Friends Don't Let Friends Get Fat!!

Good Day, my fellow fitness enthusiasts.  I hope this blog finds you well.
Almost every day, I find myself repeating the same things to my clients regarding nutrition.

I tell them to eat regularly. I tell them to cut sugars. I tell them to watch fat content.
I tell them to watch carb intake and what carbs are good and bad.
I even suggest what foods to eat to burn energy and help them to become more nutritionally efficient.

Last week, I almost found myself at the end of my rope. In the midst of repeating myself for the 4th straight hour...I felt worthless. I felt as though my efforts were in vain and that my clients are using me as a crutch.
I felt as if my clients would never get it or that they just don't want it.

True enough, I have a unique approach to things...which is to say I am somewhat of a fanatic. I'm all or nothing. I don't have much middle ground. So, when I have to continue to tell the same people over and over how to become nutritionally efficient, it bothers me to the core. I don't mind reinforcements...but to just flat out eat like you DON'T know and come in to my gym, hop on the scale and look perplexed like you have no clue what just happened.
Then I have to hear the babble about feelings. I have to listen to the frustration. I have to talk people off of the ledge every time we get on the scale and begin to repeat the same things. It starts with and ends the same...
FOOD LOG!!

I can't help if i can't see what you are eating. period. Interestingly enough...that's not even that this blog is about...I just really wanted to get that off my chest.  whew!!


ok, Friends Don't Let Friends Get Fat!!

just like anything in life that you want to get accomplished, fitness is an area that requires discipline. its not just getting to the gym. that's the easy part. It's eating toward your goal every day. I did not say starving yourself, nor did I say, eating expensive organic food or salads all day. one of the biggest reasons for anyone who struggles with losing weight or achieving their fitness goals is their support group, family, inner circle, homies, spouse or whatever....the people closest to you.  If you are not strong enough to discipline yourself to eat toward  your goal when you around your close friends...then DON'T EAT AROUND THEM!
If your closest friends cannot support your health and fitness goals, DON'T EAT AROUND THEM!

ITS YOUR GOAL...NOT THEIRS!  i don't understand why people say, "i ate poorly because i was with friends". that's a decision YOU made! if they are your friends, why cant you eat a salad in front of them? why can't you drink water while they drink liquor? why do you have to sacrifice your goals just to associate?

if your friends dropped out of college, would you have...just to be cool? ignorance isn't cool, nor is being unhealthy..when you can help it.

if your friends can't support your health and fitness goals...assess your friendship. really!
hiring a personal trainer or joining a gym costs money. it takes sacrifice. you clearly thought enough of yourself to initiate change.

WHY THEN, WOULD YOU ALLOW OTHERS TO DISTRACT YOU FROM YOUR GOAL, just so they can feel better about themselves.

let them drink. let them eat poorly. let them smile and laugh.
THEN.....THEN, let them go home and struggle to fit into their clothes and get frustrated at themselves for not being as healthy as they want or as fit as they want.

don't share in your friends' misery. let them have it all to themselves..they've earned it. you don't have to protest at the bar or profess at the dinner table....just eat toward  your goals and be true to yourself.

it just takes one time for you to take a stand and say, "no thank you". three simple words..."no thank you".

you would be amazed at how easy it is, how much of a load it will relieve and how much a difference it makes in your ability to focus on your goals.

Friends Don't Let Friends Get Fat....

Becoming Resolute- Deciding to change your life

Well, well, well..... Look who's back by (blogging)  popular demand. It's your favorite trainer.
A lots changed since I've blogged last.
A lot of my clients have asked why I stopped and I didn't have a good reason, I suppose.
I didn't see the value in sharing my thoughts so .... There it went.

But....  I'm back now, so let's move forward. Since my last blog, we have grown quite a bit.
The gym is bigger, offers more services and even has a new name. We are now Pound 4 Pound Fitness and Nutrition. (www.pound4poundfitness.co) that's right, .co, NOT .com.

Enough business, let's get into what I want to get into, becoming resolute!!
The only time you hear the word resolute is when it's used in its most popular form... Resolution... As in New Years.. As in every damn year.

Isn't it an oxymoron to make the same New Years resolution every year? If you become resolute, you should not have to go back and start over again, there should be progress, right? So at that point it's no longer a resolution... It's perseverance .

