Most folks are majoring in the minors...

"Which workout is the best?"

"Should I take a dairy-based protein powder or beef protein or plant protein?"

"Hindu Pushup or Dumbbell Chest Squeeze Press?"

Then you watch the negative news feed and stress out.

After that you drink a few beers or glasses of wine, to "relax" before bed, which actually stresses you out even more because the booze messes up your deep quality sleep.

Crazy to think that you would ignore, night after night, the most powerful opportunity to recover.

No, I'm not talking about a shot of anabolic steroids from your medically supervised "Testosterone Replacement Therapy" program.

I'm talking about the importance of getting deep, restorative sleep each night.

Do you really want to build your best life?

Get serious about recovery and treat yourself like an athlete – eat better, sleep better, hydrate better, train smarter.

Start with some old-fashioned shuteye.

Here's what is happening to you physiologically when you drink alcohol to excess and get junk sleep.

After a few consecutive days of hard training, then a Friday night booze session, your body is exhausted.

Sadly you don't get vital REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep when you go to bed tipsy.

REM sleep is your ultimate opportunity to recover from life's stress.

Worse yet, you'll wake up dehydrated because alcohol suppresses your antidiuretic hormone and encourages your kidneys to produce more urine.

So the frequent bathroom visits are fragmenting your sleep.

Bottom line: Sleep is your number-one method of recovery.

Scientifically speaking, alcohol can inhibit muscle protein synthesis as well as create hormonal imbalances.

However you need to optimize your hormones as well as protein synthesis... these things are mission critical to your recovery.

I remember, in my younger days, being foolish and having all sorts of energy to drink alcohol and stay out late at night.

Heck, my family has been making wine for generations. And then, one day, I decided to quit alcohol and prioritize my recovery.

I thought it made more sense to be excellent versus average.

I'd like to see you achieve excellence and then maintain your good health.

In fact, your family, friends, and co-workers are counting on you to lead by example.

If you want to create athletic levels of bodyfat and strength, you need to focus on smart training and smarter recovery.

To do this will require restorative sleep, mindful nutrition before, during and after workouts, smart hydration / electrolytes, and working thoroughly on your weaknesses.

With that in mind, I wanted to share a simple seven-step process my clients use to achieve goals:

1. Set goals that "stretch" you but are attainable

If it’s not realistic you won’t be motivated; however, you won't be motivated if it doesn’t challenge you either.

2. Get specific

Saying you want to "lose weight" is vague. Saying you want to go from 40% bodyfat to 20% bodyfat over the next 12 months is specific.

3. Have a realistic deadline

Same premise. You need a finish line to create urgency.

4. Actually want those things

Seems simple but you'd be amazed at how many people set goals because someone told them that should be the goal or that's what they think they should do.

5. Stay accountable

Accountability comes in many forms.

It could be a dedicated training partner, an experienced coach, or a peer group that lifts you up. 

You'll always do better with accountability. 

6. Break it down

Overwhelm kills progress. You do better when you have goals broken into smaller targets.

7. Get a prize:)

You may not *need* this, but you'll always do a bit better when you have a reward for winning.

It’s pretty simple, but it’s a formula that has proven successful time and time again.

And it will for you too if you put it into action.

A few more things.

With the holiday season approaching, here are a few recipes to try this Halloween.

🎃 Pumpkin Pie Smoothie Recipe

I know, I know what you're thinking.

Smoothies are pretty lame in comparison with one of those mini-chocolate bars that folks give out on trick-or-treat night.

I also agree that these "healthy" holiday treats may not seem as good as an actual slice of pumpkin pie; however, they're very satisfying when you are hankering for more decadent Halloween goodies.

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ - 1 frozen banana
• ½ cup canned organic pumpkin
• ½ cup canned coconut milk or 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 scoops Vanilla Protein Powder
• ¼ tsp. pumpkin pie spice or ½ tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

Add all ingredients to a blender and enjoy.

🎃 Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic school for lunch.

At the head of the table was a large tray of banana bread.

The nun posted a sign on the banana bread tray, "Take only one. God is watching."

Further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies.

One child whispered to another, "Take all you want. God is watching the banana bread."

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 mashed bananas
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 4 Eggs
• ½ cup Almond butter
• 4 TBSP melted coconut oil
• ½ cup Coconut flour
• ½ TBSP Cinnamon
• ½ TBSP Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• Pinch of Sea Salt
• ¼-1/3 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Combine your bananas, eggs, almond butter, vanilla, and melted coconut oil. Mix well.

Add in coconut flour, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt. Mix well.

Fold in your chocolate chips.

Grease a metal loaf pan with coconut oil. Pour in the batter and spread evenly.

Place in the pre-heated oven for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Enjoy.

🎃 Pumpkin Ice Cream

Man: Why are you afraid?

Jack-o'-lantern: I have no guts.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 frozen bananas
• ¼-1/3 cup canned organic pumpkin
• ¼ cup canned coconut milk
• ¼ tsp. pumpkin pie spice (or to taste)

DIRECTIONS:

Add bananas, pumpkin, coconut milk, and pumpkin pie spice to a food processor.

Process until mixture becomes the consistency of ice cream.

If you like the “soft serve” texture enjoy right away.

If you want it to be thicker, put in bowls and place in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.

Of course the holidays are the perfect time to spend with friends and family.

