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I learn a lot about eating by watching my wife, Abby, feed our children. And much of her amazing talents, tips, and tools are the same tools that can help you learn to eat better.
You might not like what I’m going to say because I’m probably going to challenge your stance on food, but I say tough love is important for real growth. And I’ll also put it out there. I’m really intolerant with picky eaters.
As a young child, there’s a funny story about me gorging on calamari at a party and then declaring, “this tatstes like cat food.” Boy did that get a lot of laughs. Have you ever eaten dirt? Me neither, but I’m guessing you could guess what it tastes like. My point is, I’ve never been a picky eater. What’s the most fun part of travel? Eating what other cultures have to offer. Tasing all the interesting flavors of the world. I remember shocking my Korean friend’s parents when I first sat down with them for dinner and ate every strange thing they threw at me. It’s food. Eat it. Enjoy it. Flavors are amazing and you miss out on life if you reject flavors before you give them a chance.
I like to make the case that we inherently know how to eat right, and all the pickiness of modern children and adults is just a product of all the bad choices available for us. It cracks me up (read: saddens me) when I hear people say, “oh my children won’t eat veggies”…or “my child only eats chicken tenders.”
In 1900, what did children eat? They ate what was available. Pickiness is a function of people being allowed too many bad options, it’s an epidemic.
To hear adults groan over how gross certain vegatables or grains must taste, and then go out and eat a toxic load of fast food is beyond me. I just don’t get it. If you want to be skeptical over the food you ingest, I’d worry a lot more about fake dyes, antibiotics and hormones, and genetically modified foods than the taste of quinoa or a turnip.
If you realize you are a picky eater there are some tools that can help broaden your palette. We were eating dinner a few weeks back and my daughter looked at some green, maybe squash, and said YUCK! Abby swiftly and calmly said, “No, you don’t know what it tastes like yet so you can’t say yuck.”
Here’s the stroke of brilliance she said next…and the crazy thing. It worked. Take three bites. On the first bite, you’ve already decided you don’t like it so it’s going to taste bad. The second bite you’ve just gotten a chance to taste it. Now after three bites you might have the actual ability to see if your taste buds actually could enjoy the food.
And it’s that simple. If you’re a picky eater, use this simple tool with yourself every time you say YUCK to a food before trying it. Even if you hated it as a kid and you’re sure you don’t like it now.
Want to be a part of an amazing program that breaks down all the issues around food, health, and being in control of yourself. Go to
http://www.39minuteworkout-90.com now and register for our Body Balance Challenge. We’ll cover this and a hundred other aspects that will help you get to the most balanced person you can be.
Dedicated to your health,
David Beares, MAc, LAc
Owner, 39 Minute Workout
Certified RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge)
ps. Sign up by September 15 for the Body Balance Challenge. We’re only taking 25 members, and 16 slots have already been taken. Go NOW to http://www.39minuteworkout-90.com to sign up. Registration is $5.
Weight loss challenges have become “the thing” in fitness over the last decade. No doubt, influence from shows like the Biggest Loser are responsible for their popularity. The lure of massive physical transformation, a trainer doing everything for you, except for all the reps, and a dose of healthy competition and public accountability has made them wildely popular and successful.
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As humans, we are susceptible to many obligatory reactions. Put yourself up against someone else with a big prize looming, and you’ll see some real grit and effort. Take the same people and put them in a gym and say, “alright, go have at it,” and all you’ll get is some languid exercise on the treadmill…or an awkward attempt at the confusing circuit of machines.
That’s why, as a trainer, I’m a huge fan of challenges. We’ve started to use them in our classes this last year, and let me tell you, the results have been amazing. We have clients who’ve struggled with weight for 10 years up to an entire lifetime. And with the right dose of nutrition, butt-kicking workouts, and competition, they’ve transformed their physiques.
When I was younger, I always thought about being a trainer but I was turned off by the image of your standard trainer. You had to look like a Ken or Barbie doll, and you were mainly helping people with vanity work. It just lacked something for me.
