Top Five Reasons You Aren't Losing Weight and How To Fix It

Top Five Reasons You Aren't Losing Weight, How To Fix It

I'll Give You A Hint!

Losing weight, or more importantly, losing body fat is an obsession in North America. Doesn't matter where you turn, weight loss and fat loss ads are everywhere. Today, almost everyone is more educated about nutrition and health than ever before, yet our population continues to punch yet another hole in their belt to encompass their growing bellies. Kind of ironic... like the more we try to learn about it, the worse the problem becomes... strange... or is it?

Selling You The Solution

So yes, there's a problem that in my opinion was partly created by the food industry, but now, as if selling you 2L Super Big Gulps with over a thousand calories of pure sugar wasn't bad enough, the same people who got you fat (the food industry) are trying to sell you the solution.

HUGE RED FLAG!

It's crazy! I was renting a movie not too long ago and when I got to the cash, you know how they have chocolate bars and chips and all that set up as impulse buys, well there was this chocolate bar and when I saw it I almost lost it!

Here's this damn thing, with huge letters all across it advertising the fact that it only has 80 calories per bar. But the killer is that its price... wait for it... $3.99

Four fricken dollars for 80 calories? I can head down to McDonalds and get at least 500 calories for a measly 4 bux!

What a rip off!

Yet people buy this crap all the time. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting 500 cal at McFatties is any better... but I'm just trying to say that big industry is ripping you off and making you fatter in the process.

They can give you 1/5th of the calories and charge triple the amount. Huh? Who the hell ever agreed to that?

Well you do every time you buy this garbage.

If you're eating properly, you can eat a REGULAR old chocolate bar from time to time (remember the 90/10 rule) and it won't end up as stored fat at all.

The problem is that when you're wired to eat more calories, spending $4 on an 80 calorie chocolate bar does NOTHING to solve the problem. Want to solve the problem? Stop buying crap,eat good, natural foods, and exercise more!

Now that I've vented a little, I feel better. Here's the Top Five Reasons You Aren't Losing Weight and How to Fix it!

Starting with number 5.

5. Nutritional Knowledge - Paralysis by Analysis!

You do NOT have to know much about nutrition to lose weight. Our grandparents knew virtually nothing about nutrition and when it was necessary, they could lose weight. How? They moved more and ate less!

One of the main reasons for our society's growing obesity issue is that people who need to lose weight hide behind searching for the HOLY GRAIL diet that will guarantee them the most healthy and effective way to lose weight.

So instead of grabbing an apple and heading out for a bike ride, they get on the internet and spend hours trying to "learn" as much as they can about how to lose weight and get in shape.

Then, hours later, they're famished, and they raid their fridge and plow back a "low fat" bagel with "zero sugar added" jam... because that's what they happened to read on the latest diet-guru website. Of course they also vow to get back to the gym on Monday.

Folks.. acquiring information does NOT produce RESULTS! Only ACTION produces RESULTS!

Of course I'm not telling you to stop reading my newsletters as a trusted source of information is important to have when you really need it! ;)

4. Cooking Ability

Before I met my wife, I basically ate everything just boiled or baked with not much else than salt and pepper for flavour. I ate what I was supposed to, because I WANTED the results you get from eating the right stuff.

Of course, now, food tastes much better and I don't think I could ever go back to eating tuna straight out of the can... or worse.. mixed with my oats as I would often do.

But if you're spoiled and food has to taste good or you won't eat it, then learn how to cook nutritious meals. Prepping and cooking your foods, and then preparing meals doesn't have to take as long as you might think.

I've set up a Kitchen Bootcamp at the Urban Element, and if you haven't booked your spot yet, please email me ASAP to reserve your spot! We'll be covering meal planning, groceries, preparing, storing, and finally meal preparing along with many different spice combinations for different types of dishes.

While cooking ability isn't a MUST for losing weight, it definitely has to be in my Top 5!

3. Not Being Honest With Yourself!

As a coach, I hear excuses all the time. And the only thing worse than hearing other people's excuses is having to hear your own.

"I only drink zero-sugar juice"

"I'm starting to workout again next week so eating (whatever junk) this won't matter"

"I'm big boned"

"My metabolism is slow"

These are just a few examples of excuses people make all the time.

You can justify them all you want, but that doesn't change the fact that it's an excuse. In this life you can either have excuses or you can have results, but understand, they're on opposite sides of a balance.

