Okay, the main idea here is to include a certain type of
pasta that is much higher in fiber than regular pastas, BUT
also to include several other nutrient rich foods in the
process.
This makes it a VERY satisfying meal, so you don't end up
eating endless amounts of carbs, which is usually what
happens when you are served a traditional pasta dish.
So here's the recipe:
1. 8 oz. of multigrain pasta (I use Trader Joe's Multigrain
w/Flax)
2. 1 bag organic frozen broccoli
3. 1/2 bag organic frozen peas
4. 2 boneless chicken breasts (I use organic f.ree-range)
5. 8 oz. tomato sauce (I use Trader Joe's sauces made from
organic plum tomatoes)
6. Additional Italian seasoning if desired
Bring water to a boil then reduce to medium high heat. Throw
the pasta in first for about 5 minutes, then follow with the
frozen veggies for another 5 minutes or so.
Finally add, the chicken breast (which you will have pre
cooked), drain the water, and stir in the tomato sauce.
This will get you about 4 servings, with each serving
providing about:
36 grams protein
42 grams carbs
8 grams fat
11 grams fiber
384 calories
The only problem with this meal is it could use a bit more
fat! So sometimes I'll add a teaspoon of extra virgin olive
oil after it's finished cooking. (to the whole amount, not
per serving!)
The real secret in this recipe is that we're using a type of
pasta that includes a high amount of fiber compared to the
total carbs...this slows the blood sugar spike you'd get
when eating regular white pastas.
And of course by mixing it in balance with the chicken and
high nutrient veggies, you have a delicious, nutritious fat
burning meal...
Bon Appetit!
Here's to getting lean, strong, and healthy for life,
Monday, August 31, 2009
Two Magical Substances That Allow You To Burn Fat Faster & Create Lasting Health
In all of my experimentation and research on the subject of nutrition for fast fat burning, health and fitness over the last 10+ years, I’ve discovered 2 magical substances that can have a dramatic effect on whether or not you burn body fat and keep it off, or hang on to it like a security blanket.
These substances, in fact, have been around since the beginning of time and I’m surprised more people don’t value their importance like they should. What are these magical agents of fat burning wizardry? Water and Fiber. Let me explain why…
Everyone has heard that water is important for health, but even still, most people don’t drink enough water. Water is also vital to your fat burning efforts and maintaining a lean body. After all, our bodies are about 65-70% water. Water also keeps you from snacking on unhealthy sugary foods and sugar laden soft drinks, as many times when we feel we are hungry, we are actually just dehydrated.
We need water in our bodies more than we need food. The body can survive for much longer without food that without water. Water is like the oil in the engines of our cars. It is involved in almost every process the body goes through, from digestion to nutrient absorption. It also keeps your energy level up as it prevents dehydration.
Now, this is very important…dehydration will totally kill your chances of burning fat, because the body interprets this as a state of shock. It shifts its focus on getting water and stops doing other things, like burning body fat for energy. And here’s even more helpful info about the power of water. Try this little trick to burn even more calories…try and drink most if not all of your water in ice cold form.
First of all, it typically tastes better ice cold, and every time you drink an ounce of ice cold water, your body must burn about a calorie in the process of warming the water to your current body temperature. Now, you can use this to your advantage to burn even more calories each day. Keep your water intake to 100 ounces per day, and you’ll burn an extra 100 calories and burn more fat! How cool is that!
Also, add some lemon to your water…this will have positive effects in helping cleanse your liver. And this brings up another key to fat loss…the body needs to be working efficiently if you want to burn fat fast…if your organs, especially the kidneys and liver, are working together in high efficiency, you will find it easier to burn fat!
So keeping yourself hydrated will keep your kidneys operating at a good clip, and your liver will be allowed to do its job of metabolizing stored fat for energy.
The other magical substance is Fiber. Fiber slows digestion and makes you feel fuller. This is so important in burning fat and reducing cravings, especially for foods loaded with sugar, and how many calories you end up eating throughout the day, which leads to fat loss.
Great sources of fiber include various whole grain products, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and beans. These, by the way, are foods that are also rich in other nutrients your body craves naturally…surprise surprise! Processed foods, however, are poor sources of fiber. White flour products including regular pasta is in this category. Also, watch out for high fiber cereals as many of these are also high in sugar.
On top of the fat burning benefits, fiber has been linked to the prevention of various conditions including heart disease, diabetes and cancer. That's a one-two health punch to be reckoned with!
So I urge you to put water and fiber at the top of your list of things to put in your body. If you combine that focus with a diet of nutrient rich foods and a properly conducted resistance exercise program, you’ll be on your way to burning more fat faster, and maximizing your genetic potential for a lean, strong, and healthy body.
My Fat Burning Furnace students are already doing this, and are enjoying all the rewards this lifestyle brings. Now, it’s your turn to get the most you can out of life and burn fat faster than you might have thought possible.
These substances, in fact, have been around since the beginning of time and I’m surprised more people don’t value their importance like they should. What are these magical agents of fat burning wizardry? Water and Fiber. Let me explain why…
Everyone has heard that water is important for health, but even still, most people don’t drink enough water. Water is also vital to your fat burning efforts and maintaining a lean body. After all, our bodies are about 65-70% water. Water also keeps you from snacking on unhealthy sugary foods and sugar laden soft drinks, as many times when we feel we are hungry, we are actually just dehydrated.
We need water in our bodies more than we need food. The body can survive for much longer without food that without water. Water is like the oil in the engines of our cars. It is involved in almost every process the body goes through, from digestion to nutrient absorption. It also keeps your energy level up as it prevents dehydration.
Now, this is very important…dehydration will totally kill your chances of burning fat, because the body interprets this as a state of shock. It shifts its focus on getting water and stops doing other things, like burning body fat for energy. And here’s even more helpful info about the power of water. Try this little trick to burn even more calories…try and drink most if not all of your water in ice cold form.
First of all, it typically tastes better ice cold, and every time you drink an ounce of ice cold water, your body must burn about a calorie in the process of warming the water to your current body temperature. Now, you can use this to your advantage to burn even more calories each day. Keep your water intake to 100 ounces per day, and you’ll burn an extra 100 calories and burn more fat! How cool is that!
