Being a trainer I hear a lot about having a hard time staying motivated to come in and workout and stay fit. I often get asked what is my goal or motivation for why I train so hard and to be honest my answer changes every day almost. One day it will be zombie survival. Another day it will be to be like Batman and after that it might be just because I had nothing better to do. Now I can give all the suggestions in the world on why you should stay fit but sometimes it is just not enough to know that exercise will benefit your health and longevity or help you get to the size of pants you want to fit into. For me, a good amount of motivation did come from myself albeit most of it was to just look better. However it wasn’t until I joined the Air Force when I found what real motivation for me really was.
    I joined the Air Force to be part of an elite search and rescue team called Pararescue.  There was a 3 month selection course that everyone must go thru called Indoc. We would start off our day by waking up at 4am every morning. From there we would eat chow from 4am-5am. Get ready and in inspection order from 5am-6am. Run non-stop from 6am-7:30am. 7:30am-9:00am we would spend practicing team building with a log above our head or in full camo doing Grass and Guerilla drills (a workout consisting of buddy carries, tactical insertions, exfiltration, and enemy evasion). 9am-9:15am take a nap on the bus ride to the pool on the other side of base, if we had time. 9:15am-11:30am we would spend doing fin training (swimming with fins and basic dive gear on). 11:30am-1pm LUNCH!!!! 1pm-about 4pm, most of the time we stayed till 6pm, water confidence training. Water confidence training was by far the worst part of the day every single day we were there. It mainly consisted of different pool exercises that were meant to get your heart rate up and then force you to lower it really fast so you don’t pass out from lack of oxygen and someone is usually trying to drown you thru the whole thing. 4pm-6pm was debriefing and gear exchange. Our briefing room was in the center of our school house. The thermostat in the room was consistently set to 55 degrees and they had put in a special industrial air conditioner so it could be 55 degrees all the time. 6pm-7pm DINNER!!! 7pm-9pm Free time. 9pm Sleep, unless it was extended training day.

Every time we would run thru the school house to our briefing room you would pass a wall of Air Force Crosses. An Air Force Cross is the highest medal you can achieve in the Air Force and the second highest medal of honor you can receive in the nation. Most of the men who actually got them died in combat. Each Air Force Cross had a story of how it was earned. One story in particular stood out to me and to one of our Cadre members, Mr. Oldchild (not his real name). That was the story of William H. Pitsenbarger.

"Pits", as he was known to his friends, was nearing his 300th combat mission on that fateful day when some men of the U.S. Army's 1st Division were ambushed and pinned down in an area about 45 miles east of Saigon. Two HH-43 "Huskie" helicopters of the USAF's 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron were rushed to the scene to lift out the wounded. Pits was on one of them. Upon reaching the site of the ambush, Pits was lowered through the trees to the ground where he attended to the wounded before having them lifted to the helicopter by cable. After six wounded men had been flown to an aid station, the two USAF helicopters returned for their second loads. As one of them lowered its litter basket to Pitsenbarger, who had remained on the ground with the 20 infantrymen still alive, it was hit by a burst of enemy small-arms fire. When its engine began to lose power, the pilot realized he had to get the Huskie away from the area as soon as possible. Instead of climbing into the litter basket so he could leave with the helicopter, Pits elected to remain with the Army troops under enemy attack and he gave a "wave-off" to the helicopter which flew away to safety.

Pits continued to treat the wounded and, when the others began running low on ammunition, he gathered ammo clips from the dead and distributed them to those still alive. Then, he joined the others with a rifle to hold off the Viet Cong. In the morning, after a night of intense fire fights another Huskie returns to a now quiet battle site. A1C Harry O'Beirne is lowered by hoist to evacuate the few remaining survivors. He finds Pitts lying across a deceased soldier to whom he had been administering medical aid. In his hand was his weapon, aiming out into the now silent jungle. Airman Pitsenbarger is awarded the Air Force Cross posthumously. He became the first publicly announced enlisted recipient of the AF Cross in its history.

