How many calories do I need to burn to lose a pound of fat?

3500 calories is the rough estimate for the energy contained in one pound of fat. This means that to lose one pound per week, you must create a deficit of 3500 calories per week. Since a week as 7 days, that means a deficit of 3500 / 7 = 500 calories per day.

This is a great starting point. The reality is much more complex .. for example, 3500 calories will not produce a pound of muscle, it actually takes more than that, but as a general rule of thumb, it gives you a starting point and then you can play with the numbers from there.

To really appreciate the power of losing even a pound of fat, visit www.thfonline.com and find out interesting facts on what you need to do to lose fat and keep it off.

President's Challenge Week 5 1/2

Rough Week.

It has been a rough week and a half. It has been rough enough for me to be late on posting a picture. It was rough enough that I am working even harder at the gym to get results, but my meals have been slacking horribly! (Pizza 2 times, McDonald's 2 times) No one to blame but myself! To start the week off, my wife and daughter were sick. I know I was bragging that I hadn't been sick for like 2 years, but I guess I forgot to knock on wood, cause sure enough I got sick. I also had 2 horrible migraines, one gave me quite an ab workout. (if you know what I mean). We also had one of our best employees quit! I know that I hear excuses all the time as a consultant, but I really do not have anyone to blame. Things like this happen. The people that are successful, are the ones that lick their wounds and go back to work. If there is one thing that I love to get across to clients is to never ever give up. Really, only wimps give up! I still remember my ninth grade football coach's advice to this day. "winners never quit, and quitters never win" these are simple but priceless words! I am super dedicated to reach my goal! Even though I do not know what the future holds, I know one thing, and that is never quit!

Here are my recent stats:
Weight 199
Percent Body-Fat 14.3%
Total Lean gain this week 0
Total Fat loss this week 1.3lbs

Running total:
Lean gain 5lbs
Total Fat loss 1.5lbs

p.s. I know I am still white! I went to tan the other day, and the place that I had my pass, just up and left without telling anyone. They took my money and split. I think I will just resort to the tan in the bottle. It is healthier anyway!

Orem Total Health & Fitness Sponsorship

The Orem Total Health & Fitness is sponsoring a Utah Valley Fat Loss Challenge. Check out the web site www.uvfatloss.com. It is open to the public and is a great way to promote health and fitness. 

President's Challenge Week 4

This first month has gone as well as I could have hoped for. I do have to say that at times it's difficult to eat 7 times a day. It's hard to make time to eat and often times during meetings I am excusing myself to go grab a bite to eat to stay on task with my program. (In reality I am out scarfing down a protein bar).

With the progression of the THF program, I will start to incorporate a little cardio next week, and focus now on losing a little more fat. I really think the supplements I was taking for muscle gain helped a lot. I love Glutamine powder. (Topform Supplements) I also really love the multi-vitamin, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids. It seems everyone around me is getting a cold but me! thank you Topform:

Weight 203
Body fat percentage 14.6%
Total Lean gained in one month 7.8lbs
Total Fat loss 0.6lbs

President's Challenge Workout Partner

Here is my workout partner.
This is Rick Moon our accountant here at THF. These pictures are 1 month a part. His stats for 1 month:
He started his weight at 210.6. In one month his weight went to 203.6, so He lost 6 lbs on the scale. His body fat started at 25.2% and at one month is 22.5 %. He lost 2.7 %. He lost 7.3 lbs of fat! Congratulations Rick!

Week 3 President's Challenge

Week 3 is complete

My week 3 statistics are:
Weight:201.2 Bodyfat %: 15.3%
My lean mass has increased just under 5 pounds. I feel that 5 pounds for three weeks is pretty good. I haven't been able to be the best at the program. Business is really taking off. I have a pretty busy day with meetings etc, but when I plan, it is easy. When I do not plan, that is when I struggle. Probably the most difficult thing for me so far, is to drink enough water. Water is so critical to health, muscle gain, and fat - loss. Today has been better. I instituted the chug principle. Whenever I look at my water bottle, I chug as much water as I can handle. So if there is anything that I can say of importance, it is to "Drink water!"

New Top Form Website

Check out our new Top Form website.

Top Form supplements are the best addition to any healthy lifestyle and here at Total Health & Fitness we recommend these products to our clients to ensure them the best results from a great service and product. You can order these products online and become educated on all Top Form has to offer.

