It is official. Avidityfitness.net is no longer going to be updated. The information that is here will remain. However, to see updated information you must now go to LeighPeele.com

In this latest podcast I think I talked about everything at least once.

http://mfammitsboel.com/

Hope you enjoy, here is a preview…

Question:

Hi Leigh,

Thank you for answering questions! I am losing fat just fine, however too much is coming from my breasts, not enough from my thighs and butt. Is there any way to address that ratio? I’d like to keep my.. rack, as you call it. In case is matters, I am approx 22-23% BF currently. Just looking to lose the last 2-5 pounds of BF, and trying to have firm, defined curves. I like my curves! I just don’t want jiggly curves and I’d like a flat tummy. I lift.. I follow crossfit, but with a bit more balanced extra strength work and more rest days.

A few more details about me, in case it matters: I’m small.. 5′2″ approx 119lbs. I’m successfully using a fresh whole foods (mostly paleo) diet with IF days, low calorie non-IF days, and refeed days mixed into each week.

Thank you!

Question:

Hi Leigh,

I’m a listener of the Fitcast and I love your work. I have a question for you. I’m a female, 28, 5 feet 7, 130 pounds, down from 165 in June 2008. I just finished New Rules of Lifting for Women and I’m really happy with the results. But there’s one problem I just don’t know how to solve.

I have water retention in my outer thighs and it hurts when I sit on the floor with my legs crossed. It’s also sensitive if I touch the area. I’ve had that since I was a teenager, even when I wasn’t fat. I drink plenty of water (more than 1 gallon per day), I massage my thighs with a glove in the shower, I weight train 3 times a week and take long walks every day.

My daily sodium intake is around 3,000 mg. Do you have any suggestions for me?

Thanks a lot! Milie

Question:

Ok Leigh,
I’m a subscriber to your site, but I don’t get to read it often. I’ve been seriously considering getting your books however I have a question. As a mom who works outside the home I’m busy. I know you’ve heard that one before! Once I get home there’s dinner and the kid to attend to not to mention taking care of all the other life concerns. I’m tired all the time and I have a low thyroid. I know that I need to get moving and take care of MYSELF to keep my health and my sanity! I have a love hate relationship with food and exercise. It definitely sounds like your book can help but I don’t really have the means or the time to get to a gym. So the exercising has to be done at home. Is this possible with what you have outlined in your books????

Need help!

Thanks,
Alisa

Question:

Hey Miss Leigh!

Welcome back.
I hope your intense emotional situation wasn’t too taxing… but I guess that’s when the best things come out of us… in your case, a book?! Just cranked out a book… that’s pretty incredible. Can’t wait to find out more about it…

So…. I’m almost at my 7th week… I’ve been hovering between 125 & 126 for the past 3 weeks.
I know you’re swamped with emails, but if I should be so lucky as to get your answer/advice/wisdom on the following?:

* I was listening to one of your hotbod podcasts, the one about training to get the body you want… and you mention more reps and shorter rests between in order to get that longer, leaner look (which is the one I’m goin’ for). but the final lifting program in metaburn is like 5 reps w/ 1-2 min. rests… should I still follow that, even if it’s not really the training that’s supposed to get me the look I’m going for?

* I work out at home, and don’t have a bar… any idea of what I can do to substitute CHIN UPS? right now I’m doing lateral raises instead of pulldowns because, despite my every effort, I couldn’t for the freakin’ life of me find a dumbell version of a lat pulldown on the internet:/

* am I still supposed to keep my calories at that original number – 1,406 cal/day?

Leigh, you are the best, and I can’t express to you how much I appreciate your consistent support… you arm people with information and knowledge, empowering them, us…. and it feels amazing to feel like I kinda understand what’s going on with my body.

p.s.
I really miss your podcasts:) I used to do my lifting workouts to them…

and as always, thanks for everything you do….
Anna

Question:

Hi Leigh = )

I’ve emailed you before with a few questions and I really appreciated your advice. I’m currently 4 weeks into your pull-up program for women (it’s going well I think, although I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to do it again later – my starting strength was very poor – I didn’t know how poor until I tried doing 4×15 negatives!!), and when I’m finished with that program I’m going to start OPT-Remix.

Anyway, I actually have a few questions about my body – where its’ at and what I need to do to get it to where I want to go.

I’ve attached two sets of pictures – the befores are of me in April last year, weighing 57kg, the afters are of me in August after 4-5 months of dieting at 54kg.

After the 4-5months of counting every piece of food I put in mouth and eating more green veg than I care to remember (my friends were not impressed with me munching on celery at the cinema! lol) I looked at the after photos and kind of felt that it hadn’t really been worth it – yes I was leaner but I still didn’t like the way my body looked, plus none of my friends or family said that they could see a difference (in real life, not in the pictures). Consequently I ended up kind of re-bounding. I still ate pretty well but I just ate too much.

