Ok…I am really upset, sad, pissed off and outright confused right now.  As I enjoy spending time with my family doing random things like playing baseball, running around the park, swimming or whatever, I am seeing more and more kids that are ridiculously overweight. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!!!!?  Well of course I know, these kids are eating more than they are burning off, but why the hell is this happening.  How does a parent allow their kid to be obese?  I really don’t know how to wrap my head around it.  Am I being totally off base here?  I am obviously somebody that does not judge anybody by their weight or for any other reason.  That is why I started Novato Adventure Boot Camp in the first place, because I wanted to help more people be healthy and lose weight in a much grander scale than just doing one on one personal training in Novato.

According to the Center for Disease Control, obesity has doubled in kids aged 2-5 since 1980.  OBESE 2-5 YEAR OLDS!!!!!!!  In kids ages 6 – 11 the rate has over tripled to over 19%  Now I completely understand that there is the possibility for kids to be physically sick which causes there obesity, but clearly this isn’t the case.

I think that there are several factors that go into this huge problem.

1. The kid’s parents are obese – We do what we know….these kids have the same exact eating and exercise habits as their parents leading to overeating and under-exercising.  Does that make it OK?  Is this child abuse?  Would it be any different if we overdosed our children on cough syrup?  You might say, “Yes Carlos, but they could die if they overdosed on cough syrup.”  Well, you don’t think they will die from diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, etc.?  Or here is another example, what if a parent didn’t feed their child very often and they went to school severely malnurished, underweight and pale.  Correct me if I am wrong, but don’t you think that a teacher may make it a point to figure out what is going on.  Why won’t they do this with an obese child?

2. Marketing from huge food manufacturers are deceiving – There is so much crappy food out their that the food makers are making to look healthy.  They throw garbage on the front of the box that says “GREAT SOURCE OF VITAMIN D” or some BS like that (see below).  Then a parent that isn’t savvy in this type of marketing buys the food and feeds it to their kids thinking that it is doing something great for their kid while it is really hurting them in the long run.

To the left you see Pop Tarts, which on the front says, “Good Source of 7 Vitamins and Minerals” and “Made With Real Fruit”.  ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!  Every time you toast up a package of these sugary treats (two Pop Tarts) your kid will be eating 400 calories, 38 grams of sugar, 76 grams of carbohydrates.  For one meal it will surely make your kid hungry in about 15 minutes.  Now lets look at the picture below at what 400 calories of another meal would consist of:  6oz. chicken breast, 2 Tbs. barbecue sauce, 1 cup of mixed vegetables, 1/2 cup of brown rice, a small green salad and 2 tbs. of  reduced fat oil and vinegar dressing.  Now I know that we aren’t comparing breakfast with breakfast but hopefully you get the point.

To the right you see Reeses Puffs cereal.  Right at the top it says that it is whole grain and has 12 vitamins and minerals as well as good source of calcium.  I am not going to do all of the details with this one, but let me tell you…it is garbage to feed our children.

3. Kids aren’t active like they used to be – I remember when I was a kid my mom would send me outside to play and told me not to come back until it was dinner time.  My brother and I ran around with our neighbors for hours playing kick the can, riding our bikes, wrestling in the grass or whatever.  Now the entertainment is movies and the latest version of whatever video game is hot at the time.

I can go on ranting about this all day, but the fact of the matter is that it is evident everywhere we go that our kids are getting fatter by the day.  We can either do something about it by eating better and get out and moving more (perhaps a family walk around the neighborhood), or we can do nothing and continue to watch our kids suffer the life of being sick and fat.  We have a responsibility to care for our children and part of that is making sure they are healthy.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this, so leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

Have a healthy day!

Posted by Carlos Payte | in Fitness, Motivational, Nutrition, Results | 16 Comments

So I have an amazing 6 year old boy named Carter and something happened with him recently that made me want to write to you because it is a lesson that we can all learn from.  So Carter has been doing Taekwondo pretty seriously for almost two years (he also loves designing Novato Adventure Boot Camp workouts BTW).  For his age, he is REALLY good and gets admired from his peers and their parents.  About three months ago he got one of the crazy flu’s that were going around and when he got better he had no interest in doing Taekwondo. He had completely lost his motivation to go.  After several fits and complaints we all decided that he should take a break.  After several weeks off he made the decision to go back yet he wasn’t the same as he used to be.  He was going through the motions but just didn’t have the “pop” that he used to have.

After a couple of weeks of going to class the entire group of kids were asked to do their entire form (42 different moves all combined together).  Everyone started and six moves into it, Carter looked at me and said under his breath, “I don’t know it”.  Now I knew that he didn’t know it because I hadn’t seen him practice even once since he had been back into class.  It was a really sad moment for me because I had seen over the last year and a half all of the other kids looking at Carter and how well he did.  Now Carter was looking at the other kids to try and figure out his form.

It was that class that things changed.  He knew that in order to be successful at Taekwondo, he had to practice DAILY.  Five days later, he tested for his blue belt and absolutely knocked it out of the park!  The next day he went to a tournament in Rocklin and came in first place!  My little kicking and punching kid was back!

Carter with the ATA Grand Master and Chief Master

So the reason I am telling you this story is because I saw similar things when I was a personal trainer in local gyms as well as right now at Novato Adventure Boot Camp.  Some people start out all gung ho just to fizzle out six months down the road.  Health and fitness isn’t a temporary thing.  It HAS to be a lifestyle.  It needs to be something that is part of your day, just like brushing your teeth and if and when you do fall down, pick yourself up and get your butt back moving.  Stop having a pity party and do what is right for you and your family, or as I like to say to my Novato boot camp members, “Suck it up princess, this is boot camp!”  If Carter can learn this lesson and change his habits at six years old, you can definitely do it!

