Hi Everyone,

So I survived another week.  For a while this week my scale seemed to be stuck at 151.  It was really starting to bother me.  I had been doing everything right.  But I am very happy to say that this morning I broke the 150 barrier.  I weighed in at 149.8!  That was one of those big benchmarks for me psychologically.  I think the beautiful weather we’ve had here this past weekend helped me to just get that little bit further.  I can’t believe how far I’ve come in just two weeks.

I am feeling great, and I’m really looking forward to training with Kevin this week.  Recently he had me doing the ropes at the end of our work out.  I have to say; they are so much more tiring than you would ever think.  My first set was actually fun, and I thought to myself that Kevin was just going easy on me.  But by the third and fourth sets I could barely get the ropes off the ground.  I was beat! (but still liking the exercise)  If you have access to big, heavy ropes like these; you should definitely try this one.

Batty, I wanted to thank you for including a “before” photo on your most recent post.  I am just getting to know you all, and it is an inspiration for me to see just how far you have come.

Here’s to another good week,

Kim

[editors note: Kim continues to do great on the training and nutrition program. She is well ahead of the time frame for her fat loss goals. I will be posting some progression pictures next week. If you are interested in Online Personal Training, I have opened up two spots. Check KevinLarrabee.com for more details.]

Kim has always kicked ass with the training. The nutrition has been the sticking point. She was inspired by the FitCast Accountability Bloggers and with what Leigh and I are doing with Destination Abs. So…She wanted to do it as well.

I sat down with her and told her this was going to be tough, even suck. Dieting sucks, I don’t care if you are doing a detox diet or the 1 lb a week diet. It still sucks. I modified the Destination Abs program for Kim to guarantee success if we can keep the train on the tracks. Kim will also be journaling her progress on this site each week with pictures and a blog.

Kim will be training three days a week with a strength training program I developed in conjunction with the calorie deficit. There will also be some metabolic training mixed in to accelerate things without too much extra volume.

Now the floor is Kim’s. Come on FitCast Community, please give her some support! I know she will really appreciate it!

If you missed it check out Kim’s first post: New Beginnings

___________________________________________________________________________________

February 28, 2010

Hi Everyone,

So it has been 1 week now.  The first 5 days it was really hard to get use to the new eating program.  I watched 200+ students and teachers eat pizza on Friday, and that was the toughest point all week.  That was the worst.  And it is something that I will have to learn to do over and over again because it will happen every week.  When Friday lunch rolls around, think of me.  Send me your good vibes – I’ll need them.

But the really good news is that I HAVE been able to stick the diet & exercise program.  Not one slip up, and I’ll tell you that I don’t really want to break the rules right now because I’m beginning to see results already.  I have dropped a few pounds, and gone down 1 belt notch!  YAY!

I’ve even found a few meals that I look forward to. Like turkey taco salad (but no cheese) and chicken stir-fry (no rice) and I actually have learned to like the strawberry protein mix.   This is good because I still have 110 days to go until the wedding.

Thank you everyone for your support – you are a great group to have behind me.  I will be watching your progress and I wish you all the will power this week J

[editors note: Kim did great this week in training. She busted her butt through some battling ropes and intense lifting. Please continue to send your comments, thoughts, and support! -Kevin]

Kim has always kicked ass with the training. The nutrition has been the sticking point. She was inspired by the FitCast Accountability Bloggers and with what Leigh and I are doing with Destination Abs. So…She wanted to do it as well.

I sat down with her and told her this was going to be tough, even suck. Dieting sucks, I don’t care if you are doing a detox diet or the 1 lb a week diet. It still sucks. I modified the Destination Abs program for Kim to guarantee success if we can keep the train on the tracks. Kim will also be journaling her progress on this site each week with pictures and a blog.

Kim will be training three days a week with a strength training program I developed in conjunction with the calorie deficit. There will also be some metabolic training mixed in to accelerate things without too much extra volume.

Now the floor is Kim’s. Come on FitCast Community, please give her some support! I know she will really appreciate it!

___________________________________________________________________________________

February 21, 2010

I started training with Kevin a year ago.  I chose him because he is simply miles better than anyone else around.  His knowledge is incredible, and for someone who is going to have such an impact on my health and well being, I wanted nothing sort of the best.  If I were going to get surgery, would I want a doctor who just does it as a fall back career, or would I want someone who lives and breathes surgery?  Because that’s what some “trainers” are, people who failed at some other career and this was a fall back. For a trainer I wanted someone who’s life was his work.  That is Kevin.  He has been thoroughly educated in learning how the body works, and he continues to study and learn more every week.  I ask, “Kevin, what are you up to this weekend?” and he tells me he’s reading up on training. He has earned my complete trust.

