#nathanlsweeting

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2 Tips on meal prepping 

While on your health journey, meal prepping is necessary for your survival. 

Equip yourself 

Be sure you stock out the kitchen with Tupperware for storage after cooking, measuring spoons and cups, a food scale (nothing fancy) to ensure you stick to your portion sizes. Also keep a lunch bag handy to transport your food around.

You want bulk 

Shop and cook in bulk to save time and money. For this you’ll need bigger pots and pans and a good way to do it is to pretend you’re cooking for a family. You’ll need a little extra money each trip to the grocery store, but it also means you’ll be visiting it less frequently.

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Your circle tells a lot about you 

I had many many people I used to hang out with daily and weekly. This was years ago before I was blessed with my wife and daughter. Back then it was all about the party ... and no one could have partied like us. We were the only people in the club on Monday and Tuesday nights. 

Professional switch 

After a while, in 2010 I built up the courage to leave my 9 to 5 job to become a fulltime entrepreneur; the partying faded away … along the multitude of party friends. My circle then became significantly smaller and filled with other entrepreneurs who were just as or even more hungry for success than I was. As my businesses grew, the caliber of entrepreneurs I saw on a consistent bases improved as well. At this point the drinking buddies were only a distant memory. 

The Ah-ha moment 

About 1 year ago, I became obsessed with success, growing my businesses and building my empire for my family; to the point where I have no social life. I needed some cash to take my business to the next level, so I looked to the people in my life, and they were more interested in borrowing money from me … as I was “the successful one.” It was at that point that I promised myself to only keep those in my circle who are on the same mission as me. As a result, there are exactly 2 people who I hang around now and even that isn’t on a consistent bases because we’re always working. Even my conversations with others are restricted to being in line with my goals. 

Because I narrowed my circle, I’m able to better focus on the goal and achieve consistent progress.

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How to complete a day’s worth of exercise using 3 - 5 minutes 

Between my job and my personal life there is no way I can spend an hour or even 30 minutes exercising. I’ve heard this statement so many times before from people before they became clients. The truth is there’s always a way and we all know we make time for things we want. With that, here’s what to do: 

100 squat goal 

Let’s say your daily goal is to complete 100 squats. As soon as you leave your bed in the mornings, do 20. While you’re brushing your teeth to 20 more. Do another 20 while fixing your hair. Standing in front of the stove can be boring at times, so spice it up with another 20. Then before you leave the house, pop out another 20 just for the sake of it.  What do you end up with? Hitting your daily goal of 100 squats; and did I mention before you even left home! 

Repetitions matter 

I had a photo shoot to prepare for, so I started a ridiculously hectic training program without even thinking about how I’ll pull it off. It required gym training and there was no way I could hit the gym 5 – 6 times in day. So, I split my training session into 2 gym visits … morning and evening. The most important part was to get in the required number of repetitions. Safe to say I was more than ready for my shoot. Take the number of targeted repetitions of each exercise and divide it by the frequency of available time in your day.  That can range from 30 seconds to hours. Just make sure you complete the total workout before bedtime.

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3 signs that your cardio is sufficient 

What kind of cardio should I do? How do I know when it’s effective? Both common questions. Cardio can come in the form of cycling, elliptical, swimming, running, dancing etc. Here are some guidelines: 

1. Sweating 

Depending on the type, you should aim for your cardio to cause sweating. This is a great way to release excess water weight and is a great sign that the body is working. 

2. Sing your song 

When you are in the middle of your cardio session, your blood is pumping and you’re on a roll, try to sing the chorus of your favorite song. If you can do that easily without skipping a beat, then increase your cardio intensity. You should be so out of breath that it becomes difficult to sing without pausing. 

3. Elevated heart rate 

Keep track of your heart rate as cardio is meant to elevate it, because it involves the exertion of energy. Even if you jump up and down in one place, that’s cardio and will elevate your heart beat. But again, I say monitor it, as some people have various respiratory and heart conditions that needs special attention.

