Max Muscle and Vegan Essentials

More and more I am coming to realize that bodybuilding is a sport of dieting and nutrition. When I began my career as a personal trainer, I was told that "only 20% of your results will come from your training, 80% is what you do at home." That statement made me feel silly and less accountable for what I was doing as a personal trainer in people's lives. I've tried to make a huge impact in people's lives and make them gain muscle, make them lost fat, make them ditch their medicines.....but I've come to realize that what I do really is only 20% of my clients' results. Eating/supplementing/digesting/timing is so important!

Have you heard of protein? Well, it's this thing....

Yeah. Being an herbivore, I use plant-based proteins. My favorite companies are Vega and Sun Warrior. If you've never tried a protein powder or protein shake from those companies, I recommend you do! A website featuring both of those products is called VeganEssentials.  Another one is called VeganProteins.

They have all kinds of nutritional supplements and are entirely plant-based. I support that company and follow them on twitter @VeganEssentials. They always have some sort of deal. Same goes for Vegan Proteins on twitter @VeganProteins. Right now they have an amazing 40% deal on a Vega Whole Foods Optimizer. Truth be told, good plant-based proteins are pricey. The entire lifestyle is a commitment, but it is a commitment worth staying true to. Companies like these are there to provide support and accessibility to these kinds of necessary nutritional supplements to make a plant-based journey feasible. 

Now, if only they conveniently had a headquarters in Santa Cruz! I feel that if one embarks on the journey of vegetarianism or veganism, it should be well-researched and done healthily. I'm not saying that you need to read Peter Singer's Animal Liberation and Brendan Brazier's Thrive cover to cover if you decide to simply stop eating steak. I'm saying that if you plan to be fit, build muscle, and continue on a plant-based diet for any significant amount of time, then you need to get your facts about nutrition straight.

I see so many people fail because they don't know how to diet or exercise. Dare I say diet may even be more important than the exercise? Well, I see far more mistakes made in the dieting realm than in the exercise program-design realm. Lots of people just cut their calories. Well, if you cut your calories by 20% all of the sudden, it's likely your metabolism will drop by 30% all of the sudden. Nutrition is a science, dieticians go to school for years to get it right, the majority of people don't see long-lasting results by choosing to skip a meal or two.

Max Muscle has written up some amazing nutrition plans for clients that I've trained at Acadia Fitness and Santa Cruz Power Fitness. Their expertise in the nutritional realm is beyond what I can muster and has come with decades of experience. Their locations in Gilroy and Santa Cruz are owned by the bodybuilding couple, Sarah and Jeff Malone. Their family (them and their relatives in younger generations) has produced some phenomenal competition-level bodybuilders. I tout this fact not because I want everyone who reads my blog or takes my fitness classes to become a bodybuilder, but I've stressed the importance of diet within that sport, and to be qualified in that echelon shows excellence in that field.

I am lucky to be a Max Muscle Preferred Trainer, sending clients their way for nutritional advice and working jointly with them to help better people's results. I would like you to check out one of my clients' testimonials after having trained with me for a year and gotten on a Max Muscle nutrition plan to complement the exercise regime we follow. 

Ladies and gentlemen, Lorena:


Results like hers don't come overnight, but they are not impossible. If you are currently someone training with me or training yourself to reach those seemingly impossible goals, please have hope. Since this is a personal blog, I will share that right now, less than 10 weeks away from my first bodybuilding competition, I feel fat as hell. I sit back and if I lift my shirt I know I don't have what it takes to earn first in this division:

It's going to take some work. Some more cardio (8am tomorrow with Kelsey!), some more lean protein, some less carbs, some spray tan, some Nair...yes yes yes it shall be done. Stay strong everyone! And while we're on the topic of staying strong and testimonials, here's one of another cherished client, Mike.

(my man is also on a Max Muscle nutritional plan and has gained so much strength and skill with olympic lifting since we started almost two years ago) Check him out:

I absolutely love my clients and love the hard work they put into fitness. It has paid off and will continue to do just that. All until we step on stage and take home trophies for best physiques in the world!

So this July 14th I'm competing against the guy on the far left, not the far right, just to clarify! My division, has been deemed the "baby bodybuilder" division and judges on muscular definition, overall conditioning and stage presence/personality. It's doable. It's doable man!!

Hey folks, I'm scattered and hyper writing these blogs-o-mine, the pattern here has turned into testimonial, picture of bodybuilders, testimonial, picture of bodybuilders...so I guess I'll have to end it with one more testimonial that I'm particularly proud of, since I picked up this client (took over) from another trainer and have gotten her the best results she's ever seen. I've even posted her on my YouTube channel and other websites have stolen her to put on their own sites! How flattering. This Diabetes and Sugar Control website evidently likes me and my client and now feature here here. 

My amazing client, Lauren:

   

If you're loving every moment you've spent with me here today, you owe yourself another 1:27 of wonderful fitness-related entertainment and can watch the man behind all of these ethics-driven words wisdom in MY YOUTUBE VIDEO here. Enjoy your day.