Monday, August 31, 2009

The Truth About Six Pack Abs

Abdominal Fat is Not Only Ugly, but Extremely Dangerous to Your Health - This is More Than a Vanity Issue!

By Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

Did you know that the vast majority of people in this day and age have excess abdominal fat? The first thing that most people think of is that their extra abdominal fat is simply ugly, is covering up their abs from being visible, and makes them self conscious about showing off their body.

However, what most people don't realize is that excess abdominal fat in particular, is not only ugly, but is also a dangerous risk factor to your health. Scientific research has clearly determined that although it is unhealthy in general to have excess body fat throughout your body, it is also particularly dangerous to have excess abdominal fat.

There are two types of fat that you have in your abdominal area. The first type that covers up your abs from being visible is called subcutaneous fat and lies directly beneath the skin and on top of the abdominal muscles.

The second type of fat that you have in your abdominal area is called visceral fat, and that lies deeper in the abdomen beneath your muscle and surrounding your organs. Visceral fat also plays a role in giving certain men that "beer belly" appearance where their abdomen protrudes excessively but at the same time, also feels sort of hard if you push on it.
Both subcutaneous fat and visceral fat in the abdominal area are serious health risk factors, but science has shown that having excessive visceral fat is even more dangerous than subcutaneous fat. Both of them greatly increase the risk your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnea, various forms of cancer, and other degenerative diseases. Excess belly fat has been associated in studies with higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), an indicator of inflammation within the body that can lead to heart disease.

Part of the reason visceral fat is particularly dangerous is that it apparently releases more inflammatory molecules into your system on a consistent basis.

If you care about the quality of your life and your loved ones, reducing your abdominal fat should be one of your TOP priorities! There's just no way around it. Besides, a side effect of finally getting rid of all of that excessive ugly abdominal fat is that your stomach will flatten out, and if you lose enough stomach fat, you will be able to visibly see those sexy six pack abs that everyone wants.

So what gets rid of extra abdominal fat?

Is there actually a REAL solution beyond all of the gimmicks and hype that you see in ads and on commercials for "miracle" fat loss products?

The first thing you must understand is that there is absolutely NO quick fix solution. There are no pills or supplements of any sort that will help you lose your abdominal fat faster. Also, none of the gimmicky ab rockers, rollers, or ab belts will help get rid of abdominal fat either. You can't spot reduce your stomach fat by using any of these worthless contraptions. It simply doesn't work that way.

The only solution to consistently lose your abdominal fat and keep it off for good is to combine a sound nutritious diet full of unprocessed natural foods with a properly designed strategic exercise program that stimulates the necessary hormonal and metabolic response within your body. Both your food intake as well as your training program are important if you are to get this right.

I've actually even seen a particular study that divided thousands of participants into a diet-only group and an exercise & diet combined group. While both groups in this study made good progress, the diet-only group lost significantly LESS abdominal fat than the diet & exercise combined group.

Now the important thing to realize is that just any old exercise program will not necessarily do the trick. The majority of people that attempt getting into a good exercise routine are NOT working out effectively enough to really stimulate the loss of stubborn abdominal fat. I see this every day at the gym.

Most people will do your typical boring ineffective cardio routines, throw in a little outdated body-part style weight training, and pump away with some crunches and side bends, and think that they are doing something useful for reducing their abdominal fat. Then they become frustrated after weeks or months of no results and wonder where they went wrong.

Well, the good news is that I've spent over a decade researching this topic, analyzing the science, and applying it "in the trenches" with myself as well as thousands of my clients from all over the world to see what works to really stimulate abdominal fat loss.

And Get Started Immediately Taking Action on the Secrets for Revving up Your Metabolism, Stripping Off Stubborn Belly Fat, and Getting Rock Hard Sexy Abs, Click Link Below

The Truth About Abs: The Honest Source on Abdominals & Fat Loss


Monday, August 24, 2009

The Power of Jillian Michaels

Lose Big with Jillian Michaels

Jillian Michaels. Once in a while there are names that leave an impression every time you hear them. That’s the power Jillian Michaels has in the world of personal trainers. Jillian has gained notoriety as a hard nosed personal trainer on the hit reality show The Biggest Loser. Biggest Loser is a reality show that pits contestants against each other by placing them on teams and challenging them to lose weight. Jillian Michaels heads one team and Bob Harper heads the other. Jillian has been known over the years to be the trainer that pushes the members of her team to their absolute limits during their workouts. Like all personal trainers, Jillian has been trained in the effects of exercise on the body and muscles.