The biggest... I mean theee biggest challenge for people is becoming resolute. Not only in their fitness desires, but in life in general. People can't make up their damned minds to do something and see it through till it's completion.

As it pertains to attaining a healthy lifestyle, this issue is crippling...absolutely crippling to anyone's aspirations of success.  Getting someone into the gym initially is easy. Getting someone to eat chicken and brown rice once is easy, but asking them to become resolute to the point where they take life changing steps is the issue. Seriously.

Let me dig deeper. Folks want what they aren't willing to work for. Everyone comes to me wanting to lose their gut or tone their butt. Hell, you didn't get that gut over night and yo butt didn't fall to the floor overnight. Your lifestyle created those issues. And the only thing that can override that is a new lifestyle. Plain and simple.

In order to achieve a healthy target, you have to become resolute that THIS IS MY NEW LIFESTYLE.  Not, this is what I'm doing this week.

You can't have a lifestyle change that only exists Monday - Thursday, then you become a weekend warrior and let loose. No, that won't cut it.

And let me say this... Don't be looking at me saying " but ramont I can't eat like that every day... I need my food".

Quit whining. That damn food got you here.

I'm not asking you to make wholesale changes on day one, just decide!
DECIDE that you are moving forward.

After that, the changes that need to occur will be much easier. You can't make changes if you have not accepted that you need to change. Once you have decided..then you can begin to examine where you can create small, sustainable lifestyle changes.

Little things like adding morning cardio. That small decision is a lifestyle change. Even if you do nothing else and successfully do that... You have made a lifestyle CHANGE.

that change will bring about another change, as you have mastered one resolution already. No longer is it a " will do", it's embedded into who you have become.

Next, cut back on sugar. Make a decision to change your snacks or only eat sweets on occasion. And yes, you can live without them.  Trust me.

Now you have made two lifestyle changes that impact your goal.
They can be done one at a time or if you are strong enough, simultaneously. But they must be made.

We are deciding to live unhealthy lives. We have become resolute to get onto medication. Our lifestyles lead us to unnecessary medical complications. And you look at me sideways when I ask you to eat plain oatmeal??

You bout to make me cuss!!

Becoming resolute is the very first thing you must do in order to find success.
Do not go to the gym if you are not resolute. Do not pay for a trainer if you are not resolute.
We cannot give you resolution, only direction and motivation.
You have to want it first. You have to have to have it.  Yes, I know what I just said... You have to HAVE to have it.

90 Days vs A Lifetime

Good Afternoon PP,

Before I blog today, i'd like to take a moment to congratulate Alanna Smith!! She is the first person on the perfect phit program to reach her overall goal. I won't tell you what her original weight was because i have to see her tomorrow, but she wanted to lose 30 lbs and as of last week, she is 30 lbs lighter. At 25 lbs, i challenged Alanna not to settle and to complete the goal. we struggled for almost 2 months at 25 lbs, as she went through the getting too cute for her bridges phase. But she got back on track and lost the additional 5 lbs.

 Congratulations Alanna for achieving your goal and for your hard work that you've put in. NOW, the hard part begins. its easier to lose weight, than it is to maintain the weight. now u have to stay focused with your eating and remind yourself that the goal of 30lbs of weight loss was not a destination, but a lifelong journey and lifestyle change. Great work.

And YES....we are still doing legs tomorrow.



"90 Days" vs "A lifetime"




I want to remind some of you and reinforce what we are doing. We are in the business of LOSING BODY FAT via eating healthy and regular exercise. its that simple. If you are reading this....i know that you are exercising regularly...but only you know if you are eating the right way.  we should be able to lose 1 lb per week of body fat if we are doing things properly and consistently.

in order to lose 1 lb of fat, one must have a deficit of 500 calories per week.  so, if you burn 2500 calories thru working out and walking, and eat only 2000 calories, you will lose 1 lb. the math is that simple. now, on this program, we are not required to count calories, but for those of you who have become serious about what you eat and how you look, you know what foods are high in calories and what isn't. at this point,  you should be researching everything you eat. EVERYTHING.

if you want to get serious...get a cheap watch that counts calories burned. keep it on for one week, as you go about your daily routines. if your routines are pretty static (typical), this will let you know roughly how many calories  you burn in one week. if you are researching what you eat...you will know roughly how many calories you are taking in. you can roughly determine if you are eating more calories than you are burning.

