Tips to Help You Fall Asleep Easier... Better Sleep Equals a Leaner You!

Hi. It's Mike again from TruthAboutAbs.com

I hope you're doing well and enjoying your good health, energy, and lean body!
Let's take a step away today from the normal discussions about various training techniques or nutrition ideas, and look at another vitally important aspect in your life that plays an important role in your success with your fitness goals. And that aspect is...
How well do you sleep?
I've noticed that one of the challenges for many people in their fitness endeavors is getting enough quality sleep each night. In case you didn't already know, the quality and quantity of your sleep each night is VERY important to maintaining an optimal hormonal balance within your body and keeping your metabolism as high as possible. Obviously, this all translates into a leaner you, if you are sleeping well regularly.
On the other hand, if you never seem to get enough sleep, or don't sleep well enough to give your body the rest and recuperation it needs, you can count on the fact that this lack of sleep is making you fatter! That's right, the lack of quality sleep creates a fat-storing hormonal mess inside your body. The fact is, the stats show that most people don't get enough sleep regularly, and also don't sleep as soundly as they should.
Aside from sleeping disorders, most people simply don't get enough sleep because they have a hard time shutting down their minds at night, which leaves them lying there in bed tossing and turning with thoughts about the stresses of their daily lives shooting through their heads. 
Does this happen to you?
This has actually been a problem for me personally, but I've started to gain control of this with a few secrets I've learned, and now I can usually fall asleep pretty fast each night. Here are some of the tricks I've used to fall asleep easier each night. Some of these you've probably heard before, but others may be new ideas for you.
1. Try not to exercise intensely within about 2 hours or so of your normal bedtime. However, getting regular daily exercise at any other time of the day will help tire you out so that you can fall asleep easier once bed time comes.

2. Don't try to go to sleep hungry. 
Contrary to popular belief, just because you eat after 6 or 7 pm does not mean it's going to be instantly deposited as blubbery body fat. As a matter of fact, a lot of very lean people that I know eat small meals right before they go to bed each night. A light healthy snack 30-90 minutes before you hit the pillows will help satisfy your hunger and help you fall asleep easier.

3. Avoid stimulants like caffeine any time after late-afternoon.

4. Try chamomile tea and/or mint tea an hour or two before bed time. These generally have a relaxing effect and can help you calm down at night. I recently found a tea product called "bed time tea", which combines chamomile and mint in the tea bags. I add in just a little touch of raw honey too and this combo really seems to relax me.

5. Try ground nutmeg in capsules an hour or two before bed. Nutmeg is supposed to also have a calming effect on the body. What I've done is buy a couple rounds of whole nutmeg and use a strong coffee grinder to grind them into powder. Then I fill empty capsules with the nutmeg and take a couple each night. Two whole nutmeg rounds will fill a couple dozen capsules, so I store them in a ziplock in the fridge. I'm not totally sure if this helps or not, but it certainly can't hurt, and nutmeg is at least a good source of antioxidants too!

6. Try to clear your mind of daily stresses and things you need to do. This has been my biggest obstacle to overcome in order to fall asleep at night. One thing that helps is to use a note pad to write down what I need to do the next day. That helps me clear my mind and reassure that I won't forget anything, so that I can relax. Instead of thinking about my day, or what I need to do tomorrow, I simply wipe my mind clean, and think about a relaxing place that I enjoy, like a tropical beach, or lying on a hammock in the breeze somewhere. 
If I can keep my mind on something relaxing like this, and not my daily worries, I fall asleep like a champ! I know there are many other strategies that people use to help fall asleep, but I figured I'd just give you a few of the tricks that have helped me out with conquering this. Whatever you do, please try to keep it natural... taking sleep aid drugs will almost always have adverse side effects.
So do yourself a favor and pull the plug on the late-night talk shows or late-night Seinfeld re-runs (although that Kramer does crack me up!), and try to get to sleep a little earlier from now on. Clear your mind, relax, and enjoy some good quality sleep that will keep your body leaner and have you feeling more energy filled during each day. Good luck!
This ezine issue was sponsored by Sleep Well and Tight  - an innovative program to help you fall asleep fast and get deep restful sleep every night, without harmful sleeping pills.
I hope this article has given you some ideas on how to fall asleep easier at night. Remember, more quality sleep equals a healthier, happier, and leaner you!
Enjoy some deep restful sleep!
Please feel free to share with friends and family who could benefit from these relaxing sleeping tips below. 

