Category Archives: SUPPLEMENTS
Blogs, reviews & more coming soon! Subscribe to this blog to be the first to read reviews on some of the hottest new products including 50 Cent’s StreetKing & GNC Raw!
Feed with Purpose
In a “perfect world”, I’d be 6’2″ and ripped no matter what I ate – and I could beat up any 0ne I wanted. Oh yeah, and all slower cars would never ride in the left hand passing lane. BUT, we don’t live in a perfect world. So how does this relate to PFOOD?
In a perfect world, everything we put in our mouths would serve a purpose in regards to our body’s needs. Our body looks at food primarily as a fuel source, but also as building blocks to restore degraded tissue. Lets “digest” this for just a second. Everything we eat should have purpose, either to help fuel or rebuild the body. So the questions we must ask are “What are we fueling for?” and “What tissue is being broken down?”.
FUEL
Our bodies need the proper fuel if we want to perform at our best. If it’s just another day at the office, and you are eating pancakes and Big Macs you may not even notice the havack you are reaping deep inside. But, when you call on your body to perform at its best, you’ll probably see that Big Mac for a second time. Ewwwww! We must decide what our goals are.
Short example: If you’re running at a moderate pace for an extended period of time, and your reason for doing this is to lose stored fat, you might be better served running on an almost empty stomach to force your liver to make glycogen out of previously stored energy (fat). However, if your goal is to do wind sprints to work the legs in an explsoive way and increase your performance in regards to speed, your body will be better served with energy that can be used for this purpose, like carbohydrates. (and I’m not talking about donuts and snickers bars)
REBUILD
Exercise degrades tissues. All tissues and organs of the body are affected in some way, even bone. It is super important that we feed these tissues and organs what they need to not only repair, but also to “rebuild even stronger” post workout.
One of the reasons we train, and compete is to get better. Apart from skill aquisition, our perfromance will not increase unless we “rebuild the body” This subject is immence and can be discussed for a very long time, so lets keep it simple. Refuel your body with what it needs to repair and rebuild the tissues you want to make stronger and healthier. If you want to restore fat, eat fat. If you want to restore muscle, eat lean protein. Without a doubt, timing your feeding of certain substrates is of the utmost imortance. See PfitPfundamental blog: Fat vs Muscle Part 1
PERFORM
The above was just a quick explanation as to why I added more carbohydrates into my diet. I have been focussing on creating more explosive power and less focus on leaning out. It’s a sacrifice, but my body needs the calories when I am fighting so I wont “gas” out and fatigue. My purpose for fuel has slightly changed. I need the extra glycogen to fuel me when I am grappling but the risk is.. unused fuel will get stored as fat.
Here’s how I’ve been fueling up lately…
Try some of the Beyond Raw supplements from GNC
and take your training to the next level.
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this Campaign. All opinions are my own.
The WHY will Determine the HOW!
If you are taking the time to read this you probably are somewhat of an exercise enthusiasts. Or at least someone who is willing to invest some time researching and reading other people’s feelings and philosophies about training. This blog is just some insight into purposeful training. We should all train with a goal in mind. Mindless, pointless, goalless training is just a waste of time.
Don’t get me wrong, Saturday nights I go to my club after hours and workout like a fiend (had help to spell this by the grammar police) for no other reason than to spill my guts talking out loud to all my multi-personlaities. My point, however, is for us to meet our goals, our training should have purpose.
Recently, I decided to train for three different events. In the next few months, I will compete in bodybuilding, triathlon, and MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). Many exercises cross over within each discipline. Obviously, if I want to walk on stage for the Bodybuilding Show with six-pack abs, I will have to spend some time doing sit ups. Also, if I want to sweep or switch positions when ground fighting I will have to work my abs doing sit ups as well.
The purpose of doing sit ups when I am fighting is to get up powerfully and fast, and the purpose of doing sit-ups for a bodybuilding show is completely for aesthetics. Training abs for a triathlon will no doubt be helpful to strengthen my core for swimming as well. The difference is the purpose behind the exercise.
