Monthly Archives: May 2014

Muscle on a low protein vegetarian diet

There are many reasons why you should all consider becoming a vegetarian and they are:

  •  The negative effects on the environment and the contribution to global warming i.e methane from cattle.
  •  The contribution to world hunger.
  •  Forest clearance for cattle ranching.
  •  The cruelty to animals issue.
  •  The thought of eating dead animal carcasses make them feel ill.
  •  Health reasons.

The question that plagues so many of us, is, “how do you build muscle on a vegetarian diet?” People often wonder if it can be done and I am here to tell you that it can.

First of all, humans were probably intended to be herbivores and not carnivores. Physiologically speaking, we have all the characteristics of a herbivore and none of the characteristics of a carnivore. We have the teeth, jaws, digestive enzymes, low stomach acidity, and the small intestine length of a herbivore. Probably the most disturbing and revolting of those is the small intestine length to body length ratio. Carnivores have a small intestine that is 3-6 times body length. This is because meat goes rotten quite quickly, and needs to pass through the body quickly. Unfortunately, humans have a small intestine length of 10-11 times body length. What this means is that long after the meat has gone off, it’s still in your body rotting away and contributing to untold number of diseases.

When you add in all the chemicals and other unhealthy substances that our meat contains these days (just think of the antibiotics and vaccines that the animal receives), oh and how about growth hormones, pain killers etc. You can see that eating meat might not be in the best interest of those interested in remaining healthy long into the future.

With that out of the way let’s move on to the question of how to build muscle on a vegetarian diet. As I have mentioned plenty of times in the past, and I will say it again that high protein diets are a scam. You really don’t need that much protein to build muscle. Although many people thought he was off his head. Mike Mentzer first told us that, back in the mid 90’s. I once asked him his thoughts on protein intake, his reply was “That’s the biggest scam under the sun! Nobody needs that much protein. Muscles are 70% water. The only reason you read about the benefits of high protein area because that’s what everybody sells! Well It’s all a big lie!”

Say what you will about Mike, but I think he was ahead of his time and you have to respect him for that.

In all fairness, having  a vegetarian lifestyle should not affect your strength gains at all. In reality it shouldn’t really affect your size gains much either. As you know, you need a caloric surplus to build muscle. To do this as a vegetarian, you need to focus on good fats like nuts, oils and avocados, starchy carbs like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, pasta and brown rice and for protein sources you will be limited to dairy and fish (if you eat them) or if you are a true vegan- beans, legumes, quinoa, soya, hemp protein, nuts, etc. Even though your protein will be lower than that of most meat eaters you can still build plenty of muscle.

Look at guys in jail. Walk into any prison and take a look at the weight pit. You will see some of the biggest, most jacked guys you will ever see. Ask yourself how many grams of quality protein do you think they eating per day? Very little, I can assure you that. Someone I know, used to be a prison guard, and he told me of how big and strong the guys were. “How can they get so big with no protein” I asked.

He told me that he had no idea because all they had to eat was grits, fake potatoes, rice and a small serving or two a day of very low quality beef, offal or a meat substitute. So maybe they were getting 90 grams of protein per day. Yet they were huge.

You do not need high protein diets to build muscle.

When it comes to adding muscle while maintaining body fat, this is the only area of your regime where you may have difficulty. Because it will be impossible to get all the calories you need from veggies and fruits. You are going to need to pile down the starchy carbohydrates like rice and bread. If you are lean, this shouldn’t be a problem. Because your insulin sensitivity is lower when you are fatter, you may have trouble staying lean by eating all those starchy carbohydrates. This may slow down your size gains because you may end up with a buddha belly in no time.

To combat this problem, I would recommend carbohydrate cycling the way a normal meat eater would do it. Have super high carbs on training days and limit your starchy carbs on non training days. Maybe one day per week, only have vegetables as your carbs and eat nuts, and beans and fish and eggs that day.

Building a great physique on a vegetarian diet is really possible. Clarence Bass and Bill Pearl were vegetarians and a couple other legendary bodybuilders were as well. Robert Dos Remedios, is vegetarian and is a lean 240 pounds and in incredible shape. Jon Hinds is a committed vegan, in his mid 40’s, and is jacked and strong as could be. Georges Laraque – NHL, The greatest tight end in NFL history, Tony Gonzalez is also a vegetarian, it hasn’t done him any harm in the least.

For lots more information and ideas, on how to build muscle especially meat free ideas. Visit Jason Ferruggia’s web site.