Although Jillian Michaels is a personal trainer to those on Biggest Loser, she still makes herself and her services available to the rest of us. You can easily utilize Jillian’s personal training services through her web site. By simply entering your current weight, weight loss goals and height, you can receive a customized exercise and meal plan when you sign up for the services. Jillian also offers a customized meal delivery plan. Without having to leave your home, you can order customized meals that will be delivered directly to your house. Meal delivery is quickly gaining popularity as more and more people look for convenience while they try to get healthy. And you might be thinking that a personal trainer is a service that you can’t afford. After all, you hear about some of the hottest celebrities having their own personal trainer, and these are people that make millions of dollars for starring in one movie.

Contrary to what you might believe, personal trainers can be very affordable. Some people choose to hire personal trainers that customize all of their workouts and stay with them for the duration of each workout. That can get very pricey considering that personal trainers charge by the hour. But there is also the aspect of personal training where you meet with a personal trainer once a month or every other month. This strategy involves your personal trainer taking your goals and turning them into reality. Then each time you meet with your personal trainer you can evaluate your progress and revise your exercise plans and diet to keep you on track to losing weight.

Whether you choose to get a personal trainer from your local gym or go with the online program that Jillian Michaels offers, utilizing their services can be super beneficial. Personal trainers are professionals that know the ins and outs of how your body will respond to exercise. They can be your best friend in helping you reach your goals, but when they’re forcing you to push yourself; they can seem like your worst enemy. There are plenty of personal trainers available and at your disposal.

Click Here: Meet Your Online Coach: TV's toughest fitness guru's NEW workout to drop that weight!

How the Weight Loss Program Works

Jillian has combined years of training experience with the weight-loss secrets from her success on NBC's hit series The Biggest Loser to create her new online program.

This is your real solution to weight loss. Change your life by following Jillian's triple-threat approach to success: self, science, and sweat.

Self: Learn how to change your behaviors to finally reach your goals.
  • Inspiration and advice from Jillian
  • Weight-Loss Buddies who share your goals
  • Message Boards for daily motivation
  • Calorie Calculator & Interactive Weight Tracker
  • Jillian's 7 Steps to Behavioral Modification
Science: Eat right for your metabolism.
  • 100s of metabolism-boosting recipes
  • Meal Plans and Menus for your body type
  • Special food guides to help you eat right
  • Customized info on your metabolic rate
Sweat: Train your body for serious weight loss
  • 151 printable exercises you can do from home
  • Cardio workouts that you enjoy
  • Complete Muscle Manual
  • Fitness Advice Videos
Lose Big with Jillian Michaels

About the author:
Jim Mackey has been advising people on how to lose those extra calories.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Are Low Carb Diets Good or Bad for Weight Loss Success?

Everybody has heard of "low carb" diets -- since they are emerging as the newest trend in dieting.

But do they really work? ...And if so, are they the solution to weight loss that everybody is looking for?

We don't think so, because most low carb diets have several problems which make losing weight very difficult for the "average" dieter.

For example, if you follow the Atkins diet (a popular low carb program) then the restriction on carbs for the first couple weeks is very severe (by almost any standards).

The Atkins program allows just 20 grams of "net carbs" per day during the first phase of the diet (which usually lasts for 2 weeks).

Just to give you an idea of how few carbs that really is even a large apple has more than 20 grams of "net carbs".

This low level of carbs is often too severe for the "average" dieter to tolerate for 2 weeks straight, and in fact eating such a low level of carbs can make a person feel �weak� and �miserable� all day long (because your body needs more carbs than that for energy).

Other low carb diets (such as the South Beach Diet) are not quite as severe as the Atkins Plan, but in our opinion even the South Beach Diet is not as easy to follow as it could be.

We believe that a successful diet needs to be easy to follow � because that�s the only way that people will stick to the diet and lose weight.

We believe that diets should not make average people feel "miserable" and "weak" all day long, because if a diet makes people feel miserable and weak then it�s going to be very difficult for average dieters to adhere to such programs.

We�re not saying that all low carb diets are as restrictive as the Atkins Diet is, but we're saying that most low carb diets are so hard to follow that �average dieters� will probably wind up feeling hungry and weak all day long (which is not a good thing for dieting success in our opinion).

We believe that "low carbs" is not the answer to losing weight, since your body needs a reasonable amount of all 3 types of calories to lose weight consistently (protein, carbs, and fat).

The truth is that your body needs a reasonable amount of protein, carbs and fat calories too.

To lose weight quickly you must eat all 3 types of calories in the right proportions, and that�s why most dieters fail. They fail because nobody knows what the right proportions of calories should be.

