New Years Resolution Time Again - More self promises of getting back in shape!

Before I give my two cents on the entire New Years get back in shape Resolution. I did want to say I will be announcing at the end of this post a bit of special I am having with my Online Personal Training.

OK, so we all ate a bit too much over Christmas and New Years, and perhaps last years New Years Resolutions of getting back that body you had when you where in your 20’s didn’t work out so well…

Hey I got an idea, why not do exactly the same thing you did last year since it worked out so well for you last year and perhaps several years before ;)

The last thing you want to do is throw yourself blindly into a crowded gym with other disoriented New Years Resolutioners. While at the same time starting some fad diet that inevitably will be way to difficult and traumatic to say on. You are really setting yourself up for failure by taking this kind of approach.

Here are some tips to help you get back on track to a much healthier lifestyle that over time will get you the health and fitness you desire.

• First off, avoid the gym completely for at least the first 2-3 weeks of January. Most gyms are going to be supper over crowded, you do not want to be anywhere near a gym in early January.
• Start by tackling your eating first, don’t be too radical, cut back on sugar drinks and alcohols.
• Use less dressings, sauces, toppings, butter, and sugar on your food.
• Eat smaller portion meals and drink lots of water.
• Load up on veggies, salads, fruits and meats and limit the pastas and breads, go for carbs like rice and potatoes but not too much.
• If you have some workout gear at home, you can introduce some workouts but start slow and build on it. Once your body gets used to the activity you can workout more often and push yourself harder.
• Do the obvious stuff like get out for walks, ride a bike take the stairs not the elevator, be as active as you can.
• After about 3-4 weeks if you want to go to the gym, it should be starting to clear up since most of the Resolutioners will have lost their drive by now.

One of my resolutions for the beginning part of this year is to focus on making specific videos that will feature simple at home workouts that almost anyone can do with little or no fitness equipment. That way you can follow along in your own home, without having to go to any crazy busy gyms, and just maybe this year will be the year you will achieve your New Years resolution of getting back in shape!

OK so now for my Online Personal Training Special Offer… It’s pretty simple, I am offering my 3 month package, but at my 6 month package mostly price point. So instead of paying $119 month to month you will get the 6 month package price rate of $89 per month, so a savings of $40 per month when compared to paying the month by month price. Space is limited so contact me if you are interested.

If you want to know more about my Online Personal Training, make sure to watch my linked video with details on my custom program.

Family Vacation California - Pool Time

Some more fun at the pool and lazy river while spending our family vacation at the WorldMark Time Share in Indio near Palm Dessert California.

The main actors in this family video are my kids, Jordan (turning 10 this month) and Gabriel (7). They seemed to enjoy being in front of the camera, especially when I was recording in slow motion ;).

This was actually yesterdays footage, today we went to the Living Dessert where I also got some great video I will be sharing with you soon

Family Vacation to California - Part 1 Indio

It was that time again for a family vacation and why not go somewhere warm and kind of close by :) So we decided to go to California and checkout a couple of our WorldMark timeshare locations. The first stop is WorldMark Indio which is near Palm Dessert in California and so far it has been nice and warm, a bit cloudy the first day but nice and sunny so far since we have been here.

The plan for stage one of this family vacation is to rest and take it easy because stage two will be Disneyland for three days and I know that will not be so restful :)

How to Get More Vascular

One aspect of looking fit is having those impressive veins that stand out from your arms and other body parts... So how do you get them? In this YouTube video I talk about the main contributing factors that will help you to get more vascular looking, in many cases you already have the veins but they are just buried under perhaps a bit too much body fat.

Genetics do play a roll as body fat for some people can be stored in other places than the arms, so even if you are a bit overweight, you may still have vascularity in areas like your arms and legs. Skin thickness and vein thickness can also be a genetic attribute which will play a roll  in how noticeable your vascularity is.

If you have a lot of body hair, try simply trimming it! You will be amazed at how the muscle and veins will pop out just by a simple body trim.

I also believe that blood pressure plays a roll, people with low blood pressure will have less inflated veins while people with higher blood pressure will have more swollen veins, and similarly when you workout, your blood pressure increases causing your veins to be much more vascular in appearance.

Food  can effect your vascularity, when I was carb depleted for my recent fitness contest I really noticed my veins flatten out, as soon as I loaded back up on carbs, my vascularity returned. So eat up for bigger fuller veins, and if that doesn't work then try a few shots of something strong to get the blood to your extremities ;) 

So keep the body fat low,body hair trimmed up, carbs in your diet and your gym pump on for that Vascular look.

Garmin VivoSmart Activity Tracker Comparison Review

Here is my Review and comparison of the Garmin VivoSmart. If you're looking for a detailed review with all kinds of specifications and explanations about how every little thing works on the Garmin VivoSmart, then this is not going to be the review for you. Do not fret, there are all kind of Videos and Reviews on the Internets and even on Garmin's website that should satisfy your quest for knowledge!

Before you click away, you may want to watch my YouTube Video on the Garmin VivoSmart as it may go into some areas that many others have not made mention of in their more Geek-like reviews. I kind of have a real hands on knowledge you could say of these devices since I have used many of the most popular Fitness Tracking Bands in my day to day fitness life. Much of this review comparison focuses on other fitness bands like the Jawbone Up, Fitbit Flex and Force, Polar Loop, Garmin VivoFit and even some more watch like devices like the Mio Alpha and the Cookoo Smart Watch.

So what do I actually cover? I talk about how each device tracks total calories as they are all very different in this area. I go over the importance (at least for me) of being able to incorporate a heart rate monitor for the main reason that most of my workouts are not step or running based so most fitness bands do not give me a true caloric output for my weight training and CrossFit workouts. The addition of an HRM (Heart Rate Monitor) is vital to me for tracking my actual calories burned during my workouts. I of course go over most of the features of the Garmin VivoSmart and take you through its basic operation and show you the Garmin Connect iPhone App in use.

Like I said, this should give you a really good idea of what exactly the Garmin VivoSmart does a bit different than many other fitness bands, like incorporating Smartphone and Smartwatch features and how the VivoSmart compares to other similar products you may be interested in.