befitnyc
I am happy to announce that I will be up early every Monday from now on teaching a basic Pilates mat class at 7:00 am at befitnyc. If you’ve always wanted to try Pilates, now is your chance. It’s a great way to start the week and the New Year. Let’s get fit together. Go to befitnyc.me for a full class schedule.
Fantone Fitness Fun Fitness Facts
Fitness, workout, weight-loss, nutrition, diet, cardio, exercise blah!
What is it all about? I am Jim Fantone and I am here to sort it all out for you. I have spent most of my life experimenting with my body. Yes, I have done the footwork so you don’t have to. Cook, mechanic, restaurant manager, social worker, army sergeant, karate student, personal trainer, business owner. Did I forget anything? Oh yeah, father, husband (twice), and actor. My life as a guinea pig.
My evolution has been a fun journey, but I didn’t always think that. The one thing I know from my life experiences is “I make the best of everything”.
Fitness. This has got to be one of the most challenging aspects of life. We want to look like super models but it just doesn’t seem to work out that way (pun intended). Why is it so hard to have a six-pack? What is the elusive ingredient to losing weight? How do “they” do it? Well, if you’re reading this, maybe, you’re ready for the warm firm facts.
Fantone Fitness Fun Fitness Facts!
#1. “Your stomach is about the size of both of your hands held out in front of you cupped together like a bowl. It’s your body’s fuel tank. It is the right size for your body. In a car, if you overfill your gas tank, it will spill out on the ground, wasting the gas. In your body, the fuel doesn’t spill out. The body saves it as FAT!” Make sure you’re not over-filling your tank.
#2. If you want to get in shape, take some time every day to do something physically challenging. Every day! That could be going to the gym, going for a run, riding your bike, yoga, aerobic class, push-ups, walking lunges, jumping jacks, toss a frisbee, or chase your cat or dog around. The key is to do something “Every Day”. Yes, every day. You can play every day, it’s OK.
#3. People always ask me “how do you get a six-pak?” The truth is everyone has the six-pack muscles. They are already a part of every body. You couldn’t move properly without them. The problem isn’t in the muscle, it’s in the “stuff” that’s covering the muscle. You guessed it, “body-fat!” So the goal is to reduce body-fat between the skin and those lovely abs. How to do that? Ahh, the million dollar question. If I had a buck for every time…anyway.
Here’s my “plan”. That’s what I call it. Time to get back on the “Plan”
Eat clean. Eat real foods, not processed. Soda is processed, get used to drinking water. Just do it! Eat single ingredient foods like vegetables, fruit, lean meats, eggs or egg whites. Eat nuts and seeds in moderation (and if you can’t do moderation, leave the nuts alone). If you are vegetarian, you know where to get your protein. Eat foods as they come from nature, not scientifically engineered products. And do not add salt! You’ll get used to it. You know this stuff. You keep hearing it over and over, but you don’t want to believe it. Well, it’s true. Eat healthy and exercise at least moderately, and I guarantee you will lose body-fat. If you do, those lovely six-pak muscles will be working their way to the surface. Maybe slowly, but one day, Pow! There they are. You’ve got a six-pack. If I can do it, so can you.
Fantonefitness Fun Fitness Fact #4
Love handlesare from loving junk food. Crunches won’t affect them. Only a better diet will. Oh yeah, and some exercise to burn calories will help too. Keep it simple.
Fantone Fitness Fun Fitness Fact #5 Plan to Succeed.
Have a plan of what you’ll eat today. Don’t wait until its a last minute decision and you end up eating “Fast Food”. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Eat healthy.
Fantone Fitness Fun Fitness Fact #6
After your workout is the best time to eat a high quality meal. Your body is craving nutrition. Eat within 1 ½ hours after your workout for the best results.
That’s a good question. Everyone I know wants to look good. Looking good is a part of being fit because generally if you look good, you feel good. I think that most people are trying to accomplish the “looking good thing” by the easiest method they can find. That’s why there are so many ridiculous products and gimmicks out there that promise to make us look good.
News flash…It’s and inside job!
You don’t need supplements. You don’t need the newest piece of worthless equipment sold for $19.95. And you don’t need plastic surgery!
You must take responsibility for everything in your life. That’s right, grow up. Fitness is an attitude. It’s a belief in yourself and a desire to get better. It takes an open mind and a willingness to learn. If you think you already know everything and don’t want to listen to new ideas, you are doomed to the same results you’ve been getting all of your life. Yes, it’s about change. Change is good. If you’re thinking, “I don’t like change”, I’m talking to you.
One of the problems I encounter when training people is their old ideas about fitness. If I stop working out, will my muscle turn into fat? What kind of abdominal exercises will get rid of this fat around my middle? It’s not good to work out every day is it? All fat is bad for you, right?
Willingness is the key. It opens the lock of our old habits and patterns. If we are willing to put some old ideas aside and try to begin working from the inside out, we will be surprised at the way our minds and bodies evolve. That’s what fitness means to me. It is a willingness to try something new that might just change the way I see things. My attitude about fitness has changed over the 25 years I have been in the business. First, it was all about getting “big”. Then about being lean and getting a six-pack. Then because of some over-use injuries, I became aware of a more functional approach to exercise. I experimented with vegetarianism, fasting, and eating like a “hunter/gatherer”. The bring-it-home message? Change is good. Evolution happens when we are pushed out of our comfort zone. Willingness to be uncomfortable.
If you want fitness, you must be willing to change. Change is good.
Fantone Fitness 