Try this Advanced Bodyweight Workout, if you Dare

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

Hi, it's Mike here from TruthAboutAbs.com & Busy Man Fitness .com with another Lean Body Secrets Ezine and I've got a killer bodyweight workout for you today.
I received a question today from a Sergeant who was looking for high intensity workouts to take his team of 30+ soldiers to a new level of fitness in preparation for their PT testing.
He basically said that the men had reached a plateau in their training and needed something really high intensity to take them to the next level.
My response is below... Keep in mind that this workout I gave him uses bodyweight-only exercises, however, it is VERY intense and for people looking for advanced fitness levels.
With that said, keep in mind that if you're not yet at an advanced level, you can still use this by simply using the basic format of the workout, and just do less of whatever exercises you struggle with, or choose an easier alternate exercise that's similar.
Here goes...
"Hi Joe. To get your soldiers to that next level in their workouts, we're going to keep the intensity super high here and use the entire body. Keep rest periods short, and use full-body multi-joint movements as much as possible.
I'll give you a killer workout idea below that not only incorporates the abs and entire core, but the entire body as well in an intense fashion. Not sure what (if any) equipment you have available, so I'll give you a great workout that's bodyweight based. Here's an example to take your men through:

Start with a 2-3 min warmup of light jogging, jumping jacks, or jump rope.
Then, move through these exercises in circuit fashion, one right after the other with only 10 seconds rest between each (repeat the circuit 3-5 times for a killer total body workout):

1. bodyweight squats - 12 reps
2. plyo pushups (clapping) - 10 reps
3. walking lunges up 6 steps and back 6 steps
4. floor mountain climbers for 30 seconds
5. lunge jumps - 6 reps to each side
6. lying leg thrusts (abs) on floor - 12 reps
7. squat jumps - 8 reps
8. side plank hold 30 seconds one side, then 30 sec opposite side

Rest 2 minutes after each circuit; repeat circuit 3-5x
If that doesn't get them through the plateau and ready for the next pt test, nothing will!
Another amazing workout style that would take you to the next level, would be to get into Kettlebell Workouts
Also, if you want to check out a site that has over 6,000 workouts for every goal imaginable, check this out:
http://ThousandsOfWorkouts.com
Good luck with the training, and have fun!
Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Author - The Truth About Six Pack Abs

Read More

Fat Loss for Visible Abs -- Workouts, Nutrition, and Lifestyle Tips for Success

Craig Ballantyne, Men's Health Training Advisor interviews Fat Burning Expert and Personal Trainer, Mike Geary

CB: Mike, let's start off with some background on the types of people you train, and your training background.
MG:  Craig, I've been a Certified Personal Trainer for almost a decade now, and in recent years, I've become certified as a Nutrition Specialist as well. As for the types of people I train... I've trained everybody from skinny teenagers looking to add some bulk to their frame, to middle-aged housewives and businessmen looking to lose body fat, to senior citizens looking to get stronger and leaner in their golden years.
CB: You have a site, The Truth About Abs. So...what the heck is the truth?
MG: Well Craig, from what I see on a daily basis, one of the most common fitness goals people have is to get a flatter stomach and if possible, achieve some sort of a "six pack abs" appearance to their midsection. Unfortunately, most people struggle for years without ever achieving this goal.
Instead, I see so many people waste so much of their time on worthless abs exercises, and falling for every gimmick product that comes onto their TV screen promising them a 6-pack in only 2 minutes a day while sitting on their couch.
To be honest, seeing so many people over the years waste their hard earned money on all of these worthless ab gadgets, machines, and bogus fat loss pills was really getting under my skin.
That's why I developed my Truth about Six Pack Abs Program. Over the last couple years, this program I developed has gained popularity worldwide, and has now recently become the most popular abs program on the internet with over 200,000 people in over 150 countries using my system.
So what's the truth? The truth is that people are looking in the wrong direction to achieve this goal... abs exercises are NOT the answer to six pack abs! Sounds counterintuitive I know. In fact, ab-specific exercises are the LEAST important training aspect in getting a six pack.
Most people think there must be some magical "underground" abs exercise that is going to finally get them their six-pack after years of struggling.
The fact is, the real solution to seeing a visible six-pack is simply bringing your body fat % down to a low enough level to where the abs become visible. Most people already have a six pack hiding underneath their stomach fat and don't know it. This is generally about 10% body fat or lower for men, and about 16-18% body fat for women from my experience.
Heck, even my 7-year old nephew has a six pack... do you think he got that by doing "abs exercises"? No way! He has a six pack because his body fat % is extremely low since he's so active running around playing all day at his age.
So the most important aspect to getting visible abs is actually a properly designed full body training program, combined with good nutrition that can be maintained for life (instead of a short-term gimmick diet).
CB: For a beginner, how much focus needs to be on abs? What other exercises would you give them for fat loss?
MG:  For beginners, I generally start them off with the most basic bodyweight exercises such as bw squats, bw lunges, bw step-ups, pushups, inverted body rows, along with basic dumbbell exercises like overhead presses, rows, etc. We also work on body stabilizing exercises like planks and side planks and a few stability ball exercises to make sure they've learned to properly engage their entire "core" area in stablizing the body.
CB: What type of cardio/interval training do you use for fat loss?
MG:The programs I design are almost entirely based on high intensity resistance training instead of cardio. In fact, my resistance training workouts get people sweating and huffing and puffing much more than any boring cardio workout ever will.
The bottom line based on research as well as my personal experience... cardio is NOT necessary for fat loss! In fact, some of the leanest people I know NEVER do traditional cardio. Personally, I haven't stepped foot on a treadmill, elliptical machine, or stationary bike in about 8 years and I maintain single digit body fat year round.
Now don't get me wrong about the cardio thing... in reality, I actually work on exercises that are much tougher and more intense than traditional cardio... I prefer wind sprints, hill sprints, swimming sprints, speed rope jumping, etc to complement my resistance training... all of which are more anaerobic in nature than aerobic.
This type of training stimulates a vastly higher metabolic response in the body than steady pace cardio.
Of course, most people can't just jump right into doing wind sprints without injury until they've gotten themselves into pretty good shape first. I use various resistance training methods and interval training for most people before they are ever ready to even attempt any type of sprinting.

CB: Tell us about your favorite bodyweight exercises and how you use them in a fat loss program.
MG: I like to combine bodyweight exercises and free weight exercises into what I call "tri-sets" or "quad-sets" (aka - mini circuits). Basically, I pick 3 or 4 exercises that don't work the same body movements (non-competing) and combine them into high intensity mini-circuits for my clients.
A great example would be:
1. mountain climbers for 20-30 seconds
2. dumbbell squat & presses (combination squat then press overhead)
3. stability ball leg curl-ins
4. stability ball plank holds (a little harder than a floor plank)
This type of circuit can be done without much rest at all between exercises and we would repeat the circuit several times before moving to a new circuit. This creates a high intensity fat burning workout that works almost every muscle in the entire body.
CB: Let's turn to nutrition. What is your fat loss nutrition philosophy?
MG: I could talk about nutrition for hours and it's such a controversial subject, so I'll keep this brief...
It doesn't have to be as complicated as the "diet gurus" make it out to be. It can be a lot simpler...
1. whole, unprocessed organic foods, as close to their natural state as possible

2. High nutrient density food choices instead of nutrient deficient processed foods

3. Fruits and vegetables (lots of vegetables) as your main source of carbohydrates instead of so much reliance on grains as is so prominent in our food supply these days

