The Guinea Pig Trial Week 2

As you many know my triallists for the Fat Loss Action Blueprint are into Week 3 now.

They are performing short, intense workouts between 20-30 minutes long and eating clean, healthy food.

They are all busy people with no time for hours in the gym.

These are the latest results

(A new lady started this week so we'll see how she gets on next week!)

Jez

Weight 12 stone 5.....11 stone 11.75
Hips 39.25cm.....37.5cm
Waist 36cm.....33.5cm

Tom

Weight 79.9kg.....73.1kg
Hips 98cm.....96cm
Waist 93.5cm.....85.5cm

Jon

Weight 82.8kg.....77.2kg
Hips 102cm.....97.5cm
Waist 100cm.....91cm

Can't argue with that.

The programs out soon, so keep an eye out!

Jon

PS If you want free fat loss advice join my community at http://www.fatlossactions.ning.com

The scales don't matter

Bathroom scales are one of the reasons ladies never get better bodies. Chocolate-fuelled Sex in the City marathons are another.

Unfortunately I cannot think of a good enough article to stop you fantasizing about the lives of four American city-dwelling man-hunters. (Actually I can – it will be out soon)

The truth is every lady in the history of modern society has had minor (or major) heart palpitations at the sight of the small red hand whizzing up and around the bathroom scales.

It seems that to many this is the only thing that matters in life. Now I am not about to tell you that I believe the human mind is actually the most important thing and that true beauty is on the inside.

Whilst this may be true to a large degree, it won’t help you attract men in a bar.

The truth is that focusing on your weight can be a fast-track way to making your body look and feel even worse than it does now, no matter what state you’re in.

When you step on the scales, what you see is how much your body weighs. But consider the following:

- How often has a man come up to you in a bar and asked how much you weigh? They don't. They look at your face, your bum and various other parts!
- When you look in the mirror, are you thinking "Oh dear I weigh 2 stones too much" or are you thinking "I look fat".
- When you see a great looking model waltzing around the red carpet outside the Batman premiere, do you think "Oooh she weighs about 8 stones" or do you think " I wish I looked like her" or " I wish I had a bum like that!"

You should be seeing a recurring theme here. The word 'look'. How much you weigh should not be the focus.

It's all about how you look. For many, health and fitness is about how they FEEL. Looking great usually makes you feel great too.

The point is that what the scales say is a small, often irrelevant chapter in a much bigger story.

I am a man who likes ladies. I am attracted to ladies with good bodies (plus intelligence, humour and personal drive before I get the feminist brigade on my back!).

I am attracted to girls who weigh 7 stones and girls who weigh 10 stones. I couldn't care less about how much they weigh as there are many 'weighs' to look sexy and attractive.

Let's be honest here. If you are concerned about your body image it is because you want to be more attractive to the opposite sex (or same sex in some cases).

Your key concerns in improving your body image should not be the scales as an absolute end but your body fat levels, muscle tone and circumferences (waist, hips, upper arms etc)

It is possible to lose weight and look worse. Similarly you can lose only a little weight but look so much better.

Let's say you weigh 60kg and have a body fat percentage of 35%. This means you have a lean body mass (muscle, bone etc) of 39kg and fat stores of 21kg.

You crash diet, do lots of boring cardio and your weight drops to 55kg. Job done, yes?

No.

If you have been starving yourself and performing lots of cardio and no weight training you will have lost mainly muscle and water. So if out of the 5kg you lost, 4kg is muscle and 1kg is fat, your numbers will now look like this.

Lean body mass of 35kg. Body fat 20kg. This means your body fat percentage is now 36.4%.

So you have lost weight according to your scales but you are actually fatter than before! Not only will you look slightly fatter and feel flabbier but, because you have lost muscle, your metabolism will have slowed down.

This means you have to work harder and harder to lose more weight. So you do more cardio. You lose more muscle. Your metabolism slows down further.

You get the picture.

The girls with the great bums and tight arms and stomachs have sculpted those using weight training and sensible eating. There is no other way.

Cardio has its place but not long, boring runs. Short, sharp interval training will help you burn fat without losing muscle and you'll have a much better shape.

If this means your weight hasn't gone down much but your body fat is 10% lower allowing your newly toned muscles to pop into view, what's the problem?

If you believe eating less and exercising for longer each time is getting you a better body you're wrong.

