I've been in the strength and conditioning industry for over 20 years. And on average I'll meet with 20-30 people per month to learn about their goals, to explain how we would help them achieve their goals and ultimately to see if working together would be a fit. When we take some time to identify goals we will hear the following: * Improved sports...

Your gym is closed. You need to keep distance from every one else. You might even be self-quarantined. You can't access your coach. You don't have a home gym set up. And if you're not an athlete what's the point of working on your performance and fitness anyway? Doesn't really sound like the prescription to improving your fitness and performance? But it could be. Below are 10 reasons you'll come out of COVID-19 fitter than before this all started. 1. Fitter relative to everyone else. Truth is we compare ourselves to others. Good or bad, it happens. We go on a hike with friends and family and notice we're the only ones huffing and puffing while wishing there were more stops for selfies i.e. rest and water breaks. You go on a beach vacation and you notice who goes to the pool and who avoids it. And of those that venture into the water who is all wrapped up and who ditches the cover ups and gets right in. Whatever the situation, we measure our efforts and progress relative to those around us. And guess what? Something like that doesn't change during a pandemic. For athletes seasons have been cancelled. Teams have been disbanded. And to prevent gatherings of larger groups there are no practices or training sessions. Most are in a holding pattern waiting until things return to normal. And while most are doing nothing some are doing something. And if it something isn't a lot or as much as you normally do it's more than your competitor that is binge watching Tiger King and already finished the new season of Ozark. Small, frequent and steady progress always leads to improvement compared to massive training sessions that only happen once in a while. If you are young athlete this is...

It's no surprise North Americans are getting more overweight and obese. Some will point to sugar as the culprit. Others cite inactivity as the problem. While both of these could play roles in our expanding waist lines there's no denying we're eating larger portions than in previous years. So why does this happen? Why are we eating larger portions? A review of the research identifies two reasons (1). The first is that we seek value for food. We look get more in return for our financial investment. Think of many times people opt to super-size a combo meal at a fast food restaurant. It's not that the portion of fries and drink that normally accompanies a meal is insufficient. It's more of a case that for a nominal increase in price you get substantially more food. You'd be stupid not to, right? There's no denying portion sizes have increased over the years. The other reason that we are eating larger portions is due to portion distortion. We have been exposed to such large portions of food that we have been conditioned to recognize these as normal. In the marketplace we are offered portions that are 3-4 times what a standard portion should be. But the public perception is that is these amplified portions are the standard. No one bats an eye when we are over served. If we were to go the other way and were served a standard portion, one at 1/3 to 1/4 normal market offerings, we'd cry foul and the restaurateur would hear about it. Another study looked at how the size and freshness affected how much popcorn we eat (2). What they found when given a small versus a large tub of stale popcorn, subjects ate 34% more when they had a large tub. Even though the...

This is one of the busiest times of year at the gym. Many put their health and fitness on hold during the Christmas season. But now we've flipped the calendar to a new year, and decade, and we're ready to get started. Normally fat loss is the number one goal of those going to the gym. After a few weeks of egg nog, short bread and late nights this is worse than it normally would be. With that in mind I want to share with you some of our top fat loss tips. This will give the best chance to shed the holiday pounds and then some. Plus when you put these habits to practice you'll be able to not only lose the weight but keep it off. In no particular order here are our Top Fat Loss Tips for 20202. 1. Sleep 7+ Hours per Night - When we are sleep deprived a couple of hormones get disrupted. Ghrelin, which tells us we are starving, gets amplified. We tend to eat when we aren't needing nutrition. Leptin tells us we are full and we miss this message. So we end up overeating. And if you're someone that struggles with cravings, sleep will help you win this battle. When you are sleep deprived a part of the brain, the amygdala, is stimulated. This is the part of the brain that tells you to have a treat or reward. Additionally the insular cortex which is your will power is suppressed and makes it harder to say no. Lastly, when you're sleep deprived you'll be less likely to pop out of bed for a training session. You won't be able to train as intensely when you're tired. And when you do push it will take you longer to recover. 2. Journal - Maybe...

A common goal of everyone that trains is to be lean. And I don't mean to be skinny. By lean I mean to carry the most amount of muscle mass and the least amount of body fat possible. And this should still allow us to do our regular tasks and activities without lacking fitness or mobility. Sometimes when someone initiates a fitness program the results can be slow in coming. We know we feel better. We have fewer aches and pains. We sleep better at night. And our performance in sports is trending up as well. Yet the scale doesn't budge. If this happens to you we recommend you to buy CBD oil for its many benefits in weight loss and pain reduction. Below are a number of nutritional reasons this may be the case. Meals Eaten Alone When we eat with others there are natural pauses for conversation. We want to hear how the other person's day went. We comment on the flavour and textures of the prepared meal. We put the fork down every now and again to listen and answer. Eating alone leads to eating more quickly. Nutritional quality tends to be lower. Maybe this is because we like to have a treat when no one is watching and won't be judged. Or it could be that when we cook for others, i.e. for children, we feel a responsibility to provide the best nutrition possible. Eating alone also means we could be doing something else while we're eating. Maybe we watch a TV show. Sadly, we used to do this. Maybe we're on our phones. Maybe we read a book. Maybe we try to get some work done at the computer. Regardless of what we do while we're eating it serves as a distraction and leads to mindless...

A couple of things I really like are efficiency and great value. I like it when things are moving forward at a good clip and when the return is better than expected. Who doesn't like that though, right?This is no different than our health and fitness. For most the obstacle to better health and fitness comes down to time and finances. We don't make the time for fitness and exercise and we would rather spend our money on other things.The truth is that the fittest people in the world have the same hours as the rest of us. It's what we give our time to, or don't, that fills up our day.So with that being said I wanted to give you 11 tips to get lean. And the cool part is these things won't cost you an extra dime. Plus as your health improves you'll find you have more time in your day. You see what I did just there, right? Solve one problem and provide a solution for another as well.Anyways on with the tips. Minimize liquid calories - If our goal is to be as lean and healthy as possible we've got to be mindful of the calories we drink. This can be a chai tea in the AM, a coffee with cream and sugar, a store bought smoothie or any of the other ways we can drink calories. The truth is we only need water. Sure a red wine on occasion or a beer at a BBQ isn't going to derail your results completely. Just be aware of what you are drinking. And guess what? When we cut back on your liquid calories we'll find you have an extra $5-10 per day by opting out of the drive-thrus and coffee shops. Eat meals without snacking - Were you ever...