4. Moderate amounts of high quality protein at each meal

5. High fiber intake to help appetite control and glycemic control (maintaining more balanced blood sugar)

6. Don't neglect healthy fat intake from nuts, seeds, organic eggs, wild fish or fish oil, virgin coconut oil and olive oils, avocados, etc (helps appetite control and hormonal balance)
Once you gain control over the aspects listed above, everything else usually works itself out in your diet... you no longer crave sweets or junk food because your body finally has all of the nutrients it needs. Another important thing that this style of eating does is that it tends to bring people naturally back to the proper amount of calories they need each day without having to attempt to count calories or anything like that.
CB: How do you address "lifestyle" with your clients to help them lose fat?
MG: One of the most important things I try to instill in my clients is that this has to become part of their lifestyle if it is ever going to work long-term. They need to make their health and fitness a priority in their life, and they must enjoy it...whether it's because they actually enjoy the actual exercise and healthy eating, or because they enjoy the feeling of strength or energy or confidence that it gives them.
CB: Give us some of your unique fat loss stories. For example, have you ever made one small change to a client's program that helped them get through a plateau? Or has a client ever responded to one form of training that surprised you? Stuff like that...
MG: I had one client a couple years ago... a guy in his early 30's...a classic case in reality. He'd been doing the same routine for years... about an hour of cardio 5 days/week while reading the newspaper, and then he'd finish it off with a few weight machines.
He finally came to me because his body was actually getting worse despite his long workouts. I asked him to put his trust in me, and asked if he'd be willing to try something drastically different...
I asked if he would fully give up his cardio for 6 weeks and follow one of my free weight training routines instead. I actually insisted that he didn't do any cardio at all during this experimental 6 weeks of change...only weights would be allowed. This was hard for him at first as he was so accustomed to just doing all of this boring cardio because it was easy. But easy workouts don't create a better body!
The results were incredible... I think his strength improved about 30-40 lbs on almost all of his lifts during that 6 weeks while simulataneously losing about 15 lbs of body weight, and his beer belly shrunk down considerably to the point where he had to go out and buy some new pants with smaller waists.
All of this by doing LESS CARDIO and more weight training (but in high intensity fashion).
Another story... As far as clients getting new results from just a small tweak...
A few people that have been stuck at a fat loss plateau have come to me and I gave them a simple nutrition trick to try. This simple change was to start basing their last full meal of the day around just meats with lots of veggies and salad... basically, no starches with dinner, just meat and veggies.
As simple as that sounds, I've seen many people break their fat loss plateau just by implementing that into their diet. So many people think that their meals need to be based on starch like pasta or rice, but I think it's so much easier to lose fat when your meals are based around meat and vegetables instead of starch.
I could go on, but I hope that gives your readers some useful ideas for now.
CB: Thanks Mike!
Click here to see what actual users of the Truth about Six Pack Abs program are saying.
Here are common questions and answers about the Truth about Six Pack Abs program. Whether you're man or woman, young or old, workout at home or in a gym, your answers can be found above.

Read More

5 Steps To Looking 10 Years Younger

By Steve & Becky Holman

Did you know that once you hit 40 years of age, whether you're a man or a women, your body starts aging FASTER than normal? Studies have shown that without the proper nutrients and exercise, your body will age about 6 months EXTRA for every year that passes. Think about that! If you are 40, that means by the time you hit 44 you will LOOK and FEEL 46. And by the time you reach 60, you will LOOK and FEEL 70 YEARS OLD! We see this every day... just look around you.
Did you know that 90% of people over the age of 35 lose enough muscle every year to burn off an additional 4 pounds of body fat? That means you not only lose the only thing on your body that creates shape, tone, and strength—you also gain more fat every year, even if your calories stay the same.
Did you know that all of this is reversible at any age? That there are specific ways to move, eat, and think that tell your brain to STOP this rapid aging process... and even SLOW IT DOWN to the point where you're aging less than a year for every year? That means you can look younger at 40 than you do at 35... or if you're like Becky and me, younger at 50+ than we did at 40!
This is not fantasy talk. This does not require a boatload of anti-aging drugs, supplements, or gimmicks. And, this works for anyone, male or female, and works at any age. 35, 45, 55, 65, 75... you name it. The biology is exactly the same.
My years as editor-in-chief at Iron Man Magazine have allowed me to peer into the secret routines of the anti-aging experts. Over the years, both Becky and I have picked up SO many tips, tricks, and strategies that have allowed us to literally reverse the aging process, at least from a cellular level. That means our bodies look, feel, and MOVE younger than our chronological age.
We've taught this System to countless men and women over the years, and it always begins with these 5 key principles you must apply in order to STOP the rapid onset of aging that's going on right now, reverse it, and begin "aging backwards" by restoring your body's natural youth hormones.
That said, we have to warn you: What you are about to hear may go against all the conventional diet and exercise advice you've been hearing. That's because the world has, to be utterly frank, gone soft! "Core training", hot yoga, cycling classes, tai chí—all of these are just fine, but they won't slow your aging, and they certainly will never shape your muscles or burn off stubborn body fat. No way!

These 5 steps reveal the things you absolutely MUST AVOID if you want to slow the aging process, reclaim your health, and achieve your ideal body.

What you need is a splash of cold water, a touch of Old School, and the honest truth. Sound good? Let's dive in!

Step 1: Forget Low-Fat Diets

Low fat everything has been the craze now for decades and look around. What has that wonderful bit of advice done for the bodies you see? We're fatter, sicker, and more addicted to sugar and carbs than any other time in history. And, we're passing these habits to our kids.
Fats are not to be feared – they're to be embraced. They do not make you fat; rather, they help your body regenerate your power hormones. Testosterone, the 'strength' hormone, for example, is the direct result of cholesterol and dietary fat intake. That's right: "Cholesterol" isn't a dirty word! Your body needs dietary fat and cholesterol in order to produce ANY AND ALL vital hormones.
People on low fat diets look drawn, gaunt, and weak. They are often sick, sometimes to the point of literally breaking down. And, they can never just enjoy eating out. Every meal and every gram must be accounted for. Do you really think this will make you younger? Of course not... it will worry you to death if it doesn't kill you first!

 

Step 2: Stop Running in Circles

Gym classes can be fun, if you like sitting in one place and torturing yourself. But have you noticed how little people change their bodies in these classes? Sure, it's good "cardio", but cardiovascular conditioning can be gained with far less time and effort.
Treadmills, and any form of endurance training (especially running) does very little to help the age reversal process. Many times, these long-duration exercise bouts accelerate the aging process by increasing free radicals. These free radicals are scavengers that prey on your body's essential nutrients and tissues.
There's a smart way to exercise... we'll cover that in a minute. And, what's wonderful is that it takes you about ¼ the time of traditional workouts. We'll cover more details on the next page.

Step 3: Stop Blaming Everything On How Old You Are

The guys to the left are not fat because they are old—they're fat because they eat, think, and move like a fat, old, dying person! Becky and I are both in our 50s—older than the guys in this photo—and I still sport a nice six-pack, and Becky transformed her body from the typical "middle age mom" to a slim, toned, and super-sexy woman who looks 10 years younger. (See the next page for photos!)
Listen: Your body doesn't own a clock. Studies have shown that men and women in their 90s were able to gain muscle tone in just a matter of weeks of simple weight training. I've personally seen men and women transform their physiques at literally all ages—25 to 95!
If you're around those naysayers who are constantly talking about growing old, all their aches and pains, and how life is just down hill after 40—LEAVE! Surround yourself with positive thinkers who absolutely crave a challenge. A challenge is what keeps you YOUNG, and the best challenge there is happens to be taking control of your health and body.

Step 4: Avoid Chronic Dehydration

Water isn't just "good for you" — water burns fat. Water suppresses hunger. Water renews your skin. Just drinking 12 ounces of pure water every day can take a few years off your face in a matter of weeks. You'll also drop fat, have more energy, and save your kidneys and liver from chronic overwork.
When your kidneys are taxed from too little water, your liver has to take over. Now, get this: Your liver is your number one fat-burning organ. Do you REALLY want it processing liquids and toxins rather than BURNING FAT? No way, right? Well, grab a glass of water, and watch the mirror. Within a few weeks, the change to your face and body will be noticeable.

Step 5: Work Out LESS (Yes, Less)

If you don't work out at all, you're going to lose muscle tissue every year. That means you'll get fatter and flabbier each and every year with less shape and more sag. Is this what you desire? No way, right?
Well, the answer is old school resistance training. Here's the secret: hardly anyone is doing it right!
Becky and I have seen literally thousand of pro fitness athletes train over the years. The ones who looked the best — and that means looked the youngest, most toned, and had the least amount of unwanted fat — were the ones who left the gym while others were still warming up!
Over the past decade, Becky and I have developed a men and women's workout system that we call F4X Training System. This is a revolutionary way of combining four specific exercises done in literally a matter of minutes. That's ALL YOU NEED... And don't let anyone tell you otherwise!
That's right: We do not do endless cardio sessions (the F4X Training System is a great cardiovascular workout) and we do not spend an hour a day in the gym. We have a life, thank you. We have kids, and we value being both fit and real people at the same time. The F4X Training System was our personal breakthrough to achieving our ideal bodies, staying in tip-top shape with minimal time, and having a life outside a gym.

WARNING: THIS IS NOT FOR EVERYONE!

We're not going to lie to you: The F4X System is definitely not for everyone. For example:

• If you enjoy spending an hour a day working out, this is NOT for you (and good luck with those free radicals!)
• If you think you can "cycle" or run your way to a younger, time-changing body, have at it... this is not for you.
• And, if you are not prepared to work very, very hard for a very short period of time, this is not for you.

We're not going to lie: F4X is hard work — anything that produces this kind of radical age-defying result will never be a walk in the park.
However, it's FAST it's EFFICIENT and it's SAFE. Fair enough? Hey, if you're looking for an EASY way out, then Google "Pipedream Workout" and maybe you'll get lucky. If you want results that have stood the test of DECADES, then read on.
You MUST be okay with brief bouts of old-school-style hard work. If you are, here's a routine you've never seen before, AND you will get in and out of the gym in RECORD time.