So if there's even just a tiny part of you deep inside that actually wants results... you have to STOP MAKING EXCUSES!

2. Fear of Hard Work!

This one has to trump them all... well, all except for the number one reason that is. If you head over to the recumbent bicycle at the gym, and "very carefully" set yourself at 60% of your maximum heart rate to ensure that you don't "accidentally" get out of the fat burning zone, then I'm sorry, but you'll probably always be battling your weight.

Yes, it will work for some people, and hey, good for you if you can get what you want with the bare minimum effort, and if you are able to lose weight like this, the only thing you'll lack is any real fitness and conditioning levels. But I don't imagine you'd care anyway.

If you are serious about developing a powerful, well conditioned, and LEAN MEAN FAT-LESS MACHINE, then stop worrying about whether you leave the fat burning zone, and see how hard you can work for a change.

If you look like this after you finish training, you can bet your sweet tooth that you'll get the body you want!

Nothing, and I repeat, Nothing Beats Hard Work!

1. You CANNOT Out-Train A Bad Diet!

The 90/10 rule is a beautiful thing. It allows us to eat anything we want in reasonable quantities and still lose weight. Gone are the days when you must be ultra strict to ever lose any weight.

The truth is, there never was a time when you actually had to be ultra strict to lose any weight. We know now more than anything the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT part of losing weight is consistency of your actions.

That said, if you are consistently eating badly, or you're actually following the 70/30 rule, or worse yet the 60/40 or any other combination... YOU WONT GET WHAT YOU WANT!

It is IMPOSSIBLE to train enough to make up for a bad diet. So if you've been having dessert every night, or eating crap cafeteria food every day at lunch, or eating well Monday-Thursday, then binging from Friday-Sunday... you just won't get the results you're after!

Time to be brutally honest with yourself. Use a food journal and keep track of what you eat for a while and it will stare you back in the face, as plain as day. Once you can admit that you're eating the wrong stuff too much, the 90/10 rule is just NOT that hard to switch to. You still get some goods on a regular basis, and you'll get the body you want!

Is that too much to ask?

BONUS REASON

Of course no top 5 list of why you aren't losing weight would be complete without mention of exercise. The type of exercise you do can make a huge difference in whether you lose weight or not.

If you're using the latest fitness equipment gimmick, you'll likely fall off as fast as you hopped on. And while treadmills, lifecycles, and elliptical machines can help you burn off stored body fat, you'll spend more than twice as much time on them to burn just half the body fat you would if you performed high-intensity intervals with full body exercises.

If you've been hearing about this high-intensity interval training stuff for a while now but aren't really sure what the fuss is all about, I run a bootcamp that is easily the toughest thing you'll ever do, but NOTHING and I mean NOTHING will strip the fat off you as quickly!

Don't believe me? I'll give you three completely free sessions to try it and see for yourself. Even after that, once you join, I'll give you a full 30 days in case you change your mind.

If you want to try it, head over to www.YourBeachBodyBootCamp.com and sign-up for your free trial. If you've already entered your name and email at the bootcamp website but have not activated your trial, go to www.shanmillerfitness.com/bootcamp/trial.php and get started today!

Watch 2 Pounds Of Fat Get Torched Before Your Eyes

Every wonder what 2 lbs of fat being torched before your very eyes looks like?

Well wonder no more...

Check this out:

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that combining that kind of a workout with a diet that supports fat loss, and your body will have no choice but to shed that extra body fat.

And if that appeals to you, head on over to http://www.YourBeachBodyBootCamp.com and take advantage of the completely free 1-week trial I'm offering.

And if you've already entered your name and email address at my bootcamp website, please use this link to activate your free 1-week trial instead.

http://www.shanemillerfitness.com/bootcamp/trial.php

If you like the video and want to see more like it, just let me know down below in the comments section.

Ottawa Boot Camp Member Loses 4 lbs In Just 3 Weeks

Here's an email I received from one of my bootcamp members yesterday.

Hi Shane,

I won't be able to make it to tomorrow's class, and while I know I don't have to inform you of sessions that I can't make, I wanted you to know because I am taking this program very seriously, and I actually feel BAD and am very disappointed that I am forced to miss my workout tomorrow!

I wanted you to know that you are having a very positive impact on me and I am feeling very motivated by your Ottawa Bootcamp program. Although I am very tired after an early morning rise and a long day at work, I feel I have more energy than ever to tackle all the things (and more) that I need do.

