Author: Shawn Tweedt

5 Important Steps toward that Perfect Beach Body

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Getting the perfect beach body that you’ve always wanted takes work, but the payoff for that work will be well worth it. There’s more to getting your body ready for the beach than just doing a few basic exercises, and you’ll need to know how different muscle groups work together to tone your body and build the physique you ultimately desire. Here are five things to keep in mind while working toward your ideal body so you’ll be ready for the beach when the time comes.

  • Set Goals
    The key here is to set multiple achievable goals, not just an overall goal that will seem miles away once you start working toward it. Having an overall goal is important, but by creating smaller milestones you’ll actually have incremental steps to work toward that all feed into that larger goal. You can choose how you want to structure your goals, and whether you want to measure them in inches, pounds, or just the way you look in the mirror.
  • Adjust Your Diet
    It’s been said that you can’t out-exercise a bad diet, and you’ll probably need to make some changes to what you eat if you plan on being ready to show off your beach body. Cut back on carbs and fatty foods, up your leafy green intake, and start bringing your daily caloric intake down to create a calorie deficit which will help fuel weight loss. A nutritionist can help you to create a diet that’s right for you without the health risks associated with some fad-of-the-week diet plans.
  • Burn the Fat
    Cardio is king when it comes to fat-burning exercise. Running, swimming, biking, jump rope, aerobics… they’re all great ways to burn calories, which increases that calorie deficit and makes your body burn more fat. It may take a little while for you to notice some of the results because your body burns fat from all over (which means that you may notice your arms and legs becoming thinner before that stubborn belly fat seems to budge), but as you keep exercising, you’ll start seeing steady results.
  • Tone the Muscle
    While you’re doing cardio to burn fat, you should also add in strength training to build and tone your muscles. Lift weights or choose different strength-training exercises that focus on different major muscle groups, working on not only your arms but also your legs, abs, chest, and back. You should also keep in mind that muscle has weight too, so you might not lose weight as quickly because the weight of your muscle is replacing the weight of the fat you’ve burned off. You’ll certainly notice the difference in the mirror, though.

Keep At It!

It isn’t always easy to get in shape and sculpt the body you want for the beach. Breaking bad dietary habits can be hard, and sticking to an exercise routine containing both cardio and strength training can be even harder. This is why it’s important to force yourself to stick with it until it becomes habit, and to celebrate each and every milestone that you hit in a way that won’t hurt your goals. This will help you to keep motivated, and all of the hard work that you’re doing now will be totally worth it in the end.

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Optimum Nutrition Weight Loss Tips

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There are a lot of weight loss tips available online. Unfortunately, not all of them are effective and some of them aren’t even safe. Proper nutrition is essential when trying to lose weight, as it not only provides your body with the energy it needs to keep going but also ensures that your body has the building blocks it requires to achieve its optimum condition. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you begin your weight loss journey to make sure that your body gets the nutrition it needs.

Balancing Your Diet
There are a lot of different food options out there, but not all of them are going to help your diet. You need to develop a nutrient-rich diet that’s light on carbs, sugars, and saturated fats. This means cutting back on wheat, pasta and breads, increasing your fruit and vegetable intake, and kicking most sweets and deep-fried goodies to the curb. Not only will this help you to eat good, healthy foods to keep your body in top condition but it will also make cutting calories out of your diet much easier. If you have difficulty coming up with a balanced mix of foods, try talking to a nutritionist who will help you develop a healthy and nutritious diet plan.
Watch Out for Hidden Calories
There are some foods that sound great at first but pack a lot more calories than you might expect. Muffins, coffee, salad dressing, and even some “light” snack options can have more calories than you think. Even portions that are larger than the recommended portion size can pack extra calories when you think you’re eating smart. One of the most easily forgotten weight loss tips is to not only watch WHAT you eat, but also HOW MUCH of it you have at a time.
Avoid Empty Calories
The food that you eat provides you with both energy and nutrition. Unfortunately, some foods provide very little in the way of nutrition and contain too many calories for your body to effectively use them all for energy. Hopefully you’ll be curbing your soda intake and staying away from calorie-heavy beer, but these aren’t the only sources of empty calories. Watch out for any foods that feature a lot of carbs or sugars and not much else in the way of nutritional value, and opt for lower-calorie and nutrient-rich alternatives instead. And no, that doesn’t mean to simply look for the “diet” version instead.
Don’t Cut Too Much
Cutting calories from your diet is the fastest way to create a calorie deficit to fuel weight loss, but it’s important not to go overboard. Cutting too much out of your diet can leave you with nutritional deficiencies and may even put your health at risk if you drop your calorie intake too far. Don’t forget that you can still use exercise to burn additional calories, and that a mix of cardio and strength training, in addition to your dietary changes, will help you to ensure that the weight you lose doesn’t come creeping back a few weeks later.