Alright it's time for a pop quiz. And today the question is 'What's the best way nutritionally to achieve a weight loss goal?'Now depending who you talk to the answer will vary. Answers may include: keto low fat intermittent fasting cleanse or detox whole foods raw foods vegetarian vegan IIFYM (aka if it fits your macros) flexible dietingAnd there's more than this to add to the list.Get's kind of confusing doesn't it? Paralysis by analysis comes to mind.Recently a colleague shared a graph on his social media. And it caught my attention and became the foundation for this post.Here's the graph:[caption id="attachment_5560" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Carbohydrate intake and percentage of adults with obesity over time.Here's what the graph shows:One the left vertical axis is carb intake in grams/person/day. The range is from the low 400s to the mid 500s per day.On the right vertical axis is the percentage of adults with obesity.On the horizontal axis is time in years from around  1980 to 2010.Two lines are plotted on the graph. In black we can see the consumption of carbs. And a black line represents the percentage of individuals with obesity.A few observations from this graph include: Carb intake increased steadily from 1980 to 2000. From 2000 to 2010 carb intake has been on the decline. Obesity rates have increased steadily from 1980-2010 The graph is based on a certain population i.e. obese individuals. We don't know anything about the quality of the carbohydrates consumed.This now creates an interesting conversation.First of all, we understand carb intake was reduced. Was caloric intake reduced as well? Or were carb calories replaced with additional protein or fat?I haven't dug into the reference for this graph so can't comment on what else changed with the population. Has nutritional quality decreased? Have activity levels dropped off? Have sleep...

At Okanagan Peak Performance Inc we work with a variety of clientele that want to look, feel or play better. And these are quite varied goals. But one thing is in common with these three groups.And that's the goal of getting lean.Sure we get the occasional male teen that is looking to increase his mass. But he wants to get bigger through the chest, arms, legs and back and not necessarily bigger at the waist. As one young male client put it 'I want to look more like Captain America'.Getting lean is important for the aesthetic population as this helps them feel better. They have more confidence going to the beach and wearing less clothing. It helps motivate them to do more in their training and spills over to other areas of their lives.For athletes, being lean improves their relative strength and power. In other words if they can produce the same force at a lighter weight this will be an advantage in competition. Imagine an athlete sprinting with a piano strapped to their back and with the piano removed. Obviously dropping mass that doesn't help will be an advantage.And for the group that wants to feel better getting lean is helpful as well. This is important for all the weight bearing joints and the effect it can have on our posture. With our knees every extra pound of body weight is equivalent to four extra pounds of pressure on the knees. Getting lean is one of the best things an individual can do to reduce knee pain.So if we can agree that getting lean is important and applies for everyone from those wanting to look, feel and play better, than why can it be so hard?Well one of the reasons might be BLTs. And I don't mean sandwiches. Instead I'm...

For many people staying in shape involves playing sports. But the challenge can be that as we enter adulthood there aren't as many opportunities to participate in organized sports. We don't have scheduled practices. We don't play in as many tournaments. We don't go to sports camps in the summer. And basically life gets busy and it's tough to find the time for work, spouse, family and much else including playing on a sports team. So for the gym rat that graduates all of the sports offered during school this can be a recipe for future in-activity, reduced health and weight gain. And so it was especially encouraging to see a friend take control of his health and achieve a great result. [caption id="attachment_5468" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Mike Penninga 4 months ago at 214 lbs. Some of you might know Mike Penninga. Mike has been the pastor at Kelowna Gospel Fellowship for the past nine years. He is a Kelowna boy and has always been involved in and competed in sports. I even recall a client, Mike J, sharing a story about playing men's league basketball when Mike P was still in university in the early 90s. So Mike was always active and never had to worry about his weight or his health. His high level of activity took care of managing his weight and prevented injury. But then he was down to Las Vegas in November. And he stepped on the scale shortly after the trip and wasn't happy with the number. So I had to know besides the number on the scale what else prompted him to get started? And he was honest to admit that vanity played a role. He is on stage in front of his parish. He's the face of the videos they produce. And he sees...

Newsflash! As a society we're becoming more over-weight and more obese. This shouldn't come as news to anyone. And with the current month we've entered a number of people will vow to change behaviours and embark on a fat loss program. They will swear off certain foods. They will commit to training six days per week. They will sign up at the gym where that really fit girl or guy trains. And they may stop in to the new supplement store to talk biochemistry with the kid that works afternoons peddling potions and elixirs of the gods.The unfortunate thing is this won't work.And we know it won't work because it hasn't in the past. And it will repeat again next year when we flip the calendar from December to January.Now it's time to put away the decorations. The fun times end. The company leaves. The parties are over. And we have to face reality and return to work or school. And if we're like the average North American we will have gained seven pounds over the Christmas holidays.And since we all 'know' that exercise burns off the extra holiday weight we embark on this post-holiday health correction.In terms of where we burn our calories, our metabolism, the food we eat and our activity accounts for the total. The table below (1) shows this.[caption id="attachment_5379" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Daily caloric expenditure as a function of metabolism, food and activity.The truth is that physical activity will only account for 10-30% of the calories we burn in a day.Think about that for a minute...physical activity could potentially account for as little as 10% of the calories you burn in a day. And exercise is only a part of this.In the table above the example uses a daily measure of 3500 calories per day. Physical activity could be...