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2 Exercise Tips to Increase Growth Hormone & Testosterone

Increase the "youth hormone", burn body fat faster, and build more lean muscle with these tips

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

I'm sure you know that two of the MOST important hormones for both burning body fat and also building lean muscle are growth hormone (GH) and testosterone (T)... and there are certain "tricks" that you can use during exercise to maximize production in your body.
And keep in mind that GH is also called the "youth hormone", so there are benefits besides just fat loss and lean muscle development.
Now let me clarify, this topic might seem to be more relevant to men (especially when it comes to Testosterone), but it's also important to the ladies for getting maximum results from training...
For the ladies reading this...don't worry about exercise-induced small increases in these hormones...the amount of T in the female body is so small compared to men that minor increases won't lead to any "masculinization" (I might have just made that word up)... instead it just helps get a leaner and more shapely body.
Ok, this topic could be long-winded, but I'm going to give just a couple really quick tips today for maximizing Growth Hormone and Testosterone response from exercise...
From a lot of the research I've done, there seems to be a couple distinct types of training that can either help increase Testosterone or help increase Growth Hormone, and they are totally different training methods.
In order to reduce your body fat as much as possible, as well as build lean muscle the easiest, you need to try to maximize BOTH!
Here's how...
First, for exercise-induced Testosterone increases...
From a lot of the various research I've read, one of the best methods to increase T is to do at least some portion of your training in very low rep ranges and very heavy weight.
This means training in the 2-5 rep range, with such heavy weights that you can't physically do more reps than that range.  Also, this only works with the biggest multi-joint exercises such as barbell squats, deadlifts, bench press and weighted pullups.  No silly side lateral raises or tricep extensions when you're trying to get a Testosterone response!
An example of this type of structure would be 5 sets of 3 reps on the barbell deadlift, squat, or bench.  Alternating sets of deadlifts and bench press (or squats alternated with weighted pullups) separated by at least 2 minutes of rest between sets works well to accomplish this super heavy lifting style and subsequent T increase.
It's basically the aspect of challenging your body with super heavy weights and low rep ranges, with 2-3 minutes rest between sets that helps to maximize T production.
From what I've observed at most gyms, almost NOBODY trains in this rep range (most people seem to always train in the 8-12 or higher rep ranges), so there are a TON of people that could see Testosterone improvements by incorporating this into their training at least once or twice a week.
Keep in mind that this super heavy style of training is ONLY for advanced trainees that have years of training experience with weights.

Now, let's talk about exercise induced Growth Hormone increases...
From the research I've read on this hormone, it appears that more explosive styles of training, and also higher rep training with shorter rest periods helps to increase GH response.
Wind sprints are one of the top exercises for inducing a GH increase. I like to do these as 60 to 100 yard all-out sprints across a local soccer field or football field.  Generally, I'll do about 8-12 total sprints with about 60 seconds rest time in between each one for a good 20 minute workout.  If you haven't done sprints in a long time or are out of shape, it's a good idea to not go to "all-out" intensity for the first couple weeks or you'll risk injury.  Also, just doing 3-4 sprints for the first couple of sprint workouts is a good idea to reduce injury risk.
Also, hill sprints are an exceptional exercise for GH response.  I like to sprint as fast and as hard as possible up a 30 yard hill and then walk down... and then keep repeating until I've done at least 10-20 hill sprints. Sometimes I'll mix in pushups in between hill sprints to maximize the full body effect.
As for weight training, from the research I've read, GH increase comes best from higher rep ranges with short rest periods between sets.  This means that supersets in the 8-15 rep range per exercise with no rest between might work well. The weight still needs to be heavy enough to challenge your muscles close to failure at those rep ranges.
Another type of training that seems to increase GH is more "explosive" types of exercises such as squat jumps, lunge jumps, or something like barbell power cleans or barbell clean and press.  Any exercise that works large muscle groups explosively or almost the entire body at once in an explosive fashion seems to stimulate GH (hence why I chose barbell clean and press as one of the best).
I also think double kettlebell snatches are one of the most intense exercises ever invented and probably have a huge effect on growth hormone due to their explosive and intense nature.
So with all of this said, it's important to keep in mind that for the best results with maximizing both T and GH, you want to incorporate BOTH of these styles of training.
One way to do this is to have 1 or 2 workouts per week that are designated low-rep "strength" days where you work those big multi joint lifts in low rep ranges.  And then on another 1-2 days per week you work on the explosive exercises, higher rep ranges and short rest periods, and/or the wind sprints or hill sprints.
And lastly, always remember to consciously think in your mind about how the exercises that you're doing are actually increasing your fat burning and muscle building hormones, making you feel younger, etc, etc... I've talked in several other articles about actual PROOF of how using the power of conscious thought in your mind can help bring about those changes in your body (aka placebo effect).
I hope you enjoyed this article... I really think if you incorporate these tips into your workout schedule, you can drastically improve your hormonal response to exercise and therefore see faster fat burning and muscle building effects!  If you're interested in an herbal method that's been shown to increase your T levels, check out these 6 natural ingredients that can boost your Testosterone levels.