"So, what do I do next?"

If you are really ready to get started on our exact Old School, New Body System that features our F4X Training Program, the OSNB Ageless Nutrition Plan, and all of our anti-aging secrets and protocols, then click the button below and we'll take you to the next page.
On the very next page, we'll let you in on the specifics of our System, and how you can get started within less than 30 minutes from now.
Click Here

Read More

The TRUTH about Bacon

You've been told that bacon is "unhealthy", but is it really?  Let's inspect the nutrition of bacon, and also the topic of nitrates and nitrites, HCAs, and more.  As you'll see, in some cases (not all), pork fat can even be considered healthy!
by Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist
& guest author, Nick Pineault, aka - "The Nutrition Nerd"

Most people think that their favorite "fatty" foods, like bacon, should only be an occasional treat because they've been told that it will it will "clog up" your arteries and kill you because of the saturated fat.
But as you know from reading this newsletter, the scientific community has pretty much fully agreed in recent years that saturated fat is actually not bad for you at all... and is really just a natural part of the human diet just like it has been since the origins of us homo sapiens.
In reality, scientists have begun to collectively agree in recent years that highly processed polyunsaturated fats from vegetable oils like corn and soy are the REAL killers (along with too much sugar and starch, both of which also cause arterial stress if blood sugar levels are too high, too frequently).
However, what most people don't realize is that pork fat (aka, lard) is actually only 40% saturated, 48% monosaturated, and 12% polyunsaturated (varies based on what the pigs ate), while coconut oil is 92% saturated fat, and we all know that coconut oil is super healthy for DOZENS of reasons for our bodies!
This isn't to say that bacon fat is always bad or good per se... it really all depends on what the pigs were fed and how they were raised.  Confinement factory-raised pigs that never saw the light of day and ate nothing but GMO soy and corn based feed will have a more unhealthy fat profile than free-range pork that grazed outdoors, got a lot of sunshine (which increases the vitamin D content of the pork fat), and ate a wide variety of natural foods.
In fact, free-range (or pasture-raised) pork fat can even be a really good source of vitamin D if the pigs really did see a good amount of outdoors time and sunshine...and we all know how vitally important vitamin D is for our immune systems and overall hormonal balance.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of pork and bacon sold these days is from confinement factory conditions where the pigs get very little sunshine, if any at all.  Yes, our grandparents and great-grandparents in the early to mid 1900's were eating pretty much 100% pasture-raised bacon back in the day, but the factory farm industry in recent decades has ruined a good portion of the quality of our foods.
So make sure to look for pasture-raised or free-range pork if you decide to eat bacon or other forms of pork.  At the very least, look for organic bacon if you can't find pasture-raised, because at least you know they didn't eat GMO feed in that case.

But what about Nitrates and Nitrites?
Aside from the fat content of bacon, which we just discussed can actually be healthy if you choose the right form of bacon, the biggest reason people think they need to avoid bacon is that they've been told that Nitrites and Nitrates can be really bad for you.
But is that really the truth?
Well, it can be a complicated subject, so I’ll let my fellow colleague, "The Nutrition Nerd", Nicky P. simplify it for you...

Are Nitrates and Nitrites Really Dangerous?
(Do we really need to fear bacon?)

by: Nick Pineault
Author and Food Investigator: Truth About Fat Burning Foods

First of all, nitrites and nitrates are not exactly the same, but I’ll use them interchangeably for simplicity’s sake in this article.
Well, the consumers fear it so much that companies have started selling "nitrite-free" products in grocery stores. After all, even the Mayo Clinic says that sodium nitrite could possibly increase your risks of heart disease. (1)
But is the fear of nitrites overblown?
Should You Fear Your Saliva?
Avoiding all sources of nitrites and nitrates would involve you having the driest mouth in the history of mankind. You see, as Chris Kresser puts it…(2)
"[...] nitrites are produced by your own body in greater amounts than can be obtained from food, and salivary nitrite accounts for 70-90% of our total nitrite exposure. In other words, your spit contains far more nitrites than anything you could ever eat.”
And when it comes to food, I’ve got "bad" news for you.
Veggies contain way more naturally-occurring nitrites than processed meats like bacon.  In fact, one serving of arugula contains more nitrites than 467 hot dogs…(3)
(Sorry if that made you spit out your arugula, goat cheese and walnut-salad in shock.)
"Nitrite-free" Is Misleading
If you’re paying more for "nitrite-free" meats, you’re getting mislead.
Instead of being cured with sodium nitrite, these meats are cured with celery salt. And guess what?  Celery salt gets transformed into nitrites during the curing process. (4)
In plain English… the "nitrite-free" meats probably contain way more nitrites that the regular version. (Not that it matters, because like I said nitrites are not very dangerous to begin with.)
All in all, I don't think there's much difference to your health whether you get the bacon containing nitrites vs the celery salt bacon since they both yield nitrites to your body.
Breaking News: Nitrites And Nitrates Are NOT A Threat
The fear of nitrites and nitrates is overblown.  There are a ton of other things you should worry about more when it comes to food, like GMOs, trans fats, and high fructose corn syrup.
- On the science side, there’s a ton of research showing that nitrites and nitrates do not accumulate inside the body, and are quickly flushed in the urine: (5)
- 25% of the nitrates we consume is converted into salivary nitrite, 20% converted into nitrite, and the rest is excreted in the urine within 5 hours of ingestion. (6)
- Any nitrate that is absorbed has a very short half-life, disappearing from our blood in under five minutes. (7)
- Some nitrite in our stomach reacts with gastric contents, forming nitric oxide which may have many beneficial effects. (8)
What About Nitrosamines?
The fear of nitrites and nitrates comes from the fact that some of them can transform into nitrosamines while cooking. Nitrosamines are potentially carcinogenic, so that’s definitely a legit concern. But that’s exactly why manufacturers use vitamin C (ascorbic acid) when curing their meats.
It turns out that vitamin C or even vitamin E (9) offers a protective antioxidant effect on the meat, and prevents the formation of nitrosamines.
On top of that, my recommendation of sticking to pasture-raised pork as much as possible still stands, for many reasons... One of them being the fact that grain-fed, commercially-raised pork has been shown to create way more nitrosamines when cooked than its pasture-raised cousin. (10)
The reason is simple in my mind: lard from pasture-raised animals that eat a highly variable diet outdoors contains a healthier fat profile than the fat from grain-fed confinement animals.
Conclusion
Here’s the simple conclusion... There are a ton of things you should worry about when it comes to food, but nitrates/nitrites are simply NOT one of them.
That being said, try to eat traditionally cured, pastured-raised meats from local farms as much as possible. They are much healthier, and a LOT safer.
The "Nitrate Myth" is just one of the many reasons I investigated over 503 studies and created my best-selling nutrition bible:
The Truth About Fat Burning Foods
I want you to know the REAL truth about the food you buy and eat.
Enjoy your bacon,
-Nick Pineault
___________

Mike's additional comments:
Before I introduced Nick's article on whether nitrites and nitrates are worth worrying about in bacon, I discussed the fat profiles of healthier pasture-raised or free-range pork vs factory raised, and also that the vitamin D content of pasture-raised pork be as much as 5-10x higher than factory raised pork that never gets any sunshine.
I also discussed that saturated fat has been proven in recent years to not really be bad for us at all, and in fact, most forms of saturated fat are either neutral for our health, or even beneficial to our health.  And besides that, bacon fat is mostly monounsaturated fat (48%), which is the same heart-healthy fat that's raved about in olive oil, avocados, etc.
But what about Carcinogens in browned meat like bacon?
You've probably seen me discuss the fact that when you fry or bake any starchy foods such as grains (bread, cereal, etc), or potatoes in the form of french fries, that a carcinogen called acrylamides forms.  This is a legitimate concern regarding cancer and one of the many reasons I choose to avoid breads, fries, cereals, and other browned starchy foods (aside from cheat meals) ...
But there's also a carcinogen called heterocyclic amines (HCA's) that forms on the outer surface of meats when you brown or char meats.  I've talked about how to counteract these carcinogenic HCAs in meat in this article.
Since bacon is a meat that's fried in a pan at high heat, there will be small amounts of carcinogenic HCA's, but as I've mentioned before, if you're also having some high antioxidant tea or coffee with your meal, along with some veggies and/or avocado, you'll have plenty of antioxidants to counteract the HCA's in your body.  I don't know about you, but I almost always eat my bacon with eggs, veggies, avocado, and some form tea or coffee (all of which are great sources of antioxidants), so HCA's just simply aren't much of a concern if you're counteracting them with a few sources of powerful antioxidants.
One last thing about pork fat that helps fight against any carcinogens in bacon...

