Right around Christmas time I decided I would train 3 people for free in return for them following my program closely.  I was out to prove that you don’t need to spend a lot of time in the gym to get great results so I recruited some “test subjects” who, in return for free training, agreed to trust me and follow my plan for them.  The girls (Jada, Heather and Laura) came to see me 3-5 times per week for 30 minute sessions and followed my nutrition and cardio plan on their own for 10 weeks.

We set out to lose “the last 10 pounds” but came out of it with so much more.  Check the girls out:

Laura: Down 14.5 pounds and 8 3/8 inches

Jada: Down 6 pounds and 5.5 inches

Heather: Down 8 pounds and 7.25 inches

Man we worked hard! The 30 minute sessions were sweaty and intense but the results were great.  What you can’t see in the pictures is how strong and fit these girls got.  They all gained a ton of strength and endurance while gaining muscle and losing fat (inches)!!!!  I just want to thank the girls for their hard work and dedication.  They came in as three strangers in need of some fitness guidance and came out three friends who now have the tools they need to succeed with any further fitness goals.  Results are great, they really are, but what makes me just as happy is to bring people together using my passion for healthy living!  Need proof that we are all friends now……three of the four of us are running a ½ Marathon together in San Francisco in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada (thanks Heather)

Interested in losing the last 10 pounds?  Contact Matt Benvie at 456-4018 or matt@evolvefitnessltd.com for more details.

As mentioned when I introduced Dan in my blog, I have a second trainer named Tracy Giacomantonio on board. Tracy is a great trainer, great person and will be a super motivator to all new clients. Be sure to ask her about the first time we met, it is a great story! Here she is….

My name is Tracy Giacomantonio (Jack-o-man-tony-o) and I am beyond excited to be a part of the Evolve Fitness team as a personal trainer.

I have a psychology degree that I received from StFX in 2006 and have found it very beneficial in my day to day life, as well as helping others. After graduation I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do so I packed my bag and moved to the Cayman Islands for a few years. While living on the Island, I participated in many bike marathons, duathlons, 5-10k runs and also helped friends and co-workers improve their fitness levels. While getting ready to leave the Island for my big move back to Canada to pursue my Fitness and Health career, a 10yr old child died from obese related illnesses. After hearing this, I realized I wanted to get into a position where I could help people, and educate people so situations like this could be avoided. I moved back to Canada in 2009 and received my personal training certification. I have been living in Ottawa for the past 2 years and started off at Curves, then as a personal trainer at The Athletic Club. I absolutely love what I do and seeing clients reach their goals has not only been rewarding for them, but it’s been incredibly rewarding for me as well. During my training, I realized just how important nutrition is and that a lot of people have a hard time understanding what “healthy eating” actually means, so I have taken my training a step further and I am enrolled at Mount St Vincent University in the Dietetics program so I can become a Registered Dietitian. I eventually want to use my personal training, my dietetics, and my psychology to focus on helping children (and adults) become more aware of fitness and nutrition.

I am currently very active with running and training myself and look forward to sharing all my knowledge and energy with all the new people I meet through training at Evolve Fitness. Exercise can be fun, you will see

So after a lot of work from a lot of people, the big day was Saturday, September 17th. I was completely blown away with the seminar! Paul spoke for two hours and made it seem like 10 minutes. He completely engaged the crowd and was hilarious. Aside from those attributes, the knowledge he relayed to the participants was great. The content of his presentation was completely relevant to the majority of the population as he talked about being lean, fit and injury free. Not only did I learn a lot from him, but I was inspired to continue to be the best trainer I can be for my clients. I really encourage everyone to check out his website www.paulplakas.com as it has some great content available. You can also “like” his page on facebook and get some great information there as well.
After things were all said and done and Paul finished taking pictures and signing autographs, we went out to lunch then over to the Evolve studio. This was great as Paul gave some great suggestions on how I could make things better and different things I could add to make my services even better! I should also mention that I have two new trainers Dan Evans (he helped out with me all summer) and Tracy Giacomantonio who also took in the entire day. Look for updates on those two amazing trainers on the blog and website soon!

All in all, it was a really awesome day. I am already thinking of how we can do things better next time and get Paul back here soon with an even bigger crowd. I honestly can’t say I have ever taken in a presentation on fitness this great and I really wanted to share that fact with everyone just in case he does come to the area again.

If anyone has any questions about Paul and his seminar please feel free to contact me at anytime.

