It’s been a big debate for a long time. Are eggs bad for your heart? Will eggs Raise LDL cholesterol? With recent studies it’s been shown that eggs are cholesterol healthy. These high cholesterol foods actually work towards lowering the ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, and raising the ‘good’ HDL cholesterol – if they are in conjunction with a lower saturated fat diet. The test was an individual who ate 9 times the normal consumption of eggs (4 full eggs a day). If cholesterol went up that would mean that eggs are bad for you. So what were the results?

The participant started out at a cholesterol number of 3.8, which is a level just below the recommended by the Heart Foundation. After following the diet for two weeks the results were low. So low the machine didn’t even register a number! That is ridiculous.

Why Does It Lower Cholesterol?

Eggs are a food that are rich in nutrients, low in fat, and high in protein. Eggs lower cholesterol because they are high in cholesterol but low in saturated fats. Just because a food is high in cholesterol doesn’t mean that it will raise your cholesterol level. It’s the saturated fats from fatty meats, and a lot of the cream products that are the ones that raise the bad cholesterol.

Begin Taking The Right Steps To Lowering Cholesterol

It’s not that hard. All you really need to do is start eliminating those high saturated foods. Instead of eaitng red meat 3-4 times a week only have it once a week. Start eating foods that are a good source of omega fatty acids such as tuna and salmon. Like bacon and eggs in the morning? Cut out the bacon – it is VERY high in saturated fats. It’s the side meals that we have with eggs that are the bad part of the meal – the sausage and bacon. Choose to have eggs and oatmeal for breakfast instead. Drink skim milk instead of 2-4%.

Here are some suggestions on meals with eggs:

• Scrambled eggs
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Crustless Quiche
• Scrambled egg burritos w/ whole wheat tortillas
• Scrambled eggs with salmon
• Many and many types of Omellettes

Implementing these small changes will make a big difference in your cholesterol level. Let’s all make a small step to lowering cholesterol, and having a healthy lifestyle!

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The internet is a great platform for learning how to lose weight fast and gain muscle. Sometimes we just need a different platform for learning. Besides reading on the internet I like to read Muscle Mag which is a canadian publication on bodybuilding. I know some of you aren’t really into bodybuilding so you could probably read something like Men’s/Woman’s Health. The great thing about reading the magazines is that paper is a lot easier on the eyes.

I know sometimes when I’m reading on the internet for too long my eyes start to hurt, and that’s due to the computer screen – it’s not the most friendliest platform for reading. When reading through the magazine I noticed a lot of the article writing styles are different. The magazines are also very motivating because of the high resolution pictures. Sometimes we tend to forget what we want to achieve – the magazines do a good job at this and place a picture of someone with a body that many dream of.

They also place good illustrations of exercises, and how to do the proper form. Along with the illustration is a step by step physical and mental instruction. I think this is what most of us need to learn when performing new exercises. When I was browsing through the magazine there are a lot of advertisements I’d have to admit. The great thing about the advertisements is that most of them offer free samples. I was reading through the July issue of Muscle Mag and came across a Gaspari advertisement about SuperPump250. They were offering a free sample, and mentioned to just send them an email with the address. I sent the email, and what do you know a week later the sample arrived in the mail.

As for the SuperPump250 it was very good tasting, and gave me a boost of energy. Unfortunately, the sample is only half the recommended dosage, and I think my tolerance could definately handle the full dosage.

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Cardio training should be included in everyone’s journey towards fat loss. Cardio can be fun, and sometimes it can be just dreadful. People perform cardio many different times during the day. Some perform it in the morning, some at lunch time, some after a workout, and some just before heading to bed. So when is the best time out of all these? Performing cardio on an empty stomach can burn 300% more fat than if you were to perform cardio in a non-fasted state. If you were to consume carbohydrates prior to cardio you would have to bust it out for 30 minutes before all the glycogen stores are burned, and begin to burn fat.

You want to burn the stored fat, because that is the fat that you see directly under the skin. If you are eating a deficit of calories during the day your body will handle those calories by itself. Also, another benefit is the accelerated fat burning after the cardio session. Some people wait 30 minutes after a cardio session to eat their first meal. Another benefit is that it gives you a sense of accomplishment for the rest of the day. If you were to wait all day knowing that you had to fit in a cardio session some time during that day you wouldn’t feel that accomplished for the most part of the day, would you?

