Fat Loss – Body Transformation – Advanced Nutrition

Hey San Antonio!

I hope everyone is enjoying this amazing weather and taking advantage of it to be active.

I want to take a second to introduce you to Nick Scott, a guy I know that happens to be a bodybuilder – just not what you probably think of when you think of a typical bodybuilder. You see, Nick was involved in a horrible, roll over car crash a few years ago, where he was paralyzed and bound to a wheelchair. But while his body was wounded, his spirit was not.

Check out his website at http://nickfitness.com

If this doesn’t motivate you and make you think “Wow, I CAN do it”, then dig the hole right now and jump into it. This is a person that faces real obstacles right now, not self-imposed restraints that so many hide behind.

The choice is yours. When the decision is made, let nothing slow you down or ever hold you back.

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

I had a person telling me about their workout and nutrition regimen for fat loss to get ready for summer. It was along these lines:

I do cardio for 60-90 minutes every day before I workout.
I lift for about 60-90 minutes every day.
I eat no more than 1500 calories per day, but try to keep it lower if at all possible. I have oatmeal for breakfast. A piece of fruit for a snack. A chicken breast and salad at lunch. A protein bar for a snack. A banana. Another chicken breast. Some veggies.

So, what will this accomplish?

It will help them look like a Somalian refugee. Also, since they’re not fueling their body properly, it will probably lead to unemployment, since they will not be able to mentally function. It’ll also lead to a rapid plateau and an eventual rebound.

It’s a simple case of being overly drastic, doing too much and not paying attention to where their nutrients are coming from. While the average person may look at that and say it’s hardcore, someone that really knows how to transform the body will look at it and say that while it’s actually pretty common, it has no chance, won’t lead to drastic changes, and is poor nutrition and training program design at it’s best.

The excess volume of training and the lack of calories lead to a crash in metabolic rate which is the most important factor in fat loss. The nutritional strategy (if you can call it that) does not compliment the excess training. This is a simple case of someone putting faith in the calorie in vs calorie out nonsense and not paying attention to how what they are eating is being used and where their fuel for exercise is coming from.

Extremes like this are not sustainable, not sensible, and do nothing to make you look better dressed, in a bathing suit or naked. It’s a lot of effort put into a poor overall strategy that will leave you wondering why you aren’t able to get the lean look you desire. Unfortunately, this type of protocol is what all too many people believe is required.

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

I think I qualify as a busy person: I am a father, I have hobbies, I have responsibilities, and I am a business owner, which means, by default, I am in marketing, accounting, IT, a manager, and I do a little bit with nutrition and training.

I know some people hate the thought of working out. I actually enjoy it. I enjoy manipulating my nutrition and my training regimen to change my body for whatever I plan to do – whether it’s for cosmetic or modeling purposes, a bodybuilding or power lifting competition or just for performance. I tell people that if changing is important, you will make time.

Making time, however, doesn’t have to mean “make 4 hours per day”. There are times when that isn’t feasible. Most people don’t have banker’s hours. We have to answer the calls of our chosen professions, travel, get the kids here and there, spend time with people we love, do things for the church, and have obligations that are priorities to us.

A big misconception about fat loss and changing the body is the amount of time that one must dedicate to training and exercise. I have people ask me how much time I spend working out every day. When I tell them that in most cases, I workout for less than 5 hours per week, they are usually surprised that it isn’t that much in a day.

Sometimes, I’m forced to workout in a limited time frame and have to squeeze a workout into a sub-30 minute time slot. While I do prefer to have more time and not feel as if I’m rushed, I don’t use that as an excuse to sandbag.

Let me state right now that it isn’t about looking for the easy way or a shortcut. I don’t want people reading this and think “Wow, I can workout for 15 minutes 3 times per week and drastically change my body.” If you’ve never done anything in your life, that might help you for about a week. But once the body adjusts to the slight increase in activity, you’d rapidly plateau.