Every gathering doesn't always need to be centered on what you're going to eat next, unless you're Italian.

But for everyone else, this is a great opportunity to start family traditions that do not involve food.

Examples of non-food-focused activities include:

🎃 Pumpkin carving

🎃 Getting ready to set up the Christmas tree

🎃 Ice skating

🎃 Candy-corn-eating contest

Just kidding on that last one. Candy corn is the one candy that makes you question all your life choices, especially the one where you decided to eat it.

Hope you liked the Halloween recipes and advice about practicing moderation over the holiday season.

Something else.

"They Laughed When You Invested in the Best Allentown Personal Trainer, But Now They're Asking You for Fitness Advice"

A client confided in me saying, "I get so sore when I exercise."

Perhaps you don't want to exercise because months of workouts gave you nothing but sore muscles. You probably don't need a PhD in exercise physiology to figure things out.

Instead you just need a world-class personal trainer to guide you.

Most over-40 folks think that as long as they move on a machine, the workout is burning fat and building muscle.

But that's simply not true.

An experienced personal trainer helps you to exercise correctly so the right muscle development takes place.

Consider me, Joseph Arangio, the top online personal trainer, as an example.

Okay, I'm going to speak in the third person now.

Coach Joe meets with you to find out what your goals are, helps you to develop an appropriate plan to achieve those goals, and corrects you as you along the way to make sure that you do everything in the proper way.

He's also pretty funny, with his goofy jokes, but I'm biased.

Personal training in Allentown has brought him many super-happy clients. Maybe you're one of the lean-and-strong alumni.

A world-class online personal trainer teaches you about smart training, mindful nutrition, getting enough sleep, and staying accountable to the whole plan.

But you must do the work.

If you live in Allentown and work out in some germy commercial gym with bad music, you probably don't have access to a qualified personal trainer.

Joseph Arangio, personal trainer from Allentown, provides not just the proper method to exercise but offers motivation and not-so-secret methods to motivate yourself.

Coach Joe doesn't believe in motivation, by the way.

He says things like, "Self discipline is the new motivation."

Joe also provides Yoda-approved advice like: "Do or do not. Their is no try."

Oftentimes people use food as a tool to motivate.

But once you pass the age of 40 years, boy oh boy, it becomes more difficult to achieve weight loss and achieve your exercise goals. Particularly when you follow outdated habits.

Joseph Arangio feels that you would make faster progress, and get less frustrated, if you leverage his knowledge and experience to help you to achieve your number-one goal.

Maybe you're goal is to lose weight. Feel younger. Or have less bodily pain.

That's when you need the assistance of an online personal trainer. Or an in-person coach with decades of experience.

If you were working out by yourself at the gym, you probably would skip a few workouts at first.

Next thing you know it's been a week since you had a decent workout. And after a few lazy months of inconsistent workouts, you're fat and unhappy (again).

Perhaps you feel like quitting.

It's especially easy to give up when you have no one holding you accountable.

That's why you need a personal trainer in Allentown or an online age-management personal trainer.

The fact that you know you have an appointment with your coach is just one reason to go to the gym.

Coach Joseph Arangio Provides Results-Guaranteed Personal Training Online and In Allentown, Pennsylvania and Wants You to Lead By Example

A first-class personal trainer in Allentown, or anywhere else, helps you navigate any dietary problems that you may have.

And by "dietary problems" I mean strawberry cheesecake.

Never forget calories matter. As you know, surplus calories are converted to fat storage for future use.

And that means your midsection is covered by a layer of insulation, so nobody believes you actually have six-pack abs. You do.

An expert personal trainer is a real person with a genuine interested in helping you reach your goal.

Without the best longevity program in Allentown, you're on your own to flounder and attempt to create a proven nutrition program.

You'll continue to struggle with creating an effective training plan too.

And that leads to frustration.

Your personal trainer should listen and care about your concerns.

If you don't train your muscles properly and in a balanced fashion, you can get hurt.

Injuries only delay progress. So leverage an expert to minimize common gym mistakes.

The best athletes on earth hire a coach, so why don't you too?

Every man and woman, over the age of 40, can benefit from the help of a personal trainer to slow the aging process.

You need an expert to build the best personal training program for you.

Your benefits include a more productive workout, more and healthier weight loss (and by weight loss I mean body fat loss--if that's one of your goals) and improved stamina and strength.

When you have a plan that's custom-tailored for you, goals are much easier to reach and the results are far better.

Okay, back to speaking in the first person.

Get better daily.

Just 1%.

Strive for tiny incremental improvements every 24 hours.

For example, if you are feeling rushed before your early-morning workout, maybe lay out your workout clothes the night before.

Perhaps that little adjustment is all you need to be more consistent with actually doing the workouts.

Something else to think about today.

At any moment you are doing something and, at that same moment, you have a top priority.

The more often those two (1. doing something and 2. your top priority) are the SAME thing, the more successful you will be.

Hope you enjoyed this lesson. if yes, please share.

To your success,

Coach Joe

Joseph Arangio helps 40+ men and women get leaner, stronger, and happier. He's delivered over 100,000 transformation programs to satisfied clients around the globe. If you want to lose weight from home, with the best online age-management personal trainer, or you want to visit the best longevity personal trainer in the Lehigh Valley, you can take a free 14-day trial.