Your butt is one of the first things that a guy checks out. I bet that you spend some time checking out your own butt in the mirror too right? Of course you do… I see you checking your butt in the mirror every time you try on a new pair of jeans.

Having a firm butt is important to you. I know it is, otherwise us men wouldn’t hear the dreaded question, “Do these pants make my butt look fat?”

If you want to know how to get a firm butt, you’re in luck. Today Angie will be demonstrating the best butt exercises for sculpting a sexy back end.

For this Quickie Butt Blasting workout you will perform each exercise for 30 seconds. We use a GymBoss Interval Timer to set the duration of each interval and to alert us when it’s time to change exercises. This is an incredibly handy tool that helps us execute our quickie interval workouts with greater accuracy and effectiveness. I really don’t know how I survived without it.

Here are the butt exercises that you will perform in the Quickie Butt Blasting workout…

The total Butt Blasting workout only takes 7 minutes to complete. It’s a quickie and doesn’t require any fancy expensive equipment. All you need is your own body weight and a stability ball which is very affordable.

Notice how this butt workout finished off with a stretch for your glutes. This is a very important part of the workout in order to give your butt the best shape possible.

This butt workout is a great compliment to any program that you may currently be following including the Fat Loss Quickie home workout program. Take a quickie break and enjoy the burn that you will feel in your buns.

We would love to hear how you enjoy these butt exercises. Please take a moment to share your thoughts in the comment box below. It would mean the world to us.

To your limitless potential,

Scott and Angie Tousignant

PS If you are looking for a complete program on how to get a firm butt, Angie and I highly recommend Nick Nilsson’s program called Gluteus To The Maximus. It’s jam packed with butt exercises and a variety of butt workouts to choose from depending on your goals and time that you have to spend working out.

Gluteus To The Maximus is designed for women and men who have flat butts and no shape to their butt, but I’ve used it on all my female clients who were looking to reduce the fat on and around their butt with great success.

How many times have you heard a fat loss expert say, “You have to find your powerful why” when setting your fat loss goals? This is a great question and great advice to follow through with if you want to keep your motivation high and follow through with achieving the body and health that you deserve. But, is finding your powerful reason why you MUST achieve your fat loss goal enough to help you push through the challenges and temptations that you face along the way?

I don’t think it is. A part of why I don’t think it’s enough is because you simply do not take it seriously. Like goal setting, you give it a half-assed effort. You don’t invest enough emotion into it.

The biggest reason why I don’t think that having a ‘powerful why’ is enough, is that you don’t visualize it actually happening and you don’t replay that vision in your head nearly as often as you should.

If you’re a parent I’m sure that you share a common ‘powerful why’ as Angie and I. We want to be the best parents that we can be. We want to have the energy to keep up with them and participate in fun activities with them. We want to be around to see our kids grow up. We want to see them get married. We want to be around to see their children.

Here’s a video that Angie and I created a little while ago that reveals our powerful reasons why and how we define fitness success…

Let’s say that you tell me one of your powerful reasons why you MUST achieve a lean and healthy body is because you want to be around to walk your daughter down the aisle at her wedding.

That’s a very powerful reason why you should do everything that you possibly can to achieve your fat loss goals. But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that exact statement and the very next day I see that person scarfing back a bunch of greasy fast food burgers and trans fat soaked fries, while gulping down a super-sized soft drink.

What does that say about how much you really want to be around to walk your daughter down the aisle at her wedding?

In that moment, the burger and fries are more important than your daughter. How can it be that satisfying your taste buds temporarily is of greater value than one of the greatest moments that any parent can experience?

You see… right there is where simply stating your powerful why is not enough.

You need to play out that vision and start off with the negative. If you continue to place more value on overindulging in unhealthy food choices and less value on the things that really matter most in life and as a result you decease prematurely, what would your daughter’s wedding be like?

Picture the tears on her face wishing that you were there to walk her down the aisle. Picture the conversations around the tables at the reception and how many people sympathetically state, “It sure would have been nice if the bride’s parent was still alive to see this.”

The choices that you make not only effect your life… they effect the lives of those whom you love and many other people around you.