After years of being an acupuncturist, I now look at training through a different lense. I came to the world of kettlbell training with the perspective of making people feel better, live longer, have less pain, and yes, look better in the mirror.
Challenges have become a great vehicle for making powerful and lasting change in our client’s lives. To see someone come in the door 50lbs overweight, in pain, and desperate to change- then giving them the tools to transform their health- there’s nothing more rewarding as a trainer.
When you’re looking for a good weight loss challenge, make sure it comes with the three components that make the Biggest Loser so effective: Powerful and safe but intense exercise (sorry, but if it isn’t challenging, it isn’t effective), nutrition support, and some form of group support. There’s a lot to overcome when you’re trying to drop serious weight, so make sure all these components are present.
That’s why I’ve created the Body Balance Challenge. And I’ve made sure that all three powerful components (intense exercise, nutrition education, and group support) are all present. So that you can see the same amazing results that they see every year on the Biggest Loser.
To see some of our most amazing success stories, a video of our classes, and more about our 12 week Body Balance Challenge, go to
www.39minuteworkout-90.com
So if you need to drop 20+lbs, be one of only 25 lucky people to be accepted in this program. Even better, find a friend or two to join you and help hold each other accountable. You could literally lose 2lbs a week of bodyfat in this program. Start today, and that could be up to 38lbs by Christmas. And that’s a fairly conservative number if you’ve got a lot to lose.
For info on our next challenge, starting September 17th, visit
www.39minuteworkout-90.com Membership closes once we hit 25! We’ve filled 14 slots in one week.
Maybe we shoot for a perfect “10” when we’re dating, or jumping off a diving board in the Olympics. But there’s one particular time I’d suggest you shoot for a perfect “8”. When you’re working out!
But wait, if working hard is good than working full blast must be great, right? That’s what a lot of exercise systems would have you think. It’s become a recent fad to have these insane workouts that kick your butt and leave you a heap. Look, I can take any tool, machine, or bodyweight drill and make you dog tired.
Here’s the problem. We’re a stressed out society. We already do full blast enough. Sleep too little, work too much, and caffeinate to keep going. This causes a huge challenge with your hormone system. It leads to the crisis many folks are facing with adrenal exhaustion. I’d encourage you to read up on it. It will probably shock you when you read the symptoms (sound familiar?).
So is the goal of an exercise routine to stress the living heck out of you or make you stronger, leaner, and healthier? I’d say the later.
This is why I always say in class, let’s work out at an 8! And my clients are probably reading this and laughing- “you mean I’m not dog tired at the end?” The other important piece to this is how long you sustain it, and how many days/week you do it. In other words, it’s good to work out very hard for reasonable chunks of time (re: intervals), and to workout hard two to four days a week. It’s when you do these workouts for 1.5 hours and 6 days a week that you are running a bigger risk of taxing your body.
For others, the issue isn’t working out too hard. It’s not working out hard enough. I always talk about my time at the YMCA watching the same overweight people working out at the same boring pace looking the same every week/month/year. They were working at a 3. And that’s got its own issues.
If you are more this second type, use the services of a smart trainer to teach you how to safely get to an “8”. And this is your 8, not mine. It’s got to be the intensity that’s right for you. I find most people who work out too easily are scared they’ll get hurt. I always point to the show the Biggest Loser, because it demonstrates something very important.
These are the worlds largest, most unathletic and unhealthy people. And they get their butts kicked. Personally I think they push it far too hard and border on what I was warning about before, but they’re trying to drop well over 100lbs in several months which is a questionable pace for health. The point being, they are very sick people and they are able to push much harder than you would guess. And yes they have some challenges along the way, but they are capable, even at 350lbs, to work out at an 8 without their head falling off.
So go out there and find your Perfect “8”!
Breaking Through Plateaus: What to do when you’re uninspired, unmotivated, or hitting a performance plateau
If you’ve ever worked towards a goal, chances are you’ve hit a plateau before. Whether you’re trying to drop weight, hit an athletic achievement, or just stick with a routine, everyone hits these speed bumps.
