Being AWESOME!!!

I have several people in my life that seek to draw attention to themselves with negativity. They talk about how hard their life is, how they have been wronged in the past, or abused, taken advantage of, multiple sicknesses, conditions, depression, etc. My brain does not understand that idea. Why do some people work so hard to put their “junk” out on the table for everyone to see, just for the sake of getting attention? I completely understand the idea of wanting attention. If you know me on facebook, then you know this to be true. But why use negative stuff to get that attention? Why not use your “awesomeness” to get attention? Why not display your talents to get the attention you are seeking? That’s what I do. I use my positive qualities to attract the attention to myself that I want. I usually use my qualities of being funny, good looking, or argumentative to draw attention to myself. I do not think this is a lack of humility at all. I am a very humble person, but I also have a high self-esteem. I don’t think I am arrogant because I never elevate myself higher than others. You will never hear me say that I am better looking than someone; just that I am good looking. You will never hear me say that I am funnier than someone; just that I am funny. I do find it fascinating, that several people accuse me of being egotistical or arrogant, simply because I have healthy self-worth. What has our society come to, when depression is the normal behavior, and someone with a positive self-esteem is considered arrogant?

I am unable to explain why I have a healthy outlook on life. Even as a child, I am not able to remember ever being “down” or feeling depressed. I remember several occasions where something bad happened, and I tried to make the most of it, or just move on from it.

One time in 7^th grade, our teacher played a game. We went around the room and made up nicknames for ourselves that rhymed with our names. John was “strong” John. Mary was “scary” Mary. Back in grade school, I went by Vic so the obvious nickname for me would be “Vic” followed by the slang term for male genitals. Obviously, I knew when it came to my turn, that is what everyone would be thinking. As the teacher went around the room, I couldn’t wait for her to get to me. When it was finally my turn, I proclaimed that my nickname was “Awesome Vic!” She immediately reminded me of the rules that the nickname had to rhyme with my actual name. I said to her “What’s more important about a nickname; that it rhymes, or that it is true?” Several of the kids laughed and she cracked a smile and accepted my nickname.

Again, I am not able to explain why my brain works like this and others don’t. However, I want to encourage other people to be more like me. Some are rolling their eyes right now and thinking “Yeah, right. Why would I want to be an arrogant show off?” Well, if you go through bouts of depression a lot, and always seem to be “down” then I would say I am much happier than you. If you don’t go through depression or times of being down, than this won’t apply to you, and you may continue to judge me. J And I am not saying that you have to be like me and proclaim how good looking and funny you are. Focus on other things that you are good at. I know someone that goes through depression that is incredible at baking pastries, cakes, and fancy cookies. This person looks like a professional pastry chef. But I never see them post pictures on facebook. They have an amazing talent that they never seem to share with the world. I know another person that is depressed, very regularly but this person is an amazing artist and writer. Again, they draw and write at a professional level (in my opinion) and I have never seen a single post, sharing their amazing talents. What about you? What are you good at? How about instead of posting how bad your life is, or talking about how rough your childhood was, you share what skills and talents you have with the world? I think people would prefer that, to the regular postings of depression, life not being fair, and how miserable you are. Just a thought.

Now, figure out what you are really good at. If you think you are not good at anything, then you just haven’t tried enough new things. Nobody ever realized they were good at anything until they attempted it.

But most importantly, realize that you are an amazing person, that has a lot of positive things to contribute to society. Then share that with the world.     

POOP!!!!

So I spent about 15 minutes trying to come up with a catchy title for this article and all I could come up with was “POOP.” Since that is what we really need to talk about it seemed a fitting title. Our poop is a very important  indication of the health of our digestive system as well as the rest of our bodies. Nobody likes to talk about POOP, I know. However, if you have been with us at ELITE long enough, you know we talk about POOP a lot.

The chart above gives you some examples of “bad” poops and “good” poops.  The list below explains why our poops look they way they do according to the chart. For more information, ask your favorite trainer. Yeah, right. Like someone would really come up to a trainer and say “Can I talk to you about my poop?” Seriously though, watching your poop is a good way to know what’s going on in your body. Take the picture above and hang it up in your kids bathroom so they can be aware and healthy.

