Fitness Destinations

This post is a sponsored review of the GymTicket website, specifically in search of local Yoga studios. 

One of the hardest things for today's busy society to do when it comes to health and fitness is to find a local workout area that includes the specific type of workout that they enjoy doing. Too often people use the fact that they can't find a "good gym" as an excuse to not workout at all!

When it comes to Yoga classes, people are even more critical because they don't just want to do Yoga, they want to do it in an environment where they are comfortable, and where they will get the most out of the classes.

Enter a service like GymTicket, and suddenly finding gyms with Yoga classes becomes as simple as entering your zip code into the form and clicking "search". 

Many of the gyms that come up in a search also offer some sort of free incentive for you to go in and check the place out. Whether that be a free day-long pass, a free week to check out the facility, or even some free training or consultations, it's all good stuff.

Also, don't let the list of major cities that is on the homepage scare you off if your city isn't listed there. I live in Orlando, FL, and although I was surprised to not see Orlando on the list of "major cities," I still found several local yoga studios in my area by using the simple zip code search.

Overall, I liked the GymTicket interface because although it did not have a bunch of "bells and whistles," I wasn't really looking for bells and whistles. I wanted to find local workout facilities, and in that regard, GymTicket was simple, effective, and free!

GymTicket Description: The most complete directory of over 20,000 gyms and health clubs across the country. Find out about gyms near you and get free guest passes at participating gyms, health clubs and fitness centers.

This article written by health, fitness, and success guru, Ryan Lee, creator of Nutrition Generator, Fitness Generator, and the WorkoutPass Network. 

It’s Not Your Fault You are Fat! 

That’s what the British Government will have you believe.

It’s not a lack of exercise or what we eat, but society that is the cause of our obesity. Here’s the story (thanks to Zach Even-esh for the link)

MSNBC Story

Call me old-fashioned but I think they are wrong. Is a changing society making it much harder to stay fit? Yes — not question about it. But it still comes down to personal responsibility for your health.

You are responsible for what you choose to eat. You are responsible for your lack of exercise.

I am really getting worried about this lack of responsibility and how quick people are to point fingers and blame others for problems.

Taking responsibility is a key component of integrity. And without integrity, you cannot live a life of greatness or even mediocrity.

It’s Really Simple

I get a lot of heat from other fitness professionals about exercise and nutrition. They try to overly complicate health and fitness. They think my view of getting healthy is too simplistic – but it really does come down to what you are eating and your nutritional habits. That’s it.

Do you want to change the health of society? It’s really simple;

Spend 10 minutes a day of high intensity exercising with your kids (if you have any). Otherwise you can workout at home, at a gym, etc. Heck, follow my 4 minute workouts.

Do strength training (bodyweight, weights, kettlebells, medicine balls, etc.)

Stop eating foods with sugar, high fructose corn syrup or any crappy processed carbs.

Eat about 1/2 of the food you receive in a restaurant. Portion size (especially in the US) is out of control.

Drink only water as your beverage of choice (not juice, ice tea or even diet soda = but plain old water)

Stop over-complicating things, stop blaming others and start taking responsibility.

If you are ready to start taking responsibility for your level of health and fitness, check out Ryan Lee's WorkoutPass Network and his Nutrition Generator software. 

This article written by Tom Venuto, Burn The Fat Inner Circle founder & CEO

Entire books have been written about emotional eating and it can quickly become a deep subject if you let it. I believe however that most people over think it and that the fundamental issue here is to simply realize that people often eat in order to obtain a feeling or in response to a feeling.

In some contexts, this is appropriate, as in a holiday social gathering. In other contexts, it may be inappropriate, as in a binge at home alone in response to a stressful day or event.

In other words, you may be eating for the wrong reasons or dealing with emotions inappropriately by using food… The real "kicker" is that you may not even be aware that you are doing it!

If particular eating behaviors are not serving you in a constructive way and you want to remove this negative emotional connection to food, here are 4 quick tips to stop the negative pattern and change it to something positive:

1. First you must become aware of it when this negative old pattern is occuring, because such behaviors often happen automatically on the non conscious level. Beliefs about food are also often held on the non-conscious level. Once you have this conscious awareness, then you need to…
2. Interrupt or break the pattern immediately when you realize it's happening — you could simply say "stop" to yourself and ask yourself "am I eating because I'm hungry and need to fuel my muscles and boost my energy level or am I eating for another reason?"

Then start asking yourself some questions that will generate the positive response you want. They can be simple and straightforward, or they can be blunt and outrageous. Ask yourself, "is it worth it?" or "is eating this going to move me closer to or further away from my goal?"

Personally, I find that playing with the concept that "you are literally what you eat" interrupts the pattern quite well for me. When I ask myself, "If this food is going to become part of my physical cells, do I really want this to become a part of my bicep… or my brain… or my eyeball???", then the answer is almost always a resounding "NO!"

1. If you're eating for an emotional reason, find alternative and more constructive ways (which serve you) to obtain / satisfy that feeling you are after.
2. Establish the right reasons for eating and develop strong neural connections and associations between food and those reasons through repetition/reinforcement.

The 4 beliefs about food that will serve you the best in creating positive associations to healthy foods are:

1. Food is for building muscle and other body tissues (good food is "construction material"… ie you are what you eat)
2. Food is for energy (good food is fuel)
3. Food is for burning fat (good food in small frequent meals stokes your metabolic furnace like logs thrown on a fire)
4. Food is for creating optimal health (good food contains every nutrient you need for optimal health)

I eat specific (healthy) foods and avoid specific (unhealthy) foods automatically, because I am so strongly connected to the reasons why I eat. The best part is that it's completely automatic behavior – its not difficult, nor does it require will power anymore as it did when I first started, because those beliefs and behaviors are now ingrained at a neural/cellular level.

I believe that anyone can break the negative cycle of emotional eating and reach this point of automatic positive eating behaviors, by identifying negative patterns, stopping them dead in their tracks when you become aware of them, by eating for the right reasons, by finding constructive alternatives for responding to emotions and by changing the way you talk to yourself repeatedly over time.

These may seem like simple ideas, but they are very powerful ideas, and they don't even require any physical effort on your part — all you have to do is change the way you think!

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto,
Burn The Fat Inner Circle founder & CEO

p.s. Most programs focus only on the physical aspects of fat loss and fitness, including what to eat and how to exercise. As a member of the Inner Circle you can become a part of our discussion group and enjoy information resources on every topic and every aspect of successful fat loss, including not only nutrition and training, but also the emotional, psychological and motivational aspects which so many people miss.

Find out what you've been missing and become a part of our growing community at:

www.BurnTheFatInnerCircle.com