Does anyone else wonder how…..?
Nutrisystem food works? I mean how can you have meats, cheeses, and vegetables mailed to you without needing refrigeration? Now wonder you lose weight, the food is spoiled when you go to eat it!!!!
lol… some things are just better left unknown…
Of course, it’s another good reason to learn how to eat properly on your own too!
Want to know what your real odds are of having a heart attack?
How about a stroke? Diabetes?
Okay, this isn’t sounding like a positive letter… but hang in there. It gets a lot better and more positive.
I was having lunch today with my CPA and my good friend Sherry Strong. Sherry’s upcoming book is a must-read. I will let you know when she’s ready to release it.
Since Sherry has been here visiting me in Dallas I have learned SO much about natural food preparation and what really causes disease.
Our conversation took a turn to “doctor’s tests.” I think most of them are worthless. Some are vital.
It’s important to know the difference.
I’m going to give you the three tests you absolutely must take if you want to help ensure your future health in a moment.
But first, let me give you Sherry’s argument to my third test.
Yes, we nutritionists argue sometimes. ; )
I’ll let you decide. But statically it’s far more accurate than any blood test… and get this:
You can do it at home for free.
So far, are you with me? Good.
I’m going to go in reverse order, third test to last…
The third test is simply this:
Measure your waistline.
Use a tape measure and do not pull it tight. Measure right below the navel.
Write down that number in inches.
Then measure your height out of shoes in inches. Write that down too.
If your waist in inches is more than half your height you are FOUR TIMES more likely to have heart disease.
Four times. That’s more predictive than cholesterol tests by far.
And a lot less expensive to boot.
Don’t just read about this test — DO IT. I’ll give you something you can do ABOUT it if you fail this test in a second.
The great news is that this is one factor that is totally within your control.
Test number two: Know your SED rate. This is an inflammatory marker in the blood.
Test number one: Know your hsCRP and LP(a) levels. Both of these can be done as one test usually. Both are inflammatory markers as well as key indicators of heart health.
Go to your doctor and ask for these three blood tests. Usually they can be done all at once. Sometimes they are separate, but they are all crucial.
If you are thin and look healthy, listen to this:
You too can be Lance Armstrong or Jim Fixx….and not know it.
Lance and Jim looked like two of the healthiest men on the planet. Lance beat testicular cancer but came within an inch of his life. Jim died after a short jog of a heart attack very young in life.
Looks can be deceiving.
This is Sherry’s argument — and she’s totally correct.
That’s why I give you THREE (well, actually four) TESTS.
You see, it’s virtually impossible to have a normal SED rate, a normal hsCRP level and a normal LP(a) level and be at imminent risk for any of these killer diseases.
Possible, perhaps — but almost not.
So, if you look healthy and feel like a bazillion bucks, you still need to know your levels of these inflammatory markers.
If you are overweight or obese, you totally absolutely MUST do the waist/height test as well as the others.
You see, it goes both ways.
Some obese folks test out okay at the doc’s office. Their cholesterol, blood pressure, and all typical readings are okay. Rarely does a doc run an hsCRP or LP(a). And rarely do they run a SED rate.
See the importance here?
Both the fit and the unfit can be at dire risk and not even know it.
Now, here’s the solution:
A low-inflammatory nutrition and training plan, along with plenty of stress-free time.
I can help you with the first two things.
The third thing — de-stressing — is up to you. You may want to spend 30 minutes a day doing yoga, walking, meditating, praying, or whatever calms your MIND and BODY down.
Check it out:
Lance and Jim were both doing insane amounts of exercise… so much that they demanded insane amounts of high-inflammatory foods. Foods like processed carbohydrates for example.
And they both got sick. One of them died.
My good friend Dr. Steven Chase believes that 85% of cancer is preventable.
Re-read that: 85%. And he’s an oncologist — a cancer doctor.
And you know heart disease is 95% preventable… or did you?
But all of these killers, especially diabetes, demand a low-insulin, low-inflammatory nutrition and exercise plan.
Lance and Jim had sky-high inflammatory levels from all that exercise. It was literally TOO much exercise.
That’s why so many marathoners die of heart attacks. They eat inflammatory foods and engage in high-stress exercise for too long of a time.
So, what’s the answer?
Most nutrition plans are stressful. Big mistake. Stress can cause you to hold on to bodyfat. Plus stress causes inflammation.
