The Nate Green Experience

The Most Important Hormone You've Never Heard Of

A few weeks ago my girlfriend and I were at a seminar in Orlando and had the chance to hang out with Joel Marion, a good friend of mine who just happens to be a fat-loss guru.

Now Joel has some interesting thoughts about dieting (eat cookies and cake to lose weight?) and since the holidays are coming up, I asked if he'd write a guest blog about fat-loss and one particular hormone that plays a crucial role.

But before you read his article below, I want you to go check this out:

http://www.cheatyourwaythin.com/holiday/

For the next few days Joel is giving away his brand new “Holiday Fat-Loss Black Book” exclusive report for free. I read the report a few days ago and picked up a few new tips myself.

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The Most Important Hormone You Never Heard Of

It's name is leptin and it's time you knew how to use it to your advantage.

Leptin was only first discovered just over ten years ago (as far as weight loss is concerned, that’s extremely recent) and its function is to communicate your nutritional status to your body and brain.

Leptin levels are mediated by two things. One is your level of body fat. All else being equal, people with higher levels of body fat will have higher leptin levels. Because leptin is secreted by fat cells, it makes sense that under normal conditions there is a direct correlation between leptin levels and the amount of fat you are carrying.

Unfortunately, when you’re attempting to lose fat and begin to restrict calories, conditions are anything but “normal” and the body responds accordingly by lowering leptin levels.

This is because the second mediator of blood leptin levels is your calorie intake. Lower your calorie intake and leptin will fall, independent of body fat.

So what happens when leptin levels fall and why the hell does it matter?

Again, under normal conditions leptin levels are normal and the brain gets the signal loud and clear that nutrition intake is adequate. Metabolism is high and the internal environment of the body is one very conducive to fat burning.

Until you start dieting.

Go on a diet and leptin levels quickly plummet (by 50 percent or more after only one week), sending a signal to the body that you’re semi-starved and not consuming enough calories.

This puts the breaks on metabolism and creates a hormonal environment extremely conducive to fat storage. Thyroid hormones (hormones extremely important to metabolism) respond by taking a dive and the abdominal fat-storing stress hormone cortisol skyrockets measurably.

Hello belly fat.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, the appetite stimulating hormones ghrelin, neuropeptide-Y, and anandamide all hop on board to make your life even more miserable.

You don’t have to remember any of those names, just remember that when leptin drops, you get seriously hungry.

Despite having a pretty good reason for its reaction, it’s pretty ironic that our bodies are primed for fat loss at every other time except when we are trying to burn fat.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could maintain high leptin levels and a body primed for fat burning while dieting? It would seemingly solve all of our problems.

But in order to do this, we’d have to somehow keep leptin levels high as we attempt to lose those extra pounds.

How About Supplementing with Leptin?

A couple of problems here: First, leptin is a protein-based hormone, which means that it can not be taken orally (otherwise, it would simply be digested). So that rules out a leptin pill.

This leaves the method of “supplemental” leptin administration to injection. And leptin injections do indeed work, reversing the metabolic adaptations to dieting and “starvation” even while continuing to restrict calories.

In 1999, Heymsfield et al. performed a double-blind placebo controlled study analyzing weight loss over a 24-week period in 73 obese humans. Subjects either injected daily with leptin or a placebo (i.e. bogus alternative). At the end of the 24-week period, the leptin group lost significantly more weight than the placebo and a higher percentage of fat vs. muscle.

In 2003, Fogteloo et al. showed that leptin injections “tended to reduce the decline of energy expenditure associated with energy restriction, whereas the tendency of energy intake to increase back to baseline levels in placebo-treated subjects was largely prevented in subjects treated with leptin.”

Yeah, that’s a mouthful. Let me put in simple terms: not only did the leptin group experience less of a decline in metabolism, but they were also less hungry, allowing them to more easily stick to the prescribed diet.

So, as theorized, keeping leptin levels high during a diet does indeed solve our dilemma by avoiding the negative metabolic (and perhaps behavioral) adaptations that calorie restriction perpetuates.

