A Great Whey 2 Get Protein!

Protein is important. Whether you are doing a nutrition plan like P90x that has you eating A TON of protein for the first 30 days, or if you are just a regular Joe...we need protein. Primarily it is for building and repairing body tissues (like muscle) and structures. Sometimes, protein is not easy to get in healthy forms. For instance, there is a good amount of protein in a hamburger...but it is a hamburger. Even lean ground turkey meat from the supermarket is not only expensive, but it is generally riddled with antibiotics. Free range turkey is much better but it is expensive, and shoot, I am poor. And what about the vegetarians it is hard for them to get complete proteins! it is recommended we eat as many grams of protein as our weight (180 lbs person should eat 180 grams of protein) Jeeze! How do we get enough protein in our bodies?! Answer: Whey protein powder.

A lot of people (girls especially, no offense ladies) equate buying a tub of some kind of powder from GNC with a massive body builder juiced up on steroids. WRONG. Buying a package of whey protein and drinking it with some water, milk, or in a smoothie, is not going to make you huge. It is just a simple way to get easy to digest, low to non fat protein in your system. Plus there are tons of fun flavors. Don't get me wrong, some brands are awful, some are excellent (I'll reveal what to look for below, and what tastes best), but whey protein powder is a goldmine for getting in shape.

Here are just a few benefits of whey protein:

* Naturally complete protein, i.e. is has all the amino acids for a daily diet
* Easy to digest, fast protein to speed muscle building and recovery
* More energy is needed to burn/digest protein --> more weight loss
* Slows glucose absorption in the bloodstream, reduces hunger cravings via lower insulin levels and increases fat burning
* High amounts of leucine, a key amino acid for promoting lean muscle tissue growth

Ok, so here are the best whey proteins on the market in my opinion.

1. Team Beachbody Whey (was there any doubt, I mean come on, I am a beachbody coach)...very fine and delicious, not too chalky at all. Chocolate and vanilla, they keep it simple. Buy it here

2. AMP Whey by GNC. Almost like sugar cause its so fine and not chalky (though not much sugar in it). Very very fine crystalized look, dissolves amazingly well, tastes fantastic.

3. Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard (Pictured above) or Muscle Milk. This is my go to generally, so good, lots of great flavors and it is not too expensive. It looks chalky, but it mixes really well.

Stick to the basic flavors, chocolate, vanilla, cookies and cream. The fancy flavors like banana, or mocha are risky but some people like 'em.

You should generally look for around 18 - 25g of Protein per scoop, no more than 140 calories per scoop, low sugar, low fat, and it should have all 23 essential amino acids in it, most do. Also, with regards to protein bars, the best tasting are the Pure Protein brand (Wal mart has them), but the P90x ones are good too, a little more chalky and power-bar tasting i.e. mealy.

Protein Powder can be mixed with oatmeal/cereal, I use it in my Shakeology smoothies with milk and some frozen fruit for breakfast. It is good to have some protein after a workout to help muscle repair and growth. I mix it with my P90x Results and Recovery Formula (which is essentially pure sugar! MMMmmmMMMmmm) So, add some Whey protein to your diet, whoever you are, it is a great whey to get protein (hahahahahaha). Make sure you spread it out through the day through all your 5 meals. All 5 meals should have a balance of complex carbs, protein, and fiber. Please don't think that drinking whey protein is going to get you in shape. You have to work out to do that :)

Get at me on twitter (@CoachZoso), check out my Facebook fan page and friend me :), email me with questions. I love to help out and coach! I am studying to be a counselor, so its in my nature.

Namaste.

Fat Wallet, Trim Body: Saving Money and Eating Healthy

In these tough economic times, it is hard to eat healthy because it is inevitably more costly than eating junk. Many of us are students or young professionals who have no money to spare for healthy food. I have some simple tips to help. Sure you can live cheaply on a diet of soda, bologna, white bread, and chips but you aren't going to live very long or very well. There are ways to eat healthy without emptying your wallet. I don't eat organic. Right now it is far too expensive for me as I really don't have a steady income at all, I am a student. The following are things I currently do to eat healthy and get a lot of good calories for cheap. Keep in mind I am a poor graduate student! A lot of eating healthy is just cutting out money spent on useless calories like alcohol, sugary junk etc. Put some money aside to buy healthy stuff...