Most workout plans are either too easy or too intense for too long a period of time. My System is super-short (7-14 minutes a day, plus walks when you can.) This is enough to build all the muscle you need plus burn bodyfat when combined with the nutrition plan.
My System’s nutrition plan is ideal if you are willing to “diet” for a day or two, then enjoy a day of eating “normal” foods.
Hey, no one is perfect. Anyone who has half a brain should know that not very many people (myself included) are willing to do without their favorite foods forever.
That’s silly — and it’s not necessary to burn bodyfat.
In fact, my System ‘demands’ that you eat these foods at certain times TO BURN MORE BODYFAT!
Wild, isn’t it?
It’s the System I’ve used for years.
It’s the combination of two books:
7 Minute Muscle + Every Other Day Diet
Get them both for one low price… http://www.7minutemuscle.com
Any of my three Upgrade Kits come with both books, a full year of support from me on the Every Other Day Diet group Forum, and so many bonuses I can’t list them all.
This combo is something I am so very proud to share with you.
It’s the ultimate System for lowering bodyfat, increasing lean muscle, lowering insulin, lowering inflammation, and ensuring your health.
Whether you are in shape or obese, this System is one that will work for you.
Lose Fat Without Changing Your Diet
by Mike Roussell PhD(c)
http://www.dontstayfat.info/wsfl
Strategies on how to lose fat normally centers on specific dietary approaches. However, there are many factors aside from controlling how many grams of fat you consume each day that can help accelerate your fat loss. In this article we will look at two different nutrition research studies that reveal key strategies for effective and permanent weight loss.
Weight Gaining Behavior - A 2004 study published by Dr. David Levitsky examined the eating behaviors of college freshman at Cornell University. He found that the students whom gained the most weight had 3 common characteristics:
1. “All You Can Eat” Dining
2. Snacking On High Fat Junk Foods
3. Increased Frequency of Snacking on Junk Foods
The problem here is that humans don’t snack well. We don’t regulate our caloric intake over time such that if we eat an extra 300 calories as a snack mid morning then we won’t eat 300 calories less at lunch.
You need to be careful when it comes to snacking. Most snacks are carbohydrate and/or sugar based. AVOID these snacks at all costs. They will balloon your calories and carbohydrate intake, pulling you right out of the fat burning zone. Instead focus on eating protein and fiber rich snacks. This one behavior change will make a huge different in your journey to lose more weight.
In regards to “All You Can Eat” Dining, this is just a bad idea. Control your environment. We are very sensitive to visual cues such as plate size, amount of food, glass size/style, etc. “All You Can Eat” Dining is setting yourself up for dieting failure - avoid it at all costs so you can control your calorie intake with ease.
Stress, Exercise, and Support - Another famous study, the Lifestyle Heart Trial, reveals to us 3 crucial behavior changes that we must make for permanent and fast weight loss. Between 1977-1980, a group of people were put on the Ornish Diet as part of the Lifestyle Heart Trial. The Ornish Diet is a vegetarian diet that is very low in fat (less than 10% of calories from fat). Because of the severe fat restriction many find this diet hard to adhere to for the long term. However, during the Lifestyle Heart Trial the participants experienced phenomenal results such as regression of heart attack causing plaques in their arteries. Ever since this original study, similar results using the Ornish Diet have never been replicated.
Why?
Because the people in the study were implementing more than just a diet; they also did regular exercise (3 hours per week), meditation and relaxation (1 hour per day), and participated in 2 group support sessions each week. The addition of the other factors made the diet so much more effective.
Most people are probably already adding exercise to their weight loss plan but many miss regular stress management and developing a strong support system. These are make or break pieces to your fat loss puzzle. Adding exercise, stress management techniques, and finding a support system will greatly enhance your weight loss results.
If you are having trouble losing weight or if you have hit a weight loss plateau examine your current fat loss efforts. Do you actively manage the stress in your life? Do you have a support team? What kinds of foods are you snacking on? Do you control the portions you eat by avoiding “All You Can Eat” events?
Honestly answer these questions. Find the holes in your plan. Change them and get your fat loss back on track.
