It’s reader mail time!
Here is one of the most common questions I get and the way I always respond to it.
Q: I eat right and I workout all the time, but I’m not losing fat. What else can I do, or what am I doing wrong?
A: I get this question all the time and it’s a very, very frustrating situation to be in to say the least.
You think you’re doing everything right, and the scale isn’t moving.
First you have to ask yourself if your clothes are fitting better. If they are, then don’t even worry about the scale because the number on the scale will begin to fall if you notice your clothes getting loose in the places you want.
If that’s not the case, you really need to examine what you say you’re doing “right.”
You say you’re eating right, but what does that mean?
That usually means there’s something you’re not understanding or are you’re just lying to yourself.
I don’t mean to be rude, but if you truly do eat “right”, then there’s no reason you should be maintaining your current weight (if you want to lose). If you were really eating the way you should if you want to lose fat (and you’re overweight), and the scale isn’t moving, then you should probably become some sort of lab rat for the UN because you could solve world hunger.
I would never outright call someone a liar. I just think that you may be misunderstanding what it means to eat to lose fat. There’s a lot of misinformation out there and sometimes what seems like the most common sense approach is actually the worst approach.
So let’s see if I can solve your dilemma right now.
Does “eating right” mean you eat like a bird, if you eat at all, most of the day, then eat a huge meal at night?
If so, there’s your problem right there. You can’t eat little to nothing for a good portion of the day, then eat a huge meal later on. Your body doesn’t work that way. If you consume more calories in one sitting than your body can use, the remainder will get stored as fat. It really is that simple.
Eat over 1000 calories in one sitting (which is very easy to do), then count on a good chunk of those calories going right to your gut, butt, thighs or chest as fat.
Or maybe you’ve got some hidden calories in the form of sauces, salad dressings, coffee drinks, soda/pop/cola, sweetened teas, breads, etc.
Most of those things that I just mentioned are loaded with calories and you wouldn’t normally even think of them because they’re not your “main dish”, they’re add-ons. But believe me when I tell you that salad dressings and sauces WILL turn a fat fighting meal into a fat gaining meal.
Read the label, don’t douse your food with the stuff, and switch to low calorie versions.
If you drink those calorie bomb coffee drinks, cut them out. There’s no place for them if you’re trying to lose fat. Many of them can be well over 600 calories.
The other thing it could be is portion sizes. Most people under-estimate their portions by around 25%. That one thing right there could be your whole problem.
You may think you’re consuming around 2000 calories per day, when in actuality you may be consuming 2500.
If all else is equal, that could mean a pound of fat gain per week, or if you understand that and fix it, it could mean a pound of fat loss per week. It really is that simple and it’s your choice.
The last thing I’ll cover today is the weekend.
I know people who eat perfectly all week long, then when Friday night rolls around…everything gets thrown out the window and on comes the beer, fast food, junk food, etc.
That will ruin your fat loss plans and you should count yourself lucky if you’re even maintaining your current weight rather than gaining fat.
To succeed on the weekends, you’ve got to treat it as if they were any other day. Sure you can relax a little bit, but if you’re trying to lose fat, you have to maintain some discipline.
Remember what you’re trying to accomplish?
So before you tell someone that you’re eating right, exercising, and doing all the right things and the scale isn’t moving, you really need take a long hard look at how you’re actually eating.
Have a good day!
Ed
P.S. – My Fat Loss To Go program comes with a Nutrition eBook that covers all the healthy, fat fighting eating habits you should be doing, plus it tells you what things to avoid and how to eat to lose fat. It’s not some sort of fad diet, it’s eating to live and eating to fight fat rather than starving yourself or going on some goofy fad diet. Check it out at www.fatlosstogo.com
Monday, June 30, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Yesterday I gave you a quick abs workout you can do after your normal workout in an effort to help you get rid of your gut.
Well last week I filmed a couple videos showing you a couple more quick abs workouts.
Remember that you’re supposed to do these after your regular workout.
You should also do them in a circuit format, meaning you move from one exercise to the next without resting until you get to the last exercise.
Then you should rest for 20-30 seconds and repeat the circuit 2 or 3 more times (or less depending upon how much free time you have).
If you do these workouts correctly, your abs should be screaming!
Check the videos out below:
Give those mini-circuits a try after your next workout!
Have a good day!
Ed
P.S. - Don't forget that I've got an abs workout bonus that comes with my Fat Loss To Go program. It's filled with more workouts just like those 2 and the one I sent you yesterday. Check it out at www.fatlosstogo.com
Well last week I filmed a couple videos showing you a couple more quick abs workouts.
Remember that you’re supposed to do these after your regular workout.
You should also do them in a circuit format, meaning you move from one exercise to the next without resting until you get to the last exercise.
Then you should rest for 20-30 seconds and repeat the circuit 2 or 3 more times (or less depending upon how much free time you have).
If you do these workouts correctly, your abs should be screaming!
Check the videos out below:
Give those mini-circuits a try after your next workout!
Have a good day!
Ed
P.S. - Don't forget that I've got an abs workout bonus that comes with my Fat Loss To Go program. It's filled with more workouts just like those 2 and the one I sent you yesterday. Check it out at www.fatlosstogo.com
Monday, June 23, 2008
Quick Abs Workout To Help You Lose Stomach Fat
Do you have too much stomach fat? Do you want to lose stomach fat?
Is that a stupid question? I think it probably is. Why would you be reading this if you have a six-pack or flat stomach that’s the envy of everyone around you?
But how do you get that flat stomach? Do you need to do more crunches or use that stupid abs exercise gizmo from the infomercials to lose stomach fat?
In short…No!!
You need to stop doing so many crunches and put your credit card back in your wallet and stop buying those worthless pieces of metal and plastic in the form of 3 easy payments.
