Archives for April 2014

HBO’s Real Sports tackles the controversial topic of transgendered athletes. In their Tuesday night (April 22, 2014) episode, Fallon Fox is featured. Fallon is a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter who was born a man but currently lives as a woman. The discussion of being a transgendered woman always ignites a debate in and out of the MMA community. Most people wish to avoid the topic and pretend it doesn’t exist. Kudos to HBO for tackling this challenging topic.

Since turning pro in mixed martial arts in 2012 and being outed by a reporter in 2013, Fallon Fox, 38, is now the most prominent transgender athlete in professional sports and a trailblazer for the transgender community. The reaction from the MMA community has largely been hostile, with many fans and fighters opposing her participation in the women’s divisions because they believe her male attributes provide an unfair advantage. Despite the scrutiny, Fox continues to fight. In this REAL SPORTS/Sports Illustrated segment, correspondent Mary Carillo goes one-on-one with Fox to learn about her struggles for acceptance and legitimacy in a sport where many still view her as a man. VIA HBO

Watch a preview of the segment that will air on Tuesday night.

The Huffington Post has an in depth article that asks, “Do transgender athletes have an unfair advantage?”

IFBB Fitness Pro Julie Lohre has been selected to compete in NBC’s American Ninja Warrior TV show. Tune in on May 26, 2014 to see Julie compete in the show.

PRESS RELEASE
Local Fitness Expert Selected for NBC’s American Ninja Warrior
Women’s fitness expert and mom set to compete in reality TV show premiering May 26^th on NBC.

Edgewood, Ky. (April 14, 2014) – 39-year-old women’s fitness expert, Julie Lohre, has been selected to compete in the upcoming reality TV show, American Ninja Warrior airing this summer on NBC. Lohre was contacted by casting directors for the show earlier this month to audition for season six. She proceeded to submit an audition video and was then contacted to compete in a regional competition in St. Louis, Mo.

NBC’s American Ninja Warrior is a one-hour competition series, which follows contestants as they tackle the world’s most difficult obstacle courses. Contestants that successfully complete a course at one of the five regional competitions move on to the national finals in Las Vegas.

“I am so excited about this opportunity,” says Lohre. “I want to be an inspiration to women across the globe to show them that you can accomplish crazy, amazing goals at any stage of your life.”

Lohre began her competitive fitness career just five months after giving birth to her son. She quickly became an accomplished IFBB Fitness Professional and now has over 15 years experience in the fitness industry. She is a leading expert in women’s health and fitness and owner of Fitbody.com, a fitness consulting business and online store. Women all over the world utilize her motivational coaching and online training programs, DVD video workout guides and nutritional supplements to help them create a healthier lifestyle.

“Every day I work online with women to help them get and stay fit,” says Lohre. “Being a part of American Ninja Warrior is another way I can show women that you can get fit, stay healthy, and be active at any age.”  The sixth season of ANW is set to premier on NBC May 26^th with original episodes airing through the summer on Monday nights.  The finale will take place in Las Vegas on Sept 15^th.

Lohre’s passion for fitness and helping women achieve their goals is what interested her in auditioning for American Ninja Warrior. She is a mother, wife and business owner with a commitment to teaching women how to take care of themselves and live a healthy life.

About Julie Lohre
Julie Lohre is one of the world’s most successful fitness competitors.  She has been featured in numerous fitness magazines worldwide including Oxygen Magazine, Muscle & Fitness, Muscle & Fitness Hers, Ironman, Body Fitness, Body Muscle Journal, and FLEX magazine. She is a leading expert in women’s health and fitness and regularly acts as a correspondent and writer.  Lohre works most often with regular women who want real results and want to look and feel great at any age and experience level. Visit Fitbody.com and JulieLohre.com for more information about Julie Lohre and her programs.

Photo courtesy of Rick Lohre.

Apr 14, 2014 – NEW JERSEY – TrishStratus.com – Legends of the Ring, LLC is extremely proud to present, appearing for the first time ever, 2013 Hall of Famer Trish Stratus. Alongside Trish will be the newest female WWE Superstar inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2014 – Lita, for a joint autograph session, Saturday June 7, 2014 in Monroe, NJ.

Arguably the greatest female rivalry in WWE history, Stratus and Amy ‘Lita’ Dumas dazzled audiences across the globe, even achieving rare status as main eventers on Raw. Since their retirement in 2006, the two multi-time Women’s Champions and WWE Hall of Famers have remained best friends

”When you spend so much time with someone – travelling across highways and overseas – and work so closely with them, you can’t help but find friendship,” Amy said. “We’ve been talking for years about doing a co-signing session and this is the perfect opportunity. This is going to be an awesome experience for our fans.”

