Burke Cleland

Success Story

Burke — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:55:25 +0000

From 2006 – 2007 Matt achieved an unbelievable weight loss of 135 lbs and lost 24% of his body fat. In some respects, that was the easy part because maintaining weight loss is often a bigger challenge. I am proud to report that it has been over 5 years and Matt still weighs the same as he did in 2007! Matt incorporated working out and eating right into his lifestyle, so it didn’t end when he reached his goal. This lifestyle shift is the secret to spectacular results that can last a lifetime. Matt is just one of the many here that proves it every day.

Matt, you are a true inspiration to me. I have really enjoyed working with you over the past 5 years and look forward to your making your program every month.

Here’s a Plan for Weight Loss that Really Works!

Burke — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:59:22 +0000

Many people start the year off with the greatest intentions for losing weight and adopting a healthier lifestyle. Some are successful, many are not. People who do lose weight by drastically reducing calories often gain back even more weight than they lost and find themselves worse off than when they started.

As a personal trainer in Ottawa for ten years, I’ve seen this cycle repeat itself time and time again. I now realize that setting a goal to achieve weight loss is only just the beginning of a journey that will change a person’s lifestyle for good! Everyone who sets a goal to lose weight should have a plan that they can follow for a lifetime. I am here to tell you that this is really not that hard to achieve if you have the right tools and guidance. My clients who slowly incorporated lifestyle changes in their exercise and nutrition habits are the ones who achieved the best and most long-lasting results.

The problem with making too many lifestyle changes at once is that in a few weeks, something will usually happen that makes us fall off the wagon and revert back to our old ways. We could suffer an injury or a stressful life event could come up. Sometimes we fall off the wagon for a social event or celebration, and then find it too hard to get back on again. It can happen to even the most motivated and it can make us feel like meaningful lifestyle changes are beyond our control.

The problem is not that we do not have enough control over ourselves or our lives to adopt meaningful change, the problem is that we try to adopt too many changes at one time. Too often we try to follow popular diet or fitness programs that we read or hear about and they are not tailored to overcome our own individual obstacles or meet our needs. If you are not currently doing any exercise, maybe it would be a good idea to start by taking 10 minutes per day and incorporating light intensity movements like walking, light weight training, or stretching, rather than trying to follow a magazine program designed for someone at an advanced fitness level. Instead of trying to follow a calorie or carb-restricted diet, start of by eating more slowly, or eating off a smaller plate, so that you will eat less. Once a week or two has passed and you are comfortable with this small change, then you may be ready to add a bit more time or intensity to your workouts or start implementing another good nutritional habit.

I know that at the start, it doesn’t feel like you’ll ever achieve your weight loss goal by making small, incremental changes. Trust me, this approach always produces better, longer lasting results. It is better for your overall health to proceed in this way, and you will find that it’s easier than you could have imagined!

-Burke Cleland, Fitness and Nutrition Coach

Kickboxing Boot Camp New Term

Burke — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 03:43:08 +0000

I have partnered with the OSSC to bring you this innovative new program! Kickboxing Boot Camp combines the best of kickboxing and functional training into a killer workout! A NEW classe begin the week of February 27th to April 9th. There are still a couple spots left for the January/February session if you Register Now with the OSSC!

Should Doctors be Prescribing Exercise?

Burke — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 07:00:29 +0000

As I was browsing the Ottawa Citizen’s website, I came across an article about a group of Edmonton-area doctors who have started prescribing exercise to their patients. This program is targeting relatively-healthy patients with sedentary lifestyles who run the risk of diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, or heart disease if their daily routines continue to lack regular exercise.

These doctors have been urging their patients to become involved in regular physical activities, and they believe that seeing the recommendation written as a prescription will make patients more likely to follow through on their recommendations. Each prescription suggests an intensity, duration, and frequency of exercise, and activities recommended include lifting weights, walking, biking, or snowshoeing along their local trail systems, to play catch or Frisbee golf, or to try swimming.

A partnership between the doctors and at least one local recreation centre has allowed the doctors to provide free one-month passes to patients valued at $50 and $55. This will allow the patients to get into the habit of exercising, pick up fitness advice, and learn how to use the exercise machines, while introducing the rec centre to potential future paying customers.

What do you think, should doctors be prescribing exercise to their patients and giving out rec centre passes?

