Getting leaner takes consistency and patience. But it will not always be a struggle! As you become leaner your body will change its way of responding to food. The leaner you are the more important the refeeds become. Your metabolism goes into spin provided you go by the rules!

A lean body which is kept that way by strict diet and a lot of training is more interested in restoring depleted muscles and liver with carbohydrates than to store fat. Initially that is. This is why you get away with eating large amounts of bread, pasta, rice, oatmeal, fruit etc during refeeds without getting fat. Your body gets a bit shocked and super compensates by filling up the empty muscle bellies as efficiently as possible. That is why you gain more water and weight the day(s) after because your body is smart: it takes advantage of the opportunity.

Refeeds are carb loading, but you skip the emptying or zero carb phase because you are already pretty depleted from hardcore training for days, no need to do even more of that. Your body responds by loading in the carbs in the muscles and with that lots of water. THIS is the weight gain and it’s normal to stay a bit smooth for a few days after. That is due to hormonal fluctuations because with more carbs insulin levels go up etc, this causes weight gain.

I know it seems strange but yes, the leaner you get the more you need the refeeds and benefit from them. So, there is light in the end of the tunnel. Refeeds don’t just help with keeping intensity up in the gym, it helps you body recover and your mind too. Carbs are the best source for high performance but we don’t eat much of them when we want to get shredded because the side effect of them is you stay smooth and too fat!

With refeeds you get to have both worlds: carbs and a lean body.

It took ME long time and step by step to trust my body and how it treats overfeeding. I have it all down to the facts now so that is why I am vey confident in what I preach and practice. I can see on my body when I need to eat. I lose my abs and get watery and puffy. However, this is funny because the last thing I feel like when I get those puffy days are to rest and eat, so I usually don’t! I am sure I will in the future when I acknowledge my body’s signals.

The leaner you are the more you desire healthy foods and not junk. And trust me, junk will not be ok on  refeeds, it is unhealthy to eat fast food so I don’t see any reason why you want to poison your body with that. Speaking of junk, we all can get healthier and improve our health. I do that all the time step by step. Recently I stopped my excessive stevia usage, I stopped my aspartame usage (chewing gum), I added chlorophyllin and super greens every morning for my immune system. I stopped using chemical facial washers. I bought a sun protecting hat for my sensitive face. I like eliminating!:-)

Dreaming about having a lean, chiseled body and in your naive thinking you assume you will feel RIGHT ON every day for good when you achieve your goal?… Well, no not really!You still have good and bad days and when you are ripped the difference is way bigger than when you are soft and chubby!

Think about bodybuilders prepping the final days for a show: they worry about water manipulation, sodium, water retention, too many carbs, too few carbs, too little salt, too little or too much potassium, stress, timing etc. It makes a difference because the same body with the same amount of ultra low body fat can look either SOFT and FAT or shredded and dry. It all depends on the daily condition.

When you are ripped your body is not so statically and constantly: some days you might not see your abs at all, some days you are dry to the bones! Did you gain fat? most likely not, especially not if you have adhered to your regular program. But, your body is sensitive and even though you change nothing your body can change anyway! Your body has its own ebb and flow or rhythm or things.

When you are soft and have pounds to shed before you are considered very lean, a little water retention from carb refeed won’t be visible. Soft getting a bit softer does not change the picture so to speak. However, when you are shredded and refeed your abs disappear and you gain way more water the days post the refeed because it’s a bigger change for your body. it’s more shocking for your body. And the leaner you are the softer you look after most refeeds. It goes away, but still, the side effect is a softer physique for a few days.

Even though your average daily condition is 100 times better than any off season shape even on your worst day, you feel horrible when you have your “fat days”. It’s amazing how your body can attract pounds of water around the worst areas like face, midsection and thighs, but yeah, it is what it is lol… When you get used to always waking up with a six pack and veins popping you get low when you don’t have it. You get spoiled.

When your body goes through the water retaining days caused by anything from NOTHING to salt to carbs to allergens to allergies to sleep issues to a new condiment to a new source of protein etc, your motivation to train hard to keep your shredded physiques goes way down the drain. “why bother” you ask yourself since you are looking soft anyway. Right?

And then you can wake up the next day shredded again.