According to Dr. Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN, "Pork fat also contains a novel form of phosphatidylcholine that possesses antioxidant activity superior to Vitamin E. This may be one reason why lard and bacon fat are relatively stable and not prone to rancidity from free radicals."  This is yet another reason why our grandparents were actually smarter than we give them credit for... they used bacon fat or butter to cook with most times, instead of today's inflammatory vegetable oils.
Fun Fact about Pig Diets:  Did you know that some of the most expensive pork in the world comes from a region of Spain where the pigs FEAST on almost nothing but acorns.  These pigs produce meat that is MUCH healthier than the corn/soy fed pigs from typical factory farms.  Not only that, but apparently the absolute BEST whole-hog barbeque in the southern US traditionally came from pigs that fed on acorns as well, and this type of pork has a signficantly superior taste compared to factory farm pork, which is sadly 90% of today's pork.  It's too bad that corporate profits are the top priority of the pork industry these days, and not the health of the pigs or the nutrition of the meat.
Who else wants to try some acorn-fed bacon? I'm in!
I hope you enjoyed today's article.  Please pass it on to your bacon-loving friends and family at the sharing options below.

If you liked today's article about BACON, please share it with your friends and family here:

Read More

Health Warning: Can a Cell Phone Carried Regularly in Your Pocket Damage Your _____?

A correlation between cell phone use and testicular cancer, reduced Testosterone levels, lowered seminal volume and sperm count?  Read on to see...
by Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
Author of best-selling program:  The Truth about 6-Pack Abs

You've probably started hearing in the media about emerging studies showing possible correlations between heavy cell phone use and brain tumors.  But what not many people are talking about is the risk of carrying cell phones in our pockets for hours each day.  This is where it gets even more interesting and a little scary too!
First of all, to both guys and gals... read this article carefully, as it contains some potentially scary health issues related to cell phone use.  And although the examples are geared towards men's issues, I wouldn't trust that it's only men that can experience health issues from heavy cell phone use.
You're also going to want to pass this page on to your friends and family to help them protect their health, and the health of their "crotch"... sounds funny, I know...but this is serious business.

To start, I realize that some people simply don't believe that something as small as a cell phone can give off any radiation levels that could harm your health over time. But we're not talking about immediate harm... we're talking about long term harm from chronic use, which most of us in this day and age use cell phones or have them in our pockets daily.   According to a recent article published on Yahoo Health, and a large health study conducted, the 2010 Interphone study...  "People who chatted via cell for just 30 minutes a day for 10 years saw their risk of glioma (the type of brain tumor that killed Ted Kennedy) rise 40 percent".
I feel like we are all currently in an inadvertent giant human guinea pig study right now with cell phone use.  Not purposely, but simply because cell phones (and another dangerous new phenomenon, our constant exposure to radiation from "wifi" and other wireless technologies) moved onto the scene so fast and infiltrated the entire population over the last 10 years.
Think about it... most of the population has only been using cell phones and wifi heavily for less than 10 years now... that's not a long enough time to know long term consequences (such as 15-30 year cancer risks) and most studies that supposedly "prove" the safety of cell phones have been funded by the telecom industry and have ridiculously low usage levels that they study.
We're definitely finding that the average person has a cell phone either strapped to their ear or carried in a pocket for more hours per day than any studies have any definitive long-term safety data on.
As Tim Ferriss points out in his fascinating new book,  
The 4-Hour Body ..(link to your right)"Most of the studies performed in the US that conclude no negative effect are funded either directly or indirectly (as with many IEEE studies) by cell phone manufacturers and carriers.  Does this prove malfeasance?  No, but it should raise a red flag."
One of the things that scares me about the possible harmful long term effects of carrying a cell phone in my pockets is potential testicular cancer.  I honestly feel that as the years go on, and we get to a level of chronic cell phone use where people have been carrying these things in their pockets for 10 or 15 years or more, we're going to see testicular cancer rates skyrocket.
But cancer risks are long term, and we may not have enough data from studies yet to prove definitive cancer risks such as testicular cancer.  So let's look at more current measurements that can prove health problems associated with cell phone use...
According to Tim Ferriss in his book,  
The 4-Hour Body ... "Lo and behold, jumping from article to article on Medline, there were more than a handful of studies that showed significant decreases in serum testosterone in rats following even moderate exposure (30 minutes per day, 5 days a week, for 4 weeks) to 900 megahertz radio frequency electro-magnetic fields (EMF), which is what most GSM cell phones produce."
Beyond lowering testosterone, can cell phones hurt your "swimmers"?
Tim did some more digging, but this time switched gears from just cell phone effects on lowering testosterone levels, and he began researching cell phone effects on sperm count and function.
Tim continues, "Of the dozens of studies that I found, most done in Europe, more than 70% concluded the same thing: cell phone radiation impairs sperm function."
In The 4-Hour Body, Tim also presents the results of a study he read about male Wistar rats that were exposed to a mobile phone for 1 hour continuously per day for 28 days... the end result of the study was that the mobile phone exposure to the rats significantly reduced the % of motile sperm.  The conclusion was that mobile phones negatively affect semen quality and may impair male fertility.
Think about this... they were only exposed to the mobile phone radiation for 1 hour per day for 28 days, and showed negative effects on sperm count and function.... how many of us out there carry a cell phone in our pocket for like 8-10 hours every day!!!!
Doesn't look good for our "boys", does it?
Now it gets even more interesting... It turns out that Tim first started researching the correlation between low sperm count and cell phone use because he went and got a sperm count test, and found out that his numbers were surprisingly low.
In Tim's words... "the lab results, which were available the afternoon after my session, put my sperm count on the low range of normal, borderline problematic. I couldn't believe it.  Assuming it was a lab mistake, I repeated the drill 3 weeks later and came back with an even lower count. The more tests I did over the next 12 months, the lower the results."
After Tim started researching the effects of cell phone use on sperm count, he realized that for years, he'd been carrying a cell phone in his pocket for about 12 hours per day, most days of the week.
So he decided to do a test...
For 11 weeks, Tim decided that he would no longer carry his cell phone in his pocket... or as he puts it "my phone was no longer allowed to cuddle with my testicles".
Instead, he kept the phone on the other side of the room if working at home, or if he had to go somewhere, he kept his phone either strapped to his arm with an ipod armband, or in a backpack pocket.  If he had to carry it in his pocket, he turned it off, and only turned it back on occasionally to check messages.
He actually performed this test for 11 weeks for a specific reason... sperm production takes an estimated 64 days in humans... so he wanted to wait that long, plus an extra 2 weeks for buffer.
The results of the 11 week "no-cell-phone-in-the-pocket" test:
The numbers are shocking...

• Ejaculate volume:  44% increase
• Motile sperm per milliliter:  100% increase
• Motile sperm per ejaculate:  185% increase

Now Tim admits that his study wasn't perfect, as there may have been other influences that weren't accounted for, such as his diet not being exactly the same during each time period.  However, he feels confident enough that these results speak for themselves.... after all, the results are pretty significant!
Personally, cell phone health issues is also a topic I've been reading a good deal about in the last couple of years.  Whether there's any conclusive evidence of cancer risk from cell phones, perhaps that's still to be determined... but I think we have significant evidence that cell phone use (and particularly carrying it in the pocket) can reduce both Testosterone levels (not good!) and also reduce sperm count and function (also scary!).
And please guys... don't start carrying around 2 cell phones in each pocket as a form of birth control!  All jokes aside, remember that there are possible bigger implications to this than just reduced sperm count... we're talking lower testosterone levels, possible increased cancer risk, etc.
What about women?  Please ladies, I wouldn't trust that health issues are only happening to men... I'm sure there are complications that can happen to women too...so beware ladies!
In fact, on the recent Yahoo Health article, according to David Carpenter, M.D., director of the Institute for Health and Environment at the University at Albany (regarding carrying cell phones near the pelvis, or using laptops on the lap), "For women, the studies aren't quite there yet, but I think we can say that anything that might cause cancer almost always causes birth defects, so pregnant women—or those wanting to become pregnant soon—should take extra precautions."
What I've done to help protect myself from these risks is this:
1. When I'm at home, I keep my cell phone on the other side of my home office, or in another room.  I try not to keep it anywhere near me most of the day.  If I get a call, I simply get up and answer it, the same way that we used to have to walk across the room to answer a phone before the days of mobile phones!
2. In my car, I keep my phone off of my body and put it in the front console or the passenger seat if I don't have a passenger.  The farther away from your body, the better.
3. When I go to the gym, go hiking, biking, etc... I leave that sucker in the car!  I don't want it on my body any longer than it has to be.  After all, I think a LOT of us need to learn how to not be a slave to our cell phones.  The texts and voicemails will be waiting when you're done your hike or your gym workout...don't be a slave to your phone!
4. If I absolutely must carry my cell phone on me, such as if I'm meeting friends out and need to be able to contact them... well, in that case, I simply try to keep the phone out of my pocket as much as possible... if we're at a restaurant, I put the phone on the edge of the table instead of in my pocket, or I just turn it off if I no longer need to get in touch with friends.
5.  Remember that EMF dangers aren't only with cell phones...it also occurs with Wifi, and other wireless devices.  So I also try to never use my laptop on my lap... If I'm at an airport, I usually try to find a table to sit at, so the laptop isn't actually sitting on my "junk".  Also, if possible, I try to use a wired internet connection (ethernet) instead of Wifi or mobile broadband.  In my house, I've also switched to a wired internet connection and gotten rid of the wireless router altogether.
With all of this said, will I ever give up my cell phone?
Well, let's be realistic...the cell phone has become an important part of our lives, and most of us aren't willing to give it up.  However, I plan to take the 5 steps that I listed above to minimize my risk.
I hope you take this issue as seriously as it should be taken.  It's time most of us wake up and realize that we are all inadvertently involving ourselves in a giant human guinea pig study on the risks of chronic cell phone and wifi use.
Thanks to Tim Ferriss and his new 4-Hour Body book (link to your right in blog) for providing some of the tests and info in this article!