About the Author/More Info:
Warp Speed Fat Loss is a complete 28 day diet and training system crafted to help you lose 10,15, or 20lbs of body fat in just 28 day. To start losing weight fast visit http://www.dontstayfat.info/wsfl. Mike Roussell is a nutrition doctoral student at Pennsylvania State. Mike’s writings can be found in magazines such as Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, and Testosterone Nation. Mike specializes in fat loss nutrition and diets for busy men and women who need to lose weight fast without it interfering with their lives. Warp Speed Fat Loss (http://www.dontstayfat.info/wsfl) is a complete Done-for-You A-Z Fat Loss Blueprint that gives you exactly everything you need to eat to lose weight in record time.
Sunday night’s incredible Super Bowl victory for the Pittsburgh Steelers reminded of a little inspirational article I read. Nothing could be more true after watching the 2 minute drill worked to near perfection - Winners just find a way to get the job done when it’s all on the line.
Here’s that article…
Throughout my 18 years in the fitness industry as a trainer, nutrition consultant and motivational coach, I have noticed that some people who start a nutrition and exercise program give up very easily after hitting the first obstacle they encounter. If they feel the slightest bit of discouragement or frustration, they will abandon even their biggest goals and dreams.
On the other hand, I noticed that some people simply NEVER give up. They have ferocious persistence and they never let go of their goals. These people are like the bulldog that refuses to release its teeth-hold on a bone. The harder you try to pull the bone out of his mouth, the harder the dog chomps down with a vice-like grip.
What’s the difference between these two types of people? Psychologists say there is an answer.
An extremely important guideline for achieving fitness success is the concept that, “There is no failure; only feedback. You don’t “fail”, you only get results.”
This is a foundational principle from the field of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), and the first time I ever heard it was from peak performance expert Anthony Robbins back in the late 1980’s. It’s a principle that stuck with me ever since, because it’s a very, very powerful shift in mindset.
A lot of people will second-guess themselves and they’ll bail out and quit, just because what they try at first doesn’t work. They consider it a permanent failure, but all they need is a little attitude change, a mindset change, or what we call a “reframe.”
Instead of saying, “This is failure” they can say to themselves, “I produced a result” and “This is only temporary.” This change in perspective is going to change the way that they feel and how they mentally process and explain the experience. It turns into a learning opportunity and valuable feedback for a course correction instead of a failure, and that drives continued action and forward movement.
It’s all about your results and your interpretation of those results
Dr Martin Seligman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, did some incredible research on this subject and wrote about it in his book, Learned Optimism. Dr. Seligman noticed that the difference between people who give up and people who persist and never quit is what he referred to as “explanatory style.” He said that explanatory style is the way we explain or interpret bad events or failures.
People who habitually give up have an explanatory style of permanence. For example, they hit a plateau in their progress and explain it by saying, “diets never work” or “I have bad genetics so I’ll always be fat.” These explanations imply permanence.
Other people hit the same plateaus and encounter the same challenges, but explain them differently. They say things such as, “I ate too many cheat meals this week,” or “I haven’t found the right diet for my body type yet.” These explanations of the results imply being temporary.
People who see negative results as permanent failure are the ones who give up easily and often generalize their “failure” into other areas of their lives and even into their own sense of self. It’s one thing to say, “I ate poorly this past week because I was traveling,” (a belief about temporary behavior and environment), and to say, “I am a fat person because of my genetics” (a belief about identity with a sense of permanence). Remember, body fat is a temporary condition, not a person!
People who see challenges and obstacles as temporary and as valuable learning experiences are the ones who never quit. If you learn from your experiences, not repeating what didn’t work in the past, and if you choose to never quit, your success is inevitable.
About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle.” Tom has written more than 200 articles and has been featured in print magazines such as IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as on hundreds of websites worldwide. For information on Tom’s Fat Loss program, visit: www.burnthefat.com
Anytime the topic of discussion in my blogs, articles or newsletters has turned to my own personal grocery shopping list, there has always been a spike in interest. It seems that many people are not only curious about what foods a natural bodybuilder eats to maintain single digit body fat, but they also want to be taken by the hand and told exactly what foods to eat themselves while on fat-burning or muscle building programs. That’s why I decided to put together four separate “top 10” lists of healthy foods that burn fat and build muscle.
Exact quantities and menus are not listed, just the individual foods, and of course my food intake does vary. I aim to get as many different varieties of fruits and vegetables as possible over the course of every week and there are a lot of substitutions made, so you are not seeing the full list of everything I eat, only what foods I eat most of the time.