Those models don’t use those things to get their ripped abs or flat, sexy stomachs.
So what are you supposed to do?
Besides eating lots of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole-grains, legumes and nuts?
Besides doing full body resistance training workouts and interval training?
You can add mini-circuits like the one I’m going to show you below to help burn stomach fat and get the abs of your dreams.
After your normal full-body resistance training workout or interval training I want you to perform the following mini-circuit.
Do the exercises one after the other with little to no rest until after you’ve done the third exercise. Then you can rest for 30 seconds and repeat the circuit 2-3 more times.
Remember to perform the exercises slow and in a controlled manner
1A) Stability Ball Jack Knife – 10 reps
1B) Reverse Crunch – 15 reps
1C) Plank – 60 seconds
In case you don’t know how to do the exercises, here’s a quick run-through.
Jack Knife – Roll out on a stability ball so your hands are on the floor and your feet are on the ball. Your body should be in a straight line and stomach tight. Pull the ball toward your by bending your knees, and contracting your abs. Then slowly return the ball back to the starting position.
Reverse crunch – Lie on your back on the floor with your knees and hips bent at 90 degree angles. Contract your abs and bring your knees toward your head. This is the important part…to really work your abs you have to curl your hips off the floor as you bring your knees in. If you don’t, you won’t work your abs. Slowly return to the starting position.
Plank – Lie on the floor in the top push-up position. Then lower your body and place your forearms on the floor so only your forearms and toes are on the floor and your body is in a straight line. Hold that position, keeping your stomach and butt tight for the prescribed time.
Do that mini-circuit 3-4 times per week and I guarantee that after 4 weeks you’ll see noticeable results in your stomach. You’ll lose stomach fat, your pants will fit better and you won’t have as much back pain.
Have a good day!
Ed
P.S. - If you liked that quick abs workout, check out my Fat Loss To Go program. One of the free bonuses is an eBook dedicated entirely to quick ab workouts that are meant to be done after your normal workout. Check it out at www.fatlosstogo.com
Is that a stupid question? I think it probably is. Why would you be reading this if you have a six-pack or flat stomach that’s the envy of everyone around you?
But how do you get that flat stomach? Do you need to do more crunches or use that stupid abs exercise gizmo from the infomercials to lose stomach fat?
In short…No!!
You need to stop doing so many crunches and put your credit card back in your wallet and stop buying those worthless pieces of metal and plastic in the form of 3 easy payments.
Those models don’t use those things to get their ripped abs or flat, sexy stomachs.
So what are you supposed to do?
Besides eating lots of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole-grains, legumes and nuts?
Besides doing full body resistance training workouts and interval training?
You can add mini-circuits like the one I’m going to show you below to help burn stomach fat and get the abs of your dreams.
After your normal full-body resistance training workout or interval training I want you to perform the following mini-circuit.
Do the exercises one after the other with little to no rest until after you’ve done the third exercise. Then you can rest for 30 seconds and repeat the circuit 2-3 more times.
Remember to perform the exercises slow and in a controlled manner
1A) Stability Ball Jack Knife – 10 reps
1B) Reverse Crunch – 15 reps
1C) Plank – 60 seconds
In case you don’t know how to do the exercises, here’s a quick run-through.
Jack Knife – Roll out on a stability ball so your hands are on the floor and your feet are on the ball. Your body should be in a straight line and stomach tight. Pull the ball toward your by bending your knees, and contracting your abs. Then slowly return the ball back to the starting position.
Reverse crunch – Lie on your back on the floor with your knees and hips bent at 90 degree angles. Contract your abs and bring your knees toward your head. This is the important part…to really work your abs you have to curl your hips off the floor as you bring your knees in. If you don’t, you won’t work your abs. Slowly return to the starting position.
Plank – Lie on the floor in the top push-up position. Then lower your body and place your forearms on the floor so only your forearms and toes are on the floor and your body is in a straight line. Hold that position, keeping your stomach and butt tight for the prescribed time.
Do that mini-circuit 3-4 times per week and I guarantee that after 4 weeks you’ll see noticeable results in your stomach. You’ll lose stomach fat, your pants will fit better and you won’t have as much back pain.
Have a good day!
Ed
P.S. - If you liked that quick abs workout, check out my Fat Loss To Go program. One of the free bonuses is an eBook dedicated entirely to quick ab workouts that are meant to be done after your normal workout. Check it out at www.fatlosstogo.com
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Can You Save Calories In Order To Eat More Later In The Day?
Last weekend Andrea and I were out with my sisters and brothers-in-law for dinner and drinks (yes I, the personal trainer, has drinks on the weekend...I'm not a total health nut).
That's when I heard it.
It's something I've heard from clients before, but I thought I had taught my family better.
It's something a lot of people do and think they're helping themselves, when in actuality they're hurting their fat loss goals.
My sister said that she didn't eat very much earlier in the day so she could eat worse later in the day.
She thought she was "saving calories" by not eating them earlier and that would make it OK to eat more with dinner.
In my sister's defense a lot of people think this and put this into practice quite often.
Unfortunately that's not the way your body works.
You can't eat little to nothing early in the day and then eat lots of calories later in the day.
Sure you may think you came in "under" on total calories for the day, but that's not even the case.
Most meals/drinks eaten when this rationale is taken are thousands of calories in total, not hundreds.
Heavy meals like pastas, sandwiches with lots of sauces or melted cheeses, foofy foofy alcoholic drinks and desserts that are loaded with so many calories they'd make the guy who takes 5 trips to the buffet line stop and shake his head.
Plus your body just doesn't understand the thought of "saving calories."
Your body can only process so many calories at once and if you consume more calories than your body can process at one time, the remainder will more than likely get stored as body fat.