The purpose of doing the exercise based on the goal will change the rhythm, the intensity, the repetition, the rest period, and almost every other aspect of the exercise. I will train abs completely different for each contest, but I will still employ many of the same exercises.
How I do the exercises will be determined by what my goal for doing them shall be. Before training, determine what it is you want to get out of the exercise. Do some research and then execute the routine. Don’t just randomly go for a run. What is it you want to get from “your run”. Weight loss, increased speed, increased endurance, or just to clear your head? The why will determine the how.
Train hard!!!!
Supplements That Give Me An Edge:
GNC Mega Man vitamins
KreAlkaline 1500
Beyond Raw Refine
Beyond Raw Ravage
Designer Whey Protein
Beyond Raw Reforge
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this Campaign. All opinions are my own.
STEVE EATS: My Meal & Supplement Plan
When it comes to taking your training, performance and physique to a higher level, nutrition, training, rest and supplementation are critical. The amount of information that is available for these “critical” corner stones of fitness is immense. I feel it is important for people who are serious about changing there lives and becoming more fit to have a forum that will share basic principals that are tried and true. No doubt there are many different philosophies on training that actually work. Just like there are many types of diets and nutritional supplements that are proven to bring about results.
What you must do as a “seeker” of a more fit life is look at all these ideals that actually work, and look at everything they have in common. I trust the Beyond Raw line for two reasons. The science behind the products is extensive and sound but, mostly, I trust it because I tried the supplements and they gave the results they boasted. With this in mind I thought I would share my current diet.
This is not an experiment, this is my actual diet I am using as I train for a crazy upcoming schedule of tournaments. Bodybuilding, 1/2 iron man, and a MMA tournament. As I get closer to each event I will tweak the diet, but the core of this eating program will remain the same. The only fluctuation in this that isn’t written below is my coffee intake. Lets just say that it’s absolutely ridiculous. I also included how I would change the intake for a female trying to lean out and maintain muscle mass. Check it out, I hope it is helpful. Feel free to change protein sources, and switch veggies around as long as the nutritional profiles are similar. Enjoy….
NOTE: This is not a prescribed diet. I am not a dietician. I am just sharing with you how I eat to get the results I want for my body.
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this Campaign. All opinions are my own.
Putting Supplements to the Test: Performance Vs. Physique
Here we go again.
The story began 5 months ago when I had an opportunity to try a line of supplements from GNC. It wasn’t a challenge as much as it was an experiment. I used this 90 day experiment to get ready for a few media events that BCX was contracted to complete. If you read my story you already know how aprhensive I was to rely on a new, and unknown, supplement regimine. Any trainer or nutritionist will tell you, training and diet is extremely important – but we were talking about taking it to the extreme. You know, I’m talking about the last little bitty pounds…. the ”miniscule” amount of water and fat that seems impossible to rid our butt and gut of. So, tried and true was the extreme transformation, it was truly “Beyond Raw”. So what now?
Physique vs Performance
I saw my physique change, but what about performance. Aesthetics is one thing, but what could Beyond Raw do to how my body could perform? My “huckleberry”, Alfonso Morreti (AKA “The Angry Trainier”) and I are not afraid to put our phsysiology on the line to give you guys answers. He and I are average Joe’s with a passion for results. We want to know what works – and what is just fluff. No doubt, Beyond Raw can chisel a 42 year old body, but can it take this physique to a level of performance that normal biology would deem, EXTREME?
I want to know if Beyond Raw can increase performance – and if so, in what disciplines. I know I can get leaner and build muscle at the same time – proved that already. Now I want to know, can these supplements make me stronger, more powerful, faster, create endurance, increase repair, and maintain leaness?
I want to know what discipline of exercise, in what arena’s, and what environments, could these supplements be employed to take both aesthetics and performance to a level that is Beyond Raw. (side note… every time I write “BEYOND RAW”, in my head, I say it like an announcer with a really deep voice).
My next experiment:
I plan to test the limits of GNC’s Beyond Raw line beyond aesthetics. To put these supplements to the test, we will see what they can do to take this physique from competing against aesthetics of body building in july, to a ½ Iron Man in September, to a MMA tournament in October. For some, this may not be crazy. But I promise this is already sounding insane to me – “beyond insane”. I havn’t competed in body building in over 6 years, I have no experience with marathons or tri’s (NONE!), and I just started training in mma late last year.
