Antonio Spina

What do you do when you fail at something?
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Do you give up in defeat?
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Or ...
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Do you take it as a learning opportunity?
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Not everything we do in life will be perfect and come with success. There will be days of darkness, and hardships.
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Not every training session will be successful. There will be times of failures and there will be times where it feels that everything is going wrong.
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Today was a prime example of this. What could of went wrong, went wrong. Failed on my second last set. Bands were not cooperating well with me. It just felt as if the universe was against me.
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But everything that did go wrong, was an opportunity to learn from. Learn how to improve my positioning so I won’t fail my lift the next time.
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Don’t sit in your failures, learn from them. The gym and life will always present itself with adversities. We need to find a way to make failures a learning opportunity.
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What do you see when you look at this?
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I know what I see is a basic 4 egg omelet with 3 twisted ( 😂 ) sprouted grain toast slices.
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But crap, there is no color ... there is no variety .. it is a very basic meal ... it is MACROnutrient focused and very minimal MICROnutrient focused. Worst part, all my meals are very similar.
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Week in and week out I tend to eat the same foods as they are affordable and easy to cook. This tends to leave holes in my diet. You can think of a diet like this similar to the desert of the Holes movie. I keep digging but can’t find the missing gold.
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With lack of MICROnutrients in my everyday I would notice quite a few things:
💥 Zero energy
💥 Poor mental clarity
💥 Poor mental focus
💥 Poor recovery from training
💥 Dry skin
💥 Achy joints
.. this is just to name a few.
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But! I put my health into my hands and found my gold in the desert. I found MicroFactor from ... This has been the most convenient and cost effective way for myself to get a balance with my MICROnutrients. Ever since adding this in I’ve noticed a few things,
💥 Improved energy
💥 Improved metabolism
💥 Improved mental focus and clarity
💥 Improved recovery from training
💥 Improved skin softness
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Getting in MICROnutrients is vital to life. It is how we function everyday. Sure we get some through what we do eat, but there is a great chance we are deficient in them. As for myself I tend to eat the same thing day in and day out.
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Now I am sure if your changing your life and improving your nutrition you will be missing out on MICROnutrients. If this sounds like you, or you’re experiencing the same things I was .. then maybe we need to look deeper into your foundational health. If you have any further questions, my messages are always open!
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@ Orangeburg, New York

I am one of the worst with getting in variety and just getting my veggies.
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One way that I am started last year but fell off the wagon with is to add them to your protein sources.
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Chicken stir fry is one example.. but here is my favorite way.
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Bison Taco Burgers with a twist ...
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🍔 3 Lbs Ground Bison
🥦 1-1.5 cups of riced veggies
(Wegman’s has them fresh and the veggies are mixed)
🌮 Favorite taco seasoning
🐓 0.25 -0.5 Cups of Chicken Broth
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Put all the ingredients except for chicken broth into a bowl and combined. Once the seasoning, veggies, and bison are combined add in the chicken stock. The chicken stock helps the bison stay juicy as it is a leaner meat.
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Weigh out 4 ounce balls and then form them into a patty. A little tip, form a well into the middle of the patty. Once all measured cook in a pan or throw onto the grill.
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They’ve been in the pan for a moment now, and that well you put in is starting to get collect the juice. Once that happens, flip and cook to desired doneness.
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These are a delicious and easy way to get in your protein macros, and even get in more veggies into your day without really trying. Best part, they are Zeus approved!
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Give this recipe a try, and if you do let me know how you liked it or even tag me in it!
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@ Orangeburg, New York

It’s amazing to see the progress. It’s already been 7 weeks of this challenge and there is only one more left.
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When this challenge started I had an image of what my progress would be like. So far, the image is getting pieced together and there still is one more week.
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The last 7 weeks have been something of a challenge, hence why it’s called a 8 week challenge. These challenges really test my discipline and my self control over the weekends and through the holidays.
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I won’t lie and say I was perfect over these 7 weeks. I was knocked down a number of times but what sets us apart is when we stand more times than we fall. I will say the 7 weekends that have passed there was 6 of them when I had more than 1 cheat meal. Am I proud of that, no. But I keep up my nutrition for 6 of the 7 days in a week and focused on intensity in the gym.
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Progress is slow ... it is never rushed ... it’s never perfect ... it’s often times frustrating ... it’s rewarding ... this hard work meant more to me than any other time. As this challenge comes to a close, it does not mean my efforts die down. I will continue to practice what I preach and challenge myself to finish out the year this way. I will be the best me by my birthday. Enough is enough with saying “I’ll get there one day” ...
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@ Orangeburg, New York

