The Fit Gift Giving Guide
Big News #15
1. Thank you soooo very much to everyone who reads The Body You Want and contributed to the DC Basket Brigade. Your generosity allowed us to get baskets to 95 families in the DC-metro area!
2. This might really be your LAST issue EVER. There was a LOT of miscommunication this past month in trying to get switch to the new delivery system. I received a lot of emails from people telling me to keep them on the list, and I appreciate that. BUT, that won’t keep you on the list because, legally, I am not allowed to add your name.
What To Do:
On December 18th you will receive one more email with the subject “Please verify subscription to thebodyyouwant” (I’m not allowed to select the headline, sorry):
- Step 1: open it
- Step 2: click on the link
- Step 3: that’s it, just click on the link. You don’t need to email me (in fact, I am NOT able to add your name; by law, you have to do it by clicking the link). And, you don’t have to go to my web site. All you have to do is click the link and you’re done.
Quote #15:
“EPOC* is the fat loss ‘gift’ that keeps on giving.” – Alan Aragon
*EPOC (post workout oxygen deficit)= the metabolic boost that lasts 12-36hrs after a high intensity workout like resistance training
Quick Tip #15: The Stupidiest Thing
The stupidest thing that I’ve heard on holiday weight gain is, “walking an extra 10min/day will prevent holiday weight gain.” Let’s look at the facts:
- A. 10min of walking burns about 40 kcal (if you’re my size, so less if you weigh less) x 7days/week = 280 kcal/ week
- B. An 8oz serving of eggnog has 360 kcal in it (by the way, you’ve never had a glass that small in your life!)
So, if your holiday splurging were confined to a single, incredibly small 8oz. glass of eggnog, you would STILL GAIN WEIGHT! That is retarded.
Their brilliant plan is to just add 10min/day every week in the holidays. Have you noticed that people are busier during the holiday? People don’t have what will amount to an extra 5 HOURS/week to go walking. Especially if it won’t off-set jack.
Take home point: Walking is good for your health, a good way to relax, and a nice way to connect with someone your care about, and you should do some, BUT it is not an effective fat-loss tool. You can click here to check out my 15min holiday workout that will burn 3-400% more calories during the workout, AND rev up your metabolism for 12-36hrs to come.
Recipe #15: Tillie’s Turkey Chili
My girlfriend, Natillie, who I like to call “The Tillinator,” came up with this extremely yummy, easy, quick, and healthy recipe, and was nice enough to contribute it to my newsletter. Thanks Tillie! Click here for the recipe.
That’s her on Halloween.
The Fit Giving Guide
10 Great Gifts For The Health Nut In Your Life, No Matter What Your Budget
Do you have a special gym rat or health nut in your life? Here are 10 great gift ideas that you’ve probably never heard of. For the record, I do not receive any financial compensation for any of the recommendations I am making here.
#1. Foam roller ($10 for the 1’ round model)
Got aches, pains, sore muscles, poor flexibility, or knots in your muscles? Foam roller to the rescue. Basically, a foam roller is like a portable, inexpensive massage therapist. You lay the tight part of your body on top of the roller, hold it for 20sec, move around a little bit, and the tightness will be gone. This will spare your joints unnecessary wear and tear, improve your recovery, and massively improve your range of motion.
Just so you know, this does NOT make a massage therapist obsolete. You should still use one. Its just that it is not practical to have a massage on your tight areas every time you work out. And you don’t want to be working out with restricted movement because you’ll have to compensate somewhere else (usually your lower back) and that will lead to injury over time.
Click here to pick one up. You want either the 1 or 3 foot long round model.
#2. Ab Wheel ($10)
Here’s a piece of fitness equipment that you can buy on an infomercial that not a piece of crap. In fact, its actually a great piece of equipment that you can pick up at just about any sporting goods store for about $10.
#3. Adjustable Dumbbell (DB) set ($40 for a basic 40lb set)
If you need a home gym, or simply cannot afford the time or money that a commercial gym requires, a set of adjustable DB can replicate about 75% of the utility of a commercial gym. Personally, when I am strapped for time (like during Bioanalytical Chemistry finals), I get my workouts done at home with DB’s and body weight.
