The Fire Within

Another great tool to help motivate yourself is to hear a story about someone who has been in your situation before and how they overcame their problems. Remember, the science stays the same for everyone. Even so, you can find inspiration and learn tricks of the trade to make the lifestyle change flow more smoothly.

Here, I’ve provided insight from numerous people I’ve met in my life. From a one hour phone conversation which gave a gentleman the knowledge needed to drop his cholesterol by 200 points, to a client who went on a six month journey of hardcore training to prepare for a race, these are the success stories of those to whom I’ve given advice in my career as a fitness coach.

I have hundreds of other stories and I had a hard time deciding who I should ask to be in my book. I feel these stories captivate how easy it is to learn and allow you to see how far people have taken their life after just listening to a one hour seminar or a one hour phone call from me which would include the information you see in Chapters 1 and 2. I also wanted to let you see the depth of what a trainer can provide and how you can think outside the box to get phenomenal results with your health, whether it be mentally, physically or even spiritually. After you learn the information in the first two chapters, you have opened a window to success.

The amount of change you see in one person is incredible. Sometimes unbelievable. All the following stories you read are true and you can learn something from each of them. If you were wondering why I decided to give away all my secrets to weight loss in a book and slaved countless hours in coffee shops to get this out, you will know the answer soon enough. Seeing the change in people after they have the knowledge and power to make a difference in themselves is the greatest gift ever. I’m glad I can be a part of that and can help facilitate others to grow stronger spiritually, mentally and physically.

When asked, I always have a hard time deciding what my title should be. Am I an author? A teacher? A trainer? I believe this section captivates how I view myself – a coach.

A trainer merely works someone out in the gym and hopes for success. A coach does everything in their power to make the changes needed so their student succeeds. Even though I’m in the field of personal training, I can be seen grocery shopping with clients, buying dresses with them, going on vacation with their families and so much more. A life coach in disguise.

Jessica – professional videographer, 32 years old

“Okay, I’ll confess – I am a work-a-holic. As a professsional videographer in the Santa Barbara area, life is never calm. The typical day for me starts in a rush out the door at 5am, toting my camera case and a cup of coffee if I’m lucky. I usually have four to five appointments throughout the day, and lunch is a rare treat. I’m also the type that forgets things all over the place. I can’t tell you how many times I forget a lens or piece of equipment.

My next confession is that I was wearing out. The constant schedule of running but not eating was taking its toll. I was tired, with no energy, hungry all the time and overweight. I knew that if I was going to survive the rest of my career I needed some help.

When starting my training, one of the first things Matt asked me was if there is a certain camera or lens that I always carry. I told him, ‘Yes. I never leave home without my XH A1 HD Camcorder®.’ It is practically a part of my body, perched atop my shoulder as a third eye.

Matt said the same thing applies to fitness professionals. He picked up his water bottle and grabbed a bag of trail mix out of his backpack.

‘See,’ he said ‘you need to incorporate fitness into your life just as you’ve incorporated videography. Fitness is business, too! Never leave home without a bottle of water. Never leave home without trail mix. When you’re going through your checklist before you head out on a filming adventure, make sure to go over your fitness checklist too!’

I was so excited. He had given me some great ideas. I started implementing the checklist idea and began working with one of his trainers. I kept a banana and trail mix in my camera case and started carrying water in my car. Slowly, I could see energy seeping back into my daily routine.

I didn’t see success immediately like his other clients. I felt like I was doing everything they were. Ok, I mean I occasionally had a piece of candy. Or maybe two. But, I don’t think people follow this plan 100%, right? Not me, anyway. I like the fact that there is more emphasis on eating often as opposed to what I eat. I haven’t lost my sweet tooth and I don’t plan to. I’m one of those people who lives to eat, not eat to live if you know what I mean.

I got really busy and wasn’t able to keep up with the workouts. I had lost about 5lbs in two months. Doesn’t sound like much, but I’d been trying to lose weight ever since I entered college. If you’re in college, stay away from those parties! Man, if I knew it would take a decade to work it off I might’ve reconsidered.

Anyway, I lost 5lbs regardless of only getting in about one workout a week. I didn’t feel in shape at all, but I was excited. To this day, I still haven’t found a way to get workouts and work combined. Being a videographer, I really am a slave to work.

In my third month, I found myself in an interview, working the cameras of a captivating documentary. An older gentleman was telling his war story. It was so amazing and we caught it all on film. The only problem is that he talked for 6 hours nonstop! Before, I would’ve been ravenous. Not today, though. I just steadied my beautiful XH-A1 on my shoulder and reached in my bag for some goodies. I was prepared thanks to the ideas and concepts MOVFitness has helped me develop.

I’ve now been with the program for about 8 months. I go a good month without any workouts and then when I don’t have any projects, I cram five workouts in a week. Matt says this isn’t the healthiest, but I do what I gotta do. I never skimp out on the diet though. Those little snacks in my camera bag are a LIFE SAVER! No, not the little candies. I think this is the main reason why I’ve lost weight. It probably wasn’t my 5 workouts a month that I crammed in all in one week.

Today I’ve lost over 30 lbs and just successfully completed my first 5K race! I have never felt so good. MOVFitness has brought energy and spunk back into my hectic daily routine. I feel like I can face any problem that may come up. And trust me, there are a lot of surprises in my line of work!”

***

As you can see, Jessica has a very hectic lifestyle. Getting in better shape doesn’t necessarily always have to be in the form of exercising and insane diets. In her case, just adding in some snacks into her bag did the trick. Jessica is still about 20lbs away from her goal, but she’s taking it one step at a time. Find the little successes in life and go from there. Find alternatives to excuses and make sure your bag has some healthy snacks in it, too.

Sue – retired businesswoman, age confidential

“My husband passed away in 2000. When you lose your other half, they say you fall apart. I was no different. I just didn’t have any motivation to get out of the house afterward. I used to be really active in the community, with business and in my family. After Jon passed away, I just didn’t have the desire to try anymore. About all the energy I could muster was to go visit my relatives for the holidays, and even that was a rare occasion. To make matters worse, I had some serious health issues. I never have been small, but my weight had skyrocketed right before my eyes. At my highest of 237lbs, I had no energy or endurance. I like to blame this on my high-stress career and the fact that my husband was a great cook. In the back of my mind, I knew I needed something.

I still had my family and that’s what matters most in my life. One day, I was on a flight back from visiting the kids when I started making small talk with the girl sitting next to me. She mentioned that she was with a group of ballroom dancers who were on their way home from a competition. I was very interested to hear more. I had always wanted to dance. I can remember when I was a little girl how I would dance at school. Swing was one of my favorites. It was here that they convinced me to make an appointment at their dance studio. They said I didn’t even need a partner, so I was very curious. I thought that it could get me active and social again.
Nervous and excited, I went in for my first lesson in 2005. I had a blast, but it came to no surprise that I couldn’t last on the dance floor for more than a few minutes before my body just gave out. All those years of prime time television and knitting weren’t helping. I’m not a quitter, though. I booked a few lessons to see how I could do.

The first week was definitely something new. I can remember feeling drained and exhausted in no time. Even so, I was delighted to get out of the house and it gave me something to look forward to throughout the week. I am so happy I met that lady on the plane. I used to long to see my grandchildren, but now I longed to return to the studio and learn a new routine or get lost in a dance. My life was filled with a new love. Just try to call me and you’ll get my answering machine politely letting you know I’m out dancing!

After about six months, I had successfully lost about 20lbs just by dancing, and I could last about 25 minutes before I had to sit down! I was delighted that I was able to have fun and lose weight all at the same time. My instructor wasn’t as happy, though. We had a big competition coming up and he wanted me to perform 20 dances. Oh boy! If I could even describe how many that is. I would’ve been completely exhausted. It was then that my dance instructor recommended that I talk with Matt and get some help. My instructor had already lost 30lbs with Matt, so I was interested in what Matt had to say.

I already was a member of a weight-loss group and I knew gyms were available to me, but that wasn’t what I was looking for. I wanted a fun workout; that’s why I chose dancing. I have to admit that I was quite intimidated at first. You see, I’ve had weight issues since I was a little girl and have been on all sorts of diets. I also wasn’t the most comfortable discussing my deepest concerns with someone, especially a young man! Nonetheless, I went to meet Matt so he could reiterate what every other health professional had told me – eat healthier, exercise, exercise and exercise. I’m sure you know the drill.

To my surprise, I was greeted by a young man with a warm smile who didn’t prod much about my personal life. Instead, he turned me to some protein bars to put in my purse that really did taste just like candy bars. He then told me to eat six times a day and some other stuff I don’t really remember and set up an appointment with one of his trainers, Brandi.

The next morning, I was greeted at my house at 8am by a sweet girl in a jogging suit. I invited her in and was happy to learn that my new trainer wasn’t a gym buff. That morning, she took me on a walk outside and we talked about my little puppy and my dancing. This was much different than what I had in mind. I knew that this is what I had been looking for. Before I knew it, Matt had designed an exercise plan and meal plan made especially for me. More importantly, he designed a meal plan catered around my busy lifestyle and Brandi introduced me to boxing. It is a real hoot! To think I actually enjoyed workouts, that is nonsense. I still laugh every time I think about it. I never have been the type of person to work out. But here I was: boxing gloves and all. If Jon could only see me now!

I started packing protein bars in my purse and taking them everywhere. After about a month, I was on a consistent schedule – something I hadn’t had in years. I was losing about one pound every other week. My initial goal was to get down to my wedding weight. That would be a tough feat since I hadn’t been close to that since wedding day. Plus, it was a good 60 pounds away.