for those of you who are not doing daily cardio....your eating has to be EVEN cleaner because you are only burning a lot of calories when we work out. 

but like i said, you don't have to count calories if you follow the nutritional guideline. it was designed to count calories for you.


so, here's my point: 90 days vs a lifetime. most of the world will spend a lifetime wanting to lose weight, to look better or to see results. it can actually be done in 90 days. i'm not preaching a diet or an exercise program, but reality. if you can focus....show discipline and execute for 90 days of cardio and eating clean, you will see significant results. of course, if you are trying to lose 100 lbs, no....u won't lose it in 90 days. but if you can focus for 90 days...a lifestyle change will have occured and you wont want to go back.

if you are not seeing significant results, i bet its because you THINK you are eating cleanly and you probably aren't. i can lead you to the water, but i can't make you drink it.

are all of your meats boneless, skinless? not some...ALL?
are your carbs complex?
are you drinking enough water?
does your food have any fat or simple sugars? (answer that honestly)....(even more honestly)
do you skip meals? c'mon now...do you skip meals? are  you eating every 3 hours? 3 meals, 3 snacks?
are you eating carbs after 7?
are  you eating too many carbs?
are you eating enough lean protien (1 gram per your body weight)


if  either of these isn't absolutely on par...you are affecting your ability to get results. this is not the kind of test where you can get 3 out of 5 correct and still pass. you need to be doing everything the right way. that's the only way you can really say that you have committed! and if you can commit...really commit for 90 days....you will see the results that will sustain for a lifetime.

most of you know that while i trained for my show, i had to really...really commit. and although i already ate cleanly, to become a bodybuilder, it had to get even cleaner. flawless. one gram of fat can determine a winner or loser. ONE GRAM OF FAT. the lack of my multivitamin could be the reason i win or lose and my water retention can put me over the top or keep me grounded. it takes 90 days to train for a show...and in those 90 days, i saw my body go from good to great....and all i did was focus more on what i ate.  now that i'm doing my second show...in 90 more days...i'll take that same philosophy to the next level and eat even cleaner.

i'm not expecting anyone to be a bodybuilder, but you do get the point of how 90 days can change your life. 

FAQ's

Greetings PP,


i'd like to congratulate all of you for staying with the program. people on the outside looking in are witnesses to your progress and hard work. many of you are getting compliments, dropping pant sizes and feeling more confident by the moment. this is exactly what perfect phit is for.  summer is fast approaching. if you are anything like me, you'll want to show off your new body. i challenge each of you to dig way down deep inside for the next 6 weeks, so that when summer truly arrives...we'll all be ready to hit the beaches!

aside from that, i still get some Frequently Asked Questions that i'd like to address. i think this will benefit everyone to have this information.


1. can i drink juice? yes, you can drink juice. it has to be 100% fruit juice from concentrate. it cannot be "punch", "drink" or even "juice". it must read 100% fruit juce from concentrate. WHY??? fruit juice from concentrate is the natural juice from fruits that has had water removed in order to ship it from abroad. when it gets to the US, the water is reconstituted with the fruit to make 100% fruit juice. the label will show about 30 grams of sugar, however, those are natural sugars from the fruits. those sugars are NOT processed sugars, so they are OK TO DRINK. sugars from other drinks are processed, therefore they are NOT ok to drink. so, if u want to drink juice...in the midst of your water consumption.....you can drink ONE HUNDRED PERCENT FRUIT JUICE!

2.why am i not losing weight? - some of you are struggling with your weight or your progress is moving slowly. i want to give you continued encouragement because you CAN and WILL lose the weight and reach your goal.  with that, i will also give you the ugly truth that you need to hear.

a. CARDIO - if  you are not doing your morning cardio, you are not burning fat from yesterday. you are not accelerating your metabolism for idle times. you are not burning calories while you are at your desk.

b. CHEATING - if you eat good monday - friday and cheat on the weekends, you essentially are cancelling out monday - friday!! the weekends do not mean its time to eat out and drink alcohol  irresponsibly.  for those of us who are trying to reach a goal, these are things that we are sacrificing. and believe it, its a short term sacrifice for a life long reward!!