Hey! How’s it going? Its Chris here and I’ve got an amazing success story to share with you. This post is about Barry Chretien’s fitness journey so far. You know Barry, right? Barry works out at OPP in the mornings 4 or 5 times a week and swims laps 3 times a week at the Parkinson Rec Center. He also runs a marketing agency and does volunteer work feeding the homeless as well, so this makes his results even more impressive. Now before I get to telling everything Barry has achieved in the last 9 months I should back up and give you a little background. You see Barry was someone who had a hard time working out consistently, which was not only a physical challenge but a mental one too.  [caption id="attachment_5045" align="aligncenter" width="169"] Barry before starting with Okanagan Peak Performance Inc. [caption id="attachment_5046" align="aligncenter" width="169"] Barry at the start of his journey with OPP.  Maybe you can relate to Barry in sharing these same challenges such as feeling intimidated when he first started at OPP, having chronic pain in both knees due to severe osteoarthritis or something else standing in the way of optimal health. But even though Barry had these challenges before him, he set the goal of getting into the best shape of his life and decided to start working out at OPP in April of 2016. So far he has: Dropped 90 lbs Gained muscle mass Addressed movement compensation so he is moving better than he has in years Reduced and eliminated pain to the point where most days are pain-free Started mountain biking and hiking again Set a goal to complete Mudd Sweat & Tears and to snowboard next season[caption id="attachment_5047" align="aligncenter" width="220"] Barry after 9 months of training at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc and...

One of the best things about Okanagan Peak Performance Inc is the people. Whether it be the variety of clientele or the coaches that work them we are fortunate to be able to interact with interesting and dedicated people everyday. And we've recently added a new member to our team. Nathanael Burke joins us after working in a management position at a local competitor and brings specific expertise working with athletes and those with injuries. But rather than let me tell you about him I'll step aside and let him introduce himself. Hey guys I’m the new trainer and coach on the block. I just wanted to introduce myself so you guys can get to know a bit about me. I'm really excited to get started here at OPP and get to know everyone.[caption id="attachment_4557" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Welcome to Okanagan Peak Performance Inc Nathanael! I’m Nathanael, born and raised in Kelowna, and raising my two children Mikayla and Levi with my wife Megan. I come from a large family with 7 siblings so sports and being active came naturally. Growing up I played basketball, road hockey, rugby and soccer but started with a serious career with football at Rutland Senior Secondary. After grading from Rutland as a Football Interior All Star I made the move to CJFL with the Okanagan Sun in 2007 as a defensive back / linebacker.At the start of the 2009 season I made a career ending tackle that resulted in cervical spine damage, a rib injury and nerve damage to my left shoulder. After spending the next 6 months recovering I decided to follow my passion of fitness and focus on a career as a personal trainer specializing in rehab. I started my education with Okanagan College in personal training and shortly following with a Post-Rehab Specialist certification. Wanting to...

Are you a coffee drinker? I'm not yet I still love the aroma inside a coffee shop and totally understand how this can be a ritual for many people.Because as with many rituals we can get very particular with the details involved. Some people will only drink coffee from a particular brand. Others need to have the right mix of sweetener and cream. And then there are the purists who just like theirs black.Regardless of where the coffee is from or how it is flavoured there is one type of coffee you will probably want to take a pass on. And this is Bulletproof Coffee.Without getting into the whole background of Bulletproof coffee we can tell you this term was coined by Dave Asprey and claims drinking coffee in this way boosts cognitive function and accelerates weight loss.First it's important to understand there are no studies supporting the claims regarding Bulletproof Coffee are any more effective than regular coffee. As well, Asprey is not a medical researcher, a nutritionist or a dietician. He is a businessman hoping to convince you to spend way more on coffee than is necessary and possibly bad for a few reasons.What exactly is Bulletproof Coffee? Well to make it you need to buy Bulletproof Coffee beans, some medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil and some grass-fed butter. 12 ounces of beans and 16 ounces of MCT oil will run you $38 (plus taxes & shipping I assume). And you will need to track down some grass-fed butter.Once you have your ingredients you add 2 tablespoons of MCT oil, and 2 tablespoons of butter to a cup of coffee and blend until frothy. Some say the consistency is similar to that of a latte, but again not being a coffee drinker I'm not sure on this.Reason #1 to Pass...

Hey! How’s it going? It’s Megan here and I’ve got a great success story to share with you. This story is about Louise Fisher and she has realized some amazing results over the last bit with her training. You know Louise, right? She is usually in at the 830 or 930 group classes every day. Louise is very much involved with her business and every other week heads off to Calgary to manage their head office. Besides that she is also a mother of 3, and a grandmother to 2 young boys, which makes the results she has achieved even more impressive. Now before I get to telling you everything Louise has achieved in a short amount of time I should back up and give you the background. You see Louise was someone who came in wanting to lose 10 pounds and tone and strengthen her body. Her friend Annette mentioned the first RYJ program to her and asked if she was interested. She was reluctant to try it as it was outside of her comfort zone and, knew she would have to weigh herself. Maybe you can relate to Louise in sharing these same challenges such as feeling intimidated, stepping outside of your comfort zone with the training, or something else standing in the way of optimal health? “The biggest obstacle I've discovered is myself, I have learned that I can do most of what I set my mind to and if a certain exercise is too hard, or I perceive that it is something I can't do, I look around the gym and find inspiration with the other ladies working through their own hurdles. It's very motivating to work as a group and everyone is very encouraging.”But even though Louise had these challenges before her, she still had the goal...

Whenever we add a new member to our team we use a fairly standard evaluation process. And this includes asking what they think is the most important element lending to the success of the client.And their answers vary from:'Nutrition is the most important. You can't out-train a poor diet. And society in general is eating poorer quality food and more of it.'Can't argue with that.Others will say:'Getting enough varied and intense exercise is the key. With some many modern conveniences we can work, shop and be entertained without getting off the couch. Plus fewer schools, in the US, offer physical education and kids are more into social media and gaming.'Good points for sure.Really confident young coaches will say:'The coaching is the most important. Showing people the proper and safe way to train allows them to lift more intensely than otherwise. Plus they the individual is accountable to another person ensuring better compliance to the process.'Ok, yeah that makes sense.And still others will argue that:'The program is the most important. As long as you have a solid plan for what is supposed to be done, how much and when, anyone can implement the instructions and get the same results.'I wouldn't disagree with that one either.But guess what? They'd all be wrong. Because the first and most important consideration for achieving a rehab, weight loss or performance goal is mindset.If you believe you will fail, you already have. If you don't trust in the process you are just going through the motions. And if you don't believe that you can achieve great results you won't.When I look back after all the years of working in the fitness and performance industry there is one common feature of those who achieved the best results. And that was their positive mindset. It was the belief that they could do...