Of course, I know that exercise is one of the key ingredients in your health and well-being, and would definitely recommend physical activity as one of the best kinds of preventative medicine. If you feel that you might have some more questions on how to get started before or after you see you doctor, feel free to contact me for a free consultation. Click here for your free consultation with Burke.

-Burke

Nutrition Coaching Tip for Week 4: Eat slowly then stop when you are 80% full

Burke — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:29:03 +0000

Stop Mindless Eating

People who eat lunch in front of their computers consume an average of 125 additional calories in afternoon snacks than those who dine without distractions, according to research conducted in the United Kingdom. Peter Rogers, co-author of the study, confirms that multi-tasking during meals might interfere with the brain’s ability to remember flavors and textures and impair its knack for detecting the stomach’s subtle fullness cues - the same phenomena that occur when you eat in front of the tube. For more mindful eating, take lunch offline.

Pace Yourself

How do you know when you’re 80% full? This is tough to do at the start but once you get going it becomes easy. If you eat a meal and 30minutes to an hour later you feel hungry, you did not eat enough, but if you feel full and not hungry after 4 hours, you ate too much. Use trial and error to adjust your meal size and frequency. The goal isn’t to go completely hungry; it’s to stop eating sooner than you normally would.

Your Challenge

For the next week, put away all the things that you normally distract yourself with while eating. That means no newspapers, magazines, TV or computer. Spend your meal times just eating, preferably with some company. Focus on the food texture and flavor. This practice might help curb the snack attacks later on, and will help you be on your way to a leaner, more satisfied, you.

Practice eating only until you are 80% full. You will want to stop eating before you normally would, by putting a little less food on your plate, or saving a couple of bites for later. Another help full tip would be to use smaller plates and utensils. I even had clients start eating with chopsticks.

Try putting some motivational reminders in a visible place to help remind you of your new habit and to counterbalance all the images of food and overeating that are so prevalent in advertising.

Don’t Forget

Continue with the previous week’s habits:

1. Eat 5 veggies

2. Eat a protein with every meal

3. Exercise 4 times per week

Nutrition Coaching Tip: Eat a lean protien with every meal

Burke — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:05:49 +0000

Eating a lean protein with your meal is the best way to keep you satiated longer with the fewest calories. We have to tackle two questions before you can implement this habit, first, what is a lean protein, and second, how much of that protein should I eat? Examples of lean protein:

PoultryChickenTurkey

Eggs

Egg whites

FishHaddockSalmon

Cod

Herring

Tilapia

Mackerel

“Fish that don’t live longer than 2 years”

SeafoodCrabLobster

Mussels

Shrimp

Clams

Scallops

Calamari (NON DEEP FRIED)

MeatLean or extra lean cuts of beefLean pork chops

Pork Tenderloin

Venison

DairyLow-fat cottage cheeseLow-fat milk

Greek Yogurt

Low-fat plain yogurt

Whey protein

Plant-based proteinsPeasHummus

Lentils

Kidney Beans

Black Beans etc…

Tofu

Vegetarian protein powders:

-hemp protein -brown rice protein –yellow split pea

Our protein needs will depend on our individual body size, activity level and metabolism. A good rule of thumb is that one protein serving size should fit into one of your cupped hands. Your goal for this week is to make sure that you are consuming one serving of lean protein with each meal (including snacks).

Don’t forget to continue practicing last week’s habit: eat 5 servings of vegetables per day!

Recommended protein powders: Kaisen Whey, Living Fuel

Eat at least 5 servings of veggies each day

Burke — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:03:32 +0000

Nutrition Coaching tip for this week is……Eat at least 5 servings of veggies each day

For the next week, you’re going to focus exclusively on this habit. Your job is to log in your compliance report whether you did it or not. See below for the compliance form.
Eating five servings of veggies is not only really healthy for you but it will help you lose weight really fast. You might be thinking eating 5 servings of veggies is impossible to fit in your day, so here is what I am going to do for you. One to two of those servings can come from fruit. Yep, one to two apples per day and 1 and a half cups of veggie soup and you did it. WOW, that doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

Here are some examples of what a serving of vegetables look like.
• 1/2 cup Butter nut squash soup
• 1 tomato
• ¾ cup veggie juice like V8 “great for on the go”
• A sweet potato
• 1 cup of leafy greens for a salad
• 1/2 cup of grape tomatoes
• ½ of one bell pepper
• 1 cup of spinach tossed toss in some salad topers
• 1 banana
• 6 strawberries
• 2 plums
• 15 grapes
• 1 apple
• 1 peach

Although it may seem hard to get at least five servings of veggies every day, the reality is it’s very simple. All you have to do is find a way to incorporate vegetables into some of the meals you eat each day.
To get a feel for a day’s worth of veggie and fruit intake, take a look at the following examples. Note, this isn’t all the food for the day, this is just the veggies and fruits.