In addition, as I am working so hard physically, its motivating me to make a bigger effort to improve my eating habits - still, I am not perfect, but I feel the small changes I've made to date have definitely made an impact.

I jumped on the scale today and I am down 4lbs from when we started!

Talk about motivating!

This is just what I needed to see - and so soon in the program is so awesome... and I wanted you to know!

Having said all this, I know that the road ahead will be challenging - it's easy to see results fast if you work hard in the beginning but the real challenge is in maintaining the hard work to keep progressing towards the goal!

In the past, I might have given up when it gets tough, but with your help, Shane, I'm confident I'll reach my goal and finally get in the best shape of my life!

- Name Withheld

--------------------------------------------------------

Well thank you very much for your email, and I promise to keep my end and do everything in my power to help you get there!

:)

Shane

Top Five Reasons Slow Cardio Sucks

The debate over the effectiveness of traditional cardio continues, even though a mountain of evidence unequivocably proves the superiority of high intensity conditioning training for fat loss.

If you're at all unconvinced, here's my top 5 reasons that high-intensity interval training is superior to traditional (boring as hell) slow cardio.

1. Laws of Physics always prevail!

When you're giving it your all, it takes more fuel. It's like stepping hard on the gas pedal in your car! If you burn more fuel, your body mass decreases. That means you burn more fat. Simple!

2. Increased Metabolic Rate = More Fat Burning 24 hours a day!

High-intensity interval training has a significant effect on 24 hour energy expenditure. This means you continue to burn fat day and night!

Are you going to tell me you'd prefer to limit it to JUST the time you spend on the exercise bike watching reruns of Dr. Phil?

Please, allow me to hammer my head against the wall... I think it would be less painful!

Which brings me to the next point...

3. High-intensity interval training is ANYTHING but boring!

High-Intensity interval training can involve hundreds of different exercises, and when you have to give it 100% at all times, boredom does not even enter your mind!

Trust me on this one... my bootcampers are ANYTHING but bored!

Isn't that right guys?

4. Develop Strong Powerful Muscles!

High-Intensity interval training exercises impose significant loads and high rate-of-force development, creating much stronger, and far more powerful (expression of strength) muscles which improves overall athleticism.

5. Prevent Overuse Injuries

Traditional, slow, boring, low intensity cardio trains your body to economize fuel. Not burn through it like crazy. And while economizing fuel, your body also tends to get "movement" lazy, and repetitive stress injuries are common.

Whether it's the arches of the feet, the ankles, knees, hips, low back, or even shoulders, slow cardio makes it easy to practice poor posture, and lazy movements which can result in all sorts of overuse injuries.

Does all this mean slow cardio has zero benefit?

Not at all!

And slow cardio can be used to supplement high intensity work. It can even help with recovery between high-intensity workouts.

But reliance or over-reliance upon slow cardio for fat-burning... is the big mistake!

Can Exercise Actually Make You Gain Fat?

What really ticks me off is when journalists who can’t come up with creative, helpful content, just write crap in order to make headlines!

Take John Cloud from Time Magazine. In his Aug 9^th column, he writes an article entitled “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin”.

HELLO MR. CLOUD: MY JOB IS HARD ENOUGH WITHOUT YOU DOING YOUR BEST TO MAKE IT HARDER!!!!!

Sorry folks, but this is going to be a bit of a rant!

In his article, Mr. Cloud writes about how he’s been exercising for a few years now and can’t seem to get rid of his gut. He quotes a number of studies that are all “true”, but mean nothing in the big picture context.

Mr. Cloud tells his readers how the country now spends more money on trainers and gym memberships than ever before, but still manages to show increasing rates of obesity. He also finishes the article saying how tomorrow he may skip his workout and his post-workout blueberry bar because there is some research showing that as a survival mechanism, when we expend large amounts of energy during intense exercise, hunger signals from our brain are increased.

There’s also a survival mechanism that says if you don’t look both ways before crossing the street you might get smoked by a truck. I wonder if Mr. Cloud would suggest we all stay home and not ever leave our homes anymore to avoid being run over.

YES, Mr. Cloud is correct, when you exercise harder you get hungrier. Makes sense doesn’t it? We are designed by nature to survive, not get lean and ripped. And by the way Mr. Cloud have you actually looked on the wrapper of your (Kellogg’s) Blueberry Bar? There’s about 270 calories, maybe 5g of protein, 45g of carbs, and 7g fat. If you eat this after your exercise, you’ll definitely replace the energy you just burned off.