Anyway, currently I’m 59kg and looking pretty much the same as in the before photos (obviously now those afters aren’t looking so bad). Like I said, I’m going to start OPT-Remix in 2 weeks time to get off some of the excess fat but I was wondering if you could help me with a few questions / issues?

1. What would you estimate my bf% to be in my before and after photos?
http://avidityfitness.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/before-shots-sally.jpg
http://avidityfitness.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/after-shots-sally.jpg

2. Given that I like the Evangeline Lily (from Lost)

http://www.blogcadre.com/files/images/evangeline_lilly.preview.jpg

Jessica Biel

http://www.jessica-biel.net/gallery/candids/hawaiibeach/hawaiibeach_01.jpg

Look – what do I need to do? Like I said, in my after photos I was fairly lean but I think my body looked disproportionate and unattractive – did I just need to lose more fat? Or gain more muscle in my upper body? Get a plastic surgeon?! (joke!). I really am confused about what to focus on – I don’t particularly care about being a particular bf% (my first question was more out of curiosity), I just want to have an attractive body.

3. Do you have any advice on how to start liking / accepting the way you look? I don’t want to accept being fat so that I can stay that way – I guess I’d just like to not feel like crying whenever I look in the mirror or see photos of myself! (this REALLY interferes with my diet at times as a bad ‘episode’ can lead to a full-on junk binge).

Thanks for all your help, again! You really are awesome = )

Sally

To listen, download here: Episode 23: Lots o Questions and Babble City (Click to listen to/right click and save as to download)

PS-Chance to get a free copy of FLTS or anything else I release at the end of the cast. Somewhere around the last 10 mins I think. If you know how to do podcast or podcast coding, hop on that!

One of the best things I ever learned to do was to scare the crap out myself.

Allow me to explain.

Everyday I get scared. Everyday. I get scared of stupid things, smart things, real things, fake things, people, emotions, physical tests, and mostly infomercial of weight loss products.  Being afraid is natural and it is not weak. However, letting the fear ruin and run your life, is being weak to your dreams.

I believe it is your dreams that keep you alive and fighting to be apart of this world. Because I believe in that, I believe anything that weakens that needs to be eliminated.

The question is what is your dream? It could be a million things,but I am going to assume that at least one dream of yours is to have the body and lifestyle that you always wanted. You want to be hot, relaxed, free, and have peace of mind.

What if I told you in order to get that piece of mind you had to scare yourself first?

Answer this question – Why do you not have the lifestyle and body you want right now?

I want you to write down the reasons and the excuses you gave. I am going to put one down right now.

“I don’t have time to devote to fat loss.”

What would happen if even not having the time, you did it anyway? What is the worse that can happen? This isn’t a rhetorical question. I want you to take every answer and every excuse you have written down and I want you to run through your worst case scenario.

It is now time to scare the crap out of yourself.

“I don’t have time to devote to fat loss.  If I try not to eat as much right now I am going to be tired, less focused, and I need my focus to do my job. The economy is bad and I have to keep my job. If I can’t do my job I could get fired. If I get fired then I might lose my home. If I lose my home then I might end up on the streets. While I am living on the streets bad things could happen and next thing I know I am on CSI: Miami.”

Would that really happen? You could say it is a possibility. If you allow your imagination to run wild, and I assure you mine can be amazingly cruel, you would be surprised how gruesome you can make things get.

The funny thing is you do that to yourself, everyday, all day long. Your problem is you stop it before it gets good. If you really took those fears all the way, to the worst case scenario,  you might see how ridiculous your fears are to have in the first place. You also will give name and face to your fears and automatically feel more prepared for battle of those fears. This will make you less likely to fall victim to them.

The only catch to running through the worse case scenario, is you have to turn right around and do the best case scenario.

“I will make the time to devote to fat loss. If I lose the weight and feel better I might have more confidence. If I have more confidence I might just get that job promotion that I have been wanting. If I get that job promotion I might be able to move to that beach house I always wanted. While I am living on the beach I might meet love of my life. Together we will travel and see beautiful things, spend time with our families, and I will spend my life knowing the joy and love of good people and fortune.

Would that really happen? You could say it is a possibility. If you allow your imagination to run wild, and I assure you mine can be amazingly beautiful, you would be surprised how amazing things can get.

Now it is your turn. Leave me your worst case and best scenario.

I have gotten a lot of questions lately about what to do after you “fall off the wagon.”

The answer isn’t as simple as you think and might surprise you.

Check out the latest podcast for more info on the topic.

After the Binge (click to play/right click and “save as” to download/ Itunes

A few points covered are…

-Recovering after a binge
-Why it is important to acknowledge the cheat
-Is there a right or wrong thing to do
-Is fasting okay
-Why did it happen in the first place
-What are the technical things that occur
-What should you expect your weight to lose
-How to deal with regain

Looking forward to hearing you thoughts so go check it out!

PS-I make a small mention of something special at the end…hint hint.

Here is a story.

