Certified Fitness Testing Specialist

Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist

Certified Nutrition Education and Weight Management Specialist

Darren McDuffie
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist
Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist
Certified Nutrition Education and Weight Management Specialist
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

In the article “Why Exercise Won‘t Make You Thin”, the author’s main point for why he is not losing any weight is exercise stimulates hunger. He states after exercise he gets hungry. The next question out of my mouth would be, ” What are you eating when you’re hungry?” I would be willing to bet it wouldn’t be considered “clean eating!” I did a blog post a few weeks ago titled ” You can’t out train a bad diet”. Go read this post if you haven’t and you’ll get an understanding of what I am talking about now. Diet and exercise must go hand in hand if you are to accomplish your weigh loss goals. You cannot eat hot dogs, pizza, and wash it down with soda pop and expect to lose weight. If you do this after working out, I promise you you’ll either gain weight or at best maintain the weight you already have. The equation is really quite simple: to lose weight you have to burn more calories than you consume. Those calories need to come from fruits, vegetables, and good carbs!

I’ll end on this and I said it last post; beware of what you see and hear…always look for facts. For instance, in the article the author tells the story of some friends jogging who complain about losing weight. Guess what they are eating after they finish their run? Muffins! I cannot believe this. Exercise and diet are synergistic catalysts for weight loss, one without the other just won’t work. See you on the lean side…Dee

Click here to read Time Magazine article

Darren McDuffie

Certified Fitness Testing Specialist

Ceritifed Exercise Foundations Specialist

Certified Nutrition Education and Weight Management Specialist

Lou Ferrigno who played the Incredible Hulk, was enlisted as a personal trainer for Michael to get him ready for his upcoming tour. Lou claimed Michael couldn’t even lift the lightest of weights and his body was too frail. This was before exercise, what could have been done during exercise that may have contributed to his death? It has been my experience that exercise doesn’t cause death, preexisting conditions do. Most people don’t know or don’t even care to do a physical exam before they exercise. Physical exams are good for detecting hypertension and heart conditions amongst other things. Hypertension and heart condtions can definitely be detrimental when combined with exercise. This is a no brainer! Apparently, MJ had a battery of tests that cleared him to engage in exercise. I wonder what the tests were and furthermore did his physicians know the effects of exercise on the body? You’ll be suprise to know most physicians don’t know what happens to the body when it encounters excercise. From a personal training standpoint, did Lou Ferrigno perform his own tests to make sure Michael was fit for exercise? A good personal trainer’s job is to be a “suspectician” by performing additional tests such as blood pressure and observing the client and noting any changes in heart rate, etc.

I seriously doubt Michael Jackson’s death had anything to do with excersise. I won’t speculate what it may have been… its not my job. I can tell you one thing.. believe half of what you see and none of what you hear. See you on the lean side…Dee

50 cent aka Curtis Jackson gets shot as he is going back to his car. The shooter ends up shooting him several times and the final shot ends up going into 50’s jaw. 50 recovers from the gun shot wounds only to have his jaw wired shut. In addition to having  his jaw wired shut, he now has to depend on prescription meds to stop the pain from his gunshot wounds. The scene begins when his girlfriend asks him, “ Is this it… this place, this life”. She then calls him weak and tells him he’s given up. A few minutes pass and then you see the change in 50 cent. He goes to the kitchen and begins to crush the prescriptions and then throws them down the sink! The movie then starts to show him exercising to get back into shape. In the beginning, he can hardly run then he progresses to running and even doing pull ups. This movie inspires me everytime I watch it. It leaves me with two messages when I watch it:

1.    Setbacks happen – How you react to those setbacks will determine if you succeed in fitness or life in general. I have seen many people start diet and exercise programs only to become “weak” and accept that who they are now is all they will ever be. If you have a setback, gather yourself and get up and keep going. Setbacks are temporary… quitting is eternal.

2.    Exercise is progression – Don’t expect to go out on your first day and run two miles. It ain’t gonna happen! Many people get frustrated when they can’t do all the exercises they see in the latest fitness magazine or on a dvd and they give up. You have to stick with it and progress within each session. Remember… the people you see in magazines or on dvds have been doing those exercises for years and chances are they couldn’t do them the first time they tried. Set a goal for yourself to lift more weight or hold a pose longer than you did during the last session, never ever get discouraged. I am willing to bet within a few sessions you will get to the point where you can do the routine.

Until next time, “ Get Fit or Die Tryin”! See you on the lean side…Dee

Darren McDuffie
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist
Certified Exercise Foundations Specialist
Certified Nutrition Education and Weight Management Specialist

Click Here for a Suprise!!!!

For most people, going to the gym is the easy part. The struggle often comes when it’s time to eat. Some are confused as to what to eat and some think they can eat anything, because they are working out. I truly have sympathy for those who are confused as to what to eat, but I don’t have any for those who think they can eat whatever they want especially if they want to lose weight. Have you ever heard the term self- sabotage? This is what the person who eats whatever they want after training hard is doing. I am willing to say 90% of transforming the body  is what you put into it and only 10% is training be it resistance or otherwise! Yes… what you eat makes a big difference.

If you truly want to transform your body, diet plays a big role. I cannot stress this enough to you. For example, abs are all the rage right now. Everyone wants a six pack to show off. You can do a 1000 sets of crunches and all the core work you can imagine, but if you don’t change your diet to lose bodyfat your abs will remained buried and you’ll never see them. Be smart when you train, but be even smarter when you eat because  “You can’t out train a bad diet”!