Stored in the form of stomach fat, hip and thigh fat, butt fat, man boobs for the fellas or bra fat for the ladies.
Please don't misunderstand.
I'm not saying you can't treat yourself every now and again. You should treat yourself on a regular basis if you're on a fat loss plan. It helps keep you sane and looking forward to something so you don't splurge.
All I'm saying is that you can't skip meals or eat like a rabbit for part of the day in the hopes of "saving calories" for some event or meal later on in the day.
It won't matter and might even make you gain more fat.
So the next time you have that thought, block it out and keep eating normally (healthfully) and allow yourself a couple treats rather than going crazy and feasting like it's your last meal.
If you've working out with consistency and eating healthy fat fighting foods the majority of the time, the occasional treats won't derail you.
Have a good day!
Ed
P.S. - If you need to know what a good, healthy, fat fighting day looks like and all the fat loss nutrition information you need - not some fad diet - check out my Fat Loss To Go program at www.fatlosstogo.com You'll find all the workouts you'll ever need, plus all the healthy fat fighting habits needed to lose fat and keep it off...without turning yourself into the "no fun person" at the party who won't eat cake or have a drink.
That's when I heard it.
It's something I've heard from clients before, but I thought I had taught my family better.
It's something a lot of people do and think they're helping themselves, when in actuality they're hurting their fat loss goals.
My sister said that she didn't eat very much earlier in the day so she could eat worse later in the day.
She thought she was "saving calories" by not eating them earlier and that would make it OK to eat more with dinner.
In my sister's defense a lot of people think this and put this into practice quite often.
Unfortunately that's not the way your body works.
You can't eat little to nothing early in the day and then eat lots of calories later in the day.
Sure you may think you came in "under" on total calories for the day, but that's not even the case.
Most meals/drinks eaten when this rationale is taken are thousands of calories in total, not hundreds.
Heavy meals like pastas, sandwiches with lots of sauces or melted cheeses, foofy foofy alcoholic drinks and desserts that are loaded with so many calories they'd make the guy who takes 5 trips to the buffet line stop and shake his head.
Plus your body just doesn't understand the thought of "saving calories."
Your body can only process so many calories at once and if you consume more calories than your body can process at one time, the remainder will more than likely get stored as body fat.
Stored in the form of stomach fat, hip and thigh fat, butt fat, man boobs for the fellas or bra fat for the ladies.
Please don't misunderstand.
I'm not saying you can't treat yourself every now and again. You should treat yourself on a regular basis if you're on a fat loss plan. It helps keep you sane and looking forward to something so you don't splurge.
All I'm saying is that you can't skip meals or eat like a rabbit for part of the day in the hopes of "saving calories" for some event or meal later on in the day.
It won't matter and might even make you gain more fat.
So the next time you have that thought, block it out and keep eating normally (healthfully) and allow yourself a couple treats rather than going crazy and feasting like it's your last meal.
If you've working out with consistency and eating healthy fat fighting foods the majority of the time, the occasional treats won't derail you.
Have a good day!
Ed
P.S. - If you need to know what a good, healthy, fat fighting day looks like and all the fat loss nutrition information you need - not some fad diet - check out my Fat Loss To Go program at www.fatlosstogo.com You'll find all the workouts you'll ever need, plus all the healthy fat fighting habits needed to lose fat and keep it off...without turning yourself into the "no fun person" at the party who won't eat cake or have a drink.
What If You Woke Up This Morning With Your Ideal Body?
I want you to do something for me.
I want you to close your eyes...well, on second thought, don't close your eyes because then you won't be able to finish reading this. So, just imagine you wake up in the morning, head to the bathroom to start getting ready for the day and when you look in the mirror you notice that you have suddenly been given your ideal body.
No longer do you have the extra cushion around your midsection that you've been wanting to get rid of. No longer is your posture all slumped over.
You have what, in your eyes, is your ideal body.
Do you have that picture in your head?
Good.
Now, I want you to think about how you would act if you had that ideal body. Not how you would act towards other people. I don't want you to say that you'd go show your new body off to an ex, or go parading around town in your tightie whities. All good thoughts, I assure you, but I want to keep your mind focused on something else.
I want you to think about how you would eat. Would you eat differently because you want to maintain your new physique? Would you eat more fresh fruits and vegetables because you know that would help you maintain your ideal body? Would you eat more protein and fiber and get rid of all the junk?
What about exercise?
Would you workout more often to maintain your fat free body? Would you do more resistance training to keep that newfound muscle?
Do you see where I'm going with this?
I'll put it another way. There's what's known, or thought to be known, as the "Curse of the Lottery". Something about how when people win the lottery, and get all the money, that their lives turn out worse than before they had all the money. Somehow this blessing turns into a curse.
I don't think it's a "curse", rather I think it's just that the people who won that money don't know how to handle it. They do stupid things with the money, and don't save anything, and oftentimes end up with less than they started with. Or their friends and family disown them because they expected so much.
The same thing would happen to a lot of people if they woke up one day with their ideal body, rather than working for it. They wouldn't know how to handle that new physique and would go back to eating however they wanted, and pretty soon, that new "ideal physique" would be gone.
If you want to attain that ideal physique, and lose that fat, you must eat to lose fat and exercise to lose fat.
You need to do resistance training, using full body workouts, 3 times per week and you must do cardio, in the form of interval training, 2-3 times per week.
You must also eat lots of fruits and veggies, lean sources of protein, and quality carbohydrates while limiting processed carbohydrates, sodas, coffee drinks, chips, alcohol, white bread, etc.
Only then can you get your ideal physique...and keep it.
Have a good day!
