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Last time you met Hector, now meet Beth. From Feb 18 to Apr 26 she lost 10 pounds of body weight, 6 inches from her waist, and 2 inches from her butt. She is feeling great.

Her story is simple: She came into Fitopia not knowing what to expect. She followed my instructions ACCURATELY, PRECISELY, AND CONSISTENTLY. Yes, the workouts kick her butt. Yes, she must account for ALL eating. And yes, she’s happy with her results!

Remember, the right actions applied in the right manner in the right frequency consistently over time yield results.

or…

(A + M + F)*C = R

Beth is a super consistent Fitopian and continues to make progress. Well done!

George

P.S. If you want to get fit starting in May, reply to this message.

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This message was sent to from: Fitopia, LLC | P.O. Box 111 | Lebanon, PA 17042

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This is why you should take pictures. My buddy Hector didn’t notice his 2 pound muscle gain on a day-to-day basis, but when I emailed him the proof, he could definitely see it. Fitopians train for muscle and strength as well as fat loss.

If he had not taken pictures, then he would not have noticed a difference!

This is because you see yourself every day. The human brain is funny. The illusion of sameness can set in if you don’t take accurate data measurements. Fitopians love data and science. That is why we measure key variables to track progress.

How did he do it? Lots of old fashioned butt kicking, strength training, cleaning up his diet a bit, and hard work.

The right hard work applied CONSISTENTLY over time (not trial-and-error or inconsistent) yields results. Don’t fall prey to the latest fitness fad. Be in it for the long haul. Hector did this in a little over a month, but he’s building healthy habits for life.

At his young age, he could get away with a crappy diet, but he chose not to and followed my eating strategies instead. That’s why he got fitter in a little over a month and is sticking with it.

George

P.S. Do you want to get fit in starting in April? Simply reply to this message.

Fitopians! You guys rock. I’m still really inspired and thankful from the feedback I received from you all from the “no more chicken recipes” message.

In that message, I asked want YOU wanted to hear more about; not what I wanted to write about. These messages are about you.

I archived those messages for your convenience. You don’t need to click on the link, but they are available below…

Archived Message #1:
No more chicken recipes
Archived Message #2:
Feedback from the “No more chicken recipes” email

Today, I’m gonna talk about what one Fitopian wants to hear about; namely, how to target lower abs.

She asked specifically for me to answer this riddle, so now I’m answering it.

I call the solution, “The 8pm Rule.”

Now normally, I could spit out some cool stomach exercises or weighted sit-ups or leg raises and such. All of that is very important.

But you know all of that already.

The 8pm Rule is faster.

The 8pm Rule works better.

Simply stop eating after 8pm each night. That’s it. Measure your stomach before you start doing this, and after 2 weeks has passed. If you don’t eat after 8pm religiously, you’ll notice a difference.

This isn’t to say don’t do sit ups. Do the exercise too.

But use the 8pm rule because it works faster.

P.S. I launching a special FitRocks program in April. Stay tuned for details.

This is for a fellow Fitopian who requested, “Recipes that are healthy.”

This recipe was created by Christina!

This recipe is so good that it is insane!!!!!!!! The avocado bacon burger melts in your mouth, and the fries taste better than even the most expensive fresh cut fries you would find in restaurants.

Follow this recipe to a T, and you’ll be satisfied! I normally don’t use this many exclamation points in my writing, so you know it’s gotta be delicioso!

Note: This is the actual picture of the meal, not a stock photo!

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

3 avocados

1 red onion

1 egg

1 Tablespoon of Tapioca starch/ arrowroot

1/4 bushel of cilantro

Lime juice

Lemon juice

Salt

Pepper

1 package of bacon

Sweet potato fries:

4 small sweet potatoes/yams

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

2 teaspoons of salt

2 teaspoons of pepper

2 teaspoons of cayenne

2 teaspoons of garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit for the fries.
2. In a skillet on medium heat cook the bacon till crispy. When done put on paper towel to absorb excess oil. Keep the bacon grease for the burgers later.
3. While the bacon is cooking, cut the sweet potatoes into thin matchstick fries. Leave the skin on if you want.
4. Mix the olive oil, salt, pepper, cayenne, and garlic powder. Then toss the cut sweet potato fries in the mixture.
5. Spread out the fries on a pan or baking sheet and avoid layering them.
6. Bake for 30 minutes and flip over halfway. When fries are done leave oven on for the burgers
7. While the fries are baking, dice half the red onion into small pieces and the other half cut into half moon rings.
8. Peel one avocado and begin cutting the avocado into small slices (horizontally). When you get to the pit cut around it in slices until you only have a little meat left, scrape that into the food processor.
9. Check on the bacon and finishing cooking the remainder. Allow bacon to cool and get crispy.
10. In a mixing bowl, put the beef, egg, Tapioca starch/arrowroot , and about 1/3 of the finely diced red onions. Mix it well with your hands.
11. Roll the beef into about 14 balls. Then flatten each one, placing a slice or two of avocado in, then another flatten patty on top, and pinch patties together to seal in the avocados.
12. Now using the same pan as the bacon with some of the bacon grease begin cooking the patties on medium heat. Before putting the patties in the pan put in about 1/3 of the diced red onion to brown slightly then put the patties on top of the onions, cooking each side about 4-6 minutes.
13. After each side is cooked, put in oven for about 4-6 minutes.
14. While the burgers are cooking, cut and de-pit the 2 avocados (see below on instructions how to do that) and scoop out the meat of the avocado into a food processor. Then add the remaining diced red onions, cilantro, lemon and lime juice, and salt and pepper. You can add more or less of the lemon and lime juice to taste, depends how tart you want it.
15. Mix/blend the ingredients until a smooth cream.
16. In a separate pan fry the remaining red onions that were cut into half rings until brown on each side.
17. Take out the burgers and put the browned red onions on top. Then break the bacon in half and put on top. Top off with the avocado cream. (Can use lettuce to make it into a wrap if you like to give it more of a hands on feel.)
18. Serve with the sweet potato fries as a side.
19. Enjoy!

