Archive for Craig Ballantyne

The Best Energy Bar
by Craig Ballantyne (06/16/2009)

Surprise! The best energy bar isn’t one you can eat. (And, no, it’s not one where you can order a beer either.) The best energy bar is the barbell.

Burn Carbs Not Fat!
by Craig Ballantyne (06/12/2009)

Simple Diet Secrets for More Energy and Fat Loss
by Craig Ballantyne (05/25/2009)

One of the main reasons men and women fail with their diets is a lack of education about what - and how much - to eat. And it doesn’t take much to get yourself up to speed.

6 Ways to Stop Cheating on Your Diet Forever!
by Craig Ballantyne (05/07/2009)

Here at ETR, we don’t advocate following traditional “diets.” But we do recommend that, to stay lean and healthy, you avoid certain foods - and stick to fresh fruits and veggies, lean protein, and low-glycemic carbs.

Say Goodbye to Weekend Weight Gain
by Craig Ballantyne (04/28/2009)

Sleeping in… Barbecues… Dinners out with friends. Weekends can be rough! At least, as far as your body is concerned. But it’s easy to prevent weekend weight gain. Just make sure you work out regularly. (Doing it early in the day is best, and you’ll get a more powerful workout if you combine short-burst exercises with multi-muscle techniques.) And watch what you eat. http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/04/25/dont-work-too-hard.html#brief2

How to Lose Fat Over the Weekend
by Craig Ballantyne (04/25/2009)

Another weekend, another two or three pounds of fat? No way! Doesn’t have to work like that. Here are two "real life" fitness techniques that can help you just say "NO" to gaining weight.

Didn’t Ya Know Obesity Is Bad?
by Craig Ballantyne (04/24/2009)

It’s hard to believe that so many folks are still overweight. Though the media has covered the risks of obesity (diabetes, heart disease, and even death) in great detail, the sad truth is that people just don’t seem to be aware of the danger. And British researcher Dr. Judy Ann Swift from the University of Nottingham is concerned.

10 Best Practices for Safe Workouts
by Craig Ballantyne (04/11/2009)

When Carrie showed up for her first weight-loss workout with me, she was injured. Only three weeks earlier, she had made up her mind to lose weight. So she started running for 45 minutes per day. But doing so much, so soon was a bad idea for her body, given that she was 20 pounds overweight and hadn’t gone running in years.

A Great Diet for Your Heart
by Craig Ballantyne (04/06/2009)

One of the easiest and most effective things you can do to improve your health is to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Researchers from Iran’s Obesity Research Center examined fruit and vegetable intake in 840 men and women from Tehran - and the results were dramatic. The subjects who ate a lot of different fruits and vegetables were significantly and inversely associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Don’t Let the Recession Make You Overweight
by Craig Ballantyne (03/28/2009)

Japanese scientists studied 122 workers between the ages of 21 and 60. They found that work stress (in the form of tension, anxiety, and depression) was associated with an increase in what they called “eating to satiety” (meaning eating until they were completely full). Unfortunately, eating to satiety was also associated with weight gain.

Edible Cancer Sticks
by Craig Ballantyne (03/26/2009)

Polish researchers studied the effect of potato chip consumption on otherwise healthy volunteers. Potato chips and French fries are close cousins. Both contain relatively high concentrations of acrylamide, a potentially carcinogenic compound found in starchy foods that have been cooked at a high temperature.

A No-Equipment-Necessary Strength Builder
by Craig Ballantyne (03/21/2009)

A “burpee” is a tough, advanced bodyweight exercise - strength and endurance packed into one - that you can do without any equipment. There are all sorts of variations, but my favorite is to add a push-up in the middle and a jump at the end. Here’s how to do it:

Another Reason to Exercise in the Morning
by Craig Ballantyne (03/17/2009)

Back when I trained clients full-time, I always wondered what possessed them to get up at 5:00 a.m. and work out. Couldn’t they at least wait till 7:00 or 8:00?

You Must Lift When Losing!
by Craig Ballantyne (03/13/2009)

It is essential for women to maintain muscle mass with age, and only resistance training can do that.

How to Build Your Entourage and Create More Loyal Customers Than Ever Before
by Craig Ballantyne (03/05/2009)

An entourage is a group of devoted fans - in this context, an elite group of VIP customers who love your products (and buy them frequently), customers who appreciate your message, admire you, trust you, and want to be associated with you. Entourage Marketing is all about attracting these people to your online business and creating strong relationships with them.