My goal is to “compete and complete” each tournament. Semper Persevera… never give up!!!!
Stay Tuned…
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this Campaign. All opinions are my own.
Beyond-Raw Journal “FINALE”
Who wants to try something new when it really counts? That’s exactly what GNC and FitFluential asked me to do. GNC asked me to use this amazing new line of products they call their “Beyond-Raw” line to get ready for my next event. Normally I would accept and try anything with no reservation… EXCEPT this time I really needed to be in tip-top condition. Not just for photos, but Bonnie and I and a group of nationally recognized trainers were leading a Fitness Retreat in Cancun Mexico (pictured below) for Fit Studio and My destination wellness.
As a trainer, on-lookers compare what you are saying by living it. In other words, our words are validated by our physiques. There are no excuses when you talk the talk but can’t walk the walk. So I had my reservations. I didn’t want to be judged a hypocrite if this “stuff” just didn’t work. I know how to dial in my training, and I know how to tweak my diet down to the last calorie. I can cut 12 pounds of water in 6 hours… but what was I thinking when I told GNC -DAN to send the Beyond-Raw supplement to Florida? It was on. Didn’t help that I was starting this “experiment” at the heaviest and softest I’ve been in over 6 years. Or that I only had 2 months to drop about 20 pounds or 6% body fat. But a deal is a deal… It had better work.
The first month I cut back on the calories and began the supplementation and immediately I lost about 5 pounds in the first two weeks. I was floored. I was thinking to myself, this is a cakewalk. AND THEN…. n o t h i n g… for the next month. I couldn’t get the scale to move. I resorted back to a body composition report and realized… my body fat was indeed decreasing as I lost 3 more pounds of fat but gained 3 pounds of muscle. I’m almost 42 years old. I haven’t gained muscle in over 6 years. I redid the body comp every day for a week because I thought I was dreaming. I dropped from almost 13% body fat to 9.1 in less than a month. This gave me a fever to push as hard as I could. The discipline to eat and supplement perfectly was effortless because I was seeing my body respond daily. Don’t get me wrong, after the initial loss, I was discouraged, but after the body comp showed the mass gain… I was sold out for the “Beyond Raw” line. I wanted all I could get.
The question is, after your training, after your nutrition, how much can supplementation really do??? Listen; genetics, training and nutrition can only take you to the edge. When you are ready to jump, you better be packing “Beyond-Raw“.
Before & After:
Here are my “RAW” pics – and a couple photos from a photo shoot I took the same weekend as my after shot.
Here’s what I did:
I started my day, training or no training, with one scoop of RE-GROW. In short, this protein is formulated to increase lean muscle anabolism and decrease lean catabolism. If we can train hard and not break down muscle, and still stimulate growth… then I want more.
Next I would take Re-Fine before training. If I wasnt weight training I’d take Re-Fine before conditioning, even if it was yoga. What I loved about this pre-workout thermogenic is I was able to stay focused during the rush. Didn’t notice the fat loss until it mattered most. From 9% to 6% it was completely apparent.
I used the Re-Power as a recovery drink. The BCAA are made to absorb fast and preserve muscle, and prepare them for the next bout of intense training. It is one of those supplements that you can feel working to repair muscle. The last supplement was the most confusing for me, and the one that forced me to do a little research to understand the mechanisms at work.
Re-forge is taken at bed time. Anyone who schools themselves on rest and repair is aware of how important our endocrine function is at night. This is when our body is re-pairing and re-building the cells that we spent brutalizing all day. Re-Forge is what is responsible to encourage our body to release the right hormones and enzymes to maximize repair and lean muscle growth during our sleep cycle.