Ed
P.S. - If you need help attaining that ideal physique, check out my Fat Loss To Go program. It's a 16 week fat loss program designed specifically for busy men and women and can be done out of the comfort of your own home. Check it out at www.fatlosstogo.com
I want you to close your eyes...well, on second thought, don't close your eyes because then you won't be able to finish reading this. So, just imagine you wake up in the morning, head to the bathroom to start getting ready for the day and when you look in the mirror you notice that you have suddenly been given your ideal body.
No longer do you have the extra cushion around your midsection that you've been wanting to get rid of. No longer is your posture all slumped over.
You have what, in your eyes, is your ideal body.
Do you have that picture in your head?
Good.
Now, I want you to think about how you would act if you had that ideal body. Not how you would act towards other people. I don't want you to say that you'd go show your new body off to an ex, or go parading around town in your tightie whities. All good thoughts, I assure you, but I want to keep your mind focused on something else.
I want you to think about how you would eat. Would you eat differently because you want to maintain your new physique? Would you eat more fresh fruits and vegetables because you know that would help you maintain your ideal body? Would you eat more protein and fiber and get rid of all the junk?
What about exercise?
Would you workout more often to maintain your fat free body? Would you do more resistance training to keep that newfound muscle?
Do you see where I'm going with this?
I'll put it another way. There's what's known, or thought to be known, as the "Curse of the Lottery". Something about how when people win the lottery, and get all the money, that their lives turn out worse than before they had all the money. Somehow this blessing turns into a curse.
I don't think it's a "curse", rather I think it's just that the people who won that money don't know how to handle it. They do stupid things with the money, and don't save anything, and oftentimes end up with less than they started with. Or their friends and family disown them because they expected so much.
The same thing would happen to a lot of people if they woke up one day with their ideal body, rather than working for it. They wouldn't know how to handle that new physique and would go back to eating however they wanted, and pretty soon, that new "ideal physique" would be gone.
If you want to attain that ideal physique, and lose that fat, you must eat to lose fat and exercise to lose fat.
You need to do resistance training, using full body workouts, 3 times per week and you must do cardio, in the form of interval training, 2-3 times per week.
You must also eat lots of fruits and veggies, lean sources of protein, and quality carbohydrates while limiting processed carbohydrates, sodas, coffee drinks, chips, alcohol, white bread, etc.
Only then can you get your ideal physique...and keep it.
Have a good day!
Ed
P.S. - If you need help attaining that ideal physique, check out my Fat Loss To Go program. It's a 16 week fat loss program designed specifically for busy men and women and can be done out of the comfort of your own home. Check it out at www.fatlosstogo.com
Monday, June 16, 2008
Busy Mom Fat Loss Tips
I think the term “busy mom” is really an idiotic statement. If you’re a mom isn’t it assumed that you’re busy?
I can’t think of any mom who wasn’t working her hands to the bone taking care of her family. It just kind of comes with the territory.
Unfortunately, this often doesn’t include much time for yourself when it comes to taking care of your body and fat loss.
Many of my training clients are busy moms trying to lose fat and they all want to know how to fit fat loss workouts into their busy days and nights.
The good thing is that it’s not as difficult as you think to fit effective fat loss workouts into your busy days.
You just need to follow these tips.
1) Stop following the fat loss workouts you find in the women’s magazines from the checkout counter. Most of those fat loss workouts are designed by people who don’t actually train people, let alone busy moms who have limited time to lose fat if they can even make it to the gym.
Plus they load those workouts up with goofy exercises that some gymnasts wouldn’t be able to do, or spend the whole time dealing with “isolation” exercises that when done need at least 45-60 minutes of gym time.
You need to start following a fat loss program that is designed to be done quickly and from the comfort of your own home. The program needs to focus on movements that get your whole body moving in order to lose fat. Movements like push-ups, squats, lunges, and full body ab exercises rather than thousands of crunches.
It should have you in and out of the gym in less than 20 minutes or make it so you can do it from home.
Your free time is precious. Do you really want to spend what little you have loading the kids up to head to the gym, driving there, working out, then loading the kids back up to commute home?
2) Stop trying to do cardio for 60-90 minutes per day. I don’t even want you to think about that anymore. It’s just not feasible for a busy mom who wants to lose fat to try to do slow, boring cardio for that long.
Rather you need to start doing interval training for your cardio. You’ll get done a lot quicker, and burn a lot more fat.
As a matter of fact, much of the cardio I have my female clients perform gets them done in less than 20 minutes and they lose a lot more fat than by doing it my way than they had in the years of doing long, boring, monotonous bouts of cardio.
3) Stop eating like you’re a kid. Most moms I know gained weight after their kids were born because they would eat what their kids didn’t. If their child didn’t eat all of his hot dog, she finished it for him. Or, if she was making cookies for the kids, she would eat just as much, if not more than the kids.
You have to stop doing this to yourself if you really want to lose fat.
Instead you need to focus on eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean sources of protein like chicken and turkey breast, soy, almonds, salmon, etc. while cutting out processed carbohydrates, which basically means anything found in a bag or box.
Have a good day!
Ed
P.S. - My Fat Loss To Go program is an excellent source for moms on the go who are looking to lose fat...and lose it quickly. The workouts only take about 15 minutes to complete plus one of the free bonuses is a whole load of 10 minute workouts. Check it out at www.fatlosstogo.com
I can’t think of any mom who wasn’t working her hands to the bone taking care of her family. It just kind of comes with the territory.
Unfortunately, this often doesn’t include much time for yourself when it comes to taking care of your body and fat loss.
Many of my training clients are busy moms trying to lose fat and they all want to know how to fit fat loss workouts into their busy days and nights.
The good thing is that it’s not as difficult as you think to fit effective fat loss workouts into your busy days.
You just need to follow these tips.
1) Stop following the fat loss workouts you find in the women’s magazines from the checkout counter. Most of those fat loss workouts are designed by people who don’t actually train people, let alone busy moms who have limited time to lose fat if they can even make it to the gym.