Well, 70lbs. later I realized that I was the lightest I had been since 12 years old! Now when I go in for my weekly dance lessons, I stay for two sessions and the dance party afterwards. I compete all over the world with my dance instructor.

I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not, though. Dancing isn’t a cheap hobby and neither are the dresses. After all this “success” I am now getting an entire new wardrobe and am currently working with my dressmakers on SMALLER ball gowns. I’ve become a favorite donor at the local charity. It seems every 3 months I’m going in and donating all my old clothes. I never plan on wearing them again, so why keep them, right?

By November, I had been on their program for over 6 months and was a little burnt out. I decided to take a break for the holidays. I think most people gain 5 to 7 pounds over the holidays. From Thanksgiving to New Years, I ate whatever I wanted and gained 2/10ths of a pound! The change to my metabolism was very clear. I still ate frequently, but I had whatever I wanted and didn’t work out at all. For me, speeding up the metabolism really did the trick. I wasn’t finished, though. Once the new year rolled around, I felt refreshed and ready to prepare for my next dance competition.

I finally feel like a million dollars. I have so much energy and enthusiasm for life that I thought I would never find again. Matt and Brandi helped me take my goal far beyond anything I could have imagined.”

***

Sue is a great lady. I’m so glad that I was able to meet and get to know her. When seeing a grandmother box in the morning, take her dog on a walk in the afternoon and then do ballroom dancing at night it’s hard to not be impressed.

Sue has since gone to competitions where she competes in over 70 dances. The day she thought 20 was a lot is a joke now. She still goes to her weight-loss group just to see their reactions when she sees so much success every time. She tries to share her knowledge, but few believe it. With everything our media throws at us, it’s hard for to convince someone this is the right path, let alone someone outside the fitness industry.

Sue is still working out and dancing and will continue to do so for the rest of her life. The first step might be intimidating, but use this knowledge to your benefit. Take this book to a personal trainer and tell them you know it works and you want them to help you make sure you don’t mess up while you take life altering steps to a new you.

George – General Contractor, 54 years old

“I’ve always understood the importance of good health habits. I thought I had a great routine when I met Matt. I was working out religiously, seeing a private Pilates instructor regularly and performing other calisthenics. I was weighing in at 160 lbs. with about 15% body fat. Just in line with my doctor’s recommendations.

I had just one private nutrition session with him and appreciated his practical approach. I’ve always researched information on my own and much of what he was saying was in the back of my mind, but he polished it off and gave the importance of meal planning a higher priority in my life.

I’m a vegetarian and care just as much about longevity as building muscle and looking lean. I understand there is a trade-off, and I have always thought that was the reason for my relatively high body fat compared to how careful I was.

Well, quite frankly I was wrong. In just one session, Matt completely changed my eating habits. He has powerful stuff. I guess one has to be ready to hear it though. After our meeting, I applied all the tactics he exposed me to and saw results immediately. I have more energy and dropped about 3% body fat in a matter of only a few weeks.”

***

George ended up only losing a few percentages, but let’s take a closer look at this. George had 15% body fat and ideally would want to get down to 9% (most male models are around 9%). He only lost about 5lbs overall, which totaled him losing 3% body fat.

He ended up at 12% body fat after only one hour of meeting with me. This means he lost 50% of what he wanted to lose! If he can shed another 3%, he will have the abs of a fitness model. With that perspective, you can see how much of a difference 3% can make.

Small things matter and most importantly we want to eat small frequent meals. Many vegans I meet miss out on healthy sources of proteins and it’s even worse if they neglect to eat healthy fats. Add these in, and only then I’ll approve a vegan meal plan. George’s line sticks out in my mind. We really do have to be ready for a change before we can take that first step. Are you ready, or are you still telling yourself you will fail? Believe in yourself and it will happen!

Elizabeth – High School Cook, 48 years old

“I work in a high school cafeteria. I love it, hairnet and all. I really like being around the kids, but I found that my meal times were being forgotten. If you’re a grandparent like me, you would understand. I get pretty wrapped up with work, the grandkids, my husband, soccer practice – you know the drill. I don’t mind putting my energy into those things, but after so many years it was taking its toll. I thought I could finally relax once the kids went to college, but it didn’t exactly play out that way. They ended up becoming parents, too! You know what that means – you’re a parent all over again. At least this time, I can give the little boogers away if they get too grumpy.

Anyway, with all that was going on, I never ate. Matt says my metabolism was slowing down, naturally, but I thought that my busy lifestyle and low calorie intake would take care of it. But year after year, I could not get thin.

Luckily, I found Matt and learned the importance of eating well and eating often. I thought I was a health-conscious mom: don’t let the kids have too much sugar, choose the salad over the burger, don’t eat after 7pm, avoid processed foods. But Matt helped me to see that there is so much more and even some of that is bogus! I lost 40 lbs on his plan. I went from a size 16 to a size 12 in just a few months. I used to get headaches, muscle aches and had low energy. But, today I have a steady flow of energy that comes from keeping my fire going all day long. For the first time since my marriage, I can keep up with all the tasks that are thrown at me.

Now don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t easy. I had a hard time convincing my husband, Shawn, that he should eat this way too. It’s not fair if I have to do it alone! I would use my hectic schedule as an excuse sometimes or even give in to eating ice cream with the kids. After Shawn and I started splitting our meals, we not only saved money, but I could feel the changes finally starting to happen. Especially on my waist.

I also was given so much support from my co-workers. The most important thing you can do is commit. Ha! I sound like a trainer now! My co-workers would help me on the hard days, when my motivation was down. But slowly, as my weight began dropping, my confidence started getting a boost. I found little successes every day. First, my headaches decreased and almost disappeared. My muscles did ache, but this time from my crazy workouts. Matt helped me prove that I can do it – one meal at a time, one day at a time, one pound at a time. It really helped when I told everyone that I had this new goal and a trainer to help. I wasn’t going to lose this time, no matter what.

Today I’m better equipped to teach my children successful health habits.
My kids and husband are now eating more balanced meals. We go on bike rides together, we have more energy and we enjoy better health. Our schedule hasn’t changed; I still work long hours boiling the spaghetti, mixing the salads and warming the tacos. At work and at the house, but having a body that I am proud of makes all the difference.”

***

Elizabeth definitely had bitten off more than she could chew in life. You can’t blame her, though. She married at a young age and had kids at a young age. Before she knew it, they were having kids and she was starting the process all over again.

I see this more often than not, and countless hours in the gym aren’t the answer to your success. Unless you’re a competitive athlete, you can eat six small meals a day and see awesome success when you’re where Elizabeth started. She still has a few sizes to drop before she’s out of the danger zone, but she’s seen great success nonetheless.

Getting your partner involved is a big step. Elizabeth was able to get her husband involved in her success. She didn’t mention it, but he also lost quite a bit of weight.

Maria – Professional Ballroom Dancer, 25 years old

“I met Matt at a dance studio in late 2006. At the time, I was a manager in the company and had been in the business over 5 years. Like most my age and comfortable in their job, I had let my body go. I asked my doctor what to do and he claimed I had a thyroid dysfunction. I didn’t really understand the details, but by looking at the rest of my family, I assumed it was genetic and I could do nothing about it.

Little did I know that my knowledge of health and nutrition was far from complete. When I first talked with Matt, he told me the thyroid dysfunction was, and I quote, ‘a bunch of BS.’ I didn’t know what to think. His certifications and list of clients definitely impressed me, but why would I listen to him over my doctor?

As time went by, I continued to see those around me who were on his program lose weight and they loved their workouts. My curiosity got the better of me. Finally, I asked him to have a meeting. I was ready to do whatever it took. Well, almost anything. He asked the most absurd thing of me. He wanted me to buy a size 6 dress.

‘What?!?’ I thought. He said he would start training me after I committed to believing in his program. My first step of commitment was to buy a size 6 dress. I can now confidently let you know that at the time I was a size 14. So, you see how absurd this was.

Well, I guess I wasn’t that excited about his program. I thought it was a little silly, so I put it in the back of my mind. A few weeks went by and I saw the same people seeing even better success. I couldn’t stand it. I wanted to be in that group!

I went back to Matt one more time. I was hoping he’d be more empathetic seeing that I needed his help. I asked him what I should do. He was persistent about the dress. He gave me a few ideas on where to go and even told me that I had to spend at least $400 on it!!! Uh, this was ridiculous. I was excited that he believed in me so much, but scared since I never had even shopped in the stores he was talking about. The stores he mentioned sold size 8 dresses as their largest. What would they think if I went in and asked to see a size 6? No, I just couldn’t do it.

I was thinking about the dress for an entire week. I finally went shopping the following weekend and called Matt while I was in the store. His pep talk led me to Cache, a local store with formal wear, where I nervously bought a beautiful blue dress. I was hoping that in nine months I could wear it to a formal dinner with my dance company. I was beginning to sound as crazy as Matt. Was I seriously doing this? Yes, I guess so.

I felt so relieved. I was so proud of my dress and couldn’t wait to show him. But my fears weren’t over yet. I hadn’t changed anything in my workout or eating habits and I knew that was going to be short-lived. This is when Matt introduced me to Brandi.

After hearing Matt’s clients exclaim how much fun they had boxing and running races, I was more than intimidated. To my surprise, for our first workout Brandi took me on a very relaxing stroll on the beach with my little dog Coco. A walk, can you believe it? I couldn’t remember the last time I had been to the beach. I was really looking forward to this. They both seemed to believe in me more than anyone I’d ever met and the success I had seen in MOVFitness gave me much hope that they were leading me in the right direction.

