As a gym owner, personal trainer, and professional bodybuilder, I am often asked to do two things by many people:

1. Write them a workout plan.
2. Write them a diet

I normally decline both of these requests because neither one of them is as simple as it may seem.  Regardless of a person’s personal success or professional success as a trainer with other people, it is very difficult to write a workout plan or a diet for someone without getting more in depth information such as their fitness goals, lifestyle, general health condition, special health concerns, medications that they are taking, allergies, etc., etc., etc.!  It is also very important to know that most personal trainers are not certified or licensed dieticians, and therefore they should make that know to their clients before they make any nutritional suggestions.  It should also be made know to the client that the client should check with their physician or family doctor before doing anything in regards to a dietary suggestion made by the personal trainer.

Read On!

When I first heard this question years ago from a fellow bodybuilder who was questioning his client, I paused and thought to myself, “Hmmm… isn’t that the same thing?” Upon further inspection as I listened to what he was actually saying to her, I realized that the two expressions (Living to Eat / Eating to Live) are vastly different! One expression leans towards the concept of gluttony and overindulgence while the other towards maintenance and necessity. However, the philosophy that is employed by each and every one of us is very important in regards to our fitness and health.

Growing up as a child in a single-parent family of six children, I would often hear my mother tell me things like, “… and you don’t even need that, but you just want it because it is there!…”  Most of the time that I heard this from my very wise mother was when I was asking for an “in between meals” snack, an extra dessert, or something else that in her opinion I did not necessarily need. As children we rely on our parents’ wisdom when it comes to things such as this, and we are supposed to develop this wisdom for ourselves as we ourselves become adults.  However such is not the case for so many people, and we often find ourselves eating, snacking, drinking and indulging in fattening foods, sugary drinks and alcoholic beverages that our bodies simply do NOT need for any reason whatsoever!

Read On!