Plus they load those workouts up with goofy exercises that some gymnasts wouldn’t be able to do, or spend the whole time dealing with “isolation” exercises that when done need at least 45-60 minutes of gym time.
You need to start following a fat loss program that is designed to be done quickly and from the comfort of your own home. The program needs to focus on movements that get your whole body moving in order to lose fat. Movements like push-ups, squats, lunges, and full body ab exercises rather than thousands of crunches.
It should have you in and out of the gym in less than 20 minutes or make it so you can do it from home.
Your free time is precious. Do you really want to spend what little you have loading the kids up to head to the gym, driving there, working out, then loading the kids back up to commute home?
2) Stop trying to do cardio for 60-90 minutes per day. I don’t even want you to think about that anymore. It’s just not feasible for a busy mom who wants to lose fat to try to do slow, boring cardio for that long.
Rather you need to start doing interval training for your cardio. You’ll get done a lot quicker, and burn a lot more fat.
As a matter of fact, much of the cardio I have my female clients perform gets them done in less than 20 minutes and they lose a lot more fat than by doing it my way than they had in the years of doing long, boring, monotonous bouts of cardio.
3) Stop eating like you’re a kid. Most moms I know gained weight after their kids were born because they would eat what their kids didn’t. If their child didn’t eat all of his hot dog, she finished it for him. Or, if she was making cookies for the kids, she would eat just as much, if not more than the kids.
You have to stop doing this to yourself if you really want to lose fat.
Instead you need to focus on eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean sources of protein like chicken and turkey breast, soy, almonds, salmon, etc. while cutting out processed carbohydrates, which basically means anything found in a bag or box.
Have a good day!
Ed
P.S. - My Fat Loss To Go program is an excellent source for moms on the go who are looking to lose fat...and lose it quickly. The workouts only take about 15 minutes to complete plus one of the free bonuses is a whole load of 10 minute workouts. Check it out at www.fatlosstogo.com
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Is It Possible To Do A Fat Loss Workout In 4 Minutes?
I’ll make this short and sweet.
I created a few 4 minute fat loss workout videos last week and I want you to check them out.
They all involve using resistance tubing and they can all be completed in around 4 minutes.
But is that possible? Can you really burn fat in only 4 minutes?
You can. It’s called Tabata Protocol and it is very real.
All you do is perform a big, full body exercise for 20 seconds, rest for 10 and repeat the cycle until 4 minutes is up.
You can use 2 exercises like push-ups and lunges, or you can use 4 like push-ups, squats, mountain climbers and decline push-ups.
There really is no limit to what kind of workouts you can create.
So the next time you get crunched for time, try one of these 4 minute workouts below:
Have a good weekend!
Ed
P.S. – I’ll have a few more 4 minute workout videos for you next week and maybe even the push-up video that about made my head explode. I tried doing 20 different push-up variations (some easy, some very hard) without resting and my arms were shaking when I was done…plus I am very sore today. I don’t recommend doing that. It’s just plain stupid!
I created a few 4 minute fat loss workout videos last week and I want you to check them out.
They all involve using resistance tubing and they can all be completed in around 4 minutes.
But is that possible? Can you really burn fat in only 4 minutes?
You can. It’s called Tabata Protocol and it is very real.
All you do is perform a big, full body exercise for 20 seconds, rest for 10 and repeat the cycle until 4 minutes is up.
You can use 2 exercises like push-ups and lunges, or you can use 4 like push-ups, squats, mountain climbers and decline push-ups.
There really is no limit to what kind of workouts you can create.
So the next time you get crunched for time, try one of these 4 minute workouts below:
Have a good weekend!
Ed
P.S. – I’ll have a few more 4 minute workout videos for you next week and maybe even the push-up video that about made my head explode. I tried doing 20 different push-up variations (some easy, some very hard) without resting and my arms were shaking when I was done…plus I am very sore today. I don’t recommend doing that. It’s just plain stupid!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Will Smoothies Make You Fat?
Last weekend my wife and I decided we wanted to have a smoothie for lunch.
Not one of the smoothies we make from home, no we decided to go to the local place just up the street from our house.
We used to go there quite a bit when a good friend of ours was a manager, but haven't been there regularly in quite some time.
I've also never looked at the nutrition information on the smoothies we usually get.
But why should I? Aren't smoothies supposed to be healthy?
That's how they're marketed. The healthy alternative to fast food, or the perfect "snack" or meal on the go.
Anyway, I took a look at the two smoothies my wife and I normally get and was floored!
The one my wife normally gets is a whopping 1050 calories! Plus it had over 200 grams of carbohydrates, and it didn't even include how much sugar was in it. That really made me worry when they included all this other information, including its vitamin breakdown, but didn't even include how much of the carbohydrate was simple sugar.
I think it's a pretty safe bet to say that an overwhelming majority of that 200g number was sugar.
Mine was a little better, having only 450 calories, but it still had a ton of carbohydrates, but again no sugar breakdown.
I knew there was going to be a lot of carbohydrates because it's a smoothie and smoothies are supposed to be made with a lot of fruits/juices.
But 1050 calories is just about how many calories my wife should be consuming in one day, yet here we were thinking we were doing something "light" yet getting a ton of calories.
There really is no reason that anyone should be consuming that many calories in one sitting, unless you're trying to gain weight.
Does that sound like you? Do you want to gain weight?
Didn't think so.
That's just one more reason you should be mindful of what you eat and of food marketing. Most food marketers are not concerned about your health or waist line, they're concerned with their bottom line.
So what're you supposed to do? Here we were trying to fit in something a little healthy for lunch and ended up getting smacked with a ton of sugar and a ton of calories (in my wife's case).
Well, you could check the nutrition breakdown before you order (which I will do whenever I go back to that smoothie shop).