Also, add some lemon to your water…this will have positive effects in helping cleanse your liver. And this brings up another key to fat loss…the body needs to be working efficiently if you want to burn fat fast…if your organs, especially the kidneys and liver, are working together in high efficiency, you will find it easier to burn fat!
So keeping yourself hydrated will keep your kidneys operating at a good clip, and your liver will be allowed to do its job of metabolizing stored fat for energy.
The other magical substance is Fiber. Fiber slows digestion and makes you feel fuller. This is so important in burning fat and reducing cravings, especially for foods loaded with sugar, and how many calories you end up eating throughout the day, which leads to fat loss.
Great sources of fiber include various whole grain products, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and beans. These, by the way, are foods that are also rich in other nutrients your body craves naturally…surprise surprise! Processed foods, however, are poor sources of fiber. White flour products including regular pasta is in this category. Also, watch out for high fiber cereals as many of these are also high in sugar.
On top of the fat burning benefits, fiber has been linked to the prevention of various conditions including heart disease, diabetes and cancer. That's a one-two health punch to be reckoned with!
So I urge you to put water and fiber at the top of your list of things to put in your body. If you combine that focus with a diet of nutrient rich foods and a properly conducted resistance exercise program, you’ll be on your way to burning more fat faster, and maximizing your genetic potential for a lean, strong, and healthy body.
My Fat Burning Furnace students are already doing this, and are enjoying all the rewards this lifestyle brings. Now, it’s your turn to get the most you can out of life and burn fat faster than you might have thought possible.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Why You Should “Just Say No” To Diets To Burn Fat (Part 2)
In part one of this article, I talked about how avoiding diets is one of the best things you can do for your long term health and fitness success, especially if you want to burn fat. In this second part, I’ll show you how you can start to transition from your current lifestyle to one that creates a lean, strong body and lasting health.
From a nutritional standpoint, you need a healthy balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in your diet to keep your metabolism firing on all cylinders, constantly burning fat. Fad diets have a coolness factor to them that sometimes makes them irresistible at first. But in the long run I’ve found it best to go back to the basics of what your body craves. Let’s talk about that…
Complex Carbs (whole grains, breads, cereals, etc.) are vital to maintaining your energy throughout the day and do a host of other things within your body including keeping you feeling full. I’ll also lump fruits in with complex carbs, because of their high fiber content and slow absorption into the blood stream, keeping our insulin level in check, which is important for less fat storage and a higher chance of burning stored fat.
Simple Carbs, or sugars (candy, soda pop, white processed baked goods, etc) are to be avoided and kept to a minimum for the most part. They provide little nutritional value to you and are what I often refer to as empty calories. They just add calories to your body with little or no nutritional value that are going to end up in your fat stores if you’re not careful with how much you ingest.
Forget about maximum fat burning here. Of course, many people are aware of the blood sugar and insulin connection with eating too many simple carbs. Our insulin regulates are blood sugar level and takes any excess sugars and stores them as fat. We then are stuck getting tired and hungry, making repeating this cycle far too easy. The best way to avoid this, I’ve found, is eating a sensible amounts of complex carbohydrates instead.
Proteins (lean meats, fish, poultry, soy, beans and legumes, etc.) are important to maintain the cellular structures in your body and provide the building blocks for the lean muscle you’re after, which is vital if you want to burn fat fast. But with anything else, don’t go overboard with protein. Some fitness experts claim that you’ll need a minimum 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight each day.
There is no real proof that this is the case, and ingesting more protein than your body needs ends up going to your fat stores…plus it doesn’t do your kidneys or liver any good either. I’ve found that keeping protein to around 0.5 grams per pound of bodyweight each day more than sufficient in feeding the lean muscle growth that my Fat Burning Furnace students stimulate with their properly performed resistance exercise.
Another important aspect of protein involves whether or not you’re getting your protein from animal or plant based sources. While the traditional American diet recommends most animal based proteins, recent data suggests that too heavy a reliance on animal proteins increases risks for disease.
On top of that, animal proteins contain almost no fiber, which doesn’t go very far in keeping you feeling full, and negatively effects your ability to burn fat. When choosing your protein sources, make sure you eat a good portion of your protein from plant sources (soy, beans, legumes, etc.). You don’t have to be a vegetarian, but I recommend keeping your animal proteins on the low side.
Fats (found in many proteins, nuts, oils, etc.) are essential to maintain certain bodily processes like hair, nail, and skin regeneration. There is a lot of confusion with fats out there, some recommending extremely low fat diets and others even recommending a very high fat diet. If you are focusing on lean protein choices in your meals, and including small amounts of healthy oils, nuts, and seeds in your diet, your fat intake will be in order.
So how much of each of these macro nutrients should you be eating to maximize fat burning and get that lean fit body you’re after? It’s easy to get caught up in the percentages and counting calories, but the easiest way I’ve found is to count portions instead of calories.
An easy way to ensure that this happens is to make sure you eat both a portion or two of complex carbs and a portion of protein at each meal. Add as many green veggies as you can eat, as they’re super low in calories and provide more fiber, enzymes that aid in digestion, and vitamins and minerals that will be more than adequate for most people. Remember, focus on nutrient rich foods and you’ll find that burning fat and getting healthy will seem like a natural.
How many times per day should we be eating to burn the most fat? I can tell you that three meals a day is not going to cut it when trying to burn fat fast and get lean, at least not in my experience. In fact, if you wanted to get as fat as possible, you should eat all of your daily calories in one meal.
Eating smaller more frequent meals throughout the day is the fastest way to fat loss. It fires up your metabolism, as every time you eat something, the metabolism kicks it up a notch. Try and eat 5-6 smaller meals per day, spaced about 3 hours apart.
Now, I know many people don’t want to be taken out of their breakfast, lunch, and dinner routine…so you can still eat at those traditional meal times, but try cutting back a bit on how much food you eat at those meals and add those calories into 2 or 3 snack meals in between. A snack meal could be a protein/energy bar or maybe even a piece of fruit and a slice of whole grain bread.
So you see, eating for a lean, strong, and healthy body isn’t so difficult…and it doesn’t require you to eliminate essential foods like complex carbohydrates from your diet. In fact, doing so will put you into the cycle of confusion of fad diets that is all too prevalent in fitness today.
And that’s a cycle that’s tough to break out of. Focus on foods your body craves naturally instead, and the rest of the details will be easy to implement into your lifestyle. Before long you'll start to burn fat faster than you might have thought possible.