As a side note, I came across the” You can’t out train a bad diet,” quote while reading Craig Ballantyne’s Turbulence Training blog. Yes… I read other blogs!   Craig has a whole program he calls Turbulence Training. Please click on the Turbulence Training icon to see Craig’s Program. I have personally tried his program anf found it to be quit challenging and effective. There is very little equipment needed and you can do these workouts at home. I have personally used everything on my blog and it all works and this is why it is there. I will not endorse something I have not tried myself. Please feel free to leave comments and/or questions for me. See you on the lean side…. Dee

You can\’t out train a bad diet… See it here

Darren McDuffie
Certified Fitness Testing Specialist
Ceritifed Exercise Foundations Specialist
Certified Nutrition Education and Weight Management Specialist

My friend, Kevin Williams coined a phrase he calls the “secret sauce” from the movie “Kung Fu Panda”. In the movie, Po the panda works in a restaurant where his father makes noodles. Po loves the noodles and wonders what makes the noodles taste so good. His father tells him, ” the secret sauce”. He begs his father to tell him what the secret sauce is because he really wants to know the ingredient that makes the noodles so tasty. His father won’t tell him and Po is left to wonder and imagine what the ingredient could be. Po never finds out what the “secret sauce” is until the end of the movie when he fights the villian and sees himself in the mirror and realizes that the “secret sauce” is him. He simply had to believe in himself.

I don’t watch alot of tv but when I do, I always see commercials for the latest, greatest fitness gadget promising to shrink inches or help lose pounds. I can imagine people dialing the number on the screen in hopes that the gadget or supplement would finally get them over the hump to transforming their body. In my quest to becoming fit, I must have tried every gadget or supplement and none of them worked. It wasn’t until I took a look at myself did I realize the key to fitness was me! I had to make changes and I had to believe that those changes would ultimately get me to my goal. Now… that is the real secret sauce! In addition to “Me,” I have provided you with the ingredients to ” the secret sauce”:

2 Cups Discipline– get to the gym… do your workout.. no excuses!

1 Cup of Change— if you’ve done what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you always got!

1/2 Cup of Control— Push back from the table and eat things that are good for you.

By the way, I love cartoons.. think I am going to watch Kung Fu Panda again tonight!!!! lol

I always welcome your comments! See you on the other side…Dee

Darren McDuffie

Certified Fitness Testing Specialist

Ceritifed Exercise Foundations Specialist

Certified Nutrition Education and Weight Management Specialist

What’s up? Return of the Jedi is one of my all time favorite movies. My favorite character is Yoda. I love the way he speaks and although it seems to be backwards, it always seem to make sense. In one particular scene, Luke Skywalker is trying to use the force and he tells Yoda he is going to try and Yoda says “Do or Do Not, There is no try”. Hmmm… makes perfect sense.

I have been involved with fitness for a very long time. I have always been an athlete but there was one moment in time when I decided to quit going to the gym and be lazy. My weight got noticeably higher and at 6’7 I thought that I could carry additional weight on my frame. I didn’t gain the weight all over, it mainly planted itself in my butt and gut. I got to the point where I was disgusted with myself and knew I had to do something about it. I eventually started to go to the gym two times a day as I was determined to get my weight back down. I would do my cardio in the morning and weight training during the evening. I also gave up the burger and fries and made a commitment to eating better. I had this one cardio goal that I set for myself. I really hate running (unless it’s on a basketball court), but I had a goal of  ”trying” to run on the treadmill for 45 minutes without stopping. I started the first day and couldn’t run a full two minutes without gagging for air and feeling like someone had ripped my thighs apart. I eventually gave up the treadmill thing until I saw this overweight guy on the treadmill one day. He was more overweight than I was and the dude was running! “How did you do it,” I asked? He told me that he made up his mind to “do ” it not “try” to do it! Wow!

I have seen alot of people try to do various things : quit smoking, lose weight, eat better etc. and usually they have all failed. Trying is always synonymous with failure. If you don’t believe me, then ask yourself about all the things you have tried to do and then ask yourself about all the things you have “done” and count your successes. I am willing to bet your successes will come from what you “did”. Remember… there is no try. You either do it or you don’t. Enjoy the Yoda clip I posted below! See you on the other side…Dee

Yoda Clip

Darren McDuffie

Certified Fitness Testing Specialist

Ceritifed Exercise Foundations Specialist

Certified Nutrition Education and Weight Management Specialist

  What’s up people? I already had a post in mind for today but that changed after hearing some disturbing news. I wanted to pass what I heard along to you. It is something that is very near and dear to my heart… pay attention to what you are putting into your body!

American Sports Nutrition, makers of the popular whey protein American Whey, failed several FDA inspections during a recent visit. Prepared to be shocked as you hear what the FDA found:

• Failure to disclose major food allergens on product label
• Milk ingredients were not disclosed on the product label
• Living and dead rodents, along with rodent urine, feces and gnaw holes were found in bags of ingredients
• Unsanitary manufacturing conditions
• Non compliance to GMP Standards ( low quality harmful ingredients)

This isn’t the first product to fail inspection by the FDA. Earlier this year, the FDA warned consumers against using Hydroxycut as it has been linked to serious liver damage. Be careful what you put into your body. Most companies care little about you… they only care about profit! See you on the other side….Dee

I have posted the links, you can see them here:

Stop Using Hydroxcut

American Sports Nutrition fails FDA inspection