Craig Pepin-Donat

 

Craig Pepin-Donat is uniquely qualified to speak on issues of health and fitness. Starting as a nationally certified personal trainer and rising to the top of his profession, Craig led several high profile fitness organizations as president and as executive vice president of sales and marketing for the world's largest fitness organization.

With over a quarter century of experience, he has operated more than 450 health and fitness clubs in 11 countries and has visited over 30 countries while studying health and fitness trends worldwide. He has researched and purchased millions of dollars worth of fitness equipment, dietary supplements and other health and fitness related products. Craig has created numerous professional training programs, based on his simple formula for success, that have positively affected hundreds of thousands of people.

From this unique experience, he has developed a keen understanding of the physiology that triggers health and fitness buying decisions and the real world issues that prevent people from attaining lasting results. He has dedicated his life to helping people through health and fitness education and now brings that knowledge and expertise to you in this book.

He is currently president and CEO of CPD Enterprise, LLC and the founder of The Fit Advocate (www.FitAdvocate.com), which is designed to support his mission of protecting and enhancing the lives of health and fitness consumers.

 

Visit Craig online at http://www.fitadvocate.com

 

“Craig has helped an incredible number of people around the world get started on a path to living better. This insightful book provides valuable information essential for anyone interested in improving their health.” Cindy Crawford, Model


“Craig’s message of creating the health we desire is compelling and inspiring. His book is a testament to taking responsibility for your health and will motivate countless people for years to come.” Kitty Gurkin Rosati, M.S., R.D., L.D.N. Best-selling author of “The Rice Diet Solution”


“A compelling and eye-opening look at America’s fitness and diet industries from a veteran insider.” Henry S. Lodge, M.D. Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; Best-selling author of “Younger Next Year” 
 

 

PageOneLit.com:  Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life? Who were your earliest influences and why?

Craig Pepin-Donat: I was born in Tucson, Arizona but we quickly moved east and I spent most of my life growing up in the New York tri-state area. My sister and I were raised by a single Mom. We moved over 30 times before I was 15 years old. We didn't have a lot of money so I learned early in life about working hard. I grew up motivated to make money because we never had any. I was fortunate to find my way into the health and fitness business where I had the opportunity to earn money while helping people. My father is a writer and a poet and as I got to know him later in life I think he motivated me to write but my writing was more technical with health and fitness related articles and training materials. Writing a book really pushed my skill set and taught me a lot.  

PageOneLit.com:  Why did you write "The Big Fat Health and Fitness Lie "? Discuss briefly your background in the industry.

Craig Pepin-Donat: I started in the fitness industry as a personal trainer making $3.50 an hour. I still have a copy of my first paycheck for $111.17 in net pay. Within a few months I was managing the club. I always knew I could be successful if I just stuck with it so I kept working hard, learning and thinking big. Over the years, I was able to grow to the top of my profession. I was the sales director, vice president and president for the most prestigious chain of fitness clubs in New York City and the president of the largest chain of clubs in northern California. I was also the executive vice president for the largest health and fitness chain in the world, 24 Hour Fitness operating over 430 clubs in 11 countries and I have successfully owned and operated my own fitness company.

Developing the concept for the book didn't happen overnight. Its taken a lifetime of experience and deep thought and consideration about how to best apply everything I have learned. During my career I've spoken to thousands of people who had the desire to improve their health, but didn't know how. I have performed focus groups and market surveys about what consumers are looking for and I became a student of the psychology behind what triggers health and fitness buying decisions and what prevents people from acting on their desires to change and improve their health. I have also read thousands of articles, white papers and studies and evaluated health and fitness trends worldwide to better understand why we are in such poor health, even with all the so called “solutions” available to people.

The more I learned, the more I was amazed at the number of people who would fall victim to quick-fix solutions and gimmicks that have no chance of helping them. I would watch people jump from one failed solution to another while ignoring the cause of their ill health. I decided that I had to do something radical to reach as many people as possible and to become a resource for those who wanted to know the truth about what works and what doesn't work within the world of health and fitness. To achieve this goal I came up with the idea of documenting everything I learned about why most people never achieve their health and fitness goals along with the real world solutions and principles I had developed that people can follow to improve their health, with no tricks and no gimmicks — for the rest of their lives. Before I wrote one word, I came up with the title The Big Fat Health and Fitness Lie along with the phrase “The path to improved health and fitness starts with the truth.”

But writing a book wasn't enough. I needed a vehicle to drive the message and to continue to deliver updated information. So I simultaneously developed a web-based platform called FitAdvocate.com to support my book and mission of protecting and enhancing the lives of health and fitness consumers. Now the book is published and the Website is launched and I feel like my work has just begun.

 

PageOneLit.com:  In "The Big Fat Health and Fitness Lie " you discuss that the weight loss industry promises to improve our health but has actually deceived us and may be sabotaging our efforts - Explain.

Craig Pepin-Donat: The diet and weight loss industry is projected to exceed $58 billion in 2007 according to Media Post and over 70 million people resolve to lose weight each year by dieting. The problem is that fewer than 5 percent of the people who diet experience lasting results. The other 95 percent gain all their weight back and many gain additional weight. The diet industry's success is achieved with deceptive and fraudulent claims that make people believe that they can eat more and weight less. The truth is that long term weight loss can only be achieved by first understanding why we are fat and how we got there in the first place followed by specific lifestyle changes that can be sustained for the rest of your life. When people go on a diet and fail, they get frustrated and depressed and it undermines their attempts to follow a path of improved health and fitness that actually works.

 

PageOneLit.com:  How is "The Big Fat Health and Fitness Lie " different from other books in the health and fitness genre?

Craig Pepin-Donat: First and foremost, it's not just another "happy healthy fitness book" that tries to convince people that fitness is fun. It's a serious work that goes right to the heart of why we are in the worst shape in the history of modern civilization along with specific principles people can follow to improve and protect their health with no tricks and no gimmicks...for the rest of their lives. In the book I have interviews with some of the top professionals in various health and fitness industries and I provide hundreds of resources and links for people to use to get and stay on the path to improved health. A good friend of mine, Mark Mastrov who is the founder and Chairman for one of the largest chains of fitness clubs in the world, 24 Hour Fitness read my book and said; "It's like a Google for anything you ever wanted to know about health and fitness."

 

PageOneLit.com:   What is a 'Toxic Lifestyle'?

Craig Pepin-Donat: The word "toxic" is defined as "poison" and in our society we are surrounded by poisons that damage and deteriorate our health. Many of these toxins are forced upon us and others are self inflicted by our own lifestyle choices. The number one toxin and cause of as much as 80 percent of all disease is stress and we are the most stressed out country in the world. We are workaholics and stressaholics and our coping mechanisms for dealing with stress are; we drink, smoke, take drugs, overeat and although we can't find time to exercise the average person makes time to watch over 4 1/2 hours of television everyday. These activities make us fat, lazy and out of shape and when our health fails us, it opens the door for the companies and industries that market and sell health and fitness products that don't work. When our health worsens, we visit our physicians for solutions who prescribe synthetic chemical drugs to trick our bodies and treat our symptoms. In the US alone we spend over $275 billion on over 3.7 billion prescriptions annually. These chemicals disrupt the natural chemical balance in our bodies and cause more health problems. If you can believe it, we have over 200 million diagnosis in the US each year for diseases and conditions that could be avoided with lifestyle changes.

My book and Website www.FitAdvocate.com describes many other poisons and toxic lifestyle choices that can damage our health. This enables people to make simple yet significant changes that will enhance their lives.  

 

PageOneLit.com:  In "The Big Fat Health and Fitness Lie " you discuss 'Addictive Qualities' in certain foods that make us fat - please explain.

Craig Pepin-Donat:  If you look at the obesity epidemic you will find that it mirrors the proliferation of fat free, sugar free, low carb, low calorie food products.  We have been tricked into eating more food because we have been conditioned to believe these types of foods won't make us fat. Unfortunately, we are packing on pounds because we are eating more calories than ever before in history. Most of these low calorie foods use dangerous artificial chemical sweeteners that are hundreds of times sweeter than sugar. These chemicals trick the neurotransmitters in the brain that effects pleasure and we are left with the consequence of too many calories---  which is we gain weight and get fat. There are thousands of other untested chemical combinations in our food supply that destroys our health. My book exposes the many ways that eating the wrong foods can harm our health and what we can do to eat better.

 

PageOneLit.com:   In 'The Big Fat Health and Fitness Lie '  you speak of 'spot reduction' and how there is no way to work a certain body area and lose fat in that area - please explain. I'm a 41 year old male - I've always been an athlete - I lift weights, surf, swim, jog - I eat small meals all during the day rather than the big three, but I still have that middle age male tire that is here today and gone tomorrow but back again next month. What can I do to stabilize my problem?

Craig Pepin-Donat: The best example of the spot reduction lie is with the entire class of abdominal equipment. The problem with these pieces of equipment is that all of them use deceptive claims if not outright lies to market and sell their products. Pieces of equipment like the Ab Lounger, Ab Roller, Ab Rocker, Ab Doer, the Red Exerciser, the Bean and any other abdominal equipment that makes claims that you can lose inches and get washboard Abs by using their product is one of the biggest deceptions in the fitness industry. It doesn't work that way. There isn't one piece of equipment on the market that will magically melt away fat or reduce inches from your midsection. The human body does not have a mechanism to selectively burn fat in specific areas. You can do abdominal exercises until the cows come home, but you will never lose inches around your midsection and you will not see “washboard ABS” until the fat around your waistline is gone. Spot reduction is a lie and any product that claims or implies otherwise is a scam and a big, fat rip-off. The only thing that will enable you to lose weight and ultimately inches is to create a caloric deficit of 3,500 calories, which equals one pound. When this caloric deficit is created, your body neither knows nor cares whether you want to have that pound of fat selectively removed from a specific area of your body. If fat loss is your goal and you are looking for results, you will need to reduce your caloric intake and increase your caloric expenditure with cardio-respiratory activity to optimize results. Unfortunately, it has been proven that you can pedal more products with lies and deception than you can with truth and integrity.

As a 41 year old male, you are experiencing the inevitable metabolic slow down that makes it harder and harder to maintain body weight as we get older. There are many things you can do that will help. Here are a few suggestions that may work for someone in your situation. First, increase your strength training exercise which increases lean muscle tissue and helps you burn more calories at rest. A lot of people think that cardio activity is the best way to lose weight but actually, strength training is a critical component of improved health and fitness. Eating small meals may help you to keep from over eating and balance your blood sugar but that in of itself will not keep you from gaining weight. The key to weight gain and loss is in caloric intake and expenditure. 3,500 net calories expended equals one pound of fat loss. If you drink alcohol, try giving it up for 30 days. I mean no drinking for a month. I guarantee if you drink regularly and you stop for a month, you will lose weight. Just two drinks a day equals over two pounds a month and when you drink before eating, you are literally eating under the influence and you are likely to eat more food than you would otherwise.

 

PageOneLit.com:  What did you have to eat today?

Craig Pepin-Donat:  I am not some health nut that follows unrealistic dietary habits. In my life I have been a vegetarian and a vegan and I have followed strict body building diets when I competed many years ago. Now I am 46 years old and I have two young daughters and I am constantly fending off the temptations that we are all faced with everyday. I eat healthy organic foods as often as possible and I avoid processed foods laced with chemicals. I don't eat fast foods and I try to stop eating before I get full. Some days I might eat a bowl of oatmeal and scrambled egg whites or yogurt and fruit for breakfast, but this morning I ate homemade organic chocolate chip cookies with my three and a half year old daughter and I felt great.

 

PageOneLit.com:  What did you learn from writing "The Big Fat Health and Fitness Lie "?

Craig Pepin-Donat: I learned that life is too good and too short to gamble with my health. My research exposed me to information that changed the way I think about food, exercise, health and life. I want use all this information to teach others about how they can live better, if not longer by learning the simple truth about health and fitness.  

 

 
PageOneLit.com:   What's next?

Craig Pepin-Donat: My work has just begun. The book provides the foundation for what people need to know in order to improve their health and change their lives for the better. My website www.FitAdvocate.com is a support mechanism designed to provide updated information, articles, links, book recommendations, resources, best and worst product reviews and Fit Advocate Approved products. Fit Advocate.com endorses quality products and services with our Fit Advocate Approved icon. My promise to consumers is that “If it’s Fit Advocate Approved—It Works!”

We are even in the process of finalizing a Podcast for special interviews with experts in various health related fields that will provide valuable information. Fit Advocate.com also has an advisory board with top health and fitness professionals who write articles, help with research and provide feedback on product reviews. All of this information is designed to save people both time and money while identifying real health and fitness solutions that work. I also have concepts for several other books in mind if I can make the time.

 

PageOneLit.com:  What was the last book you read?

Craig Pepin-Donat: David Rippe who wrote my foreword is an award winning writer and author of The Flip: Turn Your World Around which I recently read. On my Website, I have a list of "Must Read Books" that I constantly update.

 

PageOneLit.com:  Do you have any hobbies? What are they? How do they enhance your writing?

Craig Pepin-Donat: All my free time is spent with my wife and daughters. I am fortunate to have created a wonderful home environment. We live in Florida on the water and we enjoy boating and quiet time by the pool.  I spend most of my time reading, researching and writing articles related to health and fitness. I also enjoy traveling to various parts of the world doing health and fitness consulting. Last week I was in Thailand, Burma and Vietnam. I have traveled to over 40 countries while studying health and fitness trends.