#1 Frozen and Canned foods! Fruits and veggies in a can are cheaper than fresh produce and often have more nutrients because they are frozen or canned immediately. This preserves the nutrients. Fresh fruit is great but if you get it too late a lot of the nutrients are lost as it spends days traveling and sitting on the shelf. Put some frozen fruit in a Shakeology smoothie, it is awesome. Buy a can of navy beans and throw it on a salad.

#2 In Season Shopping! If you shop for fruits and veggies when they are in season there will be a large quantity of them to choose from

#3 Tap Water Don't buy bottled water or flavored waters when you are at a super market. Just drink out of a tap, or if you have to, buy a Brita Filter. Tap water saves you a lot of money and there is research now that shows that some tap waters have extra minerals in them that promote health.

#4 Buy Multivitamins! Take your vitamins, as many of our parents and grandparents used to say! It is important to take a multivitamin every morning. It is a simple and cheap way to get your daily dose of essential vitamins and minerals without having to buy tons of veggies and fruits (though those are important too).

#5 Ditch Some Condiments I know condiments are tasty, but sometimes I will look in a friend's fridge and see 4 different bottles of salad dressing that are completely unnecessary. Get one bottle of salad dressing and a bottle of some Simply Heinz (no HFCS).

#6 Plan Ahead, Buy What You Will Eat Don't buy things that you aren't going to use or going to finish, this is a no brainer. Make sure if you get fruit, veggies, breads that you are going to eat them. Have a plan about what you eat and when you eat it. For the truly obsessive, you can make out a menu of meals for the week and shop accordingly.

I know eating healthy isn't easy, it is hard to make the adjustment to non fatty/sugary foods, but you will be happier and healthier for it. Don't use the money excuse to prevent yourself from eating well. There are cheap ways to eat healthy. Get in touch with me if you have any questions or comments!

CoachZoso

11 Nutrition Nuggets for Busy Bodies

So a lot of my readers live on college campuses, or they are extremely busy with their jobs, OR BOTH. Some of us are just so busy all of the time, so how do we do it? Well personally I think we as Americans should take on less! But...that won't happen any time soon...So how do we find time to practice good nutrition habits? Here are some tips that I follow to help me achieve optimal nutrition and peak levels of fitness while being a graduate student, having a job, and managing a social life.

#1 Ditch The Energy Drink and Soda - The amounts of caffeine and sugar in these drinks is shocking. These will cause a sugar and energy rush that will feel good but then you are going to come to a huge crash and ultimately your energy levels will be completely sapped. You won't have energy to work out or anything else really and your metabolism will be confused and not work properly; it also affects your sleep. Find natural energy in good foods and Shakeology! Also, carbonation messes with your lungs and makes cardio a lot harder.

#2 Whole Grain When You Can - When there is an option for a whole grain anything over a white bread or enriched anything, TAKE IT. Enriched white breads drain all of the nutritional value of a whole grain food (pasta, sliced bread, cereal etc). You get more fiber, vitamins, and minerals with whole grain bread and complex carbs provide better energy. You also don't get a spike in your blood sugar!

#3 Portion Control - I know it is hard when you enter a buffet style place as a college student to not just eat everything in sight. Try your best to measure out small portions when you eat! Have some self control.

#4 Certain Smoothies and Bars = Good! - A quick smoothie or Shakeology in the morning is the perfect way to start the day and it is so easy. Milk, ice, frozen fruit, whey protein and you are set! Bars are also great, but be aware of the big ones that have tons of saturated fat and corn syrup! The Pure Protein brand bars are excellent!

#5 Bring Food On The Go!!!! - This is probably my best tip. It is important to control what you put in your body. So when you go to work, pack a cooler full of 1% fat cottage cheese, greek yogurt, fruits, veggies, hummus etc.. When you go to a long grad school class, do the same! Make an all natural PB and whole fruit Jelly sandwhich and a Banana. AMAZING meal. There are simple ways to prep food for yourself that take NO TIME AT ALL. I do it all the damn time.