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Cardio or Weight Training, Which Is the Better Option?

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This is one debate that has been raging for years, but the truth is that you need to understand the benefits and risks of each type of exercise to see which option is really the best for you. Cardio and weight training are both great options for getting fit, but let’s find out what each type has to offer.
Cardio
Cardiovascular exercise is designed to get your heart pumping. When your heart is pumping more efficiently, it increases the amount of oxygen in your system, and helps your lungs work better. Cardio exercise provides the overall benefit of making your heart and lungs stronger, which leads to more endurance and improved function, even when you are not working out. However, there are other benefits that should be considered when trying to choose which type of exercise is the better option.

  • Weight Loss – Cardio exercise done at higher intensity levels, in conjunction with a healthy diet, will provide weight loss benefits.
  • More Stamina – The improved heart and lung function help you increase your overall endurance as your cardiovascular system works more efficiently.
  • Better Mental Health – Exercise results in an increase in the amount of endorphins that are released, and this leads to decreased anxiety and depression.
  • Better Health – Cardio exercise helps with weight loss, which decreases the chances of diabetes, heart disease, and other health issues.
  • Low Impact – Some cardio workouts, such as walking and swimming, are low impact, which reduces that chance of injury – especially for those already dealing with joint pain and other mobility issues.

Weight Training
Weight or strength training helps you grow stronger, leading you to be in better physical condition. In addition, lifting weights increases the amount of lean muscle, which is a necessity for those wanting to increase weight loss. There are different options available for strength training, such as hitting the gym, creating your own home gym with dumbbells and the like, and body weight training that needs no additional equipment. Regardless of which type of workout you choose, you need to know the benefits:

  • Increased Weight Loss – Lean muscle burns fat even when you are not working out, resulting in a higher metabolism that boosts weight loss by burning more calories.
  • Bone Health – Strength training builds muscle, which also helps increase bone strength and density. This helps protect against bone loss associated with osteoporosis and the natural aging process.
  • Better Coordination and Balance – When your muscles are stronger, they provide a better support system for your joints. This results in better coordination and balance as your strength improves.
  • Improved Mood – Like cardio, strength training increases endorphin release. This leads to less depression, decreased stress, and a general sense of well-being.
  • More Energy – As you get stronger, you will notice an improvement in energy levels due to an overall increase in physical fitness.
  • Better Health – Weight loss helps to decrease the chances of health issues such as heart disease, helps to relieve joint pain, and helps to provide better diabetes control.

As you can see, both cardio and weight training provide lots of health benefits. The decision of which is the better option is essentially up to you and your current health goals. If you just want to improve heart and lung function, cardio works great. If your goal is to promote long-term weight control, strength training wins.  In all honesty, if you want to experience the best results overall, you should include both cardio and weight training.

