Bakersfield Life

What, where and when to eat

By: Compiled by Hillary Haenes

 

     Being a big advocate of learning, Tim Gojich made a decision early in his career as a trainer to try and learn as much as he could from the best professionals in his industry. So Gojich has made it a habit to attend a major seminar once or twice a year since he became a certified trainer 14 years ago. 

     Several years ago Gojich became a nutrition and lifestyle coach and golf bio mechanic specialist in San Diego at the Check Institute. After becoming a lifestyle coach, he started to take people to a much higher level of wellness. 

     When he opened his personal training studio Fit For Life in 2001, he realized that he needed to do something unique that would set his gym apart from others. That’s when he started Get Fit Boot Camp in 2002. He was the only trainer doing an outside fitness camp in Bakersfield at the time. 

     “My first class had five people at Beach Park. The second class grew to 20 and by the end of 2002, we had an average of 100 people in each six-week class. Over the past four years, I added two more workout times. This really helped us grow further. When you sign up for boot camp, you are able to use one of three workout times daily to make sure you get your exercise for the day,” Gojich said.

     With his boot camp becoming popular, so did his personal training sessions with new clients. The personal training at his gym is a lot more focused on the individual needs of a client. 

     "The trainers are some of the best that Bakersfield has to offer, carrying exercise science degrees and national certifications. This enables us to work super hard at helping each client attain whatever goal they may have,” he said.

Tim's tips

Personal training: One-on-one training is around $55 per one-hour session. While one-on-one is effective, most of our clients actually prefer working in small groups. When a client shares the hour-long session with two or three other people, the price drops to $25 per session. The small group training yields the same results as one-on-one, but is more affordable and really is a lot of fun. The six-week boot camp class is $144, but we run specials all year. To get the class at a discounted cost, we ask for your e-mail on our site and for you to become a fan of our Get Fit Boot Camp fan page on Facebook. 

Nutritional assessments: A popular service at Fit For Life is a unique service called metabolic typing. I spend one hour helping the client understand their own individual nutritional needs based on genetics. This costs $55, but I also offer a 30-minute assessment for $30. This includes an accurate body fat breakdown and a plan that helps you lose pure body fat without the expense of lean tissue.

All about the routine: Today with the information overload about diet and exercise, it is hard to know where to even begin. One of the reasons for our success in helping people lose weight and to keep it off is that we have managed to be a part of their lifestyle. If you are looking to lose weight, you have to make a decision on what will keep you consistent. This is the biggest key to being successful. Our boot camp runs four days a week, for six weeks on and two weeks off. During the two-week break, we roll into our fat loss class that enables people to keep their consistency in building muscle and losing fat. Our services are effective because you do not have to think about what you will do. When the average person signs up for a big gym, they are really intimidated by all of the options. It makes getting into a routine really tough.

No fad diets: Our approach to nutrition is really about trying to educate. I realize people are being bombarded with diets everywhere. There are gurus making claims that their diet is the solution. In fact, if a celebrity endorses the diet, it really takes off for about two weeks of your life. I have seen this trend for years. We do not endorse fad diets. I educate all of our people with basic common sense principles:

• Eat whole foods. 
• Stay away from processed foods as much as you can. 
• Eat organic as much as possible. 
• Eat a good source of protein at every meal including snacks. 
• Try to eat and prepare most of your meals at home while only eating out a couple of times a week. 

I ask people to try and live the 80/20. Trying to eat perfect always ends in binging. This can seem extreme at first, so I do not pressure anyone to change overnight. Just showing up to our classes, you will hear this enough that you will eventually work it into your lifestyle.

Fast food in Bakersfield: When eating out in Bakersfield, you will want to put the following three places at the top of your list. Lassen’s Deli is my first choice. They have a great salad bar that is all organic. Their sandwiches are all made with nitrate free meats. That makes them the only place to get a sandwich without this cancer-causing additive. My favorite sandwich is the chicken salad sandwich. The second place I recommend is Chipotle. Besides the food being great tasting, it is almost all organic. They only do business with responsible farmers to ensure that what ends up in your burrito is not riddled with chemicals and hormones. I wish that there were more companies that ran their business this way. My favorite is a chicken bowl with half the rice and black beans. Try and eat salads and bowls, one tortilla is 250 calories. Organic or not, that is way too many calories for something that you can do without. My third choice would be Coconut Joe’s.

What to put in your shopping cart: When you are grocery shopping, you should really try to shop for meals and snacks. If you make a list of dinners, lunches and snacks, you will have your list for what you need at the store. Going up and down the isle is almost always going to lead to putting things in your cart that you do not need. Try and shop for whole foods and healthy fruits and veggies. You should look to shop for the week, not the month, meaning you should not shop at a warehouse store. One rule to live by is, if it doesn't go bad in a week, do not put it in your body.

Protein shakes: I have been an advocate of protein shakes for most of my career. When I became a nutrition and lifestyle coach, I learned what really goes in to most of these protein powders and shakes. Most of the popular brands of protein tend to be really unhealthy, for example, Muscle Milk has been tested and arsenic and lead have been found. EAS has tested for some of the same toxic additives. Their biggest market is young adults. I only carry or recommend clean source protein powders. I sell Jay Robb, Sun Warrior and Warrior Defense proteins at my gym. I like my clients to do one scoop of protein in about 10 ounces of water and about 1/4 cup of raisins within 30 minutes of intense exercise. I also recommend you use the protein powders that I mentioned as meal replacements. 

Cutting edge health concepts: While I do try and keep my nutritional advice simple. I like to keep up on anything that is cutting edge and health related. For instance, 10 years ago I learned about the importance of omega 3's and began recommending fish oil. Some people thought I was crazy, and now almost everyone takes fish oil. The latest concept that I have been studying is intermittent fasting. This is where you fast once a week for a 24-hour period. You would eat dinner on a Monday at 7 p.m. and not eat food until Tuesday at 7 p.m. I have looked into the science of what happens on a hormonal level and I have full confidence in people using intermittent fasting as a way to not only reduce body fat, but to really become healthy from the inside out. A great book written about this is “Eat Stop Eat” by Brad Pillion.

H20 and sleep: Hydration is really important. If you are not hydrated, your body will not let go of body fat. I do not care how great the program is, if you do not drink enough water, it is a waste of time. You have basic needs that have to be met or you will not see change. The average person should consume half of their body weight in ounces daily. If you drink caffeine, add another 12 to 20 ounces to that number. Sleep is another basic need that has to be met. If you are not getting an average of seven hours a night, you will find it almost impossible to accomplish any goal. 

For more healthy tips or nutritional questions, check out fitforlifebootcamp.com to read Gojich’s blog about everything from eating too fast to the benefits of coconut water. 

Get Fit Boot Camp

Address: 2204 E St.

Phone: 325-9000

E-mail: tim@fitforlifegym.com

Smoothie recipes to replace a meal and will keep you satisfied:

Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Banana

• 10 to 12 oz. cold clean water

• 1 to 2 scoops chocolate Jay Robb Protein or chocolate Sun Warrior

• 1/4 cup fat-free Greek yogurt

•1 Tbsp. organic peanut butter

• 2 tablespoons of flax seed meal (not oil)

• 1/2 banana if you weigh 180 pounds or below; full banana if you weigh above

• 4 ice cubes

Berry and Spinach Fat Loss Shake

• 14 to 16 ounces of cold water

• 1.5 to 2 scoops of Sun Warrior Protein or Jay Robb

• 1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves

• 3/4 cups mixed frozen berries

• 2 tablespoons of flax seed meal