"I feel stronger, have more endurance, but I don't feel thinner." /  by Stephen Cooper

Question:

I feel stronger, have more endurance, but I don't feel thinner.  I've been trying to eat more Paleo-like, cutting things out but occasionally slipping.  I eat more salads, protein, lots of eggs, veggies and fruit.  No rice, beans, limited breads, limited dairy.  I seem to be going wrong though since I feel like I'm not losing weight.  Any suggestions or assessments would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
B

My response:

Did you take before measurements, and before photos?

Tell me your typical day of eating "Paleo-like".

Breakfast

Snack

Lunch

Dinner

Snack 

How many hours of sleep do you get each night?

Do you measure this? 

Is your bedroom dark, cool, and free of distractions? 

Let's start with these, and get back to me. 

I'm glad you asked,

Stephen

Congratulations to Liz This Morning /  by Stephen Cooper

I know she probably won't want me to use her name, but she deserves the congratulations.

Liz sent me a text early this morning mentioning that because she has asthma, the cold weather causes a "burning sensation" in her lungs, and she wasn't sure if she was going to train.  (It was about 47 degrees.)

Well, she did.  She showed up and got in her workout for the day.  Some others slept in...Because it was cold?

I see myself as a fairly friendly guy, but when it comes to someone like you who is seeking coaching and training, I often feel that I should be a little harder.

You desire results.  Your body wants to be challenged, but you don't follow through.

NO COMMITMENT = NO RESULTS

You won't see results without work.

I know that I'm going to hear from people, with "you don't know what I have to..." and so on.   I realize that some people do have some very serious challenges, no doubt...but your body and your health don't care what your excuses are.

It deserves your attention, excuses or not.

Make it happen.

The Importance of Time, by Tom Peters /  by Stephen Cooper

 

I know, it may seem a little odd to have a video from business guru Tom Peters here on my boot camp site, but what he has to say is critical.

Our time is finite, and for those of you who are working on getting into shape and losing fat, how you spend your time will make or break you.

I was just talking to a boot camper last night and mentioned to her that I only workout for 15 minutes, about 3 times a week.  I also do jiu jitsu twice a week for sixty minutes each session.

These workouts are put in to my daily schedule and it is very rare that I miss them.

In order for you to be in the shape you desire you must pay critical attention to your time.  I always say, "make time for you".

Don't put this off...or wait till some other day.  Do it today!

Last Two Boot Camp Pasadena Camps for 2010 /  by Stephen Cooper

Hard to believe, but we only have two more boot camps for the rest of this year.

Our next camp begins, Monday November 8 (if you are taking the 3 day per week option), or

Tuesday (if you are taking the 2 day pre week option).

We'll then be off for Thanksgiving Break, and back

November 29th and train till December 17.

Contact me directly, via email or phone to secure your spot.

Paleo Challenge Ends Today /  by Stephen Cooper

Paleo Challenge

For those of you who are in the Paleo Challenge, today is the last day.

Her'e what I'd like you to do:

Take your "after" picture.

Email both your "before" and "after" pictures to me.

In that email I'd like you to write me a little essay on how the challenge went for you.  Was it difficult?  Were there cravings?  How did you get through them?

Looking over your days was it pretty simple to track the three areas of importance?

1.  diet

2.  sleep

3.  exercise

What did you learn from tracking these?

Did you realize that you weren't paying enough attention to one area?  Like sleep?

Once you modified those areas, did you see a difference in your body?

If you took measurements, how many inches did you lose?

And your weight?  How many pounds did you lose?

The more you tell me how this challenge affected you, the better.  I am really curious to hear your responses.

 

Marie and I will be judging the pictures, comments, and your results.  I will keep you posted as to when we will announce the winner.

In having this challenge my hope is that you are feeling better, that you've lost fat, and you have learned some life long lessons.

My hope is that you've discovered that a little bit, done every day, can really add up.

 

Birthdays

Birthday wishes to Arcelia of the evening class, and to Renzo of the morning class.

 

Calendar

This year will be winding up before you know it.

