Change is the sole constant... and cardio for fat loss.

Wow, it’s been a little too long between posts and I apologize!

I’ve had a crazy week of re-organization and reshuffling. I now primarily train out of Work. Train. Fight. on Bleecker and Broadway and Equinox. I am available to train in other locations in lower Manhattan and reasonably beyond, with an additional travel fee. Please contact me for details if you are interested.

I’ve had several posts brewing in the back of my mind at this time and rest assured, I’m working on them and I’ll be posting a lot more over the coming week.

What I’ve been thinking about a lot recently is cardiovascular activity for weight loss and how to strike a good balance between what is enough and what is too much. Most people who are trying to lose weight do way too much and hamper their efforts, and I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been one of those people in the past.

The first thing you have to remember is that weight loss is primarily a function of your DIET. There is no weight loss without a calorie deficit and the easiest way to create that deficit is through your diet.

You get on the treadmill and try to burn off a burger and fries and get back to me with your verdict 3 – 5 hours later.

A lot of women fall into the trap of thinking more is more, and for most of us, that isn’t the case. There may be the random person that you know who does 2 hours of cardio per day like a fiend and looks amazing, but 1) you have no idea what their diet is like, they are likely eating to sustain that level of activity 2) they probably have great genetics and can get away with poor programming and/or poor diet. Either way, you shouldn't blindly copy anyone in an attempt to emulate their look or their results. It will probably backfire on you.

Too much cardio and too few calories put your body in a state of stress which can mean starvation level daily calories, inflammation, overtraining, muscle catabolism or all of the above.

It certainly doesn’t produce the usually desired results of being lean, healthy and full of vitality. Instead you run yourself down, you look tired, possibly bloated, zapped of energy.

So how do we know what is too much? Well, that could be an article in and of itself.

I keep it simple for my clients and I will keep it simple for you – fat loss should primarily be a function of your diet, cardio is merely “extra”. My advice is to do at least 20 minutes 4 – 6 times a week for optimal results. And stick to your diet.

Stick to your diet!

Stick to your diet!

Stick to your diet!

On the upper end of what is an acceptable amount of cardio, I advise no more than 1 hour, 4 – 6 times per week. That is only if you’re super motivated and you love your cardio, well knock yourself out. Do an hour up to 6 days a week, but no more. And stick to your diet.

Can you lose weight without doing any cardio? Absolutely. But there are definite health benefits to regular cardiovascular activity, one of which is increased circulation, and increased circulation is beneficial for fat loss, so it is always my recommendation for you to do SOME cardio. But unless you’re training for an ironman or a marathon, there is certainly no need for hours and hours of running/ellipticalling or anything else per day.

A topic for another day is high intensity intervals, the most time efficient cardio that will give you the most bang for your buck.

For another day my pretties!

PS: summer is coming! I am so excited :)

If you're going to try, go all the way!

Roll the Dice

by Charles Bukowski

if you’re going to try, go all the way.
otherwise, don’t even start.

if you’re going to try, go all the
way. this could mean losing girlfriends,
wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind.

go all the way.
it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days.
it could mean freezing on a park bench.
it could mean jail,
it could mean derision,
mockery,
isolation.
isolation is the gift,
all the others are a test of your
endurance, of
how much you really want to
do it.
and you’ll do it
despite rejection and the
worst odds
and it will be better than
anything else
you can imagine.

if you’re going to try,
go all the way.
there is no other feeling like that.
you will be alone with the gods
and the nights will flame with fire.

do it, do it, do it.
do it.

all the way
all the way.
you will ride life straight to perfect laughter,
it’s the only good fight there is.

Sometimes it bears repeating :)

The Cheater's Delight... Chocolate & Peanut Butter Dream!

A friend of mine eats "chocolate protein pudding" by mixing chocolate protein powder with low-fat cottage cheese.

I've adapted her simple combination into something that actually tastes like I'm "cheating" - so I'm calling it "The Cheater's Delight"... It is a chocolate and peanut butter heaven.

Zvezdana's Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cheater's Delight

1/2 cup of 1% organic, rbst-free cottage cheese

1/2 scoop of Dymatize Elite Whey in Rich Chocolate

2 tbspns ground flaxseeds

1 - 2 tbspns of all natural peanut butter (ingredient list should read simply "peanuts", maybe a little salt! that's it. if yours has some other crap listed, switch brands... no frankenbutter, thank you!)

stevia to taste

1 tbspn water or milk to help mix in the whey protein and flaxseeds and make it a little moist.

berries optional!

Method: put everything in a bowl and mix!

Average nutritional breakdown with 1 tbspn of peanut butter, no berries is approximately 315 kcal.

Protein: 37g

Carbohydrates: 11g

Fiber: 6g

Fat: 14g (all healthy fats from flaxseeds and nuts).

New Years Resolutions - Never Too Late

It's almost midnight on February the 13th as I begin to write this blog. We are almost 35 days into 2011.

Did your resolutions this year include anything diet and fitness related?

Did you want to lose 10lbs? Deadlift more? Get to a yoga class at least once a week?

Seven weeks later, how consistent have you been?

If you've been kicking ass and taking names and doing what you resolved to do at the start of the year, give yourself a pat on the back. You are awesome.