There is a huge problem with Mr. Cloud’s article as a whole. It is basically telling the reader that they are powerless in their weight loss pursuits. That if you exercise harder you might actually gain weight, because you wont’ be able to help yourself .

Here are two quotes from Mr. Cloud’s article. In the first quote, he is speaking in the first person. In the second, he is quoting the journal Psychological Bulletin:

“What's going on here? Church calls it compensation, but you and I (Mr. Cloud) might know it as the lip-licking anticipation of perfectly salted, golden-brown French fries after a hard trip to the gym.”

“If you force yourself to jog for an hour, your self-regulatory capacity is proportionately enfeebled. Rather than lunching on a salad, you'll be more likely to opt for pizza.”

Excuse me for a second… are you freakin’ kidding me?

I HAVE NEVER, EVER OPTED FOR PIZZA OR FRENCH FRIES AFTER LEAVING THE GYM WHEN MY GOALS HAVE BEEN FAT LOSS.

Seriously folks… if you’re trying to lose body fat, and you exercise hard and then go eat a bunch of crap… then you’re just plain hilarious. Clearly, you have either no idea, in which case now you do… or you just don’t really care if you lose any weight.

You can look all you want for examples of people who exercise and don’t lose weight and you can use it as your excuse to not exercise, but all the people I know who are serious about losing body fat, and who are actually making progress are busting their butts at the gym and it shows!

Maybe the editor of Time Magazine Online should make sure that with such a serious obesity problem as the country faces, that any articles they publish empower people to take action instead of just giving them another excuse to do nothing.

No matter how you look at it, this article by John Cloud gets a serious thumbs down from me!

Anybody else agree with me? Please leave your comments below!

:)

Shane Miller, CPT, CSN

Your Strength and Fat Loss Coach

www.your-beach-body-boot-camp.com

www.your-strength-and-fat-loss-coach.com




Day 7 Review of Your Beach Body Boot Camp

Keeping it short, we're back with guest blogger Katy Sinha's Day 7 review of
www.your-beach-body-boot-camp.com

Enjoy!


Hey everyone,

WHOA! Day 7 boot camp just picked up a notch. Ten minutes into the sessions, I was so winded and leg muscles feeling like spaghetti that I started thinking I'd have to sit out for one drill. I think it was the back-to-back "battling ropes of death" and then the long jump. I was fooled thinking "hey, the long jump! I did that in grade 3 during PARTICIPACTION.

More accurately, I should have said... I haven't done that since grade 3!

Push ups again... tough tough tough. I don't feel like I've improved yet. And THEN...bilateral "battling ropes of death" in the first session and again in the second session using one arm independent of the other. Those are deadly, ugh!

The other day in the mirror, you know what I noticed?! Shoulder, biceps, triceps, and (I think even my) butt muscles developing! I guess those pushups and sandbag cleans are working their magic.

So it's true and out in the open for us to digest. We are going to increase boot camp frequency to 3 mornings a week. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next four weeks. I have sorted out my child-minding and now have to get my brain used to 6:15am wake ups 3x/week.

More after Thursday's camp.

Katy


That's it for today folks, I'll be back tomorrow with an article on body weight only training that you can do at home with minimal equipment, to build both strength and increase muscle mass, as well as burn fat fast. I'll also be featuring Katy's Day 8 review of www.your-beach-body-boot-camp.com

Until then,

:)
Shane Miller, CPT, CSN
Your Strength and Fat Loss Coach
www.your-beach-body-boot-camp.com
www.your-strength-and-fat-loss-coach.com

Fat Loss Quite Possibly The Most Effective Program Ever

Do you need to lose weight fast? Have hours of boring cardio on that painful bike seat finally brought you to your senses? Are you sick of all the silly fat diets and completely ridiculous claims of the next miracle weight loss pill? Are you looking for what just may be the most effective fat loss program anywhere?

If so, you're going to love what I've got in store for you. I've put together a fat incinerating workout using completely unconventional equipment that is loads of fun to use, and I guarantee you will never work so hard and have so much fun at the same time. I developed Your Beach Body Boot Camp to help you burn more body fat faster than quite possibly any other workout ever devised.

Here’s why it is so effective:

1. Every exercise requires an all out effort. There is no medium, no low, only high! The more effort the workout requires, the more calories are needed to fuel it. Do you see where I'm going here?
   