Now let’s turn this into something positive. You have set your goals. You have an action plan to follow. You’re committed to your home workouts. You’re committed to a healthy nutrition plan. You’ve aligned yourself with a great support group. You’ve committed to building an Unstoppable Mindset. And you’ve written out your powerful reasons why you are willing to do whatever it takes to follow through and achieve the body and life that you deserve.

Let’s take the next step and visualize the outcome and how these actions will impact your daughter’s wedding day…

Picture yourself dressed to the nines looking the best that you’ve ever looked in your life. Picture the look on your daughters face as she looks into your eyes with great admiration and respect. Picture her telling you how grateful she is that you were so actively involved in her life. Picture the wedding speeches and the wonderful stories about fun active vacations that you’ve had together and how she looks up to you as a role model. Picture the wedding guests commenting about how great your daughter looks and great you look. You’re a beautiful family and your daughter’s wedding album is going to be filled with gorgeous pictures. Picture yourself reflecting on this very moment and all those times when you were tempted by unhealthy foods and rather than give into those temptations you chose to place a much greater value on this cherished memory that you will have with your daughter. Picture just how proud you are of yourself for making the choice to become the best you that you can be.

Do you see how great the impact that this practice of visualizing your powerful why in action can have?

It’s not enough to simply state it. You must experience it before it actually happens. As I first learned from my friend Tom Venuto, “You live the outcome in advance.” I love that!

Go through that vision frequently. Each time that you visualize the outcome of achieving your goal I want you to add more emotion, more color, more clarity.

This is meant to be a fun practice. You want to achieve your fat loss goals for a reason. You’re going to experience a great deal of happiness and sense of accomplishment. Focus on that! Focus on the joy of this journey and how it will impact the people whom you love the most. You don’t just deserve a lean and healthy body. The people that you love deserve to have you living in a lean and healthy body too.

Next time that you are about to overindulge at an unplanned time, quickly replay that powerful why vision in your head. Overindulging is not worth it when you are sacrificing so much. Being strong of mind is a skill that will pay huge dividends and reward you for a lifetime.

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott Tousignant

PS If you’re looking for a big boost in motivation and would like to discover the best strategies for developing an Unstoppable Mindset, you’ll be happy to know that the Fat Loss Quickie home workout program includes incredibly powerful audios and videos to set your mind on the path to long-term success.

Today I have an incredible gift for you. It’s an information packed report from my friend Tom Venuto called “Mission Abdominals”. In this report you will discover the truth about cellulite, fat burners, hormones, fad diets, and much more.

Mission Abdominals contains some ‘Top Secrets’ for sculpting sexy six pack abs, but one of the greatest benefits from reading this report is that it will save you money by arming you with valuable insider secrets so you never get ripped off by all crazy diet scams that plague the fat loss industry.

Are cellulite creams, rubs, and treatments really necessary? Are there any fat burners that actually work? What are some warning signs that will help you distinguish between a diet book that contains benefits and one that is nothing but a fad or scam?

You’ll receive an eye opener on the above topics and much more when you read the Mission Abdominals Report.

Tom does a great job of covering the topic of hormones and fat loss in this report. This is a topic that has been receiving a lot of publicity lately and for good reason. Tom is a research machine. I know for certain that if he covers a topic as important as this, he’s spent countless hours picking apart many different studies from many different angles. That’s why there’s no one that I trust more than Tom Venuto when it comes to fitness and fat loss.

To download your copy of this information packed report simply right click Mission Abdominals

Enjoy the report and please take a moment to share your feedback about important topics that are covered in the Mission Abdominals Report.

To your limitless potential,

Scott Tousignant

If you are going to finally put an end to the vicious weight loss cycle and experience a permanent body transformation that will produce confidence boosting results you are going to need to develop an UNSTOPPABLE mindset and absolutely flat out refuse to quit no matter what challenges you may face along the way.

In part one of the “Free Yourself From The Vicious Weight Loss Cycle” series, you spent some time thinking about what it would be like if you continue to do the same things over and over again when you are attempting to lose your stubborn belly fat. If you continue to quit when the going gets tough will you ever achieve the body that you deserve?

