together.

Fitness to me is a way to engage in loving yourself and your body.  Many people use fitness to punish themselves or to perform a transformation IN ORDER to try to love themselves but this approach will NEVER work.

The only way to make it last and to become a priority in your life is to START with loving yourself and giving your body what it needs to stay strong, healthy and fit.  Love is the starting point-not the end point.

If you want some help, Fit 2 Love can do it.  Buy the book here on Feb 9th and look for our exclusive invites to a live event in March.

• Control Your Cravings & Appetite By Eating Optimal Amounts Of Protein & Fiber At Every Meal to generate healthy metabolic fire, optimum neurotransmitter production & help maintain lean body mass.

• Use a good fiber supplement or between meals to reduce appetite by keeping ghrelin hormone (your appetite hormone) suppressed. We suggest Paleo-fiber..it offers 8gms of fiber per scoop and comes from five needed fiber sources. Taste great, too!

• Eat less, Less often. Eat every 4-5 hours – go as long as you can to keep insulin low but don’t go too long so that your stress hormones start to rise.

• Eat 3 meals and 1-2 snacks. Use snacks to avoid hypoglycemia and cortisol rise, as your metabolism improves you will not need them as frequently and possibly not at all. Ideal snacks would include colorful vegetables or fruits for antioxidants and additional fiber.

• Avoid refined carbohydrates at dinner & determine if your are sensitive to gluten ( found in wheat, rye & barley) If so, eliminate it from your diet and you may see an improvement in thyroid, inflammation and gut sensitivity.

• Pre-workout snack it should consist of a small amount of protein & a small amount of low glycemic carbohydrate to help sustain your energy during a workout. The less food in your stomach, the better. Consider adding the supplement L-Carnitine before a workout for improved fat metabolism. We carry it in the fitness center and it’s called Carni-clear. Clients have been getting great results with fat burning, energy and cholesterol lowering with the regular use of this product

• Enjoy healing herbs, & spices with your foods: Add curry and turmeric for it’s phtyoestrogenic & antioxidant properties. Add cumin, rosemary, ginger, thyme, fennel and dill, dill seeds and apple cider vinegar or lemon to aid digestion and harmonize the hormones.

• Follow the 3 Bite Rule. if something is really worth it, enjoy 3 polite bites guilt free! Try this rule with something decadent like extra dark chocolate!!

• Eat your veggies! Aim for at least 1 cup colorful cooked or raw  veggies at lunch and dinner for optimum antioxidant and mineral support

By Jeanne Peters RD

Nutrition Director

Nourishing Wellness Medical Ctr

http://www.nourishingwellness.com

Here’s a review of each step. We covered #1 and #2 thus far.

1. Goal- Vision
2. Plan
3. Tools and Support
4. Progression
5. Joint Integrity

Tools and Support.  What do I mean by tools?  First off, ways to measure your progress would be where I would start.  That could be as simple as a tape measure to do some circumference readings and then body fat using the NAVY guidelines and website on line. http://fitness.bizcalcs.com/Calculator.asp?Calc=Body-Fat-Navy

When you step on the scale to see you have lost 5 pounds, you do not know where that  5 pounds came from.  It could be fat, water or muscle.  I think it’s very important to test body fat MORE than body weight because ideally you want to keep all your muscle, lose any extra water but concentrate on using the fat as energy so your percentage keeps reducing.

Where do you workout?  If you like going to the gym, they have plenty of tools there for you to use.  If going to the gym is something you would rather NOT do, you can have very similar (but cheaper) tools at home or in your office.  A ball, mat, tubing, free weights, etc.  These are all tools.

You body weight, if you know how to apply it and use it properly, is a tool as well.  My biggest delight is taking men off the machines, having them do a workout with body weight and show them where they are weak (or not using the muscles).  Don’t underestimate body weight- esp if you are tall, big boned or broad shouldered.

Now my favorite tool for cardio- a heart rate monitor!  Why?  I have heard other trainers talk about high intensity training and using RPE (rate of perceived exertion).  I love RPE but here is the thing with PERCEPTION- it’s skewed.

An athlete will push themselves hard because they are used to it.  A non athletic person will feel their body and maybe not push as hard but THINK they are working as hard as they can.  If your threshold has not been challenged and your comfort zones expanded then you might not be working hard enough to change your body to the next level.

I had a client once for many years who has trained with dozens of trainers.  When we started working, I trusted that she was pushed hard so her perception was accurate to her fitness level and capabilities.  I’d find her RPE of “8” (out of 10) for each exercise and train her there.  I’d ask her at the next session if she felt anything the next day or 2 days later.  She replied no for the first 2 months.

This boggled my mind.  So after getting to know her better, I decided to increase her weight beyond her comfort zone and showed her what a REAL “8” was supposed to feel like.  From there on, her fitness level changed and she got great results.

This example was using RPE with strength training so let’s get back to heart rate.

I had a man in his 70’s that is a super successful businessman.  Great guy, not in touch with his body at all. His perception was that he was working hard but could not FEEL when his body was in crisis mode.  Luckily, he had a heart rate monitor on and I could see that he was hovering at 170+ while on the floor!!!  This is very dangerous.

