How to Pick Up Energy, Drop Pant Sizes, and Spend Less Time in the Gym!

As a personal trainer, I possess the deadliest of combinations: I'm a fast talker with a lot to say.  My clients can go from "ready to learn" to "eyes glazed over and brain full" in record time!  In part, my ebook is for them.  It's a way to slow things down, stop the madness, and digest the information I am feeding them.

It's also for you, the person I may never meet.  It is me pulling back the curtain on how I helped a 43 year-old mother of three loses 61 lbs. and wear her smallest dress as an adult.  It is me showing you how I helped a 30 year-old man go from maxing out on diabetes medication to losing 30 lbs. and not having to medicate his diabetes at all (and fitting into his smallest pant size since sixth grade!).  It is me putting a bug in your ear from the second you get up and walking with you through your day to help you eat the right snack, execute the right type of cardio workout, and take action in ways to demonstrate that your eyes are on the prize. 

I will be giving you sneak peeks of "The Little Ebook on Fat Loss and Weight Loss" until the book launches on October 15th.  You can pre-order a copy for half-price this week only (ending at 11:59pm on October 5th!).  Go to www.keepyourbetterhalf.com or send an email to adam@keepyourbetterhalf.com for more information.

And now....for a sneak peek at "The Little Ebook on Fat Loss and Weight Loss"...

Step Away From The Scale!

How to Measure Your Progress and Keep Your Sanity

I hate scales.  Do you know why I hate scales?  Scales have taught us that our weight will be up when we expect it to be down, our weight will be stuck when we expect it to move, and we will seldom be able to explain the results the scale sends us.  Based on the unprediactability and ever-changing nature of scales, I'm beginning to think they were invented by women.  

Every week I can count on a phone call from a scale-driven new client.  It goes something like this:

Laura the New Client: "Adam, I gained two pounds this week!"

Adam the Personal Trainer: "Laura, this is your first week.  I told you that you would either break even or gain a pound or two this week.  And I asked you not to step on the scale, remember?"

Laura: "I know, I know.  I just wanted to see how much progress I was making."

Adam: "The scale doesn't measure progress, it measures gravity's pull on our progress.  Have you been doing your cardio every day?"

Laura: "Yes."

Adam: "Have you been getting your protein shakes in and eating your snacks?"

Laura: "Yes."

Adam:  "Then you are making great progress!"

Laura: "But why am I up two pounds?"

Adam: "It could be because you are gaining muscle.  It could be because you aren't getting enough water and your body is retaining water.  It could be because you are drinking lots of water and haven't used the restroom in three hours.  The two pounds probably came from new muscle growth.  Let me ask you this, how do your clothes fit?"

Laura: "They seem a little looser around the waist."

Adam: "Good.  What does the mirror say?"

Laura: "I think I look a little bit more toned."

Adam: "Good.  Has your husband noticed anything?"

Laura: "No.  Hasn't said a word."

Adam: "And he probably won't.  One day he'll just start chasing you around the house, which is why we need to keep you on that interval training...for those days when you aren't in the mood."

Laura: After a giggle, "Okay."

Adam: "You are doing great.  I'll see you in a few days."

I get that call almost every week from someone who has forgotten the truth about the scale.  And the truth is that a scale can't tell you very much about your progress.  It can't tell you if you lost fat.  It can't tell you if you gained muscle.  A scale only tells you what you weigh (gravity's pull on you) but it doesn't tell you what your weight is (the amount of fat, muscle, and water that are constantly fluctuating in your body).

Measuring fat loss and weight loss progress is not a scale-driven activity.  Here is how to measure progress while pursuing body change.

The First Step To Keeping Sanity While Measuring Body Change: Measure Activity Goals

In the conversation above I asked Laura if she had been doing her cardio, drinking her protein shakes and eating her snacks.  Since successful and healthy fat loss and weight loss are contingent upon doing the right things, measure your progress based upon what you are doing. 

It is amazing what can happen when the body gets WHAT it needs WHEN it needs it.  It is easy to keep your sanity by measuring what you are doing for your body and when you are doing it.  If your mid-morning snack consists of you eating the right food at the right time, you are winning!

In this ebook we will teach you what to eat and when!  We will provide a chart to help you measure your progress on your activity goals. 

The Second Step To Keeping Your Sanity While Measuring Body Change: Let the Clothes and the Mirror Tell You How You are Doing

I am sure you noticed that I asked Laura how her clothes were fitting her.  Clothes are a great truth teller.  If we are losing inches around the waist (or in the arms, or around the thighs), our clothes are the first ones to tell us.  Look for that progress, then celebrate when your jeans require the assistance of a tighter slot in your belt!