Today I have called upon Tom Venuto… the best of the best Fat Loss Expert you’ll ever come across, and he’s going to share some easy to apply strategies that will help you stick to a healthy lifestyle once and for all and finally achieve the sexy body that you desire.

Why Some People Quit And Some People NEVER Give Up

By Tom Venuto, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
www.BurnOffTheFat.com

Throughout my 18 years in the fitness industry as a trainer, nutrition consultant and motivational coach, I have noticed that some people who start a nutrition and exercise program give up very easily after hitting the first obstacle they encounter. If they feel the slightest bit of discouragement or frustration, they will abandon even their biggest goals and dreams.

On the other hand, I noticed that some people simply NEVER give up. They have ferocious persistence and they never let go of their goals. These people are like the bulldog that refuses to release its teeth-hold on a bone. The harder you try to pull the bone out of his mouth, the harder the dog chomps down with a vice-like grip.

What’s the difference between these two types of people? Psychologists say there is an answer.

An extremely important guideline for achieving fitness success is the concept that, “There is no failure; only feedback. You don’t “fail”, you only get results.”

This is a foundational principle from the field of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), and the first time I ever heard it was from peak performance expert Anthony Robbins back in the late 1980’s. It’s a principle that stuck with me ever since, because it’s a very, very powerful shift in mindset.

A lot of people will second-guess themselves and they’ll bail out and quit, just because what they try at first doesn’t work. They consider it a permanent failure, but all they need is a little attitude change, a mindset change, or what we call a “reframe.”

Instead of saying, “This is failure” they can say to themselves, “I produced a result” and “This is only temporary.” This change in perspective is going to change the way that they feel and how they mentally process and explain the experience. It turns into a learning opportunity and valuable feedback for a course correction instead of a failure, and that drives continued action and forward movement.

It’s all about your results and your interpretation of those results.

Dr Martin Seligman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, did some incredible research on this subject and wrote about it in his book, Learned Optimism. Dr. Seligman noticed that the difference between people who give up and people who persist and never quit is what he referred to as “explanatory style.” He said that explanatory style is the way we explain or interpret bad events or failures.

People who habitually give up have an explanatory style of permanence. For example, they hit a plateau in their progress and explain it by saying, “diets never work” or “I have bad genetics so I’ll always be fat.” These explanations imply permanence.

Other people hit the same plateaus and encounter the same challenges, but explain them differently. They say things such as, “I ate too many cheat meals this week,” or “I haven’t found the right diet for my body type yet.” These explanations of the results imply being temporary.

People who see negative results as permanent failure are the ones who give up easily and often generalize their “failure” into other areas of their lives and even into their own sense of self. It’s one thing to say, “I ate poorly this past week because I was traveling,” (a belief about temporary behavior and environment), and to say, “I am a fat person because of my genetics” (a belief about identity with a sense of permanence). Remember, body fat is a temporary condition, not a person!

People who see challenges and obstacles as temporary and as valuable learning experiences are the ones who never quit. If you learn from your experiences, not repeating what didn’t work in the past, and if you choose to never quit, your success is inevitable.

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle.” Tom has written more than 200 articles and has been featured in print magazines such as IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as on hundreds of websites worldwide. For information on Tom’s Fat Loss program, visit: www.BurnOffTheFat.com

What did you think about this article from Tom Venuto? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please share your feedback in the comment box below.

One thing that really jumped out at me was when Tom mentioned, “Body fat is a temporary condition, not a person!” How powerful is that?

Let this information sink in. Apply the simple yet effective strategies. Get ready for more great tips to help you finally take the weight off and keep it off once and for all.

To your limitless potential,

Scott Tousignant

Today you are going to go on a little adventure into the future. This is part one in a series designed to break you free from the vicious weight loss cycle and experience the complete body and life transformation that you truly deserve. But first, a blast from the past…

At the beginning of the year you stated that “This is going to be the year where I finally transform my body and health.” What kind of progress have you made toward achieving that goal? What changes did you make in order to bring you closer to achieving this body transformation? Were you able to stick with it? What have you learned from this experience?