Trish inducted Lita into the WWE Hall of Fame during WrestleMania 30 celebrations in New Orleans.

“Coming off one of our biggest shared moments at Hall of Fame, we felt this was the right time for us to do something we’ve always wanted to do, and we’re looking forward to meeting our fans with this unique opportunity,” Trish said. “We’re excited to be bringing the first appearance of Team Bestie to New Jersey!”

Trish Stratus and Amy Dumas aka Lita will be appearing side by side for photo opps and autographs on Saturday June 7, 2014 at Legends of the Ring at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Monroe, NJ (time TBA). Limited tickets for this first ever appearance together will go on sale Saturday, April 19 at 9am ET.

For specific ticketing information please visit www.legendsofthering.com

Check out the trailer for “LUCY” starring Scarlett Johansson. Looks pretty bad ass.

Via Youtube
From La Femme Nikita and The Professional to The Fifth Element, writer/director Luc Besson has created some of the toughest, most memorable female action heroes in cinematic history. Now, Besson directs Scarlett Johansson in Lucy, an action-thriller that tracks a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal who turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic.

Director: Luc Besson
Writers: Luc Besson
Actors: Scarlett Johannson, Morgan Freeman

In Theaters August 8th, 2014
© 2014 Universal Pictures

More info: http://lucymovie.com

The Biggest Loser is a popular show on NBC and as the show has become more popular the weight loss totals have become more extreme. The winner of the last season caused controversy over her extreme weight loss. There were people coming to her defense stating the show is about weight loss and she played to win. Others were concerned for her health and thought it had gone too far. Enter one of the pioneers in the fitness industry… Bill Phillips.

Bill Phillips authored the wildly successful book Body-for-life. It’s a timeless book that can help anyone with not just weight loss but also with believing in yourself. Bill voiced his opinion on the show via his Facebook page and it’s worth reading. One my favorite take-aways from Bill’s post is… “Even if you’ve neglected your health for years, even decades, that power to change your health — the power to transform your life — is still right there where it’s always been… within you.”

THE BIGGEST LOSER’S BIGGEST LIES
By Bill Phillips via Facebook

In the wide, wide world of ridiculous diet and weight loss BS, The Biggest Loser’s ‘weekly’ weigh-ins take the cake. If you’re familiar with the TV show then you know it’s not uncommon to see the contestants lose 12 to 20 lbs a week from their exercise and diet efforts. The first time I saw this, I couldn’t believe it. I’ve been researching, practicing, teaching and writing about health, weight-loss, and fitness for over 25 years and I’ve never seen weight come off that fast. It’s something that I get countless, continuous questions about, from my students, clients, and even doctors.

“How on earth are The Biggest Loser participants losing so much weight so fast?” That’s the question that is so often asked. As it turns out, the answer is: “They aren’t.” Let me explain…

You might be surprised to discover that there is a closely guarded secret to those sensational results. You see, a week on The Biggest Loser TV show does not equal a week on the calendar you and I follow. In this case, there’s a big difference between ‘reality TV’ and what’s real. Former contestants have revealed that the length of time between ‘weekly’ weigh-ins can be as much as 25 days, which makes it look like people are losing weight a lot faster than they actually are.

Andrew ‘Cosi’ Costello is one of the former Biggest Loser contestants who has spoken out. He explains, “In my series, a weekly weigh-in was NEVER filmed after just one week of working out. In fact, the gap between one weigh-in to the next was up to three and a half weeks. That’s 25 days between weigh-ins, not 7. I had to stand on the scale and was asked to say the line, ‘WOW, it’s a great result… I’ve worked really hard this week!’ The producers made sure that we never gave the secret away because if we did it created a nightmare for them in editing. The shortest gap from weigh-in to weigh-in during my series was 16 days. That’s a fact.”

How does the show get away with something so deceptive and misleading? Simple… it is a fictional TV show and despite the fact that it fits into this new category of ‘reality’ programming, it is not at all required to present factual information. It’s not a documentary; it’s not a news broadcast; it’s not really real.

