So, what's going on?

"What are you waiting for?" you might ask.

I've made all sorts of semi or pre-announcements, here and on JPFitness, yet we continue to hold off on actually putting our stuff "out there." Here are the excuses. Here's the backstory!

Man on Top

The book is as done as we (Galya and I) can make it without a little help.

The cover design is beautiful, and we are awaiting some final touches to it before publishing. For a sneak peak, take a look here.

I said we could only go so far without help, and suddenly we got a little extra help. A pre-reader finished the book and had some questions, which led to some suggestions, which convinced me to make a few small changes. It's all good stuff, and in the blessing-in-disguise department, it also gave our cover designer time to revamp a few things, and Galya time to take a break from the book process and go on an internship; learning some amazing stuff! More on that, later...

The book is coming soon, and I think you're going to love it. If you want more info, sign up for the book announcements on the upper right of this site, where it says "Sign up for upcoming news on the new book!"

The Fit Ink

 

The Fit Ink is a the name of our newest project. TheFitInk isn't just a place on the internet, nor are Galya and I merely, collectively, TheFitInk; I think it's going to be greater than the sum of its parts, plus many more awesome clichés! Gal and I will be writing there, together and individually, and we're really excited about this thing.

Galya and I have been looking forward to writing together more and more; after talking about it for years. We have another book in the works, along with many article and blog ideas. This new site isn't just a consolidation of our two sites, but a substantive change in voice (at least for me), which allows us to drop some old blog habits, practices, and inhibitions, leaving behind some of the past. For me, my diary-style blogging history tended to keep me from writing more about nutrition and fitness. My old blog started as a journal, before I knew much about nutrition and fitness, and was merely a place to practice writing.

Galya and I, along with our good friend Sean, worked long and hard to come up with a website that's nice to look at, easy to manage, and flexible for the future. Sean did a great job meeting our requirements, and we are very happy with it (and him).

So why the delay? Well, you want everything to be perfect before you spread the word, but we're not perfect people... I'm something of an irregular guy. I'm happy, for example, to shop in an outlet store, where they feature clothes that are also "irregular." Galya, who's more normal, would have likely been happy to "just start," back when the site was more or less ready. Oh well, now we're both ready.

The Fit Ink Team can be found at TheFitInk.com, starting now, even before the official launch. To get updates, you can subscribe there now, or just watch this blog, Galya's blog, and Facebook for updates. We have some fun things coming, including some giveaways, prizes, and contests.

The No-Time-To-Workout Workout

 

The number one reason I hear for not working out, is lack of time. Workouts take too long, the gym is too far away, home gym equipment is too expensive, ugly, or takes up too much room! Hey, I'm no different; when I get busy, I not only don't train, but I feel guilty about it, which spurs my desire to emotionally eat! Not good. Not good.

Well, finally, I decided to do something about it and write myself a program that would meet my current requirements. But, after a few chats with other busy guys and gals, I decided to take it a step further and actually write it down in a way that others could use, too. I've even tested this baby myself, so I know it's working.

Here's the gist of the program:

• Free
• Short and sweet
• 20-30 minutes per session, including warmups!
• Home or gym friendly.
• Photos and descriptions of all the exercises
• Train as little as twice a week, using short full body workouts
• Train in as little as 30 minutes, and get great results
• Requires just one adjustable dumbbell, although if you have a set  of dumbbells, that works great!
• Fits your schedule, since you can do these short 20-30 minute workouts from 2 to 5 days per week
• A lunch hour workout is now possible, even with a shower!

I could just paste the workout in and leave you to it, but instead, you'll get the system, with pictures, explanations, and tracking forms, plus tips and tricks to make the most of your valuable training time.

It's almost ready to go, so keep a lookout for it! Comment, email me, or let me know on facebook if you want the heads up when it's ready, okay?

Congratulations to a new Precision Nutrition Coach

 

Congratulations to my good friend Chris Bathke, owner of Elemental Fitness Lab, in Portland, OR! Chris owns an amazing fitness studio, trains people the smart way, spins vintage and modern vinyl for his clients as they train, and as of last Sunday is a certified Precision Nutrition Coach!

Welcome to Precision Nutrition, Chris! Congratulations!

Man on Top book update – master of your domain

Dear friends,

How are you? I am fine.

As many of you know, Galya and I have been working furiously on our book for quite some time. We are extremely proud, excited, and nervous to be on the verge of publishing it; nervous to the point that my hand was shaking as I forced myself to finally click "send" to get it off to our pre-readers. Talk about scary!

