Prepare Your Meals Ahead

This is very important. If you don’t plan your meals ahead you will be even more tempted to eat junk food, because it’s more accessible. If you plan on going out, bring something with you. I noticed that I’m most vulnerable to cheating on my diet when I’m away from the house and don’t have any clean foods with me. It’s very easy to pack a sandwich in the car with you.

Know That Your Mind Is Lying To You

Yup, your mind likes to tell you lies all the time. “That one cookie will not hurt you” – of course one cookie will not hurt your diet, but what happens when that one cookie leads to 2 then to 3, 4, 5, etc. I like to do the opposite of what my mind tells me. If it tells me “You really want pizza tonight. You need to have it” I will know that it’s just my mind telling me a lie, and just eat something healthy to get rid of the hunger and cravings. If you’re having cravings, just eat something healthy so you’re not hungry anymore, and usually the cravings go away.

It’s really a battle with your mind. You have to put yourself in control. If you can do this, than you can stay on your diet.

Plan all cheat meals

If you want to have some cheat meals then plan it. If you like to have cheat meals with friends or family, then tell them when you plan on having them – this way the cheat meals does come random and multiple times throughout the week”. Now, if you have planned cheat meals, but still find yourself falling off track then I have found the solution to be to go strict. Don’t have any. It will be very tough for the first week, but after the craving subside then you’ll start to crave healthy foods, and not want the junk food anymore. I have tested this, and it really does happen.

You really need to have intense focus, fight your negative thoughts, and prepare your meals and workouts ahead of time. If you follow these three important things you will be successful with your diet plan. Remember, you are in control of what you eat.

Are you wondering how to lose 10 pounds in 3 weeks, but the problem if you don’t know which diet you should go on? It can be very tough if you don’t know which direction to take. With many types of diets around these days you can find yourself spinning in circles all day. I like to keep things really simple, and not focus on any particular diet, but follow certain fundamentals. Here are a few tips that you can use to lose weight in a few weeks (or maybe a month):

Figure out the math

It really comes down to this: you need to burn more calories than you consume. I use the starting point of 12 x my body weight to get my level of daily calories needed to lose about 1-3 pounds a week. I remember reading once that it takes about 1500 calories burned to burn a pound of fat. So if you set yourself in a deficit of 500 calories per day then you’ll lose a pound almost every 3 days. If you want to lose 10 pounds in three weeks, then that’s 15,000 calories you would need to burn. That’s about 700 calories burned per day. Remember, don’t think of this as solid fact, because I’m not totally sure of how correct it is, but I like to use it as a good guideline. If you’re currently not on a diet you’ll probably lose a lot of weight in the first week; this is because your body has been holding onto extra water. Don’t become discouraged if you don’t see a decrease in weight loss after the first week – this is normal.

Eat Natural Foods

If all the food you’re eating comes in a package you most likely shouldn’t be eating it to lose weight. Stick to fresh foods that are high in protein/carbohydrates and low in fat. A gram of fat contains 9 calories while a gram of protein or carbs contains 4 calories. Less calories in your meals = more calories you’ll burn. Good sources of proteins include chicken breast (stay away from chicken wings), turkey breast, eggs and egg whites (whole eggs have great nutritional value, but be careful of the fat content), cottage cheese, and whey protein. Excellent sources of carbs include raw oats (for a natural no calorie sweetener go with stevia), red potatoes, brown rice, beans, and of course green vegetables.

Weight Training

I like to lift weights at least 3-4 times per week. Not only is it good for your strength and muscles – it burns a lot of calories! When you lift weights your body requires nutrition to repair itself so there is a lot less chance of it being stored as fat. Not only will you start to lose weight, you’ll start to feel stronger and better.

Cardio

I also like to perform cardio 4-5 times per week. It’s great for your heart, and burns extra calories. One thing you will want to avoid is choosing cardio over weight training. Weight training should be most important when trying to lose weight.

Get At Least 8 Hours of Sleep

Sleep is very important. You want to get at least 8 hours of sleep. Your body needs to recover. The more you sleep the more easily you’ll find the weight comes off. I’m not sure if this is true for everyone, but try not to over sleep. I know when I sleep in (12-13 hours of sleep haha) I feel sluggish throughout the day, and drink more coffee than usual.

Find Your Motivation

Figure out why you are trying to lose weight in the first place. Is it because you just want to become healthier to avoid health problems? Are you trying to fit in smaller clothes? Do you want six pack abs? Whatever the reason, figure it out and every time you find yourself falling off track remind yourself why you are doing this in the first place.

I also find that it helps if you write everything down. Think of this as a competition (or you could join an actual competition! They have them on most forums), and write down your  beginning measurements with your goals a month down the road. You’ll find that you’ll be able to stay on track much more easily. Write down all the foods that you eat during the day. Remember, it will all be worth it in the end! You’ll then be able to show your friends how to lose 10 pounds in 3 weeks just like you did.

