Yesterday, I had the pleasure to introduce you to fitness and nutritionist expert Dr. John Berardi. With his simple philosophy he shares his strategies that has helped people improve their overall performance and health through his program, Precision Nutrition.

Today, Dr. Berardi share with us one of his methods that he has been using, from his early days, it’s been a critical factor when it comes to fat loss.

Let’s take a look at that is.

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Craig:  You talked about the how you use the struggling periods as a way to go back and look at things and how they have made an impacted on you.  Can you share with us the importance of writing down or recording things? Some people have never done any food journal or even writing their workouts down.

John: Yes, the truth is when I started training I actually kept records because back then I didn’t have a computer, or any of the technology that people have access to now.

So, for me, it was pretty much old school. I used a sharpened number two pencil, and a spiral bound flip notebook, it was good enough for me at the time. I kept records of each workout. I’d weigh myself regularly and enter my weight in my notebook, and I would write my nutrition plan down in the same kind of book so that everything was time correlated.  It was a really primitive way of tracking.

The interesting part but also really sad is when I moved to London, Ontario to do my PhD, I think I was maybe 25 at the time, and I had been keeping records, since I was 18.  I had about seven years of records, when my car was broken into and all my records disappeared. Someone stole all the things out of my car including all of my workout journals. So, I don’t know if there’s a bunch of young punk kids that ended up getting really brawny after stealing my stuff, but nevertheless, I still continued to keep journals after that.

When I keep records I don’t like to make them too complicated; I write it down and let it lie. No judgments associated with it. I am not second guessing myself. I am not asking “Am I doing the perfect stuff?” I find people can paralyze themselves by judging their journal. Whether you keep a personal journal of your thoughts or of your workouts its important just to write it down, then be REFLECT ON IT OVER TIME TO SEE WHAT WORKED AND WHAT HASN’T WORKED.

Usually at the time you write it all down you probably won’t have the clarity of insight to see what’s working but you’ll see it when you look back in retrospect. This is kind of bigger picture stuff, so I don’t know if it’s helping people immediately lose fat, but the idea is you JUST WRITE IT DOWN. It only takes a few seconds every day.

Another trick I have for writing a journal that’s even simpler than writing the stuff down in a notebook is to get a large desktop calendar.  I’m talking the huge calendars with the big blocks for the dates. What I often do for myself, and I recommend it to my clients is just basically keep a nutrition and exercise log on this calendar.

Therefore every day that you’ve successfully completed your workout that on your scheduled or some type of physical activity, whether it’s at the gym, or you went for a walk, you put a slash in one direction. Every day you felt you’ve successfully finished a nutritional good habit, I use habit rather than saying a “perfectly designed diet” you put a check in the opposite direction.

The idea is you basically get a big X mark on the days that you’ve been successful and on the days that you’re not successful there’s either only one slash or no slashes. It gives you a great way at the end of each month to look back and say, “How well did I really do this month?” I find a lot of people don’t have good memories, they remember the past through rose colored glasses.

So, they think, “I did a really great job this month. I don’t understand why I’m not losing fat.” But if they actually had calendar they would have seen that maybe they were only 50 percent compliant with what they should have been, so it’s a great way to keep track, it also a nice way to project goals into the future.

Rather than having complicated goals it’s great to just have a SIMPLE set of behavior goals. Just think how easy it is to ask yourself. “Can I get 90 percent of the days for October checked off, Yes? I did my workout? What about my nutrition habit?” You’d be surprised how often accomplishing SIMPLE goals leads to PHYSIQUE PROGRESS. It seems very simple and I know sometimes people want to dig for deeper physiological changes, but this type of stuff works very, very well and it’s easy to record. People are often underestimating how powerful it is.

That’s all for today. Join us in part 3 when the doctor will give and idea of how many calories we really need.

Just finished up a powerful interview with one of the most well-known fitness experts in the world, Tony Horton. Tony, as you may know, is the creator of the programs Power 90, P90X, 10-minute trainer, and One-on-One with Tony Horton.