From a nutritional standpoint, you need a healthy balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in your diet to keep your metabolism firing on all cylinders, constantly burning fat. Fad diets have a coolness factor to them that sometimes makes them irresistible at first. But in the long run I’ve found it best to go back to the basics of what your body craves. Let’s talk about that…
Complex Carbs (whole grains, breads, cereals, etc.) are vital to maintaining your energy throughout the day and do a host of other things within your body including keeping you feeling full. I’ll also lump fruits in with complex carbs, because of their high fiber content and slow absorption into the blood stream, keeping our insulin level in check, which is important for less fat storage and a higher chance of burning stored fat.
Simple Carbs, or sugars (candy, soda pop, white processed baked goods, etc) are to be avoided and kept to a minimum for the most part. They provide little nutritional value to you and are what I often refer to as empty calories. They just add calories to your body with little or no nutritional value that are going to end up in your fat stores if you’re not careful with how much you ingest.
Forget about maximum fat burning here. Of course, many people are aware of the blood sugar and insulin connection with eating too many simple carbs. Our insulin regulates are blood sugar level and takes any excess sugars and stores them as fat. We then are stuck getting tired and hungry, making repeating this cycle far too easy. The best way to avoid this, I’ve found, is eating a sensible amounts of complex carbohydrates instead.
Proteins (lean meats, fish, poultry, soy, beans and legumes, etc.) are important to maintain the cellular structures in your body and provide the building blocks for the lean muscle you’re after, which is vital if you want to burn fat fast. But with anything else, don’t go overboard with protein. Some fitness experts claim that you’ll need a minimum 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight each day.
There is no real proof that this is the case, and ingesting more protein than your body needs ends up going to your fat stores…plus it doesn’t do your kidneys or liver any good either. I’ve found that keeping protein to around 0.5 grams per pound of bodyweight each day more than sufficient in feeding the lean muscle growth that my Fat Burning Furnace students stimulate with their properly performed resistance exercise.
Another important aspect of protein involves whether or not you’re getting your protein from animal or plant based sources. While the traditional American diet recommends most animal based proteins, recent data suggests that too heavy a reliance on animal proteins increases risks for disease.
On top of that, animal proteins contain almost no fiber, which doesn’t go very far in keeping you feeling full, and negatively effects your ability to burn fat. When choosing your protein sources, make sure you eat a good portion of your protein from plant sources (soy, beans, legumes, etc.). You don’t have to be a vegetarian, but I recommend keeping your animal proteins on the low side.
Fats (found in many proteins, nuts, oils, etc.) are essential to maintain certain bodily processes like hair, nail, and skin regeneration. There is a lot of confusion with fats out there, some recommending extremely low fat diets and others even recommending a very high fat diet. If you are focusing on lean protein choices in your meals, and including small amounts of healthy oils, nuts, and seeds in your diet, your fat intake will be in order.
So how much of each of these macro nutrients should you be eating to maximize fat burning and get that lean fit body you’re after? It’s easy to get caught up in the percentages and counting calories, but the easiest way I’ve found is to count portions instead of calories.
An easy way to ensure that this happens is to make sure you eat both a portion or two of complex carbs and a portion of protein at each meal. Add as many green veggies as you can eat, as they’re super low in calories and provide more fiber, enzymes that aid in digestion, and vitamins and minerals that will be more than adequate for most people. Remember, focus on nutrient rich foods and you’ll find that burning fat and getting healthy will seem like a natural.
How many times per day should we be eating to burn the most fat? I can tell you that three meals a day is not going to cut it when trying to burn fat fast and get lean, at least not in my experience. In fact, if you wanted to get as fat as possible, you should eat all of your daily calories in one meal.
Eating smaller more frequent meals throughout the day is the fastest way to fat loss. It fires up your metabolism, as every time you eat something, the metabolism kicks it up a notch. Try and eat 5-6 smaller meals per day, spaced about 3 hours apart.
Now, I know many people don’t want to be taken out of their breakfast, lunch, and dinner routine…so you can still eat at those traditional meal times, but try cutting back a bit on how much food you eat at those meals and add those calories into 2 or 3 snack meals in between. A snack meal could be a protein/energy bar or maybe even a piece of fruit and a slice of whole grain bread.
So you see, eating for a lean, strong, and healthy body isn’t so difficult…and it doesn’t require you to eliminate essential foods like complex carbohydrates from your diet. In fact, doing so will put you into the cycle of confusion of fad diets that is all too prevalent in fitness today.
And that’s a cycle that’s tough to break out of. Focus on foods your body craves naturally instead, and the rest of the details will be easy to implement into your lifestyle. Before long you'll start to burn fat faster than you might have thought possible.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Why You Should “Just Say No” To Diets To Burn Fat (Part 1)
Fad diets, they all have one thing in common. They’re diets. They are like a pair of bell bottom pants. They are in for a couple of years and they’re gone. Then they find they’re way back just when the fitness professionals know we are ready to eat 'em up again…no pun intended. When you're trying to burn fat, you really should avoid these things like the plague.
Now, realistically many of these diets will provide some initial fat loss for many people. So you get some weight loss initially, but you could also lose some muscle on these programs too, and you know that losing muscle can spell disaster to your fat burning efforts. But the bigger problem with these diets is that most who follow outlandish diets gain back the fat they lost, and then some!
On top of that, they often recommend focusing too much on one type of food, which can lead to unhealthy eating habits. I’ve found they are too strict to be realistically followed, especially for a long period of time, and they’re no fun. And anything you can't follow as a lifestyle will not burn fat in the long run.
You see, the very concept of a diet is doomed to fail. Why? Diets are based in a temporary mindset. The fact that someone goes on a diet means they will have to come off of the diet. This is temporary…why force yourself to lose 10 pounds when you’re just going to gain it back and then some when you go off of the diet? That may sound simple, but most people just don’t get it…they look to diets as the answer to their weight and health problems. But they’re not the answer, and they actually create more problems for you. People who are regular dieters don't burn fat over the long haul.
If you seek life long fat burning, health and fitness in a lean body, you should take some advice from my mom, and probably your mom too. When I think about it, probably the best base of nutritional knowledge I received was from my mom. For the most part, my mom was right. She didn't know anything about fat burning, but she made sure I got nutritious foods growing up.