Have you got man boobs

Being blessed with man boobs / breasts is often due to excessive body fat levels. But then again it can also be due to high levels of estrogen. Having high levels of estrogen can not only cause you to gain body fat in the chest and lower abdominal area, it can also lead to numerous health issues. Sadly more of us men are suffering from increasingly high estrogen levels, and this is leading to the continued feminization of the male gender as we know it. Lets be honest having man boobs does make you look silly.

If you think you can’t possibly be eating foods loaded with estrogens. Meat and dairy products are laced with hormones, and vegetables and fruits are drenched in pesticides. Once these chemicals are inside the body, they all mimic estrogen. The female hormone that causes estrogen disorders, including breast cancer in women. It literally castrates men.

This has to stop now before it’s too late.

How do you do that, you might ask?

Follow the advice I have pointed out, below, and you will start to get your estrogen levels in check immediately. Hopefully eliminating your need for ever having to call up Kramer and Frank for one of their prized inventions.

1) Don’t eat fake foods. If a cavemen couldn’t eat it, you most likely shouldn’t eat it. All the chemicals, and artificial junk that they put in most foods these days, can lead to increased estrogen levels, and numerous other health problems.

2) Avoid eating and drinking out of plastic containers as much as possible, over time plastics leach chemicals into your food. So it’s a good idea to avoid storing foods in plastic containers, use good old glass ones.

3) Eat only organic foods, pesticide and chemical free, organic produce, preferably purchased from a local farmers market.

4) Avoid all meat and dairy unless you are 100% sure that it is drug free and organic. All of the drugs and hormones that go into most animal and dairy products linger on, and will wreak havoc on your body. Boosting estrogen levels and can lead to heart disease and cancer.

5) Limit your consumption of fish to no more than once or twice per week. Fish because they are high in the food chain, are loaded with toxins such as PCB’s and dioxins that you should really avoid as much as possible. You should also support clean water regulations and laws, and organizations like Waterkeeper.

6) Only drink purified water. Our water quality continues to worsen all the time and is filled with numerous toxins and estrogenic compounds. Filter it, if you can, buy bottled water, but be aware of the plastic bottles.

7) Consume citrus fruits regularly, how ever these can cause problems in people who are susceptible to inflammatory illnesses caused by acidic food, irritating the gut.

8) Eat lots of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower.

9) If you must drink alcohol try to avoid beer as much as you can because it is highly estrogenic. Red wine is a far better choice and may actually be anti estrogenic, you can also benefit from the reservatrol content.

10) Eat a good amount of organic nuts and seeds. Eating lots of organic nuts has been linked to increased virility in men.

11) Finally, be sure to only train with short, high intensity workouts that actually raise testosterone levels and decrease estrogen. This includes resistance training and energy system work. Unfortunately if you do the wrong training program can actually make things worse instead of better.

To raise your testosterone levels, you need to rid yourself of excessive estrogen, and lose those man boobs for good. Go to Jason Ferruggia’s website, and check out his online Muscle Gaining Secrets program.

High sugar content in low fat foods

It really is vital to stick to unprocessed low fat foods when you are dieting. Staying this disciplined will cut your intake of high fructose corn syrup sweetener, which will help aid in weight loss and at the same time give you more energy. It also going to boost your metabolism, and will make you feel better throughout your day. High fructose corn syrup is added to nearly 70% of processed foods just to make them taste sweeter. So increasing the hidden calorie content.

When shopping read the labels on everything you buy and stick with foods that are unprocessed. In reality fresh fruits and vegetables are some of the best foods you can eat in every day life. They are packed with nutrients and natural energy boosters as well as fiber and vitamins you need to stay on track.

If you’re one of the few people who read the labels make sure you are looking for the terms fructose, and no added sugar.

When many food manufacturers take out the fat they tend to pack it with sweeteners to make the flavor taste good. (Believe me unprocessed foods tastes a lot better).

So just simply buying foods that state they are low fat or fat free does not guarantee you are better off then buying those items. Many of those fat free and low fat foods are packed with twice the amount of sugar to maintain the flavor. (Lets face facts there is enough evidence now. Yo support the facts that it is carbohydrates, not fats that are the are the main causes of being overweight).

When looking at what to eat in a typical day think of the following menu options.

  • Fresh fruit
  • Fresh vegetables
  • Tomatoes still on the vine, rich in monosaccharides – very healthy
  • Chicken which is baked (not fried)
  • Tuna
  • Probiotic Yogurt which is high fructose corn syrup free
  • Oatmeal
  • Eggs
  • Peanut butter (in moderation)
  • Other lean protein
  • Complex carbohydrates which release good carbohydrates into the bloodstream throughout the day

Eating five to six small meals a day of unprocessed foods will help the weight come off your midsection quickly. You will notice an increase in energy and you will feel much better all around. Your metabolism will be quickly recharged, and you will notice a healthy weight loss over your whole body.