Matt

Paul is a very inspirational guy who has touched many lives as a personal trainer. If we can get enough people to sign up, he will be coming to Halifax September 17th for a two hour seminar and one hour bootcamp. The cost is 95 dollars per person which will include the above as well as a couple of extras from Paul and Evolve Fitness. To see more about Paul himself you can view his webpage at http://www.paulplakas.com/

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity so I encourage everyone to contact me if they want to sign up or get some more information. Thanks very much!
Mathew Benvie
matt@evolvefitnessltd.com
(902)456-4018

I could go on and on about how being a personal trainer is the best job in the world.  I get to hang out in a gym all day and interact with all kinds of cool people while helping them achieve very important goals in their lives.  I just wanted to share a success story of three girls who made my day last Friday and reminded me just how lucky I am…..

I was coming to the end of a long week of sessions when Christy, Julia and Hannah arrived for their final session with me.  They started as a group of three a few months earlier and stayed with me right up until the end of their school year at SMU.  This session they greeted me with a card that told me I was awesome and thanked me for kicking their butts followed by a big group hug and workout.  Hopefully they didn’t notice at the time but I got a little choked up at the thought of not seeing them three times a week anymore.   Even through a lot of complaining about my country music and “a little” complaining about tough workouts, they were very consistent and showed great progress and enthusiasm throughout.  With busy schedules at school and work they managed to come see me three times a week and also worked out on their own on off days.  So after our group hug we did a weigh in and all of their hard work showed as together they lost a total of 35.8 pounds and 16.25 inches!!  It made me very proud to see how far they had come, not only with the weight they lost but in the strength gains they had made.  We broke through many mental and physical barriers (like doing real pushups) and had fun doing it! They also left me that day with the tools necessary to keep making progress and while I will keep in touch with them, I wish them the best of luck.  Stay tuned for pictures on my fan page after Christy joins me for the Bluenose 10k!  GREAT job girls, I will miss you guys!

New Recipes

I have a couple great new recipes that I have come up with.  I am a natural peanut butter fiend and while my omelette creation sounds gross, I do recommend giving it a try as it is a great low carb meal!  The shake recipe is similar to my other shakes just with a few extra quality calories!

Egg white/PB Omelette

-1/2 carton egg whites (or desired amount)

-vegetables (use whatever you like in an omelette, I only use tomatoes and mushroom)

-mix 1 tbsp natural PB with 2 tbsp salsa and one tbsp fat free mayo

*When you flip the omelette, add the mixture to half of the omelette and cook until finished.  You can also add a serving of low fat cheese if you like.

Meal Replacement Shake

-1 cup frozen blueberries

-1/2 cup whole grain oats

-1 and a ½ cups skim milk

-1 tbsp natural PB

-1 scoop chocolate promasil (whey protein)

*Add these in the blender with a few ice cubes and enjoy!  This can be used as extra calories for those looking to gain weight or as a meal replacement for those going for weight loss or maintenance!

As you can tell I am addicted to natural peanut butter and use it often.  Feel free to contact me at matt@evolvefitnessltd.com for other natural pb recipes!

 As a personal trainer, I feel lucky to interact with all kinds of great people!  I want to share a success story from a family that helps me to see that it is possible to get all of those things I think about.

 Fit Family-The Merchants:

 The Merchants are a family of 5 with Rob and Jane the parents and Jack (15), Erik (18) and Ellen (13) the kids!  In order to keep my good relationship with the Merchants, I have not included the parents’ ages…..

 Erik and I started training together in May as he prepared for the Canada Games (soccer) in August.  We are fairly close in age and Erik is now at Acadia taking the same program I took at St. FX so we hit it off instantly.  Even with soccer 4 times a week, Erik managed to gain a lot of strength through the summer and even packed on a few pounds of muscle.  We kept a pretty strict training regiment and Erik was able to follow my diet guidelines to the best of his ability.  He is proof that if you put in the effort, the results will follow.

 In September Erik took off to Acadia and I got a call from his dad Rob. Rob and his wife Jane were looking to start up with me and train together.  Soon after, they began seeing me twice a week and have been coming steadily since.  It is awesome having husbands and wives come in together and watching them interact.  Rob and Jane are great as they always work hard but never take themselves too seriously.  We make the Body Break slogan come true every time we workout: “Get Fit and Have Fun”. Their results have been spectacular and I will give you a great example.  Jane has gone from not being able to do one pushup to doing four sets of 12.  Rob could do eight when we started and now does 30 no problem.  Both have lost 2% body fat and have had noticeable increases in every exercise we do!