Take a moment to share your answers to those questions in the comment box below. You’ll definitely benefit from it and your answers may have a positive impact on your fellow fat loss quickie friends.

Now it’s time for you to look into the future. If you continue to do what you have been doing what is your body going to look like this upcoming beach season?

If your nutrition stays the same what will your body look like this upcoming swimsuit season?

If you continue to exercise in the same way with the same frequency and intensity how will your body look when you are lounging around the pools?

If you continue to take the same approach as you usually do when you get pumped up about transforming your body what will your physique look like as the weather warms up?

If nothing changes between now and the time swim suit season arrives how will it effect you emotionally?

I want you to be honest with us and yourself here. Don’t be shy about revealing your answers to these very personal questions. I can guarantee that everyone reading this post will have experienced similar emotions and feelings as you and their answers will be very similar in nature. You’re not alone. We’re in this together.

It’s just as tough for me to share my personal experiences and emotions, but I’m going to go ahead and do it anyway. There were a couple summers when I was carrying around an extra 35-45 pounds of unwanted and disgusting body fat. I was already an emotional wreck as I was dealing with depression and feelings of failure. I’ll never forget the feelings and emotions that I experienced during the second summer where I told myself I would finally get back in shape only to fall way short of achieving that goal.

I was disgusted with myself. I knew better. I was ashamed. My confidence was at an all time low. I wore a shirt nearly all the time which made things worse for me emotionally because it reminded me of my failure to reach my goal. I really wanted to experience the confidence of being shirtless around the pools and beaches knowing that I had a lean and sexy physique. I was embarrassed at how I had let myself go and how I struggled to get back in shape even though I had all the necessary tools, education, and experience to transform my physique into something beautiful and amazing.

I don’t like to bring this up because I know that my parents read my blog and one day my kids may read this and get grossed out but I’m going to go ahead and do it anyway. During that time where I carried around a spare tire and sported those oh so un-flattering love handles, my sex life took a nose dive. The interesting thing is that it wasn’t because Angie was no longer attracted to me. She totally was. This was all my fault because I felt unattractive and not sexy at all. I was embarrassed about my appearance and it was even worse when I was naked. How do you think this affected our relationship?

I now realize how selfish I was during this time. How unfair I was to Angie. I realize the impact that my thoughts and actions were having on everyone around me. The choices that we make certainly have a ripple effect.

Why, with all the education and experience was I not able to follow through and transform my body during that second summer? The answer is actually really simple… I repeated what I had done the previous summer when I ‘failed’ to follow through…

Albert Einstein defines insanity as, “Doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results.”

Yes I was insane and like I said, I knew better. For some reason my judgment was clouded. I guess that I wanted it so bad that I just dove right in without making a plan and applying everything that I had learned and experienced in regards to fat loss.

I shared my personal story for a few reasons…

Angie and I refuse to allow you to go another swim suit season without you looking and feeling your absolute best! We are 100% committed to your success! We hope that our openness with our thoughts and feeling will inspire you to be open with your thoughts and feelings and use those emotions to push forward in achieving your goals.

This is your opportunity to experience some emotional pain associated with continuing to repeat the unsuccessful strategies that you have been applying, while at the same time making positive change toward finally achieving the body and life that you deserve.

I want it to be crystal clear that Angie and I are not perfect. We’re not genetic freaks. We experience ups and downs just like everyone else. We are impacted by weight gain emotionally just like you.

As scary as it is to share your emotions with online friends most of whom you have not met, it’s incredibly liberating at the same time and it sparks an intense drive to move forward.

I know what it feels like to cover up your body and attempt to hide the body fat on your trouble spots. I don’t want you to go through this experience again.

Angie and I would sincerely appreciate to hear your responses to the questions that I have offered you in this post. It would mean the world to us and your fellow Fat Loss Quickie friends. It’s also a very important step toward achieving the body that you deserve.

Step outside of your comfort zone and share your feelings and emotions with us. It’s absolutely worth it.