Hey! How’s it going? I hope you're doing well as I’ve got a great success story to share with you. This story is about Darlene Sunderland and she has realized some amazing results over the last bit with her training. You know Darlene, right?  She usually trains with group at 6am. If you can’t put a face to the name, she’s the one whose chanting AH CHA CHA CHA or dancing to the Black Eyed Peas in between sets. Besides that she is also very dedicated to her partner, her job and running ½ marathons.  Darlene is a great example of someone who is willing to put in the work to get what she wants. She’ll work a nightshift until 7 am and still meets us to run sand dunes at 730 am. She’s well deserving of the results she has achieved here with us. Now, before I get to telling you everything Darlene has achieved in a short amount of time I should back up and give you the background. I’ll let Darlene take over here for a bit. “I live a pretty boring life, but I love what I do and my life. I enjoy going for long hikes with my dogs, running, traveling, learning and spending time in the wild. I also have this newfound love for running up hills. Some may call me crazy because I also really enjoy cleaning my house. I find cleaning to be very therapeutic. I guess overall, I love to stay busy. Rock Your Jeans Got Her StartedIt was a chain reaction on how I rolled through the Okanagan Peak Performance Inc doors (no pun intended).  My partner is a member of OPP, and I kept noticing a change in her fitness level & health since she joined and wished that I...

Recently we've been discussing metabolism, how the body burns calories and things that put the breaks on our metabolism. In this post I'm going to discuss a situation that is not too uncommon among female fitness enthusiasts and may be leaving them frustrated with their weight loss efforts.[caption id="attachment_4117" align="alignleft" width="300"] Cardio: One of the things that makes fat loss harder.Normally I don't like to generalize but this is a unique situation and applies to many. And hopefully for those that recognize themselves when reading the sections below they are able to make some changes in their weight loss efforts and realize better results.The type of person I'm referring to here is one where the following conditions apply:* they have a weight loss goal* they prefer cardiovascular exercise as the preferred means of exercise* they employ a severe caloric restriction in an attempt to lose weight* they have plateaued in their weight loss efforts* they are stressed or are becoming so due to the lack of results they are realizingDoes this sound familiar? I think every gym I have every been a member at over my entire life has at least one if not a few female members that fit this profile to a 't'.You know what I mean? They are the members that are at the gym everyday. And not just everyday but first thing in the morning when it opens. And then maybe again after work when for a second workout.But these workouts aren't intense lifting sessions. And they aren't metabolic circuits. Instead these are purely marathon cardio sessions. These individuals have their machines of choice and always perform the same workout, on the same machine, at the same intensity at the same time of day.Guess what happens as the body gets used to an activity? It gets more...

Since we know how the body burns calories it would also make sense to understand what puts the breaks on our ability to burn calories. Or in other words what slows down our metabolism?Now there are a number of factors that influence our metabolic rate. An older person burns fewer calories than a younger person, usually dropping by about 2% per decade. So if there were such a thing as copies of the same person in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s at the beach the oldest version at the beach would have a 6% slower metabolism than the version of themselves in their 20s. This is due simply to the fact they got older.[caption id="attachment_4107" align="alignleft" width="300"] To rev up our metabolism we need to take off all the brakes.Now in combination with getting older and having a slower metabolism there is also the fact that testosterone drops as we age as well. From a peak in our twenties this hormone slowly declines starting in our thirties. With less of this anabolic in our body it is more difficult to build and maintain our lean body mass. As a result a smaller frame requires fewer calories to sustain it and our metabolism slows.And besides our age and hormones there are other things which can disrupt our metabolism including prescription drugs, our sleep patterns, our overall health and our body type. With many of these we can't do too much to influence our metabolism. For example, we can't go back and choose better parents to alter our genetics. And it's tough to stop time and prevent the aging process but some people do a pretty good job of staving off the effects of aging.So knowing that there are some aspects of our metabolism that are completely out of our control means we...

In the last post I talked about the fact that for optimal health and weight loss we can't simply worry about reducing our sugar intake. As well, we can't simply focus on creating a caloric deficit. Both of these need to be addressed in order for healthy weight loss to occur. [caption id="attachment_4093" align="alignleft" width="300"] A caloric deficit is necessary for weight loss. Because here's the thing...we can all find examples of people who have lost weight on a diet consisting of poor quality nutrition. If you want to read the story of the science teacher who lost 37 pounds in three months eating only McDonalds click here. No one is disputing the fact that creating a caloric deficit will lead to weight loss. But does weight loss always equate to better health? Can you lose weight and become unhealthier in the process? Sure it's easy. Just eat McDonalds every day for 3 months. At the same time if all we are concerned with is reducing our sugar intake we may improve our health as evidenced by having some blood work done however we may lose much less than 37 pounds in 3 months. From the previous post we established that it's not an either-or scenario. We need to reduce our sugar and our calories. We need to worry about our mass and our health. But let's just look at weight loss for the time being. How do we attack weight loss? Well we need to create a caloric deficit. In other words we need to expend more calories than we consume. And as we already mentioned numerous times on this blog our sugar and overall caloric consumption is constantly increasing. And it seems unlikely that any of us are going to find a 25th hour in the day and begin...

So recently on the interwebs there was a bit of discussion on a social network about the importance of sugar in the diet. Actually it was more than just a discussion as some members took to mocking the other side who then responded to blocking the immature commenter from their profile.Now what that is all about was the fact that one group was of the belief that the increased consumption of sugar is the culprit of our deteriorating health i.e. obesity, metabolic syndrome etc. And the other side was dismissing the notion of sugar being responsible and favouring the opinion that increased calories were the root cause of society's declining health.A couple of points on this:1. This isn't religion and we don't need to get overly offended about the position of another individual or group based on what they believe with respect to nutrition.2. The two positions aren't mutually exclusive. Why can't we believe both positions? In other words isn't it possible that we are both eating more calories and eating more sugar today than we ever have in our history? It kind of seems like a silly 80s beer commercial.[caption id="attachment_4085" align="alignleft" width="300"] It doesn't have to be just one.So it is possible for both sides to be right. We are consuming more sugar than we have in our history and we are consuming more calories as well. The solution doesn't have to be one or the other in terms of reducing calories or reducing sugar. The answer should be both.And this is something we have been preaching to our clients for as long as I can remember. Actually I can remember as it was something I learned from an American colleague of mine at a conference in Colorado. You see as soon as I realized Shawn was a registered...

