Posted in Nick "Afrozilla" Gaston | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

Just when you think your diet and training is working for you and you start feeling better and looking better, you get hit from the blind side. Well that’s what happened to me.

After receiving my kidney transplant over a year ago. I had gained 40 pounds, benching 300 lbs., and feeling great. Then out of nowhere I started to feel tiered, couldn’t eat, didn’t want to train, didn’t want to leave my house, or do anything. So I go to my doctor  and he finds nothing. I go to a different doctor. Same thing. After the 5th doctor he tells me to go to the hospital and he would meet me there and run some test. Two days in the hospital and I end up in ICU. 11 days later I come out of ICU and was told I had just gone through five different operations. I went in on Dec. 8th and went home Dec. 23rd. Lost 40 pounds and just walking to my car would leaving me out of breath.

So here I am having to put myself back together again. This is my second time in just one year. I can’t train yet. But I can eat. Already I have put on 20 pounds and feeling great. After going through this once before. I already knew what I had to do. At that’s were ProteinBlitz comes in. I am putting lean muscle back on as well as having a lot of energy. My doctors are more than surprised at how well and fast I am recovering.  The reason I’m sharing this with you is to remind you of just how important exercise, rest, and diet is. Protein is a big part of a healthy diet. Whether you’re trying to gain muscle or lose fat. I strongly recommend ProteinBlitz. I know first hand that it works – I’ve been through it once and I will get through it again. It’s nice to know that there is a product out there that really works. It gives you hope knowing you can reach your goals that you have set for yourself. I will be the first to tell you to never give up and that there is help out there. 

Posted in Paul Vinson | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

Happy Holidays!

As we prepare for the New Year and look for 2011 to be prosperous, remember health is the first wealth! Your health in 2011 should be the greatest investment made. As you plan to reach your goals whether they be weight loss, strength gains, or overall physique improvement I want to offer a few guidelines that have been helpful to me.

Maintain Consistency- Set a plan that fits your needs and schedule. I recommend working out 5 days a week for most people. If you can only make it to the gym 3 or 4 times a week, find times that work for you and stick to your plan.

Diet is Key- No matter how much working out we do, diet is essential to reaching our goals! You don’t have to be a diet saint, but maintain a diet of mostly lean proteins, vegetables and use designer protein supplements before and after workouts and throughout the day when you can’t eat a healthy meal. Taking in a protein shake will help stave off hunger, replace unhealthy meal choices, provide lean protein and be a catalyst to great gains. You can read down through my previous blogs for a recommended diet plan.
Cardio is essential-It is important to always do some cardio (even if you only do 30 minutes three days per week) you will find you remain leaner and recover quicker from workouts. This is because cardio helps your body process out lactic acid which is what makes you sore.

Below is a sample workout plan, this is set up for a lifter who works out 5 days a week and is a moderate to advanced lifter. You could modify it to a 6 day plan by doing biceps and triceps on separate days. You could modify it to a 3 or 4 by combining bodyparts and reducing number of exercises per bodypart. I would recommend combining chest and shoulders for a 4 day workout plan and reducing the number of exercises per bodypart by one per bodypart. For a 3 day workout plan combine chest and shoulders and also arms and legs and take out two exercises per bodypart. If you are just starting working out I would recommend picking your favorite three lifts per bodypart and reducing the sets per exercise to 3 sets instead of 4. If you have some experience but consider this too strenuous you could remove one exercise per workout or reduce the number of sets per exercise.

As always check with your doctor to make sure you are healthy enough for exercise before proceeding with any workout or diet plan!

Posted in Dan Grenemyer | 1 Comment

I am now down to 314, a total loss of 36 lbs down from 350 lbs when I started this diet and the ProteinBlitz experiment. I am still 44 pounds away from my goal weight of 270. I have reached a lot of my goals, my knees don’t hurt like they did at 350, I am fitting into a lot of my clothes and possible the best benefit is I have significantly more energy. Not to mention the reduced strain on my heart and the reduction of my blood pressure. As I reach my goals I search for ways to maintain the level of motivation and stay the course. I have a lot of hours of cardio left and a lot of days of dieting to go. As the holidays approach it is important for me to find ways to stave off the holiday regression to poor eating habits.

How do I plan to do this? Here’s my holiday meal survival guidelines:

1. Portion Control- I don’t plan to completely avoid enjoying the holidays with my family, but I do plan to eat less of the carb laden and unhealthy foods that accompany the Thanksgiving feast. I may have a spoonful of stuffing or mashed potatoes, not a plateful.