The mirror can also be a great tool for determining progress.  "Adam, I have shoulders!" my client Sarah exclaimed recently.  "You've always had shoulders," I told her.  "No, you don't understand," she said. "When I look in the mirror, I have shoulders now.  I'm not round any more in my shoulders!  I have some definition coming in!"

The mirror can help us to see if we have lost half a chin and are more firm in an area or two.  The mirror can be a great tool, accurately displaying progress that a scale can miss.  However, it is important to know yourself when it comes to using a mirror.  If you are one of those people who have a difficult time with body image and honest visual feedback, the mirror can be a very difficult tool to use successfully.  If you are confident of your ability to use the mirror for a realistic tool to measure body change, be sure to use it.  If you are unsure of your ability to use the mirror to accurately assess your body, refrain from using it as a guide for your progress.

For many of you, the way your clothes fit and the image the mirror displays will more accurately pinpoint progress in body change than a scale ever could.

The Third Step To Keeping Your Sanity While Measuring Body Change: Reacquire the "Look What I Can Do" Mentality

Every time I see my 5 year-old nephew, he is showing me all the new stuff he can do.  "Look what I can do, Uncle Adam," he'll yell as he tempts fate with his latest daredevil feat (like jumping up and hitting a leaf on a tree, running fast in a circle, things like that).  He's cute.

Sadly, most people miss significant progress points with their body change because they fail to recognize...... IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ THE REST OF THIS SECTION, THE EBOOK IS RIGHT FOR YOU!!!!

IF YOU LIKED THE SNEAK PEEK OF "THE LITTLE EBOOK ON FAT LOSS AND WEIGHT LOSS", GO TO WWW.KEEPYOURBETTERHALF.COM OR SEND EMAIL TO ADAM@KEEPYOURBETTERHALF.COM TO GET A SPECIAL PRICE ON A PRE-ORDERED COPY OF THIS EBOOK!

Adam Erwin is a personal trainer (with a nutrition background) who travels the world working with people who want to experience fat loss and weight loss in record-time. He currently resides in Minneapolis, MN and loves to train with people whose health does not match their lifestyle. Adam works closely in the Eden Prairie, Wayzata, Excelsior, Minnetonka, and Edina communities.  Visit www.keepyourbetterhalf.com to learn more about his work.

The Missing Links for Weight Loss, Fat Loss, and Body Change

2009 UPDATE!!!

Before you read this blog, there are two things you need to know:

1) Open enrollment has begun for the Virtual Boot Camp: Total Body Makeover!   Get 28 days of perfect nutrition and exercise (complete with a grocery list, access to videos, and more!) for only $100 (NOTE: This is the very package I charge thousands for...the only thing you are missing is my physical presence!).  Enrollment ends on January 10th, so click to http://keepyourbetterhalf.com/virtualbootcamp.html now!

2) If you would like the free report "The 27 Factors Affecting Fat Loss and Weight Loss", send me an email and I'll get the report to you!

Now, back to the blog...

Boot camps are all over the place.  Pick a gym, find an instructor, and get ready to sweat next to seven other strangers.  When push comes to shove (or push-up comes to crunch), exercise is about 10% of your day.  The other 90% takes place outside the gym.

A good boot camp will take care of maybe 10% of your day.  What is missing in the 90% not covered by your boot camp?  Your pre-workout fat-burning supplement.  Your perfect post-workout shake.  The breakfast you need to eat.  A mid-morning snack with the right amount AND TYPES of carbs/proteins.  The on-target lunch, perfect mid-afternoon snack, and nutritionally appropriate dinner. 

The missing links in your boot camp are the 90% of your day that your boot camp doesn't help you build.  What would happen if your boot camp were designed with your nutrition in mind?

Boot Camp Designed Differently

What would happen if your nutrition was as on-target as your workouts?  More fat loss more quickly. Less soreness and body aching.  More visible progress your friends and co-workers would notice.  Less wondering "am I doing the right thing?"  All in all, you'd have one heck of a boot camp on your hands!  More importantly, you would have a body change experience everyone around you would be talking about!  Many people put too much stock in their workout boot camp and not enough stock in the nutrition and life habits that make or break their day and their boot camp progress.