The problem?

Daily leptin injections are far too expensive, costing thousands of dollars per week. So, we can pretty much forget about supplemental leptin as a solution.

A Real Solution

Now that we know that leptin injections aren’t going to save us, let’s talk about the possibility of manipulating your body’s natural leptin production.

And I’ve got good news – this can indeed be done, and without involving needles or thousands of dollars. In fact, we’ll swap the injections and mounds of cash out for two things I can guarantee you’re absolutely going to love: more calories and more carbs.

We know that leptin levels decrease by about 50% after only one week of dieting, but fortunately, it doesn’t take nearly that long for leptin to bump back up with a substantial increase in caloric intake.

In fact, research has shown that it only takes about 12-24 hours.

So, the answer to the fat loss catch-22? Strategic high-calorie, high-carb CHEATING.

By strategically cheating with high calorie foods (and yes, even stuff like pizza, ice cream, wings, cookies, burgers and fries, etc.), you can give leptin and metabolism a major boost mid-diet which sets you up for plenty of subsequent fat loss when you resume your reduced calorie eating regimen.

This means greater net fat loss week after week, and ultimately, a much more realistic, maintainable way to bring you to the body you truly want and deserve.

So what’s so special about carbs?

Well, leptin, carbohydrates, and insulin have been shown to have very strong ties.

Calories alone don’t get the job done, as research shows that overfeeding on protein and fat has little effect on leptin.

In order to get a strong leptin response from overfeeding, there needs to be plenty of carbs in the mix. In fact, the relationship is so strong that research conducted by Boden et al. at the Temple University School of Medicine shows that leptin levels will not fall even in response to all-out fasting so long as insulin and blood sugar are maintained via IV drip. That’s crazy.

Because of this carbohydrate/insulin-leptin relationship, it makes sense that foods combining both carbs and fat (like pizza, burgers, cookies, ice cream, etc) work best for reversing the negative adaptations caused by dieting because of the big-time insulin response they produce.

This why strategic cheating with your favorite foods is so powerful. This is why you truly can use your favorite foods to lose fat faster than you ever could with restrictive dieting. This is freedom.

Essentially, it’s everything “typical” dieting isn’t.

With regular dieting, come week two, you’re screwed.

With strategic cheating, you can literally use any food you want to ensure that you never go a single day without a body primed for fat loss.

The cheat or not to cheat? I think the choice is clear.

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Have you checked out the page and received your free download yet? Make sure to do it now! And, of course, please post your thoughts in the comments!

http://www.cheatyourwaythin.com/holiday/

(To read and post comments for this entry, visit thenategreenexperience.com)

Why Me Being Sick Is Good For You

This morning I emailed TC (my editor for TMUSCLE) my weekly article update and let him know I was feeling sick.

A few moments later his response pinged on my screen.

"Syphilis?"

Then my girlfriend punched me. A good start.

A trip to the doctor, a diagnosis of Swine Flu (how can she possibly know that without a cotton swab and testing?) a prescription for some hydrocodone-laced cough syrup, and a big glass of water later and here I am feeling, well, like absolute shit.

But that's OK since I've got a few things in store for you guys and now finally have some spare time to work on them.

So what's coming up?

First, of course, is more high-quality articles on TMUSCLE.

Secondly, my blog is undergoing a new re-redesign with a bunch of cool features, buttons, and more frequent posting from me about training, eating, cooking, lifestyle, and random " a day in Nate's life" type of stuff. Oh, and I'm giving away some cool stuff for absolutely free. (You can't have my mask, though. Nice try.)

What am I giving away for free? Check it:

17 Tips for Getting the Life You Want
What Women Want Workout sample (a free workout)
2 Things Women Hate About Your Body
A bunch of bad-ass, informative, cool blogs (at least I think they're cool.)

The new site should be up in the next day or two, so check back soon. And I have a post about bulking to gain muscle coming up in a few days.

So what do I need from you? Nothing. (Well, if you wanted to send me some soup I'd definitely appreciate it.)