She especially made a point to make sure I ate my vegetables, especially the green ones. She limited sugary stuff and other junk, but didn’t totally eliminate it, making it a special treat for me on occasion. She tried to provide a balanced offering of the different food groups throughout the day.
Thanks, Mom! Mom’s diet was actually quite sound, and I’ve found that heeding some of this advice in the pursuit of maximum fat burning and a lean healthy body for the rest of your life is a smart way to go.
You see, your body naturally craves foods rich in nutrients (antioxidants, phyto nutrients, fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc.) When you eat most of your meals from foods rich in important nutrients, your body will body will be satisfied and overeating won’t be much of a problem.
You then begin to burn fat as a natural result of giving your body what it thrives on. On top of that, you’re lowering your risk for disease by promoting a natural alkaline environment in your body with these types of foods.
If you do the opposite and eat most of your meals from foods lacking in nutrients, you’ll keep eating and eating and eating to satisfy your nutrient needs. This leads to too many calories and a person who will just keep getting fatter and more prone to develop increased risk for disease with an acidic environment in the body. When this happens, you can just kiss fat burning goodbye.
So nutrition for fat loss, fitness, and health really all do go hand in hand. My Fat Burning Furnace students have changed their lives permanently, by simply altering what they put in their bodies…and you can do it to.
Focus on foods rich in nutrients. In part two of this article, I’ll get more specific in helping you make the transition from your current lifestyle to the one you desire. One where your body seemingly burns fat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with little effort.
Now, realistically many of these diets will provide some initial fat loss for many people. So you get some weight loss initially, but you could also lose some muscle on these programs too, and you know that losing muscle can spell disaster to your fat burning efforts. But the bigger problem with these diets is that most who follow outlandish diets gain back the fat they lost, and then some!
On top of that, they often recommend focusing too much on one type of food, which can lead to unhealthy eating habits. I’ve found they are too strict to be realistically followed, especially for a long period of time, and they’re no fun. And anything you can't follow as a lifestyle will not burn fat in the long run.
You see, the very concept of a diet is doomed to fail. Why? Diets are based in a temporary mindset. The fact that someone goes on a diet means they will have to come off of the diet. This is temporary…why force yourself to lose 10 pounds when you’re just going to gain it back and then some when you go off of the diet? That may sound simple, but most people just don’t get it…they look to diets as the answer to their weight and health problems. But they’re not the answer, and they actually create more problems for you. People who are regular dieters don't burn fat over the long haul.
If you seek life long fat burning, health and fitness in a lean body, you should take some advice from my mom, and probably your mom too. When I think about it, probably the best base of nutritional knowledge I received was from my mom. For the most part, my mom was right. She didn't know anything about fat burning, but she made sure I got nutritious foods growing up.
She especially made a point to make sure I ate my vegetables, especially the green ones. She limited sugary stuff and other junk, but didn’t totally eliminate it, making it a special treat for me on occasion. She tried to provide a balanced offering of the different food groups throughout the day.
Thanks, Mom! Mom’s diet was actually quite sound, and I’ve found that heeding some of this advice in the pursuit of maximum fat burning and a lean healthy body for the rest of your life is a smart way to go.
You see, your body naturally craves foods rich in nutrients (antioxidants, phyto nutrients, fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc.) When you eat most of your meals from foods rich in important nutrients, your body will body will be satisfied and overeating won’t be much of a problem.
You then begin to burn fat as a natural result of giving your body what it thrives on. On top of that, you’re lowering your risk for disease by promoting a natural alkaline environment in your body with these types of foods.
If you do the opposite and eat most of your meals from foods lacking in nutrients, you’ll keep eating and eating and eating to satisfy your nutrient needs. This leads to too many calories and a person who will just keep getting fatter and more prone to develop increased risk for disease with an acidic environment in the body. When this happens, you can just kiss fat burning goodbye.
So nutrition for fat loss, fitness, and health really all do go hand in hand. My Fat Burning Furnace students have changed their lives permanently, by simply altering what they put in their bodies…and you can do it to.
Focus on foods rich in nutrients. In part two of this article, I’ll get more specific in helping you make the transition from your current lifestyle to the one you desire. One where your body seemingly burns fat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with little effort.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Can Stepping On A Treadmill Can Lead To Sickness, Injury Or Fat Burning Disaster?
The majority of exercisers today still rely on long duration moderate paced aerobic exercise as their primary routine for burning fat. But there are several reasons why this is a bad move, as it can actually keep you from burning fat and reduce your ability to handle stress. But there are a couple of other reasons why you should think twice, or three times, before stepping foot on a treadmill again.
A few years ago, I was spending a lot of time with aerobic exercise on an elliptical machine, trying to burn fat fast. I was doing the usual 30-45 minutes per session for about 3 times per week. I was getting in better cardiovascular shape, or so I thought, but I didn’t notice any difference in my physique. So I followed the “more is better” thinking that surrounds this type of exercise and added a fourth day.
After a few weeks I added a fifth day as I still didn’t see the results I wanted. I was watching my diet too, so I figured that was the only thing that would do it. Well, it wasn’t very long before I began to get worn out.
This might seem obvious, but I was so focused on my goals of burning maximum fat that I didn’t want that to get in the way, so I pressed onward. Not many more days passed by and I got a cold. What I realized later was that my immune system was so worn down that I was very susceptible to catching a virus, and I did.
Guess what? I didn’t stop. I continued with my sessions and ended up with a horrible sinus infection that put me out for about a week and a half. I was miserable, and I can tell you I hadn't burned much fat either. I had to take several days off of work to recover. I learned an important lesson, however; one that you should never have to: listen to your body.
If you are feeling drained, take a day or two off until you’re really feeling ready to get back to it. I also learned that aerobic exercise just doesn’t cut it when trying to transform your body for the better or burn fat fast. If 5 days per week didn’t work, I certainly don’t think 6 or 7 days would. And even if it did, would spending that much time in the gym be worth it to you?
I eventually discovered that the aerobics were training my body to actually store body fat to have available for the next workout…yikes! And I also found out that I was actually reducing my body’s ability handle work and stress. I was becoming more efficient and handling easy work, but it made me pant like a race horse when trying anything that was marginally more intense...even something like climbing a long flight of stairs. And I wasn't burning any fat either.
