Dieting doesn't have to be complicated. It's not how many carbs is in your diet, it doesn't matter what your blood type is and it doesn't have to cost you an arm and leg. It boils down to one thing and one thing alone - calories. If you want to lose weight, you have to take in less calories than you burn period. If you are dieting and you aren't losing weight, then the solution is simple - you are taking in too many calories. Even if you are eating all fresh organic foods and extremely healthy and aren't losing weight, most likely your portions are too large which means, again, you are taking in too many calories. Calories is ALWAYS the answer, plain and simple. 

5 Simple Diet Tips:

1. Keep a daily diet log. Keep a track of calories like you keep track of your bank account.

2. Eat 5-6 meals/snacks a day to help speed up your metabolism.

3. Main meals should be no larger in size and in calories than an average Lean Cuisine.

4. Keep meals simple. The fewer ingredients and condiments, the fewer calories.

5. Be consistent. Until you reach your goal, you need to diet seven days a week.

Suck it up - Just be hungry, recent Blog by Steve Pfiester

Truth Chair.... Ready?  Lately I have been on hiatus from the TV world.  This, for me, means backing off a little on the cardio and losing a tad of momentum in my training.  Oh yah, then there is the darn diet.  Who cares, it may be a month before I am back on camera.  I mean, what could it hurt?   WRONG.... DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!!

Even though the thought of being on TV does give an added push to stay motivated in your diet and exercise, it isn’t the only reason to live to a higher standard of training.  I love to hear compliments from people who understand the struggle, and see me as someone beating the "URGE".  Ok... the "naked truth". 

Lately I have looked for any excuse to avoid being hungry.  I look for appetite satisfaction at every meal.  I have been seeking out every tasty morsel I can find through out my day,  And it only gets worse towards the end of the day.  Just last week someone came to me and said, "what can I do when I get hungry after dinner and before I go to bed.  I don't like to feel hungry... "   Well crap...Me neither!  But it isn't gonna kill me.  What ever happened to a little will power.  What ever happened to embracing a little hunger.  Why do we look for anyway out when it comes to even the smallest uncomfortable emotion. I hear myself saying "Suck it up and be hungry.  What. Do you have a case of ’Acute Inflammatory Whoositis’ "?  (just came up with that one)  

We need to quit looking for what to eat to avoid being hungry.  I just ate for goodness sake.  I know I am not going to starve, but here I am, standing in front of the fridge, door wide open, searching for the one thing that is "low in calories" that will "fill me up" so I wont have to "feel hungry".  I just freakin ate an hour ago.  I AM NOT HUNGRY!!!!  I AM A WHOOSE!!!!  I am wanting to eat for the sake of either boredom or taste, or I don't know... I’m just screwed in the noggin. 

My new Belief system:  They call it being hungry for a reason.  People at church fast for a reason.  It is a reminder that we are seeking something.  It is a reminder that we should stay hungry for something.  Not STARVE...  But STAY HUNGRY.  That emotion or "phsyco-intellectual" (just invented that word too) feeling of hunger is not coming from your body.  You have satisfied that nutritional need.  Now you seek to fulfill that desire, that craving, that emptiness... and you are looking to food.  DON'T!  Food does not love you back!  Food is that ex-lover that wants to abuse you and leave you feeling used, guilty and ashamed.  What is so wrong with associating a little hunger with "Accomplishing our goals".  That feeling of hunger should encourage us.  It should say, "we are on the right track",  and allow us to stay hungry for more of life, hungry for more passion, more love, more education, more friendships...

Please listen... that hunger is there to drive you.  It si there to remind you that you can do better...  Don't extinguish it with a dingdong!  Just "be still, and Be hungry"!!!! 

"BEING FIT FEELS BETTER THAT FOOD TASTE"...

 Exercise Tips

1. Get a good pair of tennis shoes. A good pair of shoes can reduce hip, knee and leg pain and make your feet very happy. Asics gels are my personal favorite.

2. Exercise in your fat-burning zone. Your heart rate should be between 65%-75% of your maximum heart rate which is 220 minus your age.

3. Buy a heart rate monitor. This is a great tool to make sure you are working out with enough intensity. your heart can't lie.

4. Fat burning workouts should be between 30-45 minutes. As you get stronger and faster, your walks should be longer in distance. They should ALWAYS be challenging. Weight loss plateaus are almost always because of a training or diet plateau.

5. Do cardio on an empty stomach. As long your health allows, doing your cardio on an empty stomach forces your body to burn fat stores instead of food stores. However, you MUST eat before lifting weights.

6. Wearing Spandex can increase comfort while walking. Large people may have problem with irritation where their legs rub. Spandex biking  shorts, etc., worn alone or under clothes can help with chafing.

7. Find a partner. Begin a walking/jogging group, talk a friend into working out with you at the gym or make a new friend in your favorite aerobics class. The added ccountability is great.

8. The more you exercise, the faster the results. You can do cardio everyday. You can even do it two times a day. The more you put into your exercise routine, the more you'll get out of it. It's all up to you! If you are not getting the results fast enough and you feel like you are definitely exercising enough, then you are taking in too many calories. That is when it is necessary to count calories and find the missing calories that are sabotaging your weight loss program.

Workout with Steve

Below, is Steve's personal weight training routine.