The key is that no matter how long you workout, you should workout with intensity. That doesn’t mean a certain heart rate range or doing a certain number of repetitions. The exercise selection should be the same. But there’s no time to waste. I mention this because I see a lot of people in gyms wasting time. Not to say that they’re just standing around talking (although a lot of people do), but they’re doing exercises that they don’t need to be doing and really aren’t making an efficient use of time.

You must always train with urgency and intensity!

Every exercise has a purpose. The body responds very favorably to compound exercises that recruit as many muscle fibers as possible, and these exercises should make up most of any training program. I’m surprised how many people fail to understand that you can’t simply “sculpt” or “tone” an area of the body by simply singling out and focusing on that body part with isolation exercises. It takes a full approach that includes the proper training protocol and an effective, training supportive nutritional program.

Again, there are no shortcuts, but on occasion, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with an intense, short workout. Many people find that once they cut out the time wasting exercising and the BS, that they’re workouts are significantly shorter and that they aren’t in the gym for two hours.

As a personal trainer, I push people harder than they’d otherwise push themselves, but also part of my expertise is using time efficiently – ensuring they’re doing everything in the safest way possible, while instructing them on not only how to do different exercises, but also teaching them exactly what the benefits of the specific exercises are and why different exercises are performed at different times.

Training science is far beyond doing a bunch of body type specific exercises for “sculpting” and “toning” purposes. Unfortunately, the typical personal trainer doesn’t understand the science behind advanced fitness training, which leads to marginal results for most of their clients.

Exercise selection is extremely important – however, most of the things that people are doing in gyms (with or without a personal trainer) could be scrapped and forgotten altogether. For me, time is to valuable to waist time on an exercise that is providing little or no benefit.

For maximum results? Train smarter, work harder! Simply showing up at the gym is not enough to get you to where you want to be.

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

In no matter what area you want to become proficient in, it’s important to identify your weaknesses and improve upon those. Transforming the body is no different.

I know several people that say they get tired too fast while doing cardio, so they refuse to do it, which causes their problem to worsen. Same with squats and many other exercises. Obviously, the other huge weaknesses are in daily behavior: consistency, nutritional discipline, and the ability to progressively be more intense.

When you don’t identify and correct weaknesses, you’re never going to reach your full potential. Every part of the nutrition and training puzzle is important and directly linked to the other. Your program MUST be designed to not only meet the demands of your fitness program with your current condition and goals in mind. This is why cookie cutter and fad diets aren’t sufficient.

If you’re serious about reaching your goals, don’t ignore what is holding you back, and definitely don’t neglect or under-emphasize any part of your overall program.

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

I have the luxury of being reminded daily how rewarding transforming the body is, as my clients that are going through their training and fat loss programs simply reinforce my belief that when the body is improved, other aspects of life have no choice but to follow. They become more motivated in other aspects of their lives, more productive, and self-confidence soars.

Excuses are simply crutches for the weak. “I don’t have time” is the most popular. We all have the same 24 in a day. IF you want it, you’ll make time.

Let nothing stop you, ever!

Hey San Antonio,

A lot of people on the internet, in books and magazines, dieticans and other so called nutrition experts are going to try to tell you that a calorie is a calorie and that how much you eat is all that really matters.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t take actual FAT LOSS and body transformation into account, and that what we eat and when we eat it plays a big role in determining what the body chooses to burn for fuel. Now if you’re just trying to lose weight and making the scale go down is your only goal, then that’s fine, but understand the flaws in that way of thinking. Weight loss only makes you a smaller version of yourself. If you’re pear shaped right now, you’re going to be a smaller pear. If you’re a big fat person, you’re going to be a little fat person.

Most people aren’t after that Somalian refugee or that Kenyan marathon runner look. We all have different goals, but for most of us, we want to look better when we don’t have clothes on.

The funny thing is that there are people that eat the right foods but eat them at the wrong times and in combination with the wrong foods. This does matter more than expert dieticans realize. Their job is to get you to look normal, and 99% of them know very little about eating for performance and changing the body in a desirable way. Based on activity, it’s important to combine the appropriate amounts of carbs and protein or fat and protein in every meal, and ensure that you’re getting it from the proper sources.

