DISQUS

I added this about a week ago to the side bar of my bodybuilding and fitness
blog over at http://www.bodybuildingsecretslive.com I see that it gets a lot
of attention on marketing blogs and websites but for fitness? I've yet to see
any significant traffic or interest.

It could do very well in the Internet Marketing space. But again, I've seen
nothing yet in my niche.

The MyBlog widget is doing far better.
Still too early to tell. But it's a very interesting concept.

I had trouble with the site as well so I contacted Chris Powel directly and asked him where I could get the STAX System. Here's the link he sent me.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/triax/stax.html

It's actually a much better deal than what I paid directly off the official site.

Depending on the overall temperature and storage location of the system, it should work pretty well. Indoors in a cooler environment, I've had my food still cold after 7 hours of sitting on a desk. It won't keep things frozen but it should keep things cooler like cottage cheese and such.

@Bella- Broccoli, asparagus, kale, spinach, potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes and salad fixings (lettuce, peppers, cucumbers, hickima, etc), brown rice, whole oats (not the quick kind) cream of wheat, 100% whole grain breads which can include bagels.

I don't go by the glycemic index. Rather the overall nutritional value of said carbs and their application to the activity at the time.

Post-workout, I'd encourage more simple carbs for fast energy replenishment.

There are carb sensitive individuals. If that's determined, then adjustments to the portions is necessary for them or lower carbs. The general rules won't apply. Only thru experimentation can the right macro-nutrient ratios be determined.

"My achievement would not have been possible had I listened to people when they belittled my efforts"

I wholeheartedly agree.. which is why I will continue to blog and educate no matter how ridiculous or unmotivational I may be.

I still stand by my comments that FAT LOSS is what you want, not weight loss.

By measuring your body fat, you take the guesswork out of your health and fitness plan and you get an accurate picture of what’s really happening in your body as a result of your diet and exercise program.

"By the way…staying away from people like you is what allowed me to lose 100+lbs and keep it off for 20 years"

Now that... is something to be proud of as long-term weight loss and that much weight defies the statistics.

That's information I do believe is helpful and can provide encouragement. I wish you had posted those numbers at the very beginning because in your case, as an individual, congratulations are in order.

Pac,

Thanks for the comment. Hey, if you don't care what it is you lost.. water, fat, muscle... here's a tip.

Cut off your leg, stop eating, don't eat. You'll lose tons of weight.

You are making a HUGE mistakes by not caring what it is you just lost. That's a very common mistake people who want to lose weight make and it's why they are frustrated for years. Because they keep losing more muscle over time and adding a bit more fat. In the end, they are worse off than if they just stayed where they were and kept the muscle.

Again, the improper way to measure success if not tightly coupled with a frame of reference such as body fat.

If you were my client, I would never let you get so far as to be so uneducated to allow yourself to only think in numbers (as in a smaller number this week compared to last week). You'd know better and when you did lose 5 lbs AND most of that was fat and not muscle... I'd be your BIGGEST fan.

If you just lost 5 lbs and your body fat is the same. Should I send you a congratulations card?

Let me try just for you....

Congratulations of losing "weight." Maybe it was all muscle but hey.. Good job. Keep up the great work.

I'm not here to make you feel all good about yourself for doing the wrong thing. Go find a feel-good blog that tells you it's all okay and every crappy, half-assed diet that gives you a 2% loss in overall body weight regardless of what it is...

There's many out there. Keep on Stumbling...

@samantha - Try doing weights first, keeping that to 40 minutes or so, and then because you are warm and have already been burning a combination of glycogen and fat, do your cardio AFTER the weights. You'll be primed to burn more fat and you can do a lot less overall time if you want.

@Eric - I'd focus more on whole foods (gotta say that). You say it's not working... I can't help you there bud.. but I can say that switching to Monster Milk which is just more protein and less calories, won't be your answer. Do a search on this blog for "How to Gain Weight." There's a good write-up of the Top 6 things you can do. If you aren't doing them.. start doing them. ;-)

@Margaret: 1-2 alcohol drinks per day is about the average to be considered moderation. Once a month or even once a week is no big deal depending on your individual situation.

@MuscleGainingSecrets: It's not good for you. Provides no value except in the case of red wine and other such substances that have promising heart benefits. But it's not necessarily all bad depending on your situation and how much you actually drink.

Interesting thing is.. it's better to have 1-2 drinks per day than wait until the weekend and have 6 in a row. The 1-2 won't necessarily do much but the 6 at once can set you back. Especially if you workout hard first and then go drinking.

If you know you'll be out drinking, you might as well just skip any muscle building workouts that would put your body in a repair state.

Bottom line, moderation, low amounts spaced over time is insignificant except to the bodybuilder who's in a competition mode.

@Jerry - It's quite explanatory in differences but it's ALL about bodybuilding and how to be and look like a bodybuilder. Tom does a good job going over the differences between what form means as a bodybuilder and what form means for a general strength athlete.

You'll get answers to things you didn't even think to ask. I like his stuff (obviously) but this is 255 pages of rock-solid natural bodybuilding information.

Strangely enough, he does cover functional training and bodybuilding training. One of the interviewers, David Grasaffi asks him that almost immediately. That is the 1st interview in the book if I'm not mistaken. They go over core training and functional strength training and Tom explains that from a bodybuilding perspective.

