The Anatomy of Achieving a Goal

Over the last couple of weeks two rugby players I used to coach and a third that used to come to many of our practices and all of our camps reached big professional goals. One got a NCAA Division I job as a coach and recruiting coordinator, the second became a college head coach at the ripe old age of 25 and the third made his pro league debut with the London Harlequins.

Even though they are rugby guys and not fitness pros, I've found that the traits that lead to success in one field translate pretty well to virtually any other field.

So what traits help these guys achieve their goals?

Here are five that I know all three share:

1. A passion for what they do. They all ate, sleptand lived rugby. One of them worked so hard that I had to actually lock him out of practice for 72 hours because he was so overtrained.
2. A thirst for knowledge. The two that went into coaching both still call me on a weekly basis to run ideas by me. They study everything they can get their hands on that might improve their chances for success. The player that just made his professional league debut would come sit at our practice to watch when he was still in high school and continues to study the game relentlessly.
3. A big time work ethic. I already mentioned the one that I locked out of practice for being overtrained. When I make it back to my hometown for the holidays, I go to a local gym and the one who is still playing is always there busting his butt doing cleans, squat and sprints. After being around professional rugby players most of my adult life, I have to tell you that this is about as common as finding a Richard Simmons fan among trainers. Most players do their bit, and then head for the bar after
4. A willingness to learn from those who are where they want to be. All 3 of these guys have taken every opportunity they could to go learn from the elite coaches in the county. Whether they went to work a camp at a school fresh off a national championship, traveled hours to just have lunch with a veteran player or slept in the car because they wanted to attend a seminar but had no m.o.n.e.y for a hotel - they always we're studying those that were where they aspired to be.
5. They made it happen. It's always easier to take the path of least resistance, but they didn't. They didn't let any hurdle or obstacle prevent them from moving toward their goals. They ignored the naysayers and stayed the course. There was no 'I wish' with them, only 'I will.'

Obviously, I'm proud of all three of these guys - so I'm sure that played a part in me writing this blog. But more importantly, they just reinforced to me that if you're willing to do what it takes to be successful, then it's never a matter of 'if', only a matter of 'when.'

Hopefully, you saw through to the core of this story and realized that it wasn't about rugby, but actually about how simple being successful really is if you're willing to do what it takes.

Are you?

"eatclean-staylean" - BK

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Which "healthy" oils are dangerous to your body?

Today, I wanted to give you my take on a confusing subject to most people...

why some oils you may use in cooking, baking, or other food use are actually harmful to your body, and why some are healthful.

Here's the deal...

A lot of people seem to think that anything labeled as 'vegetable oil' is good for you. NOT A SHOT!

Most of what is labeled as 'vegetable oil' is simply heavily refined soybean oil (processed under high heat, pressure, and industrial solvents)...sometimes perhaps it may also be heavily refined cottonseed, safflower, grapeseed, or other oils too.

In most instances, almost all of these processed oils are NOT HEALTHY for you.

If you buy processed food or deep fried food, you can usually be certain that these unhealthy oils are used to prepare your foods (or worse, it may use hydrogenated versions of these oils... aka - trans fats!).

You may have even bought some of these oils for your own cooking or baking at home.

The problem with soybean oil, cottonseed oil, grapeseed oil, safflower oil, and other similar oils is that they are mostly composed of polyunsaturated fats which leave them prone to oxidation and free radical production when exposed to heat and light.
Processed polyunsaturated oils are the most inflammatory inside our bodies because of their high reactivity to heat and light. This inflammation is what causes many of our internal problems such as heart disease, diabetes, and other degenerative diseases.

Note: It's ok if a polyunsaturated fat isn't processed such as in whole foods like various nuts and seeds... In that case it's not inflammatory, and is a great source of healthy polyunsaturated fats for you. By the way, omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are both polyunsaturates.

However, all of the vegetable oils listed above are generally heavily refined during processing, so that makes them already inflammatory before you even cook with them (which does even more damage).

Here's the actual order of stability of a type of fat under heat and light (from least stable to most stable):

1. polyunsaturated
2. monounsaturated
3. saturated

Here's something that mainstream health professionals will never tell you...

Saturated fats are actually the healthiest oils to cook with!

Why? Because they are much more stable and less inflammatory than polyunsaturated oils.

This is why tropical oils such as palm and coconut oils are best for cooking... they have very little polyunsaturates and are mostly composed of natural saturated fats which are the least reactive to heat/light and therefore the least inflammatory in your body.