The timing of the nutrients that we consume and the proper nutrients at the proper time are crucial to changing the body. Food and nutrient combinations at certain times is more times than not completely overlooked. You’re activity is changing throughout the day and your nutrient demands change as well, so why shouldn’t food intake change as well? If you think about it, doesn’t it make more sense to consume different amounts of foods and types of nutrients before you workout as opposed to before you go to bed?

Every meal matters. On the blog, I’ve discussed food combinations in-depth, so check out the nutrition section and look over some of those posts and feel free to ask questions if something isn’t clear to you.

Look at the masses – most people look terrible. If you want to look extraordinary, don’t do things that ordinary people are doing with little luck and even less results!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

I had a small break, so decided to throw up a video blog. In this one, I discuss my goals as a personal trainer and how I separate myself from other personal trainers in San Antonio.

I’ve also added a few updates to the Caveman Lifestyle Program, so check that out as well!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

Don’t know what to do to start the fat loss process? OR have you been making regular progress but want to get over that hump? Here are some simple rules to get you up and running.

1. Have a source of protein in every meal, without exception. With carbs only at breakfast, pre and post-workout.

2. Eliminate foods that have the words enriched, flour, refined, hydrogenated, etc on the labels. If it’s not grown or if it doesn’t eat things that grown, you don’t need to eat it.

3. Strength train with intensity at least 3 days per week, and train the entire body during the week. Split isn’t overly important if the body is being trained, but it is important that every muscle is treated with the same importance. Whether you train the entire body each workout, upper/lower, or break it into body parts, focus on intensity.

4. Dedicate one month to what should be as close to perfect eating as possible. No meals skipped, no junk foods, no alcohol, no cheat days. Trust me, a month will make the difference, and yes, you can do it.

5. If you aren’t doing cardio, add it in. The heart is the most important muscle in the body. But evaluate what you’re doing. Initially, the body needs to become efficient. I am a firm believer in intense cardio at the beginning of a training cycle to make the heart and lungs as efficient as possible, so that, over time, the body becomes more efficient at recovery between sets, buffering lactic acid and an increased workload during a set amount of time.

6. See what everyone else is doing and not making progress? Do something different. Don’t waste your time following other people that haven’t a clue.

7. Make every workout better than the previous one. If you haven’t made the decision that you’re going to go a step further each and every workout, you’re wasting your time. 5 more pounds, 3 more minutes (cardio), 2 more reps – the goal is breaking through barriers. The same workout with the same workload and same intensity should never be repeated – go higher, go harder, and force the body to change.

I know, I know. I can hear the average reader saying “but I just want to firm up”. It doesn’t matter. Working out cannot be about going through the motions and just doing “something”. If you are not “firm”, or “toned” or “in-shape”, doing the same thing over and over will not get you there. I know people don’t want to hear that they need to work smarter, but I’m not in the business of telling people what they want to hear, but what they need to hear.

Don’t be held back… If looking better, performing better in everything you do and living a healthy life are important, don’t be held back. Step out of your comfort zone and force progress!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

Hope everyone had a great weekend and that you’re now recharged for the coming week!

No matter who you are, at some point, you have become frustrated about not reaching your fitness goals as quickly as you had hoped. Of course, much of this is due to impatience. Simply put, the fat isn’t gained over night or in a few days, so it isn’t going to come off that way. But it’s important to know if your expectations are realistic or if you are wasting your time, which both are legitimate concerns.

First and foremost, a well laid out plan is one that makes sense and isn’t surrounded by a ton of hype and isn’t a fad. I’m sorry to break it to you, but the latest fancy diet or super-hyped pill is not going to make you look great in that bikini or be the source of such a drastic change that you need to buy a new wardrobe. There’s a reason why these things do not sustain. They are built off of the hope that you don’t actually have to be disciplined and work hard. Sadly, people spend billions and more times than not are right back where they started from. Don’t fall prey to the newest fly by night weight loss scam.