The same day, I met with Matt to go over my nutrition plan. I already knew a little about what he was going to tell me. I had read his website and had heard about what he recommends to other clients. What I didn’t realize was that he could help my individual issues that I didn’t even know I had. For instance, I love going out to eat. I love gourmet food at nice restaurants with a nice glass of wine. There’s no way I would give up my wine!

Of course, Matt projected some insane nutrition plan with hardly any chocolate and no wine on the list. Not to mention a ton of meat and veggies.. I was bummed, to say the least. He encouraged me to stick with it for just 2 weeks and then he would change it for me.

I went grocery shopping that night. I stocked up on some protein bars as suggested by Matt for when I couldn’t get my meals in. I scheduled two sessions a week with Brandi. This was a new surge at fitness after I had tried countless times on my own. I had always been a bigger girl and it was depressing. I gave a 100% effort to see if this body really was a genetic dysfunction or if I was in control.

We started out slow. I would walk 2 sets of bleachers and be extremely winded and my legs would be killing me. Brandi said this was normal for the first few weeks. She even said I’d be able to do 8 sets within about 6 weeks. Yeah right, I thought. Let’s see her use these legs!

On our third workout, she introduced boxing to me. Wow, what a rush!  I never knew how empowering hitting something could be. Ok, so it totally drained my body and left me sitting in my car afterwards with noodle arms, unable to lift my hands to the steering wheel. Yet, it was very satisfying. Who needs a therapist when you can just take out all your aggression on some punching mitts. I was hooked!

I started realizing my road rage disappeared. I no longer had the energy to get mad at other drivers. It made a lot of sense. I wish all those LA drivers would take up boxing!
I was also interested in learning the boxing better to take it out on Matt. This diet was definitely not a walk in the park. He had me eating every three hours like clockwork. Sometimes I wasn’t even hungry, other times I felt like I was starved, even after I just ate. The first few weeks were very annoying with all the pain and the confusion from Matt telling me when to eat when my stomach totally didn’t agree. It might’ve been worth it if the scales were going down, but they hovered at my usual weight. I was not happy.

Well, from the beginning Matt had told me that I wasn’t going to see any success the first two weeks. Something about ‘building my fire.’ After those first 2 weeks I would see success.

Sure enough, I lost 3lbs when week three rolled around. I also was doing 5 sets of stairs by week three already. They weren’t easy, but hey, I started on 2 sets! The boxing was getting so much better. I was practicing the routines at my house, too. So much fun!

Some things that I never even thought about were starting to get better. I no longer had crashes in the afternoon. I used to drink energy drinks like crazy or have coffee to boost my energy. I no longer needed this. I also would get really tired after dinner. Matt taught me my large meals were the culprit here. Even better, my skin was starting to clear up. I guess my pores weren’t very receptive to the junk food I had been consuming in the past.
Looking back on what I was doing to my body before I started with MOVFitness, it was starting to sink in that my doctor didn’t know what he was talking about. Can you believe he never even asked me what my diet was or what workout regimen I was undergoing? For the first time in my life, I felt like I was responsible for what was happening with my body. This was so exciting and dreadful at the same time. I guess I could no longer blame someone else for what I looked like. Now that I knew the difference, it was embarrassing to see that I did this to myself.

Matt said I would continue to lose 2lbs per week if I kept up the program 100%. I was on a roll. The following week I did just that. Already down a total of 5lbs, I was feeling courageous.

That weekend, I decided to go out and have a drink. I was ready to reward myself. I had been going strong for 4 weeks with no wine! I was so proud of myself.

Well, bad idea. I got really dizzy after just one drink. One drink!! Insane. I can always hold my liquor. Uh, what had this new lifestyle done to me?

The next day I didn’t feel very well either, so scratch that idea. I called Matt about it. He said I was looking for the fine dining experience, not just a glass of wine. He suggested I ask for bottled water and have it poured by the server in a wine glass. What a great idea. I was mad at myself for trying to cheat. Consequently, I didn’t lose any weight that week. My fault, I guess.

My next trip out, I decided to try his idea. Instead, I got sparkling water. Oooh, those bubbles in the glass made me feel like I had a real drink. Then after adding enough lime to it, it actually tasted like champagne. You have to try it!

The next curveball Brandi threw at me was a 5k race. She wanted me to register for a race in Wine Country. Sneaky, huh? They thought if I thought about wine country I would compromise and do a race.

I knew their tricks, but I wanted to lose the weight. So, I took up their offer. I had made it this far, so I wanted another goal. I started training on my own for this big race. Then, with my trainer, I would work on cross training. I felt like a star athlete. While my time wasn’t phenomenal, I didn’t place last either. I improved my time by 5 minutes over the course of 5 weeks. Then the wine tasting wasn’t near as rewarding as I had imagined it. It was worth it, though. I dropped 10lbs by the time race day started!

Ok, so I won’t bore you with all the details, but to sum it up, I stuck with Matt and Brandi for four months. During this time, my body went from a size 14 down to a size 8. I lost about 2lbs per week just as Matt had said I would. My workouts with my trainer were amazing and I learned so much about better posture, core strength and what HIIT was. They also took me shopping for new clothes, grocery shopping and told me about recipes. This was an all around full-service company. I was even inspired to start researching fitness on my own and realized it was my true passion.

In my research, I realized how sheltered we are from true health. I joined a health company and am now a spokesman for them. I quit my job at the dance studio and started a new career in the fitness industry. I love what this has done for me and completely changed my life around. I want everyone to know that they too can take care of their health and well being if they have the right tools. Don’t listen to your doctor when he tells you about thyroid dysfunction.

I’ve yet to fit into my size 6 dress, but I am still an amazing success story. I took my training on my own after leaving MOVFitness. I haven’t lost any weight since, but I have definitely not gained any back and I feel 100% in control of how I feel. I am now on the other side of the spectrum and am helping people see success such as I’ve seen. Check back because one of these days I am going to fit into that dress and maybe even something smaller!”

***

I was really hoping Maria would lose that next size so she could fit in the dress by the time the book went to print. The only reason she isn’t there is because she had to relocate to an area where we don’t have any trainers.

Regardless, I’m really pleased with her success. Her success story is detailed and she does a great job to tell about every part that helped her get to where she is today. It’s a shame doctors discourage people from trying better health. Before meeting me, she was brainwashed into thinking weight loss was hopeless for her. This was my reasoning for having her buy the size 6 dress. Had I just trained her like everyone else, I don’t think she would’ve seen the same amount of success.

Her doctors had her on medication even though she was taking 2-3 energy drinks a day plus maintaining a horrid diet. It’s now obvious to her why she wasn’t seeing success. She’s now active in the health community helping others take the scary first step she took.

Olita – Anesthesiologist, 34 years old

“I thought I knew it all. I was a former collegiate swimmer, ran a marathon at high altitude and had been to medical school. At 5’3” and 110lbs, I have a competitive nature and had always been thin growing up. With an athlete’s appetite, I could eat anything at anytime, without a worry.

In my early thirties, despite training for sprint triathlons, I started losing my athletic build. I began to see cellulite on my thighs and felt more tired at the end of each day. I decided to call Matt one day two months into training for my second marathon. I realized that I wasn’t just feeling fat, I actually looked unhealthy. I expected Matt would add in more rigorous training. Instead, he began asking me questions about my diet – ‘Did I eat breakfast?, How frequent were my meals?, When did I feel most tired during the day?’ It turned out that I wasn’t eating appropriately to gain muscle while losing fat. According to Matt, in order to do that, I was going to have to ADD 500 calories by adding 2 meals to my day. I didn’t believe it until he explained it in thorough fashion with research studies to back up each theory. In short, my metabolism had slowed between ages 24 and 34, and my avoidance of morning nutrition had caught up with me.

After about two weeks, I was surprised to gain my afternoon energy back and four months later I ran my fastest marathon. Furthermore, I recovered quickly and without a broken body due to Matt’s nutrition advice and his cross training plan. Before Matt’s training plan rejuvenated my body, I thought this would be my last marathon. But now my spirit is also renewed and with this new motivation I look forward to more challenges ahead.”

***

Olita has a great attitude. I rarely meet someone who is already successful who seeks more help. This is a sign of a true professional. If you are already at the top of your profession, that doesn’t mean you know everything. I believe being a great listener is the greatest quality one can possess.

This is the type of personality Olita possesses. She effectively utilized my training for about six months and exhausted much of my knowledge. She then applied the concepts on her own afterward. If you apply this concept in life, you too can achieve success in multiple fields. By meeting with the best of the best in multiple areas, you can fine-tune your skill set and expand your repertoire. Learn how to turn your listening cap on when needed and then switch back to being the leader you are only in your respected field just as Olita has clearly shown.

Dr Sieg – Family Doctor, 56 years old
“While Matt’s advice is a little too technical for many, those in the medical field should pay attention. He goes over things I heard in med school and refreshes your mind to put things in perspective. Having lost 80lbs in a few short months, I can gladly recommend his program to anyone trying to lose weight and interested in keeping the pounds off.”

Joey – Wedding Photographer, 28 years old
“Just wanting to lose a few pounds, I had no idea what I was in for. After 2 months of intense training, I was competing at various races. Matt really blew my mind away when he showed me what I was capable of. Now I’m a competitive runner, and I also met my fiancé at a race. I couldn’t be happier!”

Luke – Business Consultant, 46 years old
“Previously the HR Manager for a highly respected company, I was constantly bombarded by health care professionals. Matt’s plan is unique in that he has a very practical and sound approach. With his science and reasoning, I was personally able to shed 30 much unwanted pounds with just two hours of consulting with him. Not to mention lowering my cholesterol by 150 points. I highly recommend this program to anyone who wants to see the truth and actually make a lifestyle change.”