Baby-Stepping to Fat Loss
by Craig Ballantyne (03/04/2009)

It’s no surprise that a lot of the contestants on TV’s “The Biggest Loser” regain the weight once they’re off the show. To maintain their new weight, they’d have to sustain the show’s extreme lifestyle. Nearly impossible.

Off-Day Exercise
by Craig Ballantyne (03/03/2009)

The best way to sculpt your body is to focus on your diet and do a short resistance training and interval training workout three times a week. That doesn’t mean you do nothing the other four days. You need to stay active with what I call “off-day exercise.”

Facebook for Fat Loss?
by Craig Ballantyne (02/27/2009)

You know what you need to do in order to lose fat: Eat less and exercise more. But that’s easier said than done, especially when you’re surrounded by friends who want to drag you to another movie or high-calorie restaurant meal when you should be working out.

2 Unlikely Sources of Fat-Loss Advice
by Craig Ballantyne (02/16/2009)

Recently, I came across two quotes that are unlikely sources of fat-loss advice. The first is from legendary real estate speculator Frank McKinney: “Figure yourself out. Spend time in introspection.” The other is the title of a coaching program from Dan Sullivan: “Discover your strengths.”

A Taste of Advice Marathon Runners Hate
by Craig Ballantyne (02/13/2009)

Most aspiring marathon runners are smart enough not to buy a beat-up used car for $300 and try to drive it across America non-stop. But they have no problem taking their overweight, used up, beat-up, weak bodies and trying to run 26.2 miles in under 4 hours.

7 Signs That You Are Doing Too Much Cardio
by Craig Ballantyne (01/23/2009)

The other day, while I was completing my Turbulence Training workout, I noticed that the folks sweating it out on the cardio machines were going through some interesting rituals. After watching them for a while, it was clear to me why they were doing it: They were doing too darn much cardio!

A Secret to Success
by Craig Ballantyne (01/22/2009)

Yesterday morning, after an early morning walk with Bally, my 3-year-old chocolate lab, I sat down in my office and read a motivational quote. (Something I do every day.) This one struck me as true for both business and weight-loss success. It says, “Intense desire is the foundation of all achievement.”

The Secret to Fat Loss
by Craig Ballantyne (01/15/2009)

You want the secret to fat loss? Okay, but you’re not going to like it. It has nothing to do with green tea, acai berry juice, or the Master Cleanse. Instead, the secret to fat loss is a state of mind. And once you’re in that state of mind, you can’t fail.

Can You Eat Pizza on a Fat-Loss Program?
by Craig Ballantyne (01/13/2009)

One of the questions I frequently get is, “Can I eat pizza (or burgers, or fries, etc.) on a fat-loss program?”

Have Fun, Lose Fat
by Craig Ballantyne (01/12/2009)

On Sunday morning, I was reviewing my daily motivational quotes when I stumbled across this one: “Enjoy life. Treat it as an adventure. Care passionately about the outcome, but keep it in perspective. Things are seldom as bleak as they seem when they are going wrong - or as good as they seem when they are going well. Lighten up. You’ll live longer.”

A Harsh Truth About Nutrition
by Craig Ballantyne (01/10/2009)

For one reason (kids) or another (spouse), they have junk food in the house, tempting them every day. And, in fact, snacking on that junk food - often between the end of work and dinnertime - is what prevents many people from losing weight. It can even cause them to gain more weight.

Fat Loss Is All in Your Head
by Craig Ballantyne (01/05/2009)

If you want to lose fat and build muscle, you need to plan ahead. I’m not talking about packing your lunches the night before, but planning out the next 12 weeks, meal by meal, grocery trip by grocery trip, workout by workout.

Say Goodbye to Exercise-Induced Muscle Soreness
by Craig Ballantyne (01/03/2009)

The next time you do a workout, do only one set per exercise (rather than the three sets most workouts call for) - and don’t worry, you’ll still get most of the fat-burning, muscle-building, strength-boosting benefits of a regular full workout. The week after that, add another set and do two sets per exercise. Finally, in the third week, you’ll be ready to do a full three sets of each exercise.

How to Win the Fat-Loss War
by Craig Ballantyne (12/26/2008)

Every day, sneaky saboteurs are trying to defeat you in the fat-loss war. Everyone - from family to friends to co-workers to restaurant owners to TV advertisers - is conspiring against you to make you eat more and exercise less.

How to Beat Peer Pressure
by Craig Ballantyne (12/25/2008)

Be LOUD and PROUD of the healthy choices you are making. Because, I promise you, there are dozens of folks you know who are secretly wishing someone would stand up and be a healthy role model for them. Someone who would show them the way to eating better and exercising for health and fat loss.