Sound good?

(To read and post comments for this entry, visit thenategreenexperience.com)

What I Eat (Almost) Every Day

Let's start this post off right: I don't count calories, I don't give a shit about how much protein I take in, I don’t carry Tupperware everywhere I go, and I really, really like microbrews.

I'm also 8 percent body-fat and 185 pounds.

Genetics? Sure.

Do I kill it in the gym? Murder, baby.

But those are only two pieces to the overall puzzle. The third?

I know how to eat.

OK, enough joking around.

I had fun writing that intro, although it does make me come off like a douchebag. Sometimes you gotta entertain yourself, right?

Anyway, all the above is true. I really don't care about much protein I get; I just know I get "enough," which is fine by me. I've never really counted calories before, either. When I was in the transition phase from 150 pounds to 180 pounds I was probably taking in around 4,000 total calories, but that's really just based off one day of actually tracking my food. I couldn’t keep up with it any longer than 12 hours – it was just so damn boring and time-consuming.

After years of training, listening to my body, gaining muscle, losing fat, tweaking my physique, taking foods out, introducing new ones, and reading articles, books, and blogs about nutrition, I've got a few rules I follow. (But that's a topic for an upcoming post.)

For now, let's get into what a day of eating looks like for me. Hopefully it'll help you make better food choices or at least let you know you're on the right track. (Unless, of course, I'm on the wrong track. Then we're both fucked.)

Note: I'm not including workout nutrition in this post. If there's enough interest, I'll do a separate one on that, because I think it's very important. Still, I want to point out how crucial actual food is.

Breakfast

Non-food staples:

Water
Coffee

Option 1:
3 eggs from pasture-raised chickens, 2 turkey sausage links, and some kind of fruit (kiwi, banana, strawberries, pineapple, etc.)

Option 2:
1/2 cup rolled oats with 1 scoop of protein powder and frozen blueberries or raspberries.

Option 3:
3 turkey sausage links, sweet potato hash browns, and fruit.

Lunch and Dinner (interchangeable)

Non-food staples: 

Water
1 microbrew or a glass of wine. (Dinner)

A few rules:

- I always have a protein source, usually from meat.
- I always have vegetables. My favorites are green beans, broccoli, red peppers, onions, carrots, peas, mushrooms, tomatoes and squash.
- Lunches usually have a starch like potatoes or rice.
- Sometimes, just for the hell of it, I'll eat breakfast food for dinner.

Option 1:
Steak, cherry tomatoes, and mushrooms.

Option 2:
Roasted or sautéed chicken, rice, and broccoli.

Option 3:
Baked wild-caught salmon, tilapia, or halibut with asparagus.

Option 4:
Sirloin burgers (grass-fed), sweet potato, and peas.

Option 5:
Chicken skewers with apple, pineapple, onion, and red pepper.

Option 6:
Chicken Caesar salad or a salad made with apple, sausage, quinoa, and spinach.

Option 7:
Homemade chili or soup with beef or chicken, beans, and veggies.

Option 8:
Huge turkey bratwurst with quinoa and vegetables.

A few random foods I eat at random times

Sometimes I just don't feel like cooking, and it's not uncommon to find me at a restaurant eating:

-Tacos
-Burgers (no fries)
-Sandwiches

Of course, I’m not restricted to the above options (regular meals or random foods). I just wanted to give you an idea of a typical meal plan with the foods I eat most frequently.

If we had to break all the meals down you'd see I have:

1. Protein with every meal
2. Little to no processed carbohydrates.
3. Lots of vegetables.
4. Organic fruits and vegetables and humanely-raised grass-fed beef and free range chicken and turkey. (I'm gonna be honest here: it's less about how the animals are treated and more about the nutritional profile of the meat I'm concerned about. Sorry.)
5. Lots of water.
6. No crazy restrictions.

So how does your daily meal plan match up with mine? How does it differ? I'd really like to know.