    Little did I know that Mr. Oldchild had actually served with William Pitsenbarger and was friends with him as well. Mr. Oldchild told us that if we had been thinking about finding motivation to keep ourselves going that we were wrong (Mr. Oldchild was awarded the Air Force Cross as well in Vietnam). It wasn’t about suffering thru hellish training to say, “Look at me I’m tough.” It was about going thru all this training to make sure that when the time came we could really save all those people on the battlefield or die trying to get every single last person to safety and that is was kept me going. Even out of the service I look at myself and ask, “If I really needed to, could I still save someone?” and every time I feel motivated to run farther, lift more, or move faster because when life hits me hard one day I want to be able to knock it out.

Pararescue Motto: “It is my duty as a Pararescueman to save life and aid the injured. I will be prepared at all times to perform my assigned duties quickly and efficiently, putting these duties before personal desires and comforts. These things I do, so that others may live.”

By Whitney Provost

You're ready to get in shape. You've committed to an exercise program and stocked your kitchen with healthy food. Now it's time to see results. Other than working out consistently and sticking to your nutrition plan, what else can you do to increase your chances of success?

While there's no magic fat-loss fairy who'll grant your wishes overnight, there are a few proven techniques you can use to boost your results and lose weight faster. Check 'em out.

Burn more fat during your workouts.

1. Crank up the intensity early. A study from the College of New Jersey found that people who work out harder during the first half of their workouts and ease up a bit in the second half burn up to 23 percent more fat than people who start out slowly. What does this mean for you? After you warm up (never neglect this or you may end up injured), bump up your workout intensity and give it your all. You don't have to pace yourself so you can make it all the way through; take breaks as necessary later in your workout.
2. HIIT it hard. By now, you've probably heard that the one of the most effective ways to burn fat is with High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). This involves short intervals of maximum intensity cardio, followed by intervals of low intensity cardio or rest. Researchers at Laval University in Quebec have discovered that people who do HIIT can lose 3 times as much fat as those who do steady-state moderate cardio. 
3. Lift heavier weights for fewer reps. Boost your metabolism long after your workout by training with heavy weights. As researchers at the Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education have learned, the heavier you lift, the greater the rise in your metabolic rate and the longer the boost will last. The result? Increased fat loss. For amazing body-reshaping results.
   Special note for women: Don't be afraid to increase the size of your dumbbells! You don't have enough testosterone to bulk up like the Incredible Hulk, and a lean, strong body will help you burn calories around the clock. Plus toned and shapely muscles look beautiful and give your body symmetry. 
4. Lift lighter weights for more reps. Wait . . . what? Didn't I just tell you that you have to lift heavier to burn more fat? It's true that training with heavy weights for fewer reps will burn more calories post-workout and give your physique a much more dramatic transformation. But there's also a benefit to using lighter weights at higher reps. For one, you burn a lot of calories during your workout. And if you're very out of shape or haven't lifted weights in a while, going lighter will help you condition your muscles and joints and help you prevent injuries. 
5. Stay in shape. Once you become physically fit, keep it up. The more active you are, the better your body is at burning fat. According to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, you can avoid regaining belly fat by exercising as few as 80 minutes per week. Keep stoking your fat-burning furnace with regular exercise and good nutrition, and you'll be lean for life.
   Let your kitchen help you burn fat.
6. Get your omega-3s. Fish and fish-oil supplements are helpful fat-burners because of their high levels of omega-3 fats. Two recent studies in Iceland and Australia demonstrated that people who consume fish oil burn more fat than people who don't. Additionally, the Australian study showed that when fish oil is combined with exercise, the results were even better.
7. Don't cut calories too quickly. You know that in order to lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories. But dropping them too quickly can cause your metabolism to slow down, because your body thinks it's starving and desperately holds onto fat. A dramatic reduction in calories can also lead to what author Martha Beck calls "famine brain," a condition in which your poor starved brain starts to freak out and all you can think about is food until you go nuts and eat everything in sight. The stress makes you much more likely to binge and end up fatter than ever. So what's the easiest way to cut calories gradually and keep your sanity?
   Start by swapping your usual breakfast for a protein shake. From about 140 to 250 calories and they taste great, and you can add healthy ingredients like milk or a dab of peanut butter and still keep the total calorie count low. Next, try cutting your total calorie intake by 250 calories per day. Give it a couple of weeks and see if you like the results. If you're losing weight, stick with it, and if not, cut out another 250 calories and reevaluate a couple of weeks later. If you're already doing everything else I've mentioned in this article, you shouldn't have to starve yourself to lose weight.
8. Drink green tea. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that the catechins—antioxidant flavonoid compounds—found in green tea may stimulate the body's fat-burning activity. You'll get the most benefits from about 4 cups of green tea per day, but if you don't want to drink that much, green tea extract supplements appear to have similar benefits. It's kind of cool to think that you might be able to relax with a cup of green tea and burn fat at the same time!