One of my biggest pet peeves is the genetic factor. People try to blame so much on genetics, it’s pathetic! Even worse, doctors blame their ignorance on genetics. Call me a quack or whatever you want, but I know what my testimonials say. The main thing you can see from my experience is how people of all shapes, sizes and ethnicities can see success if they put their minds to it. No thyroid disease, fibromyalgia, acid reflux or other fabricated disease stops my clients!

This is a fun section where you get to size yourself up. So many times do I see someone who never drinks water have wrinkles. What an easy fix, wouldn’t you think? Instead of hydrating themselves, they’ll spend a ton of money on different moisturizers and makeup to take care of their wrinkles and dry skin. They’ll even go to a dermatologist for a cure or a pill. Sometimes the answer is much simpler than we make it out to be. Use common sense, people!

Here, it is my intent to clear up a few of the common problems that I see in people. I labeled this “stereotypes” because I know I’m generalizing. But my statistics ring true, regardless of ethnicity or anything else. If you have a round face, you eat too many carbs. Plain and simple. No, being Asian doesn’t give you an excuse. Sure, you might have cultural behaviors that affect your eating habits but that doesn’t mean you have an extra gene in your body that makes your face round.

You’ll be so much more aware of your peers, and more importantly, yourself, after reading the Stereotype section and observing those around you.

Even with my years of knowledge and training, I still get countless people who don’t believe I can help them unless they see a picture of someone else just like them who has seen success. I feel this section is critically important for the stubborn few who need further proof that they are not unique and that their body will lose weight just like everyone else’s.

I could go on for a few pages on each personality, but if you just apply the concepts I’ve mentioned before, you won’t have to worry about what is wrong. Plain and simple, here are the most common problems I see in various physiques.

Round Face

I often see this physique in 12 year old gymnasts to college sorority girls to professional models to your 30 year old

business woman. Want a glimpse of the future? Look at the Dinosaur on page 113. After years of continuing your current health habits, that is what you will look like! Be aware of your drawbacks as seen below:

• You eat too many carbs. Cut out the carbs and replace with healthy fats. I know, you think fats are from the devil. Trust me, it will help your health.
• You are cold all the time due to not eating “real meals.” Yogurt in the morning, a granola bar as a snack and M&Ms® later in the day is horrible. Learn to feed your body real fuel or you’ll be sorry!
• Don’t work out like a mad woman! Short workouts incorporating HIIT Training are best. Three hour workouts or even 90 minute workouts raise a concern to me.
• You suffer from Menstrual Inconsistency, Mood Swings and Lack Energy in the Afternoon.
• You are the weakest of all types – you are a Hummingbird! Always couple fat with carbs.

Miss Muffin Top

I also consider this personality The Celebrator. You are most known for finding an excuse to take a break. With numerous holidays, birthdays, inclement weather and whatever else you can find, you become a slacker and take time off when you don’t deserve it! Only reward yourself when you truly deserve it. Also, don’t work out like the poor example given on page 77. That message was mainly geared towards you.

• Incorporate HIIT Training instead of long, slow workouts. It’s harder, but gives better results.
• Set your limits higher. Somewhere in life, you got the idea that slacking was ok. It’s not. Suck it up and give me 20!
• You most likely eat too much, too often. Try to stay within the Fire Burning Zone however possible.
• Don’t overeat just because you’re emotional. I never understood that excuse. Grab a protein shake and get over him.
• Surround yourself with people who aren’t like you.  Most soccer moms fall into this category and you feel comfortable hanging out with them. Find new friends who challenge you.

The Tomboy

While you may be a harder worker than all the other types, you definitely aren’t the smartest one. Also, who said working out offsets poor eating habits? It obviously doesn’t by your tomboy physique. Learn the wellness side of health. Work smarter, not harder. Reduce your stress to see success.

• Don’t be a weekend warrior. Going a long time without working out and “making it up” all on the weekends leads to disaster. Find balance in life.
• Don’t ridicule the skinny girls. They will live longer than you. Take the time to go to the sauna, get a massage, etc. This will relieve stress and help release those unwanted pounds and increase longevity.
• Alcohol & binging never results well with a great physique. You are more likely to give 100% four out of five days. I hate to see what happens that 5th day though. You go from 100% good to 100% bad. I’d rather see 90% performance consistently to maintain a healthy balance.
• You’re most likely to work 10 hours straight with coffee to get you through the day. You know the solution for this. That’s a no-brainer.

The Pleaser

Being in the hospitality industry, I can closely relate to this personality. If you take care of yourself, you don’t make money. If you take care of others, you make money but at the mercy of your own physique. Annoying, eh? Making sure to hit the golden rule of eating every 3 hours NO MATTER WHAT is crucial here. I don’t care if the President is waiting on the phone, tell him you have to grab a bite to eat. Really, it will be ok.

• Set yourself up for success. Don’t book clients back to back to back. Your body will thank you in the long run.
• Take advantage of sleep when you have the chance. Your work can wait. You’ll be refreshed and more efficient even if you only get 4 hours a night.
• Pack meals to go. Learn how to use protein bars, protein shakes, trail mix and more. Find light travel type workouts such as stretch bands and water-filled kettlebells or even a bokken sword!
• Take some time to yourself. You deserve it. When was the last time you relaxed? Don’t have fun tomorrow, have fun now!

Dinosaur

Well, hello Mrs. Muffin Top. Age has caught up with you and now all those years of eating only carbs is showing. No, a dermatologist can’t help. It’s time to change your habits. If you simply hydrate yourself and add healthy fats into your diet, you might just survive extinction.

• If you’re vegan you MUST eat nuts and healthy oils. Most carnivores get fats from animals. You need those fats however you can get ‘em!
• Every new cell in our body is lined with a layer of fat. If you have no extra fat, then you simply won’t create new cells. This leaves a wrinkled-skin, frizzy-haired dinosaur.
• It can take up to a year to see drastic changes. Some cells regenerate in a week, but to replenish all cells it will take up to a year. The change is worth it, though. In a year, you could look a decade younger with this help!
• Stay hydrated! Plenty of fluids will help clear toxins. Don’t see a psychologist until you have control of your diet. All those carbs, even if they are organic, are polluting your body. Hydrate yourself to get the voices out of your head.

Marshmallow Girl

This physique excites me the most. You are the most likely to think what I’m saying is a bunch of hocus-pocus. Yet, you’re also the one who will immediately see drastic changes. I’ve helped people in your shoes lose tremendous amounts of weight in just a few weeks.

• Have blind faith and follow my plan for at least 3 weeks before judging. We need to recalibrate your brain. Right now, it is lying to you and telling you when to eat, sleep and think – at all the wrong times.
• Don’t eat a small salad at noon and then a piece of fruit later in the day – eat up! Frequent meals will increase your metabolism.  You are more likely to eat too little than eat too much. Isn’t that ironic!?
• Don’t even bother working out until you’re 40lbs away from your goal. You will morph into one of the physiques above and that’s when it gets tricky. Just concentrate on eating 5-6x a day until then and build up to walking three times a week.
• Find a skinny friend to hang out with. You’d be amazed how often they eat. Mimic them! Don’t be scared if you gain a few pounds the first week.

Overworker

It’s a pain when I see an Overworker. You truly believe workouts can solve all problems and don’t care to bother with your diet. You also think short workouts are for wimps and would rather play basketball for 3 hours hardcore before you’d do a HIIT session. Well, it has gotten you very close to success, but you need to radically change your program if you want to see your abs. Or you could just put on a baggy shirt and lie to everyone that you actually have a good physique by showing them your guns.

• Don’t work out for 3 hours. Even if it is a basketball tournament. Ask bodybuilders and fitness models how often they work out and for how long. You’d be surprised – never longer than 60 minutes and rarely do they do cardio!
• Just like the lifeguard, you are the wild one. You indulge in sweets and alcohol after a game with the boys. You’re already 90% to your goal, so you need to give 10% extra if you want to look 10% better. Every bit counts at this point.
• Find moderation. No weekend warrior stuff just because you’ve been stuck in the office all week. Make sure to pack plenty of healthy food to keep your blood sugar regulated when on the go.

Muscle Gut

Ok, so you know that you need to eat a lot to maintain all that muscle, but then it creates a problem. If you eat less, your abs start to get more defined, but then your arms and chest get smaller. “What the @#!@%?!?” you say. Don’t worry. You can have mucho muscles without the gut. It’s all about portion control. Instead of eating 4 large meals a day with mucho protein and mucho carbs, let’s switch up your carb-protein-fat ratio and have smaller but more frequent meals.

• Learn the Exchange system and follow it religiously for 2 weeks until you get the hang of new portion sizes and ratios.
• Cut back on unwanted sugars you find in protein shakes. Cut back on carbs elsewhere, too. For example, eat open-faced sandwiches to get less carbs.
• Sleep is a blessing. You’ll grow more muscle by working out hardcore 3 times a week with plenty of sleep as opposed to less sleep and more workouts. So take my advice and be lazy!
• You’re only 4% away from your goal, so act like it! Everything impacts your success. Discipline yourself with different forms of competition.

Beach Dad

So with our 3 points of health that we follow: good diet, good exercise plan and good motivation – the Beach Dad usually suffers from lack of motivation. You usually have success in an area of your life that makes you feel that you don’t need a six-pack. As soon as you start attempting, you remind yourself how successful you are elsewhere and then decide to stop.

• That big belly is a huge problem – a heart attack waiting to happen. Get your blood pressure checked and adopt smaller meals. If you enjoy having 5,000 calories a day, then continue to do so but at least have evenly distributed portions starting with breakfast.
• Take up an active hobby. Learn boxing, self defense, or just make a commitment to go hiking every other week. Without a goal or a deadline it is easy for you to dwell in your other success and push this problem aside.
• Get your family involved. Misery likes company, right? Take the little gremlins out for bike rides or even something as simple as a Frisbee® toss. Make the family vacation to do a crazy hike and spend all spring preparing for it!

Hawaiian Shirt Dude

Of all the physiques, this guy would never see a personal trainer! Learn how to listen to someone for an hour. Then apply 1% of what you heard into your own life. Learn how to analyze what a trainer tells you and then apply what you think is true. I encourage you to research ten different sources before applying any. But, if you are in a big square shirt because you don’t like the body underneath, then you’re obviously doing something wrong. Most likely, your wife is reading this and trying to help you out. Not many Hawaiian Shirt Dudes seek advice from others. Here’s how you can help him:

• Make his meals for him. If you already do, incorporate the Exchange System and regulate his portions. When you go out to eat, INSIST you share the meal. He needs a bigger portion than you, but not the Porterhouse all to himself.
• A few vegetables and whole grains never hurt anybody. Eating a ton of red meat isn’t healthy on the body. Make sure your man limits his red meat to twice a week at the maximum.
• When he complains that it is always hot, tell him to even out his portions and lay off the booze.

I believe we can relate our training and eating habits to different animals. I’ve picked four creatures to which I feel the majority of our population can relate. If we study these creature’s eating and “exercise” habits we can see why they have a particular physique.

If you look at our sports teams, one of the most overlooked aspects that bonds the team is the mascot. This mascot instills a personality in the team and town.

For centuries, tribal cultures have respected the physique and spirit of various animals. By studying these animals, they were better able to motivate themselves to see success. A powerful hunter was said to have the spirit of a hulk. A conniving enemy was known as a snake. Many settlers in America renamed the natives after disrespectful words. Iroquois was really referring to the Haudenosaunee people. The settlers thought Iroquois, meaning blacksnakes, was more appropriate than their original name. This sort of behavior can affect the morale of an entire population.

I believe it is important in sports and in achievement of better health to role play and visualize yourself as the predator that is at the top of the food chain. See four different creatures who I think most people end up personifying and gain morale in your quest for better health. This will better alter your inner animal to that of a powerful, elegant and respectful spirit.

You can also apply this concept to other areas of your life. If you visualize yourself having success, or having respect, or whatever it is that you desire – find someone or something that already has attained that quality and see yourself in their shoes.

The Deer

The deer has four skinny legs with a big middle section. It jumps and frolics about the forest all day and only eats mornings and late afternoon. They graze on berries, nuts, twigs and plants. When you think of a powerful beast with an awesome physique, the deer rarely comes to mind.

Just as the deer is an herbivore and runs around the forest all day, I too often see humans mimic this fitness personality. They too, have skinny legs and large midsections. If you are the type of person to eat grains, berries and nuts as your only source of foods, then you might have a problem. If you also are running around all day and have long endurance-type workouts, then you are very likely to have a similar physique to a deer. How often do we see Runners and Bikers with an awful midsection and scrawny arms and legs!? I guarantee this isn’t the right road to success in achieving a nice physique!

This creature is the same as a muffin top and overworker. Once you visualize what you are doing to your body and that it is documented with illustrations and even your personality, it will be easier to change or at least come to a new realization.

Fixes:

• Eat more protein. We aren’t vegetarians!
• Don’t stand up all day. Only stand if you’re working out. If you have to stand for work, wear in-soles.
• Work out your chest, legs and glutes. “Core” and aerobic workouts are for wimps. Work out your largest muscle groups to fuel the flame and everything else will balance out.
• Get your sleep! Instead of vegging out in front of the TV, read a book twice a week to help you get to bed early. The light from televisions and monitors messes with our circadian rhythm, causing us to think we should stay up later than our body really needs.
• Biking and running are great workouts, but only in moderation. No more than 25% of your workouts should be endurance workouts if you want to trim body fat. No, this isn’t a typo – I’m telling you to run and bike less!

The Bear

The bear has a more well-rounded diet than the deer. He is known for gorging on food throughout the day in preparation for winter time. He also doesn’t care too much for plants. He loves meat and will eat plants if he has to, but much prefers protein. If he does eat berries or plants, he chooses those with the most nutrients possible. His only mission in life is to eat and that he does well.

I’m sure you know someone in your life who is like this. With our super-size society, many of our males are going down this route. They are grumpy unless you give them a large portion of meat and their only satisfaction is a huge meal in front of them while having their feet propped up as they watch TV. I believe the first step in fixing the problem is awareness.

I don’t believe there is anything respectful about this type of personality. It is lethargic and lazy. When thinking of the laziest creature of all, I think of the bear. He is smart, but he uses his intelligence to be as lazy as possible.

Fixes:

• Stay out of the honey jar! Don’t glob large portions on your plate just because you’re a beast. Eat like the person you want to look like, not who you are.
• Buy smaller utensils and dishes. This will make you more conscious of how much you eat when you have to go back for seconds, thirds or even fourths before you are completely satisfied.
• Lose your storage shed. Prepare meals for the future so you don’t use your stomach as an extra storage bin. If you give your body fuel frequently, it will stop preparing to hibernate. This means to eat every 3 hours – no exceptions.
• Learn manners! When you are a slob, you don’t have proper digestion. Close your mouth when you eat, always use proper utensils and sit down when eating. All this will equate to smaller portions, believe it or not.

The Hummingbird

This fragile creature is far different than the others. Her favorite food is nectar. She zips around the air at lightning speed, likes to play and is very territorial.

I know many petite girls who remind me of hummingbirds. They are very energetic, eat sugar all day long and never gain a pound. Sounds like the best of everything, right?

Well, the life expectancy of a hummingbird is about 5 years with the longest living only 9 years. Their heart rate is an insane 1,200 beats per minute! If your fitness personality reflects that of a hummingbird you may have trouble sleeping, calming down, have heart murmurs, or anxiety. Throw some healthy fats into your diet, drink more water and eat some protein! While it’s great to be petite and able to eat sugar without gaining weight, your physique doesn’t tell what goes on from within. Remember what I said about sugar being the gasoline on your fire? You may also be cold all the time. Make sure you eat enough food with substance so you can actually heat your core. Pure sugar also can give you a hormone imbalance. The hummingbird is not known for its prowess or strength. It is a fragile creature that while beautiful to watch, has neither longevity nor strength to survive the slightest cold.

Fixes:

• Don’t use the bird feeder! Soda, juices and coffee are all ways to suppress your appetite with pure sugar. Eliminate them and replace with real food.
• Energy bars and energy drinks are for the birds! If you fuel your body appropriately, you won’t lag in energy. No, they aren’t healthy. As of publication, the Zone Impact Bar® is my ONLY recommended protein bar. The Luna®, Zone®, Think Thin® and ALL other bars are CRAP. I’ve extensively researched them and they are cheaply made and not nutritious!
• Stop getting fat-free foods! You need fat to survive and it will actually help lower your body fat if used as discussed in the meal plan in Chapter 1.
• Always jittery? You’ll stop shaking your foot, losing sleep, twitching, having back and head aches, etc. if you lose the caffeine. Yes, that means chocolate, too. Have it in the morning sparingly and you’ll be better off. I know you won’t drop it entirely, but at least eat chocolate with nuts and before 3pm.

The Puma

The Puma has a few characteristics of all other creatures. The four-legged beast is smart and powerful like the bear, nimble and as aware as the deer and playful and territorial like the hummingbird. The Puma spends most of its day lying around, cleaning itself and taking pride in its accomplishment.

It is at the top of the food chain and is a carnivore. A puma will stalk its prey and walk very quietly. In a matter of 90 seconds, it will run as fast as it can and chase down an unsuspecting deer. After catching the deer, the puma will sit down to eat its prize. Sound familiar? You got it, this is HIIT Training at its peak. Learn to run like a puma and you’ll see better success in your workouts.

The puma has only meat as its source of food. It also exhibits incredible amounts of energy in short bursts in order to catch its prey. Try to vamp up your protein intake to at least 40% of your total calories. For ladies, this means 20g of protein at every meal. Gentlemen need as much as 40g of protein at every meal.

If we mimic this lifestyle, we will end up with the same physique – a rock hard body that is lean and mean. We must let our body rest 99% of the day. Then, the 1% that we are actually working out, we need to give 100%. This makes a big difference in our strength, physique and longevity.

You see, the puma is only a few seconds faster than the deer. But that few seconds determines who is at the top of the food chain. You decide where you want to be on Mother Nature’s list.

Be careful, though. Don’t let your pride get the best of you. Pride is the Puma’s only downfall. Be humble once you’ve achieved greatness and help out the other animals.

Well, you’re almost there. You now know how to fuel your fire and provide it with the right amount of oxygen, but there is one more thing. We must ignite that flame and let it burn!

In order to find your spark, I’ve provided a few different elements to gain this key to the puzzle. The spark is the most unique of the three in that it is different for everyone. The information I provide here is a count of my experience with past clients. Even after explaining my previous stories with clients and all the information here, I’m still faced with new challenges. Hopefully you will find motivation in this chapter to take up Chapters 1 and 2. I have seen people hear only the information in Chapter 1 and have life-altering experiences. I’ve seen others who hear the information in Chapter 1, train for months on the information on Chapter 2 and they still lack the motivation to give 100%.

Only after a year, I finally find the missing piece to the puzzle and help solve their weight mystery. I’m not trying to give anyone excuses. If you execute the science I provided in Chapters 1 and 2, you WILL succeed. The only dilemma is that some people have a hard time finding structure or the will power to execute the information shown. I am constantly updating my repertoire to help motivate clients.

I really feel this is the heart of having a personal coach. My clients tell me time and time again “You believed in me when no one else did. Most importantly, I didn’t even believe what you were saying until I saw it start happening.”

Unfortunately, I can’t provide this one-on-one attention in this book. But, what you can realize is that by reaching for your goals and by taking risks by committing 100% to this plan, you will find your way along a new path in life. Read the stories and ideas hereafter and I wish you the best luck in finding your motivation. I’ve replicated the tactics shown in the pages ahead numerous times with great success. Every once in awhile I’ve been thrown a curveball, but the majority of people respond strongly to the actions shown here.

If you don’t have the motivation to ignite your fire, then have your family, friends and colleagues give you a boost.

Most importantly, visualize yourself succeeding and you will. You are now armed with a tremendous amount of information. Go to the gym and take a look at all the people on treadmills just mindlessly power walking as they read magazines or watch TV. You now have the knowledge to get past their barriers.

With that knowledge alone, you should be thrilled to start on this routine. Go ahead! Ask one of them what their diet is. You’ll find that nobody does this sort of plan. On the other hand, ask the skinny girl with a “natural six-pack” what she eats. I guarantee she gorges out six times a day. While she thinks she “eats whatever she wants” you’ll realize there are some similarities to her diet and what I’ve been relaying to you. It’s simple and effective. Eat well-rounded meals five to six times per day and incorporate HIIT Training into your routine and you WILL succeed.

Your first step to igniting your fire is to tell your peers. Tell everyone you plan to lose 20lbs in the next 2 months. Here are your weapons to success. Read the other success stories and find the key information beyond the science that made everything click for them.

It is my belief that circadian rhythms play a huge part in how we should take care of our bodies. Believe it or not, when you shower during the day, what time you take vitamins, how many clothes you’re wearing at different times of the day and many more time-related issues affect our well-being.

What are circadian rhythms? These rhythms are a cycle that follows very closely with the earth’s rotation and are in relation to the sun and the season. Our body’s cycle is approximately 24 hours and can be “synchronized” merely by seeing sunlight. Sounds like a bunch of hocus pocus, eh? Read on.

In the summer we’ll have a different rhythm than in winter. Our body temperature will fluctuate as will our metabolism, based on this rhythm. We will also release different hormones depending upon our location within the rhythm. Sounds intriguing? Trust me, I didn’t come up with this. There are hundreds of sources with the same information; I just want to open your eyes to how we can use this knowledge to better lose weight.

Let’s think of the circadian rhythm as our base flame in our fire. The rhythm is based on the temperature of our environment and the amount of light in the sky. As the temperature and light in our environment changes, so does our body. Not as drastic as a cold-blooded reptile, but similar to how their system works. During night time when the earth is coldest and darkest, our metabolism, thinking, digestive enzymes and body temperature are also at their lowest. In contrast, our body is at the opposite end of the spectrum from 8-11am. This is a window where we are at our peak in performance.

How can we take advantage of this idea? Well, if the fire within us is strongest at 8am, then we need to fuel the fire the most at that time, right? If we have a high flame then we should also fuel the flame with the most oxygen at this point. This means early morning is a great time to work out. This is when we should eat the most calories and be the most productive. What more? Our digestion system is fully awake and this is a great time to take multi-vitamins. If you want to do some work? You got it, bright and early is the best time of the day to be productive!

Now, the opposite can be said for 11pm-5am. This is a time when our body is ready to sleep. The exact time isn’t the same for everyone, but the idea is. While we can condition our bodies to think differently, our natural rhythm falls somewhere very close to this time. Depending on when we are exposed to heat, cold and mainly sunlight – our body will adapt our metabolism accordingly. If you’ve ever flown from one side of the earth to the other, you’d realize firsthand how we all experience being out of sync with our body. We call it “jet lag”. Jet lag is the layman’s term for coming out of synchronization with our circadian rhythm.

At the lowest point in our rhythm, we release chemicals such as melatonin which tell us to rest. I highly recommend sleeping during this time.

The most important factor in longevity and enhancing our performance is to recognize the differences in our flame’s level. If we want our fire to be optimal, we must take great care of it in times when our flame is nothing but embers and then fuel it like crazy when the flame is highest. This means to eat a large breakfast with a hardcore workout in the mornings followed by rest with very little on the fire at night time.

It is obvious that your body would rather be sleeping when the temperature of the earth is coolest regardless if you try to train it otherwise. Just look at the major catastrophes in world history. Chernobyl and Three Mile Island both happened due to human error in the earlier hours of the morning. Recent studies also show that shift work may increase the risk of cancer. This is a serious issue that businesses should look into if they have a 24-hour work schedule. If you work late at night, then I highly suggest researching this subject more in-depth if you care about longevity.

For everyone else, if we realize our fire is down to mere embers during this time, then we’ll know how to feed it more appropriately. With such harsh conditions outdoors at night time, we would constantly be putting on twigs and tinder to keep the fire blazing. The fire has a natural tendency to get lower at this time of the night and it is difficult to keep the fire high enough to warm us without adding extra blankets.

Just like the fire, our body would rather be sleeping. I’d prefer you let it do just that. If you are forced to be awake at this time for whatever reason, then you, too, need to keep the fire going higher than normal with tinder and twigs. This means only carbs or simple proteins and fats this late at night. No big logs will help out – they’ll just get stored and get in the way of the flame. So if you want large logs, the best time is to utilize them is early in the morning. Then, as the day goes on, make your meals smaller. Easier said than done.

There are also a few tricks we can do to kick-start the flame once morning arrives. If we wake up at 5am and our rhythm hasn’t warmed us up yet, then why not give it a boost? How about a cup of coffee, half a banana and a nice hot shower? This will not only break our fast cycle but also bump up our core temperature before we start any daunting task for the day. Since the rhythm gets synchronized with light, how about going on a morning run outdoors or buying dawn lights? Dawn lights can be installed in your home and they gradually come on over the course of two hours to simulate a sunrise. This is a great tool for those of you who have a hard time waking up in the morning.

With our fire blazing higher in the morning more than any other time, this is also a nice time to eat any sweets. I’d prefer you have them in the form of fruits, but if you want chocolate or candy then do so before 3pm. This is one of my golden rules: Only eat sweets before 3pm. After 3pm your metabolism is starting to die off and I worry that you’ll start storing these sugars as fat instead of burning them off as easily as we do in the morning.

It is also believed that with jobs indoors and with us using heaters and air conditioners we sometimes forget what the real temperature or light level is. If you’ve had a clock for a long time, you know you have to check the validity of the time after a while. Our body must do the same. At least once a day for an hour, our body prefers to be outdoors in the sunlight so it can readjust its core temperature. I believe we have another code word for this – cabin fever. If you live in a 4 season environment, you know what it’s like to be cooped up inside so long that you don’t feel like yourself anymore. I’d advise everyone to get outside at least one hour a day to tune your body with nature. This will realign your circadian rhythm with nature and you’ll be well on your way to better fitness!

Above, you see I mentioned the acronym HIIT twice in the more technical workout. High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT Training is a concept that is becoming more and more popular. HIIT also has the highest EPOC of any workout possible. Unfortunately, I feel that the few who know about it don’t execute it properly. There is a cousin to HIIT Training known as Interval Training that most end up doing.

Let me paint a picture. You walk into the gym and put your wind suit on. You walk out into the cardio room and find an open treadmill. You step aboard and slide the speed up to 3.2. After about five minutes, you move the speed up to 5.5. You then move the speed back down to 3.2 after you feel winded. You repeat this process for about 45 minutes and call it a day. Sound familiar?

This is called Interval Training. Much better than hopping on the treadmill for a monotonous jog at a constant 4.8, Interval Training is still not as efficient as HIIT Training in achieving weight loss. Here is how HIIT differs:

You have the same wind suit on and you even hop on the same treadmill. You start out at a walk at 2.8 and let your body warm up for about five minutes. You then hop off the treadmill and start stretching. My clients always get worried when they see how long I’m warming them up. My mottos is, “If the warm up is long, then you know the workout is hard!”

After a nice, deep stretch, hop back on the treadmill and go at 4.2 for about 3 minutes. By this time, your muscles should be limber and you should be ready for one minute of pain. I now want you to crank the treadmill up to the highest speed possible without killing yourself. For most people, this is about 8.0. You should only be able to maintain this for one minute. If you can handle it any longer, you aren’t going fast enough. If the treadmill doesn’t register as fast as you can go, then take your workout outdoors. If at the end of 1 minute, you aren’t praying to just reach the slider to slow down the treadmill, then you didn’t have it fast enough! I’m talking about life or death speed here! If you want a killer body, you gotta give me 1 minute of pain.

After one minute, slow the treadmill down to a crawl. The purpose is to get your breath back for another heart-pounding minute. This usually takes about three minutes before your heart rate returns to 120-130bpm. After you have your breath back, crank the treadmill up again and give it all you’ve got for one more minute!

Repeat this cycle five times. After the fifth cycle, put the treadmill on 3.0 and cool down for five minutes. Step off the treadmill and do another stretch. Take your time and continue stretching until your heart rate is completely back to normal. Congratulations, you’ve just completed your first HIIT Training session.

If at the end, you don’t feel completely exhausted, then you may consider making your maximum effort harder next time. I personally go outdoors to run with a weighted vest and run uphill in order to get my heart rate as high as needed for HIIT training. This means that eventually even running as fast as you can outdoors isn’t enough resistance.