c. NOT eating enough food - if you don't eat every 3 hours, you are not putting your body on a schedule that it can count on. without that schedule, your body will not attack the fat that you are storing, but rather it will hold onto it.

if either of these conditions describe you...this is why you may NOT be losing weight. you  can't cheat the system and you cant cheat the scale.

d. FOOD LOG - if you are not logging what you eat, you have no idea what works for your body and what does not. nor do i. we can keep working out till my hair grows down to my butt....and you still will look the same. ARE YOU TIRED OF LOOKING THE SAME?? then take your food log seriously.

the guidelines aren't a sometime thing. its an every day thing. commit and re-dedicate EV-UH-RY single DAY.

its simple. do what i ask, lose weight. don't do it, don't lose weight.

Morning Cardio

When is the best time of day to do your cardio? The answer is any time! The most important thing is that you just do it. Continuous cardiovascular exercise, such as walking, jogging, stairclimbing, or cycling, sustained for at least 30 minutes, will burn body fat no matter when you do it. However, if you want to get the maximum benefits possible from every minute you invest in your workouts, then you should consider getting up early and doing cardio before you eat your first meal - even if you're not a "morning person." Early morning cardio on an empty stomach has three major advantages over exercising later in the day:

Early morning before you eat, your levels of muscle and liver glycogen (stored carbohydrate) are low. If you eat dinner at 7 p.m and you eat breakfast at 7 a.m., that's 12 hours without food. During this 12-hour overnight fast, your levels of glycogen (carbs) slowly decline to provide glucose for various bodily functions that go on even while you sleep. As a result, you wake up in the morning with depleted glycogen  (carb levels) and lower blood sugar - the optimum environment for burning fat instead of carbohydrate. How much more fat you'll burn is uncertain, but some studies have suggested that up to 300% more fat is burned when cardio is done in a fasted, glycogen-depleted state.

Morning Cardio Benefit #1

So how exactly does this work? It's quite simple, really. Carbohydrate (glycogen) is your body's primary and preferred energy source. When your primary fuel source is in short supply, this forces your body to tap into its secondary or reserve energy source; body fat. If you do cardio immediately after eating a meal, you'll still burn fat, but you'll burn less of it because you'll be burning off the carbohydrates you ate first. You always burn a combination of fat and carbohydrate for fuel, but depending on when you exercise, you can burn a greater proportion of fat relative to carbohydrate. If doing cardio first thing in the morning is not an option for you, then the second best time to do it would be immediately after weight training. Lifting weights is anaerobic (carbohydrate-burning) by nature, and therefore depletes muscle glycogen. That's why a post lifting cardio session has a similar effect as morning cardio on an empty stomach.

Morning Cardio Benefit #2

The second benefit you'll get from early morning cardio sessions is what I call the "afterburn" effect. When you do a cardio session in the morning, you not only burn fat during the session, but you also continue to burn fat at an accelerated rate after the workout. Why? Because an intense session of cardiovascular exercise can keep your metabolism elevated for hours after the session is over. If you do cardio at night, you will still burn fat during the session, so you definitely benefit from it. However, nighttime cardio fails to take advantage of the "afterburn" effect because your metabolism drops like a ton of bricks as soon as you go to sleep. While you sleep, your metabolic rate is slower than any other time of the day.

Morning Cardio Benefit #3

Burning more fat isn't the only reason you should do morning cardio. The third benefit of morning cardio is the "rush" and feeling of accomplishment that stays with you all day long after an invigorating workout. Exercise can become a pleasant and enjoyable experience, but the more difficult or challenging it is for you, the more important it is to get it out of the way early. When you put off any task you consider unpleasant, it hangs over you all day long, leaving you with a feeling of guilt, stress and incompleteness (not to mention that you are more likely to "blow off" an evening workout if you are tired from a long day at work or if your pals try to persuade you to join them at the pub for happy hour.)

Things We Want To Avoid

Good Morning Perfect Phit,

I wanted to provide you all with some information on a few things that we are trying to avoid, Obesity, High Blood Pressure and Diabetes.