1. Black and “Tarry” Poops– These poops look very dark and almost like tar. They are a result of too many  toxins in your body. These toxins come from foods but also from household cleaners, aluminum cookware, microwave ovens, furniture polish, tobacco smoke, laundry detergents, synthetic carpet, mothballs, dryer sheets, and several other common household items. You want to buy as many “organic” or “natural” cleaners as possible. You can find safer alternatives at stores like Trader Joes and Whole Foods. Fred Meyer has a great organic section as well. Before you tell me it is too expensive consider the average American spends $150 a month on fast food and eating out. This is your health.

2. Fatty Poops– These poops can come from too much grease and fat in the diet. This can also occur if you are   gluten intolerant or have a hard time digesting fats.

3. Pile of mush Poops– This is just what it says. A pile of mush in the toilet bowl. This is commonly found in “bodybuilder” type athletes that are taking in too much protein or too much of a liquid diet.

4. Rabbit Poops– This poop looks like little balls of poop pressed together, like rabbit poops. It can come from dehydration and/or too many processed foods.

5. “Diahrella”– Diarrhea is caused by many things that include food allergies, a virus, or eating foods that upset your digestive system. It’s common for a healthy adult to have diarrhea 2-3 times a year. More than that would suggest you might have some digestion issues.

6. Food Poops– This is when you see pieces of undigested food in your poops. This can occur if your hydrochloric acid levels are low or if you are not chewing your food enough. Remember you should drink your food and chew your drink. Always chew food until it is almost liquefied and every time you take a drink, chomp like you are chewing .

7. The poopy police– This is the ideal poop. You want a 6-8 inch “brown banana” in the toilet. This is the sign of a healthy digestive system. Get a copy of this article and hang it up at home. Your friends will love it!!!

Have you had an identity crisis!?!?!?!?

I have a client named Suzy Schniffleheizer. Suzy started training with me and 4 months later she went from 252 pounds to 256 pounds. No progress. After a tough discussion, she got on track and began seeing results. To get the details of that tough discussion read my article entitled “Forget how you feel, what can you prove?” Anyway, after about 10 weeks and 26 pounds lost, Suzy looked up at me and said “Will I lose all my strength as I lose weight? Because I don’t want to be a skinny weak girl.” My response was “That’s a bunch of bull crap!”

In the 7 months we had been training together, Suzy had never once mentioned a goal of being strong. It never once came up. I identified to her that she had created an identity for herself that was the “Big girl.” I recalled her refer to herself as the “big girl” and would do so in a positive light that suggested that she a big and strong girl. The problem with this “identity” was that it was a crutch that was holding her back. I saw this condition in one of my trainers who was a big guy at about 24% body fat. He always identified himself as the “big football” type guy. This allowed him to justify his excessive body weight and feel ok with it. Even though, he explained to me on several occasions he wanted to be smaller.

Suzy asked me why should create that identity for herself and I said “Simple, if you create that identity for yourself, you can convince people that you are happy with the person you are. If you are happy with the person you are, they have no reason to judge you for being overweight and out of shape. It is a defense mechanism.”

It wasn't until she "killed" her big, strong
 identity, that Suzy was able to break free
 and be phenomenal.

I explained to Suzy that her identity crisis was making her fail. You see, she had told me that in the  past she would do good for a couple of days or have a good workout and reward herself with some pizza or beer.  Her identity allowed herself to do those things because a “big, strong, power lifter” girl would eat pizza and drink beer as a reward. She stopped and thought for a moment and then proclaimed, “Wow, you are totally right. But what do I do? How do I lose that identity?” I told her will have to have a funeral.  We were going to have to “KILL” the big, strong, power lifter girl. We would have to kill her so Suzy’s real desired identity, which was “150 pound, skinny Suzy” could have a chance at survival. So we did just that. I went home and made a headstone. We went out back behind the gym and had a funeral.

Have you created an identity for yourself that is sabotaging your success? If you have, you need to kill it and create a new identity for yourself that is conducive to what you want. Suzy had to kill her “big, strong, power lifter” girl identity because that identity was too accepting of bad behaviors and bad decisions. “Big, strong, power lifter” girl was more than willing to eat pizza and drink beer because it supported her, but to “150 pound, skinny” Suzy, eating pizza and drinking beer as a reward was not acceptable. Pizza and beer as a reward is not possible in the world of “150 pound, skinny” Suzy. “150 pound, skinny” Suzy needed to be disciplined because “150 pound, skinny” Suzy was more interested in buying smaller clothes than the short term gratification some beer and pizza brought. 

