AtoZ Fitness Weekly Newsletter                               Apr.13 2008 Edition         
 
In this Apr.13 2008 issue:
Sarah's Introduction:

I got the following comment from someone on a forum:

I've been spending about 15 minutes each morning just stretching. I hold each stretch for a 20 count (I'm training my brain to think in 20-count segments, since my bites are this long!). It's sort of a combination of some yoga moves and some basic old-school stretches. It isn't cardio (at all!) but I do feel a LOT better on the days when I do the stretches. Right now that's all the "movement" I'm doing. It's really making a difference in how my middle-aged body feels on a day-to-day basis.

It's just basic floor stretches...toe (or in my case, thigh) touch, butterfly, bent knees, open legs, etc. Then I come up into a "cat" and then a "downward dog" and then I stretch my arms and back.

It's probably pretty lame for those who go to the gym or even go for a fitness walk, but it really does make me feel better!

Here's my answer to this person:

You know what's "lame"? Not doing anything at all and then complaining of aches and pains. You cannot start a training "career" by running a full marathon, ok? Start small, start where you are right now.

If your best is seated stretches, start there. When the weather gets warmer, try short walks, no faster than is comfortable to you. As you get stronger, you will automatically pick up the pace without even noticing.

I started out weighing 205 lbs, 43% of which was fat! I was 46, had never been skinny but never fat either until two years prior to that awakening. So yes, I had the advantage if you like, of waking up fast, before the fat "settled" for good. (It doesn't really).

My first ever try at something physical, after the compulsory phys.ed classes that I wiggled my way out of more often than not, was to join a gym, run by a fat man who pretended to be a trainer. My butt he was! And I was the queen of England! Anyway, I ended up as owner and manager of said gym within 6 months, still overweight because of this "trainer"s ignorance. At that same time, my doctor told me I had high cholesterol and needed 20mg of some drug/day. Oh yeah? Me? Not so sure about that buddy-boy!

I surfed a forum, found a link, was lead to another link, and ended up buying a bodybuilder's fat loss book. I was hooked - on the nutrition plan (which was so close to what my mom always taught us!) and the weights, and the goal setting ... but the cardio part?

2 months after that, the doctor reduced the drug dose to 10mg. I was still not satisfied.

The guy who'd written the fatloss book, also sent out articles in a newsletter, and I got one one Tuesday in March of 2006. The next morning I was up before everyone else and walked for 20 minutes along the streets around our house. By the end of April, I was walking 45 minutes at a high tempo, down hills, up hills, adding new hills ...

And the doctor said (and I love to quote this ) "Keep doing what you're doing, it's working better than my medicin" and never renewed the prescription!

But ... I started with what I could do. Weight training, sitting in machines. Then graduated to free weights. I started walking on a boring treadmill and hated it. Then this article about how you burn more fat by doing the cardio on a fasting stomach (yikes, right? but how many are really hungry when they get up? Do the cardio and I guarantee you want breakfast!).

I set my alarm and laid out my jump suit and running shoes the night before. I told myself that I'd do this starting tomorrow. Wednesday morning, the alarm went off and 10 minutes later I was out the door. Rain oe shine, I was out there walking.

Many of the members of my gym saw me as they drove to work, and I'd get comments when they came to train on how I motivated them to keep going, that I was a better trainer than the old owner who just sat thre eating hot dogs and donuts; I was inspiring them by showing that I - a middle-aged, fat and frumpy woman - could change my lifestyle to becoming a young, fit and elegant woman instead.

Age and gender? Great excuses.

Genetics! Excuse supreme.

Illness. Sometimes, to a degree, yes; but when you see how some people fight back and overcome illness and physical handicaps worse than the illnes others hide behind ... excuse.

What IS responsible for yout overweight? When all is said and done, you are!  No one has held a shotgun to your head to force you to eat junk food. No one has barricaded your house so you couldn't get out and walk, bike, swim, ride, roller skate ... No one, but you. You and your demons.

How to get rid of those? Exorcism. Well, not the kind with holy water and prayers, although that might help too if you're a religious person. What worked well for me, was to keep a journal. One for the training and nutrition, but a more personal one, more like a diary, to pour all my frustrations and doubts into, and then telling myself that I could do this, I could look like ... Sophia Loren, Tina Turner, any one of those young older women! There was no excuse!

My ex's job-loss had made him bitter and it had dragged me down along with him (he was, and still is, a very negative person), but in the end, it was me who had allowed me to get dragged down. I could have faught back and stayed my positive self! Finally, I did, and it feels so much better!

Just start somewhere. Every journey starts with the first step!


Train hard, eat well and have fun!
Sarah, CPT
www.trainwithsarah.com
www.healthylivesforyou.com
 Featured Fitness Article:

Facts on Fiber
By Vince DelMonte

If you are trying to create a healthy diet for yourself, you cannot overlook the importance that fiber will play. The main benefits you’ll receive from dietary fiber include improvement in the cardiovascular and digestive system along with providing a high degree of satiety.

Unfortunately, in today’s world of over consumption of processed foods, fiber is often one thing many individuals are really lacking.

Here are the top facts about fiber you need to know.

Promotion Of A Healthy Digestive System

Fiber’s primary role in the body is going to be to help promote a healthy digestive system. It does this by helping to keep the intestines in proper working order and prevent the accumulation of cholesterol along the lining.

Lowering Your Bad Cholesterol Levels

Another thing fiber will do, is help to decrease the level of LDL cholesterol that’s seen in the blood. It does this by binding with the dietary cholesterol you take in while it’s in the small intestine and then removing it from the body.

Therefore, a diet rich in fiber can be a very good defense against the heart disease.

Fiber And Weight Loss

Women who are consuming high fiber diets on a regular basis generally maintain a much lower weight than those who don’t, simply because they typically consume fewer total calories as a result.

Because it takes fiber a long time to be digested by the body, this means you will stay feeling fuller longer than if you would have done without it.

Since it is your end of the day total calorie intake that determines weight gain or weight loss, this is absolutely essential for weight loss.

Getting Enough Fiber

It’s recommended, when it comes to being sure you are getting enough fiber in your diet, to try and average 14 grams per 1000 calories you eat. Most women will have diets consisting between 1500 and 2000 calories, depending on your body weight and activity levels, so that will translate to 21-28 grams of fiber total.

Increase Your Intake Slowly

Be sure that if you have not been eating much fiber in your diet at all in the past few months, increase your intake slowly.

If you go from eating very little fiber a day to getting a very high dose, you will likely suffer from extreme digestive upset and will not feel well at all.

Try and increase the consumption over the period of a few weeks to ease this process.

Soluble Fiber

Soluble fiber is the type that plays the more predominant role in the lowering of bad cholesterol levels and is fully broken down the by the body. Sources to try and aim to consume include oat bran, oatmeal, beans, peas, rice bran, barley, and fruits.

Insoluble Fiber

Insoluble fiber, on the other hand is not digested by the body and rather, helps to slow down gastric emptying, causing that increased satiety effect discussed above. This is what will provide the biggest benefit when it comes to weight control for you.

Good sources of this type of fiber include whole-wheat breads, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, wheat bran, cabbage, beets, carrots, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and the skin of apples.

So, be sure you do not overlook the importance of fiber in your diet. If you do get your consumption levels in line, you will most definitely notice a change in how you feel, and more than likely, a change in how you look as well. About the Author:

Vince DelMonte is the author of No Nonsense Muscle Building : Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain found at http://www.VinceDelMonteFitness.com/

He teaches skinny guys how to get big muscles, without supplements, drugs and training less than before.

Head over to Vince Delmonte's website here and get all of the following gifts.



 

 Unconventional Iron with Nick Nilsson:n:

My Practical "Lazy Cook" Recipes For Building Muscle! So Easy Even a Caveman Can Make Them...

By Nick Nilsson

Find yourself short on time to cook a good meal? I know I do! Learn my "secret"
recipes that are extremely quick and simple to make. I'll give you
my favorite muscle-building meals!

 

If you're like me, you sometimes find yourself short on time to cook yourself a good meal. And if you're also like me, meaning a lazy cook, sometimes the motivation to really make a grand meal is short, too!

So what do you when this happens but you still want to reach your muscle-building goals?

I've got three great "recipes" (and I use the word "recipes" in the loosest sense possible!) to share with you that will help you stay on track towards massing up.

Keep in mind, even though I'm going to inject a little humor into this list, these are examples of actual things you can prepare for yourself to help make your life easier! I just want to show you that decent nutrition doesn't have be dull as dirt or taste like it either.

**** Also it's important to note, I'm NOT a nutritionist And I don't claim to be! So
PLEASE don't make a gigantic vat of mashed potatoes then complain because
you're diabetic and your blood sugar is so high that you're sweating maple syrup.
These recipes are for "entertainment purposes only," so if you DO follow them,
personal responsibility is the keyword here! :) ****

These recipes are simple to make, don't take long to cook and are geared to my own personal skill level of cooking, which is boiling, microwaving, toasting (in a toaster, not one of them fancy toaster oven things), some basic frypan work and ripping open packages like a starving raccoon...

With these recipes, I'm not going to include salads. You're on your own with those. Personally, I eat them as often as I can (and you should too!), taking advantage of the convenient prepackaged salad bags from the store, throwing in some grape tomatoes, almonds, broccoli, carrots and whatever else is in the fridge that looks like it might go well in a salad and isn't TOO far past the date. Add some healthy dressing (on a side note, salsa is actually surprisingly good on salad) and voila! You're good to go.

Getting plenty of vegetables is also important - rather than force my personal vegetable preferences onto you (which are broccoli, snap peas, carrots, and chocolate covered almonds) just make the effort to eat vegetables as much as you can every day. Fresher and less processed is better, as is organic, but just do the best you can with that. You would have to REALLY go to town to eat TOO many vegetables so don't be shy with them.

I'm also a big fan of taking vitamin and mineral supplements because no matter how "balanced" your diet appears to be, food is so depleted of nutrients right from the start these days that you're probably not getting nearly as many nutrients as you think you are from your food.

Let me put it this way, I'd rather have "expensive urine" (many doctors seem to think this is all you'll get from taking vitamins) than a debilitating illness caused by simple vitamin and mineral deficiencies that I then have to take expensive drugs to basically just mask the symptoms of.

But I digress...

To make best use of these recipes for those short on time, Tupperware will be your best friend. Make a LOT when you DO make something and save the rest for later. It's great to make things fresh but it's also great to just sling something you made yesterday into the microwave and eat it again (and again after that, if you made a WHOLE LOT!). It'll save you from eating cereal three meals a day (not that I've ever done THAT, of course...).

Serving sizes are totally up to you. I usually eat the majority of what I make then save some for the next day, especially if it's a post-workout meal.

So let's get into those muscle building recipes...


1. Spaghetti with Cajun Meat Sauce

This is a great, protein-rich post-workout meal. Tastes great and serves 1 to 4 people, depending completely on how hungry you are and your willingness to share with others.

  • 1 pound of whole wheat spaghetti (a healthier way to go)
     
  • 1 jar of sauce that's thick enough to cover up the taste of whole wheat spaghetti (that's my own opinion, at least!)
     
  • 1 pound of lean ground beef (I like ground sirloin for this because it's leaner)
  • Some pre-packaged Cajun spices - I get big containers of these at Sam's Club but most grocery stores should have some version. This really spices up the meat sauce nicely.
First, put some water in a big pot and set the stove on high to bring it to a boil. Fill a sauce pan/fry pan about halfway up with water. I like to put the ground beef in the pan BEFORE I add the water so it doesn't splash all over the place when I dump the meat in (found THAT out the hard way, of course - the dog was happy about the meat water all over the floor but the shirt I was wearing will never be the same).

Bring the water in that pan to a boil and throw a bunch of Cajun spice in the pan with the meat. Don't be cheap with it! Stir it in and smash the meat up so it's not all clumped together.

When the spaghetti water is boiling, dump the spaghetti in. Let it boil for 9-10 minutes then drain. The meat will be boiling while the spaghetti is boiling - if the meat gets done first, drain it then cover it up. It'll keep its heat as long as it's covered.

Empty the sauce jar into the spaghetti pot and stir it up. If you're not sharing the pasta with someone who doesn't like meat, feel free to throw the meat in the spaghetti pot, too. If you ARE sharing, serve out some spaghetti into a separate big bowl THEN toss the meat in there. It'll just work out better for all concerned that way.

Serve sitting on the couch with an oven mitt under the bowl because it'll be dang hot on the bottom! And it's better NOT to wear a white shirt while you're eating it. 'Nuff said.


2. Scrambled Eggs and Oatmeal With Yogurt And Fruit

This is a great breakfast meal that will keep you from getting hungry for HOURS. The fat in the egg yolks keeps you satisfied while the thick oatmeal will keep your digestive system busy for a long time. Lots of fiber to work on!

  • 6 whole eggs - not egg whites, WHOLE eggs! They're not bad for you like many people seem to think. The yolk is where most of the nutrients are. Tastes a whole lot better with yolks, too. Adjust the number of eggs to your preference.
     
  • 1 gob of Smart Balance margarine to coat the bottom of the pan. Cooking spray will work for this as will olive oil.
     
  • 1 dry cup of Quaker Oats - either the Old Fashioned or 1 Minute oats are fine here. Adjust the quantity of oats to your preference.
     
  • 2 cups of water (basically, double the amount of oats you put in).
     
  • A bunch of fruit - whatever your favorite fruit is. I find berries or grapes work best because you don't need to cut them up. Wash them before eating them.
     
  • 1 Thing of yogurt - this is the technical term for however much yogurt you want to put in the oatmeal. If I have individually packaged yogurts, I'll just dump one of those in. If I have a bigger container, I'll scoop a pile of yogurt in until it looks like enough. You'll figure out how much you want to put in.

First, get the fruit ready. Wash it up and put it in a small bowl. Crack the eggs into a bowl/cup and scramble them. If you're talented, you can crack them with one hand and not slop them down the sides. After cracking about 30,000 eggs in my lifetime, I'm still not talented. I managed to do it once then the next time I ended up with a dripping fistful of egg and shell.

** On a side note, it IS possible to squeeze an egg with one hand and break it. A friend of mine once told me that you can't put an egg in the palm of your hand, squeeze it and break it. He said it wasn't possible (he was a physics major). So I grabbed an egg and squeezed it REALLY tight. Three seconds later, it exploded so hard the yolk popped out and flew 6 feet across the room and actually landed right in his shirt pocket!

So anyway, THAT being said, measure out a cup of oats, dump it in a good-sized bowl, then add double the amount of oats in water, e.g. 1 cup of oats, add 2 cups of water. You can adjust the water later, depending on if you like your oatmeal a little soupy (like I do) or masonry thick (like my wife does).

Nuke it for about 3 1/2 to 4 minutes. While that's going, turn on the stove and get the pan for the eggs heated up. Throw a gob of Smart Balance margarine in the pan (that's a great brand - it's actually a reasonably healthy margarine and tastes good). Olive oil works really well here, too, as does non-stick spray. With the olive oil, it's a good idea to have a spray bottle for it so it doesn't all pool up in the corner that your stove burner leans to (you know what I'm talking about).

Make sure the whole bottom surface of the egg pan gets covered with something slippery or you'll regret it later when you try to keep eggs from getting all crusted up and nasty along the sides.

Pour the beaten eggs into the pan and watch them cook. Stir them around once the bottom starts to get solid. Keep stirring and scraping the sides off to avoid the crust I mentioned above.

Your oatmeal should be done about the same time the eggs are. So put the eggs on a plate and set it aside for now.

Take your bowl of oatmeal out of the microwave then dump the yogurt in, then the fruit. Stir it all up (not the eggs, just the fruit and yogurt) and you're good to go.

This meal will keep you going for hours!


3. Meat and Taters

"Meat and potatoes" might be a cliche but for me, there's not much that works better for supporting muscle growth than a nice piece of meat (or chicken or fish) and a big bucket of potatoes. And if that sounds corny, it should, because sometimes I'll throw some corn in with the potatoes.

Let's talk about potatoes first, then I'll give the inside scoop on how to cook meat (I think I can hear my wife laughing in the background as I write about my cooking skills...).

First, grab 3 or 4 good-sized potatoes. I try to get red potatoes since they can't be stored as long as other potatoes therefore they're fresher when you get them rather than having been sitting in storage for a year.

I prefer to microwave potatoes since it's faster than boiling and they turn out really well. Wash any crud off them then slice off any questionable areas. Stick a fork or knife in them a few times to "aerate" so they don't explode in the microwave (unless you enjoy scraping your dinner off the sides).

For each potato, figure on about 3 to 5 minutes of cooking time, depending on the size of your potato and power of your microwave. You'll know they're done when you can easily stick a fork right through - just don't leave the fork in the microwave or you'll be in for a surprise.

Dump in a big bowl, mix in some margarine (or if you're on a low-fat kick, pour some ketchup in it), add some sea salt and you're set. You can also throw in can of corn (nuke it first - not the can but the corn) to spice things up.

As for the meat, if you're good with a gas or charcoal grill, more power to you. You're a better cook than I am and I don't know why you're even reading this part. If you have one of those George Foreman countertop grills, those work really well for meat (especially the ones that you can pull the grill things off and put them in the dishwasher - the ones that you can't remove are a pain in the butt to clean, so if you're going to get one, get the removeable grill version). Follow the instructions that came with the grill for the meat or chicken or fish you're cooking.

If you've got some chicken breasts that you just want to "fire and forget" rather than tend to on a grill, throw them in pan, pre-heat the oven to about 400 degrees, dump some spices on them (whatever you like), cover with tinfoil to keep the juices in, and cook for about 30 minutes or so (SET THE TIMER!). If you want to get REALLY fancy, slice up a lemon and toss a few slices on top with some black pepper.

There you have it. Meat and potatoes. Perfect for a big post-workout meal that will help you pack the pounds on.

I also like to use potatoes, corn and ground beef (or sirloin) to make "Lazy Cook" Shepherd's Pie. Microwave the potatoes and corn as above. Boil the meat as in recipe #1, then dump it all into a big bowl and stir. You'll be 5 pounds heavier by the end of the meal!


Conclusion:

As you can see, cooking tasy food for building muscle doesn't have to be hard and recipes don't have to be these complex things that take hours to make and require more than very basic cooking skills. With my recipes, if you can do a few simple things without burning yourself, that's about all the skill you need.

And if you're interested in learning some recipes for fat loss, I've got 3 excellent ones that I can share with you as well! Go back up to the top of the article and reread it. It's the same stuff...now just eat less of it...


OTHER ARTICLES BY Nick :

1.  10 Things You Can Do To Lose Fat Without Even Trying
2.  3 Part Article on Protein and Fat Loss
3.  Boost Your Metabolism:
4.  Why We Get Fat - Hunting Big Macs and Gathering French Fries
5.  Nine Surefire Ways to Gain Fat
6.  What Do You Mean Low-Intensity Training Isn't The Best For Fat Burning?
7.  The Insider Secrets of Interval Training - Learn How Now!
8.  8 Week Cardio Interval Training Blast! Get Increased Fat Loss AND Take Your Cardio Fitness To A Whole New Level
9. Follow the Path of MOST Resistance! Learn why weight training is the fast track to sculpting your body.
10. How Fat Loss Pills Can Make You Fatter
11. Fat Loss Circuit Training
12. How To Lose Fat NOW - A Basic Fat-Loss Program That You Can Put To Work Today!
13. BASIC Nutrition - A Quick, Common-Sense Guide To What You Should Be Eating to Stay Healthy and Get Results Right Now
14. Why "Toning Up" Can Spell Disaster For Your Fitness Results!
------------------

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," “Muscle Explosion,”"The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available by here 

He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

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 Marc David's What Every Beginner Should Know But Probably Doesn't:

How Long Will It Take To Lose Weight?
 By: Marc David
 www.nobullbodybuilding.com
 
 Imagine how nice it would be to know how long it might take to be "swimsuit" ready. You'd know when to start getting cut for the summer and roughly how long it might take.
 
 How many people ask...
 
 How long will it take me to lose weight?
 
 By using some information in your body composition, it's easy to tell how long does it take to lose weight.
 
 Just a few steps can take you from a body fat percentage to the number of weeks it's going to take you to reach your goals.
 
 You might know how to burn the fat, but do you know how long will it take me to lose weight? Let's find out right now.
 
 Keep in mind that your body is made up of lean body mass and fat. If you know you are 40% body fat, the conclusion would be the other 60% is lean body mass (muscle and bone).
 
 If you know the correct description of weight loss then you'll know it's the reduction of body fat while maintaining or gaining muscle mass.
 
 Let's use a short term and realistic goal of a 5% reduction in body fat for these examples. A few simple calculations and we can translate this goal into pounds and how long it's going to take to achieve your goal.
 
 Calculate How Much Does Your Fat Weigh:
 
 (Example Client is male, 220 pounds, 40% body fat)
 
 Step 1: Determine the Fat Weight
 
 Body Weight x Body Fat Percentage (220 x 40% = 88)
 
 In our example, this person is carrying 88 pounds of fat.
 
 Step 2: Determine the Lean Body Mass
 
 Body Weight - Fat Weight (220 - 88 = 132)
 
 132 pounds are from lean body mass in our example.
 
 Now here comes the fun part finding your ideal weight with that 5% reduction in overall body fat.
 
 Calculate Your Goal Weight:
 
 Step 1: Your Goal Weight
 
 Lean Body Mass / (1.00 minus Body Fat Percentage Goal)
 
 In our example, the person carries 132 pounds of lean body mass. The body fat percentage goal is 35% (5% body fat reduction).
 
 132 / (1.00 - .35) = 132 / .65 = 203 pounds
 
 Do you see it? 203 pounds is the goal weight for a person who's 220 pounds at 40% body fat that wants to reduce their body fat by 5%.
 
 Calculate How Long It Will Take to Burn the Fat:
 
 Step 1: Current Weight - Goal Weight
 
 That means 220 pounds - 203 pounds = 17 pounds body fat reduction.
 
 Based on the accepted standard of one pound per week, this person is looking at about 17 weeks to go from 220 pounds at 40% body fat to 203 pounds at 35% body fat while maintaining their 132 pounds of lean body mass.
 
 Remember, you want to burn the fat, but keep the muscle.
 
 And now you know, it's going to take 17 weeks to see the expected results. 5% is a short term, safe goal and at one pound a week, you'll have a very high rate of muscle retention.
 
 Not only do you know how to burn the fat thru nutrition and exercise, but unlike most people, you can find out how long it will take to see the results you want.

About the Author

Marc David is an innovative fitness enthusiast and the creator of the "NoBull Bodybuilding System" method on www.nobullbodybuilding.com

He can show you how to reduce your body fat thru diet, how to gain weight or create more muscle thru an abundance of workout tips by training LESS, not more!

Once a self-confessed skinny, "135-pound weakling." Today Marc is a 200 pound bodybuilder who teaches thousands of people to gain weight, build muscle and reduce body fat with a workout and nutrition system so simple that even a complete beginner can understand it!

Marc dispels many "bodybuilding myths", tells you what most people never realize about nutrition, and what the drug companies DON'T WANT YOU to know.  visit www.nobullbodybuilding.com 
 
 Ray Burton-Fat To Fit Training:g:

How Often Should I Change My Workout

Andre91 asks:

In general, should I change workouts every few months or should I stay with the same workout plan until I improve in the amount of weights lifted in good form?

Could I do an improvised workout on each training day and reach a goal like gaining muscle mass? For example, I would do a full body workout. I would do a leg, back, chest compound exercise that I would choose that day. Day 1 could be back squat, BB Row, and Inc. BB press. Day 2 could be Deadlifts, DB Row, and DB bench press.

Answer from Ray Burton
Author of Fat To Fit:

You are asking one of the most common questions of all time Andre! Over the years I have found that you change the routine when further weight increases are impossible or you are totally bored of workout and can’t stand to step into the gym. The other reason is if your goals change.

In your case you ask if you should change your workout routine every few months or stay with it until your weights go up. My clients and I do just the opposite. Every workout our weights or our reps increase and when they stop, that is when we look at shifting the routine around.

Now for the next part. The idea of doing full body workouts with compounds exercises and having different routines for different days is one that I love. I frequently use this type of system when I was to get bigger and stronger. It’s so simple and it works. In your above example I would do day 1 on Monday’s and Fridays with the day 2 on Wednesday. The next week Day 2 would get hit twice on Monday and Friday. It will always flip flop back and forth.

Great idea Andre.

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

Ray Burton Calgary Personal TrainerRay Burton, I.S.S.A., fitness coach, personal trainer and author, offers a unique opportunity for companies and media to provide their audience the tools and information on finding and maintaining an active lifestyle.

Ray Burton, is about helping people, coaching & mentoring. Whether Ray is working one on one with a personal training client, or presenting fitness talks to groups, Ray’s passion and knowledge of his work is evident.

Ray has been visiting gym's and corporations to provide “fitness life style” talks to companies’ employees, to discuss strategies for getting fit and staying fit as a means to conquering life's everyday obstacles.

Ray is also the author of Fat To Fit .

Fat to Fit covers all the basics about nutrition and exercise and reconfirms the solid advice that has come down from other fitness experts in the exercise industry over the years. When you eat properly you do not store fat, you conserve your muscle tissue and continue stoking your bodies fat burning furnace. Yes, simple but sometimes you need to be told that in fact, you are doing it right.

It's all well and fine to know that you should eat small frequent meals but what are the meal sizes and with what foods. This is where Fat to Fit shines. Ray explains everything in full detail and honestly, it was nice to see a tried and truly tested, no gimmick book out there that tells it straight. When looking through all the ebooks on the Internet, it's hard to tell what you are going to get for your money. I'm here to tell you that as the owner of this website that Rays book is a very good investment of your hard earned money.

A lot of weight loss or fat burning programs out there hook you on the front end and then lead you on to purchase more of their products. That is not the case here. Ray is a very honest and straight forward guy. The program does not involve any wonder supplements; everything is straight out of the grocery store. Unlike some fat burning programs that are based solely on diet, Ray understands and teaches the value of the exercise nutrition combination.

Click-Here for more information on Ray's Fat To Fit Program.

Berry Pudding Cake

Makes:
8 servings

Ingredients:

  • 1-1/2 cups blueberries

  • 1-1/2 cups raspberries

  • 1 cup flour

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

  • 1-1/2 cups sugar

  • 1/2 cup skim milk

  • 3 tablespoons non/lowfat margarine, melted

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

  • 1 cup boiling water

Directions:

  • Place fruit in the bottom of a 9-inch square baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray (nonfat).

  • Combine the next three ingredients and half the sugar in a mixing bowl.

  • Add milk, butter and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

  • Pour batter over fruit.

  • Mix remaining sugar and cornstarch in a bowl and sprinkle over batter.

  • Pour boiling water over mixture.

  • Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.

Nutritional Information:

  • Serving Size: 1/8 of dish

  • Calories 270

  • Fat 5 g

  • Cholesterol: 10 mg

  • Protein 2.5 g

  • Carbs 55 g

  • Fiber 2.5 g

  • Sodium 70 mg

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 Q & A With Tom Venuto

Q: "Tom, on your www.burnthefat.com website, you wrote: 'Who better to model than bodybuilders and fitness competitors? No athletes in the world get as lean as quickly as bodybuilders and fitness competitors. The transformations they undergo in 12 weeks prior to competition would boggle your mind! Only ultra-endurance athletes come close in terms of low body fat levels, but endurance athletes like triathaletes and marathoners often get lean at the expense of chewing up all their muscle. Some of them are nothing but skin and bone.’

There seems to be a contradiction unless I'm missing something. Why do bodybuilders and fitness competitors have to go through a 12 week 'transformation' prior to every event instead of staying 'lean and mean' all the time? If they practice the secrets exposed in your book, they should be staying in shape all the time instead of having to work at losing fat prior to every competitive event, correct?""

A: There's a logical explanation for why bodybuilders and other physique athletes (fitness and figure competitors), don’t remain completely ripped all year round, and it’s the very reason they are able to get so ripped on the day of a contest…

You can’t hold a peak forever or it’s not a "peak", right? What is the definition of a peak? It’s a high point surrounded by two lower points isn’t it?

Therefore, any shape you can stay in all year round is NOT your “peak” condition.

The intelligent approach to nutrition and training (which almost all bodybuilders and fitness/figure competitors use), is to train and diet in a seasonal or cyclical fashion and build up to a peak, then ease off to a maintenance or growth phase.

I am NOT talking about bulking up and getting fat and out of shape every year, then dieting it all off every year. What I’m talking about is going from good shape to great (peak) shape, then easing back off to good shape.... but never getting "out of shape." Makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?

Here’s an example: I have no intentions whatsoever of walking around 365 days a year at 4% body fat like I appear in the photo on my website. Off-season, when I'm not competing, my body fat is usually between 8 – 10%. Mind you, that’s very lean and still single digit body fat.

I don't stray too far from competition shape, but I don't maintain contest shape all the time. It takes me 12-14 weeks or so to gradually drop from 9.5% to 3.5%-4.0% body fat to "peak" for competition with NO loss of lean body mass...using the same techniques I reveal in my e-book.

It would be almost impossible to maintain 4% body fat, and even if I could, why would I want to? For the few weeks prior to competition I’m so depleted, ripped, and even “drawn” in the face, that complete strangers walk up and offer to feed me.

Okay, so I’m just kidding about that, but let’s just say being “being ripped to shreds” isn’t a desirable condition to maintain because it takes such a monumental effort to stay there. It’s probably not even healthy to try forcing yourself to hold extreme low body fat. Unless you’re a natural “ectomorph” (skinny, fast metabolism body type), your body will fight you. Not only that, anabolic hormones may drop and sometimes your immune system is affected as well. It’s just not “normal” to walk around all the time with literally no subcutaneous body fat.

Instead of attempting to hold the peak, I cycle back into a less demanding off-season program and avoid creeping beyond 9.9% body fat. Some years I’ve stayed leaner - like 6-7%, (which takes effort), especially when I knew I would be photographed, but I don’t let my body fat go over 10%.

This practice isn’t just restricted to bodybuilders. Athletes in all sports use periodization to build themselves up to their best shape for competition. Is a pro football player in the same condition in March-April as he is in August-September? Not a chance. Many show up fat and out of shape (relatively speaking) for training camp, others just need fine tuning, but none are in peak form... that’s why they have training camp!!!

There’s another reason you wouldn’t want to maintain a “ripped to shreds” physique all year round – you’d have to be dieting (calorie restricted) all the time. And this is one of the reasons that 95% of people can’t lose weight and keep it off --they are CHRONIC dieters... always on some type of diet. Know anyone like that?

You can’t stay on restricted low calories indefinitely. Sooner or later your metabolism slows down and you plateau as your body adapts to the chronically lowered food intake. But if you diet for fat loss and push incredibly hard for 3 months, then ease off for a while and eat a little more (healthy food, not "pigging out"), your metabolic rate is re-stimulated. In a few weeks or months, you can return to another fat loss phase and reach an even lower body fat level, until you finally reach the point that’s your happy maintenance level for life – a level that is healthy and realistic – as well as visually appealing.

Bodybuilders have discovered a methodology for losing fat that’s so effective, it puts them in complete control of their body composition. They’ve mastered this area of their lives and will never have to worry about it again. If they ever “slip” and fall off the wagon like all humans do at times … no problem! They know how to get back into shape fast.

Bodybuilders have the tools and knowledge to hold a low body fat all year round (such as 9% for men, or about 15% for women), and then at a whim, to reach a temporary “peak” of extremely low body fat for the purpose of competition. Maybe most important of all, they have the power and control to slowly ease back from peak shape into maintenance, and not balloon up and yo-yo like most conventional dieters!

What if you had the power to stay lean all year round, and then get super lean when summer rolled around, or when you took your vacation to the Caribbean, or when your wedding date was coming up? Wouldn’t you like to be in control of your body like that? Isn’t that the same thing that bodybuilders and fitness/figure competitors do, only on a more practical, real-world level?

So even if you have no competitive aspirations whatsoever, don’t you agree that there’s something of value everyone could learn from physique athletes? Don’t model yourself after the huge crowd of losers who gobble diet pills, buy exercise gimmicks and suffer through starvation diets like automatons, only to gain back everything they lost! Instead, learn from the leanest athletes on Earth - natural bodybuilders and fitness competitors…

These physique athletes get as ripped as they want to be, exactly when they want to, simply by manipulating their diets in a cyclical fashion between pre-contest "cutting" programs and off season "maintenance" or "muscle growth" programs. Even if you have no desire to ever compete, try this seasonal “peaking” approach yourself and you’ll see that it can work as well for you as it does for elite bodybuilders.

If you’re interested in learning even more secrets of bodybuilders and fitness models, visit the Burn The Fat website at: www.burnthefat.com
Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer, certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle. Tom has written hundreds of articles and has been featured in IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise as well as on hundreds of websites worldwide. Tom is also the founder and CEO of the Internet's premier fat loss support community, the: Burn The Fat Inner Circle.

 
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