People are probably commenting that you look stick-thin. Either that or you still look like you did a year ago but your metabolism is slower.

We all know the lady in the office who does every diet, talks about it, starves herself and ends up looking fatter 6 months later.

You can choose to be next by focussing on your weight or you can get smart, eat properly, train in short, sharp bursts using cardio and weights together.

I know which one will get more attention from the lads!

PLEASE LEAVE ME A COMMENT BELOW WITH YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE MATTER!

Train hard, eat clean.
Jon

What lies beneath

I'm part of a great online fitness pro community and spend a lot of time interacting with the guys and girls on it.

The leader of the community Dax Moy has challenged us all to write a blog about our true beliefs and our own intepretation of where we are headed.

I think if EVERYONE did this from time to time, the world would be a much happier place and there would be a hell of a lot more successful people.

So here goes Jon Le Tocq's view on the world...

1) The more I practice, the luckier I get.

I stole the quote from Gary Player but it's so true. There is no such thing as luck in my eyes. What many perceive as luck is where days, months or even years of preparation meets an opportunity. I have been told on many occasions I'm lucky to have my own studio in the city centre of Notts and lucky to have my own business doing my dream job at 25. Generally it's the same people who told me I was nuts to leave the financial security of Guernsey for a 5.77 per hour gym instructor job; the same people who questioned why I worked 60 hour weeks at the gym.

You get what you deserve.

Maybe not today or tomorrow or even this year, but you get what you deserve.

Overnight successes take years.

2) Don't focus too much on yourself in order to progress my life.

I have made mistakes in the last two years focussing too much on what I wanted and what I wanted to do and how I thought it should be done. Yes goal setting is imperative but I now realise that the key to individual success is other people.

Help other people, teach other people, learn from other people, follow other people, use other people as a guide to what you do or don't want to be.

Success will follow.

3) Burn your bridges and you will force yourself to move forward

It's so easy to cling to the security of the past but if you never let go, if you never force yourself out of your comfort zone and if you never take risks but always leave yourself the option to take backward steps that is exactly what you will do.

4) It's all about you.

This may seem a contradiction to me saying that success is all about other people but it's not. My point here is that the world is in the state it is in because it is always 'someone else's fault'.

- The economic crisis in Britain is America's fault.
- I'm fat because my friends make me drink lots.
- I'm poor because I don't get paid enough

All of the above are b*llocks.

We are all responsible for our actions.

I don't mind people celebrating their own successes whereas other people see it as boasting or gloating. These are usually people who are able to accept that their mistakes are also just that. THEIRS.

Only when we become accountable for everything good and bad in our lives can we become better people.

5) There isn't as much of a difference between success and failure as people think.

There is actually very few differences between the great men and women amongst us and 'Joe Average'

The key difference is this.

Successful people manage their fear.

They realise fear doesn't actually exist. Two identical people can be in the same situation but experience opposite outcomes because one allows fear to control them and the other accepts it as part of the experience. The physical situation is no different for either person but the outcome is MASSIVELY different because one stepped through the fear and the other walked backwards away from it (see Point 3).

6) Experiences are everything.

I believe that philosophies about life can be summed up in one snigle sentence.

When you are lying on your death bed, will you be able to say "I did everything there was to do"?

I have been very bad at this up until now. I missed the point of success and earning money.

This is changing.

7) I believe I am on the verge of greatness.

I have gone through the school bullying for being a hard worker.
I have gone through very difficult months at university feeling like I didn't fit in (because I couldn't control my fear of new situations)
I have left a comfortable life and stepped into the unknown in a very different environment.
I have left my friends and family behind in search of great things.
I have invested lots of time and money in things which may or may not work.
I have spent many weekends holed up worrying about things but trudging through it with the support of my family.
I have nearly quit on many occasions.

But I am still here. I am stronger. I am ready. I am ready.

I. AM. READY.

Why?

Because I am destined to do great things in this world.

I know I have the intelligence.
I know I have the drive.
I know people are starting to see me as a leader.
I know I have prepared and am ready for the opportunities when people will say I am lucky.

When the world is ready for what I have to tell them...

I AM READY.

Bring it on.

How to do cardio at home

Let's face it.

Not many people like gyms.

They're expensive and the average person gets no noticeable results.

They're also about as much use as a chocolate fireguard when you're always away on business.

