Mind vs Body

The mind is a major bitch if you think about it. It is the one thing that gets us out of shape and tries its best to keep us there, completely out of shape and hating our bodies. Whether you’re working out and your mind keeps telling you it is enough, to stop because it hurts, because it isn’t worth it, because maybe you don’t need to keep pushing. OR when your stomach is already full, yet your mind keeps telling you you’re still hungry, a little more will be great because it tastes good and it won’t make a big difference, or because that good tasting food will somehow help your emotions get better (and actually give you a pleasant sensation after you eat when the reality is, the reason you’re not feeling good emotionally is still there and sooner than later you’ll start feeling down again) pushing you towards a physical state you hate.

Add to this the constant negative attacks from society, friends, significant other and family members. People will question your motives, will tell you the opposite of encouraging comments, will try to hold you down from growing and achieving your goals.

This is why it is so important to work on the mental attitude, to train yourself to ignore your mind, to stop listening to that “quitter” voice inside your head and from those around you, that will constantly to drag you back down to that place you hate to be. Surrounding yourself with people who will encourage you either with words, their hard work or both, and who won’t judge you, will also help you achieve this.

Some people say fitness is 70% eating and 30% workouts. I’d say for most it is 50% mental, 35% eating and 15% fitness.

Lee Lebrada’s week one progress

And it’s been officially a week…. and one day since I started Lee Lebrada’s 12-week lean body trainer. Although the plan doesn’t follow a 7 days a week format, I’m counting each week since the program’s length is 12 weeks, besides, it is easier to check progress this way.

So! What are my first impressions and what results did I get, if any? Well, Read more

Mr. Lyle McDonald Interviews

I’ve been looking into Lyle McDonald books, since it seems the guy is a really knowledgable about burning body fat and coming up with some great protocol to burn body fat fast. I came across this guy thanks to my friend who tried Lyle’s protocol and she got awesome results.

Anyway, I found a couple of videos on YouTube that I feel are pretty interesting and provide really good information. Read more

MyFitnessPal Guide For Newbies

unnamedSince every once in a while I get new friends asking me for help and advices as to how to use MFP to lose weight or calculate calories and macros (macronutrients), etc., I decided to write the last message I sent, in a way I could use it for a blog post. One thing I really want to let you guys know, fitness is not easy, and by that I mean, don’t expect to learn all there is about fitness in a 5 words sentence. What I mean with this is, as much as I like to help everyone who needs it, there’s no way I can summarize it all in one sentence, therefore this post will be VERY LONG, but I will try my best to keep it somehow interesting and save you from having to visit another 100 websites/pages by giving you possible scenarios and possibilities, so you can choose what works best for you. All this information will come from my own research and paid programs, so I do hope you appreciate all the info I’m providing here. Read more

Week 4 of Shortcut to Shred

I apologize for not posting my review and progress during week three. Between work and being busy exploring new events and activities more than I have previously, I barely had any time left to post my review. Instead, here I am, when I have officially completed week 4 of STS. Therefore, what I’m planning to do is an overview of both week 3 and week 4, going over what I consider the most important parts. Read more

Week 2 of Shortcut to Shred

Here I am, two weeks into the program and about to start my third week of STS (or S2S like some like to call it). So, what has been different about this second week? Not much really, other than reps per set and of course decreasing my carbohydrates. While the first 3 days of training the reps range decreased, allowing me to go heavier on each exercise, during the remaining 3 days of the week the reps increased, which of course, had me using less weight to meet the reps goals. One of my concerns was how my body would react to eating 93.6 g of carbs less a day, but my body reacted nice to it, not making feel with less energy. Read more

One Week of Shortcut to Shred

It has been a week already since I started Shortcut to Shred, and I won’t deny I was a little intimidated by the sudden caloric increase in my diet. This morning, just as I did last Wednesday as soon as I woke up, I took my new set of pictures, got on the scale, measured myself and measured my body fat % using my very cheap caliper.

Before I continue to compare today’s measurements with last week’s, I will talk a little about my experience during this first week when it. Read more

My thoughts on MyFitnessPal

When it comes about free nutrition tools to help us keep track of our calorie and macronutrients intake, MyFitnessPal (MFP) is probably one of the most popular apps available today. A dear friend introduced me to it years ago calling it the “Facebook For Fatties”, which I thought it was brilliant. Being into fitness, and having the opportunity to use a free tool to track my calories and meet new people with the same interest, I didn’t even think twice about it and opened an account. Read more

Calculating Calories and Macronutrients

Calories (noun) – Tiny creatures that live in your closet and sew your clothes a little bit tighter every night.

 

Calories and Macros
There are probably more articles about calories and macronutrients than there are about any other trending topic online. I am sure the amount of information can be overwhelming and at times confusing, especially when most articles seem to contradict each other and everyone claim to be right while the rest are wrong. Read more

My Fitness Pal – Open Food Diary

As mentioned before on my Jim Stoppani’s Six-Week Shortcut to Shred post, I created an account with MyFitnessPal (username: yass4fitness) with an open/public food diary so people following my progress or wanting to get ideas what my meal plan looks like during this program can look at it. Since the diary is open you have the option of adding me or just save the link to your favorites so you can access it at any time. Click here to see the diary. Read more