(To read and post comments for this entry, visit thenategreenexperience.com)

You Don't Know How to Eat

Scenario 1: Guy works his ass off in the gym four times a week then eats like a prissy teenage schoolgirl with a dieting problem. Which is to say, not very much at all.

Scenario 2: Guy works his ass off in the gym four times per week then eats canned chili, microwaveable burritos, Hamburger Helper and chicken nuggets.

Scenario 3: Guy works his ass of in the gym four times per week then eats high-quality meats, vegetables, fruits, legumes, and grains. Oh, and Dogfish Head beer.

What's the common theme between these three scenarios? (Besides the fact they've all lazily been named "Guy"?)

Here's a hint: our "Guy" takes care of business in the weight room; he's a regular freakin' gym-rat. But if you were to take identical training programs and give them to all three, I guaran-fuckin'-tee that Guy 3 will gain more muscle, look more ripped, and feel better than the other two poor schlubs. No doubt about it. I’m even willing to bet my lucky pair of boxers.

It's really amazing to me how much emphasis is placed on training while eating is neglected. (And yes, I'm counting Scenario 2 as neglect. Poor food choices are better than none at all, but it's not much of an improvement. And I say this from experience.)

But it doesn't have to be that way.

In the next couple of weeks I'm going to show you:

What I Eat (Almost) Every Day
5 Tips for Bulking on a Budget
3 Unknown Supplements I Take Every Day
Better Eating for a Better Body: 4 Rules
My 7 Favorite Beers (You know I had to throw a beer-related post in there.)

For now, check out Precision Nutrition, the ultimate nutrition guide and cookbook I still use.

Also, if you have any questions or suggestions for what you'd like me to cover, post them below. Thanks!

(To read and post comments for this entry, visit thenategreenexperience.com)

Stuff I Read Today

I spent most of this morning in a coffee shop answering emails and editing an article, but I did find some time to read a few articles and blogs. I highly suggest you check them out:

A Fine Swine by TC Luoma - "Most scientists believe that flu vaccinations
will reduce mortality rates by about 50%. An unflinching look at the
statistics may suggest the percentage is closer to 0."

I'm Bored by Craig Weller - "'I'm bored' really means "I'm not creative or self-motivated enough to make sufficient use of my time."

How To Breakdance 101 - Unleash Your Inner B-boy by Tim Ferriss - "In this post, I will teach you the basics of footwork. If you’ve ever
dreamed of breakdancing (and who hasn’t?), this is enough to let you
check it off the list…"

What you have read today?

(To read and post comments for this entry, visit thenategreenexperience.com)

Steal This Dinner!

My girlfriend and I stayed in last night to cook dinner and enjoy a Rogue Double Dead Guy Ale, and I wanted to hook you guys up with the recipe.

Butterfly Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts (I prefer free-range)
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup feta cheese
Fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butterfly the chicken breasts by cutting a slit lengthwise (but not all the way through!) and opening the chicken like a book.

In a bowl, mix the feta, tomatoes, basil, and olive oil together. Fill each chicken breast with the mixture and fold it back together. Top with salt and pepper.

Place it in the oven and let it cook for 20-30 minutes, depending on how thick the chicken breasts are.

Oh, and since we're semi-lazy, we just put some frozen peas and carrots in a microwaveable bowl and warmed them up as our side dish. (I can already sense some of the foodies on my blog preparing to give me hell for that. Oh well.)

It's not straight outta Precision Nutrition, but it was pretty damn tasty.

Give it a try.

(To read and post comments for this entry, visit thenategreenexperience.com)

Typical Gyms vs. Underground Gyms

Typical Gym: Feels like what I imagine a gynecologist's office looks like: sterile and full of pussies.

Underground Gym: A hardcore environment fosters hardcore lifting, which, you know, could be a good thing if you want to get jacked. There's nothing like bricks, cement, huge black widow spiders, and dirty dumbbells to get you in the right mood to lift heavy shit.

Typical Gym: Performing deadlifts, squats, or presses with heavy weight will garner funny looks. And God help you if you drop anything or make any noise louder than a moth landing on a marshmallow. Can you say "lunk alarm"?