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Five Benefits of a Home Gym

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When it comes to fitness and weight loss, most people assume that the only way to get a great workout is to go to the gym. While you do need to include weight training and cardio workouts in your weight loss plan, there is no rule that you have to do these things at a gym. If you have been trying to decide whether you really need that gym membership, here are five benefits of home gyms that might make your decision easier.
No Traffic
One of the number one reasons people fail to make it to the gym is the travel needed to get there. Traffic can be a pain, and it makes a great excuse for skipping your workout. When you have your very own gym right there in your home, this ready-made excuse flies right out the window. The whole point of adding exercise to your weight loss efforts is to make sure you see results. A home gym makes sure you get rid of those excuses that are holding you back from reaching those goals.
Exercise on Your Time
A home gym is available whenever you are. Even though many gyms are making the switch to 24-hour availability, you still have to get there. If you have to fit your workouts in around a demanding schedule, or you live in a not so nice neighborhood, you might not want to deal with venturing out at 3AM to get it done. Your home gym allows you to workout no matter what time of day or night, and you don’t have to worry about running into some rather shady characters in the middle of the night.
Privacy
Working out can be intimidating, especially if you are just starting out on creating that body you actually want to show off. While the local gym may provide you with plenty of gear to work on weight training and cardio, if you feel uncomfortable walking right next to a marathon trainer running four miles on a treadmill, you might find it difficult to get motivated. A home gym allows you to work out at your own pace, without having to feel like you are being compared to all those other fit bodies.
Motivation
Let’s face it, motivation is a key element in making sure you look forward to your exercise sessions. While you can always use your iPod to help you keep the pace at the fitness center, your home gym allows you to blast the tunes that make you want to get moving. You can also deck out your space with décor that makes you happy, including the posters of that hot body you want to attain. Your surroundings really do make a difference in motivation, and a home gym lets you customize your area to keep you moving.
Your Space, Your Rules
When you create your own home gym, you do not have to take anyone else into consideration. This means you can work out on whatever equipment you want, without having to move along so that someone else can use it. Not only does this make it easier for you to focus on a specific muscle group whenever you want, it also allows you to choose a pace that you are comfortable maintaining.
Home gyms can include equipment that allows you to perform the same exercises that you do at a fitness center. If you want to make sure you have no excuses for skipping your workout, a home gym is a great option. Plus, the fact that you bought all that equipment does wonders for keeping you on track – you don’t want to waste all that cash!

These are the same reasons that I get up each morning at 5 am and workout at home.  If you want to join me, let me know.

The Bloated Intellect

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Technology is interesting.  We have rapidly ascended from researched and authority driven answers to the google search result becoming the guru of the day.  Unfortunately this new and designed algorithm has both blessed us with information at our fingertips but also cursed us with a myopic view of the world.

Eli Pariser, in his book The Filter Bubble, puts forth an astute view of our instant result world.  He states that we have now entered a time in which our internet searches are becoming tailored to us individually in order to give us what we want.  The problem, however, is that we then get self gratifying answers.  If we both search for the same topic, we are given results that either fall under sycophantic personalization “You’re so great and wonderful, and I’m going to tell you exactly what you want to hear” or the parental result, “I’m going to tell you this whether you want to hear this or not, because you need to know.”  Eli argues that we are headed toward the sycophantic direction.

In this regard, our intellect is becoming bloated by jejune material as our bodies would respond to a pure diet of fats and sugars.  We are mentally digesting the least beneficial material.  So, as you may reexamine your diet and focus on that next workout, don’t forget to challenge your intellect and we especially wary of that googled guru.

Weight Lifting for Weight Loss

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Usually, people who are interested in losing weight focus largely on cardio because it burns more calories than lifting weights. There’s something to be said for weight lifting for weight loss, though. While weight lifting shouldn’t be your sole form of exercise when trying to lose weight, strength training does play an important part in helping you reach your long-term weight loss goals. It also goes a long way toward toning your body and getting you in top shape once the pounds come off.

Lifting vs. Cardio

When you exercise as part of a weight loss plan, the goal is generally to burn calories and make your body burn stored fat to make up the difference between the calories it uses and the calories it brings in. Lifting weights doesn’t burn many calories compared to other forms of exercise, so those who are solely looking to lose weight often skimp on the strength training because other exercises produce faster results. To really get the most out of a weight loss plan, however, strength training should be added in every few days in addition to more calorie-intensive types of exercise.

Developing Lean Muscle

Lifting weights strengthens your body’s muscles, resulting in increased amounts of lean muscle in your arms, legs, abs, and other parts of the body. This can actually cause your weight loss to slow down a little as the lean muscle tissue is dense and adds weight to your body even as you’re taking it off by burning fat. This might prompt some people to wonder what’s going on, since they’re exercising more but losing less weight. They’re still losing fat, however, which is much more important than simply losing weight.

