Fitness Ninja

Have you ever lost weight?  Do you want to lose weight now?  How much would you want to lose?...

I was training some people this morning and we were talking about the yo-yo effects of “dieting” to lose weight.  Lose 15lbs, gain it back, lose 15lbs, gain it back again.  It happens all the time, and here’s the problem:  when you lose weight, you will lose some combination of fat AND muscle.  It’s almost impossible to lose just fat, especially without exercise.  When you gain the weight back, it’s all fat.  So you are actually increasing your body fat every time you gain weight back.  You may have started out at 140lbs, and let’s say 30% body fat…now you’re 140lbs and 35% body fat!!  I may not be a mathematical wizard, but my trainer math tells me that’s probably not a good thing;-)

So what’s the solution?  Well obviously I always recommend proper nutrition AND exercise for a healthy lifestyle.  BUT, instead of LOSING weight, try changing your mindset, and think of it as GETTING RID OF weight.  When you lose your car keys, you attempt to find them.  When Lassie runs away from home, you post signs around the neighborhood in hopes of getting your best friend back.  Have you ever lost 20lbs and gone searching for it?  Put an ad on Craigslist and waited for that email saying someone found your weight?!  Called up your friends and asked if you left your 20lbs at their house???  OF COURSE NOT!! (At least I hope not anyway, that’d be kind of disturbing)  I would like to believe that when anyone loses weight, they fully intend to keep it off.  Unfortunately, too many people FIND the weight they lost, and many times, they find weight that someone else lost too. 

Weight loss is always one of the top New Year’s resolutions.  And in my career, is a goal of about 95% of my clients.  I want people to think of it differently.  I want people to tell me how much weight they want to get rid of.  When you get rid of your old socks, you don’t plan on getting them back again.  Your excess weight should be no different.  So how much weight do YOU want to get rid of???  And what are you going to do to get rid of it FOREVER?!?! 

The Fitness Ninja

When you exercise, do you have purpose?  Is there a reason you are in the gym, running on the street, riding your bike, using that Total Gym you bought from Chuck Norris one late night?  I see it happen all too often.   People going through the motions, strolling on the treadmill, reading a paper while pedaling aimlessly on the recumbent bike, doing a set on the leg press machine then sitting there for WAAAAY too long before actually moving again.  We’ve all seen those people, and probably a time or two, have BEEN those people. 

There has to be something that drives you to actually DO SOMETHING when you go to the gym!!  In my opinion, there are people that exercise (the treadmill strolling, machine sitting individuals), and there are people that WORK OUT!!  Which one are you?!  Do you truly push yourself, trying to find the limits of your physical capabilities?  It’s a tough thing to do without someone standing over you “making” you do it.  But I always tell my clients, I don’t “make” them do anything.  They always have a choice.  And I have been fortunate to have clients that are willing to be motivated and pushed, and those people often achieve things they never dreamed of. 

Quick story.  Randy and I are currently training a guy with incredible purpose.  Wanna know what that purpose is?  To LIVE!!  His health was in EXTREMELY poor condition, and his doctor told him he could either manage his death, and hopefully live until he was 60, or he could do something about it.  (And let me just say that we need more doctors like that, doctors that understand there’s a world outside of medication)  Last week, this man lost his hundredth pound since last June.  But it’s been so much more than that.  He is off virtually ALL his medication, he can wear sizes of clothes he hasn’t been able to wear in years, and he FEELS great!!  He is literally a different man.  And it’s honestly nothing we have done.  It was him taking control of his life and deciding he wasn’t going to live in misery anymore.

So what is your purpose?  Everyone has something that motivates them to be better (at least I hope we all do).  Kids, grandkids, health, spouse, job, a wedding, a beach, a reunion, LIFE…whatever it may be, FIND IT!!  Then grab it by the throat and USE IT!! 

I’ll leave you with this.  It’s a motto we use from time to time.  I don’t know where it came from, and I probably stole it from somewhere, but I’ll claim it’s mine until I get sued.

“If you don’t take care of your body, where else are you going to live?!”

The Fitness Ninja

Hello, and welcome to the first edition of this blog from your very own Fitness Ninja.  I'd like to start by giving a brief background about myself and my business.  My name is Marc Zalmanoff, and along with my business partner Randy Young, we own and operate StaYoung Fitness & Performance Training, and StaYoung Foods & Catering.  As I tell people sometimes, we'll beat you and feed you.  How nice of us, huh?  Both of us have Bachelor's Degrees from the University of North Texas (GO MEAN GREEN!!), and have been in the fitness industry for all of our professional career.  So most of the time we know what we're doing;-)  I'll fill you in on more details as time goes on, but let's get to the good stuff. 

My clients will tell you this, I LOVE what I do.  I truly believe I was put on this earth to do exactly what I do.  I can't imagine sitting behind a desk for a living, or wearing a suit and tie everyday, or not being able to yell (encouragingly) at SOMEONE at least once a day.  It fires me up and it's my therapy.  And if there is anything you can take away from reading this, I hope you will be just a little inspired to take a bigger stake and claim in your health and fitness.  I want to be YOUR source of knowledge for any and all questions regarding exercise and nutrition.  Now, even though I do have a plethora of smarts (HA!!, I just like using the word plethora), I don't know everything, but I can always find the answer for you. 

I'd like to leave you with this today, my Rules of Training.  I should charge for this, I should write a handbook, I should have an infomercial and sell this with some crazy ab machine that guarantees you a six pack in only 30 seconds, 3 times a week (which brings up the point, if it sounds too good to be true, IT IS!!, but that's another day).  So here you have it, my Rules of Training I have instituted with my clients for years, now yours for the low, low price of $Free.99 

1.  There is no sitting down and resting, you have the other 23 hours of the day to do that.
2.  I do not understand the words "I can't."  I googled it, couldn't find it.
3.  I will never ask you to do something that I can't do, and do well.  If your trainer cannot demonstrate something efficiently, you might want to get a new trainer.
4.  If I'm not sure you are capable of doing something I want you to do, I will let you know.  But you WILL try.
5.  There will be no sitting down and resting.
6.  Be on time.  Being late simply means lest rest for you.  We WILL complete the workout.
7.  When you are on the treadmill, do not hold on.  That's cheating.
8.  Did I mention there is no sitting down and resting?!?!

There you have it.  I hope each and every one of you will become regular readers.  Have a fantabulous day!!

Marc Zalmanoff
"Fitness Ninja"