That's also why natural butter (NOT margarine) is one of the best fats for cooking. This all goes directly against what you hear in mainstream health talk... because most health professionals don't truly understand the biochemistry of fats, and falsely believe that saturated fats are bad for you... when in fact, they are actually neutral in most instances... and saturated fats from tropical oils are actually good for you as they contain mostly medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) which are lacking in most people's diets.

In fact, lauric acid is one of the abundant MCTs in tropical oils and is known to strengthen the immune system. Lauric acid is even being studied currently in medical studies for controlling contagious diseases.

To summarize... your best cooking or baking fats are generally butter or tropical oils. Olive oil is ok for lower cooking temps as it's mostly monounsaturated, so moderately stable. The polyunsaturated oils like soybean, grapeseed, cottonseed, safflower, etc, are the least healthy for cooking.

My choices for top oils that I use:

• Virgin Coconut Oil
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Real Butter (grass fed if possible)

Of course, with all of that said... we should keep in mind that trying to minimize our cooking with oils can help to reduce overall calories. Cooking with oils in moderation is ok and can actually help satisfy your appetite more, but be careful not to overdo it as the calories can add up fast.

"eatclean-staylean" - BK

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My Dad had Heart Bypass surgery yesterday and Mum tells me it went well, and that the doctors told her he had a strong heart. Billy has been into fitness since childhood when he played footy (Rugby league) and then played at a high level as an adult. He took my high intensity circuit classes when I was in OZ for years and has exercised daily. That conditioning will definitely help his recovery.

It’s my Mums Birthday today … HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUMA!

Mum and Dad, I love and miss you both enormously, and I cannot wait till Chrissy when I see you ..

REVOLUTION - TO THE RESOLUTION

We had our first day of the challenge yesterday and it went great. Everyone got off to a really good start with enthusiasm sky high as you would expect. Sandra and I measured all the participants Girth Measurements (butt, waist, and midsection) and also took their body fat percentage.Sandra and I then put them through the chopper protocol (med ball warm up) and did some walking laps outside the building. All up around 15-20 minutes exercise which for some of the crew who haven’t exercised in years would have been a mountain as large as the French Alps.

Today I gave them their Cardio interval training programs, which is 22 minutes in total, called the “Afterburn”, and they hit it hard. Tomorrow I will log a contestant’s daily nutrient consumption.

Here was mine for yesterday

4.30am
4 ounces Mona Vie
12 egg whites
2 omega 3s

7am
8 ounces Salmon
8 ounces asparagus

10am
8 ounces chicken
8 ounces green beans

1pm
8 ounces flank steak
8 ounces asparagus

4pm
8 oz lean pork
8 oz broccoli
2 omega 3s

7pm
8 egg whites
1 scoop vanilla whey
2 oz MonaVie
1 pinch Stevia
(Mix all together into pancake) Yumm

"eatclean-staylean" - BK

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Who else is busting their butt in the gym and not getting the results they deserve?

Almost everyone, I know, I know.

Listen, you have to fix your nutrition. No more foods from a bag or a box. Switch over to more vegetables.

Now I know you're not just going to wake up and eat 10 servings of vegetables tomorrow. Besides, your stomach and co-workers wouldn't appreciate it.

But you have to make little changes every day, week, month & year. We can always get better. So this weekend, start with one new item from the produce aisle to help control your appetite, regulate your blood sugar, and burn body fat.

If you want to lose fat, live longer & healthier, and have more mental and physical energy to get through your day, you need to put premium fuel in your body's engine. Not grease. Not sugar. Not quick fixes. You have to plan ahead. But don't worry, it doesn't take much time.

Start by eating several small meals each day, focusing on protein and fiber-rich foods.

Combine that with short intense Turbulence style training workouts combining 4 big bang exercises back to back without rest. Take 60 seconds rest then repeat 2 times. We are all a work in progress, so never give up on your ability to change your body at any age. Nutrition & exercise are as powerful as the drugs your doctors are handing out.

So fight back against aging and body fat naturally.
Green Faces and Biggest Loser
"Revolution - before the Resolution"

Tomorrow is the start of our 3rd biggest loser competition which initially we thought would be an 8 week gig but after looking at the calendar, have extended to 9 weeks. (More on that later)

We have 12 contestants this time around all eager to put in the hard yards to get optimum results. Sandra and I will be leading our teams every step of the way and will be taking part in the strict Green Faces Nutrition plan with the teams. Green Faces is meat, veggies and healthy fats for 21days.The success of previous participants who stick to the challenging plan is regulating blood sugars, reducing cravings, and burn, burn, burn fat!