2. Healthy Choices- I plan to make Turkey the staple and largest part of my holiday meal. Turkey is lean, high in protein and a great way to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday without regressing on my diet. Making Turkey the majority of my meal is a great way to enjoy the holiday meal but prevent reversing my progress and help my goals reach fruition.

3. ProteinBlitz Before the Meal- I will drink a Blitz RTD or Blitz whey isolate shake before the holiday meal to satiate my hunger, provide lean protein and fill up on a healthy alternative to holiday gorging. With a Blitz shake in my stomach I will have less desire or ability to fill up on other foods that would cause my hard work and cardio to be negated.

4. Cardio- I plan to continue to continue my Cardio workouts and continue my weight training to keep my metabolism high, knowing in advance there will be a slight departure from my normal diet. With time off work and more free time, I can find do additional cardio and even make more weight loss progress. If my gym is closed on the holiday, I can take my dog on a long walk or play some touch football with my brothers to burn calories until the gym opens again.

Posted in Dan Grenemyer | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

For all you worried about gaining weight through the holidays. Don’t be. Look, I know it’s not just two days a year. There are the days before and all the days after. Lets face it, left overs are just as good if not a little better then the day they were cooked. Years ago there wasn’t too many choices as far as snacking and meal re-placement. Did you catch that. Meal re-placement. Today we have so many choices. You don’t have to eat whats put in front of you. Thats whats so cool about Pot Luck. You can bring something to share as well as for your self. This is not new for most gym rats. I remember being made fun of by some family members for doing this years ago. And now my whole family does it. Before Protein Blitz there was powders and tablets. Now you fill a pitcher of ProteinBlitz and stick it in the fridge for everyone to share. Even the younger ones can drink. And its not just for the people watching there wight or the guys talking about going to the gum after dinner. Its for everyone. Drinking Protein Blitz will help you not snack so much. It helps with your appetite, as well as making you feel fuller, and stops cravings. When you sit down to eat, remember you can only gain as much as what your plate of food wights. During the holidays drink your Protein Blitz and stop being so hard on your self. Happy Holidays and stop worrying and go out and have fun. You have all next year to worry.

Posted in Paul Vinson | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

I am always looking for new techniques and new exercises to work my body in different ways. If you stay on the same exercise plan then you get used to it and it gets harder to get results. On top of that doing the same ole same ole gets boring and then you don’t really want to exercise.

While I was traning in Oregon with Team Quest I got exposed to all sorts of different ways to train. One was Shabata, which is doing almost any exercise for a set amount of seconds with a very short rest break and then back to the exercise. It is very important in any sport and personal fitness to keep a open mind and keep things fresh.

Posted in Nick "Afrozilla" Gaston | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

I am finishing up another good week of training. I am now down to 327, thus far I have lost 23 pounds in just over a month of dieting. The BLITZ protein has provided a great high protein option with great results. I am focusing on low glycemic carbohydrates specifically yams, brown rice and oatmeal. I operate under the diet philosophy that spikes in insulin drive blood sugars into storage as fat. Instead of eliminating carbs from my diet I eat carbs that have a minimal impact on blood sugar levels, thereby reducing the insulin spikes. I eat plenty of protein, namely three BLITZ shakes or RTD drinks per day in conjunction with lean meat proteins as protein has a negligible impact on blood sugar levels. Bodybuilding is a sport that uses biology and scientific methodology to create a desired effect on our bodies. The goal being to remove as much fat from our bodies as possible while retaining the maximum amount of muscle. Our bodies are extremely adaptive. If we send the signals through working out with weights that we have a need for the muscle our bodies will retain that muscle. Through cardio we send the signals to our body to reduce the amount of fat we are carrying. I use BLITZ before and after all workouts because it provided the lean protein to supply my body and saves muscle from being used for my bodies protein needs. I find that the whey isolate protein used in BLITZ is effective in helping me maintain muscle mass while dieting. Isolate is a very refined form of whey protein, that allows for a very quick absorption rate allowing me to quickly supply my body with protein while dieting so that my body will retain the maximum amount of muscle possible.

Posted in Dan Grenemyer | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

This week was another good week of dieting and training. I am down to 330 lbs now; I have lost a total of 20 pounds. The keys to my success have been cardio to lose the fat, but using PROTEINBLITZ RTD’s right after a workout restores my blood amino acid levels and encourages my body to rebuild muscle and maintain my muscle mass. This really helps, especially when dieting. The Whey Isolate is perfect as it is the most pure and quickest absorbing protein.