#6 Read Labels, Ask Questions - When you buy something in the store, read labels. If you can't pronounce the majority of the ingredients you are better off without it. Look out for the dreaded high fructose corn syrup, caffeine, trans fats, saturated fats, and fake sugars (sucralose and aspartame, almost as bad as regular sugars but for different reasons). When you are in a restaurant, ask the waiter or waitress for something to be prepared a different way (whole grain pasta with veggies instead of enriched pasta in alfredo sauce), they want your money and will probably do it! (Just leave a nice tip :) )

#7 - Sugar is OK at the RIGHT TIME! - Sugar after a workout like the P90x Results and Recovery Formula is OK. Sugar all the time is bad. Make sure they are good complex sugars from fruit! I try to measure out having sugar (agave nectar in yogurt, fruit, a protein bar) after a meal cause I LOVE DESSERT. Do the same to satisfy your sweet tooth.

#8 - Eat Mindfully - I don't want to get all Buddha on you, well I actually very much want to but I will practice some self control...try to enjoy your meals. Enjoy peeling that orange, enjoy the smell of your food, eat it slowly and really savor it. Too often, and I am incredibly guilty of this, we eat in front of the TV or in a rush...if we have the time to enjoy a meal on a sunny day, do it! You will feel more fulfilled.

#9 No More Fast Food - Seriously...if you have to eat quickly, do yourself a favor and at least go to a subway to get a turkey sub with mustard and tons of vegetables, pile 'em on! Fast food is going to kill you slowly, very slowly and painfully. Those of you who live in a big city, I know you have access to healthier options like a health shake place (though some are dangerous and have lots of sugar) or a salad bar (Olive oil and balsamic is the best dressing to eat! Dont pile on crappy fake dressings) type place...ditch the Mickey Ds, ditch the BK.

#10 Try Shakeology - I know I plug this a lot, but I really wouldn't talk about if I didn't believe it to work and be so important for your fitness, nutrition, and overall health. There are things in this health shake that you cannot get anywhere else. Green Superfoods, Red Superfoods, Supergrains...all from exotic wonderful places with great health benefits! It has helped me transform and feel better, it can do the same for you!

#11 Take it Slow - Sometimes it is hard for us to try and make a complete 180 degree shift from unhealthy foods to healthy foods. Often, we try to do it and fail and then just beat ourselves up and go back to eating junk to relieve the stress of failure! Maybe just take a few steps each week and slowly get into healthy habits. Don't do all of these at once, you will just stress yourself out.

Eating in a fast paced world in a fast paced job or a fast paced graduate school with loads of work can be extremely difficult. You have to make a conscious effort to do so. Once you do, you will find it to be the best decision of your life. Treat your body well, put good things inside of it and you will be rewarded with sustained energy. Nutrition is the cornerstone for any transformation process or workout regiment, and heck it just feels great. Whole healthy foods taste great and help prevent obesity, diabetes, heart disease etc. Hopefully these tips will help you in your busy lives.

As always, find me on twitter (@CoachZoso), Facebook (Get Trim With Tim), or via email! I'd love to hear your problems about nutrition and fitness. You don't have to do it alone.

CoachZoso

Does Shakeology Taste Good?

This is just a little augmentation to my review of Shakeology. The review I gave focused more-so on its benefits. It increases your immune system, maximizes your metabolism and utilization of good calories, cleanses your body, helps you lose weight, and fights off disease. But I need to give a word about how it tastes...

Most people look at the ingredients and think, that is going to taste disgusting. I have a direct quote from a friend of mine who got Shakeology recently: "This stuff tastes better than Coldstone Creamery!" For those who do not know, Coldstone is an ice cream chain...a really tasty ice cream chain. Talk about decadent! So he straight up said, Shakeology tastes like an ice cream milk shake. Shakeology tastes good. Shakeology tastes great. Shakeology tastes phenomenal.

If you are pressed for time, always on the move at school or at a busy job, Shakeology is the way to go! Just go buy a blender, get some frozen fruit, get some chocolate Shakeology and mix it all together with ice. You will be so happy. I have more energy, it helps me rest better, and it helps me in my workouts like P90x and Insanity. I literally look forward to it every morning and it is the tastiest meal of my day. Email me about it, or ask me for some good recipes! Keep on digging friends.