This is not just another post workout mirror selfie.
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This is a message of discipline.
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Discipline is a key personality trait that is not seen in most people today.
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Discipline is the act following a specific set of rules or behaviors even when we don’t want to.
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Waking up at 4am ... Discipline
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Following a set meal plan ... Discipline
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Training on days that I don’t want to ... Discipline
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When set our minds on changing our life we follow our plans for a few days but then it’s more difficult. When the times get difficult is when we loose sight on our goals and we loose our discipline.
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But ... when those times get hard is when we need our discipline.
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This life is not easy, starting a workout habit is not easy, changing our eating habit is not easy. Changing our life style is not easy. But how do we keep up with not so easy? We maintain our discipline.
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Don’t run from the difficult! That is where the real changes happen.
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What are you throwing into your cart?
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Folding shopping is a lost skill with all the processed, weird diet claiming, foods that clog the shelves.
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There’s food that claims to be low fat, high protein, or low sugar. All of those sound fantastic on paper! But what is failed to see is how these foods are made to get them to as is.
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Ever see a package that has the amount of protein stamped on the front in some graphic imaging to catch your eye. Sure, there may be more than 10 grams of protein, but what they don’t show us up front is that it’s over 25 grams of carbs. We will but these products thinking we’re getting in our daily protein, but in fact we’re over stuffing in carbs.
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A few tips to avoid these traps is to be more mindful when we are shopping. Shop around the edges of the store, don’t get shallowed up in the aisles. Read the packaging, see if the ingredients list is a novel and it isn’t loaded with nonsense. Be weary of the protein stamping on the front, it’s a marketing gimmick.
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The food that is sold today is not the same food that was sold in the past. Don’t be scared, and just be mindful!
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Now, this is a story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute
Just sit right there
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I'll tell you how I became the prince of ...
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(Try reading those lines without Will Smith singing in your head 🤣)
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Well I haven’t left to become the prince of anything.. or I did .. who knows? But The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was my go show before school!
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What I really want to discuss is how important protein is especially when we wake up in the morning.
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Let’s imagine a light switch, except instead off it says catabolic and with on it says anabolic.
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Now let’s think a little deeper, when we go to sleep it’s mostly will be for 6-8 hours. Without protein for a long time our bodies slip into a catabolic state. Meaning, instead of burning our body fat for fuel our bodies instead store it and then use our muscle tissue for fuel. We may loose weight, but we are loosing muscle mass and not a lot of fat.
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When we wake up does not mean our bodies turn on the anabolic switch. That anabolic switch will remain off (burning muscle, storing fat) until t we get in protein and flip the switch. When were are in the anabolic state is when we will burn fat, and build/maintain lean muscle mass.
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One of my favorite ways to get protein in as soon as I rise is to mix in Level-1, sustained assimilating protein, in to my cold brews. I like to get myself anabolic fast!
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One of my favorites about Level-1 is its great taste and ease of mix-ability. Never clumpy and always taste great! Favorite flavors in coffee: Caramel Latte, Cinnamon Cookie, And now Blueberry Muffin (it taste like the Dunkin Blueberry coffee!).
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Key takeaway, never allow your light switch be turned off for to long (unless sleeping). Keep that switch flipped on to burn fat and build/maintain lean muscle! If have any questions about anabolic/catabolic leave them in the comments, or message me!
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The weeks keeping flying by and before I know it the 8 weeks are up!
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One thing that I have learned to enjoy about this challenge is the use of my photos to track my progress.
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I used to rely on the scale to keep up with my progress and celebrate if I saw a drop in the numbers. But this weekend reminded me of why you can’t trust scales.
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All summer challenge I was stepping on one scale at the gym and it would read me at roughly 228 #. Then I would jump on a scale at home for when I missed a workout, and then it would read at 238 #. Well third time is the charm, right?
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Tried out a new gym and have been going every so often and used their scale which read me at 237 #.
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It’s hard to say which scale was right, but it seems that I have been lead to think I was 10 # lighter than I thought. In reality that doesn’t really matter to me because my photos are showing more success than the scale is showing.
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But s**t ... even though I can’t trust the scale it did show me that I did loose control! I must of started this challenge closer to 250 # than I thought 😬
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Sure the scale is a great measure but what I firmly believe is that if you want to keep track your progress is to check your photos! My scale may not be moving so much but when I look at my photos I am seeing myself become leaner than I ever thought I could achieve.
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Don’t get discourage if you do not see the scale numbers moving as fast as you want. Keep a photo journal and notice the changes in real time. This lifestyle change is scary and can intimidate anyone. Thinking about loose weight, or building mass .. it all comes down to proper nutrition and proper supplementation. This is something that has taken a while to learn and practice.
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Do you want to change your nutrition and improve your life? If so, message me and let’s get you started!
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There are a few ways we can gauge our food.
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We can eye ball the plate ...
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We can wipe out a scale to weigh and track macros ...
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Or, we could portion control with hand measurements.
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Eyeballing our food intake is my personal least recommended way because it is the way with greatest area of error. People tend to over gauge and then over eat. This could halt the progress we are striving for and working hard toward.
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Counting macros and weighing food can be the most accurate way, if you’re honest with yourself.
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(Guilty! I would weigh and then ehh one more won’t hurt ... but that compounds over time.)
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When weighing our food it all goes towards our daily caloric intake built of a set number of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. This is a more tedious approach but will give the best results if followed 💯.
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A more common and still very effective way of gauging our food comes with “measuring” with hand portions.
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👊🏻 A fist of protein.
🖐 A palm of carbs
🖐 A palm of vegetables
👍🏻 A thumb nail of fats
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These are a primary guide of how to measure food using our hands per meal. Depending on some variables the sizes will change.
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Lifestyle changes are the most intimidating things anyone can do. I know I was terrified when I did and I still am most days. Keeping track on food lessens my fear, and I know it can help you too. Thinking 🤔... if you wondering which way if best for you or your looking for a starting point, message and let’s get you started!
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@ Orangeburg, New York