You could make your own smoothies from home. I've got over 170 recipes as a bonus to my Fat Loss To Go program (shameless plug, I know).
You could just assume the worst and ask for a half order or a kid's size, or order one and ask for it to be put in 2 cups and share it with your spouse or friend.
Or you could never eat a meal or snack away from home. If that's you, let me know because you may be the only person in the world who fits that bill.
Have a good day!
Ed
P.S. - I was serious about the 170 smoothie recipes that come with my Fat Loss To Go program. Check it out at www.fatlosstogo.com
Not one of the smoothies we make from home, no we decided to go to the local place just up the street from our house.
We used to go there quite a bit when a good friend of ours was a manager, but haven't been there regularly in quite some time.
I've also never looked at the nutrition information on the smoothies we usually get.
But why should I? Aren't smoothies supposed to be healthy?
That's how they're marketed. The healthy alternative to fast food, or the perfect "snack" or meal on the go.
Anyway, I took a look at the two smoothies my wife and I normally get and was floored!
The one my wife normally gets is a whopping 1050 calories! Plus it had over 200 grams of carbohydrates, and it didn't even include how much sugar was in it. That really made me worry when they included all this other information, including its vitamin breakdown, but didn't even include how much of the carbohydrate was simple sugar.
I think it's a pretty safe bet to say that an overwhelming majority of that 200g number was sugar.
Mine was a little better, having only 450 calories, but it still had a ton of carbohydrates, but again no sugar breakdown.
I knew there was going to be a lot of carbohydrates because it's a smoothie and smoothies are supposed to be made with a lot of fruits/juices.
But 1050 calories is just about how many calories my wife should be consuming in one day, yet here we were thinking we were doing something "light" yet getting a ton of calories.
There really is no reason that anyone should be consuming that many calories in one sitting, unless you're trying to gain weight.
Does that sound like you? Do you want to gain weight?
Didn't think so.
That's just one more reason you should be mindful of what you eat and of food marketing. Most food marketers are not concerned about your health or waist line, they're concerned with their bottom line.
So what're you supposed to do? Here we were trying to fit in something a little healthy for lunch and ended up getting smacked with a ton of sugar and a ton of calories (in my wife's case).
Well, you could check the nutrition breakdown before you order (which I will do whenever I go back to that smoothie shop).
You could make your own smoothies from home. I've got over 170 recipes as a bonus to my Fat Loss To Go program (shameless plug, I know).
You could just assume the worst and ask for a half order or a kid's size, or order one and ask for it to be put in 2 cups and share it with your spouse or friend.
Or you could never eat a meal or snack away from home. If that's you, let me know because you may be the only person in the world who fits that bill.
Have a good day!
Ed
P.S. - I was serious about the 170 smoothie recipes that come with my Fat Loss To Go program. Check it out at www.fatlosstogo.com
Friday, June 6, 2008
Happy National Donut Day!
I’m not kidding. Today is National Donut Day here in America.
Does anybody wonder why 60% of this country is overweight or obese?
In the art of full disclosure, the day did start out with good intentions. It was for fundraising during World War 1, but if memory serves that war ended a couple years ago.
Now I like my donuts as much as the next person, but they are quite possibly one of the worst foods on the planet.
You take overly processed grain (white flour), deep fat fry it and then cover it in lots and lots and lots of sugary coatings and maybe even add a few sprinkles for good measure.
Then there are the other kinds of donuts that get stuffed full of sugary jelly or fatty creams. I could go on and on describing all the different kinds of donuts, but it would just make me hungry.
You should never eat donuts. They will do nothing but make you fat.
In fact I’m going to go out on a limb and tell you that you will gain 5 pounds for every donut you eat. That’s not true, but I want that to be stuck in your head the next time you decide to eat a donut.
The tough thing is that a lot of companies put boxes of donuts in their breakrooms for their employees to snack on.
And we wonder why our health insurance rates are sky high.
That’s it for my soap box preaching today.
Have a good weekend and please, for the love of God, don’t take part in National Donut Day.
Ed
Does anybody wonder why 60% of this country is overweight or obese?
In the art of full disclosure, the day did start out with good intentions. It was for fundraising during World War 1, but if memory serves that war ended a couple years ago.
Now I like my donuts as much as the next person, but they are quite possibly one of the worst foods on the planet.
You take overly processed grain (white flour), deep fat fry it and then cover it in lots and lots and lots of sugary coatings and maybe even add a few sprinkles for good measure.
Then there are the other kinds of donuts that get stuffed full of sugary jelly or fatty creams. I could go on and on describing all the different kinds of donuts, but it would just make me hungry.
You should never eat donuts. They will do nothing but make you fat.
In fact I’m going to go out on a limb and tell you that you will gain 5 pounds for every donut you eat. That’s not true, but I want that to be stuck in your head the next time you decide to eat a donut.
The tough thing is that a lot of companies put boxes of donuts in their breakrooms for their employees to snack on.
And we wonder why our health insurance rates are sky high.
That’s it for my soap box preaching today.
Have a good weekend and please, for the love of God, don’t take part in National Donut Day.
Ed
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Will Diet Soda and Artificial Sweeteners Make You Fat?
I think it's pretty safe to say you know how bad regular, or "heavy" soda (pop, Coke, or whatever it's called in your area) is to your waist line.
It's loaded with sugar and does nothing but make you addicted to caffeine and sugar and make you fat. It's just that plain and simple.
But did you know that diet soda may be as bad or even worse when it comes to fat loss? Not only that, but did you know that the artificial sweeteners included in many of today's foods, including diet soda, may also make you gain fat or even harmful to your health?