CoachZoso

Does Shakeology work? A Personal Shakeology Review.

I became a Team Beachbody coach for many reasons. I wanted to help people get in shape, I loved the workout programs, and in a word...Shakeology.

I cannot stress how wonderful this stuff is. This Shakeology review is an effort to show you how my personal experience with the drink really jump started my lifestyle change, gave me all my nutritional value in one meal, and ultimately helped me reach excellent physical condition, increased energy, and a general calmness and well-being. If you want to get in shape (and I really mean this) and/or simply get healthier, Shakeology is vital. This review answers the question, does Shakeology work? Resounding yes!

Because they say it best...here is an excerpt from the Shakeology site:

"This patent-pending daily nutritional shake helps your body gently eliminate toxins more efficiently while allowing for better absorption of the essential nutrients you need. A proprietary blend of digestive enzymes and prebiotics helps your body progressively eliminate the toxins that build up over time from eating today's highly processed foods.

At the same time, whole-food ingredients deliver the essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals your body needs to curb cravings, allowing your body to shed stored fat while the more than 20 different antioxidants and phytonutrients help reduce free radical damage that can lead to heart disease, heart attacks, high blood pressure, and stroke."

So what is inside of it? 70 ingredients from all over the world. Some pretty regular like blueberries and some very rare like Chia, a seed native to Mexico that has loads of protein, fiber, and essential oils in it. Here are just a few (some you may know): Chlorella, Barley Grass, Kamut Grass, Pomegranate, Camu-Camu, Maca Powder, Ginko Powder, Reishi Powder, Flax, Chia, Quinoa, Amarinth, Green Tea Extract. The list goes on...

What does it taste like? So you must think, "Ok that is all well and good, it helps me curb cravings, stay full, digest regularly, feel energized, improve my immune system, get me 23 essential vitamins and minerals, and lose weight...but how can all of those ingredients taste good?!" I don't know how they did it...but my god, Shakeology literally tastes like a chocolate milkshake. Just this morning I mixed a cup of OJ, a frozen Banana, and a scoop of Chocolate Shakeology...absolutely incredible! There are tons of recipes for it (including cookies) that come with your package of Shakeology and tons more on the Teambeachbody.com website! I look forward to drinking it every day because I know it is helping me get healthy and it tastes so good.

My Experience. When I first started drinking it, I immediately felt a lot of the awful junk leaving my body over the first week. Then I saw weight drop off me. Then I felt more energized. I also slept well while drinking Shakeology. (Not saying it is going to fix insomnia, but studies have shown that if your body doesn't get enough nutrition it can cause increased cortisol levels (stress) that keep you up at night). It propelled me through my first run of Insanity and it is currently helping me through P90x. It comes to my address once a month on schedule (free shipping too!) and I plan on drinking it for life. It is just beyond convenient. We don't have much time in today's busy world to eat really healthy. This is the game changer. If you want to get optimal nutrition but don't have time, have to go to work, to class, commute, whatever, this is the answer I would not be writing this if I didn't believe in it. Thousands of folks drink this stuff because they know the benefits. It also keeps you honest and makes you want to make changes in other areas of your diet! Don't waste the benefits by eating junk when you use Shakeology, eat healthy too to get optimal results!

Here are what doctors and health care professionals are saying about, do yourself a favor, watch the whole thing, they are incredibly knowledgeable!





So I really hope you read the whole Shakeology review and watched the video. I hope you are convinced. What is next? If you have questions you need to get in touch with me via a Facebook message (My links are on the top right), email me @ edgarallanpwned@gmail.com, or find me on twitter @CoachZoso. If you want to jump in and buy it right away, just go to http://shakeology.com/CoachZoso. (You can get free shipping if you do the monthly delivery program!). Hopefully this will jump start your lifestyle change (cause that is what it is) and eventually you will let me coach you on teambeachbody.com :) Good luck everyone with your endeavors!

Namaste,

Tim

Does P90x Work? My P90x Review, Real Results

The following is a P90x review that sets out to answer the question, does P90x work? This point is so crucial and it is why I did it so lemme just start with this: once you buy P90x (or Insanity, or Turbofire, or Chalean Xtreme) you have a home gym. You never have to go to the gym again once you buy P90x!!

