Ok, so with another week down, things are off to a great start.  My body fat has dropped over a percent, which brings it to 15.6%.  Initially, the percentage does seem to drop more significantly.  A lot of water is lost due to the change in diet. Once things begin to slow down, that is when Warren will make adjustments.  As of right now, everything remains the same. I love when that happens!

Jodi Braun & her coach Warren Fahrenfeld of Premier Fitness

I am on a real kick using the dotFIT pre/post workout protein shake and making it into a pudding.  Slowly add your water to the powder, mixing until you have found the perfect consistency.  Add a tablespoon of all natural peanut butter and a little cinnamon and put into fridge for an hour so.  The best tasting healthy snack without the guilt!!!!!!! Besides those delicious in-between meals, my diet consists of egg whites, light whole grain breads, measured amounts of fruit/veggies, turkey, chicken and complex carbs.  Condiments are used but within reason and of course meal replacement bars and shakes. Diet  is clean and using the supplements and vitamins that I do from dotFIT makes my body feel even more clean.

As far as how my workouts are progressing, I am lifting heavy as ever.  When doing chest this week, I benched 135 lbs for 4 reps. Considering that is more than what I weigh, I was thrilled with it.  Chest is one of the parts that makes me nervous but I have to say that the fear is what pushes me to do it.  I conquer it and it will only make me stronger mentally and

physically.  And considering dead lifting is new to my weekly routine, 200 lbs for 2 reps isn’t so bad either.  I will continue to lift as heavy as possible for at least a couple of weeks. Until then, anymore personal world records, I will share with all of you!!!!!

This is also going to be the first full week that I will collect data using the exerspy armband calorie and activity tracking system that works with the dotFIT Me Program.  If you have not yet looked into this program on line, check it out at www.dotFIT.com. You record and analyze activity which will then enable you to hit your target goal. I am very curious to see my progress of calories burned throughout the day as my training gets more intense and as calories are slowly cut.  This is quite an interesting tool. I will share all of my data collected with this tool and as my body begins to transform, I will share updated pictures as well.

I feel very motivated about this competition and I know a lot of it has to do with being home.  I will admit to feeling some pressure about performing well because of the fact all of my supporters will be there and I want to do right. So, my only thought has to remain throughout the next 13 weeks, which is…I am going to ROCK THAT STAGE! I have everything and everyone I could possibly have in my corner. Visualization and positivity is the key.

I say out loud to myself, “C’mon Jodi girl, you got this!”

dotFIT will be showcasing a 15 week blog series by Pro Figure Competitor and dotFIT sponsored athlete Jodi Lynn Braun. Jodi is a certified personal trainer at Premier Fitness in Nanuet, NY. Getting other people in shape is her full time job. For the next few months, getting herself in top physical condition will be an added focus. Follow along, if you dare, and see how one woman prepares for a figure competition. Her dietary strategies, workouts, feelings, trials and tribulations will all be shared. Feel like following along? Make this the guidance and inspiration you need to launch your own attack on a new you. Tune in to find out what it truly takes to achieve the toned, lean physiques you see in the magazines and share in the pain and the triumphs of Jodi’s journey to the contest stage.

Keep in mind when following Jodi’s exploits that she is a VERY experienced lifter and that many of the strategies and exercise methods she employs are extreme and exceptionally demanding. This blog series is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended to be specific advice on what to do for your porgram. As always, be sure your are medically and physically sound before beginning any exercise or nutrition program.

Week #1

Hello everyone! My name is Jodi Braun and throughout the next 14 weeks I will be sharing with you my insightful information on my transformation as I get ready for my 3rd professional figure competition. It will take place April 17th in West Nyack, New York. Premier Fitness is promoting the event and added a pro figure category. It’s very rare I get to compete on home turf where all my friends and family can be there to show support, so I am jumping on this opportunity.

I am fitness trainer at Premier Fitness and teach group fitness as well. I hold workshops getting other women ready for figure and fitness. I assist in stage presence, posing, suit choice, and more. Warren Fahrenfeld is the nutritionist/coach here. He has been the one to get me ready for each event since day 1. Using dotFIT nutrition we have been able to get my conditioning, strength and muscle mass to the next level.

dotFIT Sponsored Athlete & Personal Trainer Jodi Braun

I wasn’t really into sports when I was younger except for an occasional game of volleyball or softball. Though I enjoyed playing I never took it seriously enough to be on a team for school. I started lifting weights in college and I fell in love from there. After training myself for a couple years, I trained friends. From there I knew the gym was where I was meant to be and I began studying to be certified as a fitness trainer. I was certified with ISSA, Apex, dotFIT and next plan to  get an NASM certification. I have worked in a couple of gyms prior to Premier Fitness part-time but now this is what I do full time. I live it, breathe it, and I keep clients motivated because of it.

At the time when Warren approached me about competing, I was a member at the gym and not yet employed. I wasn’t sure if I had what it took to do it and dismissed the idea. After about a year of Warren approaching me I finally gave in and said I would give it a shot. Well, needless to say I was hooked and loved everything about it. I enjoyed the discipline needed to make it and the feeling of accomplishment when it was time to take the stage.

