Oh no, this is going to be my toughest client yet

It can be unsettling when a routine doctor visit produces a stern warning. That's what happened last week. The problem: the patient is overweight. The doctor said "overweight", I heard "chubby". The patient needs to lose 2 pounds and he's not happy about it.

My dog Lou is a 10-year-old bichon-frise (see pic attached). He's about 14" tall and weighs in a 27 lbs (I'm not sure what his BMI is or if that even matters for dogs). Bichons are normally under 16 lbs but he and his brother Armstrong were always bigger than the rest of the breed. But Armstrong, named after Lance, is the athlete. His 27 lbs is muscle. Lou....not so much...I'll admit he's a little squishy.

We offered all the normal protests:

"He's just big-boned."

"We really don't eat too many treats."

"We watch our portion sizes."

"Maybe that scale is wrong."

But, alas, the vet saw through our excuses. She stood firm. Lose 2 lbs.

The advice from the doctor is pretty straight-forward. You have heard this before. Reduce the number of treats and get in more walks. Basically, reduce calories in and increase calories burned.

I love Lou and I want him around for a long time. As a family member I know he needs my support to get trim.

Here's the plan:

- Reduce his treats to two per day.

- Make sure he is not getting more than his prescribed portion at breakfast and dinner.

- Increase the frequency and length of his walks.

If you have someone in your family who needs your support to make a positive change in their health then step up and help make it easier for them to achieve their goal. We offer in-home personal training programs with male and female trainers. We also conduct a great boot camp in Chalfont for all ability levels. Check us out at www.ActivePersonalFitness.com or call 267.626.7478.

We'll keep you posted on Lou's progress.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

267.626.7478

"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

So you don't want to be overweight

According to research by The NDP Group, a leading market research company, only 24% of households plan all of their dinners in advance while 71% plan some dinners in advance.

That means a majority of you have no idea what you're going to eat until mealtime. Then you get home late, you're rushing to a kid's game, you have an errand to run, etc. and you throw together the quickest meal you can with nothing ready.

So what happens?

You reach into the freezer, pull out the frozen, processed, chicken nuggets with all the calories and sodium and pop it into the microwave. Or worse yet, you order take out. (Actually, I'm not sure which is worse.)

Three actions can help you avoid the extra weight gain from grabbing whatever is available for your meals.

1. Plan - Have a list ready of 10 easy meals you can choose from and determine which night you will have which meal. 10 gives you the opportunity to add variety and change things up.

2. Shop - Go to the grocery store and make sure you have fresh, easily prepared foods on hand.

3. Prepare - Spend some time on Sunday preparing meals ahead of time. All the meals for the week can be created in advance saving you time and still keeping the great flavor.

Plan, shop and prepare will save you time, money and keep your waistline right where you want it.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

267.626.7478

"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

Ladies, you won't look like Arnold

"I don't want to look like a man."

I have heard this statement from every female client I have worked with in 5 years as a personal trainer and group exercise instructor .

After years of using nothing but 5 lbs dumbbells they come to me to help them get lean, toned arms. As soon as I start to introduce 10 and 15 lbs dumbbells I get the look. Then I hear, "I don't want to look like a man."

Here is a short video from CrossFit Obsession.

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/WOD110606_AllisonNYC_SnatchBalance.wmv

Allison has been CrossFitting for several years. In the video she starts by pressing her body weight (@ 119lbs) over her head using a lift called a snatch balance. By the end of the video she is using over 170lbs.

What "looks like a man" is very subjective. You may think she is too muscular. But I think we can agree she is not muscle bound and certainly does not resemble Arnold. And if you met her in street clothes you would likely say, "I wish I had arms and abs like that." Unless, of course, your arms and abs already look that good.

Take a couple minutes and see the results of hard work and proper technique.

Disclaimer #1: A snatch balance is a highly advanced lift. Do not attempt this lift without professional coaching. The type of exercise is not the point. The point is the amount of weight she is able to lift.

Disclaimer #2: Allison is NOT a client of mine and I am not affiliated with CrossFit Obsession.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

CrossFit Level 1 Instructor

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

267.626.7478