I have done P90x 2 and a half-ish times. I say 2 and a half-ish because after my first round (which was a hybrid mixing Insanity and P90x) I sort of made up a mish-mash hybrid of all kinds of workouts, including P90x. So this P90x review comes from someone who has excellent knowledge on Tony Horton himself (I read his book), the workouts within the program, the nutrition plan (which is amazing), and that motivation factor you feel when doing the P90x workouts. So lets get to my awesome P90x Review.

What you Get: When one purchases P90x, they receive 12 DvD workouts, a nutrition guide, a fitness guide. The DvDs are as follows: Yoga X, Chest and Back, Chest Shoulders Triceps, Back and Biceps, Shoulders and Arms, Core Synergistics, Cardio X, Plyometrics X, Stretch X, Kenpo X, Legs and Back, and an intro DvD on "How to Bring it" which was extremely helpful. Each DvD ranges from 45 minutes to an hour long depending on the workout.

What you need to Buy: There is some equipment you need to purchase in order to do P90x how it was intended. In the least, you need resistance bands. Teambeachbody.com has some great ones that I used and I obviously got results. The CEO of the company (photo left) actually just used bands when he did P90x and he got in insane shape ("absolutely shredded" as Tony Horton put it). The resistance bands are great because if you get a door attachment you can use the bands for pull-ups too (for those who don't want to do pull ups just yet). For those who are ready for the pull-ups, you would also need a pull up bar, but again Teambeachbody has a great one!

The Set-up: The program is 90 days long. There are 3 ways to do it. A lean version (popular amongst the ladies), a classic version, and a doubles version (adding Cardio X to the morning 3x a week). You alternate between resistance workouts (lifting) and yoga/cardio workouts. You have 6 days where you work out, and one off day; this continues for 3 weeks, and then your 4th week is a recovery week (very important) and then the next month starts. The program is designed for total body fitness. A lot of people think that P90x is simply for getting huge, this is not the case. You can approach this workout any way you want and Tony explains this in the fitness book and on the DvDs (i.e. doing 15 reps for a lean look vs. 8 reps for a bulk look).

"Huh?" say your pectorals...Why it Works: The whole idea behind P90x is this notion of muscle confusion. You sort of keep the muscles on their toes by never letting them reach total mastery. In other words, your muscles adapt to workouts and movements, master them (by week 3's end), and recover. Just when they think they have it all figured out you go and change up the routines in month 2 and confuse the hell out of them again! There is no plateau for your muscles. The variations in workouts makes sure you are always confusing and maximizing. Muscle confusion works. And P90x knows muscle confusion!

Some X-treme Notes:

You don't need tons of room to do this workout program but you do need a decent amount of space, but we can talk about that when you inevitably decide to get P90x :).

You have to take the nutrition plan seriously, it is critical to your success; and as I always say, DO NOT starve yourself. This nutrition plan is world class and helps you eat healthy.

Speaking of nutrition...Shakeology will jump start your healthy eating habits and is a great supplement to P90x.

Speaking of supplements, it is recommended you get the Results and Recovery drink. I use it and it is wonderful but if you want to go through P90x without it for your first round thats fine, but you will be extra sore (not just a bit sore).

Tony is a funny and smart guy, and the workouts are intense...these are not easy! But as he always says, "do your best and forget the rest!" He is a human being, not some god, and he knows we are all human beings too.

Have fun with the workouts, once you get into a rhythm, it is awesome. It may be hard at first but pace yourself and give yourself some credit!

The Verdict: This workout is for everyone from college ultimate frisbee athletes, to young professionals, to 37 year old moms, to 55 year old men. There are thousands of transformation stories and success stories regarding P90x.

I need to repeat this point...once you buy P90x and some equipment, you have a home gym for life. It is the same with any Team Beachbody program. You do not have to step foot in a gym again once you buy P90x. It is so convenient People spend hundreds of dollars a year on gym memberships. This is a one time purchase and you are set forever!

This P90x review was an effort to show you from a more personal perspective that this stuff WORKS. If you have questions about P90x (individual workouts, modifications, hybrids, supplements, equipment), or Team Beachbody, or Insanity, or Shakeology, or just wanna talk about anything ever find me on Facebook (links on the top right), twitter (@CoachZoso).