So there it is… My Journey that took me “Beyond-Raw“. The before and afters were for me only, but a picture is worth a thousand words. When you have gotten every ounce of muscle out of your training and nutrition, i hope you do your self a favor and try “Beyond-Raw” it’s truly “BEYOND-RAW“
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HOW TO “NOT” START A DIET
So, you wanna start a diet and get skinny. Well hooray for you, good luck with that… nooo, don’t get mad… Just say’n…
OK, I’m sorry. My sarcasm stems from years and years of trying to drive this “how to”, point home. After 3 health clubs, 2 weight loss reality tv shows, thousands of twitter and Facebook friends, and most importantly… my own life, this is what I’ve learned…
ITS HARD AS A “MOFO” TO LOSE WEIGHT!!!!!!!
How do we bear down, draw a line in the sand, and say NO MORE? Wellllll…
The truth is, almost all cold-turkey diets don’t last!
Here is what I mean…
This is what I call “the evolution of a diet”.
1. First, we try purge our house of everything tempting, unhealthy, or non-conducive to a new diet. (most of us now will polish off the rest of our ….fill in the blank… , beer, ice cream, Doritos.. instead of throwing it, or giving it, away)
2. Then we research and grocery shop for the “healthy alternatives”. Try to fill our houses with healthy foods and snacks. (shopping for any and everything that we can eat a dump truck load of and not get fat, instead of realizing, we must learn to eat a little less of everything)
3. Research diets. (Monday, we are going to get a shot of, only god knows what, and eat 500 calories)
4. Join a gym. (We might even hate working out, but all the magazines say we need to workout because lean muscle will burn calories while I sleep)
… Are you getting the point yet? This is a recipe for disaster. Yes, more than likely you will lose weight, maybe even hit your goals, BUT, you will have to change your belief system about food and activity if you ever plan to keep the weight off. 98% of all people, even if they hit their goals, will gain their weight back, and then some.
So what should we do:
Here are some very realistic ways to begin to develop a lifestyle change that will lead to a healthy and successful diet conducive to weight loss and fuelling our performance in or out of the gym.
Week one: Educate and become aware.
As you are eating this week, research your calories; become aware of everything you are putting in your mouth. Decide what really taste good, and decide what you might be able to do without. Also become aware of when you might be eating for taste or actual hunger. Sometimes we just have to suck-it-up-just-be-hungry !
Week two: Purge the naughty.
Only purge the things that you deem a waste. The foods and candies that you know will destroy every attempt at a healthy diet. Continue to research healthy alternatives or substitutions for some of your vices. Try not to binge other foods as a replacement.
Week three: Actual “diet” begins.
I would be surprised if you havn’t noticed a slight change in your waist and a bump in your mood, but even if you havn’t… “STAY THE COURSE” It’s about to get fun… Week three you must begin to look at the amount of food that you are consuming and compare it to what you are burning. This means math… I know I hate math too. The Harris-Benedict Formula will give you an estimate of your Basal Metabolic rate (calories burned at rest).
| BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) – ( 6.76 x age in years ) |
| BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) – ( 4.7 x age in years ) |
Multiply this times our activity level and we can get a close estimate of calories burned per day.
| Little to no exercise | Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.2 |
| Light exercise (1–3 days per week) | Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.375 |
| Moderate exercise (3–5 days per week) | Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.55 |
| Heavy exercise (6–7 days per week) | Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.725 |
| Very heavy exercise (twice per day, extra heavy workouts) | Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.9 |
As long as you eat fewer calories than that number, you will lose weight. Unless you weigh and measure your food (not forever… just until you get a grip on portions and calories) you will never know how many calories you are taking in. After you determine calories out and calories in, you can determine if and how fast you will lose some excess body weight. This is the week you must begin to decrease your portions. Change the way you think! That slight hungry feeling is your body wanting to be skinny, it is the feeling of your beautiful body burning gobs of fat. Please embrace that small hunger feeling, do not chase it away with a burrito.