Being used to being in super shape puts way more pressure on yourself to keep it up because honestly, even the slightest weight gain from something as innocent as salt or carb refeed sets you back mood wise. You don’t even want to eat more than usual because you feel too heavy after! It gets harder to train! You get tired! And then add feeling chubby on top and clothes sit tighter, well, it’s easy to say no to a well needed refeed.

The problem is you must sooner or later refeed due to fatigue. You cannot keep on training hard and get results without feeding the machine. And overfeeding is the best antidepressant for a stressed, overtrained body. The key is moderation!

How often to refeed depends on factors like body fat, motivation, energy levels, goals, psyche, gender, training schedule etc. For me, I don’t do it often because I don’t like the hangover. Instead I do more frequent veggie refeeds where I just add more high caloric veggies like beets, carrots and legumes like green peas. I also add a big bowl of porridge in the morning. This gets me going and it does not soften me up. Every blue moon I go for a super calorie refeed: up to 7000 calories from carbs like oats, fat free granola, raisins, fat free yoghurt, milk and sorbet but then I get so tired I cannot work the next day lol.

BY THE WAY, the butt bible is here! Email me for pre-order! 19.95 USD is the price!

You know the big bad flaw about emotions? They try to boss you around like you’re some kinda first grade kindergarten kid who needs to do just what papa or mama said or something BAAAAD will happen. I’m sick of these bullies. I’ve had it with them. Stupid emotions, you think you got it huh? You think  you know where the energy tap is on me so you can let it drip all day so I get drained? Yeah right, you TRY! I know you believe you got me but no, wait and see.

Bohoo I feel tired. I feel exhausted. I don’t want to climb the stairs to the apartment. I drag my feet and the curb side is too high, I wanna roll over like a slimy worm. Couch looks soft and comfy, it’s calling my name. And yeah I do hear it. I do hear the voice loud and clear : WHERE ARE THE CARBS? you KNOW they make you HAPPY!

What the heck is that SHIT? It’s not like I’m gonna surrender! Hey, you think I don’t KNOW you by now you stupid emotions? You hover around waiting for the perfect opportunity to stab my in my back when I’m already on the low down! But I’m watching you.

Fatigue is nothing dangerous. It’s natural. So, don’t try to make me panic. I do feel like I will never rise from paralysis, but this ain’t the first time I feel like a walking zombie. My brain is preserving energy, it tries to slow me down. Shit happens some days. Some days you are not yourself. But why make such a big baby out of it?

I’m not a machine. But I do know how to control my emotions. I acknowledge them, yet they do not run my office! I do. I do. I do.

I get so PISSED. Because I KNOW it’s all in my mind. I let myself get worn out, I did not prevent fast enough. I should have seen it coming but I chose to be blind. Stupid me. I learn though. It’s always easier to surrender and be a little weakling complaining about no energy.

yeah yeah yeah,  oh you feel tiiiiired. You have no energy.so sad huh! You think you are the only one….. Sorry babe, you got it all wrong. We are all in the same boat. You want energy? from morning til night? And be shredded too? And buff? HA! yeah good luck. It does not always FEEL as GOOD as it LOOKS, you got to remind yourself about reality. Why do you think so few ARE in incredible shape most of the time? BECAUSE it takes WORK. Not only gym time but mental time. You need to go to therapy with yourself! Daily sometimes. You are asking of your body to do more than you give it credit or energy for. You must understand and accept that the energy you WANT is in your fat cells and one way to get it out and the only one is to USE it instead of putting more in!

I work on my MIND as hard as my Body. If not harder. It’s TOUGH to be a super woman! But if you want to be it you got to live it and practice it. I don’t want to be a coward. I feel embarassed when I am tired because I know that if someone came up to me told me I just won a million dollars for real I’d be running miles without stopping out of excitement. So there is way more energy in you, you just need to know what keys to open them up.

it’s a MENTAL GAME. It’s CALLED LYING to yourself. It’s POSITIVE self-denial. You must use it. Abuse it. Suck it up. Let me comfort you with one true statement: if you have energy 100% of the time and no low time you are on antidepressants! And that’s bad for your liver. ha!

TIME TO GET THOSE STUPID EMOTIONS OUT OF MY MECCA.