Underground Gym: You get bonus points if you nearly blow a speaker and extra bonus points if your iPod mix suddenly goes from He Is Legend to Wu-Tang Clan to Miley Cyrus. (Although you'll hear a cacophony of what-the-fucks and possibly get a water bottle thrown at you.) Also, it's completely acceptable to finish a heavy deadlift, yell, and run around the gym making fun of people for two minutes.

Typical Gym: There are TVs, fat girls in spandex, and guys who decide to read an entire newspaper article in between sets of bench presses.

Underground Gym: There are blank walls to throw medicine balls at, almost no girls (ugly or hot) to ogle over causing you to drop a loaded barbell on your trachea, and everyone knows the meaning of "work in."

Typical Gym: Everything is segregated. There's the cardio room, the weight room, and the locker room.

Underground Gym: You can lift weights, do heavy sandbag carries, swing heavy kettlebells, and lie on the floor and curse all in the same room. Hell, you can even change your entire outfit if you go behind the dumbbell rack and don’t mind getting tennis balls thrown at you.

What about you? Got any good comparisons? Post 'em below!

And check out the Missoula Underground Strength Training Center!

(To read and post comments for this entry, visit thenategreenexperience.com)

We Are Here: The Pale Blue Dot

I like watching this video every couple of months and I thought you'd like it, too.

(It's easier to hear with headphones.)

(To read and post comments for this entry, visit thenategreenexperience.com)

Cop-Out Question Time - Ask Me Stuff

As most of you know, I'm in Colorado Springs for the next couple of weeks training, eating, and learning. Biotest takes care of business. I mean, just look at the house. And that's a freakin' Mustang and Cadillac parked in front. And, yeah, one of my "roommates" is Christian Thibaudeau, so I get to bother him with a bunch of training questions. Not too shabby.

Anyway, it's only been a couple of days, but I've already trained a handful of times, taken more Anaconda and Mag-10 protein than I can remember, and watched two (two!) hockey games. (What can I say? Canadians love their hockey.)

With all the training, learning, and research going on I didn't have time to prepare a blog for this week, so I'm hoping this will suffice.

If you have a question about training, nutrition, lifestyle, writing, or anything else, post it in the comments (or on my TMuscle Q&A thread) and I'll answer it within 24 hours. (Probably sooner.)

Sound good?

What's on your mind?

(Obligatory end-note: I can't get too specific just yet with the things I'm doing here in Colorado. Keep that in mind when you post. Thanks!)

(To read and post comments for this entry, visit thenategreenexperience.com)

You Just Gotta Do It

"Open wide! Here comes the airplane!"

When I was younger I hated vegetables so my mom had to airplane-feed them into my mouth. It was fun till I almost choked on a broccoli spear. Now it's hard for me to eat meals on airplanes without gagging, a sort of Pavlovian response, I guess. Well, that or shitty airline food.

She also tricked me into eating raw spinach, saying I'd grow big and strong like Popeye. Nevermind the fact Popeye's forearms were incredibly disproportionate to the rest of his body. Muscle is muscle and I wasn't picky as long as I got some.

My mom was a master at getting me to do things that I hated but were good for me. Now that I'm a big boy and can forgo the salad for a chicken burrito I'm probably not getting anywhere near the nutrients I need from vegetables. So I try to invoke my inner-mom and make myself eat a few servings every day which is as much an exercise in self-control as it is in creative yuck-reducing cooking. (Thank you, Precision Nutrition.)

But eating vegetables is only one of the things I know I need to do that I don't like. Recently, I realized I needed to branch out and add more things to the list. I mean, if I can add some salt, pepper, olive oil, and red pepper flakes to my broccoli to make it more palatable, I should be able to spice up the other shit I hate, right?

Stretching

When I first started lifting weights I read that static stretching significantly reduced power if performed before training. So I decided to stop doing it completely.

(I recently read a study that showed it only reduced it by a little; not enough to matter since I'm not a professional athlete. Live and learn.)