The other concern I have with aerobic exercise is that of overuse injuries and muscle imbalances. These are common in competitive athletes that perform the same monotonous motion over and over and over again.
The muscles primarily involved in these activities also receive the brunt of the work while the rest of your body is neglected. This can be true for any of the aerobic movements recommended by many fitness professionals to burn fat because it is a repetitive motion continued for long time periods for several times each week, affecting the same muscle groups.
Runners are a prime example. The pounding that this activity gives the joints associated (knees, etc.) can lead to injury from overusing that area. And because the lower body receives the brunt of the work, you are creating severe imbalances with other areas of your body. You’ll have to add more exercise to make up for this, and before you know it, you’ll be spending too much of your time devoted to workouts that were supposed to burn fat fast.
The good news is that you can avoid these problems entirely, and spend an average of 15-20 minutes, 2-3 days per week performing properly conducted intense resistance training to burn fat like you want to.
Students of my Fat Burning Furnace system know this and simultaneously burn fat, build muscle, strength, and lasting health with their efforts. So get off of the treadmill and get intense with resistance training…your body will show you the difference in your fat burning success, and thank you for it down the road.
A few years ago, I was spending a lot of time with aerobic exercise on an elliptical machine, trying to burn fat fast. I was doing the usual 30-45 minutes per session for about 3 times per week. I was getting in better cardiovascular shape, or so I thought, but I didn’t notice any difference in my physique. So I followed the “more is better” thinking that surrounds this type of exercise and added a fourth day.
After a few weeks I added a fifth day as I still didn’t see the results I wanted. I was watching my diet too, so I figured that was the only thing that would do it. Well, it wasn’t very long before I began to get worn out.
This might seem obvious, but I was so focused on my goals of burning maximum fat that I didn’t want that to get in the way, so I pressed onward. Not many more days passed by and I got a cold. What I realized later was that my immune system was so worn down that I was very susceptible to catching a virus, and I did.
Guess what? I didn’t stop. I continued with my sessions and ended up with a horrible sinus infection that put me out for about a week and a half. I was miserable, and I can tell you I hadn't burned much fat either. I had to take several days off of work to recover. I learned an important lesson, however; one that you should never have to: listen to your body.
If you are feeling drained, take a day or two off until you’re really feeling ready to get back to it. I also learned that aerobic exercise just doesn’t cut it when trying to transform your body for the better or burn fat fast. If 5 days per week didn’t work, I certainly don’t think 6 or 7 days would. And even if it did, would spending that much time in the gym be worth it to you?
I eventually discovered that the aerobics were training my body to actually store body fat to have available for the next workout…yikes! And I also found out that I was actually reducing my body’s ability handle work and stress. I was becoming more efficient and handling easy work, but it made me pant like a race horse when trying anything that was marginally more intense...even something like climbing a long flight of stairs. And I wasn't burning any fat either.
The other concern I have with aerobic exercise is that of overuse injuries and muscle imbalances. These are common in competitive athletes that perform the same monotonous motion over and over and over again.
The muscles primarily involved in these activities also receive the brunt of the work while the rest of your body is neglected. This can be true for any of the aerobic movements recommended by many fitness professionals to burn fat because it is a repetitive motion continued for long time periods for several times each week, affecting the same muscle groups.
Runners are a prime example. The pounding that this activity gives the joints associated (knees, etc.) can lead to injury from overusing that area. And because the lower body receives the brunt of the work, you are creating severe imbalances with other areas of your body. You’ll have to add more exercise to make up for this, and before you know it, you’ll be spending too much of your time devoted to workouts that were supposed to burn fat fast.
The good news is that you can avoid these problems entirely, and spend an average of 15-20 minutes, 2-3 days per week performing properly conducted intense resistance training to burn fat like you want to.
Students of my Fat Burning Furnace system know this and simultaneously burn fat, build muscle, strength, and lasting health with their efforts. So get off of the treadmill and get intense with resistance training…your body will show you the difference in your fat burning success, and thank you for it down the road.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Get A Great Fat Burning Workout Wherever You Are, Anytime
You’ve heard it a million times from people trying to burn fat, “I just don’t have time to get to the gym.” Well that really shouldn’t be a problem once you understand how you can get a proper fat burning workout done with basic or minimal equipment.
In order to get a great high intensity fat burning workout, like students of my Fat Burning Furnace system get….one that stimulates the growth of lean muscle tissue, accelerates your metabolism and fat burning, and provides cardiovascular conditioning…you need to perform a variety of exercises that work all of your major muscle groups in the same workout.
You have a few choices in what equipment to use. But I am here to tell you that you don’t need fancy equipment or a membership at the hot fitness center in your area. All that is really required for your fat burning workout is good old-fashioned barbells and/or dumbbells…or less. In fact, you can work your entire body from head to toe with a good set of adjustable dumbbells and a simple bench.
Keep this in your home and it takes very little space and is always accessible for those fat burning workouts you’d have to skip otherwise. After all, the proper workout I’m talking about averages about 15-20 minutes…but if you factor in the transit time to and from the gym, it can become more difficult to stick to your routine.
I highly recommend getting a basic setup at home for those times, or you can even use this exclusively. I personally always workout at home and it has its advantages. You don’t have to wait for the next station or machine on your routine at home. This is very important in relation to pulling the maximum cardiovascular benefits out of the same muscle building and fat burning workout…keeping your time between exercises down to 60 seconds or less.
Home workouts are also great for those that might be a bit intimidated by working out with weights in public at the gym. If you feel this way, don’t fret, you’re not alone. This is especially true for some of the ladies, as weight training is traditionally thought of as the guy’s territory in the fitness center. Nothing could be further from the truth, but if you’d rather perform you fat burning workout at home, then do it!
Another excuse for skipping workouts that I hear a lot is related to travel. For busy people, this is a reality. You go on business trips. You go on vacation. You go to visit out of town friends and family. Now, when working out properly, like I teach my Fat Burning Furnace students, you’re only exercising for 2-3 days per week, but if you’re workout day falls on a day when you’re out of town, what to do?
Yeah, you could try and find a local gym to go to, but that can be a hassle. There are actually several fat burning bodyweight exercises you can do without the use of any equipment.
Movements like the pushup, chin-ups, sit-ups, etc. can provide enough muscle stimulation to keep you conditioned until you get back home. You’re using your bodyweight as the resistance, rather than dumbbells, barbells, or machines.