The Missing Link..

Recently there has been quite a lot of attention on the Acai Berry....a superfruit found in the Amazon Rain Forest. The Acai is a small, dark, violet berry that dangles from the branches of the 90- foot Acai berry is loaded with nutrients many people are lacking in their everyday diets. For decades, the indigenous cultures of the Amazon have regarded the Acai as a significant source of health and vitality. There is no known fruit in the world today that can parallel the Acai berry in nutritional value. This fruit is remarkably rich in a wide range of macronutrients, micronutrients and trace elements. It also has a very broad range of amino acids, carbohydrates, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals.

MonaVie..

The Mona Vie blend leverages a patent-pending process of preserving the benefits of the Acai berry into a freeze dried powder immediately after harvesting. This maintains the nutrient content and antioxidant activity of the Acai berry.

Mona Vie's unique freeze dried process with the Acai berry creates an ORAC value of 1,026!! ORAC stands for ''Oxygen Radical Absorbent Capacity''- and measures the effectiveness in fighting free -radicals .Gram-for- gram, the Acai freeze dried powder is far higher in ORAC than any known fruit. For example, the ORAC value of Wild Black Raspberries, once thought as one of the highest ,is less than 1/3 the ACAI, coming in at 340, while Wild Blueberries register at 260. The Cranberry scores 125 and carrots at around 50.

While the Acai berry is truly an outstanding ingredient, the Mona Vie blend does not stop there, Additionally the blend includes Nashi Pears, Cranberries , Acerola Cherries, Aronia, Passion Fruit, Pears, Bananas, Apricots, Prunes, Camu Camu, Kiwi, Wolfberries, Blue berries, Pomegranate, Bilberries, Purple Grapes, White Grapes and Lychee. Each fruit was chosen for its unique ability to contribute to a product that offers you the most balanced health benefits possible

THESE 19 FRUITS FROM AROUND THE WORLD COMBINE TO MAKE A SUPER FRUIT COCKTAIL IN A LEAGUE OF ITS OWN.

If ‘‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away”, imagine what the Mona Vie blend could do for your health and energy levels.

2-4 ounces a day provides the equivalent of 5-7 servings of fruit a day, with 40 calories and 8 grams of low Gi sugars.

In the past I have avoided eating fruit because of concerns of spiking my blood sugar and the poor quality of fresh fruit available at local supermarkets, this powerhouse juice has completed my nutrition plan to achieve maximum phytonutrients, antioxidants, amino acids and essential fatty acids ...and I feel remarkably energetic, and you will too!

Note: We will be finishing our challenge the Monday after Thanksgiving, 26th of November. We are not going to have the “Revolution -before the Resolution” get sabotaged by a verified eating orgy!!

"eatclean-staylean" - BK

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Yes, diet soda DOES make you fat

We all know by now that soda (aka 'pop' in some areas) is one of the most evil things you can put in your body... the nasty chemicals, the gut-fattening high fructose corn syrup, and a myriad of health problems caused by this carbonated cocktail worshipped by those that don't care about their health or body.

Since your reading this, I know that you actually do care about your health and the appearance of your body.

Surprisingly, many people falsely believe that 'diet' soda is in some way a good thing for losing body fat. In fact, I hear people all the time proudly state that they eat so healthy and only drink diet soda.

So let's set the record straight...

There is NOTHING even remotely healthy about drinking diet soda. In fact, I've even seen several studies that showed dedicated diet soda drinkers got even FATTER than their regular soda drinking counterparts.

Here are some findings from an 8-year University of Texas study that I had read...

An excerpt from the study author:

'What didn't surprise us was that total soft drink use was linked to overweight and obesity,' Fowler tells WebMD. 'What was surprising was when we looked at people only drinking diet soft drinks, their risk of obesity was even higher.'

'There was a 41 percent increase in risk of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soft drink a person consumes each day,' Fowler says.

Ok, as if we didn't already know how bad regular soda was for us, and now they're showing us studies that diet soda makes us even fatter than the already bad stuff!

There's a lot of complicating factors as to why this occurs...