If you haven't been doing what you promised yourself you would do, its OK. Yes really, its OK. It is OK because you can start today. Right now.

Yes. Now.

There is no excuse.

I want you to think about what you want, why do you want it? Why is this important to you? How is this going to change your life? Write it down.

Next, I want you to make a promise to me. I don't want you to say a single negative word about yourself, your habits or your body ever again. What we do each day is driven by what we sub-consciously believe about ourselves. What you believe about yourself is made up of what you say to others about yourself, what you say to yourself about yourself and what others say or have said about you that you have internalized (that means, believed or accepted as fact).

You're not going to say mean or negative things about yourself any more, and those echoes of mean things others have said to you, well, we're going to tell them to fuck off. If there is someone in your life that is still saying mean things to you about you, we're going to tell them to eat a shit sandwich and fuck right off, too. Yep. Do it. No mercy.

On the same piece of paper you wrote your goal on and why it was important to you, I want you to write 5 good things about yourself.

Next, I want you to formulate a plan of action so that every day and every week and every month you have a plan to make what you resolved and promised to yourself a priority.

How are you going to lose 10lbs? Are you going to keep a food log and cut back on the unhealthy fats and excessive sugars in your diet? Stop drinking soft drinks? Eat reasonable portion of ice cream just 2x a week instead of a pint every other day? Get 20 minutes of cardio in every day?

How are you going to increase your deadlift? Will you do them consistently? Research the best strength protocol and then follow it? Keep a workout log, so you can make small incremental increases on your previous weight each week... I'm talking like 2 - 5lbs each week. Over a year, just adding 2lbs to the bar consistently is a 104lbs increase in your lift, bro ;)

Yoga. Choose a class & instructor at your gym or studio that you particularly enjoy and then make time to be there. Buy a DVD or instructional book and follow the program. Do all of the above. Find time to do it twice a week for 30 minutes. You may have to wake up 30 minutes earlier each day, and so be it. What a fantastic way to start the day!

Make a plan. Keep your promise to yourself. We're in the middle of February and you can start today.

The paper I had you write your goals on, why they were important to you, etc... I want you to keep it by your bed side and spend a few minutes (1 minute, 5, 10... whatever you want) reading it and thinking about all those things each night and each morning.

I promise that if you put your best foot forward and honestly and earnestly put these steps into action, you'll start to make the permanent, positive changes that elude you every January.

The De-Load Week! (or how to avoid overtraining, injury and stalled progress)

I'm in the midst of training for a summer bikini show.

My workouts consist of high volume supersets, giant sets, plyos and always, always always, I have my strength work in there somewhere. My workouts at the very least are always designed to help me at least maintain my physical strength, if not increase it. Maintaining strength is non-negotiable for me.

But these types of workouts, while producing rapid results and a whittled down, lean, athletic physique, are very taxing on the body. Especially coupled with a high volume of cardio. You can't bang out these workouts week in, week out for months on end without hitting a wall.

And trust me, you don't want to hit the wall.

This is where the De-load week comes in.

A de-load week is an active rest. Ideally, your de-load week should have you doing lower volume, lighter weights and minimal cardio.

You should be using your time to stretch, foam roll and rest. You shouldn't feel like you're doing all that much during a de-load week, it is after all A DE-LOAD WEEK. It's not supposed to be strenuous. You're giving your body a chance to rest and recover and repair. That is the point. You don't get hardcore brownie points for hammering yourself into an overtrained, beat-up, miserable mess. That is not hardcore, that is just stupid.

A well programmed de-load week should have you feeling pumped up, refreshed and ready for your next cycle of high intensity training.

It's the SMART way to train.

You should put one into your plan approximately every 4 - 6 weeks.

Signs you may a de-load week:

- you feel beat up and constantly tired, drained.

- you're constantly aching, possibly nursing some strains that may lead to injury. Or you may already be injured.

- you may look slight bloated or inflamed. Inflammation is the body's response to stress and when your body is stressed, it produces cortisol.*

- your performance goes down - you're weaker, slower, not seeing any improvements.

I took 2 weeks off my high-volume, high intensity bikini workouts and just focused on low-volume basic strength work, stretching, hanging out in the steam room (yes! love the steam room) and a measly 20 - 30 minutes of elliptical per day. I feel great!

I'm ready to hit it hard again next week, I can't wait!

*Cortisol is a catabolic hormone (i.e: it breaks down hard-earned muscle) that causes you to retain fat and fluid around your midsection - you don't want your body producing unnecessary cortisol!

Greetings from snowy New York City...

Hi, I'm Zvezdana. Sound it out, it is phonetic - Z-vez-dah-na.

I'm an elite level personal trainer here in New York City - I train out of 24 Hour Fitness in Soho - and this is my blog. I'm hoping to share with you all my fitness journey; I will be competing later this year, and any knowledge related to fitness, nutrition or motivation that I think will help you in your journey.

Recently, my gym launched a new campaign with the theme "The Truth About Fitness"... what is the truth about fitness?

The truth about fitness is that there are no shortcuts -- just hard work, consistency and good nutrition.

That is the truth.

Anyone that tries to sell you on anything less is bullshitting you.

Work hard, eat well most of the time and do this for a long time, I promise you will look and feel more amazing than ever. It is that simple!