For The Love Of All That Is Holy STOP Doing Crunches

It amazes me how many people waste 10-30 minutes of their workouts doing crunches (and other abdominal exercises) thinking that they are gonna get ripped abs by doing so.

NEWSFLASH: doing crunches ≠ ripped abs.

We ALL have abs. Some people have 4 packs, most people have 6 packs and a lucky few were blessed with an 8 pack.

"But Tete I have no abs! I only have a ginormous belly!" 

Well my friend that means that your abs (and at the moment mine as well) are covered by fat (AKA your body fat % is too high!) but fear not I will show you how to reduce your body fat to reveal your Greek-god like abs.

1. Increase your protein intake!

There this nifty little thing called the "Thermic Effect Of Food" which is used to determine how many calories your body has to burn in order to process the food you ate. Protein has a thermic effect of about 30% or 30kcal per 100kcal of protein consumed. To put it another way: Every time you eat 100kcal from protein your body has to burn 30kcal just to process the food.

Protein also helps you maintain and increase your muscle mass. The more muscle mass you have the higher your metabolism will be which bring me to...

2. Increase your metabolism! 

I know I know. I make it sound so easy but the truth is that raising your metabolism is really simple: Train with intensity! Use short rest periods between sets and/or laps. Your body will require a tremendous amount of oxygen which equals to a LOT of calories being burned during your workout and hours (even days) after it.

3. Limit your caloric intake!

Take your weight in lbs and multiply it by 15. Now take whatever number you get and reduce 500. What's left is the amount of calories you need to eat in order to lose 1-2 pounds of weight per week. You are welcome.

(Just a quick note regarding #3: If you are a woman you should never eat less than 1300kcal per day as anything lower could mean that you aren't consuming enough vitamins and minerals)

You see. Getting abs is simple (although it make take some time for people on the heavier side like me). Remember the importance that short term goals have for fat loss and keep going.

Cheers.

Permanent Weight Loss Takes More Than Just Dieting

Have you ever wondered why every month there's a new magazine article that claims to have found the "best diet ever" or that it will show you how to "permanently lose that extra weight"? I mean, if their tips are supposed to help your get rid of that extra weight forever then why do they print a new article every month?

There's a reason why nutrition advice from magazine sucks: they have to sell new magazines every month! They can't tell you how to get rid of your body fat forever and then sell you the same thing next month. Nobody would buy it. 

Fear not. I don´t have to sell you anything so pay attention because I will show you how to achieve permanent weight loss.

1. Be More Active

Forget what you heard about walking for 30 minutes 3 times per week. Permanent weight loss demands intense exercising for 45-60 minutes every day. How intense depends entirely on your fitness level. IF you weigh 300 pounds and are a professional couch potato I don't expect you to run 5 miles every day. Know your limitations but push them hard every day.

Intense exercising means pushing YOUR personal limits

2. Change Your Eating Habits

If the magazines article have got one thing right it is this. You NEED to learn what to eat and drink. It isn't that hard.

Eat/drink more of these: lean meats, nuts, fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and water.

Eat less of these: processed foods, fatty meats, canned fruits, fried foods, fruit juices, sodas and alcohol.

Seriously, it's just common sense. Trust me you do not need to eat 6 slices of pizza or drink half a gallon of coke. Use some will power!

Check the 2 examples below

Eat more of these

Eat less/avoid these

Like I said it's common sense. If you honestly didn't know which of the two options was the healthier option then may God have mercy on your soul.

See? Permanent weight loss isn't about secrets and fad diets. It's about moving your butt and eating healthy, nutritious foods.

There's No Fat Loss Without Hard Work

After yesterday's running session I was really tired but I was also really happy. I was happy because I broke my personal records.

Those broken records reminded me of a quote I read somewhere on the Internet and I found a picture of it here:

Truer words have never been spoken

It is that simple. If you are not being challenged then you will certainly NOT change. If you look for the easy way out and/or if you are unwilling to pay your dues then sooner or later you will realize that there's no fat loss without hard work.

Anyway here's yesterday's running summary:

I was so close to reaching the 6'XX"/km mark

Until next time!

Progress Picture - Week 2

Week 2 - September 25, 2012

Weight: 188.6lbs -3.4lbs

BF: 25.9% -0.6%

I'm really happy with my results. Losing a little over 3 pounds and reducing my body fat by 0.6% in just one week really motivates me to continue with my diet and my training. 

I can not predict the future BUT I really think I'll be able to lose more than 0.6% of body fat by next week.

Wish me luck.

The Importance Of Short Term Goals For Fat Loss And Why Mid Term Goals Are The Devil

Over the weekend I realized that a lot of Nutritionists/Trainers talk about short term goals and how important they are when it comes to reaching a person´s main fitness goal, be it fat loss or muscle building.

They say things like "worry about losing 5 pounds first"and the people that are following their instructions go and diet/train for days/weeks trying to reach those short term goals and then they get frustrated when they can't accomplish them in a few weeks or a few months or whatever.  

They get frustrated because they were confusing short term goals with mid term goals and mid term goals are of NO IMPORTANCE when it comes to fat loss.

This is what happens when you worry about mid-term goals

"Duh Tete are you mad? Of course mid term goals are important otherwise how are you going to reach your main objective?"