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The #1 MOST Important Diet Lesson You Will Ever Learn

The BEST Way to Eat a Truly Healthy Diet for a Lean Body and Disease Prevention
by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
Author of best-seller:  The Truth About Six Pack Abs


This article might surpise some people... because most people don't view nutrition in this way that I'm about to explain.  Instead most people get thoroughly confused about nutrition and calories, protein, carbs, fat, diet foods, low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-carb, healthy label claims, vegetarian, raw foods, etc, etc.
However, if you view nutrition in this way that I'll explain below, it solves every single confusion about nutrition that you could ever have.  I will warn you though, this is very BIG PICTURE thinking, and it helps explain a lot about the human body when you think about things this way.
Ok, the #1 MOST important aspect about nutrition involves the study of ARCHAEOLOGY (and anthropology)!
What the heck am I talking about?  Well, let's dig in...
Yes, everything about the human body that is either healthy or bad for us currently, all stems from hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years of evolution and how the human body adapted to everything around us, including food, exercise, our environment (city vs nature), and lots more.
We know from archaeological records that our current human species (homo sapiens) originated approximately 200,000 years ago... however, our close cousins (ancestors prior to homo sapiens), such as homo erectus, date as far back as several million years.
If you study evidence about what our ancestors ate, it gives obvious clues about how the human digestive system evolved and what are the healthiest foods for us to eat in today's world.
This obviously explains why relatively new chemicals and food types (that humans were NEVER meant to ingest) cause so many health problems, such as artificial sweeteners, HFCS and other corn derivatives, white bread and other refined grain products, refined oils such as soybean and unhealthy canola oils, and so on.
Now this discussion could get pretty involved and encompass an entire book, so let me give some important statements to best summarize this:
1.  Despite what you'll hear from extreme vegans, extreme raw foodists, and other believers in "extreme" types of diets that eliminate entire portions of the historical human diet, the human digestive system evolved to eat a mixture of plants and animal foods (yes, we evolved as omnivores), as well as a mixture of raw food AND cooked food.
I know, I know... You'll get heated debate about both of these topics...meat eating vs veganism, and raw foodism... however, it's historical FACT that our current species (and historical ancestors back over a million years ago) in almost every culture around the world, ate at least some % of plant-animal food combination and raw food / cooked food combination (even if it was at different times of the day, or even different times of the year).
Some cultures, such as the Inuit of the arctic and several tribes in Africa, thrived in stellar health on almost an entirely animal-based diet, and other cultures around the world thrived on almost an entirely plant-based diet... But all cultures generally had some mixture of plant and animal foods, even if the amount of animal food was small in some cultures, or the amount of plant food was small in other cultures.
Similarly, virtually every culture around the world has also historically consumed BOTH raw foods and cooked foods in differing amounts of each... but there's no real evidence of societies thriving on 100% raw food diets.
But what about the argument that raw foodists make claiming that all animals in nature eat 100% raw foods, but humans are the only species that eats cooked food...
Well, there's a simple explanation for that... humans were the ONLY species with a well developed enough brain to understand how to control fire and therefore cook our food... And since we've been cooking a portion of our foods for the entire existence of our species (200,000 years) as well as our ancestors back several million years, our digestive systems have adapted to eating a portion of our food cooked.
This also explains why acrylamides are more harmful to animals that eat cooked food compared to humans... since humans have adapted some level of tolerance to acrylamides from eating a partial cooked diet for 100's of thousands of years, but animals have never historically adapted to a cooked food diet, and therefore, are more sensitive to acrylamides.
If you've never heard of acrylamides, they are formed when the outside of foods are burned during cooking (such as the browning on breads or other baked goods, browning on deep fried foods, or the charring of vegetables cooked over a flame, etc) and these compounds are potentially carcinogenic to both humans and animals.  Cooking foods with water, and also using high antioxidant herbs and spices in cooking helps reduce acrylamides and protect you against them.
The bottom line... we were designed through evolution to eat a mixture of both plants and animals as well as cooked and raw foods... But let's clarify an important point in #2 below...

