Ultimate You

THE Permanent Fat Loss Solution for Women

I was lucky enough to snag an interview this week with one of my mentors, celebrity trainer Joe Dowdell!  He is launching a book called “Ultimate You”, which is a comprehensive solution and step by step lifestyle program (diet, exercise, lifestyle habits) for women who want to loss fat, and most importantly, keep it off permanently!

• Are you frustrated with your weight, or having difficulty shedding those last, stubborn, 10-15 lbs.?
• Are you tired of complex, unsatisfying diets?
• Are you ready to discover the key to permanent fat loss?

If you answered yes to even ONE of these questions, than you will not want to miss the interview below. Joe has worked with many celebrities, including Claire Danes, Anne Hathaway, and Jimmy Fallon, and share his unique perspective and over 15 years of experience below and in his new book.

1) What makes “Ultimate You” different than all the other diet and exercise books out there?

I think the biggest difference is that the Ultimate You is more like a permanent fat loss solution rather than a quick fix. Most of the books I’ve seen and read focus on weight loss through caloric restriction and over-exercising. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that our book doesn’t produce significant changes in body composition in a short-time frame–it’s just that we wanted to cover all aspects of fitness and health in one resource. We wanted to give them all the tools to be successful in their desire to be lean.

2) Is there a secret to the science or philosophy behind the “Ultimate You” lifestyle program?

No, there’s no real secret per se. We just used real exercise and nutritional science as the backbone of our book and no gimmicks. Any book or DVD that says that in 2 weeks you’ll have the best body of your life or some other similar claim is utterly ridiculous. If it was really that easy, we’d be living in a world of lean, ripped people instead of dealing with an epidemic of obesity.

3)  Why is it hard for so many people to STAY in shape and KEEP the weight off?

I think the biggest thing for people is that they don’t set realistic goals, both short term and long term, at the onset of beginning an exercise program. If someone’s expectations are totally unrealistic, they will have a very difficult time staying on track. I like to have my clients set a couple of short term goals and a few long term goals. Throughout our training, I remind them of these goals. As they achieve one or two of their short terms goals, I’ll suggest that they create new short term goals. Success begets success.

Figure 1Don’t stress out, hormones are the key! And you control them by eating the right foods.

4) Hormones seem to regulate almost everything that happens in the body.   How can people take control of their hormones?  Why are there so many people with their hormones out of whack?

Hormones are the key.  They are the body’s messenger system. If one hormone is totally out of synch from the others, then major problems can arise. For instance, if someone is insulin resistant, there body is going to have to release more and more insulin in response to every meal they eat. Since insulin is a storage hormone, it can have a tremendous effect on whether someone is storing carbohydrates as body fat or as muscle glycogen. The more resistant you are, the more likely you will store excess carbohydrates as fat.

Luckily, insulin is a hormone that we can effectively control through nutrition and exercise. What you eat will have a profound effect on how insulin responds. And, we also know that exercise helps make you more insulin sensitive. In other words, the more insulin sensitive you are, the more like likely that when you eat carbohydrates, you will store them as muscle glycogen rather than body fat. In our book we cover every major hormone and even some of the more not so commonly known one’s as well.

5) What are some of the key questions most people who want to lose weight should be asking themselves, but are not?

Am I really being honest with myself? Am I really doing all that I can to change the quality of my life? Am I giving 100% of myself to my training session?

Follow Joe on twitter: http://twitter.com/ultimateyou_

Pick up your copy of “Ultimate You” here: “Ultimate You: A 4-Phase Total Body Makeover for Women Who Want Maximum Results

Jonathan Angelilli has worked as a full time trainer for over 9 years, has completed 10 certifications, and is currently the Training Director of Dynamic Results, an upscale lifestyle consultation service in NYC. He works hard to match up luxury buildings, private gyms, concierge companies, and corporations with a personalized Jonathan Angelilli has worked as a full time trainer for over 9 years, has completed 10 certifications, and is currently the Training Director of Dynamic Results, an upscale lifestyle consultation service in NYC. He works hard to match up luxury buildings, private gyms, concierge companies, and corporations with a personalized team of empowering health and fitness professionals.

I know, it sounds crazy.  Health insurance companies should make more money when less people get sick because they don’t have to foot the bill. 

But then, why do the reinvest billions of dollars in fast food, which has been proven to cause all kinds of disease?

Are health insurance companies evil? Are some healthy insurance companies evil? This brings a whole new meaning to the idea of health insurance fraud!