This is Part II of 9 Easy Tips for Portion Control. Click here to read Part I. Other keep reading for the remaining tips. Tip #6 - No TV or Computer[caption id="attachment_3997" align="alignleft" width="300"] Don't eat at the TV or computer Eating alone usually goes hand in hand with watching TV or surfing the internet. As we associate the two activities we can continue eating, or grazing, to match the duration of TV program or as long as we have an internet signal. Plus as we are distracted with the entertainment on the screen we are less likely to perceive the message from our brain telling us we are full. Tip #7 - Share When Eating OutNowadays everyone is all about getting optimal value. 'Check out the features on my new vehicle' 'Look what is included with my all-inclusive vacation' 'I got upgraded to first on my flight' ***can you tell I love travelling?*** If we are so conditioned to want and almost expect the highest of value with any commercial transaction it stands to reason that when we eat out we expect to leave with a full and satisfied belly. Unfortunately even if the food wasn't that  good we are ok with it as long as there was lots of it. When you eat out combine a few of the tips above by drinking water with your meal. You'll probably have a glass or two before your food arrives. Eat the healthiest stuff first by ordering a salad or some other veggie appetizer. And because you won't eat alone you can share a main with your dining partner. This allows you to adhere to many of the rules above and not wreck your portion control when you eat out. Tip #8 - Slow DownRecently when I was in Hawaii I...

Most people that go to a fitness facility go for the purpose of losing weight. It's a means to an end in that they perform their workouts with the hope or expectation of losing weight. If there were some other activity that was shown to be as effective for losing weight as fitness training many would switch activities. However even though many people recognize the benefits of resistance training and energy system workouts towards achieving their goal many fall short. And while there may be extenuating circumstances for a small number of people the truth is that the problem has to do with what happens outside of the gym. In particular the problem lies with their nutrition. More specifically the problem has to do with portion control. I think we can all agree that the problem is one of portion control of non-healthy foods. For most people the problem of obesity doesn't have anything to do with eating too much lean protein, vegetables or water. No instead the problem has to do with portion control of all foods. With that in mind here are 9 Easy Tips for Portion Control. Tip #1 - Smaller Serving PlatesHave you ever noticed that the amount we eat is based on the size of our serving plate? A big bowl means means more cereal, or popcorn or ice cream. A large plate means more rice or pasta. A larger saucer means a bigger sandwich or more room for sides. I don't have the citation at hand but I remember a study which allowed 2 groups of people to eat as much popcorn during a movie as they wanted. The one group had a huge bowl that could never be finished during a 90 minute movie. The other group had a small bowl that could be refilled...

Hey! How’s it going? It’s Megan here and I’ve got a great success story to share with you. This story is about Rick and he has realized some amazing results over the last bit with his training. You know Rick, right? [caption id="attachment_3930" align="alignleft" width="300"] Rick drops 30 lbs, 3% bodyfat and 10 inches. He is usually in at 7am for group and works at Venture Academy. Besides that he is also a husband, an outrigger paddler and works a few different jobs, and that makes the results he has achieved even more impressive. Now before I get to telling everything Rick has achieved in a short amount of time I should back up and give you the background. You see Rick was someone who has always struggled with maintaining a healthy body weight. “I have really experienced the body weight "roller coaster".  At 6'1", I hit 265lbs in 2005 and again reached almost to 260lbs in the summer of 2013.  On the other hand, I was 205lbs at the end of 2006 and held around 215lbs until getting injured in 2010. The first time, before I started running in 2005, it was a visit to "Michelangelo's Restaurant" in Seattle the night before my brother ran the Seattle Marathon.  Essentially, the waiter called me fat.  In retrospect, and especially compared to the three skinny marathoners at the table, he was right.” “My biggest challenge was walking in the door the first time.  I admit I felt intimidated - OPP is a "REAL GYM"!!!  I've done the Y and community center facilities, but that was mostly just circuit machines. Real, high-performance athletes train at OPP and I was nervous. But, the staff has always been very welcoming and helped me overcome my nerves.  Since then, I have faced two challenges.  The first...

Hey! How’s it going? It’s Megan here and I’ve got a great success story to share with you. This story is about Lorie Talarico and she has realized some amazing results over the last bit with her training. You know Lorie, right? Out side of working full time as a beauty consultant at The Bay, Lorie likes to read in her spare time, do embroidery and in the summer spends lots of time gardening. Now before I get to telling everything Lorie has achieved in a short amount of time I should back up and give you the background. You see Lorie was someone who first came to us to see Chris and Okanagan Peak Performance Inc for advice. “Actually, you could say that pain brought me to see you guys. Between getting hit by a truck while out walking and then ending up with sciatica, which is 24/7 pain, I felt I needed help. My goal was just to get and feel better.” Maybe you can relate to Lorie in sharing these same challenges such as getting into an accident or having injuries, low back pain, or feeling intimidated, having an illness or something else standing in the way of optimal health? But even though Lorie had these challenges before her, she still had the goal of getting stronger and being able to move better and freely without pain. “Wow in the beginning I could barely move and getting down to start warm up exercises was very painful and humbling, as I could not get up with out assistance. It was tough to go to every class but I knew I had to get back into good condition. I had to deal with vertigo, back and hip pain and weakness in all of my muscles. The other challenge was how...

