Clearly define a start date, use a fresh start approach, allow for a 30-day trial,; conduct a kitchen makeover, set up an exercise space, and eat lean, clean and green.
These are among the tips that Jaime Brenkus has to offer in order to start the new year on a healthier path.
Known for “8 Minute Abs,” a program designed to help people lose pounds and inches, Brenkus has dedicated his professional life for the past 30 years on providing systematic approaches to fighting obesity and weight problems across the nation.
Now based in Eastlake, the Ashtabula native started his own fitness training businesses in Los Angeles and Tampa before coming back to the Cleveland area. In 2021, Brenkus co-produced, wrote and starred in a 13-episode television series on PBS called “Fit n Delicious.”
According to Brenkus, “8 Minute Abs” has allowed him personally and careerwise to do a lot of offshoot programming.
“Through the years, we created programs that were age specific, so when I was in my 30s, I created that, when I was in my 40s, we did something else and now that I’m going to be 63, most of my programs are focused on Boomers,” Brenkus said. “We’ve had the pleasure of helping people with programs that I think are real.
“We have real programs for real people who have real schedules, real jobs, real families, but still want real results, so a lot of the programming is a common sense approach.”
Brenkus credits Jack LaLanne, known as the “Godfather of Fitness,” for the PBS show “Fit n Delicious.”
“He’s a mentor of mine,” he said. “I’ve looked at him, his programming and that connectivity that he had with his audience. That allowed us to program things like the 13-episode show. It was focused on minutes. There’s 1,440 minutes in a day. We’re telling people to start with just eight minutes because that’s a doable proposition.
“Thirty years ago, we disrupted the whole fitness industry because everybody was doing 60 minutes,” he continued. “It resonated with people who had time and time is the biggest factor why people don’t do anything.”
Many are able think of a million other things to do besides exercise, which was the basis behind “8 Minute Abs,” Brenkus said.
“It wasn’t just abs,” he said. “It was the legs, arms, stretching and a total body series. I still think it’s a brand that works. We’re still at it and still aching to help people, but doing it in a way that’s realistic. That is so important.”
Brenkus has been certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as an exercise physiologist since 1988. Since starting his professional life, he has produced more than 200 fitness videos and has had more than 50 appearances on various home shopping channels.
Brenkus has been located in Eastlake for the last 2 1/2years, and has kept many of the clients he had while he was in Concord.
“The one-on-one approach is fine, but the one-on-many — I saw a need to go in that direction, especially during (the coronavirus),” Brenkus said. “We created an app and we were doing live classes inside the app so you can have as many as you want.
“We can help people from Lake County, but when I can do it across the world, it made so much more sense. That is still our main thrust.”
Through the years, Brenkus feels that the honesty and the integrity of his programming has stayed the same.
“There’s an old saying that lean people lead lean lives and it’s their habits — cooking, eating, shopping, fitness, but even more importantly, thinking habits,” he said. “If you don’t make time for your wellness, you’re going to be forced to make time for your illness, so make the time. It’s not a lot of time.”
Regardless of how they move, Brenkus encourages people to move every day and to start with just eight minutes.
“You need the catalyst to get you going,” he said. “Do a 30-day trial. See how you feel. Don’t look beyond that. After 30 days, reassess.
“All diets work to a point, but they’re temporary because they ask you to completely stop doing what you normally like to do, which is eat.”
Although it’s tough, Brenkus encourages to eat lean, green and clean foods 70% to 80% of the time.
“If the goal for New Year’s is losing weight, losing weight’s one thing, but keeping it from returning is the key,” he said. “Do a kitchen makeover — a pantry raid. Eliminate some of the things that you think would not get you closer to your goal and start putting in healthier choices.”
Deprivation is also a sure way for failure, Brenkus said.
“Let’s say somebody is 200 pounds, but they want to get down to 150,” he said. “Multiply whatever goal weight by 12. That’s 1,800 calories for the day. It’s realistic. We want people to stick with it.”
Having a date in mind is a disciplinary thing people should do, especially post holidays, Brenkus encourages.
“A slip is not a fall,” he said. “If you fall off, pick yourself up. Focus on progress and not perfection. We try to teach that at any age. My motto is I will not let age change me. I’ll change the way I age.
“You’re only here for a short time, so you want to make it your best and do it realistically, and it’ll happen.”
For exercising, having something top of mind can be beneficial, said Brenkus, who encourages people to put out a mat, exercise bands, small, handheld weights or their gym shoes because they’re reminders.
“Create that exercise space,” he said. “Everybody has a different why, but the physics stay the same. It makes you feel good, but it empowers you. If you tell somebody they got to spend four days a week doing cardio for an hour, it might work for a couple of weeks.
“Life’s not like that. It’s not intensity. It’s consistency.”
“Fit n Delicious” is now in more than 30 states and 167 countries.