Thankfully, our pre-readers have been generous with their praise, [seemingly] honest in their critiques, but loving enough to actually call us out on the bloopers, typos, grammar mistakes, and outright blunders in the book. I couldn't ask for a better group of critics and editors, but I'll be honest and tell you that I said a little prayer before opening each email back or before answering their phone calls. I said this was scary, right?

Well, now that all the comments, corrections, and critiques have been gathered up and processed, it's just come down to some design and formatting work, the reshooting of a few exercise photos, and then my hand will be finally shaking as my finger hovers over the "publish" button. Now that's really going to be scary!

The publishing date is not yet decided, but we're getting close. Like close close. In fact, if you want to be one of the first to hear the news, just fill out the little form up in the right margin or down at the bottom of this very post!

Um, Man on Top?

Meanwhile, we've gotten a few comments about the title; "Man on Top." What's up with the title? What's this book about? 

Here's a bit from the introduction, and I think it will clear up the the title for those of you with your mind in the gutter. Jeez, it's not like we picked a suggestive title just to be suggestive... ;)

Introduction

What’s my inspiration to write this book? The 30,000 foot answer is that I feel like I can help you. If you’re reading this, it’s very likely that you’re overweight and out of shape. Well, that was me for most of my life. I’ve been there, lived there, and finally got out of there, just a few years ago. I’d never been a man on top of anything.

My journey out of “there” began in earnest about 10 years ago, and while I have done a lot of looking back, for the most part it was to take note of how I did it and to wonder why I hadn’t done it earlier. For the first time in my life, I feel “on top.” Why did I wait so long?

Man on top

Yeah, don’t think I’m something I’m not, or worse, don’t think that I think I’m something I’m not. I’m not really the alpha male type, so I’m not "on top" like that. I’m not a business leader, infomercial salesman, or cult leader, either. I’m not even the type of husband to proclaim “I’m in charge!” (although I am when she lets me). No, my version of being on top is being on top of things; taking charge of my own life and health as high level goals, down to the specifics on exercise and diet to support those goals.

This book is to inspire you, the reader, to get lean, slim, ripped, jacked, buff, tight, huge, or even (if it’s your thing) healthy. It’s to teach you a thing or two about yourself, while keeping you sane, happy, and healthy – all the while, keeping your family and friends sane and happy. That way, they’ll be happy for you and all will be right with the world.

This book was written to build or rebuild confidence, as only a man confident in his abilities to change will enact lasting change. This book is to put you on top, whether it’s on top again, or on top for the first time.

So, that's the gist on the name.

By the way, I meant what I said in paragraph two, up there; the goal is to keep the reader sane, happy, and healthy, but it's also to get or keep family and friends on the reader's side, as one of the biggest obstacles to lasting weight loss is lack of social support. It's not that they don't love you, but when it's hard on them, it becomes hard on you, and that's all it takes to ditch it all and go back to old ways.

How do we keep the reader and family simultaneously sane? By only changing what's really necessary, and only when it's time. Diets that ask the dieter to change their world are also asking the dieter to change their family's world; if the wife and kids are already slim and trim, they don't need to change, now do they?

Master of your domain

Be the master of your domain, control what you can control, and manage the rest – these three simple phrases give a man the power to make his own lifestyle changes without taking the family unit down in flames.

Be master of your domain - Every man has some lone wolf inside of him, even when surrounded by cubs and his b... er, mate. You're the alpha male of your own little pack, after all. Most of you find your own food for breakfast, then it's off to work. At work, there's lunch, and that's all you, brutha; your domain! Man on Top will teach you to master these moments, and mastering your domain is critical to your success, and it's really not hard.

Control what you can control - There will always be situations where choice is taken from you ("Happy Father's Day, Daddy! Here's breakfast in bed."). You will learn how to enjoy them, get back on track, and not let them kill your weight loss momentum. It's not hard, when you know the little tricks.

Manage the rest - It's not worth micromanaging your whole day. You've mastered breakfast and lunch and learned to control most of what pops up unexpectedly and get right back on track. No guilt and no second guessing yourself, because that's just not manly.

News updates

I'm gathering names and email addresses for those who want a heads up on the book. If you haven't already signed up, just fill out the form below. I promise not to sell your names, but I will be sending you updates on the book now and again!

Sign up for upcoming news on the new book!

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Thanks for reading!

Roland

P.S. Remember, that to be a man on top, you really need the support of your spouse, girlfriend, family, and friends. 

I just wanted to post this pic of gal and me that I found when I was looking around

I got mine!