Ways to burn calories or reduce them without really feeling it:

Drink 16 oz of luke warm water with vinegar in it before every meal. So nasty it reduces your hunger instantly.

Every time you walk up stairs to your house/gym whatever, do it twice. If someone is watching, pretend you forgot something down there you got to pick up….

Ditch the wheel cart at the store and carry all in two hand carts.

Buy 20 gallons of water at the store, park far away and walk two at a time to the car.

Organize the dumbbell rack after your workout.

Eat 3 cups of wheat bran instead of 1/2 cup of oats for breakfast. bigger porridge, no digested carbs in the bran.

Do 50 squats in the commercial break.

Eat with your left hand if you are right handed.

Time every bite of food. put a timer, 15 sec between each bite is chewed down.

Walk through every isle in the store two times

Do 20 situps while waiting for your facial moisturizer to sink in.

Get a crush at the gym to get you going to every session for sure.

Take all 45’s on the leg press machine from one side to another.

divide your shake powder in two servings but drink double water. Two drinks with a bit time in between.

Do a plank while rinsing with mouth wash. You should do it for a minute, which works fine for the plank.

Life is too short to be over consumed with anxiety and worry, but the ability to stream it out from your mind takes constant practice. Your worst enemy is YOU and what thoughts you let run your life. It’s so important to do things in your daily routine that contribute to your happiness. That’s why I work out. It makes me feel relaxed and it feeds my creativity. When I exercise I feel a relief, a mental outlet, a physical wildfire that needs to be tamed daily.

Being happy and at ease is a skill. You must practice it to be able to make it automatic. Some times, usually when I walk home from the gym I get overwhelmed by how fortunate I am. And I feel a bit ashamed that for some hours or a day or so I forgot about it! Especially when watching the news which more or less tells you the whole society is going down and going down fast. It’s tough to stay happy and cheerful. But it does not help to be miserable. It does not help the people who are truly in need of help. Financial donations help though. You unhappy helps nobody.

To focus on well-being in whatever you choose to do for the majority of your life is what it’s all about. Without your health you got so much less! I feel sad when I see people not care about their bodies what so ever. Like if they had another one to replace it with when it’s run down….

My regimen, my way of taking care of my body -even though I know my body would love less training, more body fat etc lol – is holy to me. It’s my religion. I am NOT a body, I HAVE a body, but I’m not the boss, it’s team work! My mind wants one thing and my body another. So we compromise. Don’t tell my body though: mind over matter:-).

Even though my pursuit of perfection seems superficial, it’s not at all. It’s a journey of the soul! I feel very connected to another level of being when I spend time working on my self. It gives me mental stimulation. It nourishes me. It makes me feel alive. Vibrant. I could work on my body all day long. I could get stuck in a yoga position or a split and just be there. This is my way of meditation. I just let my mind drift away. It’s my drug. It’s my elixir. I love what I do. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. And the best thing about it: it’s free! It’s so free it’s priceless!

Have you been dieting and doing cardio as you should for weeks but still no results? Maybe you forgot to ditch that stupid cheat day! I don’t know when it started or when it suddenly was ok or almost mandatory to have a weekly cheat day but I for sure never got away with it. Yes, I know people who claim they eat everything in sight once a week and still lose fat, but when that scenario is being told one of these two is usually the case:

*The person claiming to gorge non stop does not really gorge that much. It might be junk food but not huge quantities so it does not really matter

or

*There is some untold information about metabolism increasing “spices” that no drug free trainers would ever consider using.

If you have a big appetite it’s easy to get up to 10-20.000 calories on that cheat day. A whole pizza is about 4000 calories. If you eat a whole container ice cream you get up to another 2-3000 calories. So a full all out eat all you can day can easily supply you with calories for a whole week and more.

There is NO reason physically to have cheat days as in eating all you can of junk, crap, sugar and fats. Going on a strict diet for five days and then blow it is called YO YO dieting. How sexy is that, huh? It’s not healthy, it conditions you into eating disorders, it clogs your arteries, shocks your hormones and totally undoes your dieting and training for the weeks to come.

But, see, this is something “nobody” wants to acknowledge. Everyone pretends it is ok to have a cheat day. And yes it IS if you can handle it and indulge in moderation. DO you? How easy is it on a scale to be moderate when you are “Starving” from all training and strict dieting? It’s tough!

