November 25, 2008
What Are You Thankful For?
As Thanksgiving approaches, it is a great time to reflect back on the past 6 months to a year and reflect on all the great things that have happened to us. You might be someone going through tough times right now, but even those who are going through tough times have things to be thankful for.
I have been called by some, a forever optimist and been asked if I ever get sad. The answer is yes I do, but I try not to stay in that place of sadness. Just remember, there is someone else out there in the world that has it worse than you, and life has its seasons, and everyone will experience some winters, but spring and summer is just around the corner!
I am asking you to do me a favor and reply to this post and give me 5 things that you are thankful for. This will not only help you realize all the great things that you have, but will also be an encouragement to everyone who reads the blog.
I will lead by example and give you 5 things I am thankful for!
#1 I am thankful that I have a career that I am so deeply passionate about, in which I get up each morning at 5 AM excited for the day, knowing that I just might be that one bright spot in a person’s day, or knowing that I have had an impact in a person’s life by helping them get in great shape. I am thankful for the times I lay in bed thinking of the next program or idea that I can create to help more and more people get in shape.
#2 I am thankful for a family and parents that speak the truth and isn’t afraid of offending me. (my mom has told me when she doesn’t think a blog post of mine is appropriate 
) I am also thankful that they support me in my endevours and support me as I take the path less traveled.
#3 I am thankful for a body that can take me where I want to go and allow me to experience all that this great world has to offer. I am thankful for the enormous amount of knowledge I have been able to learn about the body the past 8 years and how I am able to apply it to myself.
#4 I am thankful for my spirituality that gives me a deeper and more lasting perspective on life on earth.
#5 I am thankful for everyone of my clients that I get to see each week. They motivate me, inspire me, and keep me pumped up and encouraged! I look forward to so much more with everyone!
It was hard just to narrow it down to 5, but now it is your turn! Reply to this message and share what you are thankful for!
Keep moving,
Dustin Maher
Filed under Behavior Change by admin
November 24, 2008
What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas… unless you read on!
I just wanted to quick thank everyone for their overwhelming support of my fitness modeling contest that I just competed at in Vegas. There were over 400 competitors from around the world and over 50 guys in my class. I don’t know where I placed, but it wasn’t in the top 10. After having done a few of these shows now, I can honestly say I don’t really care too much where I place. I am more concerned about how much fun I could have through the process and the deeper understanding I have with how my body works. I believe I accomplished both of those things! I met some amazing people and look forward to competing again!
Six and a half weeks ago I started out the journey by going into a pre contest diet. I started at 194 lbs and 9% bodyfat. I ended up losing 27 lbs and weighed in at 167 lbs. I couldn’t believe that weight myself and made the hotel get me another scale to double check. I lost over 3 inches in my waist and 2 inches in my hips. I was very happy this year to keep my muscle much better and came into the show more muscular and stronger than prior years.
In the upcoming weeks I will share videos and tips that I learned from speaking with the competitors. I was so inspired by all the moms who competed. There was one women who was 52 and competing in bikini, she had a six pack, oh did I mention she has 8 kids! No that isn’t a typo 8 kids! The women who won overall bikini and beat out over 100 women happened to be a mom of a 4 month old! I couldn’t believe how fit she looked after having just given birth. These amazing women show that anything is possible when you combine proper eating, with exercise, and a strong and relentless determination to be their best! The second picture in this blog is of a 46 year old woman and her 2 sons all competing in the show. She won her age group for bikini. She has competed in over 80 shows!
I will be uploading new video in the next couple days showing you the behind the scenes and what it takes to get in competition shape. If you have any specific questions about the show, please post a comment!
Filed under Blog by admin
November 18, 2008
Workout for Baby and Mom
There are very few times in a mom’s day that allows for her to exercise (or do anything else for herself for that matter) This is especially the case when the kids are very young. Sometimes it is just best to multitask (I know you as a mom are already good at that!) and exercise WITH the baby. I am not talking gentle yoga though, I am talking exercises that will burn fat and tone muscle. Here is a clip of three exercises that you can do with your baby to tone up those muscles!
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Filed under Core Training, In the news, In-home workouts, Kids Fitness, Lowerbody toning, NBC Morning Segments by admin
November 17, 2008
If you could ask me 3 questions….
I thought for today’s post I would pose a question. Please answer this question as a comment on this blog. From these comments on the post I will begin to answer them in the upcoming weeks.
Question: If you could ask me 3 questions that you might have about fitness, nutrition, motivation, or any other health related topic, what would they be? This could be questions that you have heard different answers to or questions that you have never heard asked. I look forward to answering or finding the best answers that science and real life experience have to offer!
Keep moving,
Dustin
Filed under Uncategorized by admin
November 14, 2008
Organic Foods: Buy Some, Skip Others
I get asked all the time what my viewpoint on organic foods. I believe that I have a well-balanced approach to it, not being on one extreme or the other. One observation that I find interesting (and to me comical) are those individuals who are hard core extremist when it comes to buying ALL organic, yet they still eat lots of high sugar, high fat foods and are overweight. Buying all organic will not ensure healthiness by any means! There are so many things in this world that aren’t good for you (ie toxins) that it is impossible to avoid all of them. I believe in a balanced approach that finds the fruits and vegetables that are most susceptible to pesticides and try to buy those organic and skip on those that have very low levels of pesticides.