It's true. There is mounting evidence that shows artificial sweeteners (including those found in diet soda) are actually bad for you. They're touted as a healthy alternative to sugar, when in fact, natural sugar is healthier. At least it's found in nature and not manufactured in a lab by people in white coats and masks.
One study I found on WebMD stated they found that people who drank only diet soda were actually at a higher risk of obesity. They even found that there was a 41% increase in risk of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soda a person drinks per day.
That's crazy! Something that has been touted as being a healthy alternative to the sugar-loaded regular sodas may actually be more of a risk?
Why do you think this is?
One reason may be that you subconsciously think that because you're drinking diet soda, you're saving calories, so it's OK to eat a little extra. That's all well and good if you don't over eat already, but when you haven't gotten a control over your eating, this makes for a disastrous combination.
Another reason is that the artificial sweeteners found in diet sodas may actually make you crave for sweets or processed carbohydrates.
Kind of weird, isn't it?
Not only that, but those same artificial sweeteners may actually make the hormones that make you store fat, get cranked up a little bit, which makes you store even more fat than you would if you didn't drink the diet soda.
There are also a bunch of health risks that may be associated with artificial sweeteners as well.
Small things like cancer, gastrointestinal problems (gas, diarrhea, constipation), headaches, etc.
You're OK with those things aren't you? I thought not.
So what's your alternative? It seems like there's nothing safe out there anymore. You can't consume too much sugar because it'll make you fat, now I'm telling you not to drink diet soda because it might be worse than regular.
Well first off, you can drink diet soda and consume artificial sweeteners in moderation. Many of the studies about cancer risk are blown out of proportion because they used a lot more artificial sweeteners in the tests than you could consume in a lifetime.
However many people, like me, feel bloated when they drink diet soda. I retain water when I drink diet soda so I tend to stay away as much as possible.
The best thing to do is to change your habits and get rid of diet soda entirely and switch to natural teas, naturally flavored waters, etc. Just make sure you're not swapping diet soda for another drink that's loaded with artificial sweeteners or sugar.
Or, if you want to add something sweet to your regular brewed tea, you can use Stevia.
Stevia is not a man-made sweetener. It's actually an herb that's dried into a powder and it's a lot sweeter than sugar.
You learn something new every day, don't you.
Have a good day!
Ed
It's loaded with sugar and does nothing but make you addicted to caffeine and sugar and make you fat. It's just that plain and simple.
But did you know that diet soda may be as bad or even worse when it comes to fat loss? Not only that, but did you know that the artificial sweeteners included in many of today's foods, including diet soda, may also make you gain fat or even harmful to your health?
It's true. There is mounting evidence that shows artificial sweeteners (including those found in diet soda) are actually bad for you. They're touted as a healthy alternative to sugar, when in fact, natural sugar is healthier. At least it's found in nature and not manufactured in a lab by people in white coats and masks.
One study I found on WebMD stated they found that people who drank only diet soda were actually at a higher risk of obesity. They even found that there was a 41% increase in risk of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soda a person drinks per day.
That's crazy! Something that has been touted as being a healthy alternative to the sugar-loaded regular sodas may actually be more of a risk?
Why do you think this is?
One reason may be that you subconsciously think that because you're drinking diet soda, you're saving calories, so it's OK to eat a little extra. That's all well and good if you don't over eat already, but when you haven't gotten a control over your eating, this makes for a disastrous combination.
Another reason is that the artificial sweeteners found in diet sodas may actually make you crave for sweets or processed carbohydrates.
Kind of weird, isn't it?
Not only that, but those same artificial sweeteners may actually make the hormones that make you store fat, get cranked up a little bit, which makes you store even more fat than you would if you didn't drink the diet soda.
There are also a bunch of health risks that may be associated with artificial sweeteners as well.
Small things like cancer, gastrointestinal problems (gas, diarrhea, constipation), headaches, etc.
You're OK with those things aren't you? I thought not.
So what's your alternative? It seems like there's nothing safe out there anymore. You can't consume too much sugar because it'll make you fat, now I'm telling you not to drink diet soda because it might be worse than regular.
Well first off, you can drink diet soda and consume artificial sweeteners in moderation. Many of the studies about cancer risk are blown out of proportion because they used a lot more artificial sweeteners in the tests than you could consume in a lifetime.
However many people, like me, feel bloated when they drink diet soda. I retain water when I drink diet soda so I tend to stay away as much as possible.
The best thing to do is to change your habits and get rid of diet soda entirely and switch to natural teas, naturally flavored waters, etc. Just make sure you're not swapping diet soda for another drink that's loaded with artificial sweeteners or sugar.
Or, if you want to add something sweet to your regular brewed tea, you can use Stevia.
Stevia is not a man-made sweetener. It's actually an herb that's dried into a powder and it's a lot sweeter than sugar.
You learn something new every day, don't you.
Have a good day!
Ed
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Are Those Stupid Push-Ups Really Necessary and Can They Really Help Me Lose Stomach Fat?
Here's a question/comment I get quite often and how to get past this common workout problem.
Question: "What if I can't do push-ups?" Or. "What if I can only do 5 push-ups but your workout calls for 10?"
A: Surprisingly this is a pretty common problem. Many people are either too heavy or too weak to perform a single push-up. Or if they can do push-ups they can't do very many at one time. (FYI: You can substitute virtually any exercise for push-ups like squats, planks, lunges, etc. that people have trouble doing)
That's not a good problem to have, but it's not the end of the world if you take action.
There are a few reasons you may not be able to do any push-ups (or very few).
The obvious ones are that you're too heavy or too weak. That's easy.
However, there are some people who are relatively strong and not too heavy who still can't do push-ups. They may be able to do a decent amount of weight in exercises like the dumbbell chest press or machine chest press, but push-ups are just too darn hard.
These people may be weak in their core. I say that because if your low back, abs and all the little, deep stabilizer muscles aren't strong enough to hold you up, you can't do push-ups.