Recently I've enrolled in a certification course through Precision Nutrition. And someone was asking me why I had registered for this course? They said I had a pretty good handle on nutrition, stayed current with the primary literature and had some great resources to turn to when we required something specific for our clients.And I said it had to do with wanting the best for our clients. And believing that this course would help us do our jobs a little bit better.So as I cracked open the text book and got started with the course I was immediately impressed. The authors had identified five limiting factors to success. And by success I'm referring to body transformation, rehab or athletic performance.Anyways below are the five limiting factors. Take a read through each and then ask yourself 'which one is holding you back from success? Or if you've already had some success, which one is your weakest link and if addressed would propel you to another level?' Limiting Factor #1 - Genetics I've just finished Arnold's autobiography and in it he talks about the movies he has movies and of course 'Twins' stands out. This was not only his first comedy but unique in how much money he made due to the unique contract he structured based on the potential success of the movie.Anyways, the premise of the movie is the Arnold and Danny DeVito are twins separated at birth. Arnold's character received the preferred complement of the genetic material in terms of brains and brawn whereas his sidekick DeVito gets the short end of the stick genetically speaking.Now I know there are a number of other movies we could discuss related to our genetic profile (Gataca comes to mind) but the point is there is huge value to choosing the right parents. Limiting...

Do you have a fitness goal that you've been working towards for a while?If it's a weight loss goal you've probably tried different approaches. You may have tried a new training program. Maybe you switched up your nutritional plan. Perhaps you tried a new supplement to boost your workouts or enhance the fat burning process.And if you're like most people you probably have only so many tweaks you can make to your lifestyle in an attempt to achieve your goal before you just throw in the towel and give up. I mean that's a common theme on the after-noon talk shows isn't it? The attitude that it's not your fault, that you're an amazing person just the way you are and all the other warm & fuzzy psycho babble that is used to justify falling short of your goal.Now don't get wrong here. I understand there are a number of factors that contribute to an individual's propensity to gain weight and subsequent ability to lose it as well. And unless we have a blood and hormone profile to work with it may be quite difficult for some to drop weight without knowing the information that can be collected from such tests.But maybe we're going about this the wrong way?Maybe instead of trying harder we need to relax our efforts a bit.What? How does this make sense? How can relaxing the nutritional and exercise efforts you are making be holding you back from having the lean and healthy physique you would like to have?Look at it this way.A new exercise and fitness routine can be thought of as juggling.Ask someone to reduce the calorie containing beverages they consume and they may be able to handle this. (more on this in a bit)Now ask them to take omega-3 every day, plan and pack...

Do you like to drink? And unless you're like a few of my college buddies I'm talking about during the day, while at work or at school. I guess it's not so much a question of 'do you drink?' but rather 'what' do you drink? But you have to admit asking the question the other way got a number of you checking the calendar to see how many more days until the weekend. But seriously though when it comes to our nutrition it seems as though more emphasis is put on what to eat rather than what to drink. And this will trip up many people. How does it trip them up? By drinking things that don't support whatever their goal is. And in this case the goal could be weight loss, weight gain and or performance. So let's take a quick look at each of these to see what you should be drinking. Goal #1 - Weight Loss If you're like most people that go to the gym then your goal is weight loss. And as soon as we can agree that six packs are made in the kitchen and not the gym we'll be way further ahead than if we think we can go for extra walk after dinner to make up for the cherry strudel you had for a mid-afternoon snack. But even if we realize that our nutrition plays the most important role in our quest for the leanest physique we need to be aware that our choice of beverage can severely impact our goal. So what should be drinking? The best choice are water and green tea. There are no calories and the polyphenols and caffeine in the tea may help with your weight loss goal. Just be careful to monitor your caffeine intake and the potential for...

Hey guys! Megan here again, which can only mean one thing… time for another spotlight on one of our clients here at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc. How many of you have used an illness or an injury as a crutch to get yourself out of going to the gym?  I know there are a few of you out there; because even I have been there in the past.  Well, there is one girl I know that didn’t let anything get in the way of her weight loss.  But I’ll let her take over now to you her story. Take it away Danielle. My name is Danielle Sambrielaz and I graduated from Immaculata Regional High School in Kelowna in 2011. I am currently at the University of British Columbia – Okanagan in my second year. -I’m only 19. I love languages and political science, and I am doing a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with a minor in Spanish literature. I am planning on going on an exchange to Nottingham, England in my third year. I have struggled with weight loss for a long time. I just felt that I could not lose weight! I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2008 and after my surgery I thought my weight would become normal again. That was not the case! I was diagnosed with another medical condition that prevented me from losing weight, but the problem is that losing weight can also cure it! I had tried different types of gyms around Kelowna in the past, but nothing really worked. My mom (Lia) and brother (Gio) started going to this gym called Okanagan Peak Performance Inc., and it sounded very intense. My mom asked me if I wanted to come try the gym out, because my doctor told me I had to lose weight....

I remember growing up and my parents were following one of the low fat diets of the day. One of the ones that comes to mind was the Scarsdale Diet. Anyways this diet, and a number of others, recommended that for the best health we needed to reduce our intake of fat. Particularly saturated fat. And so we stopped eating egg yolks. And we cut back on our consumption of animal fat. Or we eliminated animal products altogether and became vegan or vegetarian. By we I mean society in general and not me personally. What have the results been? Obesity has more than doubled in the USA over the last 20 yers. But about our internal health? Have we become sicker as well? Take a look at the graph below which shows the changes in diabetes over the years. And below we can see the increase in sugar consumption over the past 80 plus years. So fat may not be the culprit we thought it was. Sure it has more than double the energy of carbohydrates and protein. But I've tried to drive home the point that a calorie is not a calorie many times before. Any five year will tell you eating 1 lbs of broccoli is not the same as eating 1 lbs of cotton candy. However many still cling to the belief that a caloric deficit is all that is needed to drop unwanted bodyfat fat. But is sugar really that bad? Consider the following research just coming out. Dr. Cantley, a cell biologist and biochemist, has recently shown that cancer cells have insulin receptors just as muscle, fat and liver cells do. So when we eat sugar these receptors are able to receive the sugar flowing through our blood and supply the energy to grow the tumour. And it appears the...