Just because you are omitting high sugar content from your diet. It does not mean there are no sweeteners you can use. When you feel like adding a little sweetness to your foods or drinks, choose these ones which are better for you.

  • Brown sugar
  • Molasses
  • Honey
  • Maple syrup
  • Brown rice syrup

High sugar foods have many damaging components to them. For starters they are usually made from corn, which many people are allergic to nowadays. It has a very negative effect on the major organs liver, pancreas, and the organs that naturally help us lose weight. In high doses they can really damage your body, and even in smaller doses it can have negative effects leading to raised blood sugar levels and eventually diabetes.

There’s more information on this subject of low fat foods, in Mike Geary’s book the Truth about Six Pack Abs.

Post workout nutrition for a better body.

Post workout nutrition ideas for healthy shakes, to help build muscle and enhance fat loss.

I was wondering about what is best to consume after a workout, to get nutrients back into my tired muscles. So I emailed Mike Geary who sent me a reply which I based this article on.

Your probably sick of hearing it. But your post-workout meal may very well be your most important meal of the day.

The reason is that when you have finished with an intense workout. You’re about to enter a catabolic state where your muscle’s glycogen is depleted. At this point increased cortisol levels, are beginning to excessively break down muscle tissue. This situation is not good, and the only way to reverse this catabolic state (and promote an anabolic state). Is to consume a quickly digestible post workout meal (can be a shake or smoothie) as soon as you can after training.

The goal is to choose a meal with easily digestible quick carbs to replenish muscle glycogen as well as quickly digestible protein to provide the amino acids needed to jump start muscular repair. The surge into the bloodstream of carbohydrates, and amino acids from this quickly digested meal promotes an insulin spike from the pancreas, which carries nutrients into the muscle cells.

Good post workout nutrition should mean that each meal contains between 300-500 calories to get the best response. A good example would be, a 120-lb female may only need a 300-calorie meal, when a 200-lb male may need a 500-calorie post-workout meal. Your post-workout meal should also contain anywhere from a 2:1 to a 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein. While the majority of your other daily meals should contain a source of healthy fats. Keep the fat content of your post-workout meal to a bare minimum. Since fat slows the absorption of the meal, which is the exact opposite of what you want after a workout.

When deciding what you want to make for your post workout meal. The first thing to realize is that you don’t need any of these expensive post workout supplement formulations, that all those fancy ads will tell you, that you absolutely need. I prefer to make my own post-workout shakes from natural ingredients instead of using a commercial mixture, since many of them are low quality with hidden ingredients.

For the shakes, here are some things to keep in mind if you try it…

A good source of quickly digestible natural carbohydrates such as frozen bananas, pineapples, honey, or organic maple syrup are perfect to promote an insulin response that will promote muscle glycogen replenishment, and a general anabolic (muscle building) effect. The more you can do to assist the muscle repair process. The more you will increase your metabolic rate and that can help you to lose fat as well.

The best source of quickly digestible protein is a quality non-denatured whey protein and some fat-free or low-fat yogurt. Here are a couple ideas for delicious post-workout smoothies that will kick start your recovery process:

Chocolate Banana – blend together

  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup milk (I prefer organic grass-fed milk for max health benefits)
  • one and a half frozen bananas
  • 2 tbsp organic maple syrup
  • 30 grams chocolate whey protein powder – 38 g protein, 72 g carbs, 1.5 g fat, 450 calories.

Pineapple Vanilla – blend together

  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup vanilla yogurt
  • one cup frozen pineapples
  • 2 tbsp honey (preferably raw)
  • 30 grams vanilla whey protein powder – 35 g protein, 71 g carbs, 1 g fat, 430 calories.

When choosing a good whey protein, you need to realise that the quality vastly differs between brands and types. Most whey proteins are produced under high heat processes that destroy some of the fragile nutritional components of the whey. The best whey I’ve found is this great new grass fed RAW whey protein. As this is from grass-fed cows, it has higher levels of muscle building and fat burning CLA conjugated linoleic acid.

When looking to lose body fat, keep in mind that post-workout meals should have the opposite characteristics of all of your other meals throughout each day. While your post-workout meals should have quick high glycemic index carbohydrates, as well as quickly digested proteins. Your other meals throughout the day should be comprised of low glycemic index, slowly digested carbs and slow release proteins.

These are powerful strategies towards developing a lean muscular body with a low body fat percentage. Post-workout meals are great for satisfying even the worst sweet tooth. Since this is the one time of the day where you can get away with eating extra sugars without adding inches to your gut. Instead, it goes straight to the muscles. But only if your workout was high intensity, and involved resistance training for large portions of the body. However if all you did was low intensity cardio, you don’t need to make this type of post-workout shake.

For a more detailed nutritional analysis, with more of these various powerful post workout nutrition dietary strategies. Can be found in Mike’s best-selling No1 rated fitness ebook in the world, The Truth About Six Pack Abs.

The sad truth about most protein powders

If you’ve ever been near a health food store, or even a supermarket, you should know first-hand that there is no shortage of protein powders available today. In an effort to easily increase your daily protein intake, you’ve probably been tempted to buy one, or more of these (or maybe you already have) and made them a part of your fat burning diet plan.

But there’s a problem…

Until now, there has not been a protein powder that I felt confident about recommending, to you or even taking myself (there may be 1 or 2 on the market. But they’re either ridiculously expensive or taste downright awful).

1) – Most protein powders are sweetened with artificial sweeteners. If your protein powder lists aspartame or sucralose as the sweetener…throw it out. These sweeteners are downright dangerous and toxic to your body. They seriously hinder your fat burning efforts. Instead of helping you burn fat by increasing your protein intake, these artificially sweetened protein powders prevent you from losing fat by overwhelming your body with harmful toxins. Throw it away now, – in the bin!

2) – Most protein powders use a low quality source of whey, they are processing it at high temperatures. This method of manufacture completely denatures the protein and decreases the protein value (making it kind of pointless and a waste to take at that point). For commercial reasons it is extremely difficult to find out exactly how your protein powder has been processed.

Well Prograde Nutrition have finally done it. They have finally formulated a Protein Powder that is not only delicious, but one that is sweetened with Stevia (a completely natural sweetener), and that they have only used the highest quality, cold processed whey.

The best thing about the people at Prograde is that they listen! Myself and many other fitness authors that I truly respect were downright honest with them and told them frankly we would not recommend any protein powder with artificial sweeteners in it! Guess what happened? They actually listened and spent months formulating this new product.

This is as much great news for me as it is for you. If I have a protein option that’s going to be easier than scrambling eggs for breakfast or making a full post workout meal, Then I’ll take it! With this new protein powder, I’m going to be able to maintain my current protein intake in a much easier way.

Here are a few of my favorite Prograde Protein Powder Recipes. I will be making regularly with my new batch of Protein powder:

Pina Colada Protein Shake

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. water
  • 4 oz coconut milk
  • 4 ice cubes
  • 3 scoops vanilla protein powder
  • 1/3 cup Pineapple chunks

Mix all ingredients in the blender.

The ideas and recipes for protein shakes are endless. I use either water or coconut milk but you can also use almond milk or rice milk if you’d like. It’s time to get creative, and add a variety of fruits, raw nuts and nut butters for a delicious breakfast, or meal replacement any time of the day.

Easy Protein Oatmeal

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup oatmeal (dry)
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 scoop protein powder

Cook 1/3 cup dry oatmeal in 1 cup of water. Next mix 1 scoop of protein powder with a little amount of water, in a separate bowl, until it becomes thick. Add the powder and water mixture to the oatmeal. (oats contain beta glucan which are crucial compounds to help the body stay healthy)1 Top it with fresh fruit or raw nuts and enjoy!

To save time, I make several servings of oatmeal at once and keep it in the refrigerator for the next few days. In the morning, I scoop out 1 serving (1 heaping cup full) and heat it up on the stove top. This saves me a few minutes in the morning (every second counts, especially if you add them all up)

Protein Pancakes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1/2 cup Cottage Cheese (if you can tolerant dairy foods)
  • 4-5 egg whites (I don’t like to throw away quality yokes, its wasting good nutrition. So I save them for other recipes, or to add to my next meal. I tried to make this recipe with whole eggs and it doesn’t work as well.)
  • 1 scoop protein powder (vanilla)

Blend all ingredients until the mixture has a batter consistency. Then pour into a frying pan like normal pancakes. I use butter to cook these.

You can add your own items for flavoring… for example

Mix in 1/2 cup blueberries after blending (Blueberry pancakes). Or try adding half a banana before blending for banana flavored pancakes. I also like to add apple sauce, cinnamon and a dab of honey.

These are really easy to make ahead of time, so you can have a nice protein heavy breakfast without a lot of morning preparation.

You can read more on this subject in Mike Geary’s ebook, the Truth about Six Pack Abs.

Ref: [1] Super foods: Beta Glucans..

The realities of fat burning foods

It’s time for a quick trick that will help you safely lose 10 pounds in a short space of time. But first let’s talk about a serious health problem – weight gain with aging. Here is some truths about fat burning foods.
Did you know that runners between the ages of 18 and 50 gain weight at the same rate regardless of the number of miles run per week. The average is 3.3 pounds every 10 years…for a runner. Weight gain as you age is inevitable.

It’s part diet, part exercise, and part gravity. If runners can’t keep weight off by running, what are the rest of us supposed to do? Since we can’t turn off gravity, we going to have to work on the other two.
I have a simple solution that will help you start losing weight safely and naturally. I use it every day. Something to do with healthy eating.

We have a common enemy, everyone that is. That common enemy is processed foods and their condiments. The amount of junk in the form of added sugar in today’s factory-made food, adds to our waistlines, and our western world obesity problem. Life could be so different if we dieted with healthy foods.

It’s one of the reasons I am so passionate about healthy eating.

Let me ask you 3 simple questions:

1. Do you struggle to add green vegetables to your diet?, add some Broccoli, it goes with just about any meal.

2. Do you add unhealthy condiments to veggies? Ketchup, yuk read the ingredients

3. Do you want to lose weight eating healthy food that tastes great?, add a side salad with a little Olive oil

Did you answer “Yes” to any of these questions?

If so, I have a simple solution for you.

And, it’s the exact same solution I use.

Find out exactly what I’m talking about here.

Imagine what it would feel like to lose 5 pounds, 10, 20 pounds.

I remember when I started eating healthy, and lost my first 10 pounds… what an amazing feeling.

– It felt amazing to put on my jeans without struggling.

– The people around me started making comments about how fantastic I looked.

– I was ever so excited about heading to the beach with the family.

Its alright, it’s not your fault. The processed foods that we have been force-fed with for so many years have made it virtually impossible to keep the weight off.
You can read more ideas and tips like the ones above in Mike Geary’s ebook the Fat Burning Kitchen which is packed full of nutrition advice, and healthy lifestyle.

Importance of muscle building nutrition

It’s been said many many times that nutrition is responsible for at least 75% of your muscle building effort. I think that is dramatically overstating the obvious, but nutrition is critically important to your muscle building efforts. Without the proper muscle building nutrition you will never build the physique you desire. Below are listed a few easy to follow muscle building nutrition rules that will help you get bigger and leaner. Follow these rules and you will see results, ignore them and you could be in for years of frustration.

• Eat small meals every 2-3 hours. Eating this way helps keeps your body in an anabolic state, and keeps your metabolism running along at high speeds so that you don’t get fat. If you need 3,000 calories per day to build muscle. Then it is much more effective to have five 600 calorie meals, or six five hundred calorie meals than it is to have three larger 1,000 calorie meals. Doing that will lead to fat accumulation and also has you going too long without eating which only leads to muscle loss.

• Build your meals around lean protein. Proteins (Amino acids) are what builds muscle, so every time you sit down to eat should eat certain types of proteins. This should be the primary goal of every meal. Once you have covered that, then you can add starch, vegetables and healthy fats. As the daily protein needs, you should take one gram per kilogram of body weight per day. The only time you need more than that is when you are dieting and carbohydrates are very low.

• Eat vegetables at every meal except breakfast. There are incredibly healthy because they provide lots of nutrients and fiber, they also slow down the absorption of your meals leading to less body fat accumulation.

• Eat organic foods whenever possible. There is so much artificial junk in the food we eat these days that it is really a very wise decision to eat organic as often as you can. This includes meats, fruits, veggies and grains.

• Avoid sugar, artificial sweeteners and saturated fats as much as possible (with the exception of coconut oil). Consumption of saturated fat and sugar is what leads to a wide range of health problems and diseases. Too much saturated fat and sugar also leads to inflammation in the body and can actually aggravate the nagging injuries and lead to further pain. Many people actually feel a reduction in pain in back when they cut saturated fat and sugar diet.

• Some saturated fat in meat is fine from time to time, but you should really try to cut sugar and artificial sweeteners. Although they do not talk much in this country USA, there is much evidence that artificial sweeteners are not the least bit healthy – quite the opposite!.

• Eat most of your carbs at breakfast and immediately before and after your workout. These are the times when your insulin sensitivity is at it’s highest, and when you will use carbs most efficiently with the least risk for body fat gain. Don’t be scared to eat some carbohydrates at this time because most of them will be used for building muscle and will not usually add to body fat accumulation.

• Drink at least a half gallon of water per day preferably bottled water. Doing this keeps you well hydrated which keeps your performance levels high. Even a slight decrease in hydration will cause a drop in performance. About half a gallon is a good start but anything upto a gallon is usually better, especially in the summer.

• Pay close attention to your sodium intake. When I say that I mean in the opposite direction that most people and doctors will think I mean it. I think you must be sure that your sodium intake is adequate. This is especially true for athletes who play in the summer when it’s hot and you sweat a lot. Without adequate sodium intake, your performance suffers greatly. Sodium levels also help maintain adequate strength levels during a diet.

This article was written by Jason Ferruggia who is a world famous fitness expert, well known and admired for his ability to help people build muscle as fast as possible. He is also the head training adviser for Men’s Fitness Magazine, where he also has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle building. To get more muscle building nutrition tips, and to access his training program, check out. Renegade Diet Program.

Jason Ferruggia's Renegade Diet

Does juicing provide nutrition when dieting

Juicing works – of course it does:

Apart from the fact that juiced fruits and vegetables have very low calories and no fat (just make sure you make them yourselves), they are loaded with a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and enzymes that help your body to perform at its best. Our bodies spend a lot of time trying to detoxify, repair and protect cells. When we are undernourished our bodies go into protection mode and store fat for survival. But, when your body is functioning at its peak condition and getting all the nourishment it needs, it can focus energy on fat loss. Juicing delivers a concentrated healthy cocktail straight into your body. No extra effort is needed to break down the juice and so it is absorbed quickly and starts working magic immediately.

Keys to weight-loss success while juicing:

Juicing vegetables and herbs while reducing fruit. Yes, of course fruit makes it taste so delicious. Yes, fruit sugar is healthier than refined table sugar… but it’s still sugar and will still cause spikes in your insulin and if your body cannot clear those sugars out, they will convert to fat stores. Also, watch how many carrots you use, believe it or not they have a lot of sugar as well.

Save juicing fruits for before and after your workouts. For the same reason as above, when you work out your body becomes primed for using glucose.

Skip snacking and start juicing. It seems that people always get hungry between meals. The solution to avoid binging on things you probably shouldn’t be eating before dinner, is to juice up a big green glass of nutritional goodness. Hopefully the liquid will tide you over until your next meal, or at least it will get your brain thinking about health-conscious snacks.

Snack while juicing. Not on cheese and crackers or anything man-made but on the vegetables you are getting ready to juice. Sometimes our brains like chewing and feeling food in our mouths and stomach’s, so give it that satisfaction while nurturing you.

Healthy habits don’t end with juicing. Whether you are having 1 juice a day or 5, remember that beyond your glass jar, you need to be eating healthy all day long. It defeats the purpose of juicing for weight loss when you eat a big bowl of sugary cereal for breakfast, pizza for lunch, and burgers for dinner.
Fill up on fresh juice before meals or going out. Even though juice is digested quickly, you will soon feel hungry again. Your hunger may be quenched by the nutrients more than the feeling of full.

Alternate your veggetables. Two ways that this works: you don’t get bored and you get a variety of nutrients.

Add some barley grass powder, spirulina, chia seeds, avocado, or olive oil. Healthy fats and fibers are not only good for you, but will keep you fuller longer. Have you seen my article on Coconut oil. Try some.
No one wants to diet, or spend their time with someone who is dieting, who has a big hungry monster in their stomach.

Create lasting habits:

Remember juicing for weight loss is not a diet. It is the basis for a much healthy lifestyle. If you are taking the time to clean, chop and juice fresh fruits and vegetables then you should be making time to prepare and cook healthy homemade meals.

Some people like to test the water with one glass of juice slowly adding more as they feel necessary. If you prefer to start the day with a balanced, nutrition-rich eating regime, you will find that having at least one glass of vegetable juice per day will make it easier to reach your weight loss goals in the long run. Have you thought of replacing your morning, afternoon, snacks with a juice, then you are well on your way!

Why not see what advice, Mike Geary has to offer on such foods whilst dieting in his fat loss program.

In the mean time why not try.

Morning-time: 1 beet, 1 pink lady apple, 1 small slice of ginger

Before dinner: 4 tomatoes, 2 green onions, ½ green pepper, 2 carrots, 2 celery ribs, Handful of parsley, 1 peeled lemon

Before bed: 2 cucumbers, 4 romaine lettuce leaves, Handful of mint

Variety of healthy fruits in the fall.

If my practice has taught me one thing, it’s that a variety of foods are absolutely essential healthy fruits being an essential part of one’s diet. Almost every one of my friends and clients eventually comes to a point where they just can’t stand to eat one more salad, or filet of salmon. Eating boringly is dangerous when you’re learning how to be healthy. If you don’t have many options, you’re more likely to fall back on the convenient processed but bad-for-you foods you relied on in the past. Healthy eating requires variety, and lots of it.

Luckily, nature is on our side. The start of fall doesn’t only mean walking our kids to the bus stop and bracing for cooler weather. It also means we have a whole new variety of fruits and veggies to choose from! Eating seasonally offers real taste, budget, and health benefits. Here are just a few of them:

We all know that fruit tastes better in season. If you’re eating a summer fruit in the middle of winter, the chances are it was produced either by growing in a greenhouse, or other controlled environment. Or it was picked early so it could be saved and shipped to you on demand. While there’s nothing wrong with either of these methods – an out of season apple is still an apple – both methods have a real effect on taste. Fruit that’s allowed to ripen fully on the vine as they say, not only tastes better, but contains healthy sugars called monosaccharides. When you’re training your palate to like healthy fruits / foods, taste is essential.
In-season fruit is less expensive. Transporting food across long distances in the off season costs companies money, and they’ll generally pass that cost on to the customer. With a few exceptions, fruit is scarcer in its off-season. That apparent rarity is what drives up costs, which means that buying your fruit in season can significantly lower your shopping bill at the checkout. You can of course buy in-season fruit and freeze it so you can keep it longer.
Nutrients are more plentiful in seasonal healthy fruits. Fruit has only a certain amount of time it needs to ripen to be at its maximum free radical-fighting weight. Picking it early – or growing it in artificial conditions – depletes its nutrient store.

Keeping a list of what fruits and veggies are in season is a great way to make sure you aren’t eating exactly the same thing,on a daily basis, for the entire year. Here’s a list of fall fruits you can stock up on:

Apples: Some researchers believe that apples may aid weight loss by reducing the number of calories you eat throughout the day. For the full antioxidant effect, make sure you eat the skin, which is packed with nutrients.

Pumpkin: Pumpkin’s are high in fiber and packed with vitamins A, C, and beta carotene, which help boost immune function. Plus, pumpkin makes a great entrée, and a tasty dessert (heat it up and sprinkle with a little cinnamon).

Grapefruit: Research suggests that grapefruits can aid weight loss. Plus, it contains 75% of your daily value of vitamin C.

Other healthy fruits you should look for, include cranberries, grapes, figs, pears, and pomegranates.

Glycemic Index, and White Foods

In this article I would like to start a little discussion today about carbohydrates, in particular “white foods” as well as potatoes. One of the reasons I wanted to mention this is because so many health and fitness professionals dismiss potatoes as being a bad carbohydrate choice because of the so called high glycemic index. Believe it or not potatoes have a medium index. Some people say such ridiculous things as “avoid any and all white carbohydrates”.

OK, now while I certainly agree that white bread and refined white sugar are two of the worst things we can be eating when feeding our bodies. I don’t agree with avoiding any and all of these so called “white carbohydrates”. Now I know all the excitement lately has been about colorful foods and the protective antioxidants that they contain. They tell you to focus on colours and stay away from white.

“White Foods” aren’t  always the enemy

It’s true that colourful foods are great, but it is generally a mistake to specifically avoid white foods! There are plenty of white foods that have specific nutrients that are hard to find elsewhere. Let’s look at a few examples…

Onions & Garlic

What about onions and garlic? They are both white and they are full of protective phytonutrients, vitamins, and trace minerals. These aren’t easy to find elsewhere in a normal diet. Such nutrients as chromium, allicin, quercetin (an important flavonoid), and other unique anti-inflammatory nutrients.

In fact, onions are so powerful for our health, that one study of people that live to over 100 years old. Identified that a common thread of these amazingly healthy individuals was, that they ate a lot of onions throughout their lives. We also know that garlic is one of the most powerful substances for a strong immune system.

Cauliflower

Another example of something white that is great for you is cauliflower. Which are surprisingly high in vitamin C, fiber, trace minerals, special compounds such as glucosinolates which are anti cancer in nature, and thiocyanates (a lack of which can damage a persons immune system). These are specifically abundant in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. Another little-known fact is that some of the compounds in cruciferous vegetables, help to combat other estrogenic compounds in our food supply and environment and can help prevent excess abdominal fat. So eat up on that cauliflower!

Mushrooms

Not many people realize this, but surprisingly, even white mushrooms have high levels of unique nutrients and antioxidants. White mushrooms are high in a couple types of antioxidants called polyphenols and ergothioneine. Some types of mushrooms, such as portobella mushrooms, are surprisingly good sources of Vitamin D.

Potatoes

Now that also leads us to another example – the humble white potato (which by the way, can also be found in red, yellow, purple varieties, etc). Many health professionals claim that potatoes are a bad carbohydrate because they are thought to have a high glycemic index.  If you’ve read my Truth about Six Pack Abs ebook, then you’ll understand that glycemic index is not necessarily the most important factor in choosing your carbohydrates.

While a generalization can be made that most low glycemic index carbohydrate choices will help you lose body fat more easily than higher index choices. It is not all that it’s cracked up to be. There are many other factors that determine how your body will react-to and process the carbohydrates you ingest. Such as glycemic load and also how you combine the high GI food with other foods.

For example, it is known that watermelon has a high glycemic index. However the rise in blood sugar of a normal serving of watermelon is just  too low for your body to start packing on body fat, just because you ate a high index fruit. You would have to eat such an enormous quantity of watermelon just to get enough grams of carbohydrates to have any negative glycemic effect, that it just does not make any sense.

Not to mention that watermelon is also a great source of vitamins, minerals, and lycopene. There’s just no reason to avoid it simply because it has a high Glycemic Index. The point I am making is that, chocolate bars, cupcakes, and donuts make you fat. Because they are full of sugar. NOT watermelons, carrots or potatoes. French fries are excluded of course.

I also should mentioned, food combinations are important in how your body processes the carbohydrates and the associated blood sugar and insulin response you receive. Again, I will talk about this in detail about the entire topic in my Truth about Six Pack Abs book, from a weight loss perspective.

Alright, so back to my point that white potatoes are actually a healthy carbohydrate as long as you eat them in the right form – that’s with the entire skin left on. Please don’t ruin them by deep frying them into french fries either. French fries are one of the most evil things ever invented for your health. Because we ruin them by soaking them in a scorching bath of trans fats in the deep fryer from the hydrogenated oils that are typically used.

Keep in mind that potatoes contain so many vitamins and minerals that the list is way too long to even try. If you eat the skins, you’ll get some fiber too.

Are eating 7-9 potatoes per day going to make you fatter?

There was a study which found that potatoes not being so bad after all. I cant remember where I saw this referenced. But I recently saw a particular study that had participants eat something like 7-9 whole potatoes per day for several weeks. Here’s a good newspaper article on why potatoes are good for you.

At the conclusion of the study, the potato eaters had actually consistently lost weight! I’d venture a guess that the reason the people lost weight is that they were probably so full from eating all of those potatoes, that they actually consumed less calories than normal. An average sized potato has about 100-120 calories, and I can’t imagine you’d be full constantly from eating 7-9 potatoes each day.

Of course, this does NOT mean that french fries are ok to eat. Those will only make you fat, and the trans fat will lead to an early death. Seriously french fries / potato chips are one of the most deadly foods in our food supply.  Deep fried potatoes accumulate dangerous acrylamides absorbed from the frying oil that reacts with the starch, and these compounds are cancer causing.

Anyway, back to the 7-9 whole potatoes per day. I would never recommend going to those extremes, but my point is that an occasional potato is not going to hurt your efforts to get lean, and lose weight. Especially if you combine it with some other fibrous vegetables, and maybe a healthy fat, and some protein. On that note, here is one of my favorite recipes, using potatoes.

Geary’s Lean-Body Potato Side Dish Recipe

Desired quantity of baby potatoes, preferably a mixture of white, red, yellow, and purple baby potatoes.
1 red pepper.
1 green pepper.
1 yellow pepper.
1 or 2 onions.
a couple cloves of garlic, finely chopped (or mashed garlic from a jar, organic preferably).
1 or 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil and / or virgin coconut oil.
a little salt and pepper to taste (I like using a sea salt instead of normal commercial salt).

Cut the baby potatoes into slightly smaller pieces and place in a steamer until soft all the way through. Slice up the peppers and onions into strips and add with the chopped garlic into a pan with the olive oil. Cook the peppers, onions, and garlic until tender, and then add the steamed baby potatoes. Stir it all together and serve. This is a truly delicious, and healthy side dish that goes great with chicken or red meat.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little topic today about potatoes, healthy carbohydrates, glycemic index, and my delicious healthy potato recipe. If you want more recipes like this get a copy of my book Truth about Six Pack Abs, which is full of information on weight loss and how to get lean and fit.