Or your shoulder stabilizers may be too weak. This is a very common problem, even in people who regularly exercise but only use the machines found in health clubs or a big home gym. You have lots of little muscles around your shoulder that help stabilize that joint. If they're weak, you won't be able to hold yourself in a push-up position, let alone lower your body and press it back up.
But do you really need to do push-ups? Are they all that valuable outside of gym class from middle school?
Absolutely! Push-ups are, by far, the most valuable upper body exercise around. They work way too much muscle to be excluded and help strengthen virtually every muscle in your upper body, including your abs and low back - muscles that everybody wants worked.
But how do you get to a point where you can do push-ups if you're having trouble doing 1, or if you can only do a few?
Well, if you're someone who's too heavy - lose weight. Easy answer, huh?
Seriously though, you can substitute an exercise that I love to use called a "Standing Resistance Tube Chest Press". You just need some resistance tubing and a place to anchor it, like a door.
Anchor the tube and stand facing away from the tubes with your hands at your sides at chest height. You then press your arms straight out in front of you so you are essentially doing a push-up in the standing position. It's very important to keep your abs braced and tight throughout the movement. If you don't, you'll wobble all over the place like a flower in the wind.
Once you've mastered that movement, and are doing it perfectly, give the push-ups a try again. If at that point you can do at least 5 push-ups, you're good to go.
Now that you can do a few push-ups, but can't do the recommended number a workout calls for, you just need to tweak a few things.
Let's say you can do 5 push-ups and the workout calls for 3 sets of 10.
I want you to perform 3 sets of 4 push-ups. By only doing 4, rather than your maximum of 5, you ensure you won't completely tire yourself out, yet in total you'll do 12 push-ups, which is pretty good progress in my book.
Then each week, try and do more push-ups than the last. Pretty soon you'll be a push-up master and will be able to move on and do more difficult versions.
If you can do regular push-ups and want to step it up a notch and do some more difficult ones, check out these 2 videos I made:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CuvTYGxazc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsF3uyWBZNw
Have a good day!
Ed
P.S. - I love push-ups, and for good reason. They are an excellent upper body exercise and strengthen your chest, shoulders, triceps (back of your arms), upper back, abs, low back and glutes (butt). They are a fantastic fat burning move and they're one exercise that you can perform endless variations of. If you want to learn how to integrate push-ups into your fat burning workout, check out my Fat Loss To Go program now at www.fatlosstogo.com
Question: "What if I can't do push-ups?" Or. "What if I can only do 5 push-ups but your workout calls for 10?"
A: Surprisingly this is a pretty common problem. Many people are either too heavy or too weak to perform a single push-up. Or if they can do push-ups they can't do very many at one time. (FYI: You can substitute virtually any exercise for push-ups like squats, planks, lunges, etc. that people have trouble doing)
That's not a good problem to have, but it's not the end of the world if you take action.
There are a few reasons you may not be able to do any push-ups (or very few).
The obvious ones are that you're too heavy or too weak. That's easy.
However, there are some people who are relatively strong and not too heavy who still can't do push-ups. They may be able to do a decent amount of weight in exercises like the dumbbell chest press or machine chest press, but push-ups are just too darn hard.
These people may be weak in their core. I say that because if your low back, abs and all the little, deep stabilizer muscles aren't strong enough to hold you up, you can't do push-ups.
Or your shoulder stabilizers may be too weak. This is a very common problem, even in people who regularly exercise but only use the machines found in health clubs or a big home gym. You have lots of little muscles around your shoulder that help stabilize that joint. If they're weak, you won't be able to hold yourself in a push-up position, let alone lower your body and press it back up.
But do you really need to do push-ups? Are they all that valuable outside of gym class from middle school?
Absolutely! Push-ups are, by far, the most valuable upper body exercise around. They work way too much muscle to be excluded and help strengthen virtually every muscle in your upper body, including your abs and low back - muscles that everybody wants worked.
But how do you get to a point where you can do push-ups if you're having trouble doing 1, or if you can only do a few?
Well, if you're someone who's too heavy - lose weight. Easy answer, huh?
Seriously though, you can substitute an exercise that I love to use called a "Standing Resistance Tube Chest Press". You just need some resistance tubing and a place to anchor it, like a door.
Anchor the tube and stand facing away from the tubes with your hands at your sides at chest height. You then press your arms straight out in front of you so you are essentially doing a push-up in the standing position. It's very important to keep your abs braced and tight throughout the movement. If you don't, you'll wobble all over the place like a flower in the wind.
Once you've mastered that movement, and are doing it perfectly, give the push-ups a try again. If at that point you can do at least 5 push-ups, you're good to go.
Now that you can do a few push-ups, but can't do the recommended number a workout calls for, you just need to tweak a few things.
Let's say you can do 5 push-ups and the workout calls for 3 sets of 10.
I want you to perform 3 sets of 4 push-ups. By only doing 4, rather than your maximum of 5, you ensure you won't completely tire yourself out, yet in total you'll do 12 push-ups, which is pretty good progress in my book.
Then each week, try and do more push-ups than the last. Pretty soon you'll be a push-up master and will be able to move on and do more difficult versions.
If you can do regular push-ups and want to step it up a notch and do some more difficult ones, check out these 2 videos I made:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CuvTYGxazc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsF3uyWBZNw
Have a good day!
Ed
P.S. - I love push-ups, and for good reason. They are an excellent upper body exercise and strengthen your chest, shoulders, triceps (back of your arms), upper back, abs, low back and glutes (butt). They are a fantastic fat burning move and they're one exercise that you can perform endless variations of. If you want to learn how to integrate push-ups into your fat burning workout, check out my Fat Loss To Go program now at www.fatlosstogo.com
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