What will your summer be like if you don’t change? Will you be covering up or feeling proud to show it off?

Keeping it real,

Scott Tousignant

Spending the next 16 minutes watching the amazing short film below may be the best spent moments of your day. The film is called Validation and it’s guaranteed to make you smile. And with that smile of yours you can have a significant impact on your mood and totally make the day of the people you come in contact with.

Please take the time to watch this great film…

Have you noticed that many people you come in contact with throughout the day are walking around with their head down and look miserable?

Why is that?

When you greet someone and ask them how they are doing what is the typical response that you receive? “Not too bad“. “Pretty good“.

It’s become an automatic statement. There isn’t even a pause to think about how you are actually feeling.

When asked how I’m doing I make it a point to always say, “Great!” “Fantastic!” “Excellent!” or “Absolutely Awesome!”

And guess what… I’m never lying when I say those things. I have so much to be grateful for and there are so many things that go on in my day that really make me smile.

After I respond by saying, “Excellent!” I usually receive a weird look followed by, “Really?” “Why are you feeling excellent?”

I spare the person the hour long conversation and usually cut to the chase by saying, “Life ROCKS and I am truly blessed with great friends, family and health.”

I’m not sure why it’s such a surprise when someone tells you they are excellent. Maybe it’s because we expect the response, “Pretty good.”

A smile and uplifting comment such as “Absolutely Awesome” can really have a positive impact on that persons day and current state of mood.

Your smile can influence how someone else carries on with their day. Something so small can have a tremendous impact. And to think of how easy it is to smile.

As you smile I want you to feel how it impacts your own state of mind. Does your posture change? Does it make you feel like doing something good for yourself such as consume a healthy meal or go do your workout?

I encourage you to smile as often as you can today. That’s just about the easiest thing that I could ask of you. Follow through with it and let me know how it impacts your day.

In my opinion fat loss comes easier when you are happy. It’s also my opinion that people who are physically active are happier people. I don’t see any miserable people when I’m out for a walk or bike ride. We’re all excited to greet each other and carry on with our activity.

Those are some of my favorite moments of the day. That brief exchange of a smile and wave while I’m riding my bike and passing another biker, walker, or jogger.

Smile… it’s great for your health.

Keeping It Real,

Scott Tousignant

PS You are GREAT! You are AMAZING! You ROCK!

Every once in a while you need a swift kick in the butt to get you back on track and living to your full potential. I recently received a kick in the butt from my mentor and coach Deb Micek. She actually called me ‘WEAK’, can you believe that? Not weak physically, but mentally. I was coasting through life and she let me know it.

Are you ready for your butt kicking? Watch this quickie video clip from the movie “Rocky Balboa“. In this clip Rocky gives his son the kick in the butt that he needs to get back on track and living to his potential.

How Winning Is Done!

Let’s discus some of the key points from the Rocky Balboa Speech…

The first important point thing that Rocky tells his son is, “When things got hard you started looking for something to blame.”

Now let’s turn this back to you and your fat loss journey. Have you found yourself in a situation where things are going really great… you’re working out regularly, eating well, and feel awesome, then after four to six weeks something happens… you’re faced with a challenge or obstacle and you fall off the wagon.

What is some of the self talk that goes on in your head when this happens and what do you tell others? Do you say, “Here I go again, I always end up sabotaging myself.” Do you say, “I’m just too busy to workout regularly, I’ve got kids and my work schedule is demanding.” Do you say, “That diet didn’t work, it’s too strict.” Or do you blame it on the genetics that your parents passed down to you?

Where do you look to place the blame when the going gets tough?

Let’s take a look at the next point that Rocky makes to his son. “It’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward… how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”

Again, we’ll use this statement and compare it to your fat loss journey…

It’s absolutely important that you give each workout your very best effort. Hit each workout hard! It’s absolutely important that you give your best effort to following a healthy nutrition plan. Hit it with your best shot!

But that’s not what will ultimately make you successful at burning all that unwanted body fat from your physique. The defining moments of winning the fat loss game are the ones where you get hit hard by an obstacle or challenge and you get back up stronger than ever before and continue moving forward toward your goals.