So I like to teach people how to train at home or anywhere else for that matter.

One of the most underestimated ways of shedding body fat and dramatically improving your stamina levels and coordination is skipping.

A decent rope will cost you about 8-10 pounds (don't go for cheap options because they will break very quickyl trust me!)

Here's how to get better at it...

THIS is how you shed body fat for fun!

I am quite literally astounded.

For just 7 days my Fat Loss Action Blueprint guinea pigs have been performing 3 lots of 20 minute sessions with either bodyweight, dumbbells or kettlebells, interval training if they have time and eating clean.

I had hoped they would lose 2-3lbs each but was somewhat nervous about them letting me and themselves down.

It appears I was very, very wrong on many levels.

I seem to have underestimated the power of not only the systems they are using but also the power of being under some friendly pressure from me and the hundreds of people reading this!

These are the changes in vital stats I received today. I will do weekly updates on this blog then after the 4 week trial they will send in their photos (so if they are lying we'll expose them at the end...) ;-)


Jez (High level finance job, kids, too busy etc)

Weight change: 12 stone 5.....11 stone 13
Waist circumference: 36 inches.....34 inches
Hip circumference: 39.25 inches.....38.5 inches

Comments:

It is surprising how much more energy I have already, I am not feeling
half as tired in the evenings but I have always had real problems
staying asleep, getting to sleep was fine but just used to wake up loads
in the night, thinking about things too much but this seems to be
improving as well.

At first when I started the workouts I looked at it on paper and didn't think that it would work me hard enough because of the amount of time it was due to take, how wrong I was! This woke me up to the schedule and think the work outs are great, short, sharp and really hard work, depending how hard you want to push yourself.
Can't wait for the next week as have lost almost half a stone in the first week.

Tom (teacher, wanted to fit in social football, has to have lunch meetings filled with crappy foods, likes a Saturday night curry and a beer)

Weight change: 76.9kg.....73.5kg
Waist circumference: 93.5cm.....86.4cm
Hip circumference: 98cm.....96cm

Comments:

Looking back at the past week I have managed to fit in a lot of training around the work day. I’m making sure that I get in at least one piece of solid exercise a day; also I am making sure that I walk to work each day.

On the food side I have managed to eat well for the majority of the week. I had two sort of cheat meals due to training days at work (curry with all trimmings/ pie and chips). Apart from that everything else is going pretty well. I’ve started to eat cherry tomatoes are a snack through out the day, instead of other forms of snack. I’ve also found that because I’m planning my meals out that I am reducing my shopping bill, as I question what I put into my basket.

All in all I feel really alert, am sleeping well and have a lot more energy. Cravings have generally gone, the weight is dropping off and I look forward to what challenges this week puts in front of me.

Jon (I'm not sure what Jon does at present but he's a busy boy!)

Weight change: 81.8kg.....79kg
Waist circumference: 100cm.....95cm
Hip circumference: 102cm.....99cm

Comments:

Jon couldn't be contacted for further comments!

Sara - Currently can't be contacted - hopefully have an update soon.

*************************************************************************************

So there we have it.

Many of you have been slogging it out on treadmills or aerobics classes for over a year and not achieved those results.

So far, the guinea pigs have lost shed loads of weight in just one week and none of them live anywhere near where I work!

This is likely to slow down to 2-3lbs per week. Still not bad eh? ;-)

The best thing is they are all reporting higher energy levels. Fad diets are usually associated with torturous days trying to resist the urge to eat the office pot plant!

It's time to rethink EVERYTHING you thought you knew about fat loss.

DON'T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG SO YOU GET UPDATES AS THEY HAPPEN.

The Fat Loss Action Blueprint will be released soon!

Eat more, weigh less

If you are the average female (and I say this not in a sexist way) you will have a fear of the dreaded calorie. (Despite ramming chocolate in your face when Take That reveal they are splitting up again and won't release another corker.)

I have further proof that eating more is often the key to losing body fat.

Clearly this is more good quality, clean, unprocessed, natural food with no red wine involved to wash it down.

It is very hard to overeat calories if you eat grilled meat and vegetables. You'll feel full yet won't be inhaling calories faster than a Dyson (or all other good vacuum cleaners).

I have a client who was losing weight already but then stalled one week.

It was then revealed in the last 36 hours she had eaten a banana and a protein shake and was scared of over eating calories and undoing her good work.