Do you know what the main problem with performing cardio in the morning on an empty stomach is? There isn’t much motivation when you wake up, and don’t eat. So here are some things you can do to get the motivation to perform cardio in the morning:

1. Have a cup of coffee. Coffee doesn’t have any calories so it’s fine to have a cup of joe before doing cardio.
2. Set goals. By setting goals you know you will be disappointed if you don’t reach them – so you will get out of bed, and hit the treadmill.
3. Read something motivating. Reading motivational material will help you can excited, and help you get focused.
4. Listen to music that motivates you. I usually try to find a few songs that really get me motivated, and listen to them first – that really gets me going.

Most of you might say “Oh well, I’m not a morning person”. Sure then, but don’t be disappointed when you don’t see the results you desire. I was never a morning person either, but once you start getting into a routine your body will start getting used to it just like everything else. Even though I’m not a morning person I just get up anyway. I know the effort will be worth it. Getting down below the 10% bodyfat level is hard thing to do, and requires effort such as waking up when you don’t want to. You’ll get in the groove after the first few weeks, and it will be second nature.

Tell me what motivates you to do cardio in the morning.

CONFUSED by all those SUPPLEMENT INGREDIENTS? Get your Free Supps eBook at Bodybuilding.com. Start decoding them now!

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That wonderful fizzy sweet drink that everyone loves – soda. You see it all over the place in many forms: Coca Cola, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7 UP, Sprite, and many others. A lot of people drink pop on a daily basis – the unfortunate part is that it will slow down the chance of fat loss…or reverse it. The number one reason is because of the sugar content. That’s the main reason why it’s so tasty, because a can of soda can contain up to a dozen teaspoons of sugar. So what does this sugar do? It spikes insulin which stores more fat than you’d like, also it temporary impairs your immune system.

As I mentioned consuming sugar spikes your insulin. This is the major concern. Consuming all that sugar in one period (within 10 minutes usually) it raises blood sugars all at once. Overtime this weakens the pancreas, and eventually stops working effectively which may result in diabetes.

Another factor is the acid content in pop. We’ve all seen it – you know when the kids do the science fair with dissolving a steak or nails in a few days. This is horrible for your teeth. The acidic content in pop will start dissolving your teeth. Starting to reconsider drinking pop now? I know I would be.

Now you might be thinking, “Ok, I will switch to diet pop now”. The problem is that diet pop is just as worse for you. Diet pop contains fake sugars (aspartame and sucralose). Aspartame in diet pops has been causing many negative health conditions (birth defects and brain cancer to name a few). Once it enters your body is turns into a wood alcohol which is a deadly poison. Sucralose (Splenda) has been introduced as a ’safer’ alternative, but there has been no long term research on the product, and also has been questionable. It’s basically a chlorinated sugar that has had negative side effects in recent studies.

So what can you do to start stop drinking pop?

Lower Your Intake Slowly

Let’s say You are currently drinking 3 pops a day (which is about 450 extra calories a day) it would be ideal to drink two pops a day for the first week then to switch 1 pop a day for the next two weeks, and after the three weeks you should be down to zero pops a day. Also, for each pop that you have make sure to drink a full glass of water right after.

The reason why you don’t just jump into zero pops a day is because you will most likely have headaches caused by the withdrawal of caffeine. Slowly lowering your intake will give your body time to detox the toxins in your body (which cause the headaches)

Get Rid Of Your Cravings

This is why it’s so hard to stop drinking pop once you start. It’s because you always have a craving for the stuff. Here are a few things you need to consume to stop the cravings that will start to flush out the toxins:

• Drink Water – lots of it.
• Eat Whole lean proteins without preservatives – baked chicken, fish, beef
• Eat fresh veggies and fruits, not packaged (which contains extra sodium and added sugar)
• Get your fair share of healthy fats from sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, and cashews
• Whey Protein

Find A Healthy Alternative

Tea is a great change (No – I’m not talking about the sugar filled Iced Tea). There are so many varieties of tea to try that there has to be one that will suit you. My favourite teas are Yerba Mate and Green Tea. Teas also contain powerful antioxidants that will boost fat loss (I have tested, and consuming tea has lowered my cravings and makes me feel full especially after a meal). Even though it has been debated, coffee may be another alternative. Caffeinated or Decaf coffee is a delicious drink that needs some getting used to, but once you are it’ll be one of your favourite drinks (Be careful to not consume too much caffeinated coffee because consuming too much has negative side effects).