As you can see from my pictures, I have not accomplished all of my goals.  When I first started with Kevin a year ago I started to see great results, but then I lost my focus.  Quite simply, life got in the way.  Work ramped up, family members with health issues, and then I got engaged, which really shifted my focus with all of the planning that needed to be done.  I was eating what was convenient, and giving in to treats that crossed my path.  Being a teacher, I see pizza being sold every Friday, cupcakes for every birthday and I have a weakness for macaroni and cheese.  It’s tough to say “no” every time, but, alas, here we are.  Look at where it got me.  My drawers are filled with clothes that no longer fit, and I have a wedding in just under 4 months!

So what are my goals? Lets start with where I am now.  At my physical last month I clocked in at 5 foot, 3 inches, and 157 pounds!  (My doctor even told me to loose weight.) So between the doctor, and my upcoming wedding, I am very motivated to get this going.  I need to trim down and get buff!

Kevin will get me there!  I want to see those abs again and fit into that bathing suit that I use to wear when my fiancé and I first started dating.  I will do it! I’m excited to start seeing those muscles that I know are under there from our strength training.

The new logo t-shirts are now being printed as we speak (or as I type…I guess…). I have listened to you guys and we are going to offer a few different versions of the shirt. Also we are using a higher quality print with more colors for a better looking t-shirt!!!

• Black
  • Men’s Sizes Medium, Large, and XL
• White
  • Women’s Small and Medium
• Grey
  • Men’s Medium and Large

I have been told that the women’s shirts are super comfy as well! The men’s shirts are made out of recycled iron from weight plates (kidding…I hope you figured that).

• LIMITED QUANTITIES: I can only order 50 shirts at a time so they will go VERY FAST!!! First Come First Served.

• SUPPORT THE SHOW: The sales of these t-shirts help support the show by paying for bandwidth and equipment needs. Also someone has to pay for all that Spike and Green Tea

• Shirts are $22 for those inside the US. $30 if you are outside the US. All shirts will be shipped with USPS Priority Mail (2-3 Days) from now on. I will accept personal checks and PayPal.

If you would like to use PayPal my e-mail address is kevin.larrabee@gmail.com.MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE THE COLOR AND SIZE YOU WANT!!!

You can also send a check if you would like, e-mail me for more details.

Use FitDay: One of the first tools I have found to be very effective is FitDay.com. FitDay is a free service that you can use from any internet browser. Why do I like it so much? It allows me to enter in as many custom foods as I like instead of guessing if I am eating exactly what they have the macronutrients for. Fitday also has a software program you can use on the PC, at this time they do not have a similar offering on the Mac.

Buy a Food Scale: The second tool which I use multiple times daily is a GOOD QUALITY digital scale. Food scales don’t leave room for error, or as Leigh Peele mentioned in the past, eating that extra 1/2 tablespoon of peanut butter you just happened to leave on the knife. Why digital? Digital scales allow you to “zero out” at any time so there is never any math involved. Need to measure out 120g of greek yogurt, 28g of almonds, 20g of protein powder, and 10g of blueberries? You can do it all in one container with a digital scale. And then there is the point of getting a good quality scale. I made the mistake of going to Target and buying a cheap ass $30 scale. The measurements were off, it always was -3 or -5g when I turned it on, just a pain in the ass. I then went with this scale from Amazon.com: Escali Primo Digital Multifunctional Scale

It was $10 cheaper and has worked perfectly since I bought it 11 months ago. And for those looking to spice up the kitchen, it comes in a bunch of cool colors…

Have a plan: Take a guess at how many people’s new years resolutions are to “lose weight.” Then guess how many of those people go into this resolution with no plan what so ever! Nothing, maybe if they are lucky then bought a gym membership. Most of the time it is just a, “this time is different,” sort of a plan. And guess what? They fail. Every time. It sucks to say, buy you might as well unless you pick a plan to stick with it. Here is what I wrote in a previous blog for recommended programs: The Fat Loss Troubleshoot, Turbulence Training, Warp Speed Fat Loss, Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle.