For the past eight years the only stretching I did was regulated to my bed while yawning after waking up.

Then about a year ago I hired Mike Robertson to write a few month's worth of training programs to help stop the clicking in my shoulder. I took some photos of my posture and sent them to Robertson for an evaluation (I did so only after coercing my little brother and assuring him I'd never tell anyone he had to take photos of me in my boxers. Sorry, Austin).

Robertson recommended a ton of stretching to help "reestablish my tissue length and quality while breaking down scar tissue and getting rid of trigger points." Apparently neglecting my soft-tissue quality for the better half of a decade was having some negative effects on my lifting, my posture, and was probably the culprit for my bum shoulder.

I took his advice and lo and behold the stretching helped everything Robertson said it would.

I've since added it to my daily routine in the morning. (Drink coffee, stretch, and listen to music.) I've been consistent with it for a few months now and it's turned into a habit rather than something I force myself to do. And because I've been consistent, it works. But I still hate it.

(Side note: I was recently sent a G2 fitness mat, which Paula Abdul sponsors. Despite that obvious injustice it's actually pretty cool; mine has drawings of guys doing stretches on it. My now inspired girlfriend wants to make a mat with sex positions, so be on the lookout.)

Cardio

Here's how I started my "Kettlebells Put to the Test" article that ran on TMuscle in January of this year:

"I have an embarrassing confession to make.

I can't walk up a long flight of stairs without getting a little winded. If I play a game of pick-up basketball, I'm usually huffing after the first few minutes. And while I could use my mild asthma as an excuse for my aversion to anything resembling cardio, that's just a cop-out."

If you read through the article you'll see how great kettlebells were for helping me with my conditioning. (They were also good for doorstops or unnecessarily heavy paperweights.)

I don't care if you call it cardio, conditioning, or Try-Not-To-Vomit; I fucking hated it and still do.

Yet I have to go for a hike, drag a sled, or swing some 'bells at least once per week to feel good. I'm not talking about "feel good" in the physical sense, mind you; Dave Tate and I agree that conditioning sucks donkey balls. I'm talking more about the feeling you get directly after you finish something you hate. It's a small victory, a chance to feel like you're in charge.

So, why are you telling me this?

I guess what I'm saying is that sometimes you have to fight your inner-pussy and actually do some stuff that'll benefit you, despite how it makes you feel at the time. (At least that's what some guys tell themselves after they screw a fat chick. Although I'm not sure of the benefit there.)

So what do you hate? Why is it good for you? And are you currently doing it?

Sack up, gentlemen. I'd like to know.

(To read and post comments for this entry, visit thenategreenexperience.com)

5 Things That Make Life Better

1. Pale Ales, IPAs and Double IPAs.

For those of you who don't care about beer and think Budweiser "tastes good" then I must note that you probably won't like most Pale Ales or India Pale Ales (IPAs). Most are hoppy (bitter), abrasive (fairly high alcohol content), and thick (malty).

And that's just the way I like them.

My favorites (in no particular order):

Rogue Double Dead Guy Ale
Flying Dog Double Dog Pale Ale
Stone IPA
Sierra Nevada (the old standby)
Dogfish Head 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPAs. (The 120 will knock you on your ass!)

2. Ramping the weight from set to set for every exercise and learning how to auto-regulate your training.

This has been huge for me in my last couple of workouts. Don't know what I'm talking about? Check it.

3. Chicken Skewers from the Gourmet Nutrition Cookbook

Just another reason why I love Precision Nutrition.

Materials:

Bamboo skewer sticks (99 cents for 100ct)
2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Can of pineapple chunks
Apple (cut into chunks)
Red pepper (cut into squares)
Onion (cut into squares)
1 tbsp Butter (melted)
1/2 tsp Ginger
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Chili Powder

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slide ingredients onto stick. (That's what she said.) Combine melted butter, ginger, salt, and chili powder in a small bowl. Place the skewers on a baking tray and brush with the butter mixture on all sides. Place skewers in oven and bake until chicken is cooked through (12-15 minutes). Eat!