Also mentioned earlier was to drink Whey Protein. Whey Protein does contain calories, but is loaded with nutrients and amino acids which are beneficial to your health unlike soda which is empty calories (sugar – which we know how that affects our health). A glass of whey protein can contain 24 grams of protein which will aid to help preserve and grow muscle tissue, and promotes fat loss. Now are you convinced?

A Final Note…

You have to remember, that no one is going to change you but you yourself. You have to take action to stop consuming the toxic sugars that is killing all of us slowly. Of course I’ll have the occasional soda (Maybe once a week. Sometimes I’ll go months without it), but once you stop drinking soda on a consistent basis you’ll notice that your fat loss will increase, you will get less headaches, and start feeling better with more energy.

CONFUSED by all those SUPPLEMENT INGREDIENTS? Get your Free Supps eBook at Bodybuilding.com. Start decoding them now!

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Everyone is always finding different ways to lose weight fast. It is possible, but if you have never been in a cutting stage before (losing body fat while maintaining muscle mass) you will find that it is very difficult to lose weight. You find that the pizza in the fridge is very tempting – you know you shouldn’t reach for it, but you reach for it and eat it anyways. Oops – there goes the diet. It takes practice just like everything else in life. We as humans are made lazy, and very tempted by the easy ways out, and we have to change that!

Now a lot lately you’ve been hearing that you should change your ‘lifestyle’ instead of going on a diet. If you want to lose weight fast you’re going to have to do both. Yes, change your lifestyle and include a diet to lose weight.

Changing your lifestyle

Changing your lifestyle includes not being tempted to go out to eat with your friends for pizza. It means incorporating a weight lifting routine into your day, and cardio activity 3-5 times a week for at least 30 minutes each session. It means eating whole natural foods – chicken, beef, eggs, broccoli, beans, asparagus, rice, sweet potatoes, green beans…you know the healthy stuff your mom always told you to eat. If you really want to lower your body fat low enough so that you can get the sculpted look, changing your lifestyle won’t be enough. You will have to incorporate a diet to burn fat.

Diet to lose weight

The best way to find out how much you need to eat in a day to lose weight is by trial in error. Now, why can’t there just be some magical number? It’s due to that everybody’s body is different, and so the needs are different. There is a starting point that you should start at:

bodyweight in lb x 12 = calorie level to start at

Eat at that level for the first week. You will probably notice a big loss during the first week – that’s ok. Continue at that rate for another week.

If you lost 1-2lb – stay at that level of calories
If you lost more than 2lb – Increase your calorie intake by 500 calories
If you didn’t lose anything or gained weight – lower your calorie intake by 500 calories

Eat 5-6 Meals A Day

This is the number one reason why I believe people fail at losing fat. I will admit it is hard to eat 5-6 times a day, but it is important to keep your metabolism efficiently burning calories. We have always been taught to eat 3 round meals per day, but what happens is that is too much space between meals. Your body begins to think that you are starving. Your body’s metabolism will begin to slow down.

You will want to keep your meals in a proportion of 40% proteins, 40% carbs, and 20% fats.

Perform Intense Weight Training At Least 3 Times A Week

Having a solid weight training routine will help you burn fat in the future. Adding muscle to your body requires you to expend more energy – hence burn more calories to maintain that muscle. The more lean muscle tissue you have the more calories you will burn at rest.

Perform Cardio 3-5 Times A Week

Whether you have 20 minutes a day to do cardio or if you have 40 minutes you have to incorporate cardio. Cardio makes you lose fat faster while you can eat more. Yes – eat more. You can either choose to do short (20-30 minutes) intense sessions or long (40-1 hour) moderate intensity sessions. I would recommend long moderate intensity sessions.

When I’m trying to cut down my body fat I like to do fasted cardio in the morning, moderate intensity for 40-60 minutes, 4-5 times a week. Doing this helped me go from 13.8% (186.6lb) to 11% (172lb) body fat in a month’s time.