To begin losing weight fast we recommend using the new Fat Burning Diet shown below -- since there are no specific "portion limits" at any meal (and dieters can eat as much as they need to at each meal). Also, unlimited amounts of certain condiments can be eaten with every meal.

This is a brand new type of diet never seen before.

You can begin this new diet right here..

Monday, July 13, 2009

Fat Loss 4 Idiots: Why Calorie Counting Doesn’t Work for Weight Loss...

Most people believe that calories are the "enemy", since eating excess calories leads to excess fat, right? That’s why most people believe that the fastest way to lose weight is to cut way back on calories each day.

After all, if a dieter is eating 2,500 calories per day and they decide to cut back to 1,500 calories per day – then obviously those extra 1,000 calories have to result in weight loss, right?

Well, actually this is not exactly true.

In fact, if you try to cut your calories too much (via starving yourself and skipping meals) then you'll quickly reach a dieting "plateau" (a point where the scale refuses to drop any lower no matter how little your are eating).

Firstly, let’s talk about how the average person begins a new diet...

The scenario usually sounds something like this...

One day you look in the mirror and see that your clothes are fitting tighter than normal, and you look more overweight than normal. ...And on this day you get “angry” with yourself, you’re angry with what you see in the mirror – and you decide that you’re going to lose weight no matter what it takes.

You are filled with lots of motivation and anger on this day, and you feel determined to do whatever it takes to get slimmer.
So what's the first thing you do?

...You begin skipping meals and cutting way back on calories in an attempt to starve yourself thinner, since you're convinced that calories are the enemy.

Anyway, the above scenario is how you begin your “starvation diet.”

On the first day of dieting you feel so “motivated” to lose weight that you decide to skip breakfast.

Unfortunately, this motivation doesn't last for long, because after a few hours your hunger begins making you feel weak -- because your body is not accustomed to "skipping meals" like this, and your body is not accustomed to being without calories for so long.

Anyway, by the time lunchtime arrives you’re so hungry (and weak) that you feel absolutely miserable --- but yet you bravely tell yourself that you can handle this diet (because after all, you certainly don’t want to feel like a quitter).

So you perhaps have a piece of fruit for lunch (or perhaps another small food item instead), since you're still convinced that you can starve yourself thinner.

Finally, hours later when dinnertime arrives you’re so miserable and hungry that you have a major headache – and this is the moment when you finally begin to realize that starving yourself might not be such a good idea after all.

After this first day of starving yourself you feel horrible, but you’re determined to stick to your diet since you don't want to be a quitter so soon -- so you’ll likely hold out for another few days on this diet.

Or, if you are particularly brave then you may even hold out for a week or two.

However, regardless of how long you actually hold out -- you won't get any slimmer and the final result will still be the
same.

You see, even after two weeks of starving yourself you won’t have achieved any serious weight loss at all. In fact, your body will still look the same when you look in the mirror.

Why is this true?

This is true because most of the weight lost during a “starvation diet” is just water weight, and not real fat loss.

You must remember that any “water weight” lost during a starvation diet will be gained back immediately when you stop dieting and start eating normally again.

Also, whenever you starve yourself you cause a “hidden” factor to come into play...

You see, whenever you starve yourself your body will begin burning fewer calories each day.

For instance, let’s say that you normally eat about 3,,000 calories per day.

....But then you suddenly cut way back on calories -- so that you're now eating only 1,000 calories per day.

Guess what happens?

Even though you’re eating 2,000 fewer calories per day your body will begin burning 2,000 fewer calories per day – so in reality your weight will remain the same even though you’re eating 2,000 fewer calories per day.

When this happens the scale will stop going down regardless of how little you are eating each day, and this is known as a weight loss “plateau.”

This is why most starvation dieters cannot make the scale go down anymore after just two weeks of dieting. They all hit a “plateau” where the scale just refuses to go down any further, no matter how little they are eating each day.

Now you know why you’ve always failed when trying to starve yourself in the past, since it’s just not possible to lose weight by starving yourself.

The truth is that “serious” weight loss can never be achieved by starvation dieting.

Serious weight loss can only be achieved by giving your body the right types of calories at the correct times each day, which is something that we talk about below...

Your body is actually like a big “engine” -- and the truth is that your body needs all 3 types of calories (protein, carbs, and fat) to some degree.

To begin losing weight fast we recommend using the new Idiot Proof Diet from Fat Loss 4 Idiots -- because it does not require any calorie counting (it's one of the only diets in the world which forces fast weight loss without the need to count calories).