Boosting Your Metabolism

Once you start developing more lean muscle, the real benefit of weight lifting for weight loss starts to kick in. All of that new lean muscle tissue needs energy, and it gets that energy the same way that the rest of your tissues do: by burning calories. As you lift more weights and develop more lean muscle, your base metabolism will rise and your body will burn more calories throughout the day. This even applies when you’re at rest, because that energy-hungry lean muscle tissue will still need to be fed.

Toning Up

If you’re not lifting weights while trying to drop a few pounds, you may notice that your skin seems a bit looser and you generally look a little more out of shape than you did before you started losing weight. That’s because your body is burning the fat stored under your skin and you’re not building additional muscle to take up the slack. Lifting weights to work all of your major muscle groups will help with this, as the additional muscle bulk will provide you with additional toning and muscle definition once the fat starts melting away.

Long-Term Weight Loss

Strength training is an important part of long-term weight loss. Not only does it make you look and feel better, but it also gives you a much-needed break between cardio days. Between the boost you’ll receive to your metabolism and the self-confidence boost that you’ll receive from your new beach body physique, there’s no reason to not work weight lifting into your long-term weight loss goals.

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Shakeology: Do NOT Pay Full Price!

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Are you paying too much for your Shakeology? Are you missing out on the huge monthly discount that everyone else seems to know about? If you are paying more than $97.46 for a month supply, then you are.

What’s The Discount?
Shakeology is everywhere now days, and there is a good reason…It works.

Where else can you find a food that is CHEMICAL FREE and contains more than 70 natural ingredients derived from rich, nutrient-dense whole-food sources from around the world? Where else can you find a food that curbs your cravings for sugar and junk food, promotes weight loss, increases energy, improves digestion, and increases your immune system?

You can’t! If you’re here, you probably already know about the endless list of benefits. Heck, you are probably already a fan and can’t live without your daily dose of dense nutrition.

However, what you may not know is that you are probably paying too much for Shakeology through Amazon, ebay and a variety of other sources. This means you are missing out on a Shakeology Discount that others are receiving. The fact is, you can get a big Shakeology Discount and receive Shakeology straight from Beachbody to include their Bottom of the Bag Guarantee, for only $97.46 a month, and with only $2.00 shipping if you are on the Home Direct program (local taxes still apply).

That’s 25% less than anywhere else. Cheap, affordable Shakeology right to your door.

So What Do I Have To Do?
To get the Shakeology Discount, you simply need to become a Beachbody Coach.

WHAT? GASP? NO? I CAN’T BE A COACH! I’m just starting my journey! I don’t have time! I’m not a trainer! I’m not a nutritionist! I can’t give advice! I just wanted to try Shakeology!

Here’s the thing. NONE OF THAT MATTERS! If you want a Shakeology Discount, you can get one as a Coach AND that is it. You don’t have to do anything else. Our team has a bunch of “discount Coaches” that are simply Shakeology superfans and want to take advantage of the 25% discount. WHY NOT? For all of you coupon clippers and promo code hunters, this is a the equivalent Shakeology coupon code.

With a Coach account, you are billed at $15.95/month (see below) but that entitles you to a HEFTY 25% discount on ALL Beachbody products. Think of that…25% discount on P90X3, Focus T25, 21 Day Fix, TurboFire, Body Beast, ChaLEAN Extreme, Insanity and more. And, of course, this includes all of their nutritional products, equipment and Shakeology!

In addition to the $32.49 discount, you are saving approximately $14.00 in shipping too. Even when you throw the cost of the monthly Coach fee, you are still saving an estimated $30.45 per month on Shakeology alone.

Shakeology Coach Cost

Now that’s a pretty good discount, right?

That’s $30.54 of real money…money that stays in YOUR POCKET!

You have to start paying the $15.95 monthly Coach fee starting your second month (no fees for active duty military or their spouse). Take that Shakeology Discount over a whole year and that comes to $366.48 A YEAR! ($557.88 for active duty military).

I Can Just GET the Shakeology Discount?? No Strings Attached?
Yes! I became a Coach for this sole reason! I had been searching and trying different shake options for a long time. I was tired, drained and dragging and I needed an easy win for a meal. I learned I could get a discount as a Coach! DONE! AND…I could even send it all back after drinking the entire bag for a refund if I wasn’t satisfied! SIGN ME UP!