I’ve written a few suggestions to help you get through them and come out the other side, making progress quickly again:
- Change your eating routine- get new recipes, try new foods. Sometimes it’s just boredom with your options.
- Eat more fruit and vegetables- the first thing to go in any diet is often the right amount of fruit and veg, and this the most important food group to better health.
- Watch your sodium intake- too much packaged foods or eating out a lot often means more salt than you need. And this is a sure-fire way to slow weight loss.
- Too much raw or cold food- I can explain this more in time, but it has to do with acupuncture theory.
- Eating too much or too little for your activity level. Most of you are burning more calories in kettlebell class than you’ve ever done before. You’ve got to eat accordingly, often increasing the amount.
- Are you pushing hard enough, or just going through the motions? Remember, pushing at an 8 is the best way to succeed
- Rest- Especially for athletes, if you don’t take days off, and at times a week off, you will just stop progressing.
- Are you being honest with yourself? Or are you letting your diet slip. Go back to the food log and write it all down. Accountability is the key to breaking open success.
I don’t know about you, but the damp heat use to kill me. My whole childhood it was fine. I much preferred the summer heat. I remember being out on the back deck on summer vacation in Myrtle Beach. The porch was so hot moisture collected on the windows. There’s a picture of me holding a frog out on that back porch.
As I’ve aged, the thought of being out there with my shirt off just hanging out with the frog is a lot less interesting. So what’s the difference? Did the heat change? Is it just age? I don’t think so. I want to teach you an interesting concept from my acupunctureknowledge that might help you if you too struggle in the damp heat.
Food’s that are damp- particularly dairy, sugar, wheat, and icy drinks and alcohol all weaken the digestive organs and lead to internal “dampness.” When our internal environment is already too damp, it can feel aweful when the outside environment is the same.
The cool thing- The same eating patterns that will help shed pounds off your frame will go a long way to helping you deal with damp heat. If you don’t want to give up everything in the above list, I’d recommend you at least reduce the two biggest ones in my mind- sugar and alcohol (and wheat is a close third).
I know, I just stole half of what you consume at a summer party. But it all comes down to priority and how much you care about achieving a goal. If you love the heat, no biggie. If you’re like I was for years, it gets old feeling miserable and stifled three months a year, so it’s worth trying a few dietary changes. Best luck with the heat!
Sometimes it can be hard to get up at 5:25 am and make the 35 mile treck to Columbia. To work long hours on a business and have very little time with my family a few days a week…but it’s stories like this that make it all worth it.
But this isn’t a story about me. It’s the real story of one of our members. Lena Bradley joined us about 6 weeks ago as a part of the 90 Day Body Challenge. Inspired by the Biggest Loser, the purpose of the program was to create a hightened focus with training, nutrition, and group support.
Like most who start the program, Lena walked a line for a while. She came to class consistently, she did her best to follow what we taught about nutrition, but I was never sure if she was totally in. She skipped a few of the early meetings, and was often quiet and somewhat distant.
But then a few weeks in it seemed that she was “getting it.” Not only was she listening in the nutrition talks, but she was implimenting changes we suggested. She made major changes in the way she ate. The woman who at one point didn’t eat a thing until 3pm was now eating healthy food. She was shopping differently, following a strict plan, and even cut back on her beer intake which was a huge social outlet for her.
Ok. That’s great, but people can still make changes like this and then lose steam, especially if they’re doing it for the wrong reasons. And I was worried that even though she was acting differently, she still wasn’t showing numbers on the scale that represented the kind of work she was putting in.
If you were in the meeting this last Tuesday, hopefully you were moved like I was when Lena spoke. It was like a lightbulb went off. She was speaking with clarity about what she was changing and why. She spoke of being done with being overweight…..and the thing was….YOU BELIEVED HER!
It’s easy to talk it. Just watch Biggest Loser. They are always talking a big game, but so much of it sounds contrived. Forced. Like they’re saying they’ve changed because a camera was there and that’s what you’re supposed to say.