Education is key. Quality information is priceless, and as bad as the weight loss miracle industry is, I think a greater risk would be trusting your health and well being to a personal trainer that isn’t experienced or knowledgeable enough to help you get to where you want to be. They’re the ones that have no education or experience in performance nutrition, and are usually employed by commercial gyms, put in place to be more salesperson than life coach. Of course, there are a few places advertising $10-$20 personal trainers. I’ll just say “buyer beware”, and ask yourself why an expert would discount their services to this point? I understand that in the current economic situation, money is tight and individuals have to keep tabs on their spending, but the wrong personal trainer could cost you more than a few dollars – without proper guidance, you could be putting your health at serious risk.

Depending on your current fitness level, an experienced personal trainer should be able to give you an educated estimate of the progress you can expect to make – of course, that should be based on that trainer providing you with a full program: what to do when you aren’t training with that person, exactly what to eat and when to eat it, and built in adjustments to the program to ensure your body is forced to adapt.

Don’t just take their word for it – an experienced trainer should have an impressive body of work and should have no problem with you discussing your program and expectations with former and existing clients.

Time is valuable, so don’t waste it, as consistently putting forth effort without commensurate results is quite frustrating. With the right guidance, your return will far outweigh your investment.

Make this week YOURS!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

When your alarm goes off an hour earlier than normal letting you know that it’s time to get up and do cardio and you start rationalizing how you didn’t get to bed on time and you have a long day, ask yourself one simple question: “How bad do I want to look phenomenal?”

With fitness and nutrition being my profession, I talk to a lot of people everyday that tell me the struggles they have “eating right” and how they eat right “most of the time”. Unfortunately, clean eating for rapid fat loss and body transformation isn’t a part-time job, and while I teach clients how to schedule “cheat meals”, it takes a lot of discipline and effort. Anyone can lose a little fat and look a little better, but people come to see me for extreme results, not just a little progress. I can’t let them settle for marginal change – their time and money and my reputation are way too important to me.

Stop looking for the easy way. It just has to be done. Every bite of food you put in your mouth should be another step toward your goals. Every decision about what to eat and when to eat should be made with the question “Will this help me get where I want to be?” Missing a workout leads to missing workouts. A workout or two per month turns out to be 8-12 weeks of workouts per year missed. Don’t you think you’d look better if you had those workouts back? Scheduled downtime and recovery is important, but don’t confuse this with being lazy and just skipping out. Time and fatigue are just excuses, and the reward for persevering is much more than that extra 30 minutes of sleep.

Excuses are for the weak, and no matter how hard you convince yourself, those excuses aren’t going to give you the satisfaction of getting into a pants size you haven’t worn in years or seeing definition in your stomach, legs, shoulders and arms. That little extra bit of sleep will not compare to the first time a friend breaks down and tells you that they have to do whatever it is your doing, that they’re miserable with the way they look and feel and that you are their inspiration for change.

Be the example. Set the course. I’ve seen so many of these instances and words in this blog can’t do them justice. It seems like a huge mountain to climb, but once the change begins and results start showing up, time absolutely flies.

Don’t wait!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

The first thing you can do to bring fat loss to a screeching halt is to not eat enough food to support your activity and to keep your metabolic rate high. Unfortunately, trash articles from magazines and so-called “weight loss experts” tell people that it’s easy as reducing calories and doing more. Maybe that’s the case if you’d prefer looking like a Somalian refugee, but if given the choice, most people would like to have the opportunity to choose what goes away (fat) and what stays (lean body mass). Through the appropriate training style and nutritional strategy, you do have a choice. In weight loss, yes, a calorie is a calorie. Your weight will go down if you burn more calories than you consume. But that’s for simple weight loss, and the problem that comes with constant reduction of calories and increasing of activity is a crash in your resting metabolic rate.

IF looking better naked is a priority to you, then it’s important that you understand that every bite has a purpose. Every meal is important and needs to be made up of the proper ratio of macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat).