Get Motivated

Always set goals. If you’re trying to lose weight without goals your on a trip without a map. You’ll end up lost in the forest with your tires stuck in the mud. Until you set a goal on how much body fat you want to lose you will unlikely see results. Set practical real goals. Be specific, and write it down. As human beings we need reason. When it’s written down you will do whatever it takes to achieve your goals. When you don’t have it written down you will give yourself reasons not to eat healthy or going to the gym.

Don’t Stop Drinking

Water is very important to losing weight. It is used in every physiological process in your body. You want to drink at least 1 gallon of water a day. Try to shoot for 2 gallons. If you don’t make it to 2 gallons and drank 1.5 gallons than you drank more than most of the population. What’s the best way to do this? Bring water wherever you go – next to the tv, to the gym, at your desk, in your car, next to your bed at night, everywhere.

Using these simple tips you will be able to maximize your fat loss while maintaining muscle.

CONFUSED by all those SUPPLEMENT INGREDIENTS? Get your Free Supps eBook at Bodybuilding.com. Start decoding them now!

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You’ve been hearing it a lot lately in the news that people who record what they eat on a daily basis are more successful on their quest to lose weight. The part that gets me is the news stories never go into detail on the subject. They don’t explain how to keep a food journal (but they do tell you where you can get an online one), or how to use it to your advantage. A lot of people might think of a food journal as a little book that you record what you had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The problem with that is if you actually want to track the quantities such as grams to calories you’ll have to do the calculations by hand (or a calculator). Now there are online services that do all these calculations for you.

The service that I use is Fitday. They have both a paid, and a free service. You input the foods you eat during the day (they have a huge database, and you can create a new foods and input the data manually), and the journal will tell you how many grams of protein, carbs, and fat you ate during the day and also total calories. They also have many tools such as a weight loss goal tool where you say what weight you want to be and it will tell you how long you have, and will be updated everyday.

The part where you have to really pay attention is you have to know what kind of foods to eat, and how much per meal/day. You should be really focusing on how much you need to eat per meal. Your body does not operate on days – it operates on a per meal basis. If you eat too much one meal some of that will go to fat. Having an understanding of proper nutrition is an important key to the equation too.

The point here is to not only keep a journal, but start getting educated about proper nutrition. Without the knowledge of nutrition first you will become lost within the journal.

CONFUSED by all those SUPPLEMENT INGREDIENTS? Get your Free Supps eBook at Bodybuilding.com. Start decoding them now!

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Product: Atro-Phex
Manufacturer: BSN
Recommended Distributor: Bodybuilding.com
Purpose: Energy and weight management supplement

Back in May I started my quest to 8% bodyfat. All through may I noticed that I couldn’t budge the scale at all. So I thought I would try out BSN Atro-Phex. I must say that the results were shocking. I was expecting very little difference from taking the supplement. As the product says the first day you notice an increase in mental and physical focus. I did – I can say that I did notice a difference. I started off on the first day taking one pill twice during the day. The second day I increased it to two pills twice a day. At the beginning the caffeine may be overwhelming – especially for those who never consume caffeine. I drink coffee daily so it wasn’t overwhelming at all. I began noticing the constant fat loss effect after the first week. I liked that it was constant, and didn’t hit any plateaus. Even after I had a cheat meal, I lost the added calories extremely fast.

My Results:

Beginning (June 1, 2008)

WEIGHT: 186.6lb
BODY FAT: 13.8%
ARMS: 15.0″
CALVES:15.25″
CHEST: 39″
SHOULDERS: 44.5″
FOREARMS: 11″
HIPS: 39″
THIGHS: 23″
WAIST: 35″

Ending (June 30, 2008)

WEIGHT: 172.8lb
BODY FAT: 11%
ARMS: 14.5″
CALVES: 14.5″
CHEST: 38″
FOREARMS: 10.5″
HIPS: 39″
THIGHS: 22″
WAIST: 32.5″

So as you can see going from 186.6lb to 172.8lb was quite an accomplishment for the month. Actually, it wasn’t the weight that I was concerned about – it was the bodyfat. I went from 13.8% to 11% which was great. I do think I lost a little bit too much weight, because I lost some size, but I don’t think it was excessive. Also remember that you have to have a sound diet for losing weight. The whole month I only had 2 cheat meals and ate clean every day all meals of the day.