No, this isn’t what was going on in Lena. For her it clicked. I was so moved that night that Abby and I couldn’t stop talking about her conviction during our car ride home to Annapolis. I woke up the next morning and wrote Lena to say how proud I was of her. With her permission, here’s what she said.
“Thanks for being proud if me but i owe alot of my success so far to u and jess.
This is seriously the first program where i am finally thinking i can change everything about the way i look at food and exercise. I always had some alterior motive to lose weight and i wanted it fast. Like i needed to be thin for everyone else. Now i just want to change who i am. I always made excuses as to why, and now I have control and I am doing this for ME. So i really appreciate what u have done for me!”
How awesome Lena. I hope you are all moved by her story….and there will be more amazing news on her in the coming months I’m sure. So far she’s dropped 12 lbs, and she’s pretty sure we’ll find nice changes in her measurements next week based on how her clothes are fitting.
Moved by Lena’s story? YOU too can be the next amazing transformation- and we hope you will.
The trick to feeling satiated by your snacks is simple. But you have to know what foods match these simple rules. Do you know the trick to the perfect snack?
Couple a high fiber food with a protein!
Great. But what’s a high fiber food? You can find a nice chart on the following website. If you sign up for their newsletter, they’ll give it to you as a free gift. It came from a very useful resource on the web,
www.commonsensehealth.com, which I would reccomend to you all.
As we’re discussing in our 90 Day Challenge, the enemy of weight loss is high-glycemic foods. Coupling a high fiber food and protein will help you in two ways: It helps you stay satiated longer (read: have less cravings), and it helps your blood sugar stay stable. And keeping your blood sugar from spiking is the best tool for dropping pounds of bodyfat.
So now use the resource, go shop for some high fiber foods, and then couple them with a good protein. Next week we’ll look at a high protein chart…
Meet Russian Kettlebells instructor, David Beares. Have you ever wondered how athletes train? How do these men and women stay so fit? What is their secret?
Russian Kettlebells instructor, David Beares, has some answers and a way for you to strengthen your own body, become part of a lifestyle community of like-minded people who enjoy a short, thirty-nine minute exercise program, select proper nutrition and train like athletes.
If you haven’t tried Kettlebells yet, now might be the time to begin the strength-training you’ve wanted to do. As a high school student growing up in Baltimore County, David was an athlete; focusing on baseball, track, and his favorite sport, wrestling. He was used to long hours of working out in the gym.
After school, this gym regimen continued. One day, he noticed someone near him using something called Kettlebells. From the moment he first saw this form of exercise, he knew instinctively this is what he had to do. “I could see that something special was going on with the way the man was moving his body. It was different from anything I had ever seen. I just knew whatever he was doing could create a more resilient and better moving body than anything I had tried in the past,” said David.
This form of exercise became his hobby until several years later when he opened his mail, and there was a flyer that mentioned that for the first time Russian Kettlebells certification classes were coming to the east coast. He couldn’t believe the coincidence and signed up immediately. “I’m doing it!” he said. “I’m getting certified to teach.” He now teaches, treats and trains clients.
With a Master’s degree in acupuncture, David is able to combine his knowledge of Chinese and holistic medicine with Kettlebell training. He has turned that combination into a program to help give clients a system of healthy aging, physical improvement and self-confidence. With acupuncture, he had seen clients come to his office with a wide variety of symptoms, including headaches, depression and aches and pains. He has been able to also introduce Kettlebells to many of these same people.
“ With Kettlebells, yes there is a lure of external change, looking better and sexier, but now what many clients find is that they shed pounds, and look and feel better by establishing and following a very simple thirty-nine minute routine. They are able to establish a lifestyle change that they can sustain for a long time. My clients tell me that they sleep better, their mood improves along with their sex life and connection to their partner, since they look and feel better about taking care of themselves.”
Brought over from Russia and popularized in the late 90’s, the Russian Army had used this form of training, which had been considered a secret strengthening method. Not that David felt there was anything wrong with machines; he just felt there was a better way to maintain a strong body. With the Kettleballs training, he noticed the shift in his own body. Since high school athletic days, he had gotten soft and weaker. With Kettlebells training, he says his physique changed to the way it had been in his late teens.