Remember to check out the Energy Bites, they're amazing.

President's Challenge Update

Week 2 is complete!

My weight was 197.6 and my body fat was 15.2% so running total for 2 weeks is an increase of 2 pounds on the scale, a drop of 0.1% body fat. This may not sound like a lot, but my lean mass has increased by 2 pounds in 2 weeks.

The important thing to remember with this in following and running a good program, is that it is not what the scale says. If I were to go by the scale, I wouldn't know if the weight that I have gained was fat, or muscle, or even if the program is working. I know that in order to increase my metabolism, I have to have a couple of weeks where I put lean mass on, and that means I might even gain weight. However it is interesting to know that 1 pound of lean muscle can burn 30 to 50 extra calories a day at rest, and when that muscle is working, it is burning even more. So lets just say the first part of any program should be the metabolism overhaul! It is frustrating to me when clients feel that they have to lose weight on the scale fast when they start a program.

Our program is designed to increase metabolism, and in order to do
that some amount of lean mass needs to be put on!

Great Job Vegas!

Check out Las Vegas spot on Channel 5 News.

Click Here - News Clip

Week One Results of the President's Challenge

Week one is out of the way. My goal here was to get back to following the rules of nutrition.

• 1. Eating every 2 to 3 hours.
  
• 2. Having a protein, carb, and fat with each meal.
  
• 3. Eat more when I am more active, and less when I am less active.

I also wanted to get back to working out. I started basic, 3 sets of 10, to just start moving again. I didn't expect to see a lot of results this week, just to start moving. However next week my goal is to increase lean mass! Here are my first week statistics.

195lbs on the scale. 15.5 percent body fat. So I lost a pound on the scale, and basically stayed the same on bodyfat. So the get back in the swing of things is over, and this next week the goal is to put on lean mass.

Side note, I need to start working on the tan!

It is Starting!

Well, here it is. I hope you have your sunglasses on. Don't adjust your screen. I am a whitey white! I guess when you don't see the sun a lot, that is what happens. Don't worry. I will start tanning. I can totally believe that I look the way I do. I was eating fast food, all the time. I was eating cookies before bed, and my wife bought these chocolate things that were way intelligent. If you walked by the bag with your mouth open, they would jump right in your mouth. Can you believe that? No if ands or buts about it, I am a hypocrite.
The thing I want to prove, is that it is nobody's fault but my own. I think to many times in society, people want a quick fix. They want things now, and if they don't get things quickly, they start looking for excuses. Well no excuses. It is time to get back. I want to get in best shape of my life. Not superficial shape, where I am totally ripped. I am talking about I can run forever, climb the highest mountain, and seriously kick some butt!
I will through out this thing, give hints and tips, from years of experience that I have had with clients. I will probably tie a lot of the things I am doing to science and research.
Anyway Here are my starting statistics, and goals.
Weight: 195.6 Fat percentage: 15.3% Lean Mass: 165.6 Fat Mass: 30
Body Composition Goals
Weight: 190 Fat Percentage: 6% Lean Mass: 178.6 Fat Mass: 11.4
Total Weight Loss 5.6lbs. Total Fat Loss 18.6lbs Total Lean Gain 13lbs

Total Health & Fitness President's Challenge.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Mike Butler. I am the President and co-founder of Total Health & Fitness. I am almost 33 years old (March.) I am married to the love of my life Rachel, and I have a beautiful 9 and a half month old daughter, Ava Elle. We are also expecting a son (80 % sure, still early) in July. The pictures you see here are the roots of my body transformation history, and the roots of my passion with health and fitness. The 1st picture is obviously my before picture. The 2nd picture is at 12 weeks, and the 3rd picture is a year later. I went from 8 percent body fat to 3 percent body fat in 12 weeks. I was able to maintain 5 percent body fat a year later. I was young, 25 years old and stress free. I was also in great shape. Ha! Ha! Well time has passed, and I took most of my focus off of myself and put it into our business. I have decided that it is time, time to get back in shape, not just for myself, but for my family. I hope that my journey back will inspire and educate. I will document my progress weekly and post as much helpful information that I can. I will start by posting my new before picture (UGG!) and my first weeks results etc this week. (Only if you promise not to laugh!!!!)