We only have 3 sessions this week.  A new camp begins November 8 and runs till the 19th.  Then we are off for Thanksgiving.

Our last session for 2010 is Nov 29th - December 17.

Please do me a favor if you haven't already and let me know if you'll be here and attending one or both of these camps, or if you'll be away.

How Will You Measure Your Fat Loss? /  by Stephen Cooper

I had a few new boot campers this morning and one of them asked if I took or kept track of measurements or weight.

I don't keep track of this stuff, and I'll tell you why.

The main reason I don't do this is that I'm hoping to teach you the client to take charge of your own fitness.  I don't want you relying on me or any other person to be in charge of your success or not.

You may come to me for direction and some new ideas, but over the long run my goal is to have you "steal" ideas from me and implement them on your own. 

Secondly I don't want you to complicate things.

I believe that some trainers create fitness programs that are designed to keep you dependent on them.  I'd much rather you get the necessary tips and proper movement techniques from me, and then use them on your own. 

So my advice is to take a before picture, measure your waist and maybe your hips, and take your scale weight.

Honestly, you can just monitor yourself by these measurements, how your clothes are fitting, and how you look in the mirror. 

Keep it simple.

 

Pat yourself on the back /  by Stephen Cooper

I'm really proud of those of you who showed up this morning.

Congratulate yourself for waking up early on this cold and drizzly morning, getting out of your warm cozy beds, and putting forth the effort in this mornings' workout.

This is the type of effort that produces results.  Pushing yourself when it's uncomfortable will make the difference. 

Many speak of how they want to lose weight or change their habits, but their actions show otherwise.

You did it.  So congratulations to you!

Little by little these add up.

Day 39 Of the Paleo Challenge, and Vacation Updates /  by Stephen Cooper

Information Overload

I've been struggling a lot lately with this.  Tons of emails, messages from Facebook, Twitter, etc..  It's really distracted me from what I do best...which is developing programs and helping you with your specific situation.

I'm working on how best to provide you with results, and a lot of this other stuff is really getting in the way.

This means that I will be streamlining some things which may affect you.

A few things that will happen right away is that I won't be responding to direct messages on Facebook or Twitter.  I will be monitoring the boot camp page and will be posting updates (automatically), but I may not see your message there.

I will not be monitoring Twitter at all, but once again auto posts will be there.

Contacting Me

The best way to contact me is via email at: Stephen(at)bootcamppasadena.com.  I see email first, and during regular business hours 6a-5p, Monday - Friday.   I will try to respond as quickly as possible.

Calling me

For clients, you should have my cel phone number.  Once again you are always welcome to call me during those hours above.  If for some reason you don't have it just let me know and I'll gladly give it to you.

For people hoping to join the boot camp, please call (626) 609-7399, which is my voice mail.

Contacting me here on the blog

This is a great option, and one that will help a lot of people.  If you can share your questions here in the comment sections, your other boot campers will learn too.  I receive your comments via an email alert so I am usually quick to respond.

Best Place to Receive Updates

I know that many of you have been asking me about rain updates etc..  I will post all updates here on this boot camp blog page: http://www.bootcamppasadena.com/blog/  Check here first.  I can send updates to this page via my phone, but I can't email or call every individual.  Just in case...rain does not cancel morning sessions as we have use of the hall.  Rain shouldn't cancel evening sessions either, but dress appropriately as we often have to scramble for covering.

A Change in Billing by 2011

By next year I hope to implement a better system of payments.  I like to be as fair and flexible  as possible, but lately this too has gotten out of hand.  I say this not to be an ass and I hope that you don't take it that way...I'm just trying to focus on helping you, and I can't do that by being a bill collector/bookkeeper.

Minimizing Distractions

One of the most important parts of my business is being very truthful with you.  I like to practice what I preach.  If I preach balance, clean eating, good sleep, etc., I want you to be sure that's how I'm living my life. These past couple of months have not been in line with this, so that's why I'm changing a few things.

I truly believe that life is too important and too short not to be lived as we design it.   I know that I'm a lot happier when I live in this manner.