2. Although I say that we were meant through evolution to eat an omnivorous diet of both plants and animals, one thing that we were NEVER meant to eat is factory-farm raised animals, or eggs or milk from factory-farm raised animals.
Factory farming is an entirely new phenomenon that's still only decades old, so essentially, these types of meat products were never meant to be part of the human diet.
Chemically (nutritionally), factory-farm animal products are VASTLY different from animal products that were raised the way they were meant to live and eat. Examples of these differences can be seen glaringly in the nutrition profiles of grass-fed meats vs grain-fed factory farm meat, free range eggs vs factory eggs, wild fish vs farmed fish, and so on.
We're talking about major differences in omega-3's vs omega-6's, differences in vitamins and minerals, differences in other healthy fats such as CLA, and lots more.
So although I don't fully agree with veganism at least from a nutritional standpoint (moral arguments aside), I also don't agree with our current state of affairs of the majority of our food supply of factory farm raised animal products (at least here in the US, where the condition of the factory farm animals and nutritional quality of the food is horrendous).
That's why I try to not support the factory farm industry as much as possible (which is most meats and dairy in your supermarket) and instead, I try to eat almost solely grass-fed meats from free ranging animals, wild game, wild fish, eggs from local farmers from free roaming hens, and dairy only from grass-fed cows that are allowed to graze almost entirely on forage.

3.  Although I point out that many historical cultures around the world thrived on vastly different percentages of animal products vs plant products in their diet, here is another type of food that we were NEVER meant to eat:
PROCESSED FOOD
Yes, I know it hurts to hear it, but cakes, cookies, crackers, microwaved meals, chips, sodas, granola bars, sugary sports drinks or energy drinks, and 1000's of other products that line our supermarket shelves were never meant to be part of the human diet, so it's obvious why it causes so many health problems for us.
This gets back to what I always say about trying to include as many "1-ingredient" foods as you can in your diet if you want to eat like we were meant to eat.
"1-ingredient" foods means healthy meats, eggs, nuts, seeds, beans, tubers, fruits, and veggies.  It's really that simple.

4.  Ok, this one starts to get a little controversial... but, remember that agriculture is also a relatively new phenomenon in the big picture of the human diet when you expand far back in history a couple of million years.  And when I'm talking about agriculture, I'm mostly talking about the massive influx of grain-based foods into the human diet that occurred with the invention of agriculture.
The mass production of grains through agriculture is only a few thousand years old... Compare that to our ancestors historical existence as hunter-gatherers as far back as a couple of million years, and our current species (homo sapiens) 200,000-year history as hunter-gatherers.
If you think about it, as hunter-gatherers, we would have had very limited access to grains, and they would have encompassed a very small % of our historical calorie intake, since they weren't mass produced and processed. Instead, we thrived on mostly game meats (including the organ meats, where most of the micro-nutrients are found), wild fish and seafood, eggs, nuts, seeds, beans, tubers, fruits, and veggies.
From this perspective, grains probably never accounted for more than 1-3% of our historical calorie intake... and as you know from one of my recent articles, currently our modern processed diet that the average person eats consists of 67% of total calories from grains such as corn, soy, and wheat and their derivatives... now THAT'S a shocking revelation in why our entire food supply is backwards, and how that affects your waistline!
It also makes you think about how ridiculously wrong our "food pyramid" really is, which promotes the bulk of our food to be eaten from grains.
I could go on with more examples, but I think you're seeing the major points here... the most important aspect to eating a healthy diet that promotes a lean, healthy body is to acknowledge what our ancestors ate throughout the millions of years of evolution.
And that certainly wasn't processed "diet foods" with fancy label claims deceiving you into thinking they're healthy... instead, it was the 1-ingredient foods I listed above, eaten in a combination of raw food and cooked food.
A couple final thoughts on how to fit these suggestions into your healthy eating plan:
1.  Try to become a "locavore" as much as possible... if you can get local farm-fresh produce, that is the most environmentally and socially responsible, as well as healthy way to get your produce.  Research if you have farmers markets and farm stands that might be in your area, or deliver to your area.
2.  Try to choose organic foods as much as possible... but local food will many times trump organic food that had to travel thousands of miles to make it to you.
3. When choosing meat and eggs, try to choose grass-fed meats as much as possible, free range chicken, turkey, and pork raised in a humane manner, and eggs from hens that truly roam free outside instead of being confined to "chicken factories".  Many times, this means making the effort to seek out local farms or co-ops that deliver to urban areas.  This site is a great source of meats that were raised in the healthiest manner, and they deliver right to your doorstep:  http://healthygrassfed.2ya.com
Remember that eating healthy and responsibly doesn't mean eating bland boring food... there are tons of ways to eat in a healthy and socially/environmentally responsible manner, and we describe in depth how to do this in our Click Here Fat Burning Kitchen Program.
Please share this article to help your family and friends eat healthier and to help us all collectively choose our food from more responsible sources than factory farms.  Please email this webpage link to all of your friends and family and share this page on your blogs, forums, as well as Facebook and Twitter pages.