Week four: proteins, fats, carbs…
now the most delicate part of this “blog Vomit”. How do I make sure I’m losing fat and not muscle? You have to determine where the calories you are eating are coming from. There are a lot of great sites online for this, but you must still know your portions to get correct data. My suggestion for anyone starting a diet and isn’t sure… if you are trying to decide between High protein, or low carb’s, or no fats, let’s just start with equal amounts (in calories) for all of these. In other words, 33% of your calories coming from every substrate except, of course, alcohol… so on a 1200 calorie diet, you could eat 400 calories of protein, 400 calories of carbs, and yes… 400 calories of fats. Don’t make this crazy hard, or what I call majoring-in-the-minors . Its’s just one meal at a time…
GNC Beyond Raw Seriously Motivating Video
If this doesn’t motivate you, I don’t know what will. This is the new line of products I’m on, (which I love by the way!)
Beyond Raw Journal: The 4-Week Mark
I love this challenge before me… To get shredded abs and not lose any lean mass, while becoming faster, stronger, and harder. It reminds me of the intricacies of training and diet.
So often we train and eat off of feelings and moods, only noticing huge unmeasurable changes. Only when those changes push the confines of our “gross” (meaning large and ambiguous) parameters do we stop and take notice.
For instance, instead of doing a body composition to measure my body’s relationship of size, weight, and fat ratio to muscle, I wake up one day and can’t button my jeans, my shirts are tighter (and not in the biceps), or I am huffing and puffing trying to get through a normal cardio workout. So what gives?
Many of us don’t notice phenomenal changes in our bodies, whether good or bad, until they push past whatever limits we measure “our status quo”, by..ie. tight jeans. By the time your clothes become noticeably uncomfortable, you could have gained 15-20 pounds. Sometimes it’s seeing yourself in a picture that a friend just posted on Facebook and itlooks like you are hiding nuts in your mouth for winter. Depositing a little fat here, and a little fat there, begins to creep up on you until the “DAY OF RECKONING”. The day you take a good and honest look at yourself and say “WTflip”
That day for me ,was 4 weeks ago now. As I prepair for FitStudio’s Mexico Body Camp (which by the way you TOTally need to ENTER to WIN), I decided “enough!“. I researched some ideas for diet and training and supplementation and decided to dRAW a line in the sand. I started by going back to a diet that works, Mostly meats (fish, turkey, and chicken) and vegetables with “measured” occasional carbohydrates in the morning for fuel. I also wanted to take my training up a notch, which in turn, would have to be supported by quality supplementation.
For training, I am leaning on slightly more intense strength training, and four days a week of intense BCx (strenuous conditioning program). But what about supplementation? I am getting my fuel, calories, and training squared away, so the biggest piece of the puzzle is rest and RE-building. What we wreck during our training, must be RE-paired. Understand the way we get stronger, fitter, and faster is by punishing and overwhelming our bodies physically, to the point that “forced adaptation” must occur – if your body wants to survive the carnage you have planned in tomorrows workout. If you don’t push your body past the limits you can already accommodate, there is no primal need for any physiological changes to occur, like fat loss and muscle gain. But after a brutal workout, it is imperative that you RE-feed and rest your body on a physiological level. Taking supplements that will drive your cells to RE-pair, RE-store, and adapt. I believe I can say after 4 weeks, and some trial and error, I am really loving the brand new Beyond Raw products coming soon to GNC.
At first I was hoping to see my weight drop drastically. I did not. I was wanting to see my jeans fall off of me after at least a week of starting my diet. They did not. What is happening is even more interesting. My weight has only dropped 5 pounds. I peaked at 203 and I am down to 197.7. My body fat is at 10% which is only down 1.5%, however, this is the leanest I have ever been this close to 200 pounds. I have gained 3 pounds of muscle and lost 3 pounds of fat. I have 6 more weeks to tweak the diet and come down 10 more pounds of fat, and to start to decrease my waist size again. The biggest change I have noticed is my performance in the gym. I turn 42 this year and I am lifting for more reps and heavier weights than I did in my 30′s. During my bouts at BcX, I am keeping up with guys that I out weigh by 30 pounds.
It feels like I have the strength of a 250 pound gorilla and the agility of a 25-year-old athlete. I have seen this improvement over just 4 weeks. 
The next 6 weeks, as I restrict more calories, I (and you too, if I get the cahonies to post a pic) will see me maintain these adapted gains and decrease my bodyweight to show a body fat % of about 6. The goal is to be able to perform and lift with the same intensity at 6% body fat, as I am now at 10%, with no change in strength or energy. So-far the RAW line has not let me down… 6 weeks to go!!!!