So don’t let those standard excuses work their way into your vocabulary…you can get a great fat burning workout wherever you are, anytime!
In order to get a great high intensity fat burning workout, like students of my Fat Burning Furnace system get….one that stimulates the growth of lean muscle tissue, accelerates your metabolism and fat burning, and provides cardiovascular conditioning…you need to perform a variety of exercises that work all of your major muscle groups in the same workout.
You have a few choices in what equipment to use. But I am here to tell you that you don’t need fancy equipment or a membership at the hot fitness center in your area. All that is really required for your fat burning workout is good old-fashioned barbells and/or dumbbells…or less. In fact, you can work your entire body from head to toe with a good set of adjustable dumbbells and a simple bench.
Keep this in your home and it takes very little space and is always accessible for those fat burning workouts you’d have to skip otherwise. After all, the proper workout I’m talking about averages about 15-20 minutes…but if you factor in the transit time to and from the gym, it can become more difficult to stick to your routine.
I highly recommend getting a basic setup at home for those times, or you can even use this exclusively. I personally always workout at home and it has its advantages. You don’t have to wait for the next station or machine on your routine at home. This is very important in relation to pulling the maximum cardiovascular benefits out of the same muscle building and fat burning workout…keeping your time between exercises down to 60 seconds or less.
Home workouts are also great for those that might be a bit intimidated by working out with weights in public at the gym. If you feel this way, don’t fret, you’re not alone. This is especially true for some of the ladies, as weight training is traditionally thought of as the guy’s territory in the fitness center. Nothing could be further from the truth, but if you’d rather perform you fat burning workout at home, then do it!
Another excuse for skipping workouts that I hear a lot is related to travel. For busy people, this is a reality. You go on business trips. You go on vacation. You go to visit out of town friends and family. Now, when working out properly, like I teach my Fat Burning Furnace students, you’re only exercising for 2-3 days per week, but if you’re workout day falls on a day when you’re out of town, what to do?
Yeah, you could try and find a local gym to go to, but that can be a hassle. There are actually several fat burning bodyweight exercises you can do without the use of any equipment.
Movements like the pushup, chin-ups, sit-ups, etc. can provide enough muscle stimulation to keep you conditioned until you get back home. You’re using your bodyweight as the resistance, rather than dumbbells, barbells, or machines.
So don’t let those standard excuses work their way into your vocabulary…you can get a great fat burning workout wherever you are, anytime!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Is Your Fat Burning Exercise Routine Keeping You Fat And Unhealthy?
The majority of exercisers today still rely on long duration moderate paced aerobic exercise as their primary routine to burn fat fast. But recent studies have shown that this is a big, I mean big mistake. In fact, you could say that the whole aerobics explosion of a few decades past was one of the biggest mistakes in the health and fitness industry. Why?
There are several reasons, but I’ll focus on the two main issues here. When you exercise at a moderate pace for extended periods of time (as in the typically recommended percent of your target heart rate), your body is burning fat during the exercise. While this may sound good, it’s actually bad news.
This sends a signal to your body to keep a certain amount of stored fat available for your next workout. You’re essentially telling it that it needs fat available to burn, ‘because you’ll be doing this exercise again. So while we may be burning some calories during this exercise, after the exercise is over, our body begins storing up some fat for the next workout. Obviously not what we’re looking for in terms of maximum ability to burn fat fast.
The other big concern with moderately paced aerobic exercise performed several times per week is that it trains your body (heart, lungs, muscles, etc.) to become efficient. Again, this may sound good, but what is actually happening is bad for long term health. You are working only within your existing aerobic limits, without improving your aerobic capacity.
This is important because your aerobic capacity is what determines how your body responds in times of physical, emotional, and mental stress. If you reduce your capacity for work, as you do in this type of exercise, you’re reducing your long term health, no to mention a poor chance of burning fat.
The good news is, you can reverse these effects by instead focusing your workouts on high intensity resistance training, with workouts that last 15-20 minutes on average, and can only be performed 2-3 times per week.
These workouts will burn carbohydrates instead of fat during the workout, and will cause your body to use its fat stores to replenish the burned carbs over the next 24 hours, after the workout is done! This type of work will also increase your reserve capacity and thus your ability to handle all types of stress, leading to lasting health and fitness...and 24/7 fat burning. Nice!
But the exercise must be performed correctly to be effective, and that means using sufficient intensity, and keeping your rest periods between exercises and sets down to 60 seconds or less.
The students of my Fat Burning Furnace method know this, and are reaping the benefits. When you think about how little time you have to spend compared to the typically recommended methods to get these fat burning and health creating results, it’s almost magical.
There are several reasons, but I’ll focus on the two main issues here. When you exercise at a moderate pace for extended periods of time (as in the typically recommended percent of your target heart rate), your body is burning fat during the exercise. While this may sound good, it’s actually bad news.
This sends a signal to your body to keep a certain amount of stored fat available for your next workout. You’re essentially telling it that it needs fat available to burn, ‘because you’ll be doing this exercise again. So while we may be burning some calories during this exercise, after the exercise is over, our body begins storing up some fat for the next workout. Obviously not what we’re looking for in terms of maximum ability to burn fat fast.
The other big concern with moderately paced aerobic exercise performed several times per week is that it trains your body (heart, lungs, muscles, etc.) to become efficient. Again, this may sound good, but what is actually happening is bad for long term health. You are working only within your existing aerobic limits, without improving your aerobic capacity.
This is important because your aerobic capacity is what determines how your body responds in times of physical, emotional, and mental stress. If you reduce your capacity for work, as you do in this type of exercise, you’re reducing your long term health, no to mention a poor chance of burning fat.
The good news is, you can reverse these effects by instead focusing your workouts on high intensity resistance training, with workouts that last 15-20 minutes on average, and can only be performed 2-3 times per week.
These workouts will burn carbohydrates instead of fat during the workout, and will cause your body to use its fat stores to replenish the burned carbs over the next 24 hours, after the workout is done! This type of work will also increase your reserve capacity and thus your ability to handle all types of stress, leading to lasting health and fitness...and 24/7 fat burning. Nice!
But the exercise must be performed correctly to be effective, and that means using sufficient intensity, and keeping your rest periods between exercises and sets down to 60 seconds or less.