One reason is that the artificial sweeteners in diet sodas create a negative hormonal response in the body that increases fat storing hormone production and increases cravings for more sweets and refined carbohydrates in the time period after consuming the diet drink.

Another reason is that people may subconsciously think that because they are drinking a diet soda, that gives them more leeway to eat more of everything else, hence consuming more calories overall.

I've said this all along, but the bottom line is that if you're serious about your health and body, soda of any kind (and artificial sweeteners in anything for that matter!) should be avoided at all times, except for very rare occasions when you can't avoid them.

So what is a good alternative to diet sodas?

The best alternatives are good old water with lemon or unsweetened iced teas... you have plenty of options with teas - green, white, black, oolong, red... be creative in making your iced teas and you'll enjoy it more.

The natural sweetener Stevia is my favorite, adding it to oatmeal and also to organic plain yoghurt.

"eatclean-staylean" - BK

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Fair Dinkum

Every week I will ask one of my clients to answer a few questions in 60 seconds not giving them any time for real thought.

Lynn Roy is a client who came to me 5 months ago in need of a complete overhaul. She ate terribly, hadn’t exercised in a lifetime and was carrying close to half her weight in fat pounds. Lynn has applied herself tremendously training with me 5 days a week since starting, eating like a champion and we have just cut back her PT training to 3 days.

In Australia we call it being “Fair Dinkum”.

I believe in doing what you say. I have had some times recently when people say to me they will do something or be somewhere and I believe them, always have. That was the way I was brought up. Wouldn’t it be better to say no and be SOLID, than to BS yourself, and talk dribble?

Its been on my chest for a while ......
Always be “fair dinkum honest” to yourself and others.

"eatclean-staylean" - BK

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Look for Progress

How are you doing with your main goal? If you are behind where you wanted to be at this point, you are at one of those key decision points of life: Are you going to give up, or are you going to keep going?

If you've discovered, through pursuing your goal, that it is NOT personally important to you, then giving up is the right choice. Only it's not giving up at all - you were successful in trying on a new idea to see if it suited you, and you learned it did not.

If you are in any way at a crossroads regarding your key goal(s), I suggest you:

1. Set aside a good 15-20 minutes of time to WRITE the lessons you?ve learned along the way of trying for this goal, then
2. Re-affirm your commitment to your goal, or - set a new goal.

When you think about the lessons you have learned, perhaps the most important question to ask yourself is: How did I grow?

1. Did you build your character in any key aspects e.g. develop more patience, learn to trust others more, become more responsible in honoring your word, etc.?
2. Did you expand your skills e.g. have you become a better negotiator, a more creative thinker, a bigger giver, a better salesperson, a more welcome team player, etc.?

These are pivotal, life-changing wins! You are now bringing a better and higher-skilled self into ALL your current and future goals and actions. Therefore, you have increased the probability of your success, and accelerated the speed of your next achievements.

"eatclean-staylean" - BK

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“Connecting the Dots”

About 15 months ago, Carole and I became involved with a new wellness company bringing a functional health beverage or nutraceutical, to market. This product, MonaVie, features the Acai Berry, the “#1 superfood in the world.” We were introduced to MonaVie by a friend in Naples and the resulting positive effects in our health and wellbeing were so dramatic, it turned a couple of skeptics into passionate advocates. In doing our due diligence, as we recommend you do as well, we learned and continue to learn what we believe to be very important and impactful information which led to this writing and have us now traveling the country touting the benefits of this tremendous elixir.

So here is some of what we’ve learned:

Two separate reports came out of national departments on health recently. One read that we Americans are 98% malnourished. This does not mean we are not eating enough, for we are the most obese nation on the planet. We eat plenty; we just do not make the right choices when deciding what to eat. As disturbing as that was, the second report, as a parent of two seemingly healthy college students, was much more distressing. It read that my children’s generation will be the first in the history of this country to have a younger mortality rate than their parents. In laymen terms the current health trends say our kids will die at a younger age than their parents. The main reason: poor nutrition. The children are not alone in this “poor health spiral.” According to the trendline tracked by the American Cancer Society, in the 1960’s, an American had the likelihood of 1 in 300 of being diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. That statistic has grown at an alarming rate to 1 in 75 in the 1990’s to 1 in 3 in 2006 and projected to be 1 in 2 by 2010. Other diseases have similar trendlines in their numbers. Today, the United States has a population of over 300 million people. Currently, 70+ million have heart disease, 20+ million diabetes and 10+ million cancer. That’s over 1 in 3 citizens in this country whose quality of life as well as the quality of life of their family has been dramatically impacted by suffering from one of the “big 3.” When MS, epilepsy, Parkinson’s, rheumatoid arthritis, ADHD, osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s are added to the total, we’re talking 1 in 2 Americans directly affected.