Those moments where you feel at your lowest, whether you missed a few workouts because you were sick or you go way overboard on junk food while you are out with your friends at a party, these are these are the moments that you actually want to experience because they help you grow as an individual and become the best that you can be.

Obstacles and challenges happen for a reason. They are not designed to make you fail… they are designed to help you succeed. How’s that for a mindset shift?

Let’s take a look at another important comment that Rocky tells his son, “If you know what your worth than go out and get what you’re worth, but you’ve got to be willing to take the hits and not pointing fingers and saying you ain’t where you want to be because of him or her or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you. You’re better than that!”

Do you know what you are worth? Are you willing to go out and get it even though it means that you are going to have to take some hits and get knocked down several times along the way to receive what you are worth?

I know that you are worth more than you may be thinking at this moment. Take some time and really think about what you are honestly worth.

I also know that you are better than the effort that you have been putting forth. How do I know that? Because we can all do better. We can all dig deeper. We can all push our limits. We can all experience a new level of greatness.

Here’s one last important statement that Rocky makes in this clip, “Until you start believing in yourself you’re not going to have a life.”

Wow! How’s that for a kick in the butt? That’s some serious tough love, but if you have seen the movie you know that it was exactly what Rocky’s son needed to hear. Rather than get defensive he took that hit from his dad, let it soak in, and used it to explore who he really is and what he is really worth.

We all have goals and dreams, but do you believe that you will achieve them? I mean deep down with every ounce of your being believe that you will achieve them?

If you don’t truly believe that you will reach your goals I strongly recommend that you listen to the amazing 18 minute audio that I did with Fat Loss Expert Tom Venuto on overcoming limiting beliefs. You can download it and listen to it over and over again.

Losing weight is not easy. Maintaining that weight loss is not easy either. Believing in yourself is not always the easiest thing to do as you may have experienced. Striving to continuously discover new ways to improve yourself, your body, and your health, takes a heck of a lot of work. But the rewards are always well worth the price that you had to pay in order to achieve them.

No one and nothing is holding you back from achieving the body and life that you deserve except for yourself. Take responsibility. Take massive action. Take the hits and keep moving forward. Focus on your goal and don’t stop until you’ve achieved it. Turn your WISH into a MUST! Don’t just HOPE for it to happen… EXPECT it to happen.

Embrace the challenges that you are faced with and use them to sculpt the body and life that you deserve.

Carve out a new path and lay down the pavement for others to follow so they too will experience the incredible successes that you are about to achieve.

It’s time for progress and growth. Hit me with your best shot. Bring on everything you’ve got. I can take it and a heck of a lot more. I AM UNSTOPPABLE!

You ROCK!

Scott Tousignant

I have an inspiring post to share with you today. It’s about a major breakthrough that my good friend Angie Newton experienced recently. Before I get into the story of her breakthrough I would like you to watch this short video that summarizes Angie’s successful journey of releasing over 70 pounds of unwanted fat…

Angie is an incredible role model for many women around the world. Her journey of continuously improving her health and body may be the one thing that will motivate you to get off your butt and get moving.

Too often we look only at the end result and neglect to appreciate the journey and share the entire journey with those around us. I believe that it’s absolutely valuable to celebrate our victories along the way and to consider people role models even if they have not yet reached their ultimate destination. 70 pounds of weight loss is a tremendous success for Angie. I’m incredibly proud of her. I’m even more proud of her effort to consistently pursue her ultimate goals.

Blasting Through Comfort Zones

Angie has been sharing her weight loss journey at her blog Losing It and Loving It to document her progress, hold herself accountable, and inspire other women and men to become the best that they can be.

I have been encouraging Angie to use video on her blog so that her audience can really get to know the person behind the writing. I find it way more inspiring when I can visually see someone share their challenges and successes. The problem is…

Angie was absolutely terrified about recording herself on video. In fact, the night prior to recording the video above Angie was in tears just thinking about getting on video. Just the thought about it was incredibly uncomfortable for her.