He started teaching his classes almost two years ago, starting small and now building up to group classes at different locations in Columbia, Maryland.
Diana Ryan, 39, Columbia, MD- I come from a family that struggles with obesity and major health problems associated with it. In the last two months, I’ve dropped 24lbs and 8.5 inches off my frame. Just last week my mom saw me walking across the yard and didn’t know it was me at first.
Jessice Rice, 25, Pasadena, MD- You walk out of class feeling stronger mentally, physically and emotionally. David is able to push you harder than you could ever push yourself. Within the first week, you’ll see and feel a difference and realize this is so much more different than ANYTHING you’ve ever done. To date I have lost 22 pounds in 8 weeks. My legs, arm and butt are all transforming. I can see that two piece in my future… something I never thought possible.
Sandy Lyons, 62, Teacher, Columbia, MD- When I started working out with David last summer, I was significantly overweight, couldn’t get up and down off the floor because of my knee, and had been on yo-yo diets all my life. Since that point (roughly 9 months) I’ve lost about 27lbs. I have never seen changes like this in my body ever before. Since the winter, I’ve been able to do the entire workout, including getting up and down off the floor. I can even do 30 second plank holds. Amazing!
David feels that you don’t have to spend a lifetime working out. Each class workout is thirty-nine minutes long and each class follows a format of warm-up, strength training and cardio. It’s what happens with the Kettlebells, a cast iron weight with a handle, which makes it entertaining. With strengthening as a focus, just like professional athletes do, concentration is on three main areas, the shoulder girdle, the core and hips .
“Athletes rely on those three areas the most. Most clients do not want to be professional athletes, but when you say , ‘Would you like to move well, pick up things, have a strong back and age well with good posture, they say yes.’ I believe if you train like an athlete you can accomplish all that. In cardio, we are doing high intensity, interval training using Kettlebells, body weights, exercises and various other tools with a purpose to burn fat, calories and strengthen the heart and improve conditioning.
“I love teaching,” David says. “One of the best results for me is when a client realizes that he or she has burned a chunk of weight off, and this could be a life-long result. Some clients come from families where obesity is an issue and they are afraid of going down that road. They come to my class having tried many diets and exercise programs in the past. I get to watch their joy in dropping twenty plus pounds, developing more self-confidence and in getting to see themselves strong. It’s amazing. And there is also such pleasure in watching someone in their fifties, sixties or seventies who has barely ever worked out. They could have been heading into years where excess weight and inactivity could be the difference in vitality and aging poorly. I get to watch them become strong. Watching someone who never thought he/she could pick up a weight of any size and then two months later move in a way he or she never believed possible fills me with such pride- for them.”
“I inherently know they have just improved their longevity and how much this will help them move in the years ahead. It’s amazing to see the high level of conditioning that Kettlebells can offer, from beginners to advanced students. My hope is that all my clients will establish a routine they stick with for life, a change in lifestyle of exercise, proper nutrition and wellness. From eighteen to seventy years of age, I want each one to feel part of a supportive community of people working toward the same goal. Kettlebells can help do this!”
We meet This Saturday, the 9th, at 845 at Coreworks in Columbia. Don’t miss out on this awesome opportunity.
To hear more, email me at
dbeares@yahoo.com and I’ll send you the write up on the program. See the amazing transformation that Diana, Alyson, and Sandy have all had with the 39 Minute Workout.
I’m excited to announce the first annual 90 Day Beach Body Challenge!
I am a huge fan of the Biggest Loser. Not because of Jillian’s bad attempt at psychology. And god knows it’s not because of how well they use the kettlebell (ouch! don’t do what they do).
But what it lacks in quality because of it’s need to be flashy TV, it gains back in droves in their message and success. What they’ve proved is that even the most obese and sick Americans can make MAJOR shifts in a matter of months. They’ve proved that all the excuses (thyroid problems, I’m too heavy, I have bad genes) don’t hold a candle to a good butt kicking exercise regimen and eating real food.