Read More

This "Healthy" Food Damages Your Heart

While reading today's article, remember that heart disease is the #1 KILLER of people in today's modern world, with even higher death rates than cancer!  For some reason, most people don't seem to care about this topic until it's too late and they have a heart attack or even DIE as early as their 30's or 40's in some people

By Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist 
Author of best-sellers: The Fat Burning Kitchen & The Top 101 Foods that FIGHT Aging

It's time people started taking heart health seriously before it's too late.  Unfortunately, most people don't think about something they can't readily see or feel... after all, you can't "see" how much plaque your arteries are clogged with on a daily basis like you can see how much body fat you have on any given day.
This means that most people ignore their heart health until they actually have a heart attack or even die.  Even worse, I see so many people make jokes about clogged arteries while eating junk food, saying things like "I'd rather enjoy life than worry about clogged arteries".  Sorry to break the news to you, but you can't enjoy life if you're DEAD!
This mentality that so many people have of not caring about the ticking time bomb of your heart health is sad if you think about it.
And do eating donuts and fried chicken REALLY equate to "enjoying life"?  Not for me!   I'm sure you'd agree that being healthy, happy, active, and able to do all the things that you love as you get older is a LOT more important to your life quality than a few fleeting moments of enjoying a donut or something deep fried that is going to shorten your life.
One thing that sometimes wakes people up is to actually get an artery calcification test and see how clogged their arteries already are.  This is a wake up call to many people and will spur them into finally caring about their heart health before it's too late.
I mentioned donuts and fried chicken above, which as I'm sure you know, are obvious heart cloggers due to the trans fats and refined inflammatory vegetable oils used in making these...

But what about so-called "healthy" foods such as whole grains in relation to your heart health?  Well...

Here's an excerpt from a great book I've been reading lately called "The Great Cholesterol Myth" by Dr. Stephen Sinatra and Dr Jonny Bowden...

"A 2010 study in the Archives of Internal Medicine demonstrated that women who ate the highest amount of carbohydrates had a significantly greater risk of coronary heart disease than those who ate the lowest amount, and that carbohydrates from high-glycemic carbs were particularly assiciated with significantly greater risk for heart disease"
As you can see, they're seeing direct relationships between carbohydrate consumption and heart disease.  And as you know already from my other articles, research in recent years has proven that natural saturated fat and dietary cholesterol basically has NOTHING to do with heart disease at all.  It's sugar, overall high GI carbs, stress levels, and trans fats that appear to be the MAIN culprits responsible for heart disease.

Click here to discover 101 superfoods, herbs, and spices that SLOW aging (making you look 5-10 years younger, lowering blood pressure, fighting diabetes, and healing your digestion)

What about immediate effects on your heart from eating a high-carb meal?
In the book, Dr Sinatra also discusses another research study done (at Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine and the Heart Institute of Sheba Medical Center) on the function of the endothelial walls of the arteries before and after eating a dose of high GI carbs...
They used something called brachial reactive testing to measure artery functioning and gave groups high GI carbs such as corn flakes and sugar (very much like the typical American breakfast) ... Dr Sinatra explains, "Enormous peaks indicating arterial stress were found in the high GI groups: the cornflakes and sugar groups."
We're not talking about artery damage here folks from saturated fat and cholesterol like you've been led to believe... as you can see, this study is showing direct damage to arteries from grains and sugar.  Isn't it sad that those cornflakes are advertised by the food conglomerates as being a "wholesome and healthy" breakfast.
Dr Sinatra continues, "As researchers from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health noted, quickly digested and absorbed carbs (i.e., those with a high glycemic load) are associated with an increased risk of heart disease."  Note that one of the WORST carb sources in terms of blood sugar and glycemic load is anything made with wheat (even so-called "healthy whole wheat"), which has been proven in blood sugar testing to have a higher impact on blood sugar than even pure table sugar due to the nature of the Amylopectin-A in wheat foods.
Whole Grains can elevate CRP and inflammation in your body
Dr Sinatra and Dr Bowden also point out studies that directly show that people who eat a higher glycemic load of carbohydrates in their diets experienced higher CRP levels (C-reactive protein), which is an indicator of overall inflammation in your body.  Higher CRP generally means higher risk for heart disease.
Check out the CRP differences they noted -- "...those whose diets were lowest in glycemic load had an average CRP reading of 1.6, but those whose diets were highest in glycemic load had a CRP reading more than 3x that amount (average measurement: 5.0 mg/L)".
To give some perspective on CRP if you eat a truly healthy diet focusing on healthy proteins, lots of veggies, spices, teas, red wine, and other antioxidants, and relatively low in overall carbohydrates... I've had my CRP tested twice, and my results came in at 0.1 and 0.4, indicating a VERY LOW amount of inflammation in my body as a whole.
What about the so-called "deadly" red meat in relation to heart disease? Not so "deadly" after all...
Unfortunately, the media and groups with an agenda against meat eating have been trying to lay the blame on red meat for decades now.  Let's see what true researchers such as Dr Sinatra and Dr Bowden have to say about the science...
Keep in mind that most previous studies had never separated processed meat (such as hot dogs, bologna, lunch meats with chemical additives, etc) vs unprocessed meats (such as a healthy grass-fed steak, pasture-raised pork tenderloin, grass-fed burger, wild game meats, etc) in investigating the relationship between meat eating and heart disease.
But Dr Sinatra and Dr Bowden reported on a Harvard study where researchers analyzed 20 studies including over 1.2 million people in 10 countries and they found... "each 1.8 oz daily serving of processed meat (about one hot dog or a couple slices of deli meat) was associated with a 42% higher risk of developing heart disease.  In contrast, no relationship was found between heart disease and nonprocessed red meat."
Also remember that healthy grass-fed beef contains the unique fat called CLA that has been shown to be a cancer-fighter as well as helping to aid fat loss.
As you can see in this article, even so-called "healthy whole grains", which are big business these days, are now being implicated in causing heart disease and DEATH from damaged, clogged, and hardened arteries that result from runaway inflammation.
But the good news is...
We'll show you how to find plenty of delicious foods, spices, herbs, and nutrients that DISSOLVE artery plaque, lower your blood pressure, fight diabetes, boost your brain health, HEAL your digestion problems, and protect your body from aging on Page 2!
You will also discover over a dozen surprising tricks you can use daily to FIGHT aging, helping you to look 5-10 years YOUNGER... click the button below to go to the next page to discover unique and delicious anti-aging foods, spices, herbs, teas, and other potent youth-enhancing nutrients:

Read More

Can you drink alcohol and still stay lean?