To de-pit an avocado:

1. Cut the avocado length wise from top to bottom all the way around.
2. Grab a hold of each half and twist and each side should pop off easily.
3. Spoon out the pit.
4. The meat of the avocado should be easy to spoon out, as the skin of the avocado is quite tough.

P.S. We are eating birthday meals like this @Fitopia that fit neatly into our workout program. It’s like three Fitopians’ birthday (me, Kirk, and Christina). If you want help on incorporating nutrtion into your workouts (or if you have a birthday in March), reply to this message.

I really want to write something here about “modifications” to workouts. Sometimes, this is also called “scaling.”

THIS IS IMPORTANT STUFF!

Let’s say you found an awesome workout on the internet. You think it is going to be good for you, so you print it out and go to the gym to do it.

There are 2 reasons why an awesome workout would be bad for you.

(1) You are physically incapable of doing the workout with proper technique or FORM.

(2) You have legitimate pain or a legitimate medical reason you can’t perform the workout as prescribed.

So what do you do?

The key word here would be “modification” or “scaling”…

You say “no” to that workout, but “yes” to a modified workout.

How do you modify? HAVE NO SHAME.

(A) Take down the resistance. In this case you may want to increase the reps to make up for the lower weight.

(B) Take down the reps, sets, or rounds.

(C) Make it lower impact.

(D) MODIFICATION/SCALING “Quick n’ Dirty” Formula: 1/2 the Weight, Double the Reps

The above three ways are optimal when modifying a workout. Again, have no shame. You’ll make better progress than trying to do the full workout with bad form or bad pain. And in a weird way, the workout will actually be MORE INTENSE (good intenisty), not less intense.

Fitopians,

Last week I sent you an email about what YOU wanted to hear about in my future emails.

What follows is a sampling of the feedback I received from that “No more chicken recipes” email. These are word-for-word unedited repsonses.

Note: I left everyone’s last name OUT to protect the innocent ;-)

“I find everything you write very interesting — lower abs is now my biggest problem thanks for keeping in touch” — Barb

“I love weight training & switching to different workout routines every 3-4 months. I’d like more of them!” — Eliz

“I like your emails George, I enjoy them. I like the variety, so I am not picky on the subjects!” — Sue

“I like recipes the very best. It helps me stay on track, which I desperately need at this moment in time.

I like exercises I can do at home – I like to keep my stomach flat, so stomach exercises are excellent.

I love motivation – 1) I need it and 2) you do such an excellent job!!

thanks for asking George!!!” — Susan

“Recipes that are healthy” — John

“I would say a short weight lifting plan. I try to go to the gym twice a week, and I always do the same thing, which is not bad, but I need more variety.

I always do squats with the barbell, deadlift, military press, bench press, and one kettle bell routine.

More workouts using free-weights.

Also, more articles on breaking the sweet tooth cravings, and multi-vitamin, supplement, minerals that are good for you.” — Kirk

“So far I am pretty happy with how things are going. The diet is working ok, I am pretty motivated, the texting/ tweeting accountability is good, and the variety of workouts prevents it from getting boring.

I guess I am interested in weight training techniques and what type of equipment is best, and how to make sure that I don’t injure myself or do things that are counter productive.

I am sure I will have tons of questions over the next few months.” — Larry

“George!!

Are you opening any other training centers in the Mechanicsburg area?! I do miss a little kick in the butt haha so these emails are a help! Not really sure what to add. My diet restrictions and budget are probably what’s holding me back from really/strictly following any of these tips.

Keep it up!” — Lauren

“George

I wish I wanted recipes, but my tastes are very particular. Recipes won’t help, now if u can give me info on what foods do what, like bananas are good for this or you can get energy from this. What foods are good before and after a workout?

Ill take any strength training, cardio, or motivational advice you can give.

Thanks George” — Matt

“George,

I would be interested in how exercise helps the body. My doctor is monitoring my diet. Also my experience with workouts has always been weight lifting. This is not my goal more body workouts and understanding the purpose and correct form in reforming them. I am looking forward to March 4 start date.” — Jeff

“Can you give us info on what countries are safe (or safer!) to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from? I often wonder when I buy produce if the country it comes from has any standards.

How about crock pot meals and what is best to cook in them as far as cooking foods for a long time.

I would like some good fish recipes – what kinds of spices to cook them with. For a grill or microwave.

Thanks!” — Sherry

“I enjoy reading all your e-mails. You can send me whatever you send everyone else. ” — Nancy

“Hi George,

Hope you are doing great! It’s always good to hear from you :) Even know I am not an active Fitopia member. I really enjoy your motivational emails. Still to this day I utilize the information and tools you provided me with as an active member. I do miss your boot camp, but I just haven’t had the time to come back with my crazy schedule. (Full time work & night school with a part time job on the side – whew)

Just wanted to say hi! And I hope that soon I would be able to work out with you again!” — Sharon

George

P.S. If you missed out on sending me feedback, don’t worry, you can just reply to this email telling me about what YOU’D personally like to hear more about in future emails. Thanks for being a Fitopian.

… Oh, and since nobody wanted chicken, here’s a picture of them playing soccer.