The students of my Fat Burning Furnace method know this, and are reaping the benefits. When you think about how little time you have to spend compared to the typically recommended methods to get these fat burning and health creating results, it’s almost magical.
Monday, August 24, 2009
3 Vital Principles You Must Know To Burn Fat Faster
By now, most people realize that adding lean muscle mass to your body does wonders for your metabolism and fat loss, as well as a host of other benefits that allow you to live out your life as healthy as possible.
Unfortunately, most people I see performing weight training or resistance training at the gym are spending too much time with the exercise and not working hard enough. They're not going to burn very much fat this way.
The secret I’ve found is that training for lean muscle and strength requires the proper application of three vital elements that are often ignored by those who attempt it. Those three elements are:
-Intensity
-Volume & Frequency
-Progression
The intensity is how hard it is to perform for you, given your current condition. The volume and frequency are how much and how often you perform the exercise. The progression is related to how much the demands increase from workout to workout.
Most times, weight training, is carried on for too long and performed too many times per week. It is unfortunately treated much the same way as so-called fat burning aerobic exercise. But they are vastly different forms of exercise. In fact, they’re complete opposites.
Aerobic exercise typically is characterized by low to moderate intensity, high volume and frequency, and little progression. Anaerobic exercise, or weight training, must be performed at a high intensity, lower volume and frequency, and with progression to be as effective as possible.
No amount of weight training performed at a low or moderate intensity will provide significant muscle or strength building benefit beyond the first few weeks. On a high level view, it is simply the combination of sufficient intensity, coupled with attempting to increase either the number of repetitions of a weight training exercise or the amount of weight used each and every workout that will keep your body evolving into the ultimate fat burning machine!
You also have to pay attention to other details when creating an effective and efficient routine to maximize your workout and minimize your time spent in the gym. Why? Because perhaps even more important that the workout itself is the rest period that follows. You’re not going to get stronger or more muscular if you don’t rest.
You see, when you strength train properly, you are creating tiny injuries to your muscles. You then have to let the body repair itself, and then overcompensate and build upon the already existing amount of muscle mass you have. If you workout again before that process in completed, you’ll experience lackluster, if any, muscle building or fat burning results.
So make sure to get proper rest between workouts, which typically means a minimum of 1 to 3 full days of rest between properly executed resistance workouts.
Now upon hearing the idea that you’ve got add muscle to your body to ensure the maximum fat burning environment, a lot of people, women especially, start thinking, “But I don’t want to get bigger, I want to lose weight!” But this is such a shame, because it’s very unlikely to happen, and countless women are losing out on these fat burning benefits because of it.
You see, most men and almost all women simply lack the necessary genetic traits required to produce such muscle gains that would cause them to look bulky or overly-developed to most people. These traits include testosterone levels, muscle fiber makeup, muscle belly length, and others.
Those competitive bodybuilders you’ve seen on TV and in the magazines are the genetic cream of the crop for muscle development and they are typically on heavy doses of anabolic steroids, growth hormone, and other bodybuilding drugs. Don’t be fooled by these images, or those that scare you into thinking this way. Also, lean muscle is more compact that fat, as it takes up less space in your body, so you will actually be getting smaller when replacing the fat on your body with lean muscle.
Please understand that you’re putting yourself in the best position to succeed with your fat loss and fitness goals when you perform properly conducted intense resistance training, no matter who you are.
But make sure you understand and apply the three critical principles I discussed above. If you don’t, you’ll ultimately be unhappy with your results, both in your ability to burn fat and realize the lean, strong, and healthy body you deserve.
Unfortunately, most people I see performing weight training or resistance training at the gym are spending too much time with the exercise and not working hard enough. They're not going to burn very much fat this way.
The secret I’ve found is that training for lean muscle and strength requires the proper application of three vital elements that are often ignored by those who attempt it. Those three elements are:
-Intensity
-Volume & Frequency
-Progression
The intensity is how hard it is to perform for you, given your current condition. The volume and frequency are how much and how often you perform the exercise. The progression is related to how much the demands increase from workout to workout.
Most times, weight training, is carried on for too long and performed too many times per week. It is unfortunately treated much the same way as so-called fat burning aerobic exercise. But they are vastly different forms of exercise. In fact, they’re complete opposites.
Aerobic exercise typically is characterized by low to moderate intensity, high volume and frequency, and little progression. Anaerobic exercise, or weight training, must be performed at a high intensity, lower volume and frequency, and with progression to be as effective as possible.
No amount of weight training performed at a low or moderate intensity will provide significant muscle or strength building benefit beyond the first few weeks. On a high level view, it is simply the combination of sufficient intensity, coupled with attempting to increase either the number of repetitions of a weight training exercise or the amount of weight used each and every workout that will keep your body evolving into the ultimate fat burning machine!
You also have to pay attention to other details when creating an effective and efficient routine to maximize your workout and minimize your time spent in the gym. Why? Because perhaps even more important that the workout itself is the rest period that follows. You’re not going to get stronger or more muscular if you don’t rest.
You see, when you strength train properly, you are creating tiny injuries to your muscles. You then have to let the body repair itself, and then overcompensate and build upon the already existing amount of muscle mass you have. If you workout again before that process in completed, you’ll experience lackluster, if any, muscle building or fat burning results.
So make sure to get proper rest between workouts, which typically means a minimum of 1 to 3 full days of rest between properly executed resistance workouts.
Now upon hearing the idea that you’ve got add muscle to your body to ensure the maximum fat burning environment, a lot of people, women especially, start thinking, “But I don’t want to get bigger, I want to lose weight!” But this is such a shame, because it’s very unlikely to happen, and countless women are losing out on these fat burning benefits because of it.
You see, most men and almost all women simply lack the necessary genetic traits required to produce such muscle gains that would cause them to look bulky or overly-developed to most people. These traits include testosterone levels, muscle fiber makeup, muscle belly length, and others.
Those competitive bodybuilders you’ve seen on TV and in the magazines are the genetic cream of the crop for muscle development and they are typically on heavy doses of anabolic steroids, growth hormone, and other bodybuilding drugs. Don’t be fooled by these images, or those that scare you into thinking this way. Also, lean muscle is more compact that fat, as it takes up less space in your body, so you will actually be getting smaller when replacing the fat on your body with lean muscle.
Please understand that you’re putting yourself in the best position to succeed with your fat loss and fitness goals when you perform properly conducted intense resistance training, no matter who you are.