In 2008, at my 5th amateur figure competition, I won overall and gained professional status at the OCB Mid-Atlantic Classic in Burlington, New Jersey. It was one of the most memorable moments in my life. I made my pro debut October of 2009. I didn’t place where I would have liked to but I knew what I had to do in order to place better 6 weeks later at the Yorton World Championships. Confidence was a must and it was the hardest 6 weeks I have ever experienced. Warren had trained me for those 6 weeks and my conditioning was better than ever before. I placed 5th!!!! I was thrilled to be in the top 5 and standing with fellow women who were my role models.

So, here I am again ready to take on another journey. That’s exactly what this is and I want to make everyone at home proud! Every time I have begun another cycle of preparation I say to myself, “Okay, it’s time!!!” So here we go! With the help of dotFIT, Warren’s nutritional guidance and support from my biggest fans, it’s time to shine and that’s what I plan on doing.

Week 1 is now complete. Cardio is pretty minimal at this point and I’m still lifting pretty heavy. In about 6 to 8 weeks the type of workout will change. Every week my body fat % is monitored and my diet changes based on what Warren sees. At 15 weeks out I started at 16.9%. My goal is not to get to a certain % but more of what will it take to get my body to peak. Last competition I was at 6.5%, but with each show it varies.

I’m pretty psyched about this competition and excited to share it with all of you. Keep checking in week to week as I post each milestone that I overcome over the next few months. I hope to inspire you as I am inspired.

Jodi

If a resolution is defined as something resolved, then that means the issue is already fixed or on track to be fixed with the established solution. In other words, the term “New Year’s Resolution” is basically an oxymoron.

New Year’s Goals and Statistics

Roughly 50% of the adult population makes a New Year’s resolution (NYR), and more than half of these people give up before the end of March. Over 90% of these “resolvers” will have ditched the resolution before the end of the year. Meaning the problem was not resolved (well, at least they are ready for next year’s resolution).

The most popular NYRs should be no surprise: lose weight, exercise more and eat healthier. So the aforementioned success statistics for NYRs should not be a surprise to anyone considering over 90% of all people attempting losing weight fail to achieve their goals in the long term. In fact, most people will end up heavier than when they started, giving them the perfect reason start over again.

Nothing has worked because nothing fits

Today’s weight loss programs and current dietary and exercise guidelines obviously have not solved anything. Consider the continuous growth in overweight and obesity, which is now increasing at its fastest pace. At this rate our entire population will be overweight or obese by 2030. Also consider the irony of life being busier and forcing us to move less. We push buttons to send information around the world and to move our bodies from one place to the next. This is out of necessity; if we had to walk information or manually transport ourselves from place to place, we would be knocked back to the Stone Age. As I always like to say, we live in a world where we must “hurry up to sit somewhere else.”  Hence the double whammy: we eat more because we are always sitting (and food is there) and we move less because, well, we are always sitting. It’s the perfect recipe for continuous weight gain and the immovable barrier to achieving and maintaining weight loss. And it’s no wonder current guidelines fall on deaf ears – they don’t fit in the modern world.

Current diet and exercise guidelines for weight control compared to actual practices

These are the current recommendations for calories in (diet) and calories out (exercise):

• Calories in:

–      1600-2100 kcal per day: 3 servings whole grains, 5-9 servings fruits & veggies (select from all 5 vegetable sub-groups), very lean protein and 3 servings dairy

• Calories out:

–      60 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity a day to prevent weight gain; 60-90 minutes a day to maintain weight loss

These are our current actual practices for calories in and out:

• Calories in (top 5 foods):

–      1-Sugared beverages; 2-cake & sweet rolls; 3-hamburgers; 4-pizza; 5-potato & corn chips

• Calories out (top activities):

–      1-driving a car; 2-office work; 3-watching TV or movies; 4-taking care of children; 5- an activity performed while sitting quietly; 6-eating. It’s all sitting!

Results of using current diet programs including behavioral & lifestyle approaches:

• 80% gain weight back in the first year
• 95% return to original weight or higher in within 5 years

The facts above show that current weight loss guidelines and solutions are virtually useless against our 21^st century environment.

Out with the old and in with the new – do it your way

You now have one guideline to follow: control your weight/body fat into a healthy range any way you can by managing your calories any way you want. In other words, do it YOUR WAY. You can do this by: 1) paying attention regularly using a device that measures your calories in compared to your calories out; and 2) portion control of whatever you choose to eat.

For weight loss, make sure whatever you eat averages fewer calories than whatever you burn until you hit your weight goal. Use simple modern devices (e.g. exerspy, scale, etc.) to keep you on track. The rest will take care of itself. In other words, if necessary (and only as you become ready), better overall diet and exercise habits will take form as the body improves, but only because you created the path and therefore own any behavioral change. You will not succeed trying to force a lifestyle change including trying to fit into a certain program – just look at the statistics. You must create your own program by fitting it to YOUR lifestyle, where your life is the exercise and your food is the diet.

Summary

So there you have it, finally a TRUE News Year’s Fitness Resolution you can keep because it that doesn’t require you change your lifestyle: put on an exerspy, set the goal, live your life and follow the number using two simple rules:

• Keep your weight trending where it belongs by paying attention regularly
  • Manage your calories anyway you want to the desired body weight using a tool that gives you instant visibility on what’s happening before it happens
  • Eat the best you can because it’s not what you eat but how much
    • Use portion control – you can eat anything you want, just not everything you want