Do you need a new identity?

We will have NFL Sunday Ticket at Elite Fitness and Education this year!!!!

That's right folks, this year we have purchased NFL Sunday ticket for the gym. You can be sure I will be there on Sunday's and won't it be awesome to see the San Diego Chargers playing on all 14 TV's????!!! Ok, maybe not all 14, but it will be pretty cool. We have enough TV's to put each game on 2 TV's so you wont miss any of the action.

One more cool thing we are doing to make fitness fun and not so "boring" and dull.

Forget how you feel, what can you prove?

In the movie “Training Day,” Denzel Washington says to Ethan Hawke “It's not what you know, it's what you can prove." Those words are all too true when it comes to fitness success. The following is actual dialogue that occurred between a client and me, recently. It also explains why some people love me and some people hate me. After getting on the scale and seeing almost no progress after the 3^rd month, I could tell she was discouraged and frustrated. The heavy sigh and stooped shoulders left nothing to the imagination. We walked away from the scale and to the juice bar tables when the “talk” began.

Me: So, when are you going to quit and just give this up?

Client: What do you mean?

Me: You haven’t gotten any significant results and we have been going at this for over 3 months. People will usually quit if they don’t at least see something.

Client: Well, I didn’t plan on quitting but I had thought about when you were going to give up on me.

Me: Are you ready to get to the next level and start seeing results?

Client: Yes

Me: It is going to require you being very uncomfortable. Are you still ready?

Client: Yes

Me: You are not getting results for one reason.

Client: What is that?

Me: You have entitlement issues.

Client: WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!

Me: I warned you that this would get uncomfortable. I am not trying to be mean, but that is what you need to hear. Each week, you tell me that you think your nutrition is fine and that you exercise quite a bit. However, at the end of each week, the scale says you stay the same. How many calories a day do you eat?

Client: I don’t know. Around 1800 I would say.

Me: I weigh 200 pounds. When I want to lose weight I drop my calories to 1700 calories per day and can lose about 2-3 pounds in a week. You weigh 255 pounds. If I can lose 2-3 pounds a week on 1700 calories, you should be losing 3-4 pounds every week on 1800 calories.

Client: So how does that make me entitled?

Me: You think you’re doing “good enough.” You refuse to allow yourself to be a little hungry. You refuse to stop using food as a coping mechanism when you get upset. You do a couple things right each week and expect them to negate the 20 other things you do that are bad. That’s entitlement. I know it is frustrating but instead of getting upset and frustrated, let’s get focused. Stop “thinking” that you are doing well enough and focus on the facts. You saying that you did “pretty good” on your nutrition and that you did “quite a bit” of exercise are NOT a fact. It is your opinion. In fact, many other people might look at your nutrition and exercise and think it is a joke. You can’t prove your nutrition or your exercise exertion in a court of law, to a jury of your peers. What can be proven, however, is that the scale didn’t go down; again. Let’s focus on that. Just think about it, will you? Maybe you’re not doing as good, as you think? Maybe you can put a little more effort into something. Maybe “doing your best” is not going to cut it this time.

A lot of people would have never come back for another session with me. Fortunately, this client knew that I had her best intentions in mind. In fact, before we were finished, she was really thinking about what I said. As human beings, we are the only animals on the planet with an ego. What that typically means is that we will overhype the things we do well and under report the things we do poorly. It was usually “better” to us than other people remember and “not that big of a deal” other times. If you are honest with yourself you will agree with me and understand how people can sabotage themselves out of a good fitness program. Our story didn’t end there. I went on to give my client some reasons that people struggle with weight loss in spite of their feelings of doing well. They are as follows:

1.       Food allergy or intolerance- Over 60% of white skinned people and 40% of dark skinned people are allergic or intolerant to gluten, dairy, soy, or any combination of them. Even if you are not allergic, and only intolerant, it can wreak havoc on your digestive system and ability to maintain an ideal weight. When we eat foods that are highly inflammatory the digestive system becomes inflamed. Specifically your villi get inflamed and shrivel up. Intestinal villi are tiny finger-like outgrowths, in the lining of the small intestine. Villi effectively increase the surface area of the gut wall allowing for slower movement through the small intestine thus allowing greater time for absorption of nutrients. It allows your small intestines to absorb a greater amount of nutrients that pass through your small intestine. When the villi are shriveled up, they do not absorb nutrients as well. This is important to realize because you don’t have a little man in your body that keeps track of the calories that you eat. That is why we can consume very large amounts of calories and just keep eating; we will just store them for later. What we do have, is a little man that is responsible for keeping track of how much nutrients we are getting from our foods. Read my article called “6 Turkey Sandwiches” to learn more about this little guy (the appestat). This little guy tracks your nutrient absorption and if you don’t get enough nutrients, he will prevent you from secreting CCK, which tells you that you are satisfied and can stop eating. When we eat foods that are highly inflammatory to our villi, they cause us to literally keep eating, so we can satisfy our body’s requirements for nutrients. Regardless of how many calories it takes. I have had incredible success with my clients who were willing to give up all gluten, dairy, and soy for 30 days just to see if they had any intolerance. And guess what? So far, every single client I have had do this has learned, they were in fact, intolerant to at least one of the those three foods.

2.       It is virtually impossible to accurately track calories. We all know the old rule of “calories in vs. calories out” is the key to weight loss. Although true, it is not as easy as it sounds. Let me explain. Let’s say a food company wants to make a food bar that is 300 calories. The way the food labeling laws are written, it is stated that a food must contain “at least” the amount of calories on the label. Did you catch that? “At least” the amount of calories on the label. Why would they do this to us? Do they want us to be fat? Not necessarily. Put yourself in the food companies place for a minute. You know that you make a million food bars per week. You also know that it is impossible to make identical food bars every single time. Some might have a little more sugar than others, or flour, or nuts, etc.. You also know that if a single bar ever comes out that is 290 calories, then you could be fined severely and even shut down for a time. You also know that all your food bars are around 300 calories, give or take about 50 calories either way. SO!!! To prevent the govt from accusing of ripping off the consumer, you set your food bar machines to make food bars at 360 calories. Knowing that some bars will be 310 calories and some will be 410 calories, you just adjust your price to absorb the cost. But now you are protected from fines and govt regulation. So if you eat food from a package, go ahead and add 20%-50% of what the package says and you will be more accurate. The trick is when do you add 20% and when do you add 50%?

So how do you overcome this nightmare?  

By realizing that although you may not be accurate, you are most likely consistent. If a person is inaccurate in their calorie counting either because of their own flaws, or because the food label laws suck, they will at least eat the same types of food on a regular basis. Most people only eat 2-3 types of sandwiches, cereals, salads, etc. Most people are not into variety when it comes to food. They have about 20-30 things they enjoy and eat most of the time. That being said, if they are wrong about the calories in a sandwich they make, it will usually be wrong the same amount of calories each time. Continue to “track” your calories but realize it is impossible to know exactly how many calories you “eat.” Let’s say for example you write down that you ate 1400 calories a day. Understand that due to inaccurate labels and maybe your forgetfulness, you actually ate 2000 calories. These are just an example, so don’t get all “butt hurt.” Just reduce your calories by about 200 calories until you lose weight. Even though you are tracking that you only ate 800 calories, chances are, you ate more. You may be hungry but realize this is more psychological than physiological. People have survived for 4 weeks with NO food. You will not die, I promise. Of course, there are other factors to take into account and things you can do to reduce the hunger, but this is an article, not a book so you will have to act on what I have given you and ask for help for the rest.

Benefits of Sunlight

Sunlight, How often do you think about the benefits of it? A lot of people get the bare minimum of light need to stay healthy every day. What we need to realize is just 10 minutes of sunlight everyday can make a huge difference in your life. Sunlight has gotten a bad rap because of severe burns and skin cancers, but there are things you can do to protect yourself while still reaping the benefits.
Sunlight happens to be one of the greatest healing remedies you can find in nature. Our bodies need natural sunlight to synthesize adequate amounts of Vitamin D to keep our bones strong and healthy and strengthen our immune system. If you do not get enough sunlight, you actually increase your risk of bone disease, weaken your heart, slow your immune system and slow the healing of bones and cuts. The trick is to get sunlight in moderation. When you hide away from the sun, you miss out on the benefits.
So lets lake a look at the benefits of sunlight, from the outside in. Sunlight gives you a healthy looking complexion. It can reduce acne, boils, athlete's foot, diaper rash, psoriasis, jaundice, eczema and tighten your skin. We spend millions of dollars on products to control and eliminate these issues. Getting outside for 10-30 minutes a day is free!! Regular moderate exposure to sunlight will cause your body to build up a natural resistance to the harmful effects of ultraviolet light. As for tanning, allowing your skin to get moderately tanned will actually make your more resistant to sunburns and infections.
Inside the body has even more benefits! Getting a daily dose of sun will enhance your immune system by increasing white blood cells, thus helping your body fight off diseases more effectively. While certain skin cancers are associated with too much exposure to the sun, moderate daily exposure can greatly decrease your risk of breast, colon and prostrate cancers. Sunlight can even slow or prevent the growth of cancerous tumors.