The idea is to give your body 5 minutes of pain over the course of a 30 minute workout. Really take your time in between bouts to make sure all lactic acid leaves your muscles and you’re nice and relaxed for your next set.

I’ve coached hundreds of athletes who do mediocre interval training and think they are doing HIIT training. If you don’t feel like you are going to die at the end, then you only did interval training and not HIIT training.

I also mentioned HIIT Style Boxing on one of the workout days. I believe this is a very fun workout that also incorporates HIIT Training. If you’ve ever seen a professional boxing fight, you may have noticed how exhausted they are after a boxing match. It is astounding to know that these boxing matches rarely last more than six minutes! This is the epitome of HIIT Training. The boxer goes in for a three minute round and pummels his adversary as if it is life or death – sometimes it is. After only a few rounds, the bout is over and a winner is declared. Both contestants are drenched with sweat. It is no surprise that boxers have some of the greatest physiques of all time. They are consistently doing HIIT training and their cross training also results in high EPOC.

EPOC or Excessive Post Oxygen Consumption is basically a measurement of how much we breathe based on different workouts. The higher the EPOC, the more oxygen you consume. What is most interesting about this idea is that you continue to consume more oxygen for 24 hours after you stop working out if you perform the correct type of workouts. This is important for all you calorie counters out there. Let’s take a closer look at what this means.

If you consume 1,500 calories a day, and your general schedule of walking around, sleeping, watching TV, etc. burns off 1,300 calories, then you are left with 200 extra calories. If you choose to do nothing else, then you’ll just store those extra 200 calories. If you work out, your goal should be to burn off 200 calories, right? Well, if it were black and white, then this would work. But, unfortunately, it isn’t that simple.

If you do a slight jog until you have expended 200 calories, then you burned off just the 200 calories. That’s not the only way to get 20 calories off, though. You could also lift heavy weights. You might only burn 140 calories during your 20 minute weight lifting routine. This is more beneficial though because now every hour thereafter you will burn an extra 10 calories up to 24 hours later. This means from the 20 minute lifting routine, you actually burned 380 calories by the end of the 2nd day!

How did I come up with 380? Well, let’s say you expend 140 calories lifting weights. Then you expend 10 calories for every hour thereafter for 24 hours. That is 10 x 24 = 240 extra calories just by watching the clock go by. 240 + 140 = 380!

This complicates how we can accurately measure how much energy we expend. There are different studies that state how much energy we expend on each workout, but quite frankly I think there isn’t enough evidence or large enough reviews to make statistical claims.

What I do know is that higher EPOC workouts are more beneficial in keeping our blood sugar from plunging. I’ll explain in detail the types of workouts that have the highest EPOC and how to do them.

If you just got your blood sugar up to 120 mg/dL and then you are worried about burning off 300 calories, then your blood sugar will plunge back down to 80 quickly after a typical workout. Or you can do a quicker, high EPOC workout and your blood sugar will only drop down to 100 mg/dL. Then, you’ll have to either eat more often throughout the day because your blood sugar will be dropping more quickly than usual due to the EPOC, or let it go low and experience weight loss! Check out the next two charts how a high EPOC will change your blood sugar level for the rest of the day.

In this chart, you can see that the person was able to stay in the target zone for the majority of the day. Each meal took about 3-4 hours to wear off. They had four meals. This is ideal without any variables taken into consideration.

In the second chart, you can see a drastic change. The gentleman decided to work out with a High EPOC workout at 9am. You can see the different in his blood sugar. He got hungry much more quickly, with his meals lasting two to three hours, even though they were the same size portions as before. If he chooses to eat the same amount of total calories as when he didn’t work out, he will lose weight. If he decides to eat seven times a day and bump up his caloric intake as I have depicted in this diet, he will gain muscle, endurance, strength and energy but won’t lose any weight. I prefer the latter until he has muscle and a strong immune system, then he can taper back on calories. Note the weird double hump at the beginning of the day. That is because he ate half a banana, did an intense workout, then immediately had a protein shake. So he spiked his blood sugar, worked out and burned off the banana. Then he replenished himself immediately with a protein shake.

I hope I haven’t confused you, I know this is a lot to digest. More simply put, just do the high EPOC workouts I’ve listed below, after you’ve hit a plateau with regular workouts, and you’ll find new success. Don’t get too excited about High EPOC workouts though. If you’ve yet to master Chapter 1, you could actually harm yourself instead of helping yourself with such intense routines.

Let’s look at our fire with nice consistent oxygen being blown over it. What if a wind storm came in and blew as hard as it could on our fire? The fire would die down to merely nothing. If we fed the fire rapidly, it would blaze back up and then another storm gushes in and knocks the flame back to nothing. Believe it or not, this happens all the time with our bodies. This is what I call the weekend warrior. They work out like crazy on the weekends and then eat like crazy during the week. This cycle doesn’t lead to a good outcome.

It’s much healthier to work out only for 20 minutes consistently throughout the week instead of combining everything on one day and trying to make up for lethargy in the past.

Also, I’ve found a secret to how often and on what body part we should be training. Let’s look at that flame one more time. In Chapter 1, we learned how to find the best fuel for our fire. Now, let’s assume you already have a good flame going. Now what? What if you want your fire to expand? Then you’ll place some logs around the edge and start a new fire, right? Then you’ll put some logs on the other side and start one over there, too. After you have about 5 fires going, you can collectively call it a bonfire.

The same is said for our body. We first need to learn how to at least get a fire going in our belly. Our core needs to have enough fuel and oxygen to keep our vital organs functioning well. Beyond that, we should fuel the fire throughout other sections of the body. If you have a high EPOC workout on your legs one day, then a high EPOC workout on your arms the next, then a high EPOC workout at your core the following, you’ll be well-rounded and creating a strong bonfire.

Another method would be to give a consistent breeze all across the fire as to supply oxygen to every log evenly. Either method works. Recipes for disaster include no oxygen at all or a wind storm. The former puts out your flame and causes you to gain weight; the latter is catastrophic and can cause all sorts of problems.

A well-rounded workout routine will look like the following:

Monday: Weight Lifting Upper Body
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Weight Lifting Lower Body
Thursday: Off
Friday: Cardio
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Off

This is an excellent start to a training program. Each workout is blowing concentrated oxygen on different parts of the flame.

A routine equal in success would be the following:

Monday: Full Body Workout
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Full Body Workout
Thursday: Off
Friday: Full Body Workout
Saturday Off
Sunday: Off

Too often, I see people doing too much on each day to the point their body has too much stress and not concentrating on diet enough. If you do a full body workout, your goal shouldn’t be to completely fatigue yourself all over. You want a sense of being sore, but just a little. Think of this as a constant but subtle breeze blowing over your fire. If you only work that body part out once a week like in the first example, then you have free range to completely exhaust yourself. Since you’d be giving your body a full seven days to recover before working out that body part again, you would want to exhaust each muscle group to the point of failure as opposed to a more easy going full body routine as seen in the second example.

But remember, no matter how much oxygen you blow on your flame, if your fuel is made of garbage – it is not going to catch blaze or stay ablaze!

This information is even more valuable once you get to the point where you are training for competition. Once you are ready for that type of training, I suggest a program like the following:
Monday: Upper Body High Resistance/Low Rep
Workout + 20 Minute Morning Jog

Tuesday: Plyometrics + Massage
Wednesday: 60 minute run @ 90% capacity
Aqua Jogging or HIIT Style Boxing + Jump Rope
Thursday: Lower Body High Resistance/Low Rep
Friday: Workout + 10 Minute Jog + Jacuzzi
Saturday: Off
Sunday: HIIT Sprints

Ok, hopefully I didn’t scare you away. Some of the above words are fitness jargon that I’ll explain later. The overall idea is that I’m crafting a hard core workout around areas of your body that aren’t sore. As soon as you start to heal in one area, we work it out again. There is usually a 3 day rest in between training each muscle group. I believe there are 3 different areas that we can train:

1. Upper Body
2. Lower Body
3. Heart

If we switch up our workouts and cycle through these 3 priorities, then we’ll be supplying oxygen to the 3 main areas of our fire.

Too often, I see endurance athletes only training their legs. How absurd! Come on, people. Your arms are attached to the same frame that you take on those long runs. If you just keep blowing on the same area of your flame, it can only handle so much. Learn the art of cross training and incorporate high EPOC workouts into your exercise regimen.

If you’ve ever tried to build a fire with the best logs possible and no air, then you know what happens. No fuel or spark will make a difference. Even though the oxygen is often overlooked, it’s a vital part of a fire. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to best utilize oxygen to feed your flame.

The second most important element of success in weight loss, after the right fuel, is exercise. I seriously believe nutrition plays a role of 80% in your success, if not more. It would be foolish to neglect how simple it is to change your eating habits and try to work out like a madman to see success. I have helped many clients lose tremendous amounts of weight with diet alone. This chapter is for those who have already mastered Chapter 1 or those of you who care to multitask to see success.

In my practice, clients who see the most success concentrate on their diet 80% and their workout about 20%. This gets much more drastic success than the opposite.

Now that you realize nutrition is the #1 priority, let’s move on.

There are a few different elements that make working out important. The first and foremost is oxygen consumption. In my opinion, the only reason to work out is to increase oxygen consumption. If you merely walk around all day instead of sitting down, you’ll breathe more. If you breathe more, you also exhale more. This means you’re burning off more energy. It’s a simple process.

Yet, there are ways to increase how much we breathe throughout the day with different types of workouts which I will bring to your attention. In Chapter 1, you learned how to eat small, frequent meals. This is a no-brainer for most and has been preached about for years by many health professionals. The difference in what I preach is combining fats and proteins to balance out our high consumption of carbohydrates. This still baffles people even after reading the science provided.