In the interest of full disclosure, these are more appropriate for fat-burning, maintenance and functional workouts. It would be very difficult to get enough load to pack on serious amounts of muscle.
#4. Nike Triax Watch ($30 and up on E-bay, or $65-100 retail)
In order to have effective workouts over the long haul you MUST consciously control and manipulate your rest periods. Waiting until you finish chit-chatting, catch your breath, or finish your day dream to time your rest periods will guarantee very sub-par results (if you get any at all). Use the interval timer function to have the watch count down your precise rest periods at the touch of a button. Next to the actual workout equipment, this is THE single most important piece of exercise equipment you can own.
#5. Great cookbook – South Beach Quick and Easy ($19)
While this is NOT an endorsement of the South Beach Diet, this IS an endorsement for the South Beach Quick and EasyCookbook. It is packed full of yummy, quick and easy recipes.
However, be warned, for the most part, you only want to stick to the Phase I, and a few of the Phase II recipes. People that have a propensity to gain fat (me and 80% of the adult population) do not do well with meals containing starch, except after lifting weights or first thing in the morning.
My favorite recipe is on page 172. Click here to pick one up.
#6. Portable cooler ($10-20)
Having a ready supply of healthy, fat-burning food is not so easy. A very simple way to remedy that is to bring your food with you, and keep it fresh in a cooler bag. Will some people think you’re strange for carrying a cooler to work? Sure, but no matter what you do someone is going to think you weird anyway. Better you do what you need to do in order to achieve your goals, than fail because you’re worried about what someone else thinks.
By the way, bringing your food from home is MUCH less expensive than having to buy your 3 meals and 2 snacks/day out, AND gives you MUCH more control over the content of your food and the portion sizes that you eat. Those two factors can go a LONG way to ensuring that you get AND keep the body you want.
#7. Muscle Gaining Secrets ($47)
This is for the skinny guy on your shopping list – you hate him ‘cause he can eat whatever he wants, but love him ‘cause he’s your buddy. Its by Jason Ferrugia, who used the principles in his book to go from a skinny 147lbs all the way up to a jacked 231lbs from lifting only 3 days per week, with no drug use.
BTW, I’ve packed on ~45lbs of muscle using very similar principles and training methods – 3days/week, 45-60min per workout, and NO drug use whatsoever. Unfortunately, I’ve never, in my life, been the skinny bastard who could eat whatever he wanted.
Click here to pick one up.
#8. Magnificent Mobility ($50)
A warm-up is an essential part of any workout. It will improve the effectiveness of your workout, prevent injury, and only needs to take 10min. If you’re injured, then you can’t workout, and then you definitely can NOT make any progress. This IS actually a big deal, as about 60% of people injure themselves in the first 12weeks of working out and must discontinue.
Walking on the treadmill and stretching for your warm-up are MOSTLY a WASTE of time, and can actually make INJURY MORE LIKELY. Learn how to do it right. Pick up a copy of Magnificent Mobility on DVD. Click here to pick one up.
#9. The TRX ($199)
This is one of THE coolest, AND most useful new pieces of fitness equipment on the market. You can use it in a gym, in your home, or even at a playground to get a very good total body workout. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth a million, or something like that. Click here for a Youtube TRX video.
#10. If You’re Really Broke ($3)
If you’re really broke, then you can make a homemade version of a foam roller using duct tape, and two tennis balls. Just wrap the two tennis balls together tightly with duct tape and you’ve got something to massage your muscles. Be warned, this is actually more intense than the foam roller because of the smaller surface area of the tennis ball, so take it easy.
#11. Fitness Coaching With Me (just one slot available – $280/month, money-back guarantee)
It’s December, and, as promised, I am making one coaching slot available. If you’d like 2008 to the year that you finally get the body you want – be it bigger muscles, smaller buns, a tighter waist, or anything else, then shoot me an email at josef@thebodyyouwant.com. Empty slots in my schedule usually fill-up with-in 48hrs or less, so, email me ASAP if you’d like my help. If you follow directions, and don’t get the results you want, then I’ll give you a 100%, no hassle, cash refund. I do NOT do sales hype.