So let’s do it! Let’s have our own 90 Day Challenge. What a better way to get all of YOU motivated. What a better way to get YOU firm, slender, and sexy by this summer.
Major transformaion is possible. In fact, we’ve put together such a fail-safe system that if you commit yourself 100%, you too will see incredible changes. (read details in the attached letter)
Do you have at least 10 lbs of body fat that you need to burn off?
Have you wasted countless hours in the gym with minimal results?
Have you made the yo-yo diet look like a yearly sport?
Then you are exactly who we are looking for. In fact, if you fit these specs and you don’t join this challenge, I’ve got to question what you are thinking. Never before has a solution to your fitness needs been dropped in your lap, wrapped in a nice package, and ready for the taking.
So what are you waiting for? Take just 5 minutes to read the attached email that explains the program. You’ll see three AMAZING body transformation stories of clients who’ve already seen huge changes.
Then RESPOND to this email. Simply say YES, sign me up for the 90 Day Beach Body Challenge. We are limiting this once a year opportunity to just the first 25. The Deadlinefor signing up is April 9th.
Even Better: Go to your office, church, mom’s club, or PTA group and get your friends involved. There’s no better way to stick to a routine than to have your friends and family involved.
Dedicated to your health,
David Beares, MAc, LAc
Owner, 39 Minute Workout
Certified RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge)
Licensed Acupuncturist
www.39minuteworkout.com
dbeares@yahoo.com
410-935-0967
Ps. Be one of only 25 members accepted for the annual 90 Day Beach Body Challenge. Email or call me by April 9th to sign up.
Pps. Form your own group and get a $20 credit for every person you bring on to your team.
I’m reading the book Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. It’s a fascinating book that is a worth while read. I remember hearing the title a while back and finding it a turnoff. But it’s actually a great read.
His main point is a bit tough to explain, so I won’t waste your time trying. But coming from the health field, it made me think in a different way. So I thought I’d share my thoughts.
Doing my weekly Thursday drive, carting my son from Annapolis to Columbia, I was thinking about the book. Then it hit me. People who are smart with their money and build wealth do something nobody else does well. They invest and save as much or more than they spend. People who are financially risky wait until they retire or they’re in money trouble to create a plan.
Voila! That’s what people do with their own health too.
Those who have Health Wealth are proactive. They take care of themselves and “bank” good health so they are more prepared in the future. People are are Health Bankrupt wait until something is wrong to take care of themselves.
What a thought. We each have the ability to build a strong Health Portfolio now…or we can wait until something is drastically wrong.
That made me think of the characteristics and behaviors of the those who have Health Wealth:
1) They see the inherent value in spending money on thier health. They know what will best preserve and promote their health, and they invest resources here.
2) They exercise. Maybe becasue they like it. Maybe just because they know it’s good for them. But they don’t question it. They know that inherently, movement is a base need of being a healthy human.
3) They spend money on quality food. Food that’s actually food. One of my favorite magnets I’ve ever seen is.
Try Organic food. Or as your granmother called it- Food!
Whether they buy all organic or not isn’t the point. The point is. Those who are Healthy Wealthy know the value of a good piece of fish over a cheap pre-packaged “meal” filled with stuff your granmother was never exposed to.
4) They supplement what they can’t get in their diet because of modern farming problems or current levels of toxicity. They do their research and take supplements that support where their diet and environment let them down. Products like Juice Plus+ do just this. To find more about Juice Plus+ and the supplements our whole family takes, go to
www.abbypetersonjuiceplus.com, or schedule a health assessment with me.
5) They balance their life needs and keep them in proportion. Whether it’s family, work, hobby/vocation, spiritual practice- they put effort and attention in each area. They seek to grow every day. They know true health and happiness is in balancing the things that are most valuable.
So how does your Health Portfolio look?
Would you like to have more Health Wealth? Would you like to “bank” your good health now? To find the best practices today while you still have your health? If you feel moved by these words, take some time to write down your goals for your health. Make them things that you’re passionate about. Then make it happen. Feel free to share them with me or let me know how I can help.
39 Minute Workout 