Drink Less Beer

Beer is very high in calories, and by having about 5-6 beers you’re looking at over 700 calories. That’s about 2 full meals for an average person. For every 1500 calories less you consume that’s about 1lb of weight lost. Those beers can really add up!

Have a Solid Nutrition Plan

Nutrition is very important if you want to lose a beer belly. Actually, I would say it’s about 90% of the battle. The amount of calories you consume in a day will be a major determinant if you lose weight or if you gain weight. Of course you want to be on the losing side. You will want to eat all natural foods such as chicken, turkey, extra lean ground beef, brown rice, red potatoes, and oatmeal. I think the most important thing is to eat about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight a day. If I weigh 200lbs then I make sure that I eat 200 grams of protein throughout the day. I eat 6 meals a day, so I would need to eat 33 grams of protein per meal. To get an idea of how much calories are in each of these foods check out this food calorie list. So the next question is most likely “How much should I eat in a day?” There are many formulas that will tell you how much you should eat in a day to lose weight, but honestly everybody is different so it’s always best to choose a starting point and test from there. I usually start at 12 times my body weight, and decrease calories by about 200-500 if I don’t see any progress after 1-2 weeks.

Keep Track of Your Progress

This is a very important step that should not be skipped. It is very important to keep track of your progress. So what is the best way to do this? Take your measurements. Your waist, hip, arm, etc. measurements are more important than what the scale says your weight is. If you lost 10 pounds, but your waist measurement barely moved then this isn’t a good sign of progress – you are probably losing too much lean mass instead of fat mass. If you lost 10 pounds, but also lost 2-3″ off your waist then this is a very good sign!

Work Out At Least 3 Times a Week

At the minimum you should be working out with weights about 3 times a week. I would recommend to also perform 3-4 sessions of cardio in a week. Next you might be wondering what type of cardio you should be doing. It really doesn’t matter. Choose what you enjoy doing. As long as your heart rate is up, your sweating, and enjoy it then it’s worth while. The next question is “How long should my cardio session be?” I would say if you’re doing a very moderate intensity then about 45 minutes. If you’re performing high intensity then about 20 minutes. Personally, I enjoy 3-4 sessions per week on the elliptical, moderate intensity for 40-45 minutes. If I can fit in 4 cardio sessions in a week then I really notice the fat start to burn. The most important thing is to make sure you perform your weight training. If you have to miss one day of the week, then I would choose to skip a cardio session.

Using these tips you will soon find out how to lose a beer belly. The most important thing here is consistency. You have to dedicate yourself to this 100%, and don’t look back. If you find yourself falling back into your old habits ask yourself if it’s really worth it. When I find myself falling off track I ask myself if I would rather have a good body or pleasure of one meal/beer. This usually puts me back on track pretty quick.

You might be wondering “Why am I gaining weight when I’m trying to lose it? I eat healthy and exercise, but the weight isn’t coming off!” There could be several reasons this is happening, but don’t get discouraged. With a couple of changes you might find what’s holding you back from losing weight.

So to answer the question “Why am I gaining weight?”

One of the major reasons is because you are probably eating too many calories in a day. Even though you may be eating all natural healthy foods, too much of it will cause you to either gain muscle or store fat. If you are not weight training, then it is most likely turning into stored fat (which is not what we want when trying to lose weight!)

A good start would be to lower your calorie intake by about 500 calories. Not sure how many calories you are eating in a day? Start tracking. This is the only way you will know. It will also help you to stay motivated when trying to lose weight. It has proven successful for me many times. It only takes a few minutes out of your day, and the results are great.

The next reason may be because you’re not eating the right foods. Stay away from high fat foods such as regular ground beef. The high fat content really adds a lot of calories (9 calories per gram compared to 4 calories per gram of carbohydrates) Eat lean proteins such as chicken and turkey. Eat good carb sources such as brown rice, red potatoes and oats. Stay away from foods with a lot of preservatives. By simply eating all natural foods you notice a big difference – not only in your weight loss, but you’ll notice you have a lot more energy throughout the day.

Another reason is you might not be getting enough sleep. Getting enough sleep is very important for fat loss. Make changes in your life so you are able to get a full 7-8 hours of sleep per night. This can change your weight loss results drastically. Again you will notice that you will start losing weight, and have a lot more energy throughout the day.

There are many other possible reasons why you might be gaining weight instead of losing it, but try these few tips out, and you’ll probably find that the weight starts to come off. Soon you’ll stop asking yourself “Why am I gaining weight” and be thinking “Wow! The weight is finally coming off.”

Does OxyElite Pro live up to it’s claim? Will you really lose weight with this fat burner? Is it just a bunch of hype? After taking this for 6 weeks I was pretty shocked.

