The Best Training Plan For A Smaller Waistline

I Used TT

This afternoon before class one of my students was asking which system she should get to help her shed fat and get a smaller waistline.  Even though I'm using the Home Workout Revolution in class, I had to recommend the original Turbulence Training program for creating a beautiful balanced form.  If you click the highlighted link, you will be taken to Clickbank where you can purchase the program, and yes, I do get a commission from sales through that link.

Three of my students made the finals in the 15th TT Transformation contest, and they all used this system for the training they did outside of my class.  They all lost at least 3 or 4 inches off of their waistlines, and they developed lovely shoulders and a great shape below the waist as well.  Not only that, but in five years of being active over at TT Members.com, I have been amazed at all of the women and men who have lost belly fat and middle inches like crazy.  Personally, I've gone from a 31 inch waist to 24 inches, and I've kept it that way for five years.

Finally, my student has weights, a stability ball, and room to train at home.  I believe that makes the TT system perfect for her.

In exactly 4 weeks, I'm off to the TT Summit in San Diego, and I'm determined to be 5 pounds leaner with a shape that does TT proud.  Watch this space to see if I achieve that goal, and for encouragement if a smaller waist is what you want too.

How to bust through a fat loss plateau.

Pushups with Craig Ballantyne

On Sunday I was in Denver with Craig Ballantyne to do the Home Workout Revolution Live Cast.  Now, if you're like me, you know that travel usually makes our weight go up, not down.  Airport food, lack of access to a grocery store, and no time to train have been triggers for overeating many times in the past.

So what was different this time?  First of all, I trained with Craig as part of the livecast.   Second, I made a firm commitment to find and eat the foods that give me energy and make me feel good.  Third, I  got to bed on time.

Here is the 4 Minute miracle that helped me off of my plateau:

Warm-up
Prisoner Squats: 10 Reps
Prisoner Lunges: 6 on each side
X-Body Mountain Climber: 6 reps per side
Leg Swing: 20 per side
Jumping Jacks: 20 reps

4 Minute Miracle:  Do each exercise for one minute- no rest in between

Push ups
Total Body Extension
Squats
Mountain Climbers

Maintain good form, and rest if you need to.  This left me on the floor gasping when I took my class through it last night, but the feeling was so exhilarating afterward.

A bit more info about the food: it really is possible to find food that works for fat release in airports, and after hours.  After the livecast in Denver we were all beat, so I just wanted to find something simple to eat and then get some sleep.  It was almost 7PM on Sunday when I went to the open air mall/promenade on 16th street.  Sadly, the gourmet grocery store was closed, but I found half and half and water for my coffee maker, and a can of raw almonds at Rite Aid just before they closed.  Then I went to Starbucks for a decaf americano, and they had a lovely chicken salad.   The next day, on the way home form the airport, I found hard boiled eggs and a cup of fresh strawberries at 7-eleven.  I added some of the almonds that were left over from the night before and I was very satisfied.  I could have chosen apples, mixed berries, or cheese as well.  So these days you really can find a lot more than burgers, fried chicken, and donuts out in the world.

The result is that this morning I broke through to 124lbs, in spite of the challenges of airplane travel.  It takes a little planning and determination, but it is so exciting to know it can be done.  So many times I have used travel as an excuse to eat junk.  Breaking through a plateau is a lot more fun.

Things Are Going to Get Weird?

Here is an e-mail I got from my mentor Craig Ballantyne this morning:

In less than 12 hours things are going to get weird.

Well, maybe not weird...but definitely different. 

I'm going to be working out with you LIVE...and you can follow-along at home. You'll get to do three of my 4-minute miracle bodyweight workouts with me, my #1 client - Catherine Gordon, and my Tough Mudder racing partner, Jeff Schneider. 

You can get FREE access to this live event PLUS another 4-minute miracle follow along workout for your abs here:

www.HomeWorkoutRevolution.com/ultimatefatloss/ 

NOTE: The event is only free when it's live. It will cost you money to watch the replay. No exceptions. Sorry.