What makes you think that eating candy, chocolate,chips, pizza etc in one day won’t affect you? But when I tell you it does and your lack of progress is proof of my statement, you get depressed. Nothing’s as fun anymore right? I the devil took the fun out of your world, the rescue day that makes you go for another week. Start all over every monday, right?

You cannot have it all. You cannot be shredded and simultaneously eat an abundance of what makes people FAT once a week. You got to choose. You cry because you cannot have your cookies? Welcome to reality. You think it was that easy to get a six pack and lean legs: eating crap and gorge a whole day just to try to get rid of it with extra cardio? To burn off a pizza you must train for 10 hours straight, hello! You are going to do that ON TOP of the other mandatory cardio sessions?

I am not saying you cannot have a piece of chocolate. Or a cookie. Or a slice of pizza. But you CAN NOT treat it like it’s all OK in whatever amount you want because it’s cheat day. Cheat day is a big fat LIE.

CARB DAYS is where it’s at. You eat yourself full of HEALTHY food first, then indulge in some sugars or whatever you feel you must have for the moment. Carb days are GOOD for your body when used appropriately. They help you recover, they help your muscle, help your hormonal status.

I was pretty sad for a few years before I realized cheat days did not work. I used to diet and diet and had those cheat days and all I did was staying at the same weight or a bit more week by week. I started to long for saturdays and not like the other days. I felt hung over every sunday. I felt fat for five days after. And then a new cheat day. And a promise about tougher diet, tougher workout the week after. It took me some time to really realize it was holding me back. So when I quit, guess who got lean. Very lean. Little by little. Yeah, you got it. I got lean.

You see, it is not that damn hard to be shredded and cut all the time. It only takes abstinence! And yes it is not fair that we cannot just eat anything and still look great, but everything’s got a price tag. You just got to find out if being lean and mean 24/7 fits your mental and spiritual budget. Because you cannot live for one day a week of stuffing yourself. You will lose so much in life if you adopt that diet pattern.

Being lean and buff is a lifestyle. And lifestyle you choose. It’s your call!

Building muscle takes time. It’s not a “I want to get toned for beach 2010″ project where you can expect fitness model results in three months. When you see those before and after pictures in magazines, you got to remember the models did not start their fat loss challenge without any experience in the weight training department. The before pictures make them look like anybody who has never trained in their life because they got no definition due to excess body fat. So, then, three months later of double cardio, weight training and calorie restriction, they look shredded and the message came through: you can accomplish all that in three months even if you have no muscle on your frame as of now.

Well, no. Ain’t gonna happen unless you DID train years ago and can rely on a fantastic muscle memory OR you go the drug route.

Quite often I receive emails from women and teens who want to know what I did to look the way I did back in 2003…. They found the pics of me at 21 after three years of training and want to know what routine I did, how much cardio etc.

In my opinion I developed a good foundation fast. After three years it started to look decent! It’s natural to believe I trained with so so intensity, with so so dedication in order to get that so so result, BUT oh no, I trained like an animal. I busted my butt 5 to 6 days a week for those three years and all I got was the body of someone who could pass for “fitness model with a toned body”.

It took me six years before I had a pro quality physique. And after that it took me another two years or so before I felt like “now I am there”.

Nowadays, I feel like my body is improving more and more, but I also get emails from people who liked me “bigger”. It’s funny about this “bigger” because I am not small. If I were to go back to amateur bodybuilding I would be right on the 115 spot at the weigh-in. on my 5′2 frame it can not be considered small.

I don’t know if I just got old or it’s a reflection of the American society with the “gotta do this fast!” attitude, because I find it weird that 19 year olds present  physiques mature looking like a body at 30 without any athletic background. Do not compare yourself to those….. Something is usually not told about those rapid body makeovers… And you most likely don’t want to know or see the long term results of that impatience pattern.

Leaning out while retaining muscle is a long process. the slower you can do it the better. But slower also means you won’t see results as fast.

Staying lean constantly takes a tremendous amount of dedication. When you want an extreme state to be your daily average you will have struggle with keeping it up motivation wise more than one time! Of course your mind is going to have imbalances, chemical ones: BECAUSE BEING IN AN EXTREME STATE IS NOT BALANCED per se! You must accept and realize it’s not you going crazy, it’s YOU choosing something that your mind finds crazy and you need to discipline and condition it to see it as a normal state.