But make sure you understand and apply the three critical principles I discussed above. If you don’t, you’ll ultimately be unhappy with your results, both in your ability to burn fat and realize the lean, strong, and healthy body you deserve.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The Best Way To Fire Up Your Metabolism, Burn Fat Fast & Developing Lasting Health
Ask ten people what type of exercise they should be doing to burn fat and fire up their metabolism and they’ll all probably tell you the same thing. They’ll tell you that you need to do 30-40 minutes of moderately-paced aerobic exercise on a treadmill, elliptical machine, stair climber, etc. for 3-5 times per week.
They’ll probably also tell you that more is better…4 times per week would be better than 3, and 5 times per week would be even better.
People will tell you this because that’s been and continues to be the mainstream recommendation for fat burning by many fitness professionals. Get in a certain target heart rate and stay at that heart rate for 30 minutes or so, several times per week. I am here to tell you there is a better way.
Sure, you’ll burn some calories while you’re running to nowhere on a treadmill, but you won’t make a complete physique transformation with this type of exercise alone.
In fact, this type of exercise can actually be counterproductive to burning fat. Here are just a couple of reasons:
Long duration, lower intensity aerobics calls upon your stored body fat for energy during the sessions. While this may sound good, this can actually cause your body to create more body fat in reserve after the workout is over to have ready for your next workout. Yikes!
What's worse, this type of exercise when done frequently as typically suggested, trains your cardiovascular system to be efficient. Again, while this sounds good, your heart and lungs can actually reduce their capacity for work as they are getting more efficient at doing easy work (your long duration, low intensity aerobic workouts), which reduces their ability to handle stress.
This can lead to a host of other problems including higher change of heart attack. You are only working within your current aerobic capacity because you're never challenging it to go beyond what it's capable of. And anything that is easy will not yield results even close to what’s challenging for the body to accomplish.
Instead, you should be challenging the body to increase its capacity, so that it is stronger and able to deal with stress more easily. How is this done?
The fastest and most efficient way to rev up your metabolism, burn fat faster, and develop lifelong health and fitness is to add lean muscle to your body through resistance training - period. You want life changing results in the quickest possible time? Get stronger and build some muscle. When you add lean muscle to your body you’ll be literally turning your body into a fat burning machine!
Let’s say that you were eating the amount of calories that allow you to maintain your current bodyweight, but began to add lean muscle to your body through proper resistance training…you’ll need to use some of those calories you’re eating to feed the new muscle, creating a calorie deficit in your body.
In addition, when you stimulate your body with proper resistance training like I teach my students, the repair and growth process will call upon your stored body fat for energy. This calorie deficit combined with the repair and growth process will allow you to burn fat all day long, every day. You’ll even get these fat burning effects when you’re sitting around doing nothing at all.
Also, properly conducted resistance training actually increases your heart and lung's capacity for work. By placing intense demands on your body, it is forced into being ready for anything you throw at it. This makes you more resistant to cardiovascular health problems that plague most people...even those that exercise with aerobics frequently.
And the beauty is I’ve discovered that you don’t have to spend much time working out to get the fat loss effects, and strength and muscle gains that will create this environment…you can actually get it done with 2 or 3 weekly workouts that last between 20 and 30 minutes, and even less time at an advanced level.
And it’s easy to make this type of exercise part of your life because of its efficiency…and it will help keep you lean and healthy for the rest of it...muscle is the stuff that fat burning furnaces are made of! That I can promise you.
They’ll probably also tell you that more is better…4 times per week would be better than 3, and 5 times per week would be even better.
People will tell you this because that’s been and continues to be the mainstream recommendation for fat burning by many fitness professionals. Get in a certain target heart rate and stay at that heart rate for 30 minutes or so, several times per week. I am here to tell you there is a better way.
Sure, you’ll burn some calories while you’re running to nowhere on a treadmill, but you won’t make a complete physique transformation with this type of exercise alone.
In fact, this type of exercise can actually be counterproductive to burning fat. Here are just a couple of reasons:
Long duration, lower intensity aerobics calls upon your stored body fat for energy during the sessions. While this may sound good, this can actually cause your body to create more body fat in reserve after the workout is over to have ready for your next workout. Yikes!
What's worse, this type of exercise when done frequently as typically suggested, trains your cardiovascular system to be efficient. Again, while this sounds good, your heart and lungs can actually reduce their capacity for work as they are getting more efficient at doing easy work (your long duration, low intensity aerobic workouts), which reduces their ability to handle stress.
This can lead to a host of other problems including higher change of heart attack. You are only working within your current aerobic capacity because you're never challenging it to go beyond what it's capable of. And anything that is easy will not yield results even close to what’s challenging for the body to accomplish.
Instead, you should be challenging the body to increase its capacity, so that it is stronger and able to deal with stress more easily. How is this done?
The fastest and most efficient way to rev up your metabolism, burn fat faster, and develop lifelong health and fitness is to add lean muscle to your body through resistance training - period. You want life changing results in the quickest possible time? Get stronger and build some muscle. When you add lean muscle to your body you’ll be literally turning your body into a fat burning machine!
Let’s say that you were eating the amount of calories that allow you to maintain your current bodyweight, but began to add lean muscle to your body through proper resistance training…you’ll need to use some of those calories you’re eating to feed the new muscle, creating a calorie deficit in your body.
In addition, when you stimulate your body with proper resistance training like I teach my students, the repair and growth process will call upon your stored body fat for energy. This calorie deficit combined with the repair and growth process will allow you to burn fat all day long, every day. You’ll even get these fat burning effects when you’re sitting around doing nothing at all.
Also, properly conducted resistance training actually increases your heart and lung's capacity for work. By placing intense demands on your body, it is forced into being ready for anything you throw at it. This makes you more resistant to cardiovascular health problems that plague most people...even those that exercise with aerobics frequently.
And the beauty is I’ve discovered that you don’t have to spend much time working out to get the fat loss effects, and strength and muscle gains that will create this environment…you can actually get it done with 2 or 3 weekly workouts that last between 20 and 30 minutes, and even less time at an advanced level.
And it’s easy to make this type of exercise part of your life because of its efficiency…and it will help keep you lean and healthy for the rest of it...muscle is the stuff that fat burning furnaces are made of! That I can promise you.
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