Sunlight turns cholesterol into Vitamin D, therefore lowering cholesterol levels. Vitamin D is essential to our immune system. Having a stronger immune system will help your body fight off diseases more effectively and greatly reduce the use of medicines. Sunlight has been proven to balance out hormones. It may even relieve some of the symptoms of PMS. Sunlight also strengthens your circulation by stimulating the production of red blood cells increasing the oxygen in your blood.
Sunlight improves the function of your liver helping it break down toxins and waste. Having a better functioning liver can help you lose body fat. Sunlight improves your digestion, elimination and metabolism. Increasing your metabolism will help you burn calories which is great at helping you lose weight and stay in shape. Of course if you are eating a diet high in fat, junk food, soft drinks, vegetable oils, hydrogenated oils, animal and vegetable shortening, it will not help!


Sunlight can also helps you emotionally. Regular exposure to the sun can help reduce your stress levels. Getting enough sunlight can help you sleep better at night by increasing your melatonin. Melatonin is a natural hormone made by our bodies. Getting enough sleep every day can help slow down the aging process and give your more energy during the day. Sunlight can soothe your nerves and boost your mood leaving you with a renewed sense of well being. Adding just 10 minutes a day of sunlight can greatly reduce depression and anxiety. Sunlight increases the production of endorphins in your brain leaving you feeling much better. It has life giving energy to your organs, and vitalizes your body; the mood enhancement can even strengthen your personal relationships.

So what's stopping you from getting outside a little everyday??

I am not here to be your friend!!

I am not here to be your friend. For most of you, your friends are the ones who will tell you

“It’s ok to have just one.”

“Come on, live a little.”

“You look a little too thin.”

“I think you’re losing too much weight.”

“Are you allowed to enjoy anything anymore?”

“You’re really not as much fun since you quit going out drinking with us and partying on the weekends.”

“Let’s not go to the seminar, Margaritas are only .99 tonight.”

“I don’t care what your trainer says, you should never commit to something like that.”

“It sounds to me like this whole sugar thing is just stupid and unreasonable.”

“What about your kids? Are you not allowed to let your kids enjoy their childhood?”

Every statement above is a real statement that has been said to some of our bootcamp students and they have passed on to me. 

I am not here to be your friend.

I am here to be the person who whispers in your ear “You can do 2 more, trust me.” I am here to take you from doing 13 pushups to doing 73 (woo hoo, Heather) in one month’s time. I am here to make you believe you can do things you never thought possible. I am here to be the little voice you hear in your head when you are tempted to cheat, say to you “Don’t do it, you are doing so good. Don’t blow it.” I am here to be the little voice you here in your head tell you to get out of your warm bed and join the group to run the butte even though it is snowing. I am here to teach to obtain your true achievement and potential. I am here to teach you to stand up to your unsupportive husband and make him eat his cookies in his car because you “will not allow that “CRACK” in this house anymore.” I am here to encourage you when you get frustrated about doing the right thing. I am here to tell you milk is still sugar-water when you attempt to justify it. I am here to talk you out of doing the bad things in your life that you know in your heart are wrong.  I am here to tell you that I know it is difficult- It is NOT impossible.

I am not here to be your friend. I will motivate you, I will push you, I will encourage you, I will make you swear at me, I will make you angry with me, I will make you frustrated, I will make you better. If after all that, when you have accomplished your task at hand and you are truly happy with the way you look and feel, if after all that you want to be friends, so be it; but not now. For now we have a job to do and I will see you next class.

Remember, it is difficult-not impossible. You have plenty of people in your life that will enable you and tell you it’s ok to cheat. You need at least one person in your life that truly wants the best for you. Since I want the best FOR you, I will expect the best FROM you. But remember, it all comes from love.

Have fun and enjoy the process,

Victor