 So the #1 goal of people who go to the gym is weight loss. And it's like finger nails on a chalk board when I see people making all the right decisions when it comes to training, rest and the foods they eat only to blow it in one area. What is that one area? It's the calories they drink. They will drink coffees with flavoured shots, artificial sweeteners, creams and other additives. They will puree enough fruit for two days and drink this. Worse they will buy the commercial varieties of the juice smoothies which often have well over 100 grams of sugar. They will finish off a hard day's work with a glass or two of their favourite beer or wine. Which normally isn't a problem except when you're trying to drop 20-30 lbs. And so for these people we make the rules very simple. 1. Get all of your nutrition from food. 2. Get your hydration from water. But there are exceptions to the rule. And this post is all about those exceptions. Because at a certain point you should gain control of the calories you drink back. And your water intake should be adequate. And you should be getting all your nutrition from food. And your weight loss should be on track. And if this the case read on to find out how you can begin to reintroduce drinks back into your like. If this is you then here are 5 drinks you can reintroduce back into your lifestyle. 1. Workout Drinks - Are your workouts at least an hour in length? Are workouts fairly intense? By this I mean that you broke a sweat, lifted as heavily as you could and were out of breath at various points during the workout. If you answered 'yes' to...

Often times when we think about our reasons for training they can be pretty obvious such as a weight loss goal. This is an obvious goal because it's the number one goal of people who have gym memberships. Heck, it's probably even the number one goal of even the ones who don't have gym memberships.And it makes sense to drop a few extra pounds. It takes stress off weight bearing joints. It allows us to move more easily and without feeling totally spent after performing daily tasks like walking up a flight of stairs.There are improvements to our blood chemistry and overall physiology. Our sleep improves and so does our mood. The truth is we can find many reasons to invest our health by taking some time for training and proper nutrition.But what I find really interesting is that all of these reasons are lower in the grand scheme of things.Consider Maslow's Hierchy of Needs.The diagram represents a variety of human needs from more basic ones at the bottom. In other words as basic requirements we need to breathe, eat, drink water, sleep and carry on basic physiological human needs.But as we progress we must satisfy higher levels of needs related to feeling safe, being loved, having esteem and eventually realizing self-actualization.So how does this relate one's fat loss goal? What does my fitness training have to do with these needs?Let's look at each of these in detail.Physiological - Getting started on a training program involves better nutrtional choices. We drink more water. We sleep better. And as a result our physiological needs are satisfied.Safety - With our training our primary goal is to reduce the incidence of injury. We want to strengthen your immune system to keep you from catching the various colds and flus that get passed around. You...

Here's another post from Dov. In his last post Dov introduced himself and shared his story about how he lost 130 lbs and has managed to keep it off.Below Dov talks about a behaviour that sabotages your results. He's talking about smoking while you are trying to improve your health.But he isn't someone who stands on the sidelines and hurls insults and comments without foundation or understanding. I say that because when I trained Dov he was a smoker. But he made the decision to quit and hasn't looked back.Whether you are a smoker or not, there may be something in your life that is holding you back from attaining the best results possible. Simply substitute whatever that is for you to get the take home message.Dov, the floor is yours....On my last post I mentioned I wanted to discuss some hurdles I had to overcome to achieve significant fat loss; thought it may be true that "losing weight isn't hard", you might be doing some things that make it significantly harder on yourself.SMOKING.If you smoke, and you are working out, just stop working out.If you are sure you cannot quit smoking, do yourself a huge favor, and resign yourself to being a flabby, out of breath, unhealthy person for the rest of your life. There is absolutely no point in attempting to do "cardio" or lift weights, if you smoke.You won't have the oxygen you need to push yourself to any meaningful level.When you work out, the point is that you are putting strain on your muscles so they recover stronger than before. If you cannot generate enough power or sustain enough endurance to perform, you are wasting your time in a serious way. Walking on a treadmill because your lungs cannot supply your poor dying body with enough fuel to...

 Recently I was down to Las Vegas for some meetings, lectures and networking. In between our meetings I had the chance to track down Dr. Peter Osbourne for a quick interview on gluten and celiac disease.In the interview I ask Dr. Osbourne a number of questions including:1. What is gluten?Dr. Osbourne defines gluten as a poison for certain individuals that when they eat it this causes an immune system reaction. This reaction causes a host of problems of up to 140 auto-immune diseases.2. What foods trigger a response or reaction to gluten?Gluten is found primarily in grains such as bread, pasta and cereal.3. Is it possible that some people have celiac disease and may not even know it?Lots of people have gluten sensitivity but have been misdiagnosed and don't know why they are sick. In terms of celiac disease there are an estimated 2 million people that are 'silent celiac' meaning they are asymptomatic and have the disease but won't find out until their fourth decade when the symptoms really start to set in.I ask him a couple more questions but you'll have to watch the video to see what they are.At the end of the interview Dr. Osbourne shares with us his website and facebook fan page. Make sure to watch for this information and contact him for more resources or to inquire about being tested for gluten sensitivity.Are you gluten sensitive?Do you have celiac disease?Do you have reactions to certain foods where the cause hasn't been diagnosed yet?Post your answers in the comments section below.Chrisokanaganpeakperformance.com 'always moving forward'

I might be contradicting myself here but it's got to be done.'How so?' you might be saying to yourself.Well for a while I was encouraging you to do something nutritionally that I believed was in your best interests. That would give you better results related to weight loss and performance.But maybe I was wrong. (said in a whisper so no one can hear me)What it is that I had you doing was reading food labels. So how can this be a bad thing? Why would I suggest you stop doing so? Well for three reasons.Reason #1 to Stop Reading Food Labels - You are being misledI wouldn't go so far as to saw you are being lied to but consider the following titles on food packages:'made with real sugar''all natural''organic''95% fat free'So how are these titles on packaging misleading? Well there really is no benefit to eating real sugar. It still causes an insulin spike and puts the break on your fat burning.What about 'all-natural' and 'organic'? Well just because something occurs naturally doesn't mean it's healthy and a good idea to put it in your mouth. Heck, in the case of arsenic, it can kill you.And organic, well often times this is marketing-hype imo. If you eat organic for environmental reasons, do organic bananas leave a smaller organic footprint to ship to Canada than regular bananas?Reason #2 To Stop Reading Food Labels - It's less about the caloriesAsk most people what they check when they read a food label and what is the most common answer? Calories. We still believe, incorrectly, that a calorie is a calorie and we simply need to create a deficit or surplus in order to have the best results.The truth is that it's probably more important to consider the quality and timing of your food selections rather than the calorie count....