(I know, I was looking for a picture for planning, and I remember this game from when I was a kid)

You can even pick up a physical book at Amazon like The New Rules of Lifting, the New Rules of Lifting for Women, the Female Body Breakthrough, The Body Fat Solution, and tons of others!!! Just don’t buy Skinny Bitch or anything the Big O recommends (this video is must see!!!)…

Support: Finally we come to support. You need to have some kind of support. Unless you are part of that special 1%, you will not be able to do this all on your own. Think about it, you are actually depriving your body of calories it wants to maintain where you are! That alone doesn’t sound easy. Not to mention getting your lifting in, your intervals, steady state cardio, planning the meals for the week, staying away from the birthday cake at work, only drinking water and diet coke when you go out with your friends who tend to drink, your mom’s cooking which is just so damn good you can’t resist that banana break she makes and her world renowned spaghetti and meatballs. See. Told you it wasn’t easy. Get a support group. It can be on a forum, a group of friends, a blog with readers, or something like what we are trying to do here with the accountability blog.

Did I miss any? Let me know in the comments?

When Leigh Peele and I put together Destination Abs there were three main components.

1. Leigh Peele’s Amazing nutrition books The Fat Loss Troubleshoot and (later on) Body By Eats.

2. The training program that I wrote up in accordance with the nutritional guidelines that Leigh Provided.

3. ACCOUNTABILITY

Yeah, that’s right, I just made that huge to prove a point, no easier way to do that than to use big font.

Because of how important #3 was to me I thought I would give you the same opportunity to you to finally get that body you desire and the support you need to achieve that goal. There are some rules and guidelines to all of this. This is only for those who are dedicated and are willing to work their assess off, literally. I will be there to support you and so will all of the listeners. I hope most of you know you can always e-mail me anyways through my personal e-mail address: kevin@thefitcast.com. Please use it if it is for this contest or otherwise. Same thing on Facebook (http://facebook.com/KevinLarrabee) and Twitter (Http://twitter.com/KevinLarrabee). Both of these sites are great for accountability, staying in contact, and talking about your progress and goals. I will personally follow every-single-one of the contestants.

Now For The Rules…

Here are the rules and how we will be selecting the 10 contestants:

• You must send us an e-mail detailing why you need accountability, why this time is going to be different, your history, your goals, and anything else you think is relevant.
• Must have a plan from one of the following
  • One of us (Leigh, Jon, Tony, Kevin as an Online Client)
  • Or a book like New Rules of Lifting, The Body Fat Solution, ect.
  • Or from one of the following other recommended programs:
  • The Fat Loss Troubleshoot, Turbulence Training, Warp Speed Fat Loss, Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle,
• Must be willing to submit pictures weekly, front and side, in tight fitting clothing (tight shirt and shorts) or shirt off with shorts (with sports bra for the ladies) each Monday. No exceptions unless you have a great excuse that borders something like this, “I was arrested because I punched the guy doing bicep curls with 55 pounds in the squat rack.” If you fail to do so you will not be allowed to continue.
• Must submit a 100-300 word update each week talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly of your transformation that will be posted on TheFitCast.com along with your photos. If you fail to do so you will not be allowed to continue.
• ONLY 5-8 People ACCEPTED DEPENDING ON DEMAND.

How we Decide the Winner

• There will be a voting format put together soon.
  

PRIZES

• 1st Place: Kodak HD Pocket Camcorder Zi6
• 2nd Place: Iron Gym Extreme Pull Up System and 1 Tub of Ultra Peptide Pro (International contestants will get a copy of The FitCast Insider and an Ebook (will be offered a choice of 4 or 5 books)
• 3rd Place: FitCast T-shirt and Sweatshirt

Now it it time to ask yourself the question: Do you want to be accountable and finally obtain the body and physique you desire? Let’s find out together.

BONUS: Video of me talking about the Iron Gym Extreme:

It has been a long time since I have done a Destination Abs update. Too long. Some have even e-mailed me to ask me what the hell was going on with this project Leigh and I set out on 9 or so months ago. Well, I took some time off from counting calories and worrying about every single calorie I consumed. It seemed like it was much needed, but after regressing a bit, and putting on some more muscle, Leigh and I think it is time to rev up the engines again for one more 16-20 week journey to reach our Destination.