How do you become a Coach? You can signup for FREE with the purchase of a Challenge Pack (Shakeology plus a workout of your choice at a discounted price) OR there’s a one time $40 setup fee. Simply fill out the form on this page and select “I would like…to get the Shakeology Discount.”

While I started as a Coach simply for the discount, I ended up talking about how Shakeology dramatically accelerated my workout results to anybody that would listen. With Shakeology taking on the brunt of the nutrition side of the equation it helped make a huge impact in my life. So today, I encourage you to NOT pay full price for your Shakeology. You won’t be disappointed!

 

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Proximity Matters

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Ahh yes. Girl scout cookies are here and they are one of my weaknesses. Who can resist those little smiling faces when they ask, “Do you want some cookies?” It also doesn’t hurt that they’re yummy cookies.
So, how do you balance your weakness with a healthy lifestyle? The answer is simple. Proximity. As you may have realized, we don’t like effort. We are much more likely to limit our intake if we don’t have to exert ourselves to get more. For example, if you take two cookies out and then put the box away, you are more likely to limit yourself. But, if that box is sitting right next to you while you sit on the sofa . . . well … you know what happens.
However, most people forget that the same process will work in your favor when you want to develop good habits. For example, do you want to go to the gym? If your gym is on your way home, you are much more likely to go. But, if you have to travel across town, then you’ll likely find that excuse. Better yet, if you have your fitness gear at home, you just have to go downstairs. Still not working? Set a routine. If you work out first thing in the morning, have your clothes next to the bed, and your gym is in your house, you have eliminated virtually all of the “effort and proximity” issues.  Your brain has less reason to resist. Then, if you are able to do this for 21 days, you have developed a habit. Your brain will then push you to continue; since we are “creatures of habit.”

So, simply put, proximity matters. If you have bad habits you want to eliminate, put more distance and effort between you and the behavior. If you want to want to develop those good habits, eliminate the effort and distance required. Put the TV remote up and take out the batteries. Put the book next to your favorite chair. Place the icon for your new language program on the center of your desktop.
Simple but it works.

The Compound Effect

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Although most people recognize the idea of the compound effect in relation to the financial world, the truth is, it effects every part of your life.  The idea is simple. If you make small changes in your life, they add up and eventually cause a dramatic difference.  As Darren Hardy states, in his book, The Compound Effect: If one person ate just 125 more calories per day for 18 months he would gain over 33 lbs.  But if his friend, cut the same number of calories per day, he would lose over 33 lbs!

“31 months = 940 days 940 days x 125 calories/day = 117,500 calories saved 117,500 calories saved x 1 pound/3,500 calories = 33.5 pounds!”

“Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = RADICAL DIFFERENCE”

― Darren Hardy, The Compound Effect

My Motivation

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I have been asked several times to recount my motivation to continue with my fitness and personal development routines every day. I always hesitate to answer this as its much more complicated than saying, “to get fit.”

I’m a general surgeon. Although the TV and media may present this in a certain manner, it consists of long hours and a lot of stress. I see people in a physically and emotional vulnerable state. They come to me acutely ill with infections or, often in my world, with newly diagnosed cancer. Despite the pervasive image of a surgeon, I feel emotionally vested in the care of my patients, especially the young ones. In them, I see myself. So, when I have to tell a young women in her 40s that she has breast cancer or I see a husband bringing in his kids to see their mother in the ICU, I am continually reminded of my own mortality. Its draining but keeps me grounded and certainly humble.

Why do I get up at 5 am everyday? Why do I surround myself with positive and uplifting people? Why would I rather watch comedies instead of depressing dramas? Why do I always see the best in people? I see life as a simple choice. You can either embrace every day with the full appreciation of the miraculous nature of our existence or you merely exist. Life is finite. As Henry David Thoreau stated, “I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life …” Therefore, I wake up at 5 each morning, to exercise, watch the sun rise and see my girls as they wake up. It keeps me grounded, awake and alive.

Each person will find there own motivation and the most profound is uniquely individual. At some point, each of us gets to some point where we tell ourselves that we cannot continue on our current path. And, so, we don’t.

– Shawn Tweedt, DO

 

 

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.”
– Henry David Thoreau