These three ailments are prevalent in over 75% of Americans because of one of the following
1. Genetics
2. Poor dieting
3. Lack of exercise

Genetics is not anything that you can do anything about, but the last two...you have control of.  I preach over and over about how critical your eating is to the way that you look, but its even more important to your overall health.  If you are obese..which does not mean, "disgustingly fat"...you are at a higher risk for all three of these ailments. Obese if having a body mass index of 30 or above. some of us are obese and don't even know it.  some of us are obese and still think we are cute. and some of us are obese and are in denial.  These ailments are SERIOUS, life threatening situations.


Please read these three snippets and get a general understanding of these ailments so that you can familiarize yourself with them. This is what we are trying to avoid.

you all have a nutritional guideline to follow and a meal selection plan to follow. most people don't have access to these tools until AFTER the doctor prescribes them, along with medicine for treatment of one of the 3 ailments above. let's do everything in our power to avoid the doctor.

make your eating a lifestyle or make taking medicine a lifestyle!!

if you know anyone who suffers from poor dieting or lack of exercise, please share this with them as well. they may want to get ahead of the game too.


Obesity 
is defined as having an excessive amount of body fat. Obesity is more than just a cosmetic concern, though. It increases your risk of diseases and health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Doctors often use a formula based on your height and weight — called the body mass index (BMI) — to determine if you are obese. Adults with a BMI of 30 or higher are considered obese. Extreme obesity, also called severe obesity or morbid obesity, occurs when you have a BMI of 40 or more. With morbid obesity, you are especially likely to have serious health problems.

High Blood Pressure
Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against blood vessel walls. The heart pumps blood into the arteries (blood vessels), which carry the blood throughout the body. High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is dangerous because it makes the heart work harder to pump blood to the body and it contributes to hardening of the arteries or atherosclerosis and the development of heart failure.
The exact causes of high blood pressure�are not known. Several factors and conditions may play a role in its development, including:

• Smoking
• Being overweight or obese
• Lack of physical activity
• Too much salt in the diet
• Too much alcohol consumption (more than 1 to 2 drinks per day)
• Stress
• Older age
• Genetics
• Family history of high blood pressure
• Chronic kidney disease
• Adrenal and thyroid disorders

Diabetes
Eating sweets or the wrong kind of food does not cause diabetes. However, it may cause obesity and this is associated with people developing Type 2 diabetes.
The following risk factors increase the chances of someone developing Type 2 diabetes:

• Increasing age;
• obesity; and
• physical inactivity.

The Challenge

Good Afternoon Perfect Phit,


As you are all aware, I issued a challenge to everyone to lose 5 lbs during the month of December. I chose December because traditionally its the most challenging month to stay focused on good eating habits.

It is with great pleasure that I congratulate 2 team members who accepted and met the challenge.

Congratulations to Tunesia. She lost 8 lbs during the month of December!!
Congratulations to Bobbi. She lost 6 lbs during the month of December!!

Kudos to Carolyn and Alanna for alllllllmost getting there:)

Bobbi and Tunesia are examples of what eating properly will do. Great Job to you both.

Remember, don't get cute and think that you've made it. we still have more to do. Stay focused.



I had a conversation with a client today who struggles with eating every three hours. I suggested that she treat her eating like she treats her job. Then it hit me....that is exactly how we should treat our eating schedules.
YOUR BODY IS YOUR BOSS!! whatever it is that you do, order processing, sales calls, teaching, administration, inbound calls...whatever it is...there's a certain protocol that you must follow in order to be successful at  your job. if you do not follow protocol, your boss will be unhappy, resulting in "consequences and reprecussions".  if your boss told you to place an order every three hours, would you do it? would you keep saying, "i forgot" or " i didn't plan my orders today". if he said, place an order with no sugar and no fat, would you place an order with a small amount of both and say,"well, its not a lot of sugar or fat,so i figured it would be ok".


No, if your boss asked you to do something every 3 hours with specific instructions, you'd do it! so treat your BODY AS YOUR BOSS! your body is requesting that you eat every 3 hours, with specific instructions,that you've been given over and over and over and over again. not doing so will result in consequences and repricussions.  your body is requesting that you do cardio every morning before you eat in order to get your metabolism going. in other words...."before you place any new orders, make sure that yesterday's orders went through correctly".

clearly, we all can follow orders or we wouldn't still be employed. (well, i know some of you very well and i'm not surprised at your hard headed nature..but anyway) so, TREAT YOUR BODY AS YOUR BOSS AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS.