[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. When Jon talks Fitness, Nutrition and Health I listen. Yes he\'s that good. This is being posted with Jon\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s permission. ]

Caution:

This sounds like a silly question, but it’s really the most important question you can ask:

“What REALLY makes me increase my bodyfat?”

Is it too many calories? Sure. That’s one part. But I know people who can eat 4-5K calories a day and not add an ounce.

Is it dietary fat? Rarely if ever.

Fat is necessary to melt bodyfat. It is true that fat has more calories per gram than protein or carbs, but let’s look at this logically:

40% protein; 40% carbs; 20% fat = 40% fat; 40% protein; 20% carbs

So… no. Increasing your dietary fat does not mean you’ll get fatter…

UNLESS… ready?

Your insulin levels are too high.

Elevated insulin is not only the prime cause of diabetes and a sign of being hypoglycemic, but it’s also the prime numero uno reason people get fat.

And insulin is stimulated most by too many carbohydrates… even the so-called “healthy carbs!”

HOWEVER… ready again?

You can still eat carbs… you do not need a “low-carb” dietplan every day in order to keep your insulin and bodyfat low.

You just have to know what TIME to eat the carbs.

There’s a time and place for everything and carbs are no exception.

I have a presentation here that tells you more about how important timing is and how you can eat your carbs (even sweets) and shed bodyfat…

… here:

The EODD System <--carb-friendly dietplan

That being said:

If I had to cut one thing out of my diet for 1-4 days it would definitely be carbs.

I need fat… fat helps melt bodyfat… and I have trained my body to use its own fat-stores for fuel.

( See how on the linked-page above )

I DEFINITELY need protein… and so do you.

Protein speeds up thermogenesis, or your body’s own fat-burning heat factory.

Protein also blunts your appetite so you naturally eat less.

Some carbs are healthy… and I do not recommend you cut out low-sugar fruits and green veggies… you need that stuff.

But you don’t need grains, breads, etc.

At least for a few days.

THEN… you need them… but only after you do two things.

Find out more here:

The EODD System <--carb-friendly dietplan

Remember: Don’t Quit. Get Fit!

P.S. My favorite “Feed Meal” (that’s what I call meals where I eat a lot of calories and carbs) is this:

Small serving of protein (1/2 my normal serving size) like chicken, tuna, etc.

Brown rice or baked potato

Slice of pecan pie (or Key Lime pie… yum.)

Then later that day I’ll have a few slices of New York-style pizza.

The next day I’m LEANER. It never fails.

The only time this can fail is if you do not set your body UP to receive these carbs and some junk food.

I call this my “Real World Favorite Foods Dietplan.” That’s not the name of my System but it could be! That’s exactly what it is.

I love it… so will you…

The EODD System <--carb-friendly dietplan

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Is it possible that when you are on a healthy eating diet plan when you eat is as important as what you eat? We have a pretty good article from Jon Benson today. Jon goes on that we put too muchcarbs, veggies and junk food into what we eat and not enough on when we eat certain foods. Interesting concept and once you finish the article you will see that it does make a lot of sense. I was a little skeptical at first, still am a bit (on the junk food meals) but agree with Jon totally on the carbs and veggies.

They say, “Timing is everything.”

When it comes to eating food that will make you leaner and stronger, this old saying is the key to the new-you.

So many people (perhaps you?) are caught up in “what” they are eating. Pizza is ‘bad’. Oatmeal is ‘good’.

Well…yes and no.

I’m going to reveal one of my biggest secrets to getting and staying lean in this newsletter.

That secret is this:  there are no forbidden foods…only forbidden times to eat them.

Granted, there are “rules” to any good nutrition program. No one is silly enough to believe they can eat popcorn and candy as their primary foodstuff and be healthy.

We’re beyond that, right?

Would you believe that the majority of the calories ingested in the United States is liquid soda?

So, maybe we’re not beyond that. But I am going to assume YOU are beyond it.

You are ready for the Lean Lifestyle found in “Fit Over 40″.

I know that because you’re reading this newsletter. Just do more than read it. Apply this lifestyle secret, starting today.

>>> Tip One:  Carbs In The Morning

Here’s what I’ve discovered:  I can eat more carbs in the morning. That isn’t exactly breaking news…but some of you may not know about it.

Take a serving of carbs about the size of the palm of your hand. Mix that with protein of equal size.

If you want a superior meal, toss in a handful of veggies.

Presto:  the ideal breakfast.

If you were to eat this same meal later in the day, you may find yourself more sluggish. I know my bodyfat doesn’t want to budge if I eat carbs at night.

But I ‘do’ eat at night. It’s a myth that you should not eat at night at all. Here is where “what” is more important than “when”…but that’s another newsletter.

>>> Tip Two:  Carbs After Workouts

The best time to consume starchy carbs is within 45 minutes of a weight or resistance workout.

Cardio workouts are good too if you have your intensity high enough. But when it comes to carbs post-workout, weight training RULES.

You’ll find that carbs tend to be used more as fuel and a recovery aid when you eat them post-workout. That means they’re less likely to cause blood sugar
problems or fat-storage.

>>> Tip Three:  More Veggies As The Clock Ticks

If you want to really lean out, increase your vegetable intake and decrease your starch intake every meal past 3:00pm.

More veggies, less starch. Cut the starch out at the last meal…or if you’re like me, the last two meals.

The timing of eating veggies in the evening is ideal to help your body detox and restore alkalinity while you snooze away at night.

This can make for greater fat-burning.

>>> Tip Four:  When To Eat Junk-Food

You can use junk-food as fuel as well. I do not recommend this but in one or two meals during the week, but unless you’re trying to hit single-digit bodyfat it can actually help you get leaner.

Deplete all your carbs except for 50 grams of veggies for 1-2 days. Eat plenty of lean protein and healthy fats. Work out hard at least one of these two days.

Then on the third day have a free meal before 3:00pm. Eat whatever you want…just be SURE to drink a lot of water, and to consume a salad with the meal.

The salad is important!

So, a salad and a burger, or pizza, or whatever. It will be okay. You should enjoy your meals, and these foods are a part of the spectrum of tasty foods.

They should just be the smallest part of the spectrum. The rest should be tasty and healthy foods like I cover in Fit Over 40 –

If you really want to make your junk-food meal almost “good for you”, consume it 45 minutes after a heavy weight workout.

The carbs and sugars will be used for repair and glycogen restoration, and the calories are less damaging given the fact you just trained
with weights.

If you’re going to eat these foods, this is the best time to do it.

It’s also a little reward once or twice a week (no more) for eating clean and working hard.

Living like this, I maintain 10% bodyfat or less year-round. Occasionally I’ll have three “off-meals” in a week if I’m really low-carbing it and hitting the weights really hard.

When I’m working for lower bodyfat, I’ll cut this back to only one off-meal per week, if that.

This is hardly a sacrifice, as my daily menu is full of tasty, healthy food. Plus I have my lean waistline — and trust me, I would NOT if I ate junk-food meals every day.

If you’re ready to have your cake and eat it too, learn the “when” of eating as well as the “what”.

Your waistline will thank you.

Sincerely,

Jon Benson
Creator, Fit Over 40

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For the weekend I have 2 posts for you to check out on our favorite subjects, Six Pack Abs, Fat Burning and Interval Training. Interval training can be done with any kind of physical activity. If you want to lose body fat you should chose an activity that involves the whole body or at least the biggest muscle groups as this will have a greater impact on your total metabolism than working an isolated part of the body.

A Couple of Quick Points About Interval Training.

1) Cardio exercise is the fastest way to burn fat, but you won’t gain anything significant if you stick to slow pace cardio such as steady slow jog or walk. The real cardio that can burn fat fast is interval training; a type of cardio that involves both high intensity and low intensity training.

Marine of the United States Marine Corps runs ...

Image via Wikipedia

Example: if you are jogging, try alternating between short time sprint and steady pace jog. If you’re biking, choose area where you can bike uphill and downhill where uphill is the high intensity and downhill biking is the low intensity.

You’ll notice that you can’t do this for long period because it’s very tiring, but you gain a lot more benefits than longer slow cardio session.

2)  Keep training specific part of your body is a bad idea and that kind of exercise won’t burn fat quickly. This means instead of keep training your abs, you should train your whole body. Usually, people make this mistake because they are in a hurry to get rid of their belly fat; check a few examples at get that six pack abs look. The right thing to do here is picking various exercises that train different part of your body such as squats, push ups, raise legs, rows, etc.

Interval Training Explained By Craig Ballantyne

The interval training portion of your workouts is very important for fat loss. Not only has research shown that long, slow cardio doesnt work that well for fat burning, but studies also show that interval training works better to help …

Publish Date: 08/21/2010 19:21

http://fatburningdietsandworkouts.com/workouts.php?post=113

Turbulence Training Transformation Tip of the Week:

Okay, this week marks Sept 1st…time to look back at what you wanted to accomplish in 2010, and if you aren’t there yet, to re-commit yourself to success. “Even the impossible can be broken down into possibilities.” Start with small goals. Achieve them and reward/reinforce your behavior. That will encourage you to continue with the right actions and will get you to keep moving closer and closer to your bigger goals.

Perfect Fat Loss Bootcamp Workouts | Turbulence Training Fat Loss

Well, here’s the perfect workout for building muscle, burning fat, and sculpting the body: Total body mobility warmup, strength superset, metabolic resistance training supersets or circuit, interval training (optional depending on …

Publish Date: 08/27/2010 18:46

http://www.ttfatloss.com/bootcamp-workout/perfect-workout/

And If Your Looking For Some Added Fat Burning Workouts:

30 Minute Circuit Training Fat Burning Challenge

Tabata Training: An Extreme Fat Burning Exercise Combination

So there you go have a great weekend. Get some rest, have some fun and do something to burn some fat. Oh and eat healthy but indulge yourself in a small cheat snack. I’m thinking maybe some ice cream this weekend.

Talk to you soon Joe

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Today I have a quick one for you it’s from Lauren Brooks aka The Kettlebell Queen. You may remember I introduced you to Lauren a couple of weeks back. Lauren is a fitness and nutrition coach whofat burning kettlebell workout specializes in kettlebell exercises for fat burning and fitness. Oh and guy’s this workout is for you too.

15 Minute Fat Burning Kettlebell Workout

Try this fat burning kettlebell workout. It’s a circuit with 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds of rest. You can do this anywhere from 1-5 rounds depending on your fitness level. All you need is 1 Kettlebell and a chair or box. It will take anywhere from 5 to 25 minutes depending on how many sets you do. Enjoy!

Try this free and fun fat burning kettlebell workout from Lauren Brooks.

 Exercises included are Tactical Lunges, Swings to Wide Leg Push Ups, Turkish Get Up Sit Ups, High Pulls, and Single Leg Box Squats.

This is a fat burning circuit style workout with 40 seconds of work with 20 seconds of rest. Work your way up to 5 rounds.

 Visit www.OnTheEdgeFitness.com

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So in our talks about six pack abs abs exercises are not high on the discussion list. But let’s look at how you should train your abs. Craig Ballantyne has a great little article about specific abs workout and a couple of ab exercises to put in your workouts. Check out the workout video at the end of the article for more at home workout ideas.

A new research study showed that doing ab exercises “faster” (aka explosively) lead to more work done by the ab muscles.at home abs exercises

Here’s what you need to know about this study, and why this info is both good and bad.

First of all, there are two ways to increase the amount of muscle used in any movement. One is to increase the resistance, and the second is to increase the velocity.

Both require more muscle fibers to produce force, and more importantly, recruit your fast twitch muscles. However, while this is an interesting report about the abs, we have to be careful not
to take it to extremes.

First, explosive movements cause more muscle damage, and that means more muscle soreness.

Second, you can’t talk about the abs without talking about the low-back and spine. Your low-back and abs want endurance for health  and safety, but we want maximum abdominal recruitment for six pack abs.

So here’s the best way to keep everyone happy…

a) do only one explosive ab movement per workout
b) do at least one ab endurance exercise per workout

You can use Medicine Ball Slams as a great Explosive Ab Exercise.

A Medicine ball slam is just like an angry soccer throw in.

Hold the ball at waist height, step forward with one leg while raising the ball overhead (stretching your abs),as you plant your foot, reverse your arm direction and contract your abs and drive
the medicine ball into the ground. Pick the ball up and repeat for 6 reps.

After you’ve done your explosive ab exercise, you can do something like a plank, side plank, or plank with your arms on the ball for your abdominal endurance exercise.

That will help you work more of your abs while supporting your “core” muscles – plus you don’t have to suffer the dishonor of  crunches.

Helping you do everything you can to get a six pack,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training for Abs Home Abdominal Workout System

PS – Want to say GOODBYE to CARDIO and CRUNCHES & still get abs?

Discover more total body ab exercises in my new Turbulence Training for Abs Home Abdominal Workout program.

Visit this link to get your copy and BONUSES today:

Turbulence Training For Abs

=> BONUS Medicine Ball Circuit Workout ( Take note of the Medicine Ball Slam)

Want More Abs Exercises? Go Now Turbulence Training For Abs

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