2. Proven, and well established in the literture**, High Intensity Interval Training has been shown to be the single most effective method of rapid fat loss compared to other forms of exercise.
3. Producing a significant increase in excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), High Intensity Interval Training causes a whopping boost to your 24-hour energy expenditure. This means you burn way more calories all the time. Who doesn’t want that?
4. Group training environment promote encouragement and teamwork from your peers, which always helps you to find energy you didn't know existed.
   
5. When your fatigue level is second only to your level of excitement, hard work doesn't seem so hard. I guarantee you haven't done these exercises! After making it through your first workout at Your Beach Body Boot Camp, I can't imagine you'd ever do someone else' bootcamp.
6. Come at your own risk, your risk losing fat fast, getting in crazy shape, and loving every minute!

Here's an example of what we'll be doing...

The Battling Ropes of Death

The website is almost done, so stay tuned as we go live, ready or not, tomorrow at noon.

** Tremblay, A., J. Simoneau, and C. Bouchard. Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism. Metabolism. 43:814-818, 1994.

Fat Loss Supplements Are Dangerous

Hydroxycut fat loss supplements are dangerous! There I've said it! I've been hesitant to outwardly state it, but now there's finally proof. The company that makes the Hydroxycut products has removed 11 products from the shelves of stores in Canada plus an additional three products not sold in Canada after 23 reports of serious liver damage and one death of a 19 year old boy after use of the Hydroxycut products in the US.

PRODUCTS RECALLED IN CANADA:

• Hydroxycut Regular Rapid Release Caplets
• Hydroxycut Caffeine-Free Rapid Release Caplets
• Hydroxycut Hardcore Liquid Capsules
• Hydroxycut Max Liquid Capsules
• Hydroxycut Regular Drink Packets
• Hydroxycut Caffeine-Free Drink Packets
• Hydroxycut Hardcore Drink Packets (Ignition Stix)
• Hydroxycut Max Drink Packets
• Hydroxycut Liquid Shots
• Hydroxycut Max Aqua Shed Capsules
• Hydroxycut 24 Caplets

I get no satisfaction from saying so, but "I TOLD YOU SO!!". If you've known me for any time, you'll know that I have never promoted fat loss supplements to my clients or to anyone asking for my advice on how to lost fat.

Whatever small advantage supplements can give is largely negated by the horde of nutritional mistakes most people who seek out these products are making anyway, so to me it's a complete waste of money.

It works something like this. If you choose to continue to skip breakfast (my number one most important fat loss rule is to have a good breakfast), then you will undoubtedly make poorer food choices all day long including over-eating at dinner and in the evening. So yes, you could take some fat loss supplement like Hydroxycut that costs you $5 a day and maybe, just maybe, it might help counteract this nutritional mistake, but folks, this is a $5/day band-aid for poor eating habits. It doesn't even begin to help you actually lose fat, it's just possibly reducing how much fat you are gaining by how poor your nutritional choices are.

This is presuming that Hydroxycut or any other fat loss supplement actually works. A few years ago legislation passed that made ephedrine illegal in the U.S. Ephedrine is probably the only substance that actually has a half decent fat burning effect that in small enough doses in relatively healthy individuals won't cause any health problems. But of course, marketed to everyone, including severely obese people who have cardiac issues in the first place, ephedrine can be problematic, hence the legislation against it.

So with ephedrine largely off the market, any fat loss supplement that you're spending your money on likely doesn't do anything other than burn a hole in your pocket book. And if you haven't checked, some of these fat loss supplements like Hydroxycut are ridiculously expensive!

If you are serious about fat loss, here are some important rules that you must adhere to. If you can't manage to stick to these rules, then fat loss just isn't in your life trajectory!

1. MOVEMENT
If you aren't moving, you aren't going to lose fat PERIOD! And you don't have to spend hours on end on boring cardio machines to make it happen. But you do have to work hard enough to generate a serious sweat. Two to three 20-30 minute high intensity fat loss intervals a week is enough.

2. INCREASE YOUR METABOLISM
Strength training, whether using weights, or bodyweight exercises like pushups, chin-ups, and lunges can all help you to build muscle. Muscle uses more calories than any other tissue in your body (except the brain) so the more muscle you have the more calories you burn 24 hours a day!

3. BREAKFAST
Have a sensible breakfast that includes a protein, fat, and carbohydrates from healthy sources. For example:
2 eggs (whole... yes including the yolk!!!)
1/3 cup oats
1/2 cup milk
1/2 banana
2 tsp Udo's oil or a few walnut pieces

4. BALANCED SNACKS
Research has shown that to maintain energy levels throughout the day and to prevent overeating at main meals, having a small nutritionally balance snack, mid-morning, and mid-afternoon is the key. Snacks should consist of fruit, vegetables, and dairy products, although the limit is your imagination.

Healthy examples for mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks are:

Handful almonds
1 apple
1 oz 2% cheddar cheese

or

Handful walnuts
1/2 cup organic plain yogurt
1/3 cup blueberries

How much you eat at your snacks depends on your activity level and your bodyweight. Smaller people generally need to eat less and if you're nursing a desk all day long, then opt for vegetables instead of fruit if possible.

Example:

Chicken salad with spinach, pine nuts, tomato, and a low fat dressing

4. HEALTHY MAIN MEALS
I already covered breakfast, but the same principle applies for lunch and dinner. Start with a protein choice, add a healthy fat choice, add unlimited vegetables, and finish with appropriate carbohydrates depending on your energy requirements.

If you're going out to play hockey in the evening, then eating chicken and spinach isn't going to provide you with much energy to play. So be sure to have a serving of brown rice or sweet potato. You could even have a mixed bean salad with dinner which would provide you with enough carbohydrate energy to last you through your hockey game.

If your evening activities are limited to helping the kids with homework and making their lunches, then your dinner can skip the starchy carbs (if fat loss is your main goal) and focus solely on a variety of vegetable sources.

5. DESSERT
It seems for some that dessert is just part of the day. Some people eat dessert every single night. I think it starts as a kid, and depending on whether or not your parents gave you dessert every night, many people carry this throughout their lives.

Folks... you don't HAVE to have dessert every night! Yes, it's nice.. I enjoy it too. But if you have fat to lose, daily dessert is guaranteed to keep your bodyfat right where it is, and possibly even increase it. Think of it this way. Eating a dessert is like not doing 30 minutes of exercise. So if you want to eat a dessert each day, you'll need 30 minutes of exercise daily to counter it so that you don't gain any bodyfat. So if you actually want to lose bodyfat then you need to do even more.

It's much easier to skip the dessert 4 or 5 nights of the weekk, enjoy it the other two or three nights, get your 2-3 sessions of cardio in, and lose the bodyfat!


6. ELIMINATE LIQUID CALORIES FROM YOUR DIET
Other than milk, if you drink soft drinks or juices (sugar free or not) you can forget about losing body fat. It's just that simple. Liquid calories are one of the main causes of increased body fat. Diet soft drinks in very small quantities are ok, but if you're putting back more than one can of diet soft drinks a day, then you will also have a hard time losing body fat. Your brain recognizes the sweetness of the artificial sweeteners in these products and releases insulin in much the same way as it does in response to actual sugars! Can't trick your brain!

FAT LOSS NIGHTMARE

7. WATER
I can almost guarantee that everyone who has too much bodyfat drinks too little water. Get your water consumption up and you'll be surprised what it can do for your fat loss efforts. Starting with reducing your cravings for junk, much of the time people confuse the early signals for thirst with hunger.

One to two hours after each meal, drink 250-500ml of water and notice a reduction in cravings for junk food. It's a free, no brainer! Mess this one up.. and well.. stay as you are! Your choice!

8. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
Alcoholic beverages like wine have a somewhat culturistic place in our society it seems, and some people feel like it is an afront to their righs and dignity to suggest that they shoudn't have their wine with dinner. And while for folks who are lean, and who exercise and eat a generally healthy diet, their wine consumption isn't a problem. But if you aren't doing everything else right (diet & exercise), then wine is just like dessert... extra calories!

Beer, mixed drinks, and wine all contribute to increasing calories. Don't fool yourself into justifying yourself out of getting the fat loss results you seek. Trust me, once you get rid of the body fat, you can re-introduce these pleasures with little effect, but until then... their consumption is your choice to not change your body!

I know.... I'm mean!

Well I hope this information helps give you some concrete steps you can take towards getting rid of any unwanted body fat without the use of harmful (and mostly useless) fat loss supplements!

Please remember, my job is to help you, so if there's anything I can do to help you, please comment below or send me an email at shane@spectrumfitness.ca

While I can't personally reply to every email I get, I will take all your questions and answer them in a future Frequently Asked Questions post.

Have a great week!

:)
Shane Miller, CPT, CSN

BULLDOZE YOUR FAT LOSS ROADBLOCKS

I received two emails today from a couple of my online readers and while their questions were both quite different, they were both suffering from the same fat loss roadblocks. The basic underlying problem they both have is meal structuring throughout the day. So in this article I'll go through a typical day and show you how to build each meal for optimum fat loss.

First, if you burn calories all day long, then doesn't it makes sense that your calorie intake should be spread throughout the day to ensure optimal energy levels? Surprisingly few people take advantage of this simple trick which can significantly increase your metabolic rate.

Just think about it for a moment. If you need 1800 calories each day, and you eat 90% of those calories at night when your only energy requirement following dinner is a few chores, making lunches for the kids, and then going to bed, do you really believe that your body is going to magically make all those calories disappear?

Of course not. And believe me this is going on all around us. Just take a look around, its not hard to spot an overweight person these days, and chances are they're making this huge mistake.

The problem when you go all day without eating is that you're teaching your body to conserve calories. The big caloric load that subsequently arrives with dinner is dumped onto a sluggish metabolism that has no way to use it. The result? Increased bodyfat storage.


FAT LOSS ROADBLOCK #1 - POOR CALORIE DISTRIBUTION

Your calories should be divided over your six meals prioritizing meals consumed before and after your workouts. Up to 50% of your daily calories can be consumed in these two meals providing an abundance of energy for your workout and for replenishing your muscles afterwards without risk of storing any bodyfat. After that, earlier meals should contain more calories than later meals.


FAT LOSS ROADBLOCK #2 - POOR MEAL STRUCTURING

Typically, when people are hungry they open the fridge, nothing is prepared, they seek instant gratification for their hunger and they down whatever strikes their fancy. If it's breakfast, a bowl of sugary cereal will do the trick. If it's lunch, heck, who eats lunch these days anyway!!! Well ok, if they do eat lunch then it's a quick peanut butter and jam sandwich or a quick stop at Tim Hortons or McDonalds. If it's dinner, hot dogs, hamburgers, hamburger helper, kraft dinner, all these items are fast to prepare and they very quickly satisfy your hunger, but their consumption is another fat loss roadblock.

Constructing meals should always start with your protein source, then progress to fat source, and finally end with carbohydrate source.

Here's an example of a typical North American breakfast at home:

Cereal w/milk
Juice
Bread w/jam
Fruit

All four items are carbohydrate based foods. Carbohydrate based means that the majority of the calories come from carbohydrates. The problem with this breakfast is that while it will get you going with a bang, it will also stop you like a truck shortly after.

Fast in, fast out! All night you've fasted, and your blood sugar, blood amino acids, and blood fat levels are likely at the lowest they'll be all day. So if you dump all carbohydrate based foods into your bloodstream, your insulin is going to spike like crazy and your energy will drop off just as fast as it came on.


Here's an example of a typical North American Breakfast at a restaurant:

Bacon
Eggs
Sausages
Hash browns
Toast with margarine
Juice
Coffee

IF THIS IS YOUR IDEA OF BREAKFAST THEN YOU'VE GOT SOME MAJOR FAT LOSS ROADBLOCKS TO BULLDOZE!

The solution is to ALWAYS have a mixture of protein, carbohydrate, and fat based foods maintaining a moderate caloric load. And in fact this should be the way you structure all your meals, not just your breakfast. You can modify it as needed depending on what you're doing, but as a general rule, a mixture of all three will always elicit the type of result you're seeking: lasting energy!


Always start by deciding on your protein source. And remember, a protein based food is a food that contains more protein than carbohydrates per serving. Just look at the label and it will tell you.


Here's a list of acceptable protein sources:

Eggs
Organic Yogurt (must have a higher protein than carbs... check the label!)
Cottage Cheese (2%)
Low Fat (2%) Cheese
Beef (steak... trim visible fat)
Beef (ground... choose lean or extra lean and try to drain off a bit of the fat after cooking)
Bison (both steaks and ground are very lean)
Lamb Pork (tenderloin is the best choice)
Bacon (not a great choice, but if you're going to eat it, choose Back Bacon it's lower in fat)
Salmon (Farmed or Fresh... both are low in mercury)
Tuna (Skipjack light tuna from cans... Albacore tuna has higher levels of mercury)
Protein Powders (Natural or plain flavour... use Stevia to sweeten if needed and fruit to add flavour)


Once you've picked your protein source, then you look for your fat source. If you're having eggs, you don't need an additional fat source. Often is the case for higher fat meats too.


Here's some great fat sources:

Flax seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
Hemp seeds
Almonds
Pecans
Walnuts
Hazelnuts
Udo's oil


And finally, when you've made it this far, select a carbohydrate source:


Great carb sources:

Oats
Quinoa
Bulgur
Spelt
Brown rice
Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Fruit
Vegetables


There are too many veggies and fruit to list them all, but try combining different veggies when you eat them. Veggies generally don't give you many calories compared to fruit or other carbohydrate sources, so typically you choose your carbohydrate sources based on your energy requirements for the following three hours.


Obviously if you're going to be sitting down and watching television at night, then you don't need many carbohydrate calories so multiple vegetable selections is best. If you're getting up Saturday morning, and you have a long day ahead of you of taking the kids to their sports, groceries, and various chores, you'll want to have a mixture of some starchy carb sources as well as fruit and/or veggie sources. If you have a workout planned for 4pm, then at 2:30pm, a good dose of starchy and fruit carbs will see you through your workout with plenty of energy.


Let's look at a typical day. This example of daily meal structuring must be tailored for each person based on your weight and activity level. If you were to eat this menu exactly day in and day out over a few weeks and you gained weight, then you would simply need to reduce the amount you eat. But the combinations of foods is excellent and shows how you should combine foods to eat for optimal health and fat loss.


Breakfast
1/2 scoop whey protein powder - PROTEIN
1 tbsp Udo's oil - FAT
1/3 cup Oats w/skim milk - CARBS
1/2 banana - CARBS
1/2 cup thawed frozen raspberries - CARBS
1/4 tsp stevia powder (sweetener)


Mid-Morning Snack
Handful of almonds (maybe 10-20) - PROTEIN & FAT
1 apple - CARBS


Lunch
3 oz chicken breast - PROTEIN
7 or 8 walnut pieces - FAT
big handful of spinach (not baby spinach) - UNLIMITED
1 Mandarin orange (put pieces in salad) - CARBS
1tbsp Udo's oil - FAT
1tsp balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper to taste


Mid-Afternoon
1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese - PROTEIN & FAT
1/4 cup chopped fresh pineapple - CARBS


Dinner
6 oz salmon fillet - PROTEIN & FAT
10 asparagus spears (steamed) - UNLIMITED
1 med carrot (steamed) - UNLIMITED
1 small red potato (chopped and steamed) - CARBS
1 tsp butter - FAT
salt & pepper to taste

Salad
Bowlful mixed greens - UNLIMITED
6 halved cherry tomatoes - UNLIMITED
10 cucumber slices - UNLIMITED
small handful pine nuts - FAT

Salad Dressing
2 tsp Renee's Caesar dressing - FAT
1 tsp Udo's oil - FAT
2 tsp Organic Plain Yogurt
mixed well and drizzled over salad


Evening Snack
High Protein Fat Free Butterscotch Cinnamon Jello Pudding
Ingredients: Fat Free Butterscotch Jello Pudding prepare as
directed and add 1-2 scoops protein powder and a half tsp
of cinnamon for improved flavour.

1 serving is 1/4 of prepared product.



FAT LOSS ROADBLOCK #3 - CONVENIENCE FOODS

If you know how to put together healthy fat loss meals, but you don't because you feel like you don't have time, coming to the realization that the time spent preparing healthy meals is an investment is inevitable to smashing your fat loss roadblocks! Convenience or fast foods are always laden in fat and sugar to make them taste good so you always crave them whenever you are in a rush.



FAT LOSS ROADBLOCK #4 - GLUTTONY

Another common fat loss roadblock is just plain old eating too much! Even the healthiest of foods will make you gain body fat if you eat too much of it. Heck, thousands of years ago when there was no unhealthy food, there were still some heavier people. Of course they were the wealthy ones who could afford to eat enough food to actually become heavier.

Sometimes it's tough to say no to convenience foods, but if you ever want to shed the fat and see those abs you have to draw the line at some point and just plain not step over. For me personally, I just plain out refuse to eat fast foods except at certain times. If I travel I'll allow some exceptions. Camping is definitely another time I'll break the rule. In fact, I'll even seek out a McDonalds to get a couple McChicken sandwiches when I go camping. But a good 99% of the time I just plain old say no.

Well there you have it folks! Some great meal tips to help you bulldoze your fat loss roadblocks!

Oh yeah, my wife made some Fat Free Butterscotch Jello Pudding tonight... ohhhh... Here I come!