MEXICO OR BUST!
Enter to WIN a free trip to Riviera Maya and workout with us at one of the most amazing all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, El Dorado Royal!! FitStudio, powered by Sears, will be making 14 people very happy this spring! 7 winners will receive 2 tickets for an amazing fitness vacation experience with all of us at FitStudio!! ENTER NOW!
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Beyond Raw week one
Week one of my GNC Beyond Raw experiment started off perfectly. By day 3 of week one I was on fire. The supplement synergy was kicking. I was feeling how the products in this line were starting to work together. Placebo? maybe… but I don’t care at this point, because even if a “placebo feeling” leads to “factual action”, I’m all in.
Fast forward to day 4. Much like my golf game, the wheels fell off. Missed my REFINE supplement, which is the thermogenic in this line, got distracted, had a few business meetings and had to shoot some workouts for one of the companies Bonnie and I work for. I could go on and on with excuses. Needless to say, missed some meals, workouts, post workout shakes, and this led to me taking the gloves off and just saying… forget it till next week! So I chalk this first week up to getting familiar with the supplements, when to take them, when to train, getting my nutrition and my training scheduled on track. I will consider the first week as a trial run, and most important, I’m not going to let it defeat me. I will hit the training and supplements better this week.
What I learned is, in the first three days I felt my training gain intensity, and I was encouraged. This week I will protect my schedule from erroneous crap that will detour my goals of getting in shape by April. The take home for those reading… I don’t care if you have to restart your diet and training 100 times, as long as when you get knocked down, you get up again. Week two… get-r-done!
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
“Mikey” He’ll try anything
Remember back to the mid 1970′s, there was the LIFE CEREAL commercial about “Mikey”. He was the boy who would eat anything. Well, when it comes to health and nutrition, I am your “Mikey”. If you told me honey badger feces’ would make me stronger, faster, fitter, with no side effects, then I would find a way to cook it, drink it, or smoke it.
As a skeptic, I am a tad bit negative when it comes to speaking the truth. I seem to always start off with a pessimistic attitude towards new supplements, fitness gadgets, shoes, etc… But I’m also able to keep an open mind and give credit where credit is due. Recently I have been approached by GNC to try out their newest line of products that GNC will be launching this year, the, BEYOND RAW line.
GNC must have complete confidence in these products if they are going to bring these products and promises into my house, as they fully know I am going to bash them if their promises are empty. My credibility to review supplements and the pursuance of truth is dependent on my opinion staying independent from what GNC’s hopes and feelings are. With that being said, I am also putting my body and health in their hands for 60 days.
I have some big shoots and shows coming up, and by April, I need to look and perform at my best, and at 41, I ain’t getting any younger. I will let the pictures and video’s speak for themselves. In the off-chance you see me shirtless, don’t be a douschtard and call me fat, I’m very sensitive like that… must be my “metro side”… but for proving or disproving the efficacy of the BEYOND RAW line, I’m willing to take my clothes off.
The Pros:
I’ve never seen a company so pursuant of filling a need of their clients as the research and development GNC has put into this line. Another positive, I have been a student of exercise, nutrition and physiology my entire adult life, earning degrees in everything from nutrition to physical therapy. I guess I’ve always been my own science project, as I applied my education to my training, diet and contest preparation over the last 20 years from mma to bodybuilding. So I have a good understanding of what it will take, apart from these supplements, to reach the level of physique necessary for the media events that are coming my way in 60 days. GNC… don’t let me down. Only time and training will tell.
The Cons:
Once I start there is no going back, my immediate future is in GNC’s hands. Change or no change, I will stay committed to the RAW program. Secondly, when it comes to taking pics without my shirt on… I’m a little bit of a girl. Lastly, if RAW doesn’t work, I will do my best to explain why, but chances of offending some very experienced researchers will be imminent.
Check back in weekly and I will take you step by step through the products and the results. Whether the results are positive, or negative…
Stay tuned… BEYOND RAW… or bust