4. AJ Jacobs

I just finished his latest book, The Guinea Pig Diaries, and it reaffirmed what I've always thought: Jacobs is a bad-ass writer.

Part Malcolm Gladwell and part Bill Bryson, Jacobs (who's also an editor at Esquire magazine) is a very consistent and hilarious author. I've enjoyed all three of his books and his articles in Esquire. I highly suggest you pick them up.

5. E-mails from guys and girls I've helped

A lot of e-mails run together, but a few times per week I get one from someone who has really taken my advice and put it into action.

I've received notes from guys who've quit their jobs, got new ones, found the girl of their dreams, put on 20 pounds of muscle, started new blogs, and traveled to different countries.

I appreciate the kind words and am glad I could help.

So what 5 things are making your life better? Let me know in the comments!

(To read and post comments for this entry, visit thenategreenexperience.com)

Notes from a Trainer

"Pick what you're going to do and get it done," said Pat Rigsby to the crowd at the first ever Boot Camp Boot Camp. (No, that's not a typo.) It was a simple statement, but one that resonated with the crowd of trainers.

I was in Louisville, Kentucky for the seminar hosted by Pat, Nick Berry and Jim Labadie - the masterminds of the fitness industry who've sold millions of dollars of personal training amongst themselves - to pick up some tips on how to run my personal training and bootcamp business better. I'm hoping their tips can help you, too.

The Top Three Things I Learned:

Put systems in place for everything

What happens with first contact with a new client?
Cold call script
Power speech or elevator pitch
Lead generation
Client retention
Client referrals
Pricing

Systems will help organize your business and make you feel more confident when prospecting and selling clients, rather then guessing what you did last time or changing your pitch to make the customer happy.

Focus on two things at once and dominate them.

Since starting my business in June, I have tried to do everything that came to my mind, which left me spread too thin. Moving forward, once I get my systems in place I'm going to focus on two things and master them. Like client retention and up-selling. Then I'll make the appropriate changes and find another tactic to perfect.

Be selective with your clients while not under-selling yourself

When I first started my business, I was so concerned with getting as many clients as possible and too willing to charge low rates. I am confident of my value and my rates should reflect that. Also I do not want clients who are going make my life annoying. Rather I want to focus more energy on my rock star clients, up-sell them, and tap into their network.

Attending the seminar was something that I couldn't afford since I just started my training business. So I flew over on credit.

While it was a bit scary, it was also an opportunity to learn the techniques I needed to triple my income and build a whole new network of business professionals throughout the US and into Canada.

To my way of thinking, why go through the long process of making all mistakes everyone else has already made? Learn from the best, invest in informational products that can help you, and attend seminars even if you "can't afford it."
It'll quickly pay for itself.

A note from Nate

Be sure to check out Joe's blog. And if you're in the fitness business, make sure to post a comment below with your number one personal training tip.

(To read and post comments for this entry, visit thenategreenexperience.com)

3 Tips for the Aspiring Money Ninja

Most guys are broke or in debt. Know why? Reckless spending and embracing the voracious consumer mentality. (And because most of them are dum-dums.)

You don't want to be like most guys.

Here are three "money tips" I've picked up and implemented into my lifestyle that have made things a little less tight and a little more fun.

1. Figure out what's important to you

Here you are getting ready to read how to handle your finances and suddenly I throw something all pseudo-philosophical at you. What the hell? Relax, buddy, I have good reasons.

Let me show you something.

Here's what's important to me (in no particular order):

- My family
- My friends
- My health
- My lifestyle and education

Know what's not on that list?

- New shit I don't need

So what am I going to spend my money on?

Good organic food, traveling to visit my family, drinks with friends, Sunday morning breakfasts, seminars, books, a gym membership, supplements, music, going to the movies, and micro-brews.

And the things I like to do that cost little or no money?