Comment below and let me know what challenges have been holding you back from pulling the trigger and getting yourself back into shape.

Posted by Carlos Payte | in Boot Camps, Fitness, Motivational, Results | 7 Comments

Hey there, I hope you are doing great! I am so happy that I have you to read my bi-weekly newsletters and I hope you enjoy all of the great information that I provide to you. I hope it helps you move forward with all of your fitness goals. Even though the information is fantastic, it is what you do with it that matters most. For some, you may take no action and for others you may take massive action. I want to help you reach your fitness goals so I am going to go a little crazy and so I am going to give away three separate 1 month unlimited memberships to Novato Adventure Boot Camp! Novato Adventure Boot Camp is not just a workout, it is a family and a lifestyle and I want you to be a part of it. So it is really simple, post a comment below and let me know why Novato Adventure Boot Camp is what you need.  I can’t wait to read your response and I look forward to working with you!!!

Posted by Carlos Payte | in Boot Camps, Contests, Events, Fitness | 23 Comments

I don’t think that there is any better way to start off a great holiday like the Fourth of July than running a few miles.  It was an absolute blast to have about 12 motivated Novato Boot Camp members to push themselves to get out of bed early on a holiday to run 4 miles.  The only unfortunate thing was that I wasn’t able to run with them since I tore my hamstring in a softball game….go figure.  At least I was able to be their cheerleader as they crossed the finish line.  I am so proud of all of them, especially the ones that went out of their comfort zone to do it.  For some, they improved their times by as much as 8 minutes from last year and others had a goal just to finish and run the entire time.  Great job ladies!!!

Posted by Carlos Payte | in Boot Camps, Events, Motivational | No Comments

OK, you have made your New Years Resolution, you have started exercising, but you haven’t noticed any weight loss, or maybe you have been exercising for quite a long time and you still weigh exactly the same as you did 6 months ago.  Well this is indeed a problem.  The last thing that you want to do is lose your motivation for exercising and eating right.  One of the biggest reasons that people stop trying to lose weight is because they don’t lose any weight…sounds pretty funny but that is really the case.

Here are 5 things that you may be doing wrong that are making your weight loss goals fail:

1.  You aren’t getting enough of the right exercise – it is vital in any weight loss program to include strength training and cardiovascular training.  You have to do both to make your body work to its full potential.  Just because you plopped your butt on an exercise bike for 30 minutes at a time 3 times a week, doesn’t mean that you will get great weight loss results.  Is it better than nothing…of course.  I recommend a minimum of three times per week of strength training and at least 3 days a week of cardio training.  They can even be combined in the same workout.  I do all of my strength training and cardio in approximately 1.25 hours.  You can get both here in 1 hour a day.

2.  You are sleep deprived – Not getting enough sleep can definitely make it very challenging to lose excess body fat.  In a study from the University of Chicago Medical Center they state that people who have smaller amounts of sleep can lose the same amount of weight as people that have adequate sleep.  The problem is the type of weight that they lost.  The group that had more sleep lost most of their weight from fat.  The other issue is that the group that had the least amount of sleep were subsequently hungrier caused from higher levels of ghrelin, a hormone that triggers hunger and reduces energy expenditure.  You can read the full article HERE.

3.  You are too stressed – Stress can lead to weight gain, particularly in middle aged women.  When you are stressed the body releases the hormone cortisol which has been shown to lead to fat conservation.  Not only that, but many people sooth their stress with food which just makes extra calories add up and put the extra pounds right on.

4. You are skipping meals – Skipping meals leads to spikes in your blood sugar.  When you have those spikes, the body begins to think you are starving and your metabolism slows down to a snails pace.  Fat is conserved and muscle declines.  Your muscle is your fat burning machinery.  Keep it at all costs.

5.  You are eating too much – Need I say more…well yes I do.  Don’t drink your calories!  Liquid items such as alchohol, juice, and soda are some of the quickest ways to put on extra calories without the feeling of fullness.  Think your 0 calorie diet drinks are ok?Wrong!  The sweeteners in diet soda have been shown to increase appetite, therefore you eat more food than you should.

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Posted by Carlos Payte | in Boot Camps, Exercise Tips, Fitness, Motivational, Nutrition | 1 Comment

This morning I was sitting in front of my computer struggling to come up with a catchy title for this. I was thinking – yet again – about stressing the importance of breakfast to you.

So as I sat there trying to be clever I mumbled out loud, “Breakfast is boring.”

And there you have it. That’s exactly how I came up with this title. But do NOT take this message lightly.

You see, I know you’ve heard it a million times before. “You have to eat breakfast.” And I know it’s not a super sexy message. But do you have any idea how many people I meet as a fitness professional that DO NOT eat breakfast? A lot. And do you have any idea how many of those people that don’t eat breakfast are overweight? Pretty much all of them.

Look, I’m not crazy. I know you don’t have much time in the morning. And I know many of you just aren’t all that hungry right after you wake up.

So let’s look at this another way. You get up each morning and go to work every day because you want a roof over your head and food on the table, right? Day after day after day you go to work because you want the RESULT of that effort.

Well, IF you want to burn fat, feel better and have more energy you WILL eat breakfast every morning. Period. End of discussion.

Some things are boring. Some things just have to be done to get the result you want. For those of you that want to burn fat all day long, breakfast is just one of those things.

PS – Prograde Lean ( http://bootcampnovato.getprograde.com/meal-replacement.html) is a DELICIOUS chocolate meal replacement shake that I highly recommend. It’s a perfect solution to eat for breakfast, especially if you are in a rush.

PPS – I am a Prograde Nutrition partner

Posted by Carlos Payte | in Fitness, Nutrition, Results | No Comments