Tag Archives: weight loss

Lose weight without getting hungry

“I really need to lose weight but I hate feeling hungry nearly all the time,” I suppose this has to be one of the most common statements, made by people who follow many of the so called fad diets. If your diet leaves your stomach rumbling every hour on the hour, your body is telling you it’s time to make a change. I used to believe losing weight meant starving yourself. It took me a a very long time to accept the fact that I could actually eat heartily and still drop a few pounds in weight.

The times I spent starving myself in the name of losing weight were miserable. When I did manage to shed a few pounds, I would sadly put it all back on, in a matter of weeks. Sometimes I’d even gain a few extra pounds. Now that’s what I call depressing!

What I learned through many years of research (trial and error) is that when you follow a healthy eating plan, you can eat until you’re full, and still see amazing weight loss results.

What Are Healthy Foods?

Healthy foods are not created in factory’s where food is processed to death. If the food is dried, dehydrated, canned, frozen or filled with ingredients you can’t pronounce. I suggest that you stay away from it. Some good examples of healthy foods include fresh fish, naturally raised meats, legumes, seeds, organic poultry, organic eggs, raw nuts, along with fresh fruit and vegetables.

There’s nothing more miserable than having to deal with hunger pangs all day. If your meals aren’t satisfying your nutritional needs, this is exactly what’s going to happen. Here are some tricks to make your meals more filling:

Add a source of good quality protein and a source healthy fat (yes, fat) to each of your meals. Doing this should make your meals more appetizing and curbs the hunger. Sources of healthy protein include natural meats, organic whole eggs, organic poultry and fish. Sources of healthy fat include avocados, fish, beans, raw nuts, coconut oil and olive oil.

Fill your plate with veggies. They help to divide your plate into three sections, and fill the larger section with veggies. Leave the other two sections for meat and other foods. Veggies are full of fiber, so they expand in the stomach, digest more slowly so keeping you full longer. Try eating green leafs such as cabbage, spinach, broccoli which are rich in magnesium. (at least 57% of the US population does not meet the US RDA for dietary intake of magnesium)

Drink a glass of bottled water before each meal and throughout the day. This will help you feel full faster and reduce hunger.

Examples of Healthy, Filling Meals and Snacks

At Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, 1/3 cup of oatmeal with cinnamon and a small pear.

Snack: 1 medium apple, 1 cup of cucumber slices and 1 oz of raw nuts.

For Lunch: 4 oz ground turkey, 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice, 8 oz carrot sticks, and a small green salad with vinegar and olive oil dressing.

Snack: 2 tablespoons of almond butter, 2 slices of rye crisp bread and 8 oz of celery sticks.

For Dinner: 5 oz boiled halibut steak, 1/2 cup of green beans sauteed in garlic, small baked sweet potato and a small green salad with apple cider vinegar and olive oil dressing.

Diet plans that leave you hungry all the time (or even some of the time) are useless, why are you making life so miserable. Why not ditch the diet altogether and eat healthy instead? If you do it this way, you can eat delicious, filling foods and still lose weight.

Why not check out Mike Geary’s Fat Burning Kitchen Program for more great advice and recipes.

Flat Six Pack Abdominals, Lean Stomach

My friend Mike Geary told me about an interview he did with a fitness professional from NYC, non other than certified personal trainer, Geovanni Derice. In it he reveals some of the hardest hitting strategies for getting rid of stubborn stomach fat to uncover those flat six pack abdominals that everyone wants.

“GD: Welcome Mike to our 4-ever-Toned Fitness Journal. For those people who do not know you, please tell us a few things about yourself, and how you can help our readers with their fitness, health and fat loss.

MG: Thanks for having me on, Geo. Well, to go back a little, I have been heavily involved in fitness and sports for about 17 years now, ever since I was a teenager. I got involved in sports in high school which got me interested in strength training and conditioning.

At that point, once I started feeling more energetic, then getting stronger, and looking better, I was instantly hooked for life. I’m now 33 years old and I’m still addicted to the way living a healthy and fit lifestyle, makes me feel energetic, confident, and youthful on a daily basis.

I decided earlier in my 20’s that I wanted to make the commitment to help other people experience the excitement of being fit, and getting themselves in the best shape that they can. Since we’ve reached a tragic epidemic of obesity, heart disease, fatigue, diabetes, cancer, depression, etc. That’s why I decided to became a fitness professional. It just gives me such a buzz to help others, who have been struggling for years to get into shape, and to show them that it can be done, and how it can be a fun process.

I’ve expanded over the years from just reaching local individuals with personal training, into being able to help people all over the globe achieve their fitness goals thanks to the internet. I hope that my passion for fitness, helps to inspire people to take action, and improve how they look at life.

GD: Mike, one question is: there are so many things out there as to what works and what does not work… if you had to pick the 3 things that work time and time again to get flat lean abs, what else would they be?

MG: The first and most important thing to get under control, in order to lose your abdominal obesity and get flat six pack abdominals is cleaning up your diet. Exercise is important, but your diet is more important when it comes to losing body fat so that you can see your abs.

There’s so much confusion these days about what a healthy diet that promotes fat loss really is. After all, we are constantly bombarded by conflicting messages in the media about what is healthy, and you have all of these gimmicky diet books about various diets too many to mention. There’s so much conflicting info, that the average consumer doesn’t even know where to start when it comes to eating for fat loss.

The second thing that works, is to focus on the intensity of your workouts and focus on working the body as a whole in order to get the best metabolic response to lose that stubborn stomach fat.

For you to get lean, the workouts should have a high intensity, with short rest periods, working the largest muscle groups of the body, instead of trying to isolate specific small muscles like the biceps, triceps, or calves.

For the third thing, let’s talk about actually training the abs specifically. When it comes to training the abs. I always recommend forgetting about the crunches and situps for the most part. They are OK for someone who is really unfit, but most people that already have some training under their belt need a much better stimulus for their abs than doing crunches. Although crunches are one of the abs exercises that actually provide the least amount of resistance. Just remember that resistance is what develops and tones the muscles.

I provide a wealth of great abs exercises in my book, but one of the highest resistance exercises for the abs, is hanging leg raises (but NOT the way you see most people at the gym doing them). The key to doing these and actually working the hell out of your abs is to curl your pelvis up as you raise your legs. Most people don’t ever do it the right way. To be truthfully honest with you, the majority of people cannot do this to begin with, but I provide some strategies in my book how to progress to doing these correctly.

GD: Where are most people going wrong when it comes to developing the coveted “6 pack abs”?

MG: Well Geo, I know this sounds funny to most people, but the MAIN thing that people are doing wrong to get those flat six pack abs is… are you ready for this?

They spend entirely too much time focusing on training their abs! WAY too much time spent on abs exercises. Crazy, but that’s the truth.

Remember, having a flat and visible six pack of abs is all about getting down to a low body fat percentage.For you to do that, your workouts must focus on stimulating a fat burning hormonal environment in your body, and thus increasing your metabolic rate. That is not going to happen when you focus too much time training a small muscle group like the abs.

Instead, you must use the majority of your time focusing on training the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, back, and chest. That’s what stimulates your metabolism and the fat burning hormones that will get you truly lean and sporting a flat six pack!

GD: Which exercises do you rate as the top exercises that people need to do if they are to get maximum definition with their midsection?

MG: When it comes to developing the abs themselves, I again refer to any kinds of hanging abs exercises, as well as some good floor abs exercises like lying leg thrusts. All these routines are described as well as illustrated in my book mentioned below.

However, maximum definition in the abs and midsection comes from losing body fat, the most effective exercises featured in my program for that one goal. Various forms of swings and snatches (unique dumbbell or kettle bell exercises that almost nobody ever does), squats, dead lifts, lunges, step-ups, clean & presses, mountain climbers, sprinting, and other full body exercises and calisthenics. If you desire great looking flat abs, focus on the above methods instead of focusing so much on training the abs directly!

GD: When it comes to diet Mike, people really have tried millions of ways to get one thing and that is fat loss. What do you recommend to your clients, to lose body fat and keep it off?

MG: I have included a fully comprehensive discussion of this topic in my book, which makes up almost half of the book. The most important thing to achieve is that your diet is as natural, and as unprocessed as is possible. It almost always comes back to the over processing of food that makes it unhealthy, and it will wreck your metabolism and hormone balance in your body.

For example, why would you want to eat refined grains, if you can eat whole grains (even better are sprouted grains, as I usually recommend limiting grain foods overall for best results).

Why eat all that disgusting refined sugar that causes weight gain, when you can get natural sources of sugar from a high nutrient whole food like fruit. Why do we eat highly processed, refined, and hydrogenated vegetable oils (these are THE worst thing in the modern diet), when we can eat natural sources of healthy fats like nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, coconut milk, even organically raised meat.

The point here is to not fall for some quick gimmick like extremely low carbs (although I do believe in a fairly reduced carb intake as that is a big problem for most people), low fat, super high protein, or any other combination that has you focusing on one macro nutrient compared to another.

Your body needs all macro nutrients to thrive and obtain a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. Cutting out an entire food group out just works against what your body needs. I go into more detail on this vitally important topic towards losing body fat (especially that stubborn stomach fat) for life in my book.

GD: Thank you very much Mike for taking the time to share with us all of this great information.

I hope you enjoyed reading this interview and got several useful bits of info to get you motivated and started on showing off your flat abs shortly. If you have not already got a copy, be sure to pick up a copy of Mikes Truth about Six Pack Abs Ebook, and discover for yourself the entire system he developed for ridding yourself of that extra abdominal fat for good!

Six Pack Abs

Eat Potatoes White Foods – for a Leaner-Body?

I think it about time we started a little discussion about carbohydrates… and in particular, “white foods” including potatoes. One reason I wanted to talk about this is because so many health and fitness professionals trash talk potatoes about being a bad carbohydrate choice because of the high glycemic index. Some people are saying such ridiculous things as “avoid any and all white carbohydrates”.

Now while I agree that white bread and refined white sugar are two of the worst things we can be feeding our bodies. I don’t believe in avoiding any and all “white carbohydrates”.

Believe it or not “White Foods” aren’t always the enemy.

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

Onions and Garlic

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

Cauliflowers

Here is another example of something white, that is great for you is cauliflower. Cauliflower is full of vitamin C, trace elements, fiber, and special compounds such as glucosinolates and thiocyanates, which are abundant in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, kale and cabbage. One little-known fact is that some of the compounds in cruciferous vegetables help to counteract other estrogenic compounds in our food supply and environment and can help prevent excess belly fat. So eat up that cauliflower!

Mushrooms

Not many people realize this, but even white mushrooms have high levels of unique nutrients and antioxidants. Ordinary white mushrooms are high in antioxidants called polyphenols and ergothioneine.

Potatoes

Now that also leads us to another example – white potatoes. 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 book, you will understand that glycemic index is not necessarily the most important factor in choosing your carbohydrates.

While making the assumption that most low glycemic index carbohydrate choices will help you lose body fat easier than high glycemic index choices, it is not all that it’s cracked out 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, using glycemic load as an example… it is known that watermelons have quite a high glycemic index. However, the glycemic level of a normal serving of watermelon is just way too low for your body to start packing on body fat just because you ate a high glycemic 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’s just not logical.

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 GI. The point that I am trying to get across is… candy bars, cupcakes, and donuts etc make you fat. Not because they contain fat but because of all the added sugar… NOT watermelons, carrots or potatoes… French fries excluded of course.

Also, as i mentioned, food combinations are important in how your body processes the carbohydrates and the associated blood sugar and insulin response you receive. e.g if you mix a high glycemic index carbohydrate with an extra source of fiber, and healthy fats, or even certain proteins, effect of the increased blood sugar and glycemic response will be slowed down considerably by the way you combined the food. I talk in great detail about this topic in my book.

Back to my point that white potatoes are actually a healthy carbohydrate as long as you eat them in the right form… with the entire skin, and please don’t ruin them by deep frying them into french fries either! French fries or Chips whatever you want to call them, are one of the most evil things ever invented for your health, but only 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.

Will eating 8 potatoes per day make you fatter? of course not.

On the subject of potatoes not being bad after all, I don’t remember where I read this, but I saw a study that had participants eat at least 7-9 whole potatoes per day for several weeks.
At the end of the study, the potato eaters had 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. They consumed less calories than normal! An average sized potato has about 100-120 calories, and I can imagine you’d be constantly full from eating 7-9 potatoes each day.

I would never recommend going to those extremes, but my point is that an occasional potato is not going to affect your efforts to get leaner, especially if you combine it with some other fibrous vegetables, and maybe a healthy fat, and some protein. Let me share with you one of my favorite recipes for you to try, using potatoes.

Mikes’s Lean-Body Potato Side Dish

* Desired quantity of baby potatoes (I like to use this mixture I found recently at a health food store… it is 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

* 1 or 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil and / or 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 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. Slowly fry the peppers, onions, and garlic until tender, and then add the steamed baby potatoes. Mix together and serve. Its is a 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 healthy potato recipe idea!

Mike Geary

Certified Personal Trainer

Certified Nutrition Specialist

Truth about Abs

C-section to Bikini Ready, 7 day jump start recipe

Testimonial-Courtney21
Hi my name is Courtney, and I can’t believe I am actually going to feel good about wearing my new bikini on vacation in April! Considering where I was less than a year ago. Since giving birth to my beautiful baby daughter. I have been following the guidelines to the 7 day Jump start recipe program for 5 weeks now. I have lost the last 12lbs from my pregnancy and I’m keeping it off! My baby is now 10 months old and I am so happy! I didn’t think I would get back in shape after a difficult pregnancy, gaining almost 65lbs, and then an emergency c-section! I have got the diet down!
That is when I reached out to my friend Natalie Jill. Who is a licensed sports nutritionist and personal trainer.

Natalie has been a close friend for over 6 years, and I had done here make-up on several occasions the past year or so when she started fitness modeling. I have seen first hand how passionate she is about health and fitness. She works incredible hard and is a mother herself. I knew Natalie would understand my needs, fears and concerns.
She introduced me to her Jump Start recipe program. Eventually I reached my goal of being under 140, I have exceeded it and am now 135lbs, and I lost roughs 12 lbs. I am not trying to be a fitness model, just a mom wanting to be the best I can be for my Daughter and Me.
Natalie Jill Fitness 7 day jump start recipe
Thank you so much! I now live a much healthier lifestyle – Courtney

Eating Coconut Oil can help you Lose Fat

Coconut Oil is a wonderful healthy food that has been shown to increase metabolism and assist in burning unwanted fat off your body. It is a wonderful superfood, that has been around for centuries and a great addition to any fat burning meal plan.

Unfortunately, some people have a really hard time believing that coconut oil is not “fattening” or “dangerous”. Including many in the health industry, but thankfully that’s all changing.

We have all been falsely led to believe that fat. Especially saturated fats, are the cause of our weight gain and health problems. This is only partially true. There are some fats like hydrogenated oils and vegetable oils can contribute to heart disease, and weight gain. But good fats, such as coconut oil, butter and olive oil, are actually great fats for our bodies. Just consider how much healthier people were in the late 1800’s and very early 1900’s. Heart disease was almost unheard of over a hundred years ago.

Let’s put some of these bizarre MYTHS about coconut oil to bed right now, once and for all.

Myth 1 – Coconut Oil contains a lot of fat so it must be fattening.

Truth – Not all fat makes you fat (I want to get this printed on a t-shirt). Certain fats do cause you to put on weight, but other good fats will actually burn unwanted fat off your body, and accelerate your metabolism.

Myth 2 – Coconut Oil contains almost all saturated fat so it must be bad for you.

Truth – Saturated Fat is not the cause of heart disease, weight gain and high cholesterol. It has been falsely accused, and it is SUGAR that is Enemy Number One.

(To read more details about how fats can be healthy and the history of dietary fats, read my  post Butter: Good Fat or Bad?)

Myth 3 – Coconut Oil should be avoided by those who are at risk for heart disease

Truth – The fat in coconut oil is one of the healthiest oils you can consume (yes, even for those with heart disease). It is rich in lauric acid, approx 50% of the fatty acid content. Which is well known for its anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties (lauric acid is also contained in cow’s milk). Also it contains no trans fat. The saturated fat in coconut oil is different, in that it is of the medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA) variety. The body digests MCFA’s more easily and sends these fats directly to the liver where they are immediately converted into energy. Also the brain loves to use MCFA’s. Now isn’t that great? A fat that is used to make energy instead of storing it on our bodies.

Recently in this update Coconut oil is being used by some people to treat their elderly relative for Alzheimer’s disease, see this UK newspaper report.

I highly recommend everyone use unrefined, organic coconut oil for their cooking. About a single table spoon is more than enough for most cooking. You can even use it raw if you like as I think, it tastes amazing! I usually have about 2-3 total table spoons per day which is a perfect amount for a fat burning eating plan.

If you have a hard time finding coconut oil in your local supermarket, Available here for readers in the U.S.A: http://wildfamilynaturals.com

Now go right ahead and start enjoying your coconut oil and reap the fat burning effects right away.
Why not see what Mike Geary has to offer on such foods whilst dieting in his fat loss program.

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

Why is it harder for women to lose weight.

I was reading a magazine article for some reason, called It’s Harder For Women To Lose Weight. I’m not a woman so I’m going to look into this from a man’s point of view. I guess I could be wrong but here goes. I think it’s generally harder for women to lose weight. I’m speaking in general terms, and I realise that there will be exceptions to every rule, but that’s what I think anyway.

Why would I think this? Well they’ve got a couple reasons in that article I read: Women have to do about 20% more exercise to get the same benefits. While exercise alone might be enough for men to lose weight, women also have to look carefully at their carbohydrate intake to get the same results. Experts say body composition such as muscle mass, and hormones are to blame for women not being able to lose weight.

The story goes on to says that research at the University of Missouri by Prof Jill Kanaley put 75 obese men and women, all with type 2 diabetes on the same fitness program, and found men always did better as far as weight loss went. What they are saying is that exercise alone might be good enough for a man, but unfortunately it’s not good enough for a woman who must also worry about her diet to lose weight.
It’s a pretty interesting article. It goes back to basics suggesting that because the male body is more utilitarian then the female body it responds better to exercise and diet. One main reason for this is body composition – men have a higher proportion of of muscle of women – and muscle has a higher metabolic rate than fat. This means men can burn more calories then women even when at rest. There was one part where the researcher said a man working 65 per cent effort would require a woman to work at 85 per cent to have the equivalent output or results. I haven’t done any research and am not sure that I want to believe that, to be honest. The article then goes onto say that men naturally have this advantage because they have larger hearts and lungs along with a higher proportion of hemoglobin. (Haemoglobin is the part of the blood that carries oxygen around the body which is very useful when exercising).

So what is going to be the best way for women to achieve weight loss?

I think the best way is to lift weights, do cardio and eat properly. Lifting weights temporarily raises the level of testosterone and growth hormones which in turn, burn more fat. Hormones are a big part of your metabolism. Women naturally have slower metabolisms because they tend to store fat instead of burning it, due to lower testosterone levels. Women should be doing what’s known as compound weight training, that is, using muscles such as the glutes and quads. The bigger muscle groups you use, the more calories you will burn. Lifting weights is not going to make you big and bulky. But that’s another post for another day!