So here is a list of 43 fruits and veggies that have been rated for their amount of pesticides. I would recommend to buy accordingly. This study was done by Environmental Working Group (EWG) you can visit their site at www.ewg.org
|
RANK |
FRUIT OR VEGGIE |
SCORE |
|
1 (worst) |
Peaches |
100 (highest pesticide load) |
|
2 |
Apples |
96 |
|
3 |
Sweet Bell Peppers |
86 |
|
4 |
Celery |
85 |
|
5 |
Nectarines |
84 |
|
6 |
Strawberries |
83 |
|
7 |
Cherries |
75 |
|
8 |
Lettuce |
69 |
|
9 |
Grapes - Imported |
68 |
|
10 |
Pears |
65 |
|
11 |
Spinach |
60 |
|
12 |
Potatoes |
58 |
|
13 |
Carrots |
57 |
|
14 |
Green Beans |
55 |
|
15 |
Hot Peppers |
53 |
|
16 |
Cucumbers |
52 |
|
17 |
Raspberries |
47 |
|
18 |
Plums |
46 |
|
19 |
Oranges |
46 |
|
20 |
Grapes-Domestic |
46 |
|
21 |
Cauliflower |
39 |
|
22 |
Tangerine |
38 |
|
23 |
Mushrooms |
37 |
|
24 |
Cantaloupe |
34 |
|
25 |
Lemon |
31 |
|
26 |
Honeydew Melon |
31 |
|
27 |
Grapefruit |
31 |
|
28 |
Winter Squash |
31 |
|
29 |
Tomatoes |
30 |
|
30 |
Sweet Potatoes |
30 |
|
31 |
Watermelon |
25 |
|
32 |
Blueberries |
24 |
|
33 |
Papaya |
21 |
|
34 |
Eggplant |
19 |
|
35 |
Broccoli |
18 |
|
36 |
Cabbage |
17 |
|
37 |
Bananas |
16 |
|
38 |
Kiwi |
14 |
|
39 |
Asparagus |
11 |
|
40 |
Sweet Peas-Frozen |
11 |
|
41 |
Mango |
9 |
|
42 |
Pineapples |
7 |
|
43 |
Sweet Corn-Frozen |
2 |
|
44 |
Avocado |
1 |
|
45 (best) |
Onions |
1 (lowest pesticide load) |
November 4, 2008
The Secrets of goal setting
Dear Friends,
If you watched my grocery shopping video, I had mentioned I bought frozen rhubarb for my protein shakes to try it out. I HIGHLY unrecommend rhubarb in your smoothies… not only is it very stringy and gets stuck in your blender blade, but it also doesn’t taste too good.
This past Sunday at 4:30 PM was a somewhat exciting milestone for myself and fitness. For the first time in my life I was able to bench press the 100 lb dumbells. What got me even more excited was that I did this while dieting and having lost 12 lbs. Dieting will usually cause muscle loss as well.
I don’t usually share personal specific #’s and such with you, but I did for a couple reasons.
This has been a goal that I have been wanting to achieve for over 4 years, but about a year ago really set my mind to achieving it. I started to tell others about it, I set a deadline, and I even competed against my little brother with it(he beat me :(). My goal was to be able to do it before my surgery this past June, unfortunately I wasn’t quite able to do it, but I didn’t give up on the goal and the dream.
So what goals do you have in your life that you aren’t achieving? Have you ever told anybody about them? Have you set goals and failed at achieving them and no longer set goals for yourself?
Goals are so important, because without goals you don’t know where you want to go, and if you don’t know where you want to go, you won’t know how to get there. Goals are the rudder that stears the ship of your life. (wow that sounds like a Dr Phil comment)
So often people don’t make goals for themselves and then wonder why they never achieve what they want.
When you achieve a goal in your life share it with someone, sharing it will give you satisfaction and make you want to create new goals to achieve. That is why I share my triumph with you today.
So….
1. Make specific goals with deadlines.
2. Tell people around you what those goals are to keep you accountable
3. If you don’t reach your goal, set new goals and observe why you didn’t achieve those first goals.
4. Celebrate once you achieve your goal (ideally not food related)
Well this is getting long, but just wanted to get that off my chest!
Keep moving,
Dustin
Filed under Behavior Change, Mindset by dustinmaher
November 3, 2008
Fat Loss Tips: Women Need to Lift Heavier Weights
female working out with weights
I recently was on NBC talking about weight training for women and the myths that are out there regarding bulking up with weights. Lifting weights, and heavy weights at that, will build long lean muscle and won’t bulk a woman up. Female fat loss is something that has been greatly misunderstood. Watch the video and see for yourself.
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Filed under Blog by admin