Enter the Body Change Boot Camp!  With the Body Change Boot Camp (the BCBC), clients get a nutritional boot camp in addition to the exercise boot camp.  Want to know what to have for lunch at the corporate luncheon?  We'll help.  Need to know what type of chocolate will be best for that midnight craving?  We're on it.

With the BCBC we challenge you with great workouts and walk with you through your day to make sure you get the nutrition you need at just the moment you need it.  Need a protein shake in the afternoon?  We are already on the way to the office.  Need dinner made and delivered to you?  Done! 

Suddenly, the 90% of your day that doesn't involve exercise just got a lot better! 

Where to Find the Body Change Boot Camp?

The BCBC takes place in Minneapolis, MN.  We can travel to your door if need be.  And not just in the Twin Cities.  We can travel to San Diego, Delray Beach, FL, Australia, or wherever your body change needs to take place.  Visit www.keepyourbetterhalf.com for details!

About the Author: Personal Trainer Adam Erwin

Adam Erwin is a personal trainer (with a nutrition background) who travels the world working with people who want to experience fat loss and weight loss in record-time. He currently resides in Minneapolis, MN and loves to train with people whose health does not match their lifestyle. Adam works closely in the Eden Prairie, Wayzata, Excelsior, Minnetonka, and Edina communities.  Visit www.keepyourbetterhalf.com to learn more about his work.

How to Bring a Weight-Loss Camp to You

One of the most searched google terms within the field of body change is the term "fat camp".  Thousands of obese Americans are investing thousands of dollars to attend camps to get away from their out of control lifestyle and learn how to get healthy and be fit.  There is one problem, though.

Weight-Loss Habits Tend to Stay At Camp

The best and worst thing about any camp is that it is camp: it's a remote location far removed from reality.  The gap between a weight loss/fat camp and reality can be devastating.  Imagine going through a week of nutrition and exercise bliss, only to come home to the same old pantry, the evil fridge, and the impossibly convenient calorie factory: the workplace.

The biggest problem anyone should have with a weight loss camp is that it is a destination.  The workers of the camp won't come by and blow up your fridge.  They won't raid the pantry.  And they won't check in three weeks later when it's 11pm and the cupcakes at the corner store are calling you.  The unfortuante by-product of a weight loss camp is that all the strategies, progress, and new great habits tend to weaken quickly away from camp.  How disheartening it can be to spend a week or two making great progress in a safe haven, only to have your dietary will collapse at the very sight of the items in your own pantry.

How to Cultivate Lasting Weight Loss and Body Change: Bring a Weight-Loss Boot Camp to Your Door

What if a weight loss camp came to you?  What is the boot camp to body change stopped by your door on a daily basis?  Can you imagine eating the perfect food at the perfect time and completing the perfect workout for days and days at a time...all the while still going to work and living your regular life?

That's what I do.  I bring a weight loss boot camp to your door.  We meet daily for exercise, we build your meals and snacks, go grocery shopping, and even plan out eating out.  Instead of people going away to a weight loss boot camp safe haven, I work with people to turn their life into a safe haven for body change.  How can we re-write the rules of your work environment to get turn it into a place conducive to body change?  What do we put in your pantry (and your car, and your home office) so that every time you reach for a food it is the right food? 

What if your life was rebuilt to not only be conducive to weight loss, but was rebuilt to maximize it?  What if you knew what the tastiest 200-calorie breakfast tasted like?  What if you knew what to eat every single time you ate out with clients or family? Why go to a weight-loss boot camp when you can bring one to your door? 

Creating a Lifestyle to Maintain Weight Loss

A plan for weight loss is only as good as its execution.  Imagine having a meal plan that had 30 days of flexibility.  Imagine having an exercise plan with tremendous variety, had challenging and fun exercises for each day, and was built just for you.  When you bring the program from www.keepyourbetterhalf.com to your door, you are taught how to maintain and advance the lifestyle of weight loss and body change that began during your boot camp.  Not only do we walk with you through your first week(s) of weight loss, we give you all the materials you will need to maintain the habits of exercise and nutrition that fit nicely into your body change lifestyle.

Bring a weight-loss boot camp to your door.  Send an email to adam@keepyourbetterhalf.com or visit www.keepyourbetterhalf.com to learn more about bringing body change to your door.

Adam Erwin is a personal trainer who travels the world working with people who want to experience fat loss and weight loss in record-time. He currently resides in Minneapolis, MN and loves to train with people whose health does not match their lifestyle. Adam works closely in the Eden Prairie, Wayzata, Excelsior, Minnetonka, and Edina communities.  Visit www.keepyourbetterhalf.com to learn more about his work.