 The story continues as Jack started training in December.  Jack is a great kid and really listens to the knowledge I am passing along to him.  He wakes up and gets a good breakfast in him everyday and looks forward to coming to the gym with me after school.  Not only does he workout but he recently participated in a school play, he skis, plays soccer and used to be in a choir (sorry Jack!).  Through two months, Jack has progressed rapidly.  Everyone he knows has commented on his leaner/stronger physique which is a product of his effort in the gym.  Like Erik, Jack has a lot of heart and puts full effort into each exercise which has given him the full benefits!

I look forward to always having a positive relationship with the Merchants; maybe someday we will get Ellen in to complete the family workouts!

 Sit Down Restaurants:

 -Avoid the burgers and pasta dishes and go for a sandwich and soup/salad. Also save a few bucks and get water instead of a pop or juice.  A burger is bad enough and filled with saturated fat and starchy carbs from the bun.  Accompany that with fries and it is an easy, but unhealthy choice.  Pasta dishes can also be bad as most places use white pasta and breaded meat or fish as a filler.  If you MUST go for the burger, try throwing out the bun and going for a salad on the side with light dressing.  This will cut your calories considerably but still fill you up.

 My recommendation:  Go for the grilled chicken/fish sandwich but don’t eat the bread.  Side garden salad with light dressing or olive oil and balsamic vinegar!

 Fast Food:

 -First of all, you should avoid these at all costs but there are ways to reduce the damage!

 Subway:  I try not to eat Subway too often, but when I do I go for a 6 inch on whole wheat with double the meat to fill me up.  Add mustard for taste and try to avoid fatty dressings like mayo or salad dressing.

 Burger Joints: I know it is no fun trying to eat healthy when eating at one of these places but it is possible (somewhat).  Go for their grilled chicken salad but pass on the dressing and go for a water to drink.

 Tim Hortons: Go for a sandwich and soup combo with a sandwich that has a lean meat and is not pre-mixed (ie. chicken club, tuna salad).  Try the turkey sandwich on whole wheat hold the mayo with a soup and water.

 Halifax Readers:  Take full advantage of Pete’s Frutique, this place saves me on a regular basis.  If I don’t have time to make lunch I head to Pete’s.  Their salads are fresh and taste great, just make sure you get light dressing or go with the carb free combo of olive oil and balsamic vinegar!  I go with a small spinach salad with a half roast chicken on rye bread which not only fills me up but gives me a quality mix of nutrients that I need!

 Good luck to everyone and I hope this helps.  If you have any questions feel free to contact me!  All the best in 2010

Matt Benvie

I took a protein and creatine supplement from RIVALUS.  The protein is called PROMASIL and the creatine is called ENCHARGE.  Rivalus products come with a booklet containing a workout and a diet, so I followed the ENCHARGE workout.

Here is the diet:

Meal 1: 1 Scoop PROMASIL, 1 Banana. 1 cup Fibre 1 with blueberries added

Meal 2: 4 Whole Eggs, 4 slices of ham, 2 slices rye bread

Pre-Workout: Encharge, 1 Scoop Promasil

Post Workout: 1.5 scoops Promasil mixed with 1 scoop gatorade powder

Meal 3: Weight Gain shake (Recipe#2 from my previous post), handful of almonds

Meal 4: 2 tuna sandwiches on rye bread.  Tuna mixed with fat free mayo, dill pickles and mustard

Meal 5: Chicken stirfry with brocoli, carrots, mushrooms, green beans, spinach and 1 sweet potato

Meal 6: 1 cup whole wheat pasta, 1 serving extra lean ground beef

If you are looking to add some serious pounds, give it a try.  My only warning is you have to wake up early in order to pack that many meals in.  Good luck!

Here is great recipes for a great tasting smoothie.  I have included one great for anyone, and also one great for guys trying to bulk up with good clean calories.

Recipe#1: 1 cup of favorite fruit (I use strawberries and blueberries), 1/4 cup fat free yogurt, 1 scoop protein powder (I use chocolate PROMASIL), 1 cup fat free milk or water.  Add more or less liquid to get desired thickness.

Recipe#2: 2 cups of favorite fruit, 1/2 cup fat free yogurt, 2 scoops protein powder, 3-5 tablespoons natural peanut butter, 2 cups fat free milk.  Add more or less milk to get desired thickness.

Keep checking back for more great recipies and other tips!   Keep working hard,                                    

Matt Benvie