No I'm not mad and your main objective will be reached by accomplishing several mini goals every day. It IS that simple. See the picture above? Focusing on those first 5 pounds leads to "DAMN IT! Why am I not losing weight fast enough? I should be losing 2 pounds per week! Screw it, I will be fat forever".

Not everybody loses 2 pounds per week. Some people diet and train for a month without losing an OUNCE and then on the 32nd day BAM, out of nowhere,  they burn 5 pounds of fat. 

Do you know how those people reach that 32nd day without getting frustrated? They focus on their daily mini goals.

This is the right attitude

They focus on: not cheating on their diet, not cheating on their workouts and making progress in their training (running for more time, lifting for more reps, adding another exercise, etc). 

They know that to reach 100% they need to add 1% every day. They don't worry about reaching 5% or 25% or even 99% because they know that the only thing that matters is getting that 100%

Exercise every day and then you'll be fit

Worry about following your diet and your training regime every day and before you know it you'll be who you always wanted to be.

Never Skip A Scheduled Workout

Yesterday I felt like not working out. Excuses started bombing my mind "I'm really sore, I'm eating perfectly so missing one workout won't mean much, I'm really tired". It didn't stop.

You know what I did?

I picked up my kettlebells and did what I had to do.

I drowned my excuses in a pool of sweat.

Never skip a workout. Don't listen to your body when it is being lazy, when it is looking for the easy way out. Don't you dare.

In the end it will be those workouts that you did not skip the ones that will take you to the next level.

Stay fit.

It's You Vs You

After today's running session I started thinking about how people undermine their efforts by comparing themselves to other people.

It happens all the time and it happens to everybody. You are at the gym minding your own business when suddenly you see someone training with bigger weights or running at a faster speed and you feel bad about yourself. Instead of being rational and stick to your training plan you decide that you are going to lift more/run faster than this random character and then it happens... you injure yourself or you can't do better than him/her and become depressed and/or angry. All because you forgot one of the most important aspects of training: YOU SHOULD ONLY COMPETE WITH YOURSELF. It IS that simple.

Check MY running stats from Tuesday:

2.44km and I felt like CRAP. Thank God for the rain because I was spent

Now compare them with MY stats from today:

A little bit faster, a little more distance and feeling a little bit better.

You see? THAT is progress, documented and measurable progress. Do I care that I "only" ran 2.93km because on average people are able to run faster/for longer distances? NO I DO NOT. I only care about making progress. I only care about beating myself and so should you! 

Cheers.

This Is My Gym

Like I said in my first post this will be a no BS-no excuses allowed kind of blog and the most abused excuse of all time is "I don´t have time to go to the gym".

Well, guess what? I will NOT be going to a gym. I will be training at home just to show that if you want to look like a Greek god the only thing you´ll need is dedication.

This is the only equipment I need

Who the heck needs a treadmill?

In the end these are the only things that I´ll be using: 3 kettlebells, 1 jump rope, a 15lb chain and a set of Jungle Gym XT. I´ll be running outside, on the road, actually going places.

I´m not saying gyms are a waste of money, not at all. I´m saying that I´l be training at home because it motivates me even more to work hard, eat right and show you (and myself) that all you need is hard work and determination and that there´s always time to eat right and work out.

The Before Picture - Week 1

Here it is. The before picture.

WEEK 1 - September 19, 2012

Weight: 192lbs

BF: 26.5%

 

Weight, body fat and a weekly picture is how I´ll be measuring my progress. I will also be posting progress updates every Tuesday instead of every Monday. Why? Because I hate it when people wait until Monday to start something. The best day to start is TODAY.

Supplementing with ZRII

I just want to talk a little bit about the protein powder that I'll be using. It is called ACHIEVE and it is manufactured by a company called ZRII.

The main reason why I'll be using Achieve as my protein powder is because of its nutritional profile. It is high in protein (duh), low in fat, high in fiber, it has between 50% and 100% of your daily vitamin needs and it also high in many important minerals. 

It also tastes like freaking paradise.

Click here to know more about the ACHIEVE protein powder.
 

The best tasting protein EVER

I would like to add that if you do buy from that link I will be making a comission. If you feel that I shouldn't get any just google "Achieve Protein Powder" to learn more about it.

 

Welcome To LikeAGreekGod.Com

Welcome to LikeAGreekGod.com

What's up people? My name is Tete. I'm a Nutritionist and I weight 192 pounds and have 26.5% bodyfat (that sounds a hell of a lot like an AA intro I know).

My idea for this blog is to document my progress and to explain how it is that I'm losing the extra weight and how I burn the excessive ammount of bodyfat that I'm carrying.

This is not a "I'm going to lose 10 pounds YIPEE" kind of blog. This is a serious-I'm gonna get freaking ripped- kind of blog. Feel free to post comments and ask questions. 

Who wouldn't like to look like this?

I will talk about nutrition, specific diets, training and supplementation. I will tell/show you EXACTLY what you have to do in order to get fit as ****.

 I will write daily so make sure to check my blog every day and tell your friends about it!

I would also like to apologize for any grammar and spelling errors you see in my posts, English is not my 1st language.

Cheers.