Why this is the number one way to get rid of belly fat

Why this is the number one way to get rid of belly fat

Why this is the number one way to get rid of belly fat

Have you ever wondered why – despite all your dieting efforts – you keep gaining belly fat?
As you age, it becomes more challenging to keep excess inches off your abdomen and abdominal fat is fat you don’t want hanging around, literally.

Your body has two types of fat. Subcutaneous fat is found just under your skin and is very noticeable fat in that it jiggles, dimples, and causes cellulite. Visceral or “Belly” fat is fat on the inside of your body, under your abdominal muscle, typically what we refer to as having a “Beer Belly”. It is more dangerous than subcutaneous fat because it can surround vital organs like your liver and heart, plus you can even have this fat if you are thin. Visceral fat is linked to heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, strokes and other chronic diseases.

Leptin is a protein hormone that plays a key role in regulating energy intake and energy expenditure, including appetite and metabolism. Leptin resistance causes an increase in the visceral fat & contributes to the development of obesity & in determining your risk for Type 2 diabetes and other serious diseases. Leptin signals to the brain that the body has had enough to eat, producing a feeling of satiety.
Since belly fat can be resistant to many of the best diet and exercise programs and the most difficult fat to lose, there are several things you can do to help promote your cells’ ideal sensitivity to leptin.

“Belly fat can be resistant to many of the best diet and exercise programs and the most difficult fat to lose.”

How to Get Rid of Belly Fat

Exercise is one of the best ways to get rid of belly fat, which will lower your insulin levels and visceral fat production.
Exercise was found to take the fat away quickly. Those who jogged for 17 miles each week had significant decreases in visceral fat, and subcutaneous abdominal fat.
A combination of a regular exercise program with a healthy eating program is best, plus:

  • Avoid processed foods
  • Avoid high fructose corn syrup, sugars, ( refined sugar has been shown to be more addictive than cocaine) grains, fruit juices, and sweetened and diet drinks
  • Supplement with high quality omega-3 fatty acids (Krill oil is a good, highly absorbable form to use)
<a href="http://www.gopjn.com/t/SUJIR0dKRk5CTklOTUtCRklMSEtK" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.gopjn.com/b/SUJIR0dKRk5CTklOTUtCRklMSEtK" border="0" width="300" height="250" title="BOGO’s on Top Fat Burners at Bodybuilding.com! Save Now! " alt="BOGO’s on Top Fat Burners at Bodybuilding.com! Save Now! "></a>
<a href="http://www.pntrac.com/t/SUJGTEVKRUZCTklOTUtCRkdOS01G" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.pntrac.com/b/SUJGTEVKRUZCTklOTUtCRkdOS01G" border="0" width="300" height="250" title="MELT Method Super Bundle - Only $149!" alt="MELT Method Super Bundle - Only $149!"></a>

Measuring Your Belly Fat & Diabetes Risk Instantly

Your waist size is the best indicator of insulin sensitivity. Take a tape measure, and measure the distance around the smallest area of your abdomen below your rib cage and above your belly button.
For women your ideal waist measurement should be between 28 and 33 inches.
You are overweight if your waist is between 33 and 37 inches, and Obese if your waist is over 37 inches.

Nutritional Typing

One of the most important steps in helping your cells is to choose foods that are right for your body type. ( See our article: Feel better by modifying your diet based on your body type ).

By determining your unique Nutritional Type (Dr. Mercola video link ), you can then select foods that work best for your body. Dr. Mercola believes it’s clearly one of the most critical things you must do to support good health. Nutritional Typing is one of the only systems that customizes nutrition based on the way your body reacts to food.
This can help to explain why certain foods make you feel bloated, sluggish, and generally not great after you consume them, even if they are so-called “healthy” foods.

Once you start using Nutritional Typing I’ll bet you’ll soon start to notice:

  • Greater meal satisfaction
  • Less desire for between meal snacks
  • Food cravings diminish
  • And less belly fat….

Click here to Take the Nutritional Typing test for Free Now.

Paleo Works, but only if you do it

Paleo Works, but only if you do it

“Paleo works, but only if you do it”, says Robb Wolf

one of the leading authorities on the Paleo Solution, the Original Human Diet. One of the questions I can imagine “healthy” people might ask ( like I did) is why do I need to this “diet” and what will the benefits be for me? I actually asked my Cross Fit trainer, Mauricio that very question this morning and here’s what he had to say.

A Paleo Breakfast

He is a very healthy 20 something male and he noticed right away a big increase in his energy level and not bonking at mid-day like he used to. Also he hasn’t been sick with a cold or allergies in a very long time and he has been able to do more training then he used.

Personally I am in the category where I adhere to 80% of the diet and so I actually get about 95% of the benefit that Paleo has to offer. And the benefits can add up very fast.

Let’s take a look at where you should start.

1. Clean out the Pantry
We do not have self-control. PLAN AHEAD! Don’t have tempting foods in the house. Remove the bread, rice, pasta, cookies, crackers, puddings, ice cream, waffles, juice, sodas, cereals, oatmeal, artificial sweeteners, yogurt, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, canned soups, apple sauce, noodles…all refined, packaged foods. Bag it all up, take it to a food bank or homeless shelter.

2. Go shopping
Now it’s time to fill your cupboards with food worth eating.

Buy Protein. Ideally these options are grass fed or wild caught. If you cannot find those should you eat a bagel? No! Beans and rice do NOT count as protein. Pork, beef, lamb. Trout, salmon, shrimp, crab. Chicken, turkey, duck. Round things out with some good quality bacon, omega-3 enriched eggs and some items like chicken apple sausage to help you with breakfast on busy days.

Garden Fresh Strawberry

Visit a Farmer’s Market to get Local Veggies. Shop with the season, which typically means what is on sale. Mix up the colors, lots of orange, red, and greens.

Fruit. Limit fruit to 1 serving per day if fat loss is your goal. In order of preference: Berries, melons, citrus, apples, pears. Bananas, papayas and mangoes are great for athletes post workout but not for folks who want to lose weight.

Fats. Olive oil (extra virgin) coconut, avocado (oil and whole), macadamia (whole and oil), almonds, walnuts.
If fat loss is a goal limit nuts to 1-2 oz. per day.

Spices, Herbs and such. Marinara sauce, herbs, spices-curry powder, garlic, ginger, cilantro, garam massala, chili powder, black pepper, lemon zest, allspice, cinnamon, cumin, oregano, and basil. Get at least 20 herbs and spices to keep your cooking lively. Stock up on espresso, teas and mineral water as these are your beverages of choice.

Paleo Lunch

A Typical Paleo Lunch

3. Cook! The majority of your meals will look something like this: 4-8 oz of lean protein such as chicken, lean beef, turkey, pork loin or seafood.
Several servings of vegetables, either raw, steamed, or lightly cooked. Finally, round out the meal with good fats from Avocado, olive oil or a handful of un-salted nuts such as almonds, pecans, macadamias or walnuts. A lot of meals start looking the same, but everything can taste great with just a few variations.

Check out this Paleo Recipe Vault with Mouth Watering Meals.

Key points to remember:
• Eat Protein every meal and 3-4 meals per day. Eating protein with each meal I found reduces my cravings for more food then I need. • Beverages are coffee, tea, mineral water. Unsweetened, this includes stevia.

If fat loss is a goal: Limit fruit to 1 serving & Limit nuts to 1-2 oz and EXERCISE!

4. Go for a Walk or a Run or go do Cross Fit, Just Move that Body!
You were born with a certain set of genetics from your parents and all of us have genes that are meant to be active. Really active. The Center for Disease Control lists “INACTIVITY” as the third leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.

How your genes “experience” the world thru sleep, food, exercise etc, influences how those genes are turned on or off and this determines your phenotype. If you were analyzed for disease potential when you are a “Sedentary Person” vs. an “Active Person” your genes would look totally different. You are literally a different person when you exercise vs. when you do not.

So, Get outside and move. Gauge your fitness level and act accordingly. If you need help, find a trainer or coach.

5. Sleep! Black out your room. No, REALLY black out your room. No LED lights from alarm clocks, fire alarms, TV’s etc. Do not watch TV or check email for at least 1 hour before bed. Go to bed early, get at least 8-9 hrs of sleep. You should wake up without an alarm, feeling refreshed.

6. Get Your Blood Work done. So you will have some metrics to show you that Paleo is actually working on your insides, go to your doctor or clinic and order your blood work. I get mine down every year and its a fairly simple process. Read Robb’s book or ask your doctor what all of the different aspects of the blood work mean. But mainly you will be comparing your LDL Cholesterol (Bad) vs. HDL Cholesterol (Good)  levels, your Triglycerides, which are a measure of your circulating blood fats, Glucose levels, Glycated hemoglobin ( or A1C), which is a measure of how much sugar is sticking to your red blood cells,  and C-reactive protein or CRP is a marker of systemic inflammation.

Use your blood work as a starting point for your Paleo diet changes and then get tested again in a month or 2 to really see the overall effect your food choices and exercise regime are having on your health.

What is NOT allowed on Paleo:

Paleo-snack-apples

Fuji Apples and Cinnamon – Paleo Snack

• Grains: bread, rice, cereal, pasta, corn, gluten-free pseudo grains
• Sugar or sugar substitutes: maple syrup, honey, agave, stevia, sucralose, etc.
• Alcohol: sorry aficionados, beer is maltose is sugar; wine is fructose
• Legumes: beans, peanuts/peanut butter, lentils, soybeans (yes, this means tofu), peas
• Dairy: milk, cream, butter, cheese, yogurt, whey

 If you must have some “Cheat Foods”:
• I’d recommend one small square of dark chocolate per day

What about Alcohol? Don’t take away my drinking, you say?

Well even the Paleo King, Robb Wolf admits to having a “Paleo Margarita” occasionally. The drink consists of 2 shots of tequila gold, Juice from 1 lime and a splash of seltzer water. Its quite good actually.

Much of the problem with drinking is not the alcohol but the sugar that comes with it. A “typical” margarita or vodka & tonic would be loaded with sugar. Beer is loaded with gluten and has a significant sugar content. As for wine, opt for the dry varieties as they have less sugar.

But as with anything moderation is key and alcohol is NOT Paleo. If you must drink, imbibe earlier in the evening as far away from bedtime as possible. Alcohol turns off your growth hormone release which is Not good for your health, recovery or body composition. So if you are wondering why your fat reducing is not working cut out drinking for a month and see what happens.

 

 

Robb Wolf’s 30 Day Total Transformation

Robb Wolf’s 30 Day Total Transformation – Interactive eBook Guide

Do you want to… Lose weight? Feel better?
Have more energy? Reduce inflammation and pain?
Reverse diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, lupus, autism, diabetes, and obesity?
Look, feel, and perform at your best ever?

Get your 60-page Guide for just $25

Click here to download now

Want to Get Fit? Choose the Right Fitness Plan

Want to Get Fit? Choose the Right Fitness Plan

Backsquats at boot camp

Backsquats at boot camp

If you want to lose weight, stop doing your 5 mile runs or your hour-long treadmill sessions and replace them with high-intensity interval training or Cross Fit training instead.

One of the reasons why people continue to struggle with their weight despite engaging in regular exercise is because they’re not doing the right kind of exercise! Studies have confirmed that exercising in shorter bursts with rest periods in between burns more fat than exercising continuously for an entire session.

By doing Cross Fit or another high intensity workout, such as TRX Training, you can cut the duration of your exercise session in half and still burn fat! One study showed you can burn more fat exercising for 20 minutes than for 40 minutes. In the study, women either exercised for 20 minutes, alternating 8 seconds of sprinting on a bike with 12 seconds of exercising lightly, or exercised at a regular pace for 40 minutes. After exercising three times a week for 15 weeks, those who did the 20-minute, alternating routine lost three times as much fat as the other women.

This type of exercise works because it produces high levels of chemical compounds called catecholamines, the so called “fight-or-flight” hormones, which allow more fat to be burned from under your skin and within your muscles. The resulting increase in fat oxidation is thought to drive the increased weight loss.

High Intensity Exercise Increases Growth Hormone Production

The higher your levels of Human growth hormone (HGH), also called “the fitness hormone”, the healthier and stronger you will be. After age 30, your levels of human HGH begin to drop off quite dramatically, this is called “somatopause and leads to the dreaded “middle age spread”. Maintaining your HGH levels is increasingly important as you age. You will experience vibrant health and strength the longer you can keep your body producing higher levels of HGH.

You must engage your super fast muscle fibers in order to naturally increase your body’s production of HGH. Regular aerobic cardio such as running only works your slow muscle fibers, and can impede natural HGH production by causing your super fast fibers to atrophy from lack of use. Only high-intensity power burst cardio training, such as Cross Fit exercises, TRX Training or others, will engage your super fast fibers and promote HGH production.

The Benefits of Strength Training

Women tend to avoid exercises that will increase muscle mass, but carrying more muscle has many health benefits, including:
• Improved blood circulation
• Increased metabolism
• Increased bone density
• Increased energy
• Decreased body fat
• Improved posture
• Increased range of motion
• Increased body functions

Strength training is recommended for women of all ages, including seniors. Retaining your skeletal muscles is one of the most critical elements of human fitness to keep you strong, functional and healthy. Your muscles also help regulate glucose and lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity, which protect you against obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Cross Fit and high-intensity interval training which have intense speed and power exercises trigger a mechanism in your muscles that actually promotes muscle growth.

TRX Suspension Training - Total Body Workout

TRX Suspension Training – Total Body Workout

Exercise Slows Down Your Aging

Exercise also has other anti-aging benefits such as it can prevent or delay the onset of heart disease, hypertension, obesity, and osteoporosis, which are all common ailments associated with advancing age.

Also, if you can control the aging process inside your cells, as one anti-aging theory suggests, you should be able to control your rate of aging. Telomeres are part of your chromosomes which are inside each of your body’s cells. When your cells divide, these telomeres shorten and when they get to a certain level you will die of old age.

Exercise can not affect the telomere shortening process, but it can be accelerated by an unhealthy lifestyle. Exercise plays an important part in the prevention of aging. So, lack of exercise, obesity, stress, and smoking, all cause production of free radicals that speed up cells splitting and the telomere shortening process.


Need more ideas for Cooking Healthy Meals, then check out: The Healthy Urban Kitchen Cookbook The Healthy Urban Kitchen is a simple, step by step system for shopping, cooking and eating the world’s healthiest foods. It was created for busy people who want to improve health, have more energy, and prevent disease.

Paleo Works, but only if you do it

Paleo Challenge… I won’t starve to death will I?

My Cross Fit Trainer has this to say in answer to this question…“Many are so wedded to their current ways that they will disparage it because it is so threatening to the current prevailing ethos (“everything is okay in moderation,” “people just eat too damn much”, etc.). There is no caloric restriction built into the diet. None.

The Paleo Cookbooks – Complete Recipe Guide to Healthy Eating>>

“You eat until you are completely satisfied and snack at your own discretion and are pretty much never fiendishly hungry unless you miss a meal. We only regulate the content of your diet, not the quantity, because your body has an amazing hormonal system that takes care of the caloric details for us already (and has been doing so for millenia before anyone even knew what a “calorie” was). It’s the difference between burning fat for fuel (practically unlimited supply of energy, only small changes in energy levels) and burning sugar for fuel (very limited supply, large swings in energy levels (“sugar highs/crashes”). You will not need to murder anyone for a cookie because the new way you will experience “hunger” will not be so debilitating.”

Paleo Fat Blast Meal Plans
A full 6 weeks of delicious and easy to follow paleo-friendly meal plans for Men and Women. Take the boredom and hassle out of eating healthy-for good! Click Here for 6 weeks of Paleo Meal Plans

He goes onto say…:
“I have never heard of or read about any case of a person who was not at least mildly successful when they followed it for any good length of time and, generally, the longer and more diligently people follow it, the more drastic and profoundly life-altering their experience.”

“Consider this: I was already pretty close to my own ideal weight and current fitness level when I started doing Paleo at the beginning of this year, and even so my own experience has been like achieving enlightenment, physically and mentally. You will feel better. You will perform better in class and in life. You will get sick less often.

You will find that “little thing” that’s been nagging you for months all of a sudden goes away. Your libido will all of a sudden increase ;). You will become happier because it’s like you’ve solved the riddle of the sphinx and can now focus your efforts on other productive aspects of your life. I kid you not. The experience is so multi-faceted that it’s almost futile to try to capture it in words, which is why this little 25 day exposure will be so amazing for everyone who gives it an honest try.

Also, get the book because that will answer a lot of the common questions and concerns.

The Paleo Cookbooks – Complete Recipe Guide to Healthy Eating>>

Paleo Pumpkin Pie

Paleo Pumpkin Pie

Everyday Paleo Pumpkin Pie

Crust
1/2 cup hazelnuts
1 cup pecans
4 tablespoons melted organic grass fed butter
pinch of sea salt

Preheat oven to 350. Place the nuts in a food processor and process until the nuts are a flour like or almond meal like consistency. Pour into a small mixing bowl, add the butter and salt and mix into a thick dough. Using your hands, spread evenly into a pie pan and back for 10 minutes.

Filling
1 – 14oz can of organic pumpkin puree or fresh pumpkin
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
2 eggs
1/2 cup raw organic honey
1/2 cup coconut milk

While the crust is in the oven, whisk all of the pie filling ingredients together. Pour into the crust that has been baked for 10 minutes, return to the oven and bake for and additional 45 minutes.

Paleo Stuffing

Paleo Stuffing with Italian Chicken Sausage & Sweet Potaoes

Paleo Stuffing

1 lb mild Italian pork or chicken sausage, casing removed
4 ½ cups mushrooms, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
6 celery stalks, diced
4 carrots, diced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon diced fresh sage
½ tsp minced fresh thyme leaves
½ cup dried cherries, finely chopped
½ cup slivered almonds
½ tablespoon garlic powder
4 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. In a large soup pot, sauté onions in olive oil until translucent. Add the sausage and brown. Add the carrots, celery, mushrooms, chicken broth, cherries, almonds, sage, thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix well, bring to a simmer, and cook for 5-10 minutes or until the veggies begin to absorb the chicken broth. Transfer to a large glass baking dish, cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Paleo Fat Blast Meal Plans

Paleo Fat Blast Meal Plans

Robb Wolf’s 30 Day Total Transformation
Do you want to…Lose weight? Feel better? Have more energy? Reduce inflammation and pain? Reverse diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, lupus, autism, diabetes, and obesity? Look, feel, and perform at your best ever?
Get your 60-page Guide for just $25
Robb Wolf’s 30 Day Total Transformation – Interactive eBook Guide

Need more ideas for Cooking Healthy Meals, then check out: The Healthy Urban Kitchen Cookbook The Healthy Urban Kitchen is a simple, step by step system for shopping, cooking and eating the world’s healthiest foods. It was created for busy people who want to improve health, have more energy, and prevent disease.

The End of Overeating: Sugar, Fat & Salt

The End of Overeating: Sugar, Fat & Salt

The End of Overeating: Sugar, Fat & Salt
A Book Review

There is a new book out called: The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David Kessler, MD

David Kessler is a former FDA commissioner who reinvented the food label and tackled the tobacco industry, and now has taken on the food industry. He explains how the food industry has hijacked our brains into overeating when we consume foods that contain sugar, fat & salt. He goes on to say that since the 1980’s the food industry has created products that stimulate our appetites into a cycle of desire and over consumption. He explains why its difficult for people to resist certain foods and why its so easy to over consume.

Millions of people struggling with weight loss, are having their brains manipulated by everything from brand advertisers to fast food super sizes, to chain restaurant foods filled with sugar, fats and salt.

He says that the food industry has been remarkably successful at designing foods to capture the attention of people who have lost control of their eating habits and are totally at the mercy of food. Food designers, food manufacturers and restaurants all understand that sugar, fat & salt added to foods makes a juicy meal that many people simply can’t resist. There’s not a short of people who lack control around such targeted foods and not all of them are overweight. Many people don’t have eating disorders that we’ve all heard about, but for a lot of these people food and eating and over indulging is never far from their minds.

For thousands of years, our bodies were the perfect biological systems, then in the 1980’s, something happened. A senior researcher at the Center for Disease Control noticed an alarming trend. She found through a government survey on health and nutritional status that the number of people who were overweight had spiked dramatically. What had caused this phenomenon? Well by the 1980’s we had larger portion sizes, more chain restaurants, and convienence stores and a culture that promoted going out to eat. But he says that still didn’t answer the question of why we overeat?

Those people that can’t stop eating literally spend billions of dollars a year trying to find a cure to their weight loss. Those in search of a weight loss formula are wasting most of their money for a short weight loss cure that they hope will last. We all know that it basicly comes down to people get fat because they eat more than people who are lean. Apparently some people are still denying this or are confused about it, but we have strong evidence to prove that this is true.

Here is what the food industry knows and doesn’t tell you. “Higher sugar, fat, and salt make you want to eat more”, says a high-level food industry executive who didn’t want to be named. They make it indulgent and hedonistic so that it has a high pleasure value. Restaurants where Americans spend 50% of their food dollars have introduced countless new foods with high hedonistic values. Everything from Potato skins to Cheese fries, a high fat food with more fat layered on top of it, to Buffalo wings, the fatty part of chicken which are then deep fried and served with a sweet dipping sauce that’s heavily salted. Chicken tenders are the worst because I know many Mom’s gives their kids these “unidentified fried object”, loaded with batter and fat and then fried with salt and sugar added. And the list goes on and on.

Dr. Kessler observes that the food industry is “the manipulator of the consumers’ minds and desires.”

To order this book: The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David Kessler, MD

Need more ideas for Cooking Healthy Meals, then check out: The Healthy Urban Kitchen Cookbook The Healthy Urban Kitchen is a simple, step by step system for shopping, cooking and eating the world’s healthiest foods. It was created for busy people who want to improve health, have more energy, and prevent disease.

Be Thankful, Buy Local & Consume Less

Be Thankful, Buy Local & Consume Less

Heritage-bourbon-red-turkey

Bourbon Red Heritage Turkey

Back in the day, around 1621 to be exact, it has been estimated that the Pilgrims ate about 550 calories per person on Thanksgiving Day. Today the average person will consume about 2,000-to-3,000-calories for their turkey meal. Even though food was scarce, the Pilgrims ate locally and consumed less out of necessity. In most places in the United States, your meals come pre-packaged, prepared and sitting on store shelves waiting for consumers. You have a choice in what you buy, where you buy it and what you eat and what you throw away. Just in the United States alone our agri-business companies produce so much food that we waste 40 percent of it. That’s almost $100 billion worth a year.

On Black Friday ( which starts on thursday, Thanksgiving Day this year, in case you didn’t notice all the ads telling you this) is the ultimate push to consume more and more stuff…..The New Oxford American Dictionary defines Black (adj.): characterized by tragic or disastrous events; causing despair.

They tell us that Consumption makes the economy work. But in this day and age, Over Consumption seems to be the norm.

Try adding a few of these things to your holiday festivities:

1. Be Thankful, really. Write your Gratitude List and share it at the dinner table.

 

2. Do your exercise routine in the morning, you know you will never have time later. 

 

Do it for 15 minutes which is 5 rounds of each exercise and when you’re done your breathing hard and feeling good. 

 

3. Buy Local. Buy Free Range Organic if you can. Shop at Farmer’s markets and small local groceries. 

 

4. Consume Less. Learn about Intermittent Fasting 

 

5. Eat til you are 2/3’s full, we all know how food has a way of expanding in our stomachs.

 

 6. Drink a big glass of water before your meal.

7. Try making some Keto Sweets this year. 

8.. Consume alcohol early in the evening and then stop.Much of the problem with drinking is not the alcohol but the sugar that comes with it. A “typical” margarita or vodka & tonic would be loaded with sugar. Beer is loaded with gluten and has a significant sugar content. As for wine, opt for the dry varieties as they have less sugar.

If you must drink, imbibe earlier in the evening as far away from bedtime as possible. Alcohol turns off your growth hormone release which is Not good for your health, recovery or body composition. So if you are wondering why your fat reducing is not working cut out drinking for a month and see what happens.

9. Have some Chocolate for dessert, because we can’t give up all our vices now can we?