Walking around the farmer's market, talking with friends and family, talking with complete strangers, enjoying a good cup of coffee, riding my long-board, hiking, training outside, playing ping-pong, relaxing with my girlfriend, having amazing sex, brewing beer, reading, writing, and helping guys who email me for advice.

The newest iPhone or gadget doesn't interest me, nor does the crazy bar scene. But that's just me. You may love those things, and I suggest you spend your money on them if you really enjoy them.

So make a list of things that are important to you and about how much each of those things cost.

Now spend your money on them and don't worry about the other shit.

2. Save your receipts

This is probably the single best tip I can give and the one that's helped me the most. Do you really know how much you spent on groceries or movies or beer last week? I bet not. I used to not know (or care) either. Then I realized I went to three movies and bought dinner and drinks for my friends twice in one week. It was time to re-evaluate my priorities and also how much I was enjoying each activity.

I try to set a weekly budget for food and entertainment and it's easy to go past that -- way past it, in some cases -- and screw up the rest of your finances for the month if you don't know where you stand at all times.

Now, I'm not anal about it. I keep all of my receipts for the week and sit down every Sunday to track my expenses, but I don't cut coupons or carry a calculator. But I learn more about my spending habits and how I can spend better each week.

3. Don't just "save." Plan for something specific

It may be retirement, a trip to Europe, a fancy-schmancy dinner with your girlfriend, or the dreaded "emergency", but whatever it is, you'll probably do a better job of saving for it if you actually know what the money is going to be used for.

I tried for years to "save money", but it wasn't until I wanted to book a trip to Belize, pay off my business debt, and set up a Roth IRA for retirement that I actually started to put away the funds.

Know where your money's going and you'll likely save for it.

Your turn

How do your rein in your spending, plan your savings, or pay off debt? Let me know in the comments. Your responses help everyone that reads this blog!

PS - For a great book and blog on finances check out I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

(To read and post comments for this entry, visit thenategreenexperience.com)

Can You Handle the Green Mile?

I've never been the captain of a ship and I don't have a kid or a pet, so I don't have many opportunities to name anything.

That changed yesterday at the Missoula Underground Strength Training Center when Mike (the owner), Jason (my web guy), Chelle (my girlfriend) and I sat down to plan our "Conditioning Sunday."

We call it the Green Mile because...get this...my last name is Green. Clever huh?

But more on that in a minute.

Conditioning Sundays serve a few purposes:

- We get to train in a group setting. (Nothing is more motivating than competing with your friends and having them yell at you to keep going.)

- We're burning a shit-ton of calories.

- We get to do cool "unconventional" training like tire flips, sledgehammer swings, farmer's walks, kettlebell swings, and the popular Lie-on-the-floor-and-try-not-to-vomit.

-It's a nice break from traditional strength training we do throughout the week.

-It's over pretty damn quickly.

If you want a challenging workout, a change of pace, or just want to gather a few of your friends in one place to see which one of them will pass out first, I recommend having a weekly conditioning day. (You can also check out some cool complexes on TMUSCLE .)

The Green Mile

100 pound heavy bag carry (cradle in your elbows like a Zercher squat) for 40 yards
200 pound Farmer's Walk for 40 yards (100 pound dumbbell in each hand)
15 Overhead Medicine Ball throws against a wall (the heaviest medicine ball you have)
10 strict pull-ups
10 push ups on blast straps
10 kettlebell swings (the heaviest kettlebell you can find)
20 sledgehammer swings (alternate 10 on each side)

The whole thing takes about 4 minutes. Do one set, rest 4 minutes, and repeat two more times.

12 minutes of work equals about three hours of feeling drunk.

What you got, Slick?

What's your favorite conditioning workout? Let me know in the comments and I may just try it this week!

(To read and post comments for this entry, visit thenategreenexperience.com)

Nate in the Media - August and Early September

If you missed 'em, you can check out my latest articles here:

Ballistic Muscle - TMuscle
The Box Squat for Bodybuilders - TMuscle
The Right Way to Cheat - September issue of Men's Fitness

(To read and post comments for this entry, visit thenategreenexperience.com)