This would equate to about 300 calories at a push.

Bearing in mind your body needs over twice this amount to function properly (brain, lungs, digestive system etc), we are talking about putting yourself in starvation mode. This is a defence mechanism we got from our cave dwelling ancestors.

When our bodies are put in severe calorie restriction they begin to STORE body fat in case another meal is not 'caught in the forest' for another few days. So by being on a very low calorie diet you can expect your muscle to diminish and your body fat percentage to go up.

This client of mine then introduced a small bowl of porridge for breakfast every day. (Oh yes CARBOHYDRATES!!! Shock horror...) and a few healthy snacks here and there.

She waltzed on to my scales 7 days later weighing 3 pounds less.

Now we still have a way to go to create a top-notch diet but that tells a story.

Yes a calorie deficit (more out than in) is essential for fat loss.

However, going as low as you can bear is a very, very, very bad idea.

The longer this goes on the harder it gets to convince your body to start shedding fat again because as far as it is concerned you might starve it again so it will hold on to body fat just in case.

This is one of the reasons those who go on crash diets usually end up fatter when they finally crack and binge. The body stores all the calories they then dive into!

It is also the reason fat loss can take a week or two when you finally sort your life out.

Give it time - you got yourself in this mess so have the patience to wait a week or so for the results!

Still luv ya though!
Jon

PS That particular client has lost 11 lbs in 5 weeks of training. We targetted a stone in 6 weeks so 3 lbs this week and that's mission accomplished! It could have been you!

What lies behind motivation?

I often get asked what keeps me motivated.

What makes the difference between those who DO things and those who think about things?

We're all human.

We all have a brain and a soul.

The difference is shown in these three videos.

The way I see it, the difference lies in what you want to see when you look back on your life.

Do you want to have worried about money all the time and never experienced anything?

Do you want to have drunk yourself stupid every weekend and never achieved anything?

Watch all the videos as they'll all give you a different message.

Everyone has their own reasons for doing what they do and accepting certain challenges.

I am humbled by these guys as the challenges I have taken on so far are nothing compared to what they endure.

You are stronger beyond what you can ever believe. The problem is that we only ever find out when we are put in extreme circumstances.

If you never get out your comfort zone and put yourself in such a position, you will never find out.

So the videos...

1) Thanks to my friend Dax Moy who posted this on his personal trainer community site. The guy is phenomenal - his name's Nick Vujicic if you want to search more on him. Make sure you ahve the sound on.

NICK VUJICIC VIDEO

2) An all time favourite of mine and one you may have seen before if you've subscribed to my emails for a while. Make sure you have the sound on.

TEAM HOYT VIDEO

3) A classic song. Labi Siffre came out of retirement to stand up for what he belived in and against oppression of his heritage and beliefs.

LABI SIFFRE VIDEO


Take up a challenge,
Jon

Five key elements of goal setting

My heart sometimes sinks when people come to me as a personal trainer and say 'I'd like to lose a couple of pounds' or 'I just want to tone up a bit'.

Where's the ambition?

Where's the challenge?

Where's the drive for a total transformation?

What's happened to "I don't know if I can achieve this but what the hell let's go for it."

Come on guys, get yourself out of all this depression and 'life's a bitch' attitude!

You all have it in you to make big changes, but you have to believe YOU are capable, not just those you see making a success of their lives.

We all have tough times, me included - suck it up and get on with it.

It has to begin with setting clear goals. My guinea pigs have already done that using the STORM process.

Your goals must be...

Specific - Exactly what do you want?
Timed - When by? Set a day
Operations based - How? What's the exact plan?
Relevant - Does it really matter or is it something you feel you should do to keep someone else happy?
Measurable - Can you clearly measure it to see if your plan is working?

Shape goals based on the above and your half way to achieving them - seriously!

On that note some moron made a comment to me on Facebook a few weeks ago implying that it was easy for me because I had probably never been fat and I somehow didn't have a right to then try to help people!

He's right - I've never been so lazy and lacking self-rspect to let myself get into that state in the first place.

However, the conversation turned to him implying you can't improve your body shape without bodybuilding exercises and machine based workouts for optimum 'burn' (yeah people still use that stupid word.)

So I embarked on an 'up yours' quest.

A quest which for beanpoles like me is tough and requires hard work and desire - to get bigger not smaller!