But the good news is that when you join us today, you'll get all of those workouts for free and you'll get to meet some pretty cool people from the Turbulence Training community.

(I even have a very special guest nutrition expert coming on to share his proven strategies for getting lean and ripped fast.)

Don't miss this one-of-a-kind incredibly unique event today.

Get free access and all of your free gifts here

This is going to be really, really cool and different.

Well, (This is Catherine again by the way) I'm pretty sure I can deliver on the weird, cool, and different part.  At least I hope I'll be cool.  What I may be is sweaty.

So here I sit at my laptop with my makeup done waiting for my nails to dry.  Gosh, I hope I can keep up with Craig and Jeff.

Hey wait a minute, of course I can keep up, and you can too.  My specialty at Gordon Studio is the ability to choose and teach modifications that suit my students' level of ability.  I realize that if I'm nervous about training live with Craig after five years of studying Turbulence Training, any one new to TT or The Home Workout Revolution would be nervous too.  Luckily, you'll get to to see the solution in a few hours for free on the web.  Seriously, if you doctor says you're healthy enough for exercise, you can do TT and HWR.  My goal as I go into the Livecast is to show you how "doable," effective, and fun HWR can be.

Yes, I said fun.  Look, I was not a gifted natural athlete as a kid.  I was slow, weak, and I had no staying power.  For years I went to gyms and tried to "get it"  it  being the secret to getting lean and strong.  It wasn't until I found TT at the age of almost 44 that I discovered the truth about how to train for the body of my dreams.  Is my figure perfect?  No indeed, but it allows me to live the life I've always wanted, so I guess it's perfect for me.

I sure hope you can join us for the Livecast.  Bring on the weird...and the fun.

How Good Do You Have To Be?

So I'm packed and getting ready to fly to Denver to do the Home Workout Revolution Livecast with Craig Ballantyne.

If you had told me back in 2008 that I would have my own fitness studio and that I would get to travel and speak as a fat loss expert I would have been shocked and amazed.  If you had told me that I would still feel insecure about my figure I would have said,

"Yep, that sounds like me."

What would you do if you could put your fears aside and live life to the fullest?  Do you love art, music, or sports?  Are you a performer or a creative type?  Do you have a head for business, or a heart for volunteering?

 I think one of the most difficult aspects of being a woman in modern society is the pressure to adhere to American standards of physical appearance.  What must it be like to be Kim Kardashian or the Duchess of Windsor, two women going through pregnancy in the public eye?  What occurs to me is that it's just fine to live a normal life and go about your business at a normal weight- right up until cameras get involved.

Something about the camera lens seems to invite judgement- self judgement, and the scrutiny of others. The best way I can put it is this...

I feel good enough for real life.  I don't feel good enough for life on camera.

Why is this important?  More and more we all live our lives on camera.  Whether it's on
You Tube,  Facebook,  Pinterest, it's as if it's the camera that makes our lives real.  Once we digitize and post that life, it's open to judgement by the the public, which begs the question,

"Is it good enough?"

I know, I know, the simple answer is, "If you don't feel that the images are good enough don't post them!"

And yet...  this five year journey to fitness has been overwhelmingly positive.  I have learned that training can be incredibly fun and effective at the same time.  The pain and embarrassment I experienced as a child in PE class does not have to cloud my opinion of physical fitness anymore.  Even better, now that I'm actually teaching Turbulence Training and Zumba to real people I get to see the effect that fitness has on them, and let me tell you the results are wonderful.

 So now I see that the freedom to act in accordance with your fondest hopes and dreams can come from the good you do, instead of coming from how good you think you look.

On that note, I'd like to invite you to go to http://homeworkoutrevolution.com/ultimatefatloss/ and register for the Livecast that will be going on tomorrow at 5PM Eastern, 2PM Pacific time.  I can't wait to share the Home Workout Revolution with you.  We use this training technique in my classes, and the truth is that many of my students are already surpassing me in in the area of getting lean, and looking fantastic.  That's as it should be.  A good teacher always wants her students to move to higher levels of skill and success.