Antonio,

Without being a chemical expert, I can't really answer that question as to the damage it may or may not cause. You might want to check with a professional dermatologist to obtain the real answer.

My standard answer would be to work on the cause of the gynecomastia and lower your body fat. If it's ultimately something that isn't simply related to body fat, you may require surgery.

Your solution solves the physical appearance of course but if that's the path you are going to stick with, I'd suggest consulting an expert on skin to ensure your short term solution won't have long term effects.

@Andre - If you want. Or if you actually enjoy coffee, just have a cup or two during the day. Morning hours. I don't really use it much as a pre-workout supplement unless I'm on a cutting phase. It does tend to disrupt sleep in the afternoon hours. If you don't actually enjoy it, then forget it.

@Kyle - Different not really better. Everybody is always looking for some comparison between the two. Tea has beneficial properties as well. But different, especially green teas. Coffee or tea can have gastrointestinal effects. It depends on the brand, brew and other factors. Too much may have adverse affects as well. I drink a fair amount of green tea because I enjoy it and the value or potential benefits are different than coffee. I'll do a cup of coffee in the morning and then switch to green tea.

Jerry,

I recommend picking 2 days out of the week to do your bulk cooking of chicken and/or other meats. Including rice and making a big salad. A lot of people like Wednesday and Sunday for this but whatever works.

Chicken will be good cooked for about 2-3 days after cooking. Keep it refrigerated and in an airtight container if at all possible.

Egg,

If you plan out meals in advance, you can make them as wild and interesting as you want. The problem is... planning is hard work. When we start to just wing it, that's when inconsistency becomes the norm and missing workouts and meals becomes routine.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with a cheat day or scheduling in a cheat day. Give yourself small rewards and often.

As I type, I'm drinking a glass (lost count) of red wine. I don't frankly care right now if I'm a wee bit over or under or whatever on my calories.

I know that I don't do it too often so I'm okay.

Suck it up? Never. I believe in being consistent but I also firmly believe that life is more that bodybuilding and calorie counting. When my mistakes become the norm, we have a problem.

But they don't, so I'm fine.

I have many meal plans so when I get bored, I make up some new ones and it's exciting all over again. As long as you plan in advance and know what's coming, you are golden. It's when you ditch the meal plans and just wing it for days that problems occur. You don't know what's going on until after it's already happened.

Jeff,

It helps me too to be honest and I'm only trying to pass along good information. Maybe mine, maybe somebody else's. My promise from Day 1 upon doing this podcast was to try and assist people to avoid the mistakes that I made.

I'm human like anybody else and I have a life outside of bodybuilding.

I thought I was bulking or at least maintaining and here I was maybe around 35% or so in a calorie deficit!?

Needless to say, I am eating more now and feeling better. It's human to make mistakes. I know how to correct them and I just wanted to remind anybody else out there, get a baseline.

That's not a bad idea Donald. I think in 2008, I'll do just that. Thanks for taking the time to let me know.

Thank you Rob for reminding us you can still "have a life" and be successful. I've seen your story and your transformation pictures. It's obvious you can still have a life and become extremely fit.

The comments so far are right on target. And I cannot tell you how much I personally appreciate the feedback.

Here's one from Kenny that hit home because it's so darn simple.

"but to focus on making fitness and health a priority in my life, something as normal as waking up and brushing my teeth."

Absolutely. Once you make the smallest change, you can add one more. Pretty soon your entire life is changed in 365 days. You'd literally be a new person (inside from the cell regeneration) and mentally from all the various changes.

It's much smarter to take baby steps than to try and change your life overnight. That's the #1 reason why so many gyms are crowded on January 1st, and empty by summer. Those who try and make fitness their lifestyle try and do it overnight.

It's entirely too much to change that quickly. It's like:

* moving to another state
* having a family
* buying a new car
* getting a new house
* new job
* clothes

Too much!

As with anything, it's not any different with your health. Figure out what small changes you can make until it adds up to one big lifestyle change. At the end of those 365 days, you have 'changed your life' slowly and so little that it doesn't seem like a huge deal.

It's so simple hardly anybody looks at it that way.

Again, thanks to Bloglines.com I found a U.S. study that showed the following:

Financial incentives can encourage weight loss, research finds

Finkelstein and researchers from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill studied more than 200 overweight or obese employees in North Carolina.

A third of the participants received no financial reward for their weight loss after three months; another third were given $7 for every 1 percent drop in their body weight; the final third were given $14 for every 1 percent decrease. The participants did not follow a specific diet and fitness program.

Participants in the $14 group were than five times more likely to lose 5 percent of their body weight, according to the findings, printed in September's Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Here's the full USA Today article:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-09-10-...

Billy,

24g and higher is what researchers saw the most minimal of effects. 1-2 beers with dinner is what I would consider to be a moderate amount of alcohol.

That falls into the moderation category. In my experience, I don't see 1-2 bud lites creating any significant negative effects.

In fact, drinking 1-2 beers every night is better than not drinking any at all and then binge drinking on the weekends.

I'd agree that 3 drinks and higher goes beyond what most would consider a moderate amount of alcohol and you'd start to see some of the effects (on a chemical level) in regards to your health and fitness.

Regards,

- Marc