Breaking News: Michelangelo’s David Comes To Washington, DC For A Month

Have you heard that Italy is sending Michelangelo’s David to visit Washington, DC for a month?

The historic museum trip has 3 generous sponsors that provided free food unfortunately.

This brings up an important point:  How To Make The Body You Want last forever.

After you’ve cleaned up your diet, worked hard in the gym/ and/or at home, disciplined yourself to be consistent with all of the other demands on your time and energy, and navigated the myriad of obstacles and setbacks that are sure to come up, you will arrive at the body you wanted when you started.  Most people think that this is the end of the road.

No.  No.  No.

The conscious or unconscious belief that most people have is that eating better and exercising regularly is something that you do until your clothes fit again (or your arms are as big as you want them).  Then, after you look and feel the way you want to, then you can go back to what you were doing before you got in shape.  (Occasionally people will say this in a sentence, but usually they will demonstrate their belief with behavior.)

The way you used to eat and the way you used to exercise (or not exercise) was the problem. If you go back to your old lifestyle, then you will also go back to your old body.

The 3 Skills You Must Have To Make The Body You Want Last Forever

#1.  Learn how to come out of a spin: Just in case you weren’t aware, you are human.  That means that you are most definitely going to fall off the wagon at some point.  Maybe you’ll have to work 80-100hrs a week for a while, you’ll have a major family tragedy, get pregnant, or something else will get you off track.

The  common response to realizing that you’ve messed up is, “see, I always do this.  I messed up again.  I don’t know why I just can’t ever seem to keep it up.  I always fall off the wagon.  I don’t even know why I tried in the first place, I’m just a screw up.  I should just give up and stuff my face…”

I know how that feels, and I have most certainly been there too.  It’s not a good place.

People who are successful long term and people who fail long term have one thing in common:  They both fall off the wagon.

People who are successful long term and people who fail long term have one important difference too:  The successes pick themselves up ASAP, refocus on where they want to be and get started back there; the failures wallow in misery and spend their energy insulting themselves.

#2.  Start with the right attitude: Getting and keeping the body you want is a 3 step process:

• Step 1:  get it.  Do what it takes to get what you want.
• Step 2:  find out how many carbs you can eat, and how little exercise you can do to keep it.
• Step 3:  when you mess-up, reset, go back to #1

This is not a quick fix.  This is a new life.

#3.  Learn how to cook: Most people cannot cook period.  They only way that most people (or restaurants) can make their food taste good is by making it unhealthy – extra sugar, high fructose corn syrup and trans-fats.

Healthy food can and should be good food too.  Investing a few bucks in a good cookbook, and some time in learning how to cook will pay huge dividends in life – more energy, less fat, more muscle, and you might even impress somebody special in your life.

Here is my new favorite cookbook:

Josef Brandenburg is 2010, Washington, DC  Personal Trainer of the Year Nominee for both Personal Fitness Professional Magazine and The Washington, DC Fitness Association, The DC Fitness Advisor and the Fitness Expert for the PCOS Challenge TV Show. He shows normal people with hectic lives and average genetics how to create the bodies they want in the time they actually have. To find out more about the 7-Day Free Trial click here. You can also pick up a FREE copy of his brand new CD – “Why Eat Less and Exercise More is The Worst Advice Ever” here.

5 ‘Secrets’ To Lasting Fat-Loss – How NOT To Pull An Oprah

So, if you haven’t heard, Oprah is back up to the big 2-0-0 again. With all due respect to Oprah and all of her other areas of tremendous accomplishment, she’s NOT the person you want to be taking weight loss advice from.  For almost as long as I’ve been alive she’s been on the yo-yo diet roller coaster.

While I haven’t kept up with her latest fitness advice, I do know that one of her more recent (and famous) trainers told her that the key to fat-loss was working out twice-a-day.  Hmmm…  If you work 80 hours a week that may NOT be the best long term solution.

While that is probably necessary to be a competitive body-builder or figure competitor, it is NOT necessary or usually even helpful for regular, busy people who just want to look good naked and in clothes.

My post yesterday was about Jim, who at Oprah’s age has not only maintained his fat-loss, but is now even LEANER and has more muscle than a year after his “after” pic.

5 ‘Secrets’ To Lasting Fat-Loss

#1.  There is NO secret: If you are fat or have ever been fat its because your whole LIFESTYLE sucks.

There is no secret – eat better and exercise regularly for as long as you want to be lean, healthy, sexy and energetic.

If you are OK with looking and feeling like crap, don’t sweat it.

#2.  Get a plan that works: Jim was doing aerobics classes, jogging and long distance biking before he started working with me.  It should not surprise anyone reading this blog that this exercise did nothing for him.  (If that does surprise you click here.)

Metabolic resistance training circuits and intense interval training work really well in very little time.  While this is a whole LOT harder than what most people do in the gym – slow, steady state aerobics and light bicep curls, it does actually work and work in LESS time.

As a matter of fact, it seems that relying on walking for fat-loss actually slows down your metabolism. Please don’t think that I mean you should never walk anywhere.  You should.  I’m only saying that it is a horrible, if not counterproductive fat-loss tool.

Byrne et al. The effects of a 20-week exercise training program on resting metabolic rate in previously sedentary, moderately obese women. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2001 Mar

#3.  Suck it up and get it done – stay out of fat-loss limbo: Getting lean is not necessarily an inherently pleasant experience.  There is hard work in the gym and very clean food to be eaten.  While that clean food can and should taste good, its really not the same as Five Guys Burgers and Fries.

Most people are trying to “get over” on the fat-loss process by cheating as much as possible because they think that this will make the fat-loss process more fun.  WRONG!  It actually makes it worse.

If you really suck it up and go all out, you can drop 15lbs of body-fat in a month and be DONE with fat-loss!

If you focus on trying to “get over” you’ll just be stuck in fat-loss limbo; always sort of going for it, but never 100%, so you will always be perpetually trying to lose fat.

The point of going on a fat-loss program is to lose the fat and to GET OFF OF IT! NOT to stay on it while forever half-assing your way to nowhere.

#4.  Get a qualified coach: I can read your mind right now, “Josef just put this up here to try and sell his coaching to me.”

Well, you can think whatever you want.  If that’s your attitude I probably wouldn’t work with you anyway.

I did NOT transform my body by myself, nor did Jim, nor do most people.  I hired a coach and paid a lot of money for guidance and accountability… actually I paid a LOT of money.  I had to go through about 10 trainers before I found who was actually worth the money.  (Remember my first trainer?)

I still have and always will have coaches in the areas of my life that I want to improve.  I still pay other people for fitness and nutrition advice.

The difference between amateurs and professionals is that the pro’s have coaches.

#5.  Avoid “The Dieter’s Fatal Flaw”: So you have sucked it up, followed through and dropped the body fat.  Good for you!  Be proud!

But do not be seduced by what I call The Dieter’s Fatal Flaw.  This is the erroneous and subconscious belief that says, “now that I’m lean I can just go back to my old lifestyle and everything will stay the same.”  I know that you wouldn’t say it out loud to yourself, but I’m willing to be that you have BEHAVED in accordance with this belief before in your life.

You ate right and exercised to get here and it will take good nutrition and smart exercise to stay here.  Yes, you now have some room for dessert and the occasional small cheat meal, but not that much room.  Not in your new pants anyway:-).  This is a lifestyle NOT a diet.

You can say things to yourself like “oh, why do I have to do this!?  Its so hard!  [Pathetic baby-like whining].”
Or you can say, “you know what, I like looking good naked!  I like being sexy!  I like having enough energy to work a 12 hour day, workout and still be able to come home and be ‘up’ with my family!  I like not getting sick, and feeling kick-ass all the time.  The truth is that nothing tastes as good as being fit, healthy and energetic feel!”

You choose what you focus on.  What you focus on you will feel, and what you feel will be real to you.

Josef Brandenburg is also the author of The Body You Want, and a Washington, DC based nominee for 2009 Personal Trainer of the Year from Personal Fitness Professional Magazine. Click here to find out more.