Bring on the weekend ...
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I’m gonna rely a quick story about how I used hate weekends for the mere fact that I was to sore from training to enjoy life.
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I used to view soreness as a trophy! Yes, I killed the workout! The mentality of soreness proves a great workout.
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I did some Google search on how to prevent intense soreness and I kept reading to take in simple sugars like ...
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Gummy bears …
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Oreos …
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Pop tarts …
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Pixie sticks …
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I even would try to recover with Pepsi ...
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But I would never end up recovering great. I’d always be tired and run down, my muscles would be getting cramps and tremors, and I would loose motivation to go back on Monday because I didn’t want to feel like that again.
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Fast forward to today and I’m training harder than ever, and I’m recovering faster than ever. I’m never feeling burnt out anymore. Here are the three things that I changed to help me recover ...
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🔥 Post work, was the first thing I changed was to a fast digesting carbohydrate (sugar), and a whey protein isolate. Ignition is a pure dexanhydrous glucose powder, meaning it is dehydrated so our bodies won’t have to remove the water and it’s absorbed quickly. It will refuel our tanks after training and will spike our insulin. Insulin will help shuttle the whey protein isolate into the muscle.
Phormula-1 is that rapid assimilating whey protein isolate, and will rebuild the micro tears in the muscle from the training. I learned to refuel and rebuild the best way to improve recovery.
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🔥 Protein, ensure that I am eating roughly 25-30 grams of protein per meal. It ensure that my body stays in the muscle building and fat burning mode (anabolic).
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🔥 Mobility & Sleep, ensuring that my body is recovering well. Performing yoga 3-5 times a week, and try to sleep 6-7 hours a night.
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I have improved these three areas and have improved my recovery ten fold! I’m loving how these have made me feel, and if your curious on how to improve your recovery I would examine these areas of your day! I am open to talk if you have any questions.
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Who doesn’t love to start their days off with some sweet and delicious!
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Growing up as a chubby and then very large kid, most mornings would start with some kind of pastry. My dad would bring home anything and everything from work or stop before coming home.
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Muffins, crumb cake, Entenmann’s anything ... There was always some sweet treat for breakfast growing up.
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Now a days I limit those sweet treats to an occasional indulgence and focus my breakfast around protein to help fuel myself for the day.
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One of my favorite goodies my dad would make is pancakes. He would make them all fun shapes, and even make puzzle pancakes (have piece the puzzle together before eating).
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Being how much I truly love pancakes and always want protein in my meals ... Why not make protein pancakes. Here is a recipe that I follow daily to get in my protein pancakes:
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🥞 Birtch Benders or Kodiak Cake mix (serving size, 50g or 53g respectfully).
🥞 Protein concentrate (Love Level-1 as it has proven to be the easiest to cook with, and choose any flavor. Today was Blueberry Muffin) 1 scoop.
🥚 1 Egg
🥞Baking Powder 1tsp
🥞 75 gram Blueberries.
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Mix all except blueberries together and pour into a hot pan. Place the blueberries on the wet batter in the pan to ensure they don’t get crushed. Save a few for the topping. Serve and enjoy!
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Give this a try! Enjoy a sweet treat without the crazy sugar and get all the benefits of fueling with protein. If any questions strike, my messages are always open!
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