So what’s going on? It’s said American medical research and technology has advanced more in the past 5 years than in the previous five hundred, yet pick up any newspaper, magazine or watch any news report concerning the health of the U.S. and you’ll find we’re seriously heading in the wrong direction. Has a cause and remedy to these epidemic type numbers been identified? Yes and Yes! 85 - 90% of the root cause of the rampant increase of all disease is the toxins in our environment and lifestyle choices. The major source of these toxins are primarily from our air, water and food as well as the UV rays from the sun, alcoholic beverages many consume, cosmetics we wear, second or first hand smoke from cigarettes, pipes and cigars and the list goes on. The medical term used for these toxins and their effect on the human body is oxidative stress along with its destructive agents such as free radicals. The body’s first line of defense against any unwanted attack is inflammation such as when we are bit by a mosquito, stung by a bee or sprain an ankle, the affected area swells. Inflammation is a positive, protective response on a short term basis, but long term or chronic inflammation on a cellular level is quite negative and problematic, leading to cellular degeneration, disease and death. The remedy: Sufficient intake of natural whole foods rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. In other words, when we choose to consume these kinds of foods we provide our body a defense shield against the onslaught of toxins (oxidative stress) while at the same time providing nutrients necessary to reduce the inflammation (anti-inflammatory) giving the body its God given ability to heal itself.

In 1992, the ORAC Test or Scale, short for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity was developed by Dr. Guohua Cao, a chemist and physician at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, Maryland. The USDA has adopted the ORAC Scale to measure antioxidant levels present in food. This test indicates a food’s effectiveness against oxidative stress (free radicals) in the body. The primary food group in which high ORAC unit levels is found is in fresh fruit and vegetables. The Food Pyramid identifies the balance of various food groups for a healthy diet. It is recommended, depending upon age, size and the activity level of the individual, that a range of 5 to 13 servings of fresh fruit and vegetables be consumed per day. The real key rests in the quantity of ORAC units consumed per day which for an American, is recommended to be an average of 6,000. The current average American diet contains a measly 1,500 units! If you’re wondering why doctors on the whole are not informing people of this information, consider this: most medical schools in America only require 4 hours of study on nutrition as elective course work. Doctors aren’t taught to cure disease, they’re taught to treat symptoms of disease. This usually includes the practice of prescribing pharmaceuticals drugs, one of the leading causes of death in this country according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. It seems the medical profession would do well to take a lesson from Hippocrates, the father of medicine who said, 'Food should be our medicine and our medicine should be our food.'

Unfortunately, even the few numbers of people committed to eating their fruits and vegetables (approximately 5% of the population), have concerns regarding high levels of chemicals used in U.S. agriculture (pesticides, insecticides, herbicides and fungicides to name a few), poor nutrient quality of our soil due to decades of improper crop rotation and early picking or pre-harvesting practices to prevent spoilage. Even U.S.D.A. organically certified produce has come under a cloud of uncertainty as of late with reports of contaminated water runoff and fraudulent certification. Simply put, U.S. grocery stores’ produce lacks the quality and assurance needed. This accounts for why most would agree that our produce “just doesn’t taste like it used to.” The alternative of international organically grown produce is expensive, inconvenient, and at times brings similar safety concerns to that of the U.S.

This message is a “Call to Action!” We encourage you to do your own research and take the proper steps to care for yourself and for those whom you care and love. We are distributors of MonaVie, a concentrated delicious blend of 19 exotic low sugar fruits from the 4 corners of the Earth. Our product positively responds as an answer to many of the issues and questions discussed above. MonaVie is a convenient, independent laboratory tested safe and cost effective way of providing most American’s diet their missing ORAC units in just two, 2 ounce servings per day. This may not be the only alternative you can choose, but “naturally” we believe it’s the best! Please contact us with questions, to order product or inquire about your own home based MonaVie Distributorship. Now you know and now it’s up to you.

God bless,
Rob and Carole Crisp
Independent Distributors
MonaVie

"eatingclean-to-staylean" - BK

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