Would I recommend this product? Yes. Will you get the same results as me? I don’t know. If you don’t mind caffeine then you might give this product a try, and see if it works for you. Remember, I’m not a doctor so consult a doctor and see if it’s right for you.

Here’s the link:
BSN Atro-Phex, 98 Capsules + Free The League T-Shirt!

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Broccoli may reduce prostate cancer risk, study says

CONFUSED by all those SUPPLEMENT INGREDIENTS? Get your Free Supps eBook at Bodybuilding.com. Start decoding them now!

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If you’re like me then waking up in the morning and doing cardio is a must. Sometimes waking up in the morning can be the hardest thing. I tend to oversleep more than I would like. No matter how many preventive measures you take sometimes you end up sleeping that extra hour. I find that once you get into a routine you tend to be able to stick with the routine, and getting up at a certain time becomes more easier. Here are some tips on helping you to not oversleep and improve your health when you wake up:

Make sure proper nutrition is in place – Without the right nutrients in your body your body will be disrupted during the night making for a poor nights sleep.

Understand how much sleep is needed – I know for me I need at least 7 and a half to 8 hours of sleep so I plan ahead for that.

Put the alarm clock in a far far place – Not so far that you won’t be able to hear it, but far enough that you have to get up. When you get up there’s a higher chance that you won’t go back to sleep.

Set the coffee machine the night before – If your coffee machine has a timer set it before you go to bed, and make sure it’s close to the bedroom. The smell of coffee in the morning will sure wake you up. For me it’s also the fact that if I don’t get up the coffee will get old, and go to waste.

Start going to bed at the same time every night – Of course this can’t be possible for every person, but your body has a rhythm. When your body starts doing different rhythms it puts stress on the body.

Have a full glass of water next to the bed – During the night you get dehydrated, so drinking a full glass of water upon waking up revitalizes your body. Even better – adding lemon to the water will help by putting action in your digestive tract.

I would like to hear what you have done to help you wake up in the morning.

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One of the biggest topics today is ‘how to lower cholesterol‘. Sometimes it can get hard to stay on a diet that will help lower cholesterol. I think the major reason is that most people just don’t know what types of food to eat. I tried to compile a list of all the foods that place a role in lowering bad cholesterol, and raising good cholesterol.

Here’s the list:

Fruits – There are many fruits that help lower cholesterol such as apples, oranges, cantaloupe, strawberries, and grapefruit

Nuts and seeds – Some nuts and seeds are a great source of omega 3 fatty acids such as walnuts, almonds, and flaxseeds.

Cold-water Fish - Another great source of omega 3 fatty acids are tuna and salmon.

Whole Grain Foods – Bread, cereal (we all know about cheerios and lowering cholesterol), and pasta.

Oatmeal – Oatmeal is high in fibre and iron, and cleans excess cholesterol.B

Vegetables – Broccoli, asparagus, onions, beets, artichokes, and some others I’ve never even tried before like jicama, rutabaga, daikon, and butternut squash.

Beans – High in soluble fibre, and helps with the digestion system.

Soy Protein – An ounce of tofu a day can lower LDL cholesterol as much as 10%

Despite garlic being claimed that it can lower LDL cholesterol a study last year concluded that it’s not as effective as they thought. The study suggests “You achieve good health through eating healthy food. There isn’t a pill or an herb you can take to counteract an unhealthy diet.” That means consuming foods described above in part of your diet.

Try to eliminate all trans fats in your diet. If you’re eating the foods above than you shouldn’t have to worry about trans fats. Minimizing sugars and white flour will also lower triglyceride levels, help weight loss, and lower LDL cholesterol levels. When having dairy products go for the lower fat solution. Instead of drinking 2% milk – drink skim milk. Instead of 2% cottage cheese, choose 1%. These subtle changes can make a huge difference.

I’m still at a young age so I’m not as much concerned about my cholesterol level. The thing is the foods above are foods that I eat every single day (besides soy protein – I’ve never even tried tofu), and I’m definately feeling the benefits of eating such foods

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