Over the next few days you're going to see an emphasis on nutrition with respect to the content you receive.Why nutrition?Well because it has such a HUGE impact on the results you achieve. I mean we can put emphasis in our workouts. We can do more resistance-based workouts.And we can also put more efforts on our recovery by doing more stretching, foam rolling, immediate post workout shakes and get adequate sleep at night.But if you want the absolute best bang for your buck and return on investment than nutrition is the best place to start.With that in mind here are The Top 5 Reasons Nutrition Should be Your Emphasis for 2011 Health, Fitness & Performance Goals.Reason #1 - We may eat up to 20 times more than we trainIt's not uncommon these days for people to have their three squares a day, a post workout shake and a snack or two. This works out to 6 meals a day times 7 days and you have 42 meals a week.The average gym goer visits their gym less than 3 days per week. This is the average of people who have gym memberships! Many others get a lot less exercise than this.So if someone were eating 40 plus meals a week and training two times a week it's easy to see where there is huge opportunity to make substantial gains and improvement by modifying their nutritional plan.Reason #2 - We always consumeEven if you're the most serious, dedicated athlete out there, there will still be times when you'll take a day of rest.But most of us aren't professional. Or that serious. Or that motivated.And there will be times when we are sick. Or injured. Or travelling. And therefore not able to train at all.So while the outputs may slow, or stop altogether for brief periods,...

Today was a great morning. Why? Because when I was at the gym for a couple of sessions the gym was hopping.And I don't mean the cardio side of the gym which is normally busy but the weight room side. This brings a smile to my face as it makes me feel the message is starting to get out there to the masses that intense resistance-based workouts is the way to go for weight loss, sports performance or general fitness. Period.While part of the crowd had to do with it being a Monday morning in January it was still encouraging to see a shift in training approaches taking place.So what about the rest of the people there? Why are there still so many cardio kings & queens? Well part of it is mis-information and believing that cardio will yield the best return on their investment. But part of it has to do with intimidation. Or not knowing what load to use.You see many people would rather go to the gym and feel productive by walking/running on the treadmill than to venture over to the weight room side and feel lost.So how can you feel confident and safe when selecting your weights for your training session? Here are 4 rules.Rule #1 On Selecting the Correct Weight - Consider the muscles doing the workIf the first thing you can answer is what part of the body you will be working or what movements you will be performing you will do a better job at choosing the correct weight. For examplen if you were performing a squatting exercise you will be able to handle a heavier load than an exercise for the triceps. Duh, right?You'd be surprised though to see the number of people that use the same dumbbell to squat with and then go straight into a...

Movement is an interesting thing. In some ways it comes naturally to us. Think of a baby on its back wiggling the arms and legs. Eventually with enough effort and momentum the baby will be able get a leg across the body, rotate the hips and flip onto their stomach.But what starts out as an inquisitive exploration of our surroundings can lead to many great abilities in sports and performance. As young kids we are fearless and will do and try just about anything to seek a thrill and have fun.As we get older life gets a little busier and we get a little wiser about the downside of being hell-bent for speed and thrills. Basically all we have to do is experience one injury to curb our thirst for extreme movement and velocity.But that doesn't have to mean sport and movement stops all together. In fact it can't and is essential for our vitality.So we must find that balance between fearlessly attacking a sport or activity with reckless abandom and taking ourselves 'out of the game' completely.And this balance comes with being able to load and unload the forces we experience with movement. And we do this most effectively when we have neuromuscular efficiency (NE). This basically means we get the right muscles to fire, at the right time and in the right plane.Unfortunately success in sport is not as simple as simply having NE because we still need to develop the fitness, strength and power of the relevant muscles. Add to that the demands for reading and reacting to an opponent as well as changing environmental conditions and you can quickly appreciate how skilled high level athletes really are.In order to develop some of the athletic abilities of the pros look to be able to efficiently load and unload the body....

Often times the seasons dictate what we do for exercise. When it is nice outside people tend to move their workouts outdoors and take advantage of the warmer weather. Around here you see more people boating, golfing, biking and doing triathlons.But when the weather gets cold we move indoors and get in more of our gym-based workouts. I'm not saying that's the way it should be, only that's what many around here tend to do.Even though we may move indoors for a lifting workout there are still somethings we can do outdoors and can actually only be done outdoors in the winter. Consider the outdoor skating rink downtown. Or going up to the ski hill. Going snowshoeing, tabogoning or even just going for a run and you can see that cold weather doesn't have to mean all activity stops.If you're going to do some exercise this winter make sure to check out the following video where I give you a number of tips for going outdoors this winter for some activity. Now there was one more tip I didn't cover in the video that I want to share with you. And this has to do with supplementation. If you're in the habit of taking omega-3 (which I think is a great thing by the way) you don't want to jump up your dosage too much during the winter months. Especially if you plan on going up to the hill. Here's why.You see omega-3 has blood thinning properties which is part of the reason it is effective in lowering blood pressure in some. In the winter however the relative humidity is much lower than in the summer.Basically warm air holds more water than cold air. So in the winter our tissues lose water to the environment as we have a higher humidity than the...

Hi there: Before I get to today's email I want to let you know we've made a few changes on our website. In addition to a bit of a re-design the major change is that we've switched it over to a wordpress blog. What does this mean for you? Well, now you get to have your say. You can go to the site every time I post an article and leave some feedback. You can ask a question. Or you can present an alternate argument to a question. Maybe you're an expert in a particular field and have info that really would benefit the people reading these emails. Case in point when I wrote about celiac disease you replied to me with some excellent resources and info that I had to pass on to others.And so I really encourage you to go over to the site and post a comment, a question or whatever's on your mind. From time to time I'll reward those who post with meal plans, training programs and other freebies.So go take a look, let me know what you think and make okanaganpeakperformance.com your home for health, fitness and performance.Now on to the article.A while back I put a challenge out to you. I challenged you to lose 7 lbs by Thanksgiving. And we gave you the tools of how to make this a reality.And you responded. Big time.But one of you didn't stop at 7 lbs. Or at 10 lbs, 15 lbs or even 20 lbs. Annette Welke has managed to drop 22 lbs and is on track for more!Read on to see what Annette did to achieve this incredible result.Hi Chris! Since I have started working with you (almost 4 years!) I have seen my weight go up and down, with nobody to blame but...