Myself and several others rallied behind her, supported her, and encouraged her to take the plunge. Angie had overcome the incredible challenges and obstacles during her journey of releasing 70 pounds, surely she had the power within her to get in front of the camera to share her thoughts and feelings.

I’m sure that our moral support played a key role in Angie’s breakthrough, but ultimately it was Angie’s choice to step outside of her comfort zone, believe in herself, and allow her greatness to shine to the world.

It’s absolutely amazing the power that we have within us. It’s there just below the surface waiting to come out. The only thing that’s keeping it suppressed is YOU. But the great news is that YOU have the power to set it free.

Guess what? Angie’s breakthrough didn’t stop there.

In addition to the video that I recorded with Angie, she went on to record at least four others that I’m aware of. But these videos were only meant for practice and getting over her fear of the camera. She only wanted to see her face in the videos and not her body. The last thing that she wanted was to put the videos online for the world to see. That would be extremely uncomfortable.

Well, you know what they say, “Once you get the ball rolling there’s no stopping it!”

Once I watched the video I knew that it was worthy of sharing with you, my valued readers. Once again, Angie stepped outside of her comfort zone and allowed me to make her video public to the world.

I love Angie’s approach to fat loss. It’s all about having fun. Another key point is that she has the support of her husband. They encourage each other to get to the gym and take part in spin classes.

Another thing that I really love about Angie is that she continually sets new goals based on her continuous success. Each small victory opens up the doors to new opportunities. Now she has a goal of participating in a half marathon. That was inconceivable prior to the successes she has recently achieved.

Angie continues to grow as a person and expand her comfort zone. That’s what makes her such an amazing role model. There is no end point. It’s a lifelong journey.

One last point that I would like to make you aware of is that you too are a role model yourself. Your actions are inspiring the people around you even if they haven’t let you know that you are.

Be proud of yourself. Celebrate your victories. Continue to challenge yourself to grow as a person, expand your comfort zone, and live to your full potential.

Expect Success and go after it!

Scott Tousignant

Two years ago I wrote a report titled “Obliterate Obesity“. Within the report I state that I am on a mission to reverse the obesity trend by 2015. This may seem like a tall mountain to climb, but I believe that if we work together we can achieve incredible greatness during the next five years.

The theme of the Obliterate Obesity Report is “UNITY“, which I believe is crucial for long term fat loss success on the individual level as well as for the world a s whole. Unity will bring your motivation for achieving optimal health to a whole new level.

You can download your copy of the report by right clicking Obliterate Obesity and selecting ’save’ or ’save as’.

Last week I must have read the report four or five times and took some serious time to reflect on the role that you and I are both playing in this adventure of reclaiming the health of our human race.

Let’s first take a look at your role…

Whether you know it or not, you are a role model. People are looking to see if you can actually achieve the body that you desire. They are monitoring your approach to fat loss. They are looking to see if you have the motivation and drive to overcome the obstacles that appear along your journey to fat loss success. They are observing your actions and listening to the words that you speak. Believe it or not, you are influencing a great number of people around you.

What is your approach to fat loss? What do you do when you discover a new diet or fat loss program? Do you get giddy with excitement and think that this could finally be the plan that works for you? Or do you think of it as an educational experience where you can take notes, learn some new strategies, apply them and see how your body responds.

I encourage you to take the educational approach. When you see an infomercial on T.V., you hear a friend talk about a diet book that they recently purchased, or receive a recommendation for a workout program from myself or any of my colleagues I would like to see you sit back for a moment and think about why you are interested in investing your hard earned money into the program.

Forget about the hype and promises for a moment. Take a look at what’s really important. Each new diet and workout program provides the opportunity for you to learn more about yourself, your body, and your health. It’s an opportunity to discover a different perspective and approach to fat loss, and I encourage you to explore a variety of ways to fuel your body and transform it with physical activity.

Share what you have learned and share your experiences from applying the information that you’ve learned. Even if there is just one new golden nugget that you discovered within the program, realize that this one tip or strategy can play a key role in your long term success.

I am certain that I have only touched the surface of the tremendous amount of fitness programs that are available. I now realize that this gives me a narrow perspective of how my body can improve and how I can help you improve your body.

