[Vickie Lake]

Sorry to disappear Styles, I go into crunch time and loose track of the site from time to time. The good news is that you have received perfect posts from other members. Okie's post could have come right out of my material. Diet is number one on your list if reducing your body fat is your first motivation or your last. There are a lot of books and a lot of experts but I will tell you that if you squeeze them all you will get basically the same juicy information. Your nutrition will be mandated by your fat to lean muscle ratio and your level of activity. If you are not a lover of cardio your nutrition will have to be stricter and even that should but don't get caught in the trap of thinking you can eat too many calories if you do more cardio and even worse eat too little to support a heavily loaded workout.

I really still like the Zone diet because Dr Sears provides all of the formulas and even portions out the food by doing the math. People tend to think it's a high protein diet but it is a macronutrient appropriate approach if you bother to use his formula's. If you look at this don't get too worried that he catargorizes foods as best, less favorable and least favorable. You can eat everything he is just directing you toward the foods that factor well from both a glycemic level and a fat presence and quality. Your nutritional program, no matter which expert gets you started, must become your own. The mediterranean diet is just the new name for a clean and healthy approach to feeding your body. Eat frequent small meals to receive the thermogenic benefit of digestion and assure complete assimilation of the micronutrients without any excess to store. Eat food in their most natural state which means reduce your dependency on quick, boxed and frozen foods. Get organized and freeze your own for quick, healthy, available meals. Watch alcohol, it not only messes with your insulin system but there are some real associations with muscle wasting.


Off season is the best time to pick up your strength training. Twice a week means that you are not going to create a body building program so you won't see quite the fat burn that some people get from their programs. You just can't move max weights on the whole body in one workout. But you will increase the quality of the muscle and it's effeciency in creating energy and this will turn your metabolism on and balance your adrenal (stress) gland.

Remember that you only need a minimum of 20 minutes two to three times a week for maximal heart health but you'll have to pick it up if you want to use it to burn off some excess fuel you body has stored in your waist tank. Switch to the elitical trainers or rowing machines or even walk on the treadmill at a swift pace with long strides instead of jogging. With babies in the house you have the best motivation to get outdoor cardio with a stroller (it's worth investing in a walking stroller-check Ebay or used sporting good stores; we have something called Play it again Sports). Put on some headphones (I even like books on tape) and take those babies out for some Dad time. It will be good for them, for you, and your wife, too. [FYI, my 21 year old son doesn't workout because I trained him to but because he saw me do it consistently throuhout his life without hearing me complain. He saw me work it into my schedule like everything else that was important in our schedule so he now jokes that he "doesn't know any better".] Workout when it works in your flexible schedule just make sure it's present on your calendar or the time can get away from you. Don't think you have to get all your cardio in one workout. Maybe take a morning walk and an afternoon walk and give both babies their vitamin D. Just remember that you have to get your heart rate elevated to raise your metabolism and move into fat burn but then it will keep working for you when you're back to work. I Also have a small tape recorder that I carry so I can dump ideas that come into my mind during the walk. I have written some of my best speeches while walking; which also kept me out a little longer, anything to make it less.

Consistency is the secret if there is one. But the greatest defeater is trying to start everything at premium level all at once. If you are really serious about suceeding approach this like you would any other big project and build it out from a solid foundation. Begin your nutritional adjustments with only two significant changes in the first week. If you skip breakfast, or eat a bad one, then I always suggest making that your first choice. Then choose one other nutritional behavior that is obviously correctable; if you drink daily reduce it to twice a week, if you eat at the fast food drive through just stop it, if you only eat three big meals reduce their size and ad one mini meal . . . you get my drift. Then find two more places to improve in week two and so on. You only have to commit one week at a time and most people don't fall backwards. Start your walks slow and don't worry about the length so much in week one, just make sure you make all of the appointments that you have written in your daytimer.Week two decide on the time and distance but wait til week three to start measuring heart rate. Pay attention to how long it takes you to complete a certain distance and as you start finishing quicker you can start adjusting your distance. You'll begin to create an appreciation for your work without feeling exhausted or like you put your whole life on whole. As you start becoming more familiar with your body and less distracted by all the new "have-to's" you'll realize how easy it is to take care of yourself, how much better you feel in your clothes and how much more energy you have.

Then you never have to start over again. I'm back in the loop again so let us know how things are going. I am sure impressed by our LBG contributors WAY TO GO GUYS!!!!
Vik