Being shredded all the time, ready for a shoot or to show your abs any day of the year will take calorie restriction. There is no way around it. For most people it’s not worth it, but for those who can learn to love this lifestyle from the bottom of your soul, it’s a fantastic experience to feel like you are the king of the world day in and day out because you are in control. When your body follows your mind and your mind follows your wish you just feel immortal. It’s quite addictive.

I’m a hybrid. I am a little bit of everything. Pretty strong, pretty explosive. Pretty limber, pretty endurant. Pretty much a little bit of everything but not everything of anything.

I’m a hybrid. To be versatile is my goal. To pull off any physical challenge and come out with pretty good results is what I want.

I don’t need max strength. I don’t need to be able to run for hours. I don’t need to be able to throw kicks and punches like there was no tomorrow. What I need is being able to pull off a little bit of it all.

I’m a hybrid so I train in all ways my body can produce energy. I exercise for long time for physical and mental stamina. I work at the lactic acid threshold to build up tolerance. I train explosively to work the fast twitch muscle fibers. I stretch to elongate my muscles and ligaments. I train with weights, some times after a long session of cardio just to show myself I still can manage to pull off some good lifts. Depleted? I don’t care, I train my body to find other fuels if I don’t have what it prefers right there in that moment.

On the stepmill I rise the levels and try to complete each level with a lower heart rate. I condition my heart to do a lot of work at a lower heart rate. I condition my body to be very efficient. But then, I throw it around and shock the heart and run all I can so I cannot get enough oxygen and I feel like this is it, I gotta slow down. And my body must adapt or die.

I am a hybrid. Not awesome at anything but pretty damn good at a lot.

Few excuses sting more in my eyes than the common “I can’t help myself”. What do you mean by “you cannot help yourself”, you are some kind of toddler who does not know the hand gets burned when you put it on the hot stove? Did you stop maturing mentally at 3 years old? If the mind is weak then go strengthen it! That’s what we do with our muscles so do it with your power engine inside your skull too. You are nothing without a strong mind. You fall victim for your own lame incapacity of adhering to your own plan of action.

You know why it feels so damn good to be in shape? Because it shows you’ve got it all under control. You are the boss of YOU. Think about it, when it comes to getting buff and cut, the only one stopping you is YOU. So if you never get any results… well, it’s because of YOU.

Setting goals and achieving them one after another becomes PROOF that you are in charge. It’s attractive. It’s what everyone wants. Everyone wants to be attractive and successful.

A lot of people email me and say they would look just like me if they had time to go to the gym two times a day. I can only say “great!” because I know it’s all talk. People forget it’s not just training. It’s a lifestyle where EVERY choice you make with diet and exercise will either generate results or hold you back. So, when you see someone who “has it all”, you are watching someone with a strong mind who consciously chooses the right choices.

People love sabotaging for themselves. You eat clean and exercise and then when you get somewhat close to your so called perfect shape you CHEAT. You blow your diet. So you can start over again. This is a defense mechanism. By never accomplishing your goals you stay comfortably in your comfort zone. It’s pressure up on the top, if you reach your all time super body then you will want to keep it and that takes work.

Self sabotage is what makes you average instead of exceptional. And I don’t know what the love for gaining and losing weight nonstop comes from, I sure never had it. But it’s such a waste of time!!! Why spend all that time on cardio machines and diet like a maniac just to blow it when you are unmotivated? How hungry can you be, right? You are not starving! You get meals daily.

It must be a lack of insight. It must be a lack of understanding that makes you all fail when it comes to reaching your fitness goals. Or maybe it’s a chosen attitude? Maybe you don’t really want to, it’s more a fantasy? What do I know?

But one thing I know is right and it’s the fact you get what you put in.

You all know I have been searching for an alternative to Wheat bran that serves the same purpose but is free of gluten so more people can use it? Well, now I have the product! It’s a sugar beat fiber! I used to have it in Sweden!

It will from now on replace most of my wheat bran! Check it out folks, this is the new FIGHTER DIET SUPER FOOD!

NUTRAFIBER