He’s a heck of a guy, and we covered everything including…

- Tony’s story about how he created P90X (you’ll also find out why Tony originally moved to LA)

- How Tony got Power 90 on TV (and you’ll discover who the original Power 90 program was designed for…this is very cool info for all you rock and roll fans)

- What his favorite workouts are in the program (and which type of exercise he dreads…I’ll give you a hint, it’s the kind I don’t like either!)

- The truth about what folks can do in 10 minutes to get great results (and why his 10-minute trainer program is so important)

- What type of intervals he likes best

- Why Tony thinks cardio is important

- What he REALLY thinks about yoga (he makes some pretty bold statements)

- His simple and powerful nutrition tips for fat loss and energy (and what he thinks about counting calories)

- His unstoppable inspiration and motivation secrets

- Amazing inspirational stories of P90X users who cut their body weight in half and lost over 100 pounds

And a lot more. It was just a great, great call.

Click here to listen to Tony Horton’s fat loss coaching call

And make sure you join Tony’s Facebook Fanpage where he is dedicated to bringing a healthy lifestyle to the world through fun, entertainment, and fitness.

Unlike most personal trainers, Tony doesn’t have his windpants pulled up to his navel, and he actually makes fitness fun and easy to understand. Download this call to your Ipod, it will make for a powerful workout motivator.

NOTE for Personal Trainers:

Without realizing it, Tony also happened to drop 3 killer business tips for all personal trainers who want to create their own workout programs, books, and DVD’s, including:

1) How he leveraged a program he designed for a major celeb (you’ll find out who) into a mega-info product

2) How Tony took one of Time magazine’s “Top 10 Future Trends” and used it in P90X to set it apart from everyone else

3) The “testimonial secret” that Tony and I agree on, 100%!

Find out all of that and a lot more in our interview here.

And feel free to share this interview with everyone you know who is interested in improving their health and fitness.

Pay it forward just like Tony,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

For all those folks who want a 5 day per week workout program, I have good news for you. This week we’re going to look at the TT Reconstruction Program.

Plus, I have some big announcements for a big month.

Click here for this week’s podcast

1) Transformation #5 wraps up on August 18th…and a new contest will start August 31st.

2) We’ll soon have TT Kettlebell Workouts!

3) TT is going to Europe – Paris, Amsterdam, and Brussles, here we come!

So all that crazy stuff…and more to come this month.

But let’s get into our top transformation tip of the week.

Monday – August 3rd

Transformation Tip: Dream Big!

Kekich Credo #40: No dream is too big. It takes almost the same amount of time and energy to manage tiny projects or businesses as it does to manage massive ones…and the massive ones carry with them – proportional rewards.

Craig’s thoughts:
Your long term goals must include massive dreams. After all, the same steps will be taken to lose 50 pounds as will be for 5 pounds.

Dream big!

Now let’s train…

TT Reconstruction Workout A

1A) Pullup / DB Row (Max-2)
1B) SHELC (Max-1)
2A) Push-up (Max-2)
2B) DB Split Squat (8)
3A) Inverted Row/DB Rear-Delt Raise (Max-2/12)
3B) Mountain Climber (15)

Tuesday
30 minutes of reconstructing – Reconstruction “Off-Day” Workout 1

1) Calf Rolling with tennis ball (10) ===>
2) Foam Rolling (10)
3) OH Squat (10)
4) Chest Stretch (30sec)
5) Stick-up (10)
6) Hip Extension Hold (30sec)
7) Stability Ball Leg Curl (15)
8] Plank (60sec)
9) Side Plank (30sec)
10) WYLIT (10 each)

1) Stability Ball Rollout (12)
2) Stability Ball X-Body MC or Reg. X-Body MC (10/side)
3) Stability Ball Plank (30sec)

Wednesday

TT Reconstruction Workout B

1A) Deadlift / DB Squat  (12)
1B) DB 1-Arm Chest Press  (10)
1C) Stability Ball 1-Leg Curl (8)
2A) DB Chest-Supported Row (12)
2B) Military Press/DB 1-Arm Standing Shoulder Press (8)
2C) DB Reverse Lunge (10)

