What do you look for from a relationship? Many people try to find their identity in relationships while others use this chance to build themselves. Being in a toxic relationship can be degrading yet some people still stay with the hopes that things will improve.   In most cases, toxic relationships do not get better but end up draining one into frustration and depression. People struggle to leave their partners due to the fear of being alone while others don't want to be the main topic of discussion among…

Being overweight or obese is one of the leading causes of many health problems in recent years. Carrying around excess weight on your body can result in heart disease which could eventually lead to death. This is a scary thought. What is even more concerning is that the rate of obesity is just increasing each and every year. Two out of three people are considered either obese or overweight - this means that more people are not of a normal weight than those who are! On the flip side, living…

It is the holiday season, and many of us are traveling. That may mean being away from our gyms. I know I will be about a half hour from a location of my gym, and I have gone there before when I went home to the Pittsburgh area to visit my family. My particular gym is located in a very busy plaza, and that is one of the last places I want to be during last minute holiday shopping. I have family and friends I want to see, but I…

Many of us sit for eight to ten hours a day in an office setting for work. It is unavoidable. Many people experience some degree of lower back pain directly from the use of an office chair. Many of the chairs on the market, especially on the cheaper end at big box stores tend to not be very effective helping you get through your day without back pain.  The chairs are uncomfortable, and put direct pressure on your back (especially when trying to recline them), while not allowing your back…

Thanksgiving is one of those times of the year where we all get to enjoy great food and hopefully some great company as well! I am not expecting anyone to be counting calories and macros along with skipping unhealthy foods for their Thanksgiving meal. I know I will not be skipping anything, unless it is shellfish because I am allergic! In fact, I have two Thanksgiving dinners this year. This Thursday at my girlfriend's mom's house and this Saturday at my brother's house will both feature lots of great food!…

The temperatures are getting colder. We turn to hot drinks and soups to warm us up from the winter weather. Hot chocolate is a favorite among pretty much everybody. It is a nostalgic childhood drink that adults love just as much as kids do. I've always enjoyed a nice cup or two of hot chocolate. There is a slight problem, however, if you are trying to meet fat loss goals.  Most of the conventional packaged hot chocolates are full of sugars and calories.  Even a lot of the organic varieties,…

When I read on Tuesday about Quest releasing their new Birthday Cake flavor, I was excited. It was unexpected. I like birthday cake flavor anything pretty much! I saw it was a coated bar, which is different from the texture of Quest's other protein bars. I had moderate expectations, since they did have the Pumpkin Pie bars with the coating a few years back where it crumbled in a million pieces, disappointing a lot of people, prompting a lot of stores to heavily discount the bars just to get rid…

Usually Saturday has been a cardio day for me. Sometimes I run long distance, and for someone who is primarily into strength training, four to six miles at a medium pace is a relatively long distance. I felt the itch to do my long distance run this past Tuesday instead. So today, the gym opened up at 7:30 AM. I usually have a client around that time, but she is out of town, and since I am an awesome trainer, I did not ask my second client to wake up…

  Lemon Meringue has always been a favorite flavor of mine. Every trip I took to my Grandma's house, I was hoping to have some of her homemade lemon meringue pie. I would ask if it was there even though I knew full well it was not! It was actually my preferred pie even over pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. I would eat Lemon Meringue pie every day if I could. That is in a dream world, however, since I probably would not maintain 7-8% body fat year round if I…

  We want results and we want them fast! Sometimes you can get them fast, but at what cost? Sometimes, it is a marathon, because we did not get to a point where we were not happy with our weight overnight either. We look at diet after diet, and sometimes people lose a lot of weight! I am happy for anyone successfully losing weight in their journey. Unfortunately, we rarely see the dark side. Nobody wants to show you a person six months after their rapid weight loss from their…