We all go through phases of feeling great about or feeling bad about our bodies, identifying or worth with our bodies both personally and professionally, rising and falling on positive and negative comments from others.

I know there are a few people, clients, and trainers that really are totally cool with their bodies how ever they are, all of the time.  That's great.  But the rest of us are human.

In this article, Molly Galbraith (of Girls Gone Strong fame) is amazingly human and vulnerable and lets us all in. It's really, really, really cool and courageous and strong of her to let us in, so we know we're not alone.

http://mollygalbraith.com/2013/06/its-hard-out-here-for-a-fit-chick/

(left) Molly gets real about how she felt about her body at different times and at different weights.

It's amazing what we can do with your fat loss when you have just the right coaching and a lot of
accountability.

In fact, that's really all it takes to get the results you want with your body: 1.) Know exactly what to do next, 2.) Be held accountable to doing it.

My favorite thing in the world is to look into your food journal, find that *one* thing to do this week that's going to have to start losing stubborn fat immediately, and then have you do just that.  It's a really simple process when you are doing the *right* things.

I'm opening up my coaching program in a big way (you can read why below).

I'd like to take about 20 people, and here are the options:

Online Personal Training
$350 - Five skype training sessions (one month).  Just like personal training with me in person, but by Skype.

Mega Ultra Online Coaching: Ultra Custom Program + Mega Accountability
$215 - One month custom workout program, 10 minute food check in calls once per week OR daily (m-f) text food accountability check ins, which ever works better for you.  Food coaching off of your online food journal.  Unlimited email support/coaching.

Super Online Coaching: Semi-Custom Program + Unlimited Email Coaching
$125 - One month program, customized off of any one of my super effective books (you can pick which one you want, or I can make a recommendation), online food coaching, email food/workout accountability, unlimited email support.

Just like everything I do - the meat of the program is me coaching your food and holding you accountable to it.  

I've had people get amazing results with every one of these programs, including the semi-custom + unlimited email coaching.  The trick is to pick the one that's going to work the best for you.

Why Josh Moved 1,000 Miles Last Week

Ok, so I moved from Denver, Colorado to Santa Clarita, California, to do an 8 week internship at Results Fitness, the gym of Alwyn and Rachel Cosgrove, who I consider to be the best trainers in the world at fat loss.  Really, even better than me.  =)

The smartest thing I've ever done is go out of my way to learn from the best in the world, repeatedly.  So here I go again, emptying my cup, and learning from the best.

The internship is only 25 hours per week, and that leaves me with tons of time open to do my favorite thing in the world: Coach fat loss.

I hope to get to work with you!

What You Do Now

Email joshhillis@gmail.com with the basics to get started:

Name:

Height:

Weight:

Body fat percentage (if you know it):

Short Term Goal (next 12 weeks):

Any health problems or injuries:

How many days per week do you work out?  How consistantly?:

How would you describe your current level of fitness:

Which coaching program are you interested in:

How do you want this program to help you hit your goals:

joshhillis@gmail.com - subject line: online coaching

In the last post we talked about the first important mindset you need for fat loss: How altering your context for food and your body is access to having an awesome relationship to food and better fat loss results.

you can check that post here: http://joshsgarage.typepad.com/articles/2013/05/how-to-have-an-awesome-relationship-to-food.html

Changing context is quite possibly the most powerful tool in the head game of fat loss that people aren't using.

Lets take a look at another example - specifically how to make fat loss easier.

The second mindset you absolutely *need* to have to lose fat: You don't own your fat, you rent it.

Again, this is a matter of shifting your context in a way that will alter everything you do.

I wrote a whole post about that a couple years ago, and it's been one of the most popular things I've ever written.

Check that post here: http://joshsgarage.typepad.com/articles/2010/11/you-dont-own-your-fat-you-rent-it.html

First Things First: Why More Food Information Makes No Difference

It's a KNOWING vs. DOING thing.  We are always going to work on KNOWING (more information) and DOING (what we are eating) and we never really go to work on our relationship to food (CONTEXT)

We have a poor context for eating (which is a doing) and what we go to work on is the doing.   The problem is that most of what we do - in the long term - is actually a result of our context for doing it.

And the logic and information (the knowing) have no impact on the context, which gives the doing. We keep looking for more information, which doesn't impact the one thing we need to fix: the context.

Feel Bad and Ineffective Food Context:

The context most people eat from is that there is something wrong with their body or their body isn't good enough. And almost no amount of results impacts that context either. And if it does then it just becomes a standard for them to live up to forever, and hate themselves any time they fall below.

Then food becomes this horrible game to dominate their bodies with. And inside of trying to dominate their bodies some food becomes scary and bad, and other food is like moral and good.

Powerful, Health, Effective Food Context:

In reality, the conversation is actually like this: "you're 23% body fat, you look super cute and most of the women in the world want to be you." 

And we hammer that.

And then we hammer that food isn't good or bad. It's just effective or not effective at getting leaner.

But getting leaner is inside the context of "you look awesome, but if you want to take it to the next level, we can do that."

And the clients get checked hard when they try to go backwards kn that - I'm like "no really, you look awesome. There's nothing to fix. But if you want to take it to the next level, here is how"

Check Yourself Against Reality:

If you're at or under 20% body fat, you look super rockstar awesome.  Guys think you're hot.  Girls are watch what you do in the gym because they want to get the same kind of body you've got.

If you are a woman who is at or under 23% body fat, you look awesome.  You're super cute, you can probably wear what ever you want.  You're kicking ass and should feel really good about it.

If you are under 26% body fat, you're leaner than most.  You don't have to take my word for it - spend an hour at Walmart, you'll immediately see that you are winning the fitness game.

If you are under 30% body fat, you're healthy.

If you are in any of those four categories, you need to get that there is nothing "wrong" with you.  You can take it to the next level, but it should all come from that context - going to the next level.

On the flip-side, I'm not going to lie to you - if you are over 30% body fat, then there is something wrong, something you need to fix, and you need to get your diet straight until you are under 30%, and I recommend you start today.

What To Do

Mostly check yourself when you are talking to yourself about your body and food.  Unfortunately I'm not there to do it for you.

You might not need more information.  If anything, you need to be able to cut through the bullshit information, and cut down on the amount of information you are using.

You need to go to work on your context first -> then work on your actions.

If you are going to be real with yourself about the stuff you are doing wrong, you have to be equally real with yourself about the stuff you are doing right.

Not to beat a dead horse, but really we use the above body fat guidelines more to empower women and let them know how good they are already doing.  Not as a standard for where they need to get to.

In the world of gratitude exercises, they are all awesome.  But the one I like to use with my clients when they get down on themselves is to just ask "What's one thing you like about your body?"

Another one is: "What's one thing you've accomplished in the gym that you're really proud of?"

You can start your next workout or your next food journal entry with that question in your mind.

-Josh Hillis

P.S. I designed my Josh Hillis Fat Loss Nutrition Coaching Session with one intention: To eliminate the amount of information you have to deal with about nutrition.  To simplify, simplify, simplify.  Not to add more, but to take away.

If you think that is something that might help, you can get it here for under 8 bucks: https://www.movementlectures.com/MEG0512-04.html

First - people still talk about "core" in the wrong way.  Situps are not core exercises, they're a hip flexor
exercise, and not a great one at that.  Crunches are "ok", but really there's an entirely better way of looking at how to work your core:

Think of your core as doing four things:

1.) Bracing your spine so it doesn't snap forward
2.) Bracing your spine so it doesn't snap back
3.) Bracing your spine so it doesn't snap sideways
4.) Bracing your spine so it doesn't rotate 

 So the smartest play is to make it do those things!  Planks and bridges are your best friends in the world of core work.

Or another way to think about it would be to "plank in all four directions".  

Then we add in the single leg stuff so we get the rotational bracing.  Simple.  Easy.  AWESOME core workout.  

BEST CORE WORKOUT EVER:

1.) Single Leg Plank x 0:30 L+ 0:30 R
2.) Side Plank x 0:30 L + 0:30 R
3.) Single Leg Hip Bridge x 0:30 L+0:30 R

Repeat that circuit until you feel like you "got what you came for" =)

AWESOME BEGINNER CORE WORKOUT:

1.) Plank x 0:30
2.) Opposite Arm Leg Raise x 1:00 L + 1:00 R
3.) Hip Bridge x 1:00 

You still get the rotational core work with the Opposite Arm Leg Raise, and you still get the flexion/and extension core work with the plank and the hip bridge.  This is an AWESOME place to start.

THE EXERCISES:

Opposite Arm Leg Raise: Anti-Rotational Core

Hip Bridge: Glutes + Anti-Flexion Core

Plank: Anti-Extension Core

Single Leg Hip Bridge: Glutes + Anti-Flexion AND Anti-Rotation Core

Single Leg Plank: Anti-Extension AND Anti-Rotation Core

And since people still ask - here are the muscles getting worked:

Anti-Extension: Abs

Anti-Flexion: Glutes and Spinal Erectors

Anti-Rotation: External Obliques and Internal Obliques

Anti-Lateral-Flexion: External Obliques, Internal Obliques and Glute Medius

All of these pictures are from my first book - The Stubborn 7 Pounds: How to Go from Good to Rockstar.  It's probably the most "complete" book that I've written.  While the followup books are very focused, it covers everything.

In System Six: Easy Fat Loss, I deliberately "left room" for other stuff.  Essentially what ever you like - running, yoga, martial arts, physical therapy, corrective exercise, or even just prepping your food.  If you don't have anything else to fill in the extra with, I'd add in this core circuit.

ABS ARE STILL MADE IN THE KITCHEN

You want to have solid core strength mostly because it protects your back and allows you to go stronger in more advanced full-body-fat-loss exercises like kettlebell swings, squats, deadlifts, single leg deadlifts, military presses, ect.

So while *building* your core strength happens in the gym, being able to *see* a lean hot sexy core comes from what you eat.  The maxim still stands - if you've got a layer of fat over your abs, doing a core workout isn't going to change that.

So lose the fat on top of your lean hot athletic body by what you eat, and build the lean hot athletic body inside through your workouts.

Enjoy!

-Josh Hillis