There is big difference between being healthy and having health insurance! Unfortunately, most of the debate has focused on insurance, not health.

Check out this article, and leave some comments.  What do you think?

Health insurance companies invest billions in fast food chains

Show me you are alive, leave some comment below!  Is this health insurance fraud? Are healthy insurance companies evil?

Yours in health,

Johnny Fitness

The Art of Healthy Gift Giving

Love it or hate it, it’s time to give and receive gifts.  Of course, it is easy to go right for the holiday chocolates or multi-flavored popcorn bucket!

But with a little effort, you can find some gifts that will help your friends and family be more healthy, not less!

And there is no greater gift than good health.  What could be more precious than that?  Just make sure that you are buying the right gift for the right person.  While these gifts will not provide an immediate pay off like a tub of popcorn, finding a way to gently nurture your loved ones aspirations towards health and fitness is a beautiful thing.

Here is a list of my 3 favorites.  I love shopping on Amazon, because of convenience and reliability. If you order within before December 16th, your gifts will arrive before XMAS.

The 3 Best Gift’s in Health & Fitness 2009

The Best Gift for the Foodie or Cook in the Family

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of 4 Meals – I have never read a book that immediately changed my behavior so drastically.  It will change the way you look at food and eat forever, and following its principles will ensure good health for the eater and the planet.

The Best Gift for the Sedentary Adult in the Family

Pedometer- Getting people to move around and walk is a major 1^st step towards being healthy.  The health benefits associated with walking are well documented and low impact/low risk.  This pedometer is a best seller; it only costs $20 and is ranked 4.5 stars out of 5 based on almost 2500 reviews.

The Best Gift for the Cardio Fanatic in the Family

Hear Rate Monitor- this heart rate monitor is great and it only costs $32!!!  That is a steal for a tool that is indispensable for anyone who wants to lose weight, race in competitions, or break through a training plateau.  Monitoring your heart rate ensures that you are training hard enough and with enough variety to stimulate your hear & achieve your goals.

Happy shopping!  Give gifts for health, not tubs of popcorn

Please leave some comments.  What gifts for fitness did you buy?  Are you having trouble finding or giving health Christmas gifts?  Let us know!

Until next time, train smart.

Jonathan Angelilli has worked as a full time trainer for over 8 years, has completed 7 certifications, and is currently the Training Director of Dynamic Results, an upscale lifestyle consultation service in NYC.  He works hard to match up people, luxury buildings, private gyms, concierge companies, and corporations with a personalized team of empowering health and fitness professionals.

Part 1. Preliminary Considerations

You may not have jumped rope since grade school! But you can learn jump rope FAST.

Jump rope is a great exercise for anyone who want to lose weight, get in shape, stay in shape, and/or perform better in sports.

And it is cheap, portable, and fun!  Often, the most simple solution is the BEST

This video answers these questions about how to jump rope:

• Who should and shouldn’t jump rope?
• What goals will jumping rope help you achieve?
• How long should your jump rope be?
• What kind of jump rope should you get?
• What other factors should you consider when learning how to jump rope?

Leave some questions in the comments and I will get right back to you!

• Why do you want to learn how to jump rope?
• What is the biggest challenge you face?
• Any questions about picking a jump rope?
• How does long jump rope sessions affect your mood?
• Let me know how jump rope has changed your life!

Watch the video above, learn jump rope, get fit.  It’s that simple

Until next time, stay fit.

Jonathan Angelilli aka Johnny Fitness has worked as a full time trainer for over 8 years, has completed 9 certifications, trains several celebrities, and is currently the Training Director of Dynamic Results, an upscale fitness and lifestyle company in NYC. He has personally witness the power of personal training to transform people’s bodies, minds, and lives.

The Best Way to Unlock Exercise Motivation

The simple truth is that the world we live in today does not reflect the world our body needs.

Our 200,000 year old body expects to be physically & mentally challenged, at the same time, almost every single day.  Our hunter gatherer ancestors may have traveled up to 20 miles per day:

• hunting
• gathering
• building
• climbing
• running
• jumping
• carrying

Just reading about it is tiring!

The Power of Primal Fitness

The original exercise motivation was survival.

Michael Pollan, in his book bestselling book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, writes that “Under the pressure of the hunt… the human brain grew in size and complexity”.

As we all know, humanity has survived (and thrived) because of it’s intelligence and brain size.

And our brains grew because of hunting.