7 Tips to Still Enjoy Social Drinking and Stay Lean at the Same Time
 
by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author of best-sellers:  The Fat Burning Kitchen & The Top 101 Foods that FIGHT Aging

This topic seems to be a common struggle I hear from a lot of people... They want to get lean, but they don't want to give up drinking alcohol.
Now, I'm not talking about alcoholic type of drinking (THAT is obviously a problem)... we're just talking moderate social drinking here.
First, although some people may willingly choose to give up alcohol entirely, I still think most of us can drink in moderation, and still stay perfectly healthy and lean.  But there are a few tricks that can help you to not pack on the pounds... and I'll mention those in a little bit.
As for myself, it comes down to choosing what I'm going to be strict about to maintain my fitness lifestyle and what I'm not going to be strict about.
For example, I'm pretty strict about never eating anything deep fried or made with trans fats, never eating white bread, and never drinking sodas or sweetened soft drinks of any kind... but I'll admit that one thing I've chosen to not be strict about is drinking alcohol.  What... a fitness pro admits that he drinks and is not a fitness "robot" 24/7... No way!
Well yes, it's true... I'm 38 now and I certainly don't drink as frequently as I did back in my crazy college days (man those college days were fun!), but I'll certainly enjoy some cold ones when hanging out with friends, going to a barbeque or dinner party, or during a night out at the bars with friends. And I love having a glass or two of red wine along with a nice dinner!
It's all about balance in your life, and not every aspect has to be "perfect" in order for you to still get the body and health that you want. You'll drive yourself crazy if you're trying to be perfect.
Of course, if you have no problem abstaining from alcohol and willingly make that decision, then that can certainly be the best thing for your health if you're the type that has a hard time controlling portions.
However, for the rest of us, that actually do like to partake in some social drinking, here are a few tips that have helped me to stay single-digit bodyfat lean, while still drinking alcohol occasionally.
TIP 1. Obviously alcohol gives you extra empty calories on the days that you choose to drink. Alcohol has 7 calories per gram, compared to 4 calories per gram for carbs and protein, and 9 calories per gram for fats.
However unlike ingesting carbs, protein, or healthy fats from a healthy food source, drinking alcohol gives you LOTS of calories with very little micronutrients (the exception to this is red wine and dark beers, both of which do have reasonable levels of micronutrients).
On nights that I know are going to involve some drinking, it helps to make sure that dinner is based only around protein and vegetables. You're going to take in a lot of empty calories with the alcohol, so eating a good portion of appetite-satisfying protein along with nutrient-rich vegetables can help to control your appetite and give your body the nutrients it needs.
Plus, most importantly, there's just no room for loads of carbohydrate-rich foods if you're also going to be consuming alcohol. Carbs + alcohol is a perfect recipe for growing a beer belly!  Try to keep that evening meal a fairly low-carb meal to save yourself from extra empty calories.
TIP 2. If you want to save your body from adding layers of ugly fat, by all means stay away from syrupy, fruity drinks that are loaded with sugar... this is a double whammy for your gut as you're not only getting all of the empty alcohol calories, but also loads of empty sugar calories. Big fruity drinks such as a big syrupy margarita, or other tropical fruity drinks can sometimes have as much as 500-600 calories per serving and 70-100 grams of sugar!
Quick tip on margaritas:  I don't know about you, but I love margaritas.  However, most margaritas have loads of sugar from the sour mix. If you want to get a super low sugar and lower calorie margarita, what you need to do is ask the bartender to make your margarita with ONLY tequila and fresh squeezed lime juice, and NO sour mix (which is usually made from corn syrup).  I think it tastes better anyway than a normal sugary margarita. 
Next point... and I don't think this even needs to be mentioned, but if you care about your body, any drink that uses soda pop as the mixer is going to be loaded with sugar (usually high fructose corn syrup) and calories.
Instead, your best bet is to stick with a clear alcohol mixed with club soda (NOT tonic) and a squeeze of lime or lemon (hey, at least you get a little vitamin C and antioxidants with the squeeze of lemon and lime!).  Vodka with club soda and extra lemon and/or lime squeeze is my drink of choice if I'm not drinking red wine.
Stay away from tonic water mixers! Some people don't realize this, but tonic water is loaded with almost as much sugar as regular soda pop... on the other hand, club soda has no calories at all. It's clearly the lowest calorie way to drink.
TIP 3. If you're going to drink beer, you're better off choosing just 1 or 2 dark beers rather than 5 or 6 light beers.  Sure, dark beers have more calories than light beers, but dark beers also have more B vitamins and antioxidants than light beers, so you actually get more nutrition from the dark beer.  As long as you keep it to just 1 or 2 dark beers, you may still stay within 150-300 calories.
Generally, it also takes a little longer to drink a good dark beer compared to a watery light beer too.
TIP 4.  Try to get in a high intensity full body workout before your night out of drinking. If you do this, at least you've revved up your metabolism and have your body processing calories a little faster.
Also, trying to get in some sort of exercise the morning after your night out can also help to get your body back to a good state of health. This may not be your best workouts in terms of energy, but it can help to just get your body moving and break a sweat, and get back to a good homeostasis.
TIP 5. Avoid the late-night munchies after a night of drinking! This is where most people do the biggest damage to their waistlines.
Instead, make sure to have some lean protein and vegetables quickly available at home (perhaps some pre-cooked chicken breasts, grass-fed steaks, or even tuna fish and some veggie sticks) so that you can satisfy your late night post-party appetite with lean protein instead of carbohydrates.  Veggies and protein is the key here.
The worst thing for your body is loading up on pizza, ice cream, and other carb-rich junk after a night out of drinking.
TIP 6. If you drink multiple drinks socially, try to keep drinking alcohol to only 1-2 days/week maximum if you want to stay lean. On the other hand, if you never drink more than 1-2 drinks per day, I think having 1-2 drinks daily with a meal can still be part of a healthy lifestyle. As long as those calories are accounted for and you still stay within your daily caloric maintenance.
TIP 7. Wine is one of the healthier drink choices... if you must have a drink, you might as well choose wine so you at least get a good dose of antioxidants as well. Red wine is known for it's antioxidant content, however even white wines contain some antioxidants as well... white wines just aren't quite as high in antioxidants as red wines.
Hey, if you can get a little resveratrol while enjoying your company, why not!
What about hangovers?
Ok, so you went a little overboard and drank too much.  Now you might be facing a hangover the next morning.  Well, I can't personally verify whether this works or not, but I have 2 friends in particular that swear by taking this whole-foods based vitamin, VGF25+ (this stands for 25+ veggies, greens, and fruits) before they go to bed, and they claim that it almost always prevents a hangover the next morning if they remember to take it before going to bed.
And finally, like I mentioned before, drinking alcohol just adds one more thing to your list that you have to work against in getting the body you want.
Abstaining may always be the best choice, BUT we also need to be realistic and know that social drinking is not something that most people are willing to give up entirely.
For that reason, this list of tips to help manage social drinking in a healthier way can really help you to stay leaner and healthier and still balance a little bit of social drinking into your life.
Lastly, check out this delicious resource for healthy drinks that are low in calories!
**Feel free to share this article with your friends and family that may be interested in finding a way to stay leaner and still enjoy a few drinks.  Easy sharing options below:

If you're not already on my fitness tips email newsletter - Lean Body Secrets Ezine... make sure to sign up below... it is FREE and you'll get all of my unique fat-burning recipes, crazy workouts, motivation, and more:

Mike Geary Certified Nutrition Specialist Certified Personal Trainer Author - The Truth about Six Pack Abs  &  The Fat Burning Kitchen

Read More

New Study Reveals LIES about High-Fructose Corn Syrup

Does high-fructose corn syrup make you fatter than sugar?  See this new study and you decide...
by Mike Geary - Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author of best-selling program:  The Truth about Six-Pack Abs