I absolutely love training with dumbbells. There’s something about holding that cold steel in my hands that really resonates with me. Sure there are nearly limitless ways that you can train with dumbbells and I’ve certainly experimented with dozens of them myself, but why not explore other methods for improving your physique and health? These are thoughts that have been going through my mind lately.

What you can expect to see from me as we move forward together on this amazing journey of self improvement is a new role of embracing various forms of physical fitness as well as nutrition, appreciating them for the role that they play in making the world a healthier place, and sharing my experiences with you.

I mention in the Obliterate Obesity Report that fitness and health professions must unite if we are ever going to see a reversal in the obesity trend. There is no single best workout or diet program that will help you and everyone else burn stubborn and unwanted belly fat.

You may find that some programs help you burn fat quicker than others, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a program that could work even better for you. I see the way that dumbbell training transforms my body, but I have not applied enough effort towards practices such as kettlebells, yoga, Pilates, flow, clubbells, powerlifting, and countless other forms of physical activity to witness how those methods can sculpt my physique and improve my health.

When it comes to nutrition I’ve applied a variety of carbohydrate and calorie manipulating programs, some natural cleanses, and I’ve lived the naturally thin lifestyle where I don’t follow a plan, but instead listen to my body. I’ve never tried to live a vegetarian, vegan, or raw food lifestyle and I’ve never been big into organic foods. I feel that it’s my obligation and duty to you to embrace these nutrition alternatives, learn as much as I can about them, apply them to my life, and report back to you the impact that it has on my health, energy, and vitality.

At the very least I want to provide you with the options that are available and keep you informed on the impact that they can have on your health.

When I asked the readers of my blog how they ate and what they recommended I eat, I received a wide variety of responses, which goes to show that one way of eating is not necessarily the best for everyone.

The next step…

I’m asking you to unite with me and with my fellow fitness colleagues to make this world a healthier place where we choose to fuel our bodies with foods that allow us to perform at our best, and choose to do what our bodies are designed to do, which is… GET MOVING!

As we all learn from each other and improve our health make the effort to share this zest for life with everyone that you come in contact with. Encourage them to live to their potential. Spread the joy and happiness that comes with being the best you that you can be.

Challenge yourself to perform a variety of fitness and nutritional strategies. Become aware of how your body responds to these strategies. Think of them as educational experiences and adventures in self discovery.

Test the limits of your physical capabilities. Dare yourself to grow from the challenges, obstacles, and forces that at first glance may seem to be working against you, when in fact they are working with you and nudging you on to take things to the next level.

Don’t settle for mediocrity when you know you are capable of excellence!

Are you ready to unite? Let’s ROCK!

Keeping It Real,

Scott Tousignant

After my last video demonstration of some of my favorite lower back exercises to help relieve back pain I received many emails and great comments on the blog posts encouraging me to share more of these types of videos to help you build a strong foundation and prevent injuries.

If you missed the previous video demonstration you can view it here:Lower Back Exercises

About twelve years ago I injured my lower back and experienced sciatic pain that lasted for several months before I sought treatment from a professional. The exercises that I demonstrated previously and the ones that I am about to share with you, all played a key role in my recovery and strengthening of my lower back.

Today I’m going to share some simple yet highly effective exercises that you can perform on a stability ball. These exercises will help loosen up your lower back and hips as well as stimulate your nervous system and get you firing on all cylinders. Check’em out!

Stability Ball Exercises For The Lower Back

It may seem as though you are working your legs during the marching and leg extension exercises, and you are… but this is also stretching your lower back at the same time. It’s all connected.

These exercises would also make for a great warm up before doing a leg workout or doing any form of cardio. They are fairly easy to do and only take a couple minutes to perform… Of course it’s going to be a quickie

I’ll be sure to share more great exercises and stretches to help you improve and strengthen your lower back. For now, I’d love to hear your comments. Was this video demonstration useful? What else would you like to see me demonstrate?

I’m here to help every way that I can. All you have to do is ask

Keeping It Real,

Scott Tousignant