In terms of dieting, get away from the extremes. Yes, you should be consuming more protein than the recommended daily allowance (RDA), simply because that is determined by what is needed for survival, not what is needed for athletic performance or radically changing the way you look. That does not mean a “high protein” or protein only diet. Extremely low carb diets are out too. Eliminating fat from the diet? A mistake. Every macronutrient is needed in the proper ratios at the right times to ensure your body chooses the right body tissue to burn as fuel, and stores the right nutrients (glucose and amino acids) into the proper places (muscles and function of organs). I use a variety of other strategies, including periods of “cycling” different macronutrients with the intention of keeping the body sensitive to different nutrient intakes and to react positively by “jolting” the metabolism (to keep it simple).

Want a surprise? It isn’t extremely difficult or technical. Most people are so overwhelmed by what they read that they kill themselves with over-analyzing what they’re doing. The key to consistency is simplicity (and yielded results).

If you are tired of eating without a purpose or counting calories, it’s time to learn to eat for performance. All of my training programs include full nutritional guidance. Not chasing the latest and greatest supplement or the latest fad. The science is available and I back everything I do up with it.

SO make your training and nutrition compliment each other by learning what to eat when (nutrient timing). Unfortunately, most personal trainers have a very simple grasp of nutrition, and are simply educated by the latest bodybuilding magazine or internet message board (read: they’re as confused as you may be).

To your goals!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

If today didn’t motivate you to start your body transformation for what is sure to be a gorgeous Spring and very warm summer, check your pulse!

Work never stops for me, and of course, that is a good thing. I’ve been working on several different projects, including my Caveman Lifestyle Program and other programs that are designed to get you from where you are to where you want to be ASAP, and to also teach you how to keep making progress long after you are done with my service. The best thing about any program that I design, whether in the gym or online, is that I do not believe in cookie cutter, one size fits all programs. Everything I do is scalable based on your condition and your goals, and while my philosophies are consistent, everything I do is at a custom level depending on the client I am working with.

There’s still time to transform your body and look your best when less clothes are required.

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

Want to know a dirty secret? Dieticians and basic Nutritionists are misleading. Why? They pay attention to the RDA (recommended daily allowances). Yes, that’s the numbers on the back of food labels. So why is it misleading?

Those numbers have nothing to do with keeping you lean. Those numbers will not help you lose weight. Those numbers will not do anything for you but simply keep you alive if all you do is lay on the couch. They still believe a calorie is a calorie and focus on weight loss, not body transformation or fat loss. This simplicity is loaded with faults and will not drastically change the way your body looks. It will simply make you a smaller version of yourself, and will not change the composition of how you look.

Performance puts different demands on the body. Once you follow an intense exercise, with intense being relative to your condition, your nutritional demands change, and they change drastically. RDA is for survival – I focus on what I call PDI, or Performance Daily Intake. It is scalable to the person and most importantly, it considers something most “diets” do not – strenuous activity.

Forget what you know. Forget what the little diet books say. If you want to make changes and reach your goals, be ready to to do things that the average person will not do.

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

It’s definitely Monday. It’s cold. I’m extremely busy. And honestly, I didn’t sleep well last night. But it’s Monday, which for me, means it’s leg day. I could find a million excuses not to workout today. But fat will not find an excuse not to be stored and in a few weeks, it will be hot enough to only wear shorts and flip flops. No excuses – excuses won’t help you look great. Excuses make you fat.

Now is definitely the time – don’t put it off any longer!

Do not settle!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

There are a lot of people on the internet reading about weight loss. Learning how to change their body. Studying how to gain muscle, eat right and how to exercise.

To those people, congratulations.

However, you can read all you want. You can obtain a PhD in exercise science and performance nutrition. You can discuss training and your upcoming diet and lifestyle change until you can’t type nor talk anymore.

The perfect plan means nothing unless it is put into action. It will only work if once it is put into action, it stays in place. And it must change – the plan has to evolve as you begin to change. Training focus must shift as weaknesses become strengths. Nutrition must change to ensure that your new body is receiving the nutrients it needs, because as your body changes, its requirements change as well.

Enough studying. Enough research. Take the next step, and make your body become what you want it to become. Kill the old habits by creating new ones.

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454