A "Corny" Lie?
Unless you've been under a rock for the last year or two, you've undoubtedly seen the massive media campaign that the Corn Refiners Association (the CRA) has been running on TV commercials, online ads, etc trying to "clean up" the poor public image of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
They have even tried a re-branding campaign trying to change the name to "corn sugar" instead of high-fructose corn syrup.
In addition, the TV commercials try to convince you that HFCS is "no worse than sugar", and even try to imply that it is somehow 'natural', with this phrase:
"It's made from corn, has no artificial ingredients, has the same calories as sugar and is okay to eat in moderation"
REALLY?  I'd say that it's a downright LIE to say that HFCS has no artificial ingredients if you've ever seen how HFCS is refined and processed and the chemicals involved in that process.  Watch the entertaining documentary King Corn and you'll see the NASTY chemicals involved in refining HFCS!
And let's not forget that HFCS is almost always made from Genetically Modified corn.  Not so "natural" anymore huh!
In response to this CRA propaganda campaign to revamp the image of HFCS, Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest stated: "High-fructose corn syrup starts out as cornstarch, which is chemically or enzymatically degraded to glucose and some short polymers of glucose. Another enzyme is then used to convert varying fractions of glucose into fructose... High-fructose corn syrup just doesn't exist in nature".
What about the debate:  Is High-Fructose Corn Syrup worse for you than sugar?
This seems to have been an ongoing debate for the last couple years, but I personally think it's a stupid debate...  In terms of your health and your waistline, they are BOTH pure evil!  Over time, with excess consumption of either HFCS or sugar, they can both lead to diabetes, obesity, and other major health problems, including premature aging, and a bulging belly!
However, with that said, I personally avoid HFCS at all costs, but I don't necessarily avoid sugar altogether. I minimize sugar greatly, but I don't avoid it like I avoid HFCS.  Have I mentioned that I haven't had a soda pop since I was a teenager... not one!  Two things that I try to avoid almost 100% are HFCS and trans fats... because they are easily two of the MOST evil food additives that cause the most damage from a biochemical standpoint internally in your body (keep that in mind when you're about to eat or drink them, and it's easy to say no).
The only HFCS I get is probably the minor amounts that I might get in ketchup at a restaurant (sorry, I'm not giving up my ketchup... but I do get organic ketchup at home, which has no HFCS).  But other than ketchup at a restaurant, I stay away from anything and everything with HFCS in it, including store-bought salad dressings which are often laced with high amounts of HFCS.  Instead, I make my own healthy lean-body salad dressings at home.
The reason that I avoid HFCS more than I avoid plain sugar is that there is just too much evidence at this point that your body DOES process HFCS differently than sugar... despite the propaganda that the Corn Refiners Association is trying to shove down your throat with their ads.
New Princeton Study reveals that HFCS can stimulate more weight gain than sugar
Leave it to those geniuses at Princeton to give us some good evidence that HFCS can make you fatter than sugar!  In a 2010 Princeton University study, researchers found that rats given water sweetened with HFCS gained significantly more weight than those given water sweetened with plain sugar, despite calorie intake being the same between both groups.
Princeton researchers also state:  "In addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides".
And what about those claims by the Corn Refiners Association that HFCS is "no worse than sugar"?  Well, let's get past the propaganda, and hear what an actual researcher has to say:
According to professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction... "Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn't true, at least under the conditions of our tests.  When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese -- every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't see this; they don't all gain extra weight."
Princeton researchers also noted that the HFCS groups in the studies gained significant amounts of visceral fat around the belly.  As you might know, visceral fat is more deadly than subcutaneous fat and is a serious health concern as it releases inflammatory molecules into your system.
One reason that HFCS appears to cause more weight gain than plain sugar is that HFCS doesn't trigger a leptin response in the body.  This means that it won't signal the body to decrease appetite despite those HFCS calories that were consumed.
Another reason that HFCS affects our bodies differently is this... according to Princeton researchers, although HFCS only has 10% more fructose than table sugar (55% fructose content vs 50% fructose content in sugar), the fructose in HFCS is more sinister... According to Princeton, "as a result of the manufacturing process for high-fructose corn syrup, the fructose molecules in the sweetener are free and unbound, ready for fast absorption and utilization. In contrast, every fructose molecule in sucrose that comes from cane sugar or beet sugar is bound to a corresponding glucose molecule and must go through an extra metabolic step before it can be utilized."
Aha... very interesting!
Well, I hope that's enough evidence for you to simply try to fully avoid HFCS from now on.  Again, this doesn't mean eating loads of table sugar is good for you either (that should be obvious), but these studies clearly show that HFCS is at least one step WORSE for you than sugar.  And you also know that HFCS contributes to more abdominal fat, so with that said, why in the world would you ever want to touch another soda again!
You also now know that the deceptive advertisments by the Corn Refiners Association have basically been LYING to you with their propaganda that "HFCS is no worse for you than sugar".  Now you know the truth.
Please share this article with your friends and family to help them avoid the dangers of HFCS

Read More

Do Artificial Sweeteners (splenda, aspartame, etc) Make You Fat? Natural Alternatives Including Stevia

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
author: The Truth about Six-Pack Abs

I wanted to talk about artificial sweeteners today because I've noticed that there's a lot of confusion and misconceptions revolving around these non-caloric sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners and the huge list of products sweetened with them are marketed to you relentlessly as "healthy foods" or "healthier" than sugar or corn syrup sweetened products. But are they really?
Just to clarify, some of the most popular artificial sweeteners on the market today are:

• Splenda (sucralose)
• Aspartame
• Saccharine
• Acesulfame Potassium (aka - acesulfame K)

These artificial sweeteners are used in abundance in almost every "diet" drink, "lite" yogurts, puddings, and ice creams, most "low-carb" products, and almost all "reduced-sugar" products. Heck, even most protein powders are loaded with artificial sweeteners too (just look on the ingredients and you'll usually see one of them).
Splenda is probably one of the worst offenders of claiming to be "healthy" as they say that it's made from real sugar. Don't be fooled! It's still an artificial substance. What they don't tell you is that Splenda is actually a chemically modified substance where chlorine is added to the chemical structure, making it more similar to a chlorinated pesticide than something we should be eating or drinking.
This is one of the biggest misconceptions that I see all of the time and it saddens me to see so many people poisoning their family with dangerous artificial sweeteners like splenda, while falsely thinking they're doing something healthy.
The truth is that artificial sweeteners are not even close to being healthy, and as you'll discover in a minute, can easily be just as bad for you, if not worse, than sugar or corn syrup. Most people think that they are doing something good for themselves by choosing the "diet" drinks or "lite" yogurts compared to the sugar-laden versions, but the problem is that you're exposing yourself to a whole new set of problems with the artificially sweetened drinks and foods.
I know you're probably frustrated by all of the contradicting messages you hear each day about which foods are good for you and which are bad. I'm sure just today you probably saw some clever ad or commercial somewhere screaming health benefits for a food product that is loaded with artificial sweeteners. Don't worry. Just stick with me and I'll get past the marketing hype for you and decipher the truth. I'll also give you some ideas for great alternatives to artificial sweeteners as well as alternatives to sugar or corn syrup sweeteners.
The fact is, artificial sweeteners vs. sugar or corn syrup is really just a battle between two evils. Which evil is worse?
I'm sure you already know the problems with sugar or high fructose corn syrup sweetened products. The excess empty calories, blood sugar spike, and resulting insulin surge this creates in your body not only promotes fat gain, but also stimulates your appetite further, making things even worse.
On the other hand, artificial sweeteners save you calories, but there's growing evidence that they can increase your appetite for sweets and other carbohydrates causing you to eat more later in the day anyway. Therefore, you don't really save any calories at all. Also, studies have shown that artificial sweeteners can stimulate high insulin levels in your body too, which again can promote fat storage.
All of the 4 artificial sweeteners listed above are nasty chemicals that the human body is simply not meant to ingest. However, most of us are ingesting a whole lot of these chemicals on a daily basis. Aside from the problems I touched on so far, other health issues that have been related to artificial sweeteners in scientific studies as well as observations are:

• some have been linked to potential cancer risks
• negative effects on the liver, kidneys, and other organs
• stimulating cravings
• gastrointestinal problems
• developmental problems in children and fetuses
• headaches
• and too many more issues to list

Now some of the above potential health problems are definitely not proven as fact in studies. However, some of them have been shown in animal studies given high doses. Also, if you do some research, you'll find hoardes of people that attribute the use of artificial sweeteners over the years with all sorts of illnesses in themselves or in family members.
Regardless of the fact that any real health problems for actual human use are not proven yet, I don't know about you, but I'd rather protect myself and my family and steer clear of these possibly dangerous artificial chemicals.
Of course, despite all of the health issues potentially associated with artificial sweeteners, the companies that sell the products will continue to claim that they are fully safe. Don't believe them!  The bottom line is that the body was not designed to deal with foreign substances like artificial sweeteners. Take my word on that one.
So what are your options for alternatives?
Well, your best alternatives for sugar or corn syrup are either raw honey, organic maple syrup, or even a little-known high antioxidant syrup called sorghum syrup (common in the southern US). Even though these alternatives still have the same amount of calories as sugar or corn syrup... honey, organic maple syrup, and sorghum syrup actually provide some nutrients and antioxidants, so it's not just empty calories. Empty calories such as white refined sugar stimulate your appetite more because your body is lacking nutrients.
Now you're probably thinking that you'd like to still save on calories but avoid the nasty artificial sweeteners. Good news... You can!
You've probably seen me reference this natural sweetener in a lot of my recipes. It's called Stevia. I've been using it for years as an alternative sweetener when you still want to save a little on calories and sugar but don't want to harm your health with artificial sweeteners.
Stevia is not artificial like the other chemical sweeteners I mentioned above. Stevia is a natural non-caloric herb that's been used for thousands of years in some parts of the world. It is an herb and when dried into a powder, has a sweetness about 200-300 times stronger than sugar.
One problem I've noticed with using Stevia is that the pure powder is a very powerful sweetener, so you can easily use too much. However, I've found some good Stevia products that use a bulking agent added so that you can measure out the stevia powder in direct comparison to measuring sugar.
I've yet to see any negative reports or health concerns regarding stevia and only positive potential health benefits. After all, it's simply an herb as opposed to an artificial chemical derived in a lab.  I definitely give Stevia my seal of approval. Do yourself a favor (and your family), and if you are currently an artificial sweetener junkie, please consider switching to stevia.
More and more stevia products are available now even in many grocery stores.  One of the best stevia products I've found over the years is made by a company called Steviva. They have an excellent stevia product blended with another natural sweetener called erythritol. I suggest giving it a try! Just look for the "Steviva Blend". You can use it in your coffee or tea, to sweeten up plain yogurt, added to smoothies for extra sweetness, on cereals or oatmeal, in baking, or where ever else you might need a sweetener but want to reduce the sugar content.
If you want to grab some, here's the site: Stevia Blend
Well, that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this important discussion. Feel free to copy/paste this link and email it to anybody you know that might be overdoing the artificial sweeteners.
If you liked this article, please share it with your friends below:

Read More

Excess Abdominal Fat is Not Only Ugly, but Extremely Dangerous to Your Health - This is More Than a Vanity Issue!