Yesterday you ordered a copy of “Rid My Ass” off of Amazon.com. You read the book. Scratch that. You don’t read the whole book. You skip to the section that tells you what to do. Over the next 8 weeks you follow what it says to do, no questions asked. You either a) lose fat or b) don’t lose fat.

If this book works, you become the biggest fan of “Rid My Ass.”
If this book doesn’t work, you state it as being just another fad diet program and curse it for life.

Isn’t it funny that under both circumstances the majority of you have no idea why you did what you did? Why it worked or didn’t work? What the research was behind it, or how it came to be created?

Every day on countless of tv stations across the world you can find some sort of diet program. The people that give the testimonials all sound the same, and they say the same things. Are they lying? Not all of them.

They really believe in the product they are supporting. Wouldn’t you be talking up the product that finally worked for you?

My tip for you today is simple. No matter what program you are using, no matter who your “guru” is or who you turn to for information, make sure to understand what you are doing. Always understand why what you are doing works.

I try to do the best I can to provide all of that information to my clients and readers the best I can. Unless you are blessed with a lot of luck just following blindly is not going to work forever. Knowledge is power.

If you want to stop guessing and start knowing you have to get on board with the education. Even if you want to do other programs, or take a different path or journey, you will always have this compass in your pocket.

Are you my next informed testimony? I hope so.

Originally I was going to break these up over the course of a few weeks, but I thought I will go ahead and start everyone at the same time. I already have certain people selected for a certain body fat range but I still have some spots open.

Here are the required qualifications in order to participate in the test. These are very important, so please read through them carefully, and think about how you will be affected by it. This is NOT going to be for everyone, so don’t worry if this isn’t for you, ok?

1-You will be required to fill out a questionnaire and future questionnaires before, during, and after programing. All information in this document CAN be shared due to these being public case studies. By filling out this document and sending it to me you are hereby giving your full permission for information to be distributed. Your photos can and will likely be distributed for testimonial purposes to give statement to the programing.

2-All training or nutrition information given to you based on this document information is to be used at your own risk. Avidity Fitness LLC is not to held responsible in any way, for anything that occurs, under any circumstances. MWAHAHA…

3-You are not allowed to share any information about the programming or nutrition guidelines to anyone else until I have given permission to do so.

4-Photos are to be submitted each week at the same time of day in the same outfit. What you wear is up to you, but please try and show as much of your body as possible. No nakies though please. Quality of photos need to be in a good range. Clear and visible in your photo. If someone cannot take the photo of you simply set a timer and move to spot.

5-With your weekly photos you will also be asked to hand in the stat sheet. Some of your will be required to put different things on your stat sheets than others for pure psychological purposes only.

6-This program will vary from 8 weeks to 14 weeks. Your timeline will be guesstimated at the beginning at the program, but may change if needed based up pace. Could be shorter, could be longer.

7-Each person is going through a different phase at different times. The few difference from this vs the product release is a slight tweaking based on individualization, but we hope to utilize and find a formula to best do this in the programming release in the future.

You will be getting update programing every 2 weeks (as needed)
You will be getting updated nutrition guidelines every 2 weeks (as needed)

8-Beyond the check ins and program updates our communication will be limited to general and basic program questions no more than you would ask someone you bought a product from or via on a support forum. Because this is private obviously there is no support forum so I do allow general questions to be asked.

9-You will be required to take final photos that are of good quality. They do not have to be professional pictures but that have to be of good quality. If you are chosen we will go over that together.

10-Lastly, I am being very selective with who I pick and don’t have a huge group selected. This means that your diligence is crucial. If 7 weeks in your haven’t been doing what you need to do I will know and not only will it make my job harder it takes away 7 weeks of data I could have been logging on someone else. So before you join the test I need you to understand the seriousness of your dedication and compliance is 100%. Not 90, 100. I realize that may not be for everyone and that is fine. Just know what you are agreeing to and the dedication level required.

Understand that what I am asking of you is what I am going to be delivering to you. If you want the ultimate of yourself I will help you make that happen in as short of time as we possibly can. I can do this for you because you are going to be a billboard for me. I want hot billboards, so I will not fail you if you promise not to fail me. Deal?

Who I am looking for…

-2 females who are in the range of 22-29% bf. Training experience can vary, but I do need to be informed of it.

-2 females who are in the range of 18-22% bf. Training experience can vary, but I do need to be informed of it.

-2 males who are in the range of 11-14% Body Fat that have a moderate level of training experience to advanced.

-2 males who are in the range of 18-23% body fat that have any level of training experience.

If you are on board and fit the description then please send to trainer @ avidityfitness.net the following information.

1-Name
2-Stats
Age
Height
Weight
Estimated BF%
3-One picture only of yourself of what you currently look like that is clear that gives me a good idea of what your body is.

If you are chosen you will be receiving a questionnaire form and we will go from there. There may be 1 phone call to fact check if short on time. Then you will receive your program and start checking in.

The cut off date for submissions is April 24th at Midnight. From there I will make my final decisions.