Give these tips a try, and let us know how they work for you.

Ingredients:

Stir and serve.

Hunt for Hidden Treasure with this Family-Friendly Activity-- By Christopher Stormann, Ph.D.

There are thousands of treasures hidden in parks and forests across the country. There may even be some lurking near you. All it takes to find one is a little hiking, a little know-how, and a cool gadget that uses our government's weapon delivery system. Sound like a fun way to stay in shape? If you haven't heard of it already, it's called Geocaching.

Geocaching is deceptively simple. Somebody hides a "treasure" and gives you a few clues along with the approximate coordinates (longitude and latitude) needed to find it. Clues can be riddles to solve or landmarks to identify. Getting you close and keeping you on track is a handheld Global Positioning System (GPS). Without going into all the techno mumbo, GPS uses 24 satellites to pinpoint an exact location with great accuracy. You can pick up a GPS receiver at most electronics stores for about $100.

Finding the treasure (called a cache) can be tricky, but the real challenge often lies in reaching the area. To help you prepare, hikes are ranked in difficulty on a 1 to 5 star scale. A one-star, for example, might lead to a cache hidden just off a well-marked footpath and tucked inside a hollow tree (reachable while pushing a stroller). Meanwhile, a five-star can require rock-climbing equipment. That's pretty extreme and uncommon, but the difficulty level is limited only by one's imagination. There are caches on islands reachable by kayak or canoe and then only during a full moon. There is even an underwater cache that requires scuba equipment.

What's in a cache?
Most caches include a logbook so you can leave the date and time of your visit. Common items are key chains, maps, books, pictures, money, jewelry, tickets, games and other inexpensive items. You're usually asked to take an item and leave an item, so the contents are always changing. Most cache containers can handle the elements but it is a good idea to place items in a plastic bag for extra protection.

What are the rules?
1. Take something from the cache
2. Leave something in the cache
3. Write about it in the logbook

That's it. Avoid leaving any food item. Two words: raccoons and raccoons. Remember also that geocaching is a family event so don't leave anything inappropriate for children.

There is a ton of information about the hobby at www.geocaching.com. At the site you will learn everything you need to get started. Type in your zip code and up comes nearby caches (I found 31 within a 10 mile radius of my zip).

Fall is a perfect time for hike in the woods. Grab the kids, take a friend, and get some exercise in the fresh air with a little geocaching. You just might find hidden treasure as close as your neighborhood park

Ceviche

3 ½ oz. chilled cooked white fish or shrimp

3 Tablespoons lemon or lime juice

Diced tomatoes

1 Tablespoon chopped onion

1 clove garlic crushed and minced

Fresh chopped cilantro

Dash hot sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Steam the shrimp or fish. Add lemon, onion, garlic and chopped cilantro.

Stir in diced tomatoes and hot sauce. Chill and marinate the ingredients in the refrigerator. Traditionally ceviche is not cooked. The citric acids “cook” the fish. This is an alternative to cooking the shrimp or fish.

Modifications:

Add diced jalapeno.

Add additional types of seafood.

Serve over cream cheese for a vegetable dip.

For a sweeter ceviche try adding a little fresh fruit.

Makes 1 serving

Who Done It?

Why can’t we resist a mystery?  We can’t help but get sucked in to the roller coaster ride of a who-done-it.  Try it sometime.  Just crack an Agatha Christie classic, read the first 1/3rd, then put it down.

You can’t do it.  

It’s OK; there are Billions of others in the same boat.  Why do you think CSI: insert-any-random-city-name-here is still on television?  Because we watch it.  It’s the same plot hour after hour; decade after decade.  Somebody killed someone else, and our main characters/heroes have to figure out motive, means, and opportunity.  The HOW is usually the easy part.  Most of the episode is taken up eliminating who COULD NOT have had the opportunity (usually done with Sherlock-Holmes-style deductive reasoning which also serves to illustrate just how many hundred years have we been getting sucked into the SAME plot).

But it is the WHY, the MOTIVE that we never learn until the last 5 minutes. We HAVE to wait until the last 5 minutes because once that is revealed, everything else is shoulder-shrug material. EVERYTHING stems from the WHY.  Just like your exercise program.  Those of us in the fitness industry spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out the mystery of why gym patrons stop exercising.

The frustrating part is that we know the answer. The biggest reason people stop putting out effort, stop making progress, and consequently stop coming to the gym, is forgetting why they cared in the first place.  People who KNOW why they workout do not need to be sold a gym membership, or enter a national contest; they don’t need sales, specials, promotions, or loyalty rewards.

So, why DO you go to the gym?  Why do you workout?  Why did you get out of bed this morning?

The sad part is, I meet people every day who can’t tell me why they workout.  You have a class reunion in 6 months.  So what?  Are you trying to reclaim your high school body because you are going to face that special someone you didn’t have the courage to talk to back then, or do you want to make a point with the former quarterback?  Or maybe the invitation was just the catalyst which reminds you how far you have drifted from your teen-aged hormone high.  Each path involves structured movement, but Tae Bo may work for one, where professional Kickboxing instruction may be required for another (and I’m only a certified trainer for 1 of those).

But you make a commitment to shape up, and decide to hire a trainer to help. Trainers across the country are known for being large, muscle bound, men or tight, toned, no-nonsense women.  We have a reputation for pushing, pulling, yelling, insulting, and embarrassing; anything to motivate someone into getting through whatever exercise comes to our sick, twisted minds.  There is a reason for this; manipulation, coercion, and intimidation work.  Clients get results, and we get referrals.  We often come across as aloof, and only interested in talking to clients or perspective clients.  More clients means more money.  Many trainers have a small mortgage in student loans, and most make slightly less than the average waiter.

I can give you a workout that will break you down.  It is my job to find your limits and push you to them, and I’m VERY good at that job. But WHAT you do and HOW you move always have, and always will, flow out of WHY you move.  (Listen up because I’m about to tell you WHY I do WHAT I do) Physical movement is a primary way we learn about, interact with, and define the world and ourselves.  We move to work, correct, achieve, express, play, compete, grow, and transcend.  Because of THIS truth, I recommend a physical discipline to every person I meet.  Sure, I’d love to have more clients and
make more money; we all would.  But whether you are paying for my knowledge and experience or not, YOU need SOMETHING, and that will grow from YOUR WHY.  

It makes no difference to me if it is cycling, singing, Tae Bo, Zumba, running, or ping-pong.  I can lay out a plan of progressive movement to get you the result you want. I can dangle incentives before you.  I can use all forms of coercion to compel you to move, but all of that is just wasted effort on my part if you cannot tell me WHY you are here.  It is not enough to have a goal.  A picture in your head of something you want to HAVE, DO, or BE is not enough.  You need to know WHY you care; it is the one mystery that only YOU can solve.

Ingredients

• 3 red bell peppers, seeded and halved
• 3 yellow squash (about 1 pound total), sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick rectangles
• 3 zucchini (about 12 ounces total), sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick rectangles
• 3 Japanese eggplant (12 ounces total), sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick rectangles
• 12 cremini mushrooms
• 1 bunch (1-pound) asparagus, trimmed
• 12 green onions, roots cut off
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves

Directions

I want to see Captain America clock Lance Armstrong. I want to see the original
Avenger drop the shield and give Lance a classic roundhouse; the kind that sends the
senior cyclist spinning while a cartoon star appears containing the word “Ka-Pow!”