Therefore…

We survived because our brains grew because of intensely focused group exercise.

Kinda funny, right?

Find a way to tap into these emotions and level of intensity, safely, and you will feel satisfaction and happiness from working out.

Engage your intelligence and focus; the human brain, while representing only 2% of the bodies mass, uses 18% of the calories we consume.

Focus on each exercise throughout the workout,  you will burn more calories and time will fly by. And you will see just how motivational fitness can be.

How to Make Exercise Sticky

So, how do you empower yourself to workout consistently and connect to the concept of primal fitness?  Lots of ways! (Please share yours in the comments).

1. Welcome to Reality – our bodies are meant to move every single day.  If they didn’t, we wouldn’t have survived.  This is what Primal Fitness means; move it or die. The same applies today, except a quick death by saber-tooth tigers has been replaced by the slow death of disease.

2. The Best Ab Exercise in the History of the Universe- does not exist! Period.  Don’t focus so much on finding the “best workout”, what is great for one person is no so great for another, and no matter what, you will need to progress any exercise or program to avoid getting stuck in a plateau. Try different things, go slow at first, respect your bodies limits, and build from there.  It is easy to get comfortable doing the same workout all the time, but it is hard to get results doing that.  Remain curious in the gym and while working out and try different things.  It is easier to maintain exercise motivation when you are not overly focused on immediate results.

3. The Quick Fix vs. Patience- make listening to your body and learning to exercise a higher priority than achieving some superficial goal in a short amount of time.  Focusing on the quick fix leads to mediocre success.  What’s the point of getting in great shape for summer, if you can’t maintain it?  This cyclic approach often leads to joint issues, and each year, it will get harder and harder to get back what you lose during your down time.  It’s way more effective to stay consistent.

4. Social Fitness – Back to the whole aspect of primal fitness; we survived through evolution by working together.  Hunting, gathering, carrying, building, these are all things we did together.  Adding a social element to their experience is a great way to keep yourself motivated and focused.  This can mean working out in tandem, at a group exercise class, bootcamp, or  a running group.  Either way, it helps make exercise more fun and less boring, which makes it easier to stick too. Social workouts = motivational fitness.

7. Goals and Competitions – Finding opportunities to compete is a great way to connect with the concept of primal fitness.  Weight loss contests, races, and exercise competitions are great ways to keep yourself motivated consistently. (Check out http://www.active.com for events in your area) You may think “I could never run a marathon” but that is not true.  We are all have the potential to do it, or our genes would not have survived this long.  Start very slowly, break your goal into little sub goals, and you will be running a 5k in no time and on you way to doing all kinds of thinks you “THINK” you could never do.  What’s really crazy is you will start to like it.  SHOCKING! But our bodies are meant to move, we can’t be happy without health and exercise. You will start to experience how motivational fitness can be, even if you think of yourself as a non-athlete.

8. Connect to Your Joy – Yes, most of us want to get in better shape to “look better naked”, but the simple truth of the matter is that you cannot be happy without being healthy and fit.  NO EXERCISE = NO HAPPINESS.  Your brain, not just your body, needs the physical stimulation to be happy and balanced, and your body needs it so that it does not fall apart.  What are your life goals, what hobbies or physical activities do you enjoy, what sports did you used to play?  Training to better perform activities you enjoy is a great way to stay motivated and stick to the program.  It can even be as simple as wanting to have more energy to pick up and play with the grand kids.  Whatever your initial exercise motivation may be, as you exercise consistently, you will find your mind at peace and happier more often.

9. Workout for a Cause, Not Just Because- Last but not least, we can be leaders and help others while getting in better shape and pushing our limits.  There are numerous races and physical events were you can raise money for a great cause and be more involved in your community.  This is a great way to meet other active people and feel really good about exercising consistently.

What do you think?  Try out some of these ideas and let me know how it is going in the comments, I would love to hear about any success stories, questions, or challenges that you are facing.  Connect with your primal fitness, discover the motivational aspects of fitness, and exercise motivation will come easily and consistently.

SHOW ME YOU ARE ALIVE!

Until next time, keep your business fit.

Johnny Fitness

Jonathan Angelilli aka Johnny Fitness has worked as a full time trainer for over 8 years, has completed 9 certifications, trains several celebrities, and is currently the Training Director of Dynamic Results, an upscale fitness and lifestyle company in NYC. He has personally witness the power of personal training to transform people’s bodies, minds, and lives.