Thursday
30 minutes of Reconstruction Off-Day Workout 2

1) Squats  (15)
2) Rolling (10)
3) WYLIT (10 each) T’s =====>
4) Stability Ball Hip Extension (15)
5) Side Plank (45sec/side)
6)Plank (60sec)
7) 1-leg Hip Extension (10)
8] Calf Stretch (30sec)
9) Stability Ball Mtn Climber (10)
10) Stability Ball Jackknife (12)

Friday

TT Reconstruction Workout C

1) Prisoner Squat (10/20)
2) Close-Grip Pushups (10/20)
3) Stability Ball Leg Curl (10/20)
4) Stability Ball 1-Leg Jackknife (10/20)
5) Diagonal Lunge (10/20)
6) Underhand Inverted Row (10/20)
7) Grasshopper Pushup (10/20)
8] Side Plank Leg Raise (10/20)
9) Spiderman Climb (10/20)
10) Run In Place (10/20)

Social Support Saturday!
30 minutes of fun activity, and then find a way to start recording your meals online – using Facebook, Twitter, or TT Members.

Sunday – Plan, Shop & Prepare
30 minutes of fun activity and then plan, shop, & prepare.

You might want to consider adding the ingredients for a “Vegan Burger, Fries, and Shake“. <== Click for more info.

Next week!
Another TT Bootcamp Workout using only bodyweight exercises
More blender drink recipes and summer eating

Enjoy this new program and try that challenge,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

Today I’ve got a post-workout shake mistake, my total body workout, and a quote on responsibility that I hope will motivate and inspire you to get back on track.

More about that post workout drink mishap in Craig’s kitchen in just a sec, but first, here’s something I posted on my Facebook page today:

“You must set goals, and upon reaching them, reward your performance. But at the same time you have to be tough on yourself. It is not easy to succeed.”

Hopefully that gets you back on track after the weekend…and whatever you do, don’t let a couple of burgers kick you off track till January 1st!

So if you haven’t already, get out your paper and write down three short term and three long term goals. I’m big on goal setting and have a huge document with goals for the year and for the month in all categories of my life.

The goals are benchmarks and guide posts for all my actions. They simplify my life because I simply use those goals to guide me. Cuts out a lot of tough decisions.

All I need to do is think, “Is this going to get me to my goals?” If yes, then do it. If not, then don’t (of course, all things have to be safe, legal, and moral as well!)

So that’s a “kick in your mindset” today, I hope you use that as inspiration to move forward.

Now after a couple of kettlebell-bodyweight workouts on my balcony this weekend, it was back to the gym today for a total body workout and then my post-workout shake at home…

I’m digging this workout because it is fast (doesn’t require the lengthy warm-up that I used to require when doing heavy bench presses). And it also tricks my mind a bit…because I leave the gym without being exhausted, but a good fatigue sets in when I get home.

The upper body gets quite a bit of work and then the other two workouts this week have more lower body movements.

It’s very “Reformed Meathead-like”.

1A) Overhead squats – 135x3x5
1B) Pullups – 3×11

2A) DB Chest Press – 85x3x8
2B) BB Row – 185x3x10

3A) Chinups
3B) Dips
3C) Pistols
3D) Hanging Leg Raise

Then I walked home and tried out my new blender for the vegan meal plan post workout drink…I added a banana, some Hemp Bliss, cacao nibs, and 1 tablespoon peanut butter.

Mixed it up and I accidently opened up the spout and poured out all over the counter.

Brutal.

I did manage to save 3/4 of it.

But this particular post workout shake tasted brutal too.

Oh well, back to the shake drawing board. Or maybe I’ll just never use the blender again.

Maybe I just need some help.

Got any good shake recipes?

Got any good shake ingredients I need to add to my grocery list?

Let me know below,

Craig Ballantyne

PS – The workout was based off of my friend Jay Ferruggia’s progams.

He’s one of the few guys I’ll listen to in the fitness industry.

Click here for more muscle gaining tips from Jay.