Before, After, Still

Before

After

Still

http://homeworkoutrevolution.com/ultimatefatloss/

If you go to the web address  above, you will be directed to the opt-in page for the Home Workout Revolution Live Cast on Sunday, May 19th.  I am so excited to announce that I will be joining Craig Ballantyne in Denver for this presentation that will be full of motivation and inspiration for anyone who wants to build their best body ever.

We'll have demonstrations, success stories, and I promise to share the very best of what I've learned about physical and personal transformation.  I spent years dieting and going to gyms only to get small results that never lasted for long.  All that changed in 2008 when I discovered Craig's work.  This Sunday you will get to see and decide for yourself whether the Home Workout Revolution is the real deal for getting a great physique.

Just two hours ago I was at Gordon Studio teaching the "Mean 15" from HWR to my students.  They rocked it, and I'll share the session with you here.

The warm-up consisted of:

10 Prisoner Squats
8 Prisoner Lunges- 1 one on each side =1 rep.
10 Legs swings/side
 WLYI Shoulder warm up
Repeat entire warm up set 1 time.

 Mean 15:  TBE (Total Body Extension) 10 reps
                   Dumb Bell Row 10/side
                    Cross Body Mountain Climber- 15/side
                    Burpee-5 reps
                    Jumping Jacks- 15

 Repeat the entire sequence as many times as possible for 15 minutes, followed by a total body stretch and cool down.

This workout is slightly modified from the one in Home Workout Revolution in order to match my student's abilities.  I am so impressed by the way my students go after a training session like this with enthusiasm and gusto.  They liked the way this workout revved them up, made them sweat, and trained their figures.  If you want to see live demonstrations of this training style, please be sure to join us on Sunday.

By the way, the three photos you see here are meant to demonstrate the "Before, After, and Still"  concept of transformation.  What good is a figure transformation if you lose the muscle and gain the fat back after a year?  I keep eating right, teaching, and training with HWR so that I can maintain my results year after year.  I believe you can do it too.

Could It Be Food Addiction?

When I did my experiment in abstinence form trigger foods last month, I enjoyed an amazing stretch of 14 days when I didn't overeat.  Even better, I would get into bed each night with a newfound feeling of peace, and I wold get up with a new enthusiasm in the morning.  Here is an interesting paradox that I discovered.  The feeling of well being I got from eliminating sugar and grains from my eating plan led to thoughts that I could handle sweets after all.  Then, whether because of holidays, or parties, or just because the treats were available, I would give myself permission to eat them.  Nine times out of ten, one slice or even one bite would lead to an out of control episode of eating my favorite fix of sugar and flour mixed with fat, salt, and preferably chocolate.

I have written before about my first white bread binge at age five, and now at nearly age 49 I'm still on that merry go round of abstaining, fooling myself into thinking I'm cured, and then going off on another food bender.  But wait, the news isn't all bad.  In the past, when I have brought up the subject of food addiction, most people I talked to would look at me as if the concept of being unable to stop eating sweets until the point of pain was completely foreign to them.  Now, thank goodness, there is serious research going into the theory that food addiction might be real.  Here is the abstract from a study on food addiction that appeared in the research journal "Appetite".

Abstract

There is growing interest in conceptualizing obesity as a “food addiction.” The current study investigated the prevalence and correlates of “food addiction” (FA), as defined by the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) in 178 (133 F, 45 M) persons seeking weight loss treatment. Participants had a mean age of 51.2 ± 11.7 years and a body mass index of 36.1 ± 4.8 kg/m². Fifteen percent of individuals met the YFAS proposed diagnostic criteria for FA. Those who met criteria for FA reported significantly greater depressive symptomatology. There were no differences in BMI, age, race, or gender between participants with and without FA. Among those not meeting criteria, 35% reported 3 or more symptoms in the absence of self-reported clinical distress or impairment. YFAS symptom count was also significantly correlated with depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that 15% of adults presenting for weight loss treatment meet YFAS criteria for FA. The clinical significance of this classification is unknown and needs to be validated in prospective studies.