January 13, 2009

Another long break in between posts. That is what happens when I am working on so much other stuff behind the scenes. Anyways… Now just a recap for those that missed it. I had a bit of a slip up over the holidays. I was suppose to have a 4-day refeed at about 5,000 kcals/day. I was probably up towards 6,500. And I went 5 days instead of 4. I really have not excuse. I could say that I am human, but I just got weak. Plan and simple. There is no doubt that Leigh’s info in The Fat Loss Trouble Shoot and Body By Eats works. It got me from this to this.What was the real issue? Getting out of my routine. Not going into work really messed me up.

You will eat better if you are going to be out in public or around your peers, especially in this industry. Period. So when that added accountability wasn’t there, the shit hit the fan.

I have been back on track for about two weeks (minus a little extra eating on Saturday with some family and friends while out). Feeling a lot better. I talked to Leigh and after the first phase of the Redux, we can to a few conclusions.

1. I personally can’t do four day refeeds. It was just too habit forming (sounds like a drug…) and too difficult to break.

2. I want one meal per week while doing this. Something that will fill me up. Something that will come on Saturday night after training. I am talking BBQ turkey tips with lots of vegetables. Mentally it gives me something to look forward to each week and will keep me sane and more importantly, sociable.

Being social is important if you are on a diet or are a regular at the half price wing night. I literally didn’t want to go out sometimes because I knew I wouldn’t get to eat with the rest of my friends. I would be ordering water after water or would be portioning a chicken Cesar salad without dressing.

Will this approach make the goal take longer to achieve? Yes. But for now until I am ready to go all out again, is what I will be doing.

Next week I am going to go into how the training has changed and where we go from here. Until then here is a video of some of the battling rope circuits I am doing:

Questions Anyone?

That wraps it up for this week’s blog, let me know if you guys have any questions in the comments section and I will do my best to answer them.

If you are liking what you see here and want to jump in as well check out Leigh’s book The Fat Loss Troubleshoot and her new book Body By Eats.

Click here to view the embedded video.

(Quick Edit: The audio version will still be available each week on this site and on iTunes)

Bear with me…

I am running off about 4 hours of sleep and it is 11pm right now.
The last few days have been very busy for me with my full time job
coaching and training clients as well as the things I have been
doing outside of work for The FitCast. So…Here it is, what is to
come…

Here is a video talking about what we are going to be doing in a
little more detail: http://bit.ly/8xDzCb

So in short here is what we are doing.

From now on all episodes will be LIVE and in streaming VIDEO
through USTREAM.TV. I also hope to offer a download of the video
via iTunes by this weekend so you can watch the show on your iPod,
iPhone, computer, ect.

This also means that we can now do something even more beneficial
for you. VIDEO MAIL BAG!!! Yep! Now you can e-mail us a video or
post it on YouTube and we will answer it live!

Think about it, you can send us a video of yourself squatting and
we can actually analyze it to help answer your questions. Got a
cool new exercise and want to share? We can do that too!

We are accepting video questions immediately, just send the video or
link to: thefitcast@gmail.com

Please let us know what else you would like from The FitCast in
2010! Thank you so much for your support these last 3+ years!

The first group of episodes are going to focus on a very popular topic as we head into the new year. Fat Loss. We have had on some of the best and brightest in the field who have a reputation of getting people to drop pounds of body fat. Here is my list of must listen fat loss episodes:

1. Anything with Alwyn Cosgrove: This includes Episode 14, Episode 82, and Episode 151. The author of The New Rules of Lifting has come on consistently to drop knowledge bombs of immense proportions. Alwyn being one of the most entertaining guests is purely a bonus.

2. The Destination Abs Podcasts: You may have heard that Leigh Peele and I have been working on this project titles: Destination Abs. Along with a (mostly) weekly blog update, we have done a few audio podcasts to answer questions from the listeners. Here are the two interviews: Episode 129 and Episode 159.

3. Tom Venuto’s Episodes: Tom is one of the best, if not the best, when it comes to talking fat loss realistically. Tome first came on the show on Episode 100, Episode 116, and Episode 146. We also hit on bodybuilding, fructose, and other topics that surround body composition.

4. John Berardi’s Episodes: John Berardi was one of our first guests on the show back on Episode 5. That was three years ago! On that first episode JB talked to John Williams and I for 90 minutes about nutrition, super shakes, green tea, greens plus and more. He returned four more times on Episode 25, Episode 46 (With Dave Tate), Episode 100 (with Tom Venuto), and Episode 134.