• Meal 1: A bow of vegetable soup
• Meal 2: A large salad topped with nuts and seeds
• Meal 3: 350ml V-8” please select ones with more or all veggies
• Meal 4: 2 cups Mixed berries
• Meal 5: 2 cups of Grilled vegetables

Guess what – that’s at least 10 servings. I know you can get at least half of that.

We can eat more veggies and fruits because they have a relatively low level of calories. Their bulky volume causes us to feel fuller and they contain a high level of nutrients. This allows us to fill our tummies, leaving less room for “bad” food choices, unlike certain diets which have you omitting food from your diet and not offering you anything to replace it with.

450 calories 450 calories 450 calories
cookies chicken wraps spinach, chicken bean salad

Less volume, fewer nutrients or more volume, more nutrients – you decide!

2011 Super Success Story – Helen Ward

Burke — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:32:02 +0000

I am incredibly proud of my client, Helen. She completed a total body transformation by losing 50 pounds and 21% of her body fat over the past year with healthy and sustainable exercise and eating habits. This was an incredible accomplishment in itself, but she was also selected as a RUNNER UP in the Lean Eating Coaching Program Body Transformation Contest and won a $1000 cash prize!

I really enjoyed working with you Helen. You have already inspired me and lots of people to try harder at achieving their own fitness goals. Thank you, and congratulations!

Your Assignment – The 5 Whys

Burke — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:46:36 +0000

I hear the same New Year’s resolutions over and over again, year after year, and sometimes I wonder if people are thinking about the real reasons why they are setting these goals. This is an exercise that you can apply to any goal or resolution to help you understand what it is that is really motivating you to want to make that change. Focusing on your true motivation will help you ensure that your daily actions match your values and help you towards your goal.

The 5 Whys is a questions-asking method used to explore the cause/effect relationships underlying a particular problem or underline something we really want. Basically, once you have asked yourself “Why?” five times, you will have gotten to the root of what the problem is, or what the real motivation is. In this example the exercise was used to determine why someone wants to lose weight.

Why do I want to lose weight?
Because I want to fit into a size 6.
But why do I want to fit into a smaller size?
Because I’ll look better in a smaller size.
But why do I want to look better?
Because looking good makes me feel good about myself.
But why do I want to feel good about myself?
Because when I feel good about myself, I’m happier and more confident.
But why do I want to happier and more confident.
Because when I’m happier and more confident, I’m in control and better able to get what I want out of life.

You can uncover a lot of insight from just a few little questions. In this example, losing fat was really about being in control and getting what the client wants out of life. Fitting into the smaller size was not the true motivation; the true motivation was more closely aligned with the client’s values.

This Year’s Total Donation for YSB

Burke — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 06:54:08 +0000

Out of all Burke's recruits, Christine Wettlaufer attended the highest number of Boot Camp sessions this year.

Burke’s Boot Camp has been involved in ongoing fundraising with the YSB. I donate $1 for every time a participant in Burke’s Boot Camp attends a session. It’s an added incentive to encourage the recruits to never miss a workout!

Well, all those efforts paid off! I am pleased to announce that my Boot Camps this year generated 714 hours of cardio and strength training for the recruits. Not only did the recruits reap the benefits of a regular fitness routine, they also helped raise over $1,472! That’s over $400 more than last year!

The $1,472 represents the 714 workout hours plus the money raised at Burke’s Spring Boot Camp, Summer Boot Camp and Fall Boot Camp.

I am extremely proud of the dedication of my recruits this year! Some of you rarely missed a workout! The biggest shout-out goes to Christine Wettlaufer who attended 68 Boot Camp sessions this year! Way to go Christine!

A big thank you to all the recruits and donors this year! Your donations are going to a great cause!