I also want to point out that while I don’t believe that extreme low carbs are necessary or most effective when you look at the long term, research has shown that there are some definite advantages to a low to moderate carb and higher protein diet for fat loss purposes. These include reduced appetite, higher thermic effect of food and “automatic” calorie control.
Personally, I reduce my carb intake moderately and temporarily prior to bodybuilding competitions. Specifically, it’s the foods that are on the starchy carbs and grains list that go down during the brief pre-competition period when I’m working on that really “ripped” look. I keep the green and fibrous veggie intake very high however, along with large amounts of lean protein, small amounts of fruit, and adequate amounts of essential fats.
This list reflects my personal preferences, so this is not a prescription to all readers to eat as I do. It’s very important for compliance to choose foods you enjoy and to have the option for a wide variety of choices. In the past several years, nutrition and obesity research - in studying ALL types of diets - has continued to conclude that almost any hypocaloric diet that is not completely “moronic” can work, at least in the short term.
It’s not so much about the high carb - low carb argument or any other debate as much as it is about calorie control and compliance. The trouble is, restricted diets and staying in a calorie deficit is difficult, so most people can’t stick with any program and they fall off the wagon, whichever wagon that may be.
I believe that a lot of our attention needs to shift away from pointless debates (for example, low carb vs. high carb is getting really old… so like… get over it everyone, its a calorie deficit that makes you lose weight, not the amount of carbs).
Instead, our focus should shift towards these questions:
Here’s one good answer: Eat a wide variety of high nutrient density, low calorie density foods that you enjoy which still fit within healthy, fat-burning, muscle-building guidelines!
Here are the lists of foods I choose to achieve these three outcomes. This eating plan is not difficult to stick with at all, by the way. I enjoy eating like this and it feels almost weird not to eat like this after doing it for so long.
Remember, habits work in both directions, and as motivational speaker Jim Rohn has said, “Bad habits are easy to form and hard to live with and good habits are hard to form but easy to live with.”
These are listed in the order I frequently consume them. So for example, if oatmeal is on the top of the list, it means that is the food I am most likely to eat every single day.
My 10 top natural starchy carb and whole grains
1. Oatmeal (old fashioned)
2. Yams
3. Brown rice (a favorite is basmati, a long grain aromatic rice)
4. Sweet potatoes (almost same as yams)
5. Multi grain hot cereal (mix or barley, oats, rye. titricale and a few others)
6. White potatoes
7. 100% whole wheat bread
8. 100% whole wheat pasta
9. Beans (great for healthy chili recipes)
10. Cream of rice hot cereal
My Top 10 top vegetables
1. Broccoli
2. Asparagus
3. Spinach
4. Salad greens
5. Tomatoes
6. Peppers (green, red or yellow)
7. Onions
8. Mushrooms
9. Cucumbers
10. Zucchini
My top 10 lean proteins
1. Egg whites (whole eggs in limited quantities)
2. Whey or Casein protein (protein powder supplements)
3. Chicken Breast
4. Salmon (wild Alaskan)
5. Turkey Breast
6. Top round steak (grass fed beef)
7. Flank Steak (grass fed beef)
8. Lean Ground Turkey
9. Bison/Buffalo
10. Trout
My top 10 fruits
1. Grapefruit
2. Apples
3. Blueberries
4. Canteloupe
5. Oranges
6. Bananas
7. Peaches
8. Grapes
9. Strawberries
10. Pineapple
Note: I DO include healthy fats as well, such as walnuts, almonds, extra virgin olive oil, flaxseeds, flaxseed oil (supplement - not to cook with), avocado and a few others.
Also, I do eat dairy products and have nothing against them, nor am I lactose intolerant. I simply don’t eat as much dairy as the rest of the stuff on my lists. When I eat dairy, its usually skim milk, low or non fat cottage cheese, low or non fat yogurt and low or non fat cheese (great for omelettes).
Last but not least, I usually follow a compliance rate of about 95%, which means I take two or three meals per week of whatever I want (stuff that is NOT on these lists - like pizza, sushi, big fatty restaurant steaks, etc)
I hope you found this helpful and interesting. Keep in mind, this is MY food list, and although you probably couldn’t go wrong to emulate it, you need to choose natural foods you enjoy in order to develop habits you can stick with long term. In the fruits and vegetables categories alone, there are hundreds of other choices out there, so enjoy them all!
About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and a certified personal trainer (CPT). Tom is the author of “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using methods of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com
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