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Lean-Body Fitness Secrets Ezine - Fat Loss Success & Failure Habits

Is This You At The Beach!
Or are you just a little overweight, want to get in shape, want to be proud when you remove your clothes on holiday! Then read on........

I just returned Sunday night from a very relaxing vacation in warm sunny Jamaica, and I'm not happy about being back in snowy, cold New Jersey...but I guess I'll deal with it.
Yes, I'll admit that even a fitness freak like me ate until I was stuffed everyday, and drank more rum than I can remember, packing on a few pounds while I was there. But now it's back to my normal lifestyle and the extra fat gained last week will be gone by the end of this week...I guarantee it! No excuses!
Anyway, I wanted to share something with you all that I noticed while I was in Jamaica on the beaches and in the pools.
One of the things that I do on a regular basis to help me continually learn about fitness success and failure is observing people's habits and actions. I feel that these observations are equally as important as reading books, journals, articles, etc. for improving my knowledge of what works and what doesn't in fitness.
Something that happens to me on a regular basis when I meet people is that once they find out that I'm a fitness professional, they start asking me questions about the things that they eat or how they exercise, and what my opinion is on it. I don't mind this, because it gives me some insight on exactly what people do, what they believe, and how things have worked for them.
I will qualify that I only give my advice if it is asked for. I never preach about fitness to someone who didn't ask for my advice. After all, I know I don't want people preaching to me about their expertise if I didn't ask for the advice.
So, one thing I noticed while on vacation last week was that out of hundreds and hundreds of people from all different countries that were walking around the sunny resorts in bathing suits, I only saw a grand total of about 4 people that had anything resembling six-pack abs. That's only 4 people out of probably close to 1000 that I saw throughout the 7 days!
This observation has nothing to do with their actions on vacation, just about their current state of fitness. Now obviously most people, including myself, are not following their normal actions and behaviors on vacation that they would in normal life. That's not the point.
I make observations about the habits and actions of both the fit people and the fat people on a daily basis to help determine successful vs. unsuccessful actions regarding weight management and general fitness. It could be at grocery stores, at the gym, at restaurants, at the office, at someone's house...all are potential spots to learn why people are either fit or fat.
Start paying attention to the actions of the people around you on a daily basis, and their corresponding body shape, and you'll learn a lot. Here are some examples of things you may notice...
You might notice that the overweight woman at the office who claims she can never lose any weight is actually the first one in the kitchen whenever someone brings in free donuts or cookies.
You might also notice that the guy with the beer gut, who says it's impossible for him to get rid of the gut, is skipping breakfast on a regular basis (a killer for your metabolism), and drinking 2 or 3 sodas a day without even realizing it. No wonder he's got a beer gut!
On the other hand, you might also notice that the girl with the slim figure, who seemingly eats all kinds of junk food (and everyone gripes that she should be fat with all of that crap she eats), never actually finishes more than half of what she's eating. When you take a closer look, she's actually not eating that many calories day in and day out, and that's why she's lean. It's not always as it appears on the surface.
The point is that there's always an underlying reason why someone is either fat or fit, and it revolves around their lifestyle, their actions, their habits. Look a little deeper and you'll learn a lot about what people do successfully and where they fail in their quest for a lean body.

If you want to be included among the fitness elite, those 4 out of 1000 people that have six-pack abs, your fully comprehensive guide, revealing all of the secrets of the super-fit class is found in my Truth about Six Pack Abs program. Action mean results!

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