The difference between subcutaneous fat and the more deadly "visceral fat"... Plus the simple steps to REMOVE this fat permanently
by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
author of best-selling program:  The Truth about Six-Pack Abs

Although this picture depicts an extremely overweight man, this article applies to dangerous types of fat inside the bodies of both men and women... and this discussion also applies even if you only have a slight amount of excess stomach fat.
Did you know that the vast majority of people in this day and age have excess abdominal fat?  It's true -- as much as 70% of the population in some "westernized" countries such as the US and Australia are now considered either overweight or obese.  The first thing that most people think of is that their extra abdominal fat is simply ugly, is covering up their abs from being visible, and makes them self conscious about showing off their body.
However, what most people don't realize is that excess abdominal fat in particular, is not only ugly, but is also a dangerous risk factor to your health. Scientific research has clearly determined that although it is unhealthy in general to have excess body fat throughout your body, it is also particularly dangerous to have excess abdominal fat.
There are two types of fat that you have in your abdominal area. The first type that covers up your abs from being visible is called subcutaneous fat and lies directly beneath the skin and on top of the abdominal muscles.
The second type of fat that you have in your abdominal area is called visceral fat, and that lies deeper in the abdomen beneath your muscle and surrounding your organs. Visceral fat also plays a role in giving certain men that "beer belly" appearance where their abdomen protrudes excessively but at the same time, also feels sort of hard if you push on it.
Both subcutaneous fat and visceral fat in the abdominal area are serious health risk factors, but science has shown that having excessive visceral fat is even more dangerous than subcutaneous fat.  Both types of fat greatly increase your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnea, various forms of cancer, and other degenerative diseases. 
Excess stomach fat has also been associated in studies with higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), an indicator of inflammation within the body that can lead to heart disease and other health issues.
Part of the reason visceral fat is particularly dangerous is that studies show that it releases more inflammatory molecules into your system on a consistent basis.
One of the major reasons that some people accumulate more visceral fat than others can be from a high carbohydrate diet that leads to insulin resistance over time (years of bombarding your system with too much sugars and starches for your pancreas to properly handle the constant excess blood sugar) ... and studies show that high fructose intake particularly from high-fructose corn syrup can be a major contributor to excess visceral fat.
If you care about the quality of your life and your loved ones, reducing your abdominal fat (including reducing visceral fat) should be one of your TOP priorities! There's just no way around it. Besides, a side effect of finally getting rid of all of that excessive abdominal fat is that your stomach will flatten out, and if you lose enough stomach fat, you will be able to visibly see those attractive six pack abs that everyone wants.
So what gets rid of extra abdominal fat, including visceral fat? 
Is there actually a REAL solution beyond all of the gimmicks and hype that you see in ads and on commercials for "miracle" fat loss products?
The first thing you must understand is that there is absolutely NO quick fix solution. There are no pills or supplements of any sort that will help you lose your abdominal fat faster.  Also, none of the gimmicky ab rockers, rollers, or ab belts will help get rid of abdominal fat either. You can't spot reduce your stomach fat by using any of these worthless contraptions. It simply doesn't work that way.
The only solution to consistently lose your abdominal fat and keep it off for good is to combine a sound nutritious diet full of unprocessed natural foods with a properly designed strategic exercise program that stimulates the necessary hormonal and metabolic response within your body. Both your food intake as well as your training program are important if you are to get this right.
I've actually even seen a particular study that divided thousands of participants into a diet-only group and an exercise & diet combined group. While both groups in this study made good progress, the diet-only group lost significantly LESS abdominal fat than the diet & exercise combined group.
Now the important thing to realize is that just any old exercise program will not necessarily do the trick. The majority of people that attempt getting into a good exercise routine are NOT working out effectively enough to really stimulate the loss of stubborn abdominal fat.  I see this every day at the gym.
Most people will do your typical boring ineffective cardio routines, throw in a little outdated body-part style weight training, and pump away with some crunches and side bends, and think that they are doing something useful for reducing their abdominal fat. Then they become frustrated after weeks or months of no results and wonder where they went wrong.
Well, the good news is that I've spent over a decade researching this topic, analyzing the science, and applying it "in the trenches" with myself as well as thousands of my clients from all over the world to see what works to really stimulate abdominal fat loss.

From my research, two of the most important aspects to getting rid of visceral fat are:
1. The use of high intensity forms of exercise and full-body resistance training.  Low intensity cardio exercise simply isn't as effective for removing visceral fat in particular.  High intensity exercise such as interval training, sprints (bike sprints or running sprints), AND full-body weight training are very effective at helping to improve your body's ability to manage glucose and increases insulin sensitivity, a crucial step in removing visceral fat. 
These types of high intensity exercise routines are also very effective at increasing your fat-burning hormones and creating a hormonal environment conducive to burning off abdominal fat, including visceral fat.
2.  In addition, it's vitally important to get blood sugar under control to help restore insulin sensitivity through the right nutrition.  This means greatly reducing sugars and refined starches in your diet (including fully eliminating any use of harmful high fructose corn syrup!), and focusing more of your diet on healthy fats (such as avocados, nuts, seeds, coconut fat, olive oil, grass-fed butter, free-range eggs, fatty fish and fish oils, etc), as well as increasing protein and fiber intake.  The standard diet recommended by the government, which contains an unnaturally high grain intake is NOT conducive to controlling blood sugar and reducing visceral fat! 
Reducing grain-based foods in your diet and getting more of your carbs from veggies and high fiber fruits such as berries can go a long way to helping to solve this problem.

Learn the Truth about Losing Your Stomach Fat Permanently
You may not realize this, but the entire basis of my Truth about Six Pack Abs program is NOT about abs exercises... instead, it's actually about detailed strategies for both nutrition and exercise that maximize your ability to lose abdominal fat.  The entire solution... all of the nutritional strategies, as well as training sequences, exercise combinations, and more have all been compiled in my Truth About Six Pack Abs Program in order to help you to burn stomach fat faster.
Keep in mind that the whole point of this program is NOT abdominal exercises (that is only a very small portion of it). The main point of this program is showing you the absolute most effective nutritional strategies for losing your stubborn abdominal fat, and maximizing a fat-burning hormonal environment in your body so you can get rid of that dangerous health risk, as well as get a flatter more defined midsection.
If you follow the guidelines, you WILL lose your belly fat that has been plaguing you for years. This is not guesswork... it is a proven system that works time and time again for all of my clients on every corner of the globe that actually apply these strategies. If you apply it, the results will come. It's really that simple.
One of the main reasons that most people fail in their fitness goals is that they have good intentions at first to adopt a new lifestyle, yet after a few weeks or months, they abandon their good intentions and slip right back into their old bad habits that gave them the excess body fat in the first place.
I want to help you succeed in finally getting rid of that extra abdominal fat that is not only UGLY, but also DANGEROUS. A lot of people have emailed my support team with questions about whether they need any special equipment for these workouts, if they're too old or too young for this program, if the diet tips will apply to them, etc.  I've made a page that should answer all of your questions...
FAQ - Questions about the Truth about Six Pack Abs abdominal fat loss program
Also, I completely understand that you're skeptical if this will actually work for you... so I think you'll want to see some of the reader reviews from people just like you that are using the system and getting killer results...
Reader Reviews of the Truth about Six Pack Abs abdominal fat loss program
Don't waste another day allowing that nasty abdominal fat to kill your confidence as well as contribute to your risk for MAJOR diseases.
Get the solution to rid yourself for life of this problem by reading more details about this unique workout and diet program at the home page -- Losing Dangerous Abdominal Fat
It's time to exercise the CORRECT way, eat smart, and enjoy your life to the fullest!

If you found this article interesting feel free to share with friends and family.

Read More