The same applies to workouts. I have a few simple rules to working out. When you first start working out, doing anything at all is an accomplishment. Just get off the couch and go for a walk. If you’re too far out of shape to walk, then swim. If you’re too out of shape to swim, then play video games. Anything that is more interactive than the TV. I’m not joking about the video games. One hour of first-person shooters expends about the same amount of calories as jogging a mile!

After you have mastered getting off the couch at least three times a week for 30 minutes, it’s time to add more technique to your workouts.

Some workouts actually hurt more than they help. If you put too much oxygen on your fire, you can actually blow out the flame! If you don’t add enough oxygen, the flame will die as well. The key here and everywhere else in life seems to be balance.

I often see people in the gym for two to three hours at a time and they see no progress after months of the same routine. This saddens me because I know a method that only takes 30 minutes three times a week to see much better results. Enough success to get six-pack abs and the body of their dreams. Just look at all the aerobics teachers who are out of shape. People! Obviously aerobics classes aren’t the answer!

As I mentioned before, getting the right balance of oxygen to the flame is the only reason we work out when trying to lose weight. With this in mind, let’s look at a few different concepts.

Ok, so now you understand how the blood sugar works. You must eat a variety of foods every couple of hours from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to sleep. Yet, how do we know how big our portions are supposed to be? Well, don’t worry. I’m covering that too.

There is a little known secret in American culture that is overlooked by so many diets. This secret is on many boxes of food that allow you to easily calculate how big your portions should be. It was designed for diabetics, but why not learn about it before you become diabetic? It is known as Exchanges.

Unlike many diets, I don’t want to narrow your options for foods. Think of this advice as a guideline. If I tell you eating fats will help you lose weight, then you know you have an abundance of options for attaining fat from which to choose. The same applies if I tell you that protein builds muscle.

Furthermore, if I say I want you to eat 20 grams of protein in every meal, then it is up to you to find the protein you feel like eating at the moment and just making sure you get 20g in. Make sense? This is what Exchanges do. Except the Exchange system is a new way of looking at the different food groups. If you are diabetic, then you would know that there are a variety of lists of which to keep track. You have the starches, the fruits, the dairy products, the fats, the free foods and so on. This can get quite overwhelming. I’ve found that by narrowing our options to just three distinct categories, we can eliminate confusion and see the same level of results.

Nothing new here. The three categories as you may have guessed are:

• Carbohydrates
• Proteins
• Fats

Remember how to tell these apart. Don’t confuse legumes as proteins or think soy is a protein. This is a very common mistake!

With the simple rules I explained before, it is easy to categorize all foods. There might be a few exceptions, but 99% of everything falls in here, so why learn crazy subcategories from the very beginning?

Ok, so now you have 3 categories. You know you’re supposed to eat from every category in every sitting, but how much?

First, let’s learn a little bit of science behind the Exchange system before I answer that question. The exchange system can be broken down as seen in the next chart.

An exchange is another way of measuring quantities. There are many calorie counting diets or point systems in place. This is yet another point system meal planning method. The difference is that this method was designed for diabetics and is actually used in many food labels. I’m hoping it will someday become mainstream, as this is a great way to calculate the size of your portion.

Let’s look at the chart above. We have 1 Exchange of Carbs which is the same as saying 15 grams of carbs or even saying 60 calories from carbohydrates. All three of these mean the exact same thing. I don’t want you to use this idea and get crazy about counting calories or counting exchanges. But for about two weeks on my meal plan, you should build your fire with the exact amount of fuel that I recommend.

On my website, in my cookbooks and in other literature found for diabetics, you’ll find the following nomenclature used when referring to Exchanges:

1 3 1 – This means you will be eating 1 Exchange of Carbs, 3 Exchanges of Protein and 1 Exchange of Fat. It can also be written as 15g Carbs, 21g Protein and 5g Fat.

As you can see, it is easier to simply write 1 3 1 than to explain every time what each number means. Let’s look at one more example:

3 1 2 – This example would be 45g Carbs, 7g Protein and 10g Fat. It can also be written as 180 calories of Carbs, 28 Calories of Protein and 90 Calories of Fat.

Does this all make sense? There is no way to tell you exactly how much you should eat without a personal session with me or another nutrition coach, but in my experience I have found that the following recommendation works most of the time.

For a girl who is 5’5” and wishes to be about 120lbs, you will want to have the following:
6 AM    – 1 3 0
7 AM    – Workout
8 AM    – 1 3 1
9 AM    – 1 1 1
12 PM    – 1.5 4 1
2:30 PM    – 1 3 1
5 PM    – 1 3 1
7:30 PM     – 1 3 1
9:30 PM     – 0.5 2 2

A man who is 5’11” and wishes to be 170lbs should have the following:
6 AM    – 2 5 0.5
7 AM    – Workout
8 AM    – 2 6 1
9 AM    – 1 5 1
12 PM    – 2 6 1
2:30 PM    – 1 5 1
5 PM    – 2 6 1
7:30 PM    – 1 5 1
9:30 PM    – 1 3 1.5

This is a brief look at Exchanges and how they can help us measure portions. You may research Exchanges in depth and find a multitude of recipes, diets and food lists on my website or elsewhere that use this wonderful system of portion control.

Well, that wraps up how to fuel your body.  In conclusion, if all you got out of this chapter is that you need to eat every 3 hours no matter what, then you will see a lot of success.

Take it one step further, and eat every 3 hours a balanced meal of 40% carbs, 40% protein, and 20% fat and you’ll be that much better off.

Learn how to use properly balanced meals often throughout your day and you will start to feel the embers growing in as little as two weeks.

Isn’t it highly ironic that most fat people are actually starving themselves? Sad, but true. There is gluttony, but there are also many well-intentioned people who simply do not understand the correlation between caloric intake – what, when and why – and how ignoring their fire by going long stretches without eating is the very thing that robs them of energy, makes them feel lethargic and leaves them cold and listless with little desire or ability to get up and move.

Everybody knows by now not to eat sugar. However, most people don’t know that you can very easily and effectively control your need and desire for sugar, if you know how to build and maintain your fire. Many people say they just have a huge sweet tooth, but this is almost always because they’re just not eating correctly. They wait till their blood sugar level drops to 80 mg/dL or lower in the Danger Zone, then the vagus nerve clamors for sugar, which they’re more than willing to provide. Shoving this sugar in their face without the appropriate proteins and fats to balance it is throwing gasoline on their fire. So, their blood sugar soars as high as 150 mg/dL. It drops back to 80 mg/dL and they toss on more gasoline.

I’ve had some clients tell me, “Well, that’s just how I am. That’s how my whole family is. We like sugar.”

No, your family just doesn’t know how to make a fire. Nobody taught you how to make a real fire. After I teach one of them to make a good fire, they’ll begin to notice how their family eats and realize why obesity is becoming the largest (pun intended) epidemic in America.

However, tossing gasoline on the fire is the only way they know to keep it going. This dangerous method is merely burning down the house. Never toss gasoline on your fire! I show people a new way to eat – how to properly build a fire and maintain it – by knowing what log to place upon the fire at the proper time. By mastering the fire within, you will change your life, your family members’ lives and eventually you’ll change the world. It happens one meal and one mouthful at a time. You no longer need to be a slave to sugar.

Many people think that obesity is genetic. It is more accurate to say that if you’re family is fat, odds are you will be too. However, this has more to do with copying bad habits than any aberration in your DNA. The problem with your jeans popping at the seams is rarely, if ever, caused by faulty genes. The majority of fat people don’t know how to make a fire, having learned their meal-preparation skills from another large person who also has no knowledge of the science behind eating.

If you place an infant in an obese household, regardless of his genetics, he’s going to learn how to build a fire just like the others. You are what you eat and you learn by mimicking others – namely your parents or guardians.

Bodybuilders and top athletes know how to make excellent fires. This allows all body types to compete. If you know how to build an effective and efficient furnace, then you will be able to rise to that top 1% – the crème de la crème. Only then will genetics play a more significant role, for it is true that some people are genetically predisposed to being “great.” The rest is science, experience and the wisdom to wield what you’ve been given at a master’s level. I do sympathize with those who’ve made it 98% of the way only to realize they are capped genetically. But no sympathy is given to someone at 50% who just doesn’t build the right type of fire. If you are obese, you CAN lose weight. Everyone can. I challenge you to test this knowledge!

Now, let’s check that fire. Whenever you throw that log on at night, you have to be careful. At nighttime, there can be dew, fog or an overnight drizzle or wind that could flare up which might put out your fire, especially since no one may be watching it.

You should look for a safe log for your fire at night, to help bank it till morning. You need a solid, dry log that will last a long time. Green, wet or rotten wood…isn’t good. Gasoline on an unattended fire is catastrophic! So, the log that is put upon your fire just before bedtime is the most crucial log of the day.

One of the best logs to use in properly banking your nighttime fire is cottage cheese. Why? Because it’s high in calcium caseinate. This is an excellent, slow-burning protein that will help bank that big log from your last meal and burn it all the way to its core. Toss in a few walnuts to help you get to sleep since they have tryptophan. They also help balance the cottage cheese and you are left with one of the best logs for banking your fire. Any other log low in sugar or carbs while high in protein and fat should work, too.

With this approach, you are well on your way to a successful lifestyle. I don’t believe you have to eat organic tofu to lose weight or any other insane food. Yet, you do have to eat properly balanced meals never more than 3 hours apart and you must limit your sugar intake. Remember my tips on how to keep yourself from craving sugars.

Our fuel is the heart of our fire. It makes a world of difference, and I attribute 80% of success in losing weight to proper meal planning.