Kai Hibbard was a Biggest Loser Finalist in Season 3. She recalls, “The meaning of a ‘week’ on The Biggest Loser varied. It could mean 14 days.” Kai goes on to explain that the way the show was edited made it appear that she was losing 12 lbs a week but she says, “Sue me if you want to, NBC, but I’m telling people I didn’t lose 12 lbs in a week. It didn’t happen. After the show aired I’ve had people come up to me crying, telling me how hard they workout and how strict they are with their food and they want to know why they can’t lose 12 lbs a week. I have to explain that it wasn’t a week. And even when it looks like I lost 12 lbs in a week… I was so severely dehydrated at the weigh-ins that it was completely unhealthy.”

Make no mistake, I am always inspired and excited to see people making healthy changes in their lives. Losing weight, overcoming unhealthy habits, starting with and sticking to an intense exercise program… I know from firsthand experience, it’s a lot of work and requires determination, effort, and courage. I commend the participants in these shows for making the bold decision to make a change and for the inner strength that they put into being successful. I have nothing but respect for each and every one of these Biggest Loser contestants. (I think they should be called ‘Winners’ by the way.)

The problem is NOT with the people featured on the show. The problem is the system behind the scenes. The producers, not medical experts, control how the show goes during taping, editing, and what is packaged and delivered to the networks. The producers’ job is to deliver a program that the TV networks can promote and broadcast to draw big ratings from. The TV networks job is to attract the most viewers possible to maximize the advertisers’ financial investment. That’s simply how the entertainment business works.

Unfortunately, millions of viewers who watch shows like The Biggest Loser are unaware that what they are seeing is at least in part, make believe. If I hadn’t worked in the industry myself (producing documentary films, videos, TV specials) I would probably take what I see on these shows at face value also. But, through my experience, and hearing from TV weight loss show contestants themselves, I know that there’s some very misleading, and even dangerous information being presented.

As I see it, the unrealistic and untrue depiction of exaggerated weight-loss results on shows like The Biggest Loser is creating a big problem. These shows, which have the potential to do so much good, are ultimately doing a disservice to their viewers by misleading them.

What I do like about TV shows like The Biggest Loser is that it brings attention to the incredible ability we each have to make stunning changes in our bodies and lives. This gets many viewers motivated and moving. Getting someone started is just the first step though. Keeping them going and helping them stick with a good exercise and nutrition program long enough to personally experience positive and healthy results is the biggest challenge. And the key to keeping people going strong is mostly about mindset — we have to help them stay positive and feel good about their progress and results.

In the real world, burning off 2 lbs of unhealthy bodyfat a week is something you should be very proud to accomplish. But for millions of viewers of weight-loss TV shows, 2 lbs of fat loss a week seems like a failure and reinforces the false belief that far too many have, which is that they can’t be successful at transforming their health. But the fact, they CAN! Just because it doesn’t happen at the pace you see on weight-loss TV shows, doesn’t mean it’s not working for you and that you’re not on your way to an incredible transformation.

At my Transformation Center in Colorado, we’ve helped dozens of people become over 100 lbs lighter in less than a year. The average weight-loss for someone who is getting great results from their exercise and healthy eating program is 8 to 12 lbs per month (not per week!). I like to see my clients reducing their overall weight by 1% to 1.25% per week until we hit a healthy goal weight. Losing weight faster than that almost certainly means that your body is sacrificing muscle mass (and also bone density). When we lose muscle, the metabolism goes down and we become less efficient at burning calories and producing energy. It takes a smart plan, followed consistently, to lose bodyfat while strengthening muscles and improving energy.

I’ve written about this topic in my books Body-for-LIFE and Eating for Life and regularly discuss it in my blog at BillPhillipsNews.com and on Facebook at ‘Bill Phillips Transformation.’

Conclusion
It’s an unfortunate ‘reality’ that so much of what is published in magazines, broadcast on television, and written on the internet is complete and utter bullsh*t when it comes to diet, exercise, and fitness. In 25+ years as an author, teacher, and coach, I’ve seen countless fads and frauds come and go. What I’ve been able to conclude — what stands out as the fundamental facts to me — is that each of us have an incredible, God-given ability to restore our health, rebuild our bodies, and renew our lives that can’t be bought, can’t be sold, and can never be taken away.

Even if you’ve neglected your health for years, even decades, that power to change your health — the power to transform your life — is still right there where it’s always been… within you.

Yes, you need accurate information, scientific facts, and a knowledgeable coach, trainer, or mentor who can point you in the right direction and help you steer clear of the nonsense, pitfalls, and obstacles. And yes, reclaiming the healthy body and life that you were meant to have all along will take sacrifice, effort, and determination… but the rewards you’ll earn, no matter how long it takes, will be more than worth it!

Lead image via Bill Phillips Facebook.