I do moderate-intensity cardio on the eliptical or on the treadmill for 45 min to 1 hr. I try to follow the rule that I should be doing cardio hard enough where I can talk but can’t sing. I know it sounds weird, but it helps me find that perfect balance of enough intensity to burn fat without burning too much muscle due to overexertion. You have to do cardio hard enough to burn fat, but not so intense that you lose your hard earned muscle. For me on a treadmill that is just enough speed where I am walking fast enough that if I turned it up another notch I would be jogging. On the elliptical I use the talk-but-can’t-sing rule.

My brother Dustin Grenemyer and I are having a competition of who can lose the most weight while he is in the desert serving with the US Air Force.  My Brother Darren Grenemyer and other family members, even my Mom, have decided this is great motivation to cut weight and get in shape.

Dustin has provided me an update of his progress using Designer Whey and the diet I follow.  Here’s what he has to say:

I will definitely blog on my tour when I can! I will follow Dan in trying to get into competition weight! I am a national champion power lifter and am looking forward to grasp body building with Dan leading the way. I also use Designer Whey Protein I brought with me! Looking forward to this deployment and weight loss comp. I am currently deployed to the Middle East and am competing against my oldest brother Dan to see who can lose the most body fat. Dieting in a desert environment is a tougher challenge then one might think. Your mind is always on what’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner with the high stress involved with keeping my eye on the bad guys over here versus the general comfort of home.  The upside of things is you are constantly working, perspiring and burning calories.  I am trying to eat as healthy as possible, but when the food is already prepared, it’s a hard mathematical calculation with many variables to consider on how much fat, protein, and carbohydrates you are taking in.

My diet consists of:

Breakfast: 4 egg Omelet & 1cup of oatmeal
First snack: Designer Whey Protein Shake
Lunch: 8 oz lean meat (Chicken breast, hamburger, tuna or fish)Lots of Veggies
Second snack: Designer Whey Protein shake
Dinner: 8oz lean meat & Lots of Veggies

This is working well so far with a weight loss of 9 pounds in two weeks. Only time can tell what an hour of cardio every night does to the fat cells.

- SSgt Dustin Grenemyer, United States Air Force

Posted in Dan Grenemyer | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

I love to eat!!!

So since the winter season is on its way I have decided to lose a little of the razor ripped look to getting more size along with strength gains. The goal is to get to around 225lbs. Right now I’m at 210lbs.

The training will be like this till end of year. I’m still at the gym 5 days a week but I will take Thursdays off, the rep range no higher than 10 reps and three exercises per body part. I will still drop weight in half on the last set of each exercise to burn out.

The Diet.  What Diet??? This is way WHEY of life.  You will NEVER see the changes if you don’t make that change.  For me (3) BLITZ shakes a day along with four meals average about 60 grams of protein a meal and CARBS. I eat as much as I want.  My energy should be thru the ROOF!!!

I will be posting PROGRESS PICTURES WEEKLY.

<BR CLEAR=”BOTH”>

Posted in Rick Hagen | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

This week was tough as I was extremely busy with work duties which makes it very difficult to prepare the proper foods for the diet. I did lose another 3 lbs this week to drop down to 334. I can feel my clothes fitting better and I do feel really good about the progress I have made. I have been using a lot more Blitz RTD drinks when I am on the go to meet my protein needs. It gives me a quick burst of protein when I don’t have time to make a shake. The whey isolate in Blitz RTD and Blitz Powder is also perfect for after workout to replenish my muscles and provide them the building blocks they need to re-build and of course GROW!

My current workout schedule is as follows:

Monday: Chest 1 hr cardio

Tuesday: Back 45 min Cardio

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday: Shoulders 1 hr Cardio

Friday: Arms 45 min Cardio

Saturday: OFF WEIGHTS 1 hour of Cardio

Sunday: Legs, calves and abs 30 min of Cardio.

If I am not losing the weight I want I will increase all my cardio to 1 hour, but never over 1 hour as I don’t want to switch into burning muscle. I may also increase my cardio to two sessions of 45 minutes to really burn the fat. Remember to drink your Whey before and after your cardio so your muscles have protein and your body won’t dip into your protein storages (your muscles) that is called catabolism and will shrink your muscles quickly. Do not eat carbs before cardio because your body will use the carbs you just ate for energy instead of dipping into its energy storages (fat cells) which after all is the goal!

Posted in Dan Grenemyer | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG