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CNN Sunday Morning

Discussion With Certified Fitness Trainer Jorge Cruise

Aired April 21, 2002 - 08:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Remember that New Year's resolution to lose weight? Well, how's it going?

Here's a book and a Web site that may help. "8 Minutes in the Morning: A Simple Way to Start Your Day That Burns Fat and Sheds The Pounds."

It was written by certified fitness trainer Jorge Cruise. He also has a Web site, JORGECRUISE.COM.

He joins us now in our studio to share his unique ideas.

Good morning.

JORGE CRUISE, AUTHOR/TRAINER: Good morning. How are you doing?

PHILLIPS: Well, I'm already freaked out by this little thing of fat here.

CRUISE: Well, that's one pound of fat, too. And I’ll tell you, our country now, 80% of Americans, as you probably -- as we all know, are overweight right now. It's a scary thing.

I can't -- it's hard to connect sometimes. But people are busy today and don't have time, so that's what we're all about.

PHILLIPS: OK. And your book, “8 Minutes in the Morning.” OK, Jorge, come on. Eight minutes -- how am I going to lose

CRUISE: I know, I know.

PHILLIPS: I’ve got to get that cardio going.

CRUISE: People say, Jorge, they say, you're nuts. How can you, in eight minutes, lose up to two pounds a week, which is what on average most people will lose.

You can see the pictures on the back cover there.

PHILLIPS: Right.

CRUISE: You know, people will consistently lose. If they have 20 pounds to lose, they'll lose it in 10 weeks. If they have 50 pounds to lose, they’ll lose it in about 25 weeks. So you take whatever you’re trying to lose and divide it by two and they'll get those results.

But here's the key. A lot of people think that the problem is this. Too much fat.

PHILLIPS: The fat.

CRUISE: Right. That I’m fat. The real problem is a lack of lean muscle fiber. Because our lean muscle fiber is our metabolism. And that is everything.

And so after age 20, our muscles tend to start -- they atrophy. Not from getting old but from lack of use.

PHILLIPS: Oh, yeah. I feel it.

CRUISE: So well -- and the sad thing, you know, it's happening sooner now, with kids, you know, at 15, at 13. Because what are we doing all day? We're sitting at the computer, and our muscles aren't being used.

Resistance training or strength training is what the eight minutes is all about. It's about doing easy morning exercises you can do at home.

PHILLIPS: All right, well tell us right now. Let's get down to business here.

CRUISE: Are you ready to see some?

PHILLIPS: Yeah.

CRUISE: Well, I brought the magic weapon, here it is. Because anyone can do this at home. It's pretty much dumbbells. The dumbbell workout. You can do it at home.

The dumbbell weight is important. You want to pick a dumbbell that's going to burn out your muscle by the 12th repetition.

Let me show you a simple exercise.

PHILLIPS: What do you mean burn out the muscle?

CRUISE: You see, here’s the thing. Your eight minutes in the morning is lost unless you pick a dumbbell -- now, these are a lighter for my traveling and all that from here in the studio.

But you want a dumbbell that will cause your muscle to fatigue when you’re exercising it by the 12th repetition.

PHILLIPS: You want to feel the burning.

CRUISE: That’s right. And, say i can do this exercise, but I can do up to 20 of them, the weight is too light. And if I can only do maybe five, the it's too heavy.

So right there, this is simple exercise anyone can do at home. This is for the biceps. You’re doing a simple curling type of thing. We’ll start up here so you can see it better.

You’re coming up like this. And so the goal, though would be to pick a dumbbell that would fatigue that muscle by 12th repetition.

So this is one simple one that you can do at home. You can roll out of bed, pretty much in pajamas, and do your eight minute workout.

And then the next exercise that you would in that eight minute routine would be, say, something for the opposite side, which would be the triceps.

For that one, it’s real easy. What you can do is -- I’ll do it with one arm. You can come up like so. And you're working now the under part of the arm, which is critical, because you want to have balance in all the exercises you do.

And so the whole eight minute routine, pretty much every day it changes, so you're working a different part of the body.

I can show a lower body one. You want to do that real quick?

PHILLIPS: Yes, definitely. Absolutely.

CRUISE: Stand up here.

PHILLIPS: OH, no. You're not going to make me do anything, right?

CRUISE: Do you want to try it with us. This one everyone can do. Even if your watching at home.

Put your arms out straight, like so. And we're going to do, like if we're sitting in this chair. We’re going to squat down, with your knees just slightly bent at 90 degrees, and up. So you’re coming up an down.

PHILLIPS: Do you have to squeeze?

CRUISE: Well, you should be squeezing when you go up, automatically, but that’s a good question.

PHILLIPS: I'm squeezing everywhere.

CRUISE: Keep it tight, because that's burning and building the muscle fibers. And if it’s too easy, you can do it with dumbbells. You can hold them at your side or put them up front.

PHILLIPS: Add a little weight.

CRUISE: That’s right.

And then another one that people could do at home to compliment that, because that’s going to work the hamstrings and the butt area, would be the side area, the thigh area.

PHILLIPS: Oh, yeah. I need that. CRUISE: Hold one of these. Try this. Put it right here on the side with you.

PHILLIPS: I wasn't supposed to do this, now.

CRUISE: You're just going to come out, like go.

PHILLIPS: I might have to hold on to you. I’ve got to balance in my heels.

CRUISE: So you’re coming out like that, and up. And what this will work is the thigh area.

Now, again, you can even use ankle weights, if you want, if this doesn't work for you.

But doing simple exercises -- and my whole message to people is -- I was a fat kid, and I know what it's like to be overweight -- is that, if you don't have time to lose weight, it's not true.

If you focus in on strength training, you can get great results. And you don’t have to go to a gym.

PHILLIPS: Now, we talk a lot about diet, too, though. You're saying we can eat whatever we want, we just have to

CRUISE: Well, the second part of my program. The second aspect, the secret of that, is knowing that you’ve got -- I, personally, my whole nutritional philosophy is that there aren't any bad foods. There are only foods that you want to eat the right portions of. And it's about portion control, but without having to count calories.

Because if you do that, you go nuts.

PHILLIPS: Well, that’s so stressful. So you can have that hamburger and the fajitas.

CRUISE: You can have the fajitas, and the quesadillas. You know, my mother's side of the family is from Mexico, my dad's side from Altoona, Pennsylvania.

So you can eat all the rich foods. It’s just eating them in the right quantity.

And we can talk about that, too, as much as you want, because that is so important, to see up to two pounds a week lost. I mean, you’ve got to eat healthy, too.

But you can also eat good fats. And maybe I’ll talk about that if we get some viewer questions.

PHILLIPS: Let’s do that. Definitely. We have a lot. We have a bunch of e-mail questions.

CRUISE: OK. Cool.

PHILLIPS: We're going to take a quick break and we’re going to come right back, all right.

CRUISE: Excellent.

PHILLIPS: We’ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: You're right.

We're talking about "8 Minutes in the Morning." That’s it. Jorge Cruise guarantees that in only four months we're going to be looking beautiful in that bathing suit.

CRUISE: You can do it. And it’s almost time for that swimsuit time, you know. But you can do it at home. That's the thing you know. You don’t have to -- if you're short on time -- to go to the gym. But should we talk about this?

PHILLIPS: Let’s do it. Big fat misunderstanding. You talk about it in your book. All right.

CRUISE: Well, here's the thing. A lot of times when people want to lose weight, what's the thing that we're told? That you shouldn’t eat any fat. You should go fat-free or low fat.

PHILLIPS: Fat. Count the calories, everything they’re talking about. Low-fat diet.

CRUISE: Here’s the challenge with that. When you do that, as anyone who's trying to go fat-free, is that about every 20 minutes, if you eat a fat-free food type of thing or a meal, you're going to feel hungry.

So the key is, you've got to use good fats because that helps curb and shrink your appetite.

PHILLIPS: OK. There's good fats?

CRUISE: But see, there's good fats, and then there’s some that aren't.

The more saturated a fat, the more likely it's going to be stored on the thighs or the abdominal area.

The more unsaturated the fat, your body will use it for all of your bodily functions. Kind of like a building material.

So I’ve brought some zip lock bags to show everyone.

PHILLIPS: OK.

CRUISE: Now, here's a traditional fat that you have all seen before. This is butter.

PHILLIPS: All right. CRUISE: We love it. And it’s solid, at room temperature. We just took these out of the fridge, actually. So you can see it's solid.

This is the most saturated fat out there. And that tastes good. And you can do this once in awhile.

PHILLIPS: OK.

CRUISE: The next one I have here is olive oil. Now, it’s starting to melt a little bit, but you can see it’s solid. This is olive oil, and this is an omega 9 fatty acid.

Now that one looks fine there, and this is a good one for cooking. This is the one I would recommend for cooking. Olive oil.

PHILLIPS: Olive oil.

CRUISE: But now look at this. this was also frozen, but this one is liquid. You can see that. This is flaxseed oil.

PHILLIPS: But you don't cook with it.

CRUISE: You don’t cook with it. It comes refrigerated. It comes in a dark bottle. And this fat -- the reason it's so wonderful for weight loss is because if you use this with your food, like on dressing or if you dip it into bread like you would Italian type of food, or even put it on your toast, and pretend it’s melted butter, what it does is, it won't be stored as body fat. And yet it will curb your appetite.

And the reason it doesn't is because it's so unsaturated. Your body just absorbs this like a sponge, versus these other fats and, you know, especially the more saturated ones. What they do is, they get not as used, because your body doesn't like them as much.

PHILLIPS: And just looking at it grosses me out.

CRUISE: Yeah. So, you don't want that inside of you. At least not in quantity. You can do it once in a while, because I don't want people to think you can't have butter either. I like butter and I use it every now and then.

But, ideally, your main fat, if you use this, you're going to get great results and you’re going to lose weight faster.

PHILLIPS: All right, we've got e-mails. You ready?

CRUISE: Yeah. Let’s do it.

PHILLIPS: Here we go. The first one here, the question: “How can one get into shape,” oh, we already did this one. Let’s skip to the next one.

That’s the eight minute question, we already answered that.

CRUISE: OK. Yeah.

PHILLIPS: Is it possible to set a target heart rate for people being treated with beta blockers?

CRUISE: Well, here’s the thing. If you’ve got -- a target heart is more when you're doing aerobic exercise. And I believe in aerobic exercise, because you’ve got to keep the heart strong.

Except for weight loss, if you what to lose weight, focus in on the strength training.

But when you're doing aerobics and you need to worry about heart rate, and you’re taking -- what are they taking?

PHILLIPS: Beta blockers.

CRUISE: Beta blockers. You’ve got to, and everyone listen to me on this, you’ve got to check with the doctor first. Check with your doctor if you're taking any kind of medication or anything at all like that, or have a special type of situation. Real important.

So, I would say check with a doctor on that one.

PHILLIPS: OK. This one: “Dear Jorge, please tell us more about flaxseed oil and your program. Also, if you have time, what do you think about the value of aerobic exercise”?

All right, we kind of touched on that.

CRUISE: Yes.

PHILLIPS: All right.

CRUISE: Well, the flaxseed, again, is going to curb appetite. So everyone remember that. And it’s not going to be stored on the body, because it's unsaturated. It’s the least unsaturated.

PHILLIPS: Let's move on to the next one. I want to get as many in as possible.

CRUISE: Sure.

PHILLIPS: All right, this one from Alek in New Hampshire. This is cute. “What is the quickest way for men to concentrate just on their waistline and lose two, three, or four inches in a flash? I also wonder if anyone has developed exercises for a man’s neck. Sheesh (ph), you hit 30 and all of the sudden you look like first prize at a turkey shoot. Any suggestions? Perhaps certain foods to avoid”?

CRUISE: Oh, no! Right, right.

Well, when people talk about concentrating just on certain areas, whether it's next or waistline, which i can imagine a lot of men -- for women, it would be more the thigh area -- it's a big myth. Spot reduction. Because people always ask me, Jorge, if I want to lose weight right here or here or here, what do i do? What can i do just for this?

And trying to lose body fat from just one area, it’s impossible.

That's why with the eight minute program we have people do a full body routine. And so by the end of the week they’ve worked their whole bodies. Because if you build muscles, even in your hands, a little bit in your arms, all those muscles, they’re going to consume calories. And they’re going to consume calories from all over your body.

There's no way to just take it from one spot and one spot only.

So, that’s a good question. What I’d recommend what he would do, with his next as well as his waist line

PHILLIPS: His turkey look.

CRUISE: His turkey look. You want to do all those exercises for those areas, but you don't want to neglect the other ones. So, a regular balanced exercise program.

PHILLIPS: And it all comes together.

CRUISE: And he can check out good things on our Web site at JORGECRUISE.COM. we’ve got a lot of free exercises. And, I’m also looking for -- I would love, some CNN viewers, if they want to lose weight, they can e-mail me and say they can say they saw us here. As a bonus, I’ll take them under my wing.

And who knows, maybe in a couple months I can give you an update and see if they’ve lost some weight.

PHILLIPS: Wow. Will you just hang around and train me for awhile?

CRUISE: You’ve got it.

PHILLIPS: Good. We got your Web site up there.

CRUISE: There it is. Go to JORGECRUISE.COM and, seriously, if there's some CNN viewers that would like to lose weight with me, go to the JORGECRUISE.COM Web site and let me know.

And there's a little thing there that says you can get coached by Jorge for free. I always try to look for some people that i work with via television.

And I can come back, and I can share some success stories with you next time. They got to say they saw us here, Sunday morning

PHILLIPS: In order to do it.

CRUISE: Well, yes. PHILLIPS: Are you listening, everybody?

CRUISE: You guys hear that?

PHILLIPS: And also I want to mention that the book is also in Spanish (UNINTELLIGIBLE). So there you go. You've got the whole Latin culture going on, you’re targeting the Hispanics.

CRUISE: I grew up, like I said. I was a fat little kid. I grew up, my mother's from Mexico, my dad from Altoona, Pennsylvania.

PHILLIPS: Those tortillas.

CRUISE: Tortillas and nachos and all that. And you can eat all that. But when I was a little kid, I ate -- my mom fed me emotionally.

She loved me, so she fed me through food.

PHILLIPS: Well, that's a big part of the culture.

CRUISE: Well, yeah

PHILLIPS: You know, abuela makes the big food

CRUISE: And I had my abuelita, my grandmother, living with us, too. So I had two breakfasts, two lunches. So the portions were out of whack.

So with this program, “8 Minutes in the Morning,” in English or in Spanish, we're going to focus in on building that muscle, but importantly, we're going to teach people how to eat the right quantities, too, without counting calories.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jorge Cruise, "8 Minutes in the Morning.”

Gracias and thank you -- appreciate it.

CRUISE: It was my pleasure. I had a good time. Thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: You’ll come back?

CRUISE: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: All right, very good.

All right. We are going to take a quick break and be back with more news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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