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Do I have to wear a waist-trainer/band to shrink my waist? 

For the first 3 months of my transformation journey, I used a combination of my wife’s maternity waist band (feel free to laugh) and some other name-brand waist trainers. While some of them worked to a certain extent (not the maternity band), they were not nearly as effective as the ever faithful diet and exercise. 

If not the band, then what? 

The waist trainers felt very uncomfortable and restricted me from doing certain types of exercises. When I finally got tired of them, I started focusing more on eating properly and core exercises. The result … a reduction in my waist size. 

You can remove the band, giving yourself a wider range of motion for core work, then start sculpting. Be sure to target the upper and lower abs, obliques and lower back.

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Do resistance bands really work? 

I had a pack of resistance bands gathering dust for years, because I always went to the gym to train; in my mind the bands were only for beginners. About a year ago, I had to start training at home for a while, so I dusted off the bands and used them to shred my body to a new level of muscular definition. 

The ‘resistance bands’ gym 

The full pack of bands gave me all the resistance needed and I was also able to switch up weights. The pack I’m referring to also has a door anchor, handles and ankle attachment. You can literally re-create a gym using them. Having a pack handy on your health journey is like having a spare tire if you have a car.  I always recommend to clients who are the travelling type to take their bands with them and create their gym wherever they stay. 

I have also designed full body training routines for clients using only resistance bands coupled with body weight exercises.

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3 Reasons to celebrate your problems 

I look at every problem as an opportunity for growth and personal development. 

1. Increased mental and emotional strength 

Anytime you experience something negative, dig deep down and you will find the positivity associated with it. When I first became an entrepreneur in 2010, I got many doors slammed in my face and heard a lot of No’s, resulting in me questioning the value of my product and myself. I got to the point where I expected to hear a ‘No’ when giving my pitch.  Little did I realize then, that those No’s were just Yes’s in a different form. My early “failures” forced me to study sales training, which taught me to expect a No at first (it’s human nature). Now I embrace the No and take great pride in turning them into Yes’s! 

2. Eliminate some options 

On the journey to success in whatever area you seek, you will either succeed or find ways it cannot work; win or learn. I tried leaving out my diet plan and just sticking to the training, but was not getting the muscular definition wanted. Then I tried the opposite, but only got smaller (which was not my goal). That forced me to focus on both; the result … a six-pack! Learn from your mistakes and setbacks and use them as ways to improve. 

3. Much needed experience 

What’s the best way to learn? Taking action. What does this give you? Much needed experience. 

Because of the obstacles I overcame while transforming my body, along with knowledge gained from studying, I was able to coach my clients through their transformations. The fact is, if you are consistenly moving towards your goals, you will encounter problems. And each one you solve, moves you one step closer to becoming an expert in that area.

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Eating healthy saves money 

You’ve probably heard before that eating healthy is too expensive; well I’ve personally put that to the test. 

$30.00 Budget 

Before I began my health journey and when my job required me to be on the road all day, my diet consisted of Wendy’s (breakfast), McDonald’s (lunch), and Domino’s (dinner). For snacks I would have a piece of macaroni, Danish, or just eat a whole meal … did I mention this was every single day?  This ran me into about $30 daily. Not to mention it caused me to greatly increase my body fat percentage. 

After starting my health journey with Elite Wellness Solutions, my diet completely changed. My daily diet consisted of 4 meals and some snacks. An average meal would be something like, 6oz protein, 1 cup carbs, 1 cup veggies. I meal prepped, which means I bought my groceries in bulk (lowering the cost) and cooked. That same $30 got me a large can of tuna ($11), a bag of rice ($8) and some fresh veggies ($8). Now that’s enough food to last me for a few days well.  Oh, and I had $3 dollars change! 

There are some expensive healthy food out there, but there are even more expensive unhealthy food too. 

Among the many the many benefits of healthy eating, you can now add … saving money.