This guy clearly doesn't know me like you do. He didn't understand it would result in a backlash and a point proven.

3 weeks later....I rest my case your honour.

And for those who for some reason doubt my testimonials are valid, you know this is real as it's a picture from my recent Borneo trip.

Stop looking for reasons why NOT. If you want something enough, it's yours.

This guy gave me all the motivation I needed. And he's still fat.

I show you this for no other reason than to prove my genuine commitment to inspiring people to search for more, want more and achieve more.



PS This is not fake tan it's our dodgy studio energy-saving light bulbs!

Get outside and train!

I don't know why people find exercise so hard!

I just got out of bed an hour earlier than my usual Sunday rising to meet a couple of clients in Wollaton Park, Nottingham for some sprints, kettlebell work, burpees and whatever else we felt like.

Despite a minor back issue on my part this was awesome and just what I needed!

It's so good to just get out in the crisp November air amongst the grass, trees and aggressive deer who apparently are in rutting season.

It's left me feeling ultra-creative and ready to hit my latest projects.

The last couple of days I've felt a bit stale and needed something to clear the tubes and open up the brain wave channels again!

You'll be amazed what exercise, especailly exercise in nature will do for your fitness, wellbeing and mental peace.

Try it next Sunday. You'll be amazed!

Jon
PS If you want lots of workouts you can do in the park at home or anywhere else you fancy, join up at http://www.stormforcefitness.com

Top 10 things to increase daily energy levels

Everyone has crap days.

Everyone has days when they feel like there's lead weights on their eyelids!

It doesn't have to be like this.

Unless you can't be bothered to make changes.

If you're not interested you wouldn't be reading this.

So we know you want to know.

What we don't know is whether you want to spend a bit of time IMPLEMENTING things.

Don't read this if you have no intention of changing your days into energy-fuelled productivity machines.

Here's the Top 10 Energizers for you.

1) Do not drink ANY caffeine. It will have the opposite effect. What goes up must come down. In this case you come down further than you go up!

2) Get some exercise for crying out loud! Exercising early in the morning will have you buzzing (if you do an intense session not a mediocre jog which is enough to put anyone to sleep!). It's a vicious circle which will see you energy levels spiral so you want to exercise more resulting in higher levels of energy and 'happy hormones'!

3) Eat 5-6 small meals per day with carbs and protein in. Small meals like this take 5 minutes to eat because they're small. Use a protein supplement as a last resort if you only have time to knock a milkshake back - you'll be amazed at the difference. This is critical.

4) Get to bed before 11pm. Get up when the alarm goes off. No snoozing. It won't help but WILL make you feel drowsy all morning.

5) Eat breakfast. The excuse of not having time is absolute rubbish and you know it. It's a pathetic excuse because you could just go to bed 10 minutes earlier and get up 10 minutes earlier, you're just too lazy and it sucks!

6) Have a plan of jobs to do in the day. When you are doing little bits of everything it will stress you out more and mentally drain you - I'm still practising this but it makes a big difference. Taking 10 minutes to plan in the morning will make you ultra-productive and more up for getting everything done!

7) Mid-afternoon is normally the worst time because people eat big lunches then experience a similar come down to coffee at 10am! Try to exercise outdoors at lunch time then eat half you lunch straight after and the rest about 3 hours later so your energy levels are constant. It also means when you're knackered at 5pm you don't have to think about the gym. The natural light outside will do wonders for you as well!

8) Eat clean food. All the preservatives and chemicals in processed food is really hard to digest which means higher body fat and more energy wasted on digestion. It will slow you down and make you sluggish. Avoid anything that comes out of a packet. Don't 'cut some out' - eliminate it.

9) Drink lots and lots of water - more than feels normal. I'm taling 5-6 pints of water each day at regular intervals. Flush out your system and everything will function better giving you a spring in your step and keeping you brain functioning properly.

10) Take time out to recharge the batteries. This is something I've always been bad at but this year's really hit home that I am not invincible and need to sit back and watch the world go by sometimes. Turn your phone off after 8pm, turn the TV off after 9 (the lights and noise will stress you out) and just read a book or listen to music (I like ministry of sound chill out tunes personally!). Gather your thoughts then come out the blocks in the morning (as soon as the alarm goes off - remember no snoozing!)

If possible put the kids in a cupboard and lock the door - they'll get over it.

Jon