See you folks, keep bringin' it!

Tim

Finding Time to Work Out and Eat Right

Young people, twenty somethings, graduate students, young professionals in job one, whoever we are, we tend to put proper eating and fitness on the back burner. More and more in today's world young adults are tasked with an insurmountable amount of things to do. I was talking to my best friend Brian the other day, and he more or less worked from 9am until midnight or so, and he doesn't even get compensated for it. We are asked to do so much with so little.

Stress is almost applauded in this country. I mean we hate it, but we do so much to produce it and so little to get rid of it. The toll this takes on our mental, emotional, and physical well being is unbelievable. No wonder we find a quick dinner at a pizza place, or get Chinese food, or eat fast food, and never work out. The quick burst of fats and calories tastes good and provide us with a comfort, a very short term comfort to the stress. Our stress goes down, but it will always come back because that is the human condition. Crazy western multi-tasking society or no, stress will always return.

So why not accept the reality that the difficulties of life will always be there and try to work on a more long term attempt to feel better about yourself that a burger just can't provide...getting in shape and eating well. I know, I know, we tend to look at eating well and working out as another task to add to the list of things, heck I do always: "I am too tired," "Veggies don't taste good" (uh, try Shakeology!) "I have no time."

Your body saying no to exercising and eating well is a quick gut reaction that diminishes the more you live well and your body realizes, " wait...this is actually awesome, keep it coming!" I have found that once I started setting aside an hour a day to workout, and I made an effort to eat different/healthier foods (slowly at first), I enjoyed eating healthy and I looked forward to working out. It has an incredible effect on your mind, body, and soul. I was actually finding the time to work out and discovering how to get fit.

The best things a busy young professional or graduate student can do to find time to work out is set up a calendar. (Side note: that is what rules about P90x and Insanity and all this jazz, they give you a calendar and everything so lazy people like me don't have to write one out.) If you can find just one hour a day, and commit to that hour, say no to going to the bar after work cause you gotta go do a Plyometrics workout...that is where it starts. So set up some time. Another bonus: Your home becomes your gym! When you do a program like P90x or Insanity, you never need to leave your house! This is how to get fit folks. A lot of people who do these programs (just like me) hate gyms! They are intimidating. Well I am here to tell you that you can get into shape without entering a gym ever again. These programs and supplements are how to get fit.

With regards to eating, a twenty something can find convenient ways to eat. Protein shakes with Shakeology...boom. I have one every day and it is just stupid healthy (and so tasty). Prepare some food for yourself, I didn't say cook (cooking every meal takes too much time! Time you don't have!), you don't have to know how to cook anything (maybe pasta and eggs).

I live in a dorm room right now as Graduate Assistant in residence life and I still eat healthy. Salads, hummus, cottage cheese, whole grain pasta, protein bars, kashi cereal, eggs. I cook maybe one meal a day, I know we can all cook at least one meal a day no matter how busy we are. Commit to surrounding yourself with good foods. Buy good stuff at the grocery store...that is where it starts. This is where you learn how to eat well. This is where you learn how to get fit.

As always, facebook, twitter, email, team beachbody (CoachZoso), find me, TALK TO ME, love to help :). I am a young adult also, we don't have too much time right now, lots going on. I have done it, I find time, you...can...too

-Tim (CoachZoso)

P.S. if you are very stressed, try meditation :) ask me about that too!

Dieting Too Hard: Starvation Mode

So in order to lose weight, we should just starve ourselves right? I mean that makes the most sense, if you put less in your body you are going to be smaller. While this may seem like it makes the most sense, when you are exercising regularly (or not) the last thing you should do is deprive your body of necessary calories, or else you run the risk of entering the dreaded starvation mode, when your body will hold onto all the fat in the body because it is not getting enough nourishment.

Now if you don't exercise that much or at all, you should not eat less than 1200 calories a day as female, and 1500 calories a day as a male. But for those of us who exercise moderately to a lot need to make sure we are getting a good amount of calories; when you keep stepping on the scale and not seeing any drop in weight it may be due to the fact that you are not eating enough! Sounds crazy right? It is true, here is why...