Keywords

• Food addiction; 
• Obesity; 
• Depressive symptomatology

The study found that 15% of participants had food addiction as measured by the Yale Food Addiction Scale.  In addition, the study found a correlation between food addiction and depression.  Looking back at the past month, I realize that I usually reached for my "Fix Foods" when I was feeling angry or disappointed in myself.  This leads me to a theory that I have been developing for some time:

The combination of the unrealistic demands we put on ourselves, coupled with images of impossible slenderness, youth, and physical perfection from the photo-shopped media, lead to feelings of depression which 15% of us ease temporarily with excess food.

So what is the solution to the depression- food addiction cycle of sadness?  More researchers, doctors, and sufferers are realizing that it is helpful to get off of the sugar/flour/excess food merry go round for good.  In the past, the clinical position has been that healthy eating consists of being able to eat all foods in reasonable amounts.  That meant that abstinence couldn't be the goal.  If you never ate sugar than clearly your food issues weren't  resolved.  Now, the Yale Food Addiction Scale is becoming well known.  You can take a short form of the self-test at: 

www.drpeeke.com/PopQuiz.htm

In two weeks I'll be attending my 30th High School Reunion.  I had hoped to be able to enjoy myself by eating a reasonable amount of whatever I wanted at that party.  Now I'm starting to think that letting go of sweets for good might result in a lot more peace and happiness that trying of eat just one slice or piece of anything.  Perhaps I am one of 15% of the population that has a food addiction, and the only reasonable amount of my fix foods is  none. I should note here that the "Appetite" study was among overweight individuals, so I should say 15% of the overweight population as determined by BMI.

In the past I have told myself:
"I should be able to eat treats."
"I should be thinner."
"I should have more willpower."
"I should look like the women on TV"

With a cruel voice in my head telling me lies like these, why wouldn't I feel depressed, and then eat sweets to momentarily quiet the voice?

I predict that more and more, those of us who struggle with overeating will get the support we need to try eliminating trigger foods without judgement.  If we are only 15% of the population that struggles with their weight, that explains why so many people don't understand what were going through, but if we speak up about our experience we are more likely to foster understanding from the medical community and the public.

I think it's about time.

Turbulence Training Before and After Photos

     As promised, I'm posting my latest before and afters, and frankly, I don't see that much of a difference.  What an eye opener.  I guess the whole point of losing the last five or ten pounds is not so much how it will make you look, but how it will make you feel about yourself.

     I do feel more confident, and I can do more close grip push-ups in a row than I could in January.  I think the greatest benefit I've received from the past four months of effort is more skill at teaching the Turbulence Training method.  It really is true that 30 minutes two or three times a week can bring real results, although I'm seeing them more in my students now than in my own figure.  It looks like it's time to move on from my overly intense focus on my physique, and pay more attention to passing on what I've learned.

     That brings me back to the question of how to lose the last ten pounds.  If there is anything that have hindered my progress over the past four months, it is the willingness to put aside my best eating behavior for the pleasure of the moment.  Sometimes it's not even a matter of pleasure, but of distraction or avoidance.  On the weekends when I don't have classes to teach, I turn to problem foods to fill up the empty spaces in the days or evenings.  What is the solution to ending this behavior?  It is learning to choose something besides food when I want to feel better.

     To lose the last ten pounds you will need to pick something besides eating when you want a pick me up.  Two of the things I enjoy are drawing and playing music.  For the next two weeks I am making myself the promise that when I'm tempted to ease boredom or any other uncomfortable feeling, I'll sit down at the piano or grab my sketch pad instead.  If you're going after the last ten pounds, I'd like to encourage you to pick two things you'd rather be doing than eating, and try doing them when the nagging little cravings hit.