My Rating: 9.5/10

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To me a good fat burner will reduce your appetite, and give you CONSTANT energy throughout the day (if it’s stimulant based). My honest expectations was that it would work great in the first week then taper off, but I was quite surprised. USPLabs really went all out with this product. Upon the first serving I could feel the stimulants within 15 minutes. I’m going to tell you right now – this stuff it pretty strong. If you’re not used to stimulants than I would only take 1 in the morning to assess your tolerance. What I really liked about the energy is that it was constant and clean throughout the day, and there was no crash (none I experienced anyways). What really surprised me was that each capsule only has 100mg of caffeine in it. A cup of coffee normally contains about 150mg.

It really does a good job of giving you focus. I’m usually very tired in the morning so after taking my serving of OxyELITE Pro I was wide awake, and focused within 15-20 minutes. Usually before OEP, I would need 2-3 cups of coffee before getting my day started. However, make sure to not take it after 5:30pm or else you will be up all night!

The appetite suppression really worked well. I would rarely feel hunger throughout the day as I normally do while trying to lose fat. Keep in mind that my diet was also on track – this is very important. If you don’t eat properly than the appetite suppression will not be as effective.

It is definitely not a magic pill. You need a sound diet and workout plan in place. Once you are consistently eating right, working out, and not seeing any fat loss than a fat burner should be considered. Overall, this was a solid product released by USPlabs.

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Here’s a food calorie list for those of you who like to dial in your diet. When trying to lose weight it’s very important to dial in your diet (i.e. keep track of calories). Why I think this is important is because when you keep track of how much you eat you’ll stay more consistent on a daily basis. It will also help you to be a better estimator of calories you eat per day even when not tracking. I’m going to break it down into proteins, carbs, and fats. Remember, these are not exact numbers, because each brand and type is always different. This only a guide:

This is not a complete list of course. There are definitely more foods that are in my diet that are not included in here. However, these are the majority of the foods that I eat. If you would like me to add some foods please make a comment, and I’ll add it =)

What is the best way to lose belly fat? Should you be doing a thousand crunches to get that 6-pack abs? Should you be doing hours and hours of cardio to shred that fat? Well, I’m going to tell you that neither of these will help you. Everyday there seems to be a new diet or some type of contraption to make you lose fat rapidly. I’m going to tell you that you will be just wasting your money. It really only comes down to the basics. Most people already have abs, it’s just a matter of getting rid of the fat that’s on top of it! With the basics in line, you’ll start to lose fat and your abs will become more and more visible. That is the only way you will get a 6 pack of abs. Here are the basics:

Solid Nutrition

Your nutrition should be your first priority if you want to lose the belly fat. This is 90% of the game. Without nutrition, you can’t expect to lose much no matter how much cardio or crunches you do in a day. What should you be eating you ask? What I have found to be the most productive is to eat 40% carbs, 40% protein and 20% fats. You can easily track this by using a calorie counter software such as Fitday. Remember, these sources have to come from clean foods such as chicken breast, fish (tuna and salmon are my favourite), turkey breast, egg whites, oats, red potatoes, brown rice, green vegetables and fruit. However, I would try to limit your fruit intake until after your workouts due to the sugar (sugar is great after a workout because your body needs it). The type of fat you want to eat should be from sources such as almonds, natural peanut butter, fish oils, and olive oils. These types of fat will not promote fat storage, but will help you to lose fat if you keep it at 20% of your daily intake.

So how much should you be eating in a day? This is hard to say. My best advice would be to start your calorie intake at 12 x your bodyweight. If you see a stall in your progress reduce it by 500 calories. When you start to see a loss of 2lbs per week this should be the ideal intake. You don’t want to lose too much too fast as this will sacrifice lean mass instead of targeting fat.

A Consistent Workout Plan

Instead of focusing on cardio you should be concentrating on a consistent workout plan. Try to work out 3 times per week. What I like to do is rotate workout and cardio days. One day I’ll do a workout, then the next cardio, and repeat.

Supplementation

The only time you need to consider supplementation is if your nutrition is in place. That’s why they are called supplements – they supplement your nutrition, and give you the missing nutrients that are missing from your diet.

If you’re just starting out there are three main supplements that you want to consider: Multi-Vitamin, Whey Protein, and Fish Oils. Here are my recommendations:

Optimum Opti-Men, 180 Tablets
Optimum 100% Whey Protein, 5 Lbs., Double Rich Chocolate
NOW Ultra Omega-3, 90 Softgels

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Remember, nutrition is 90% of the battle. If you can stick to eating clean you should have no problem losing fat. It is important to be honest with yourself. I know it can be tough to resist the temptation of food, but it gets easier as you continue to eat clean. I’ve been there many times.

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!

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.

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.

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