Your metabolism needs energy to work! This means that if you don't give your metabolism those necessary calories to actually do the work it is going to come to a halt. It will literally stop working and your body will enter a flight/fight mode (back to caveman times I suppose) and try to hold onto every bit of fat it can to ensure it has energy stores (lb of fat has 3500 calories, that's a lot of energy!).

So, if you are working out a lot, 4-7 times a week, you HAVE to make sure you replenish your body immediately after a workout (some P90x results and recovery formula tasty...) and all through the day with 4-6 smaller meals. If you are trying to lose weight, your body needs a lot of GOOD calories in order to do so.

So as an example, after doing the Harris Benedict Equation (look it up on wiki, it is a great tool!) I found that I need to eat around 3000-3200 calories a day if I want to maintain my weight with the amount of exercise I do...I want to LOSE weight though, so what I do is create a deficit (not a huge one). I eat around 2500-2700 calories a day. That way I get a slow burn in my body, and end up burning around 3500 calories (as you remember this is a lb. of fat) a week! Perfect!

In the worst cases, and this is VERY extreme...you can enter into super extreme starvation mode, called muscle cannibalization. Where your body can't find any energy to help it function and it will actually eat your muscles. Nom Nom Nom!!!! You will start to lose muscle if you don't eat enough! So don't be afraid to eat when you are doing a diet/exercise program, it is crucial. But eat well, don't eat crap! (a bit of sugar is good after a hard workout to help restore glycogen in the muscles and reduce lactic acid (soreness)). Keep at it folks! Follow me (@CoachZoso) on Twitter!

Keep Digging

Tim (Coach Zoso)

I Transformed, So Can You!

My entire life I've been made fun of because of how I looked. I would try to take alternate routes when I walked home from school because I didn't want to run into a couple kids who always made fun of me. Peers at school would poke fun at me, ladies never found me attractive, I never felt good about myself physically. I think I got overweight because how I was raised, I stress ate a lot when things were bad at home, and things seemed to always be bad; I also used videogames to cope. I had a couple stretches of months in my teens where I would exercise and lose weight...but fast forward to post graduation and you'd find me in a computer chair a good 4 to 5 hours out of the day playing computer games, eating junk like when I was a kid. I was around 225 lbs. and close to the worst shape of my life. I had always been way too scared to do something about my physical fitness. I felt comfortable in front of that computer screen, not putting myself out there and trying to get into shape. I think we all feel these kinds of comforts when we eat certain foods, drink alcohol, or sit in our air conditioned rooms watching television.

One night, I saw an infomercial for a product called Insanity and a switch went off in my head. I was tired of sitting around, eating unhealthy and living unhealthy. I got the product and never looked back. Insanity was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life, mentally and physically. I was huffing and puffing, sweating hard on the floor through the first week or two. Then the workouts got a little easier...I started to get better at them. When I hit month 2, I was getting excited for the workouts. I was also seeing results. When I finally finished, Insanity helped me drop 2 pants sizes and almost 35 lbs.

The results I got would not have been as great had I not eaten well, dug deep, and used the Team Beachbody community for support. I took to heart everything that I heard from those videos . I really did have to dig deep to get through every workout. But after the puddles of sweat and the endless plyometrics, I conquered it. With the help of Shakeology and a balanced diet (this was so crucial, eating contributes to roughly 60% of the success one has with any workout regime) I got through.

Not everyone can have a switch go off in their head that gets them off the couch. That is why I am here. I want to help you get through these workouts. I want to encourage you. The support is so critical to successfully completing a program and getting amazing results. Now don't think I went from 225 lbs. to a six pack. Ha! You have to be realistic with yourself. Give yourself some realistic goals, have patience, have dedication, don't miss your workouts and this stuff just gets fun. I know it is hard for the twenty somethings to find time, being a young graduate student or a young professional starting his or her career, we don't tend to think about fitness, it goes on the back burner. I am here to show you that you can find the time...make a choice, not an excuse. Lets start your transformation story together.

If I can do this, you can too. If you wanna chat with me let me know! Email me at tim.bell02@gmail.com! Check out my Coach Site, Facebook Page, and friend me! I want to be available for you, and help you get in shape.

Namaste,

CoachZoso