MONDAY

7 am Cardio on an empty stomach

4.5 miles Jog 1- 1.5
Run 1.5 – 3
Jog/Run 3-4.5
 

8:30 Chest
Flat Bench 4 sets 12-15 reps, heavier every set
Incline Bench same
Incline Dumbbell Press Same
Incline Dumbbell Fly Same

Hanging Abs and Oblique's
2 sets 25 reps fwd
2 sets Right Oblique's 25 reps
2 sets Left Oblique's 25 reps

Weighted Crunch on decline Ab bench

50 reps (30 with 25 lb plate 20 with no weight)

4pm Chest
Pec Dec Same
Cable cross over Same
Pull over Same

7:00 pm 35 mins elliptical




TUESDAY
7 am Cardio on an empty stomach… 4.5 miles Jog 1- 1.5
Run 1.5 – 3
Jog/Run 3-4.5
8:30 Back
Abs 200 crunch’s 4 sets of 50 (30 straight 20 to left) (then 30 straight 20 to the right) etc
Rope abs 3 sets 25 reps

Wide grip pull down 4 sets 15 reps (Light to heavy)
Close grip pull down 4 sets 15 Reps (Heavy to light)
Close grip seated Pulley Row 4 sets 15 reps (Light to heavy)
Wide grip seated pulley row 4 sets 15 reps (Heavy to light)

4 pm Back
Bent over row 4 sets 12 reps
T- bar row Same
Single arm dumbbell row same
 

WEDNESDAY
7 am Cardio on an empty stomach… 4.5 miles Jog 1- 1.5
Run 1.5 – 3
Jog/Run 3-4.5
Hanging Abs and Oblique
2 sets 25 reps fwd
2 sets Right Oblique 25 reps
2 sets Left Oblique 25 reps

Abs 200 crunch’s 4 sets of 50 (30 straight 20 to left) (then 30 straight 20 to the right) etc.
Rope abs 3 sets 25 reps

Legs
Quads
Leg extensions 4 sets 15-18 reps
Leg press 4 sets 15-18 reps
Lunges or Squats Lunges 35 lb dumbbells 50 walking lunges 4 sets
Squats 4 sets 15-18 reps

Hams
Prone HS Curls 4 sets 15-18 reps
Seated leg curl 4 sets 15 – 18 reps
Straight legged dead lift 4 sets 15 -18 reps (dumbbell or barbell)

7:00 pm 35 minutes on the elliptical

 

THURSDAY
7 am Cardio on an empty stomach… 4.5 miles Jog 1- 1.5
Run 1.5 – 3
Hanging Abs and Oblique
2 sets 25 reps fwd
2 sets Right Oblique 25 reps
2 sets Left Oblique 25 reps
Jog/Run 3-4.5

8 :30 Shoulders
Standing Military Press 4 sets 12-15 reps
Seated Arnold press Same
Up right row Same
Bent over Horizontal Abduction (Dumbbell) Same

4pm
Lateral Raises Same
Reverse Pec dec Same
Reverse Cable Cross over (rear Deltoid) Same

Abs 200 crunch’s 4 sets of 50 (30 straight 20 to left) (then 30 straight 20 to the right) etc.
Rope abs 3 sets 25 reps
 

FRIDAY
7 am Cardio on an empty stomach… 4.5 miles Jog 1- 1.5
Run 1.5 – 3
Jog/Run 3-4.5
Abs 200 crunch’s 4 sets of 50 (30 straight 20 to left) (then 30 straight 20 to the right) etc
Rope abs 3 sets 25 reps

Arms
Standing Straight bar Biceps Curl 4 sets 10-12 reps
Preacher Curl same
Concentration Curl same

Supine Tricep extensions 4 sets 15 reps
Dumbbell Kick Back 4 sets 15 reps
V-bar push downs same

4 pm
Seated Alternating Dumbbell Curl 4 sets 12 reps
Hammer Curls seated 4 sets 12 reps

Weighted chain and belt 4 sets 15 reps
French Curls Dumbbell over head 4 sets 15 reps

7pm 35 mins Elliptical

 

SATURDAY
Cardio 7 am Cardio on an empty stomach… 4.5 miles Jog 1- 1.5
Run 1.5 – 3
Jog/Run 3-4.5
Calves/Traps/Abs

Calves Leg press calves only 4 sets 25 reps
Seated Calve raise (soleus) 4 sets 25 reps

Traps
Dumbbell shrugs 4 sets 30 reps
Straight Bar Shrug same

Abs
Rope 4 sets 25 reps
Crunch’s 25 lb plate 3 30 reps all weighted

(Finish anything I missed earlier in the week)
(Work extra on anything that needs attention)
 

ABS: Of course non-weighted abs can be done daily. Weighted abdominal exercises however, like crunches with a medicine ball/dumbbell, crunches with the rope on the cable machine or abdominal machines require rest, like any other body part. Some of our favorites are crunches on the traditional slant board, hanging crunches and rope (ask a trainer to demonstrate crunches using the cable).
 

Non-weighted crunches flatten the abs and keep the tummy tight, but weighted abdominal exercises will help build the abdominal muscles in order to get the "six-pack" look with defined cube-like abs. No matter how hard you work your abs, you won't ever see them unless your diet is clean and you do the cardio necessary to shed body fat that maybe covering them.