I hope that these changes will benefit you too.

I'm learning and experimenting all the time, and I'll share with you what I learn.

Important Vacation Updates

Thanksgiving Break

No sessions November 22 - 26

Christmas Break 

No sessions  December 18 - Jan 2

 

New Sessions will begin on January 3, 2011

Day 29 of the Paleo Challenge, and Hidden Sugar /  by Stephen Cooper

I went grocery shopping this weekend at Trader Joe's.

I bought what I thought were 3, pretty healthy looking items for my kids.

 

  • Multi-grain chips
  • Casava chips
  • Dried cranberries

 

Can you guess what they all had in common?

The packaging mentioned things like, low in calories, organic, baked not fried...sounds pretty healthy doesn't it?

But.... They all had sugar.  What the heck?

Sugar in chips?  Pretty deceiving if you ask me.

Lesson learned.  Watch your labels and don't assume.

Day 26 Paleo Challenge and Taking a 10 Minute Energizer Break From Work /  by Stephen Cooper

I've been trying to get better at handling my workload.  Lately I've been overwhelmed with emails, and sadly as some of you have noticed it's taken me longer to get back to you.

I apologise.

I'm trying to create better systems to handle this.

One thing that I am doing better, and I suggest you may want to try is this.

I normally work hard for 50 minutes, then take a 10 minute break.  I got this idea from one of my favorite books, "The Way We're Working Ins't Working" by Tony Schwartz.  I highly recommend it to everyone who needs to get more balance into their lives.

During my 10 min break, I do a few things to break up the work, and also "wake up" my body.

Here are my suggestions;

Do some crunches or hyperextensions on a stability ball.

Jump rope or jumping jacks for 100 repetitions.

Roll on a foam roller, or the Tiger Tail.

Try these and let me know how it goes for you.  Take the time, to be good to yourself.

Day 25 of the Paleo Challenge /  by Stephen Cooper

Don't hate me or him ladies...

I just got off the phone with one of the boot campers who is also doing the Paleo Challenge.

He's feeling way better, is thinking more clearly...and he lost 7 pounds in one week.  I know ladies don't hate him.

It's so cool for me to hear stories like his.

Remember we're talking about eating real, wholesome food.  And look...it pays off big time.

* A remeinder for those of you who need Paleo recipes, I always recommend that you go to, http://everydaypaleo.com/  Sarah does an incredible job on her site!

Thinking about recipes, I have Robb Wolf's book, The Paleo Solution on my desk to read...and there are recipes there too.

Special Birthday Shout Out to our own Amy Kubal...our RD  Happy Birthday Amy :)

Day 24 of the Paleo Challenge, Next Boot Camp Sessions, Rain "Policy" /  by Stephen Cooper

Next Boot Camp Sessions begin on Monday October 11.  (This is for the Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes.)

Tues and Thursday classes begin on Tuesday October 12.

We are looking to add a Tues and Thur night class.  Please contact me if you would like to take this class. We will open it if we have enough people, but I need to hear from you.

Rainy Days

I honestly don't have much of a rain policy.  It rains so few days out of the year and the chance that it would actually hit in one of the hours that you are at camp is pretty slim.

Morning Sessions- We can always meet in the main hall at the school if it is raining...so morning sessions are never cancelled because of rain.

Evening Sessions-  These can be a little bit more tricky because we don't usually have access to the hall.  We will meet under the overhang near the class rooms if it is raining hard.  If it is misting you can expect that we will be training in the "elements".  This is CA after all, and the weather is not that bad.

Posting updates about rain-  I will post all updates or news about rain right here on the blog.  Think of this as "message central".  Come here first, rather than Facebook, etc..

P.S.  I train myself rain or shine...just like today I am training at home at 11:20, and I'll be outside rain or shine...no excuses.  I don't expect you to train in the rain/mist while I make excuses.  I expect the same from myself just as I do of you.

P.S.S.  If you'd like to be in one of the next boot camps, and haven't already contacted me, please do so soon.