Captain America makes me feel good. Steve Rogers was a small, weak young man
until an experimental serum transformed him into the epitome of physical
perfection. Lance got a coach and spent countless hours systematically pushing his
physical limits in order to dominate the cycling world; a sport in which 25-40% of the
competitors are routinely disqualified for using performance enhancing substances. To
date, Lance has not been convicted of doping. This fact polarizes us into two camps;
one where we want to believe he raced clean and idolize him, and another where we
want to know how he has kept such a dirty secret hidden for so long.

Regardless of the truth, schadenfreude wants Lance to test positive to let US off the
hook. If he’s clean, then we have the potential to overcome the lethargy of
chemotherapy, the loss of hair, appetite, and some rather personal pieces of anatomy to
achieve greatness. That is a lot of responsibility, and more importantly, a lot of work.
Steve Rogers on the other hand never had any such potential. Someone else made
Rogers into Captain America with drugs. There was no gym time, no effort, no sacrifice
on his part, just get an injection and get muscles. He allows me to sit on the couch and
eat Cheetos, safe and secure in the knowledge that IF I ever got my hands on that super
solution then I would be so much bigger, stronger, and cooler.

This isn’t even a new story. How many movies have been made from comic books
involving superhuman powers? And even the heroes who don’t have super powers,
radioactive accidents, or mutations, how many have buckets of money, alien tech, or
special training? What’s the underlying message; Great things are possible, but YOU
don’t have what it takes so you’re off the hook...?

What a complete load of drivel.

The truth is we don’t WANT to do great things. We want an excuse to sit on the couch
and eat bonbons. We are not immortal. I don’t even look good in blue spandex. (Don’t
ask how I know that.) All of the science I know tells me that body transformation takes
effort. And experience tells me that anyone who says otherwise is selling something.
Authors use, radiation accidents, alien technology, and secret military training as literary
devices to give heroes power because it is quick and keeps the story moving. In the
books and movies whenever any actual WORK takes place, it gets shortened to a
montage so the world can be saved in 48 minutes plus commercials.

If I follow Lance’s example (doping or not), I’ll have to actually leave my excuses on the
couch. I’ll have to put down my sippy-cup, man-up, make a plan, then stick to it. I’ll have
to actually DO something rather than waiting for Captain America. Real effort, real work,
and the resulting real transformation take real time, and there won’t be any montage with
catchy music. I’ll have to take responsibility for my own physical condition rather than
waiting for someone else to hand me a magic pill.

For that infuriating reality check, I want to see Steve Rogers/Captain America hit the
super villain who has stolen my ability to sit ala Al Bundy, watching movies made from

graphic novels, and still revel in my physical superiority. But Captain America is
fictitious, and Lance is not to blame for my excuses. The responsibility for my body has
always been on my shoulders. It is a weight no superhero can lift, though many have
tried. With that in mind, I choose to work toward becoming the hero of my own story
rather than a random citizen in need of rescue. How about you?

Ingredients:

4 slices whole grain bread

2 scoops vanilla whey protein

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

4 eggs (2 whole/2 whites)

1/3 C fat free milk

Fruit Spread:

1 ripe banana, mashed

1 tbsp whole fruit preserves

1 tbsp water

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix the protein powder, cinnamon, eggs, and milk. Whisk until blended. Next, soak each slice of bread in the egg and protein mixture for about 30 seconds. Spray a nonstick pan with cooking spray and cook each side on medium to medium-high heat until slightly firm. As the toast cooks, mash the banana and mix it with the preserves and water. Top the toast with the fruit mixture.

Makes 2 servings

Summer Marinade for Chicken, Shrimp and Scallop Kabobs

One Lemon

One Lime

One Orange

Fresh Tarragon

Virgin Olive Oil

Salt/Pepper

Zest the fruit and squeeze the juice.  Finely chop the fresh tarragon.  Mix it all with a dash of oil, salt and pepper.  Soak the meat in it for 15 minutes.  Be careful not to let the seafood sit too long in it as the acid from the juice will start cooking the meat.  Put the meat on skewers and bbq!