Without the monitor, I may have pushed him harder.  I am glad I did not because that could have ended very badly.  You need to know where you are regardless of what you are doing.  When your fitness level increases, the same activity does not get your heart rate up to the same level anymore.  This is good news—it means you are more fit.  AND it’s time to change the exercise or something about it to get back into your zone.

Let’s review my tool suggestions so far:

1. Tape measure
2. Body fat test
3. Equipment for exercising
4. Heart Rate monitor

There are more but by now you get the point.  Let’s look at support now.

1. Family member or friend to be accountable to
2. Trainer, Nutritionist, Doctor to be accountable to and to create your program
3. Having the house or office set up to reinforce your goals
4. Gathering with like minded people to keep you on track
5. Using hypnosis to change your mindset or therapy to breakthrough some patterns
6. A journal  to use every day
7. A rewards system set in place to celebrate each step of your progress
8. And more!

As you know, we offer most of these things on our 6 Week Beach Body Program- that now you can get in download form, the entire program for only 97$! If you need some tools and support, you might want to consider investing into YOU today and get a jumpstart on summer! http://www.6weekbeachbodyinabox.com

“I definitely can see how my new habits have taken root. This is the most fabulous part of the whole program–feeling that there is knowledge and confidence within myself now and creating life long changes for the better. I have lost a total of 14 pounds, 10 inches and I am now automatically making healthy choices– this program works!“

Cindy Browne, Cincinnati Ohio

1. Goal- Vision
2. Plan
3. Tools and Support
4. Progression
5. Joint Integrity

Plan.   Yes, you need a PLAN.  If I decided to drive from LA to Lake Tahoe (a place I have never been before), I would need a map to show me where it was in relationship to where I am now.  Then, I would plan out a route to drive, considering that there may be multiple choices with factors that would influence me to choose the route I do.  Let’s now translate this to your body.

You have a goal.  Let’s assume it’s weight loss right now.  You want to lose 35 pounds and get to a weight you have not been at or seen in 25+ years.  Technically for you, this is new territory.  How will you get there? What is the plan? What happens at each stage? Do you know the stages?

On a road trip, you stop for gas.  On a weight loss plan, you stop for “progression” (we will cover this more in part 4).  On a road trip, you may run into a closed road or dangerous conditions that force you to choose another road that you didn’t plan on. (thank God you have a map!)

How many times have you tried to lose weight before and hit a road block and stopped?  Do you know what to do when you hit a road block?  Most people don’t (that is why they hire a trainer or coach) so they get frustrated, give up and decide they have failed.  This doesn’t have to be the case.  There is hope.

What elements do you need in your fitness/health map?  I teach a formula called the FITT principle (Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type).  It’s outline in the 90 Day Health and Body Makeover Program, the 6 Week Beach Body in a Box and I believe in the 30 Day Jump Start (which you can get for free at http://www.invisiblefitness.com/” so I won’t go into all the details here.

Besides using the FITT principle properly, elements for your map are:

1. Resistance Training- we all need it.  Why?  It’s the basis of your metabolism.  The more active tissue you have (muscle) the more calories you burn (and can eat!) This is also your  “long term investment plan” for keeping weight off.
2. Cardiovascular- we all need this as well for keeping blood pressure low, improving cholesterol and all heart related functions and it’s the best way to burn calories in a short amount of time.
3. Food Log- Daily Diet Plan-  And I don’t mean “diet” as in “ give stuff up” , I refer to diet as in “what do you eat?”
4. Rest and Relaxation- we all need this to keep our adrenal hormones in balance (having adrenal fatigue causes weight loss resistance) as well as allow our muscles and body to “repair and rebuild” from our exercise.  The body changes in REST, not in work.  If you are working too much or too long, you never allow the adaptation to occur.

This would be what you need to address to START the map.  The next 3 weeks will give you a chance to see what other factors can help you make stages and “alternative routes” to your map so you get where you want to go this time!

Other questions to ask yourself about your plan:

1. How long/ how much time do I have to do each one of these steps a week- what is realistic for me?
2. Where will I do my workouts?  Will I have more than one choice?
3. Do I know which exercises are best for me for cardio?  Can I do more than one?  Do I have to do more than one?
4. Do I know if I am efficiently building muscle?  What exercises do I do now that build muscle?
5. Have I tested my bodyfat?  How would I?  How often should /will I retest it to see if what I am doing is working?
6. If I am super busy, what is the more important thing for me to focus on right now?  What will get me the most results?

If you have been struggling for a long time, as many people do, I hope you realize by now that I have options of how to help you!!  The first, a “do it yourself” program, is now available for less in download form!!  http://www.6weekbeachbodyinabox.com can be purchased so you can start TODAY with the download only choice.  This gives you step by step instructions and includes the breakdown to a fitness program you can do anywhere and includes the 90 Day DVD with 25 exercises on it.

I offer coaching over the phone and even personal training on Skype!  Check out one of my star clients:  

Click here to view the embedded video.

And of course, if you are local in CA, I can offer you a 5 package of sessions  to build a program for you to do on your own.  Call for details and to see if there is room in the schedule.  800 571 5722

“JJ helped me to understand that adding extra cardio workout is not what my body needs. 4 sessions with JJ has helped me more to shape my